ATN Podcast 418: Another streak ends

Posted on September 21, 2026 by Pat Coleman

My goodness. It’s been 38 years since Heidelberg did that — that being winning a football game at Mount Union. This is just the third OAC loss for Mount Union since the turn of the century — how’s that for words we never expected to say — but it seems more impactful than the Ohio Northern game in 2005 or the John Carroll game in 2016 because it’s the Purple Raiders’ third loss in four games. And Mount Union is just 12 seconds away from being 0-3 on the season.

What’s wrong with the Purple Raiders?

This isn’t a question that we take lightly around here. When Mount Union did not win the national titles in consecutive years and then lost a regular season game, there was some glee in the Division III crowd, thinking that the Mount Union run was over.

It was not. This was 2005. Mount Union has won six more titles since then.

Patrick and Greg talk through the game, the repercussions for Mount Union, what might happen to the program this season. Surprise: There is still reason to be hopeful in 2026, Purple Raider fans.

UW-River Falls continued its amazing start to the season, one fueled by its defense in a 31-14 win at Wartburg. Patrick Coleman talks to Falcons running back Trevor Asher, Falcons coach Jake Wissing and Wartburg coach Chris Winter. (Plus more interviews and highlights in the video at the bottom of the page.) Susquehanna and Chapman register big wins against ranked opponents as well.

Our hearts go out to everyone in the UMass-Dartmouth community after the deadly stabbing of freshman running back Marvins Antoine following the team’s Friday night game.

Greg got over to the showdown of restart programs in Southern California, where Azusa Pacific got the win vs. Whittier, and we hear from APU coach AJ Parnell and quarterback Laki Wallwork. We tell you why your unbeaten team isn’t in the D3football.com Top 25. We hand out game balls, find the interesting stats of the week, Jake Wissing is our guest for Fast Five and more. Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas get you to your 21st night of September in this week’s edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

Mentioned in the episode: Podcast 264, the one with the second-round shocker. Story starts at the 3:00 mark.

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Photos: Heidelberg athletics by Nikki Miller; Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

ATN Podcast 394: All the Falcons, and Knights, and Panthers

Posted on November 3, 2025 by Pat Coleman

Two top 10 teams square off, and one team does something it hasn’t done in a quarter century. Yep, that’s a big deal. Heck, UW-River Falls hadn’t beaten UW-Whitewater that handily since the 1980s. We have talked about Kaleb Blaha fairly often on this podcast in the last few years, and that’s because he’s darn good, and was a big-game player on Saturday.

More postgame interviews from UWRF’s win vs. UWW (YouTube)

Three of the 27 automatic bids to the playoffs have already been handed out, and we give our assessment of how Wartburg, Concordia Wisconsin and Hanover will likely fare, what type of seeding they might end up with, and the like. Plus there are several head-to-head games for conference automatic bids this weekend, and we’ll talk through those as well.

Of course, you’ll never guess whether home teams or road teams won the big games in the WIAC. OK, maybe you’ll guess.

Plus, one time drove perfectly all day in Division III, and another drove perfectly long, more than 12 minutes?! Patrick and Greg hand out game balls. We take four mailbag questions, and make good use of Logan Hansen’s D-III NPI Simulator in the process. Who should you root for or against if you need an at-large bid? There are answers out there for you.

Logan Hansen talks about which teams still have a chance of getting an at-large bid and at least one of them may surprise you! We go around each region for even more stories and much more in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

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Apple Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast
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Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photos by Wade Gardner, d3photography.com; Hanover athletics; Photo for Concordia (Wis.) athletics by Katelyn Cardinale

ATN Podcast 392: Consistency comes through

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Pat Coleman

We’re getting ever closer to Selection Sunday, and closer to automatic bids being clinched. We’ve already discussed how few unbeaten teams there are this time of year compared to previous years, and of course, we had one more go down on Saturday when Wartburg defeated Central.

Wartburg has been really consistent at the top of the American Rivers Conference, or near the top of it. Head coach Chris Winter isn’t the only head coach who has been part of this run, but the Knights coaching staff has been really consistent over the years. We talk with Winter about how the program achieves this consistency while turning players over year after year, we hear about the key offensive guys who are healthy and the defensive starter who could be on the Owen Grover upward trajectory.

Plus, we look at the Whitewater offense, with its moments of brilliance, and try to decipher what they need. We take four mailbag questions, everything from deciphering which conferences have benefited the most from the NPI system and playoff expansion, to which play in the North Central game was most impressive, to whether there should be a cutoff for record for at-large teams, to which game — of a limited set of choices — we would choose to go see in Week 11 if we have to book travel now.

(Spoilers: The travel was already booked, and we’ll tell you where Patrick Coleman will be in Week 11.)

Plus, Patrick and Greg hand out game balls, one for one of the craziest endings to a game you could describe from Saturday’s games. We talk about how long it’s been since New England College had won a game before the Pilgrims beat Maine Maritime on Saturday — it’s longer than you think! We dive into the double SCIAC double overtime games, and the controversial ending between DePauw and Denison, and whether River Falls needs Kaleb Blaha on Saturday (it wouldn’t hurt!).

We spotlight the unusual stats of the week, Logan Hansen talks about which teams have the best chance of getting a top-eight seed and protected home field in the playoffs, we go around each region for even more stories and much more in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.