Congrats to Mount Union. Nice to have a different champion for once. 🙂 But seriously, I don’t mind if the same team wins a couple titles in a row, as long as the season is competitive and the title isn’t a forgone conclusion.

We’ve had years like that.

First thought goes out to the johnny-come-lately Whitewater posters on this blog. Welcome to Division III reality. It takes more than one hand to count the number of schools’ posters who have come in, talked a big game, then had to either slink away or eat crow. But don’t worry, there’s a long list: Wheaton, Wabash, Widener, Rowan, St. John’s (though that one goes both ways).

Second to those who insisted the national title game was played two weeks ago. ‘Nuff said. Don’t count your chickens before the eggs are laid. This is exactly why covering Division III and ranking teams is so difficult.

Third: Can you imagine this team with two more years of Pierre Garcon and three more of Nate Kmic? In our pregame interview I asked coach Larry Kehres if we were seeing the emergence of the next Chuck Moore or Dan Pugh and he pointed out, of course, that those guys did it for four years. In retrospect, however, I think we’ll be able to look back in a couple years and agree about the breakout.

Fourth: Still thinking about the chicken, Stone Station! Yum!

Also, I enjoyed covering sideline reports for the broadcast today (archive links on the front for those who want to listen in). Good perspective on the game. Thanks to Matt Barnhart of Bridgewaterfootball.com for covering the opposite sideline for me so we could get the latest on both sides.

Good to see the NCAA’s chief executive, Dr. Myles Brand, watching the game from the sidelines. We were able to interview him early in the third quarter for those who want to check it out.

As always, play in the Stagg Bowl would have changed our All-American team. But like everyone else, we lock them in and release them beforehand.

Our broadcasters upstairs correctly noted the downfield blocking by the offensive line on Kmic’s 15-yard touchdown run But I feel I should point out that Garcon was down there as well paving the way.

It was great to see officiating not be an issue. The officials clearly got the three calls right that resulted in the game being stopped for review. But it was fun from the field to see the video board and how the replays shown affected the fans, especially on the non-touchdown catch by Garcon — the play was called out of bounds. First replay comes up and is not particularly conclusive to the layman, Mount Union fans roar. Play is stopped. I call upstairs to Gordon Mann, our producer, and let him know it is absolutely out of bounds. Second replay comes up and shows us nothing new. Finally, the definitive replay shows Garcon indeed got his foot down out of bounds and the Whitewater side roars. I enjoyed the element added to the game and hope fans did too.

Now, on to the Aztec Bowl. Thanks to Wes Hostetler for making us look good with his performance as both a defensive back and a return man, echoing our naming him an All-American at both spots earlier in the day. Elsewhere, lots of good performances came from our picks … just not from the quarterbacks. Ouch.

We throw it open, but don’t forget to come back for more coverage this week and in future weeks as we continue to wrap up the Stagg Bowl and the 2005 Division III football season with Keith McMillan’s year in review column.