D3football.com is at two of tonight’s three games kicking off the Division III football season. This is Keith McMillan, here at Shenandoah’s Shentel Stadium, and Ryan Coleman is apparently in the house at Hamline’s game.

Clear weather here, although the remants of Ernesto are supposedly coming up the coast. A couple of big questions will begin to get answered tonight. Will Catholic be better off with another new head coach, one that went 0-8 in one season at Becker? Was Shenandoah’s 1-9 record after a playoff season merely an anomaly? Are either of these teams primed to make any noise this season? Sometimes the first game is a sloppy one and hardly an indicator, but if either team looks good tonight, I’ll let you know.

Not yet ready for the wireless revolution here at Shentel, which is funny because this stadium is about as state-of-the-art as they come in Division III, so I’m on the same computer (I think) that is running the game stats. That said, it might be the end of the quarter or even halftime before I check in again.

There are audio links to the game, Around the Nation is up and we are ready to go for another season of Division III football. (Pause for anthem) … Let’s get it on!

An informational posting, not open for comments.

A heads-up for radio broadcasters that the D3football.com Report is returning for (what we believe to be) an eighth season in 2006. The Report is a 3- to 4-minute recorded segment for use on radio pregame shows, a weekly national look at Division III football.

The Report is written by D3football.com’s Pat Coleman and produced by Ray Martel of WFAN (oh yes, and D3football.com as well). It wraps up the previous week’s games and previews the games for that Saturday, including a call of the week highlight from the week before. We provide it free to student broadcasts (broadcasts produced by students on student stations), after all, we remember what it’s like to be in their shoes. The cost for the season for commercial stations is $25, or less than three bucks per game.

It is not available to fans at large. If you want to hear it, let your radio station know it should get on the list!

Contact Pat Coleman at pat@d3football.com to become a subscriber.

Huntingdon feels it can win the national championship. That’s an impressive goal. I’m sure many players have this goal, but also sure that most keep it quiet.

Huntingdon has not yet made the playoffs. They’re ranked … well, you’ll have to be a Kickoff subscriber to find out, but it’s not in our Top 30 in the 1-234 ranking of all Division III football teams. The Hawks went 7-2 last year but lost at home to 3-7 Maryville in Week 11 last year, when a win might have put them in the postseason.

So perhaps the Stagg Bowl is a little out of reach. But they’re talking otherwise:

Quarterback Zack Golson to the Prattville (Ala.) Progress: “This is an awesome school, with great academics, and I think we have a solid football program. I really believe we have a change to win a national championship.”

And to the Montgomery Advertiser: “One of the first things that coach Turk said to us during our first practice is that we would compete for a championship if we believed in him. We believed in him and that’s what we’re on our way to now.”

Coach Mike Turk knows a little more about how to couch enthusiasm properly: “Everybody says they want to win a national championship. But with these guys, I wouldn’t put it past them, because they work so hard and have the right mentality to do it.”

Only thing is, they aren’t the only program that works hard and has a good mind-set.

Anyone seen any other bulletin board material out there?