Around the Nation Year in Review: What’d we miss?

A week before Bethel hit on a two-point conversion as part of an infamous ending to its game against Concordia-Moorhead, it denied Augsburg’s go-ahead two-point try and held on to win.
Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

Earlier in the week, before we published the annual Around the Nation Year in Review column, we provided a sneak peek to some of our avid Twitter followers. They of course, enjoyed the peek, but pointed out things we missed.

The ATN YIR can’t be completely comprehensive, what with 1,200 games per season, but since we all have different perspectives, perhaps there were some moments that didn’t make our cut that still deserve discussing.

Augsburg SID Don Stoner pointed out a pretty relevant oversight:
Keith:
An addendum to your end-of-year story, regarding Bethel’s living and dying by the two-point conversion:

The week prior to Bethel’s last-second win over Concordia-Moorhead, the Royals claimed a 21-20 win at Augsburg. With 1:46 left to play, Augsburg scored on a fourth-down touchdown pass to cut the Royals’ lead to 21-20, but a Bethel defender knocked away a pass by the Auggies on a two-point conversion attempt. Augsburg did have another chance to win the game with 32 seconds remaining, but a Bethel interception ended the threat.

One other possible note for you:

Augsburg claimed last-second, “Hail Mary” victories on the road two seasons in a row. In 2011, the Auggies claimed a 32-31 win in the “Miracle in Collegeville” at St. John’s; this year (Sept. 15), the Auggies scored a 26-24 win at Gustavus in the “Miracle in St. Peter,” as first-year quarterback Ayrton Scott threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Hakeem Bourne-McFarlane on the final offensive play of the game. Augsburg drove 80 yards on seven plays in the final 34 seconds of the game to claim the win. Bourne-McFarlane pulled double-duty for the Auggies this year, as both a safety on defense and wide receiver on offense.
I’d be glad to consider your oversights, especially if you point them out as kindly as Don did. Not everything we missed is because we didn’t want to include it. Sometimes we just forget.

And in case you missed them in the column, here are our Plays of the Week, compiled into a Plays of the Year video:

Around the Nation podcast: Season wrapup


Matt O’Connell got knocked around just a little.
Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

Subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in iTunes.

The season is over, sadly. But we had plenty of things to talk about after the game, nonetheless. We had to decide who our Players of the Year and Coach of the Year would be, and Pat and Keith weighed in — who should be No. 2?

We also gave our take on the game, and Keith asked one particular Mount Union player who the best team was he faced. The answer might surprise you. And who will be the best teams for 2013? The elite level might not change.

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Stagg Bowl XL Live Blog

Watch the game on ESPNU, listen to it on http://d3football.com/videolink/stagg-bowl, and interact with us here as Mount Union takes on St. Thomas in Stagg Bowl XL. The Purple Raiders are seeking their 11th national championship and first since 2008. The Tommies are making their first appearance in Salem.

Two of the nation’s top defenses will try to slow two sophomore quarterbacks who have been playing beyond their years in this postseason. How will the Tommies’ handle their first championship game? Will the Purple Raiders seniors play tense, knowing this is their last chance to avoid becoming the first Mount Union class without a ring since the 1989 freshmen?

Let us know your thoughts on the game and interact with us throughout the night.