OK, so I’ve written in the past about my concerns about Rowan (Immediate thoughts on Week 7 and Week 9). Today my fears came true. Rowan couldn’t muster up enough offense (or, according to observers, much of a sense of urgency) in a 20-19 loss at William Paterson. When was the last time William Paterson was the lead story on D3football.com? Sept. 19, 2002, for a Mark Simon Feature on a pair of Pioneers who returned to football after returning from military service.

Funny, when I started to write that sentence, my assumption was “never” — but I checked it out.

Rowan needs to come out firing next week. They won’t get into the playoffs with two losses, not in their final two games. There might be a two-loss team that gets in the field somewhere, but not in this situation. Rowan wins and it’s in (beating both Cortland State and Montclair, the other two teams they’d be tied with). If Montclair wins, Cortland goes to the playoffs because Cortland beat Montclair.

Nice little 32-0 run, Whitewater. That was another one of the early scores that sent ripples through knowledgeable D-III fans.

Who’d have thought that we could have six potential playoff teams meeting at the Monon Bell, Cortaca Jug and Dutchman Shoes games next week? Cortaca won’t have any effect on whether either team makes the playoffs (Cortland’s at-large bid chances are a longshot at best, they wouldn’t even be the best two-loss team out there) but Ithaca is in and Cortland will be scoreboard-listening. RPI almost didn’t make it to this dance, however, needing a late TD to beat Rochester.

Capital had another great day on defense. In fact, if you throw out the Mount Union game, Capital has allowed just 7.6 points per game all season. Usually I’m not in favor of throwing out a game to make a point, but Capital has allowed just 11.4 points per contest even with that game, and shoot, for most of the past decade the Purple Raiders have been the Priceline of offense — you know, name your own score.

Only today did McDaniel refute my hypothesis that their 4-1 season could very well turn into 4-6. The Green Terror had lost four in a row before beating Muhlenberg today 13-6.

Ferrum clinched its first playoff bid since 1990, UW-Whitewater its first since 1997, and Johns Hopkins its first ever. Welcome to the show. See you on ESPNews in a week.

If Crown plays Southwest Assemblies of God and nobody reports a score, does it count?

E-mail of the day:

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
K (xxxxxx@comcast.net) on Saturday, November 05, 2005 at 09:55:34 AM
—————————————————————————
Subject: What About Rowan
Notes: I consistanly monitor your website and I think that it great, however you never write anything about Rowan football. Rowan has been at the top of Division III football for many years and you never give them any respect. I would like to see anything about Rowan football Thanks

I think the moral of the story is, don’t complain about lack of respect on Saturday morning. Save it for the blog. Ugh.

Alright, well, I’m stuck at home today. This site doesn’t cover the mortgage, so on days when I’m not at work my wife often has to work at her part-time job.

So far so good on the Trinity/Amherst game, looks like we did the right thing sending Keith McMillan up there. Sounds like a good game at this point, although Teamline keeps cutting out at inopportune times. As best as I can tell, Trinity scored a touchdown on a broken play/bad snap field goal. Amherst came back with a long TD pass, but the PAT was blocked and Trinity returned it for a defensive two-point conversion. Trinity (Conn.) 9, Amherst 6.

Have already heard good stuff from our folks in the field. Apparently there’s a scenario in which the LL comes down to a coin flip. Kings Point and Shenandoah could be candidates for the open MAC slots. Looks like the weather is holding up so far at Central/Wartburg. Rose-Hulman does live stats so we’ve added a link to the Rose-Hulman/DePauw game on the Scoreboard.

Will post more as I surf through games.

We media members like drama. Photo finishes. Log jams at the top of the standings. Season finales with conference titles on the line. These are a few of our favorite things.

For several Division III teams, this weekend is about avoiding drama. “Leave no doubt,” as the Linfield fans used to say.

This is your chance, Ithaca. Beat Alfred and you’re in.

Mount St. Joseph, you got a second chance after slipping against Hanover. Take care of Anderson and take your place in the postseason.

UW-Whitewater, being “wacky in the WIAC” is overrated. Stuff Stout and stay out of trouble.

Del Val and Occidental can avoid some Week 11 drama by winning their game, their conference and their AQ this Saturday. Hobart can relegate the Union-RPI “Dutch Shoes” rivalry to the Pool C closet with a win tomorrow. As we wait to see who punches their playoff ticket, here are my two-cents worth (plink, plink)…

Wish you were here: If I had my way, I’d be listening to Rock Lobster, eating rock candy and heading to Rock Island, Illinois where Augustana and North Central will meet for the CCIW title. It’s tough to beat No. 17 versus No. 11 with playoff implications. Though I will say, I’m intrigued by Monmouth-Knox. Any game that involves a trophy like this has to be fun.

Don’t sleep on this one: Teams like Washington & Jefferson and Salisbury have more than a passing interest in the battle between Willamette and Whitworth. The Bearcats and Pirates will fight for their playoff lives as the former still has to play Linfield and the later already lost to the defending champs.

Most Likely Top 25 Team to Lose: No. 22 Central who travels to defending IIAC champ and current contender Wartburg.

Super Ridiculous Pick of the Day: All good things come to an end. Amherst 20 Trinity (Conn.) 17. I’m picking against the Clamorin’ Clucks, my alma mater, here. Especially if that means they are less likely to send me pledge drive solicitations.

Saturday night’s alright: …For doing something else. The only night broadcast is Chapman against non-D3 San Diego (Go Toreros) on www.usdtoreros.com. And that’s only interesting if SD’s coach Jim Harbaugh decides to suit up.