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ATN Podcast 419: The Captains, the goat cheese, the Pride

Christopher Newport struck the biggest blow this week among ranked teams, with the Captains coming up with six takeaways and shutting out Susquehanna on the road, while the Goat and the Cheese Bowl got some time in the spotlight (mmm, goat cheese) and Springfield survived in a rain-swept defensive battle.

Which conference gave us a huge Act 1 finale this weekend? Which punter came up with a huge game in his team’s win? Which broadcast team shouted out Pat Coleman on the air, and got him to answer? Oh yes, we’re listening.

Who came up with the key defensive plays to get a game ball in a shutout win? Who got the special teams play his team desperately needed on a day where the offense was struggling? Who finally bookended a win in a rivalry game?

Plus, Christopher Newport coach Paul Crowley joins us for Fast Five, the analytics say what they’re going to say, and St. Francis finally gets out of the queue and onto the field. How many people played quarterback for Texas Lutheran? Who opened the door in Region 4?

And over-under: How many yards for Wash U against John Carroll this upcoming week? How many points will the winning team end up scoring in the Berry-Trinity (Texas) game? How many yards will Tyler Szalkowski throw for for Utica against Cortland? How many points do we really expect Baldwin Wallace and Heidelberg to put up on Saturday? And lastly, how many people will cram in the gates at Whitewater and St. John’s this weekend for their top 10 clashes?

Patrick and Greg answer these, plus your mailbag questions, in the latest edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

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Photo: @leary_kell38655

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ATN Podcast 415: Looking at a great Week 1

Kickoff comes tomorrow! That’s right, it’s Kickoff Eve and here at D3football.com we drop a new podcast to get you ready for the 2026 season openers on Thursday night, Friday night and all day Saturday.

This edition of the D3football.com Podcast is sponsored by GameStrat, the most reliable & fastest in-game video replay system on the market. Find out more at GameStrat.com.

If this is your first time following Division III football, well, welcome! We want to make sure you are as up to speed as possible when you get to your tailgating spot, and that includes us walking you through the basics of how Division III is structured, how big it is (and how hard it is to get into the Top 25!), as well as how the playoffs are put together.

We’ll also take you around all six regions on the Week 1 schedule and go through a game of the week for each region, plus two more games to keep an eye on. Who’s on the run in Region 1? Who’s in the queue in Region 2? You get the idea. Plus, Greg and Patrick take us through a Week 1 viewing schedule, one game at a time, and it’s a new season, so there’s a new bit in this podcast. A new feature. Check it out.

We have this and more in the latest edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

Mailbag topics include: Which Division III coach could be next to take a Division I FCS head coaching job? Is Division III really losing too much in terms of transfers? Which unlikely predictions are most likely to come true? How will D-III fare against non-Division III opponents this week? Plus, yes, we will talk about Manchester leaving D-III next season and what it means for the HCAC, perhaps the OAC and perhaps the SAA.

Notes from the show: Etchglow’s transfer portal tracker

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

Photos: Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com; JCU athletics photo by CJ Lyon; UMHB athletics; Eastern athletics; Steve Woltmann for North Central athletics; Millsaps athletics

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ATN Podcast 410: Polar Bears in Ireland, new coach in DC, preseason thoughts

We’re just 72 days away from the start of the Division III football season, and in that time, there’s a bunch of work to get done, including getting ready for the D3football.com preseason Top 25. We’re hungry for football to get started! And we’re getting you there with a couple of great conversations with coaches and Division III schools putting in that offseason work.

That includes at Ohio Northern, which was stung at the last second in the NPI calculation and just missed the NCAA playoffs. Then the Polar Bears were stung at the last second in their bowl game, as Wabash scored at the end of the game, plus connected on a two-point conversion to get the win.

That’s a lot of stinging, but the Polar Bears have worked away from that, including going as far as Ireland to find a summer opponent and get themselves ready for the 2026 Division III football season. ONU coach Andy Fries talks with us about that trip, the beautiful Cliffs of Moher which you see on the podcast thumbnail image, breaking in a new quarterback and so much more in our conversation in Podcast 410.

Patrick Coleman also dropped by his alma mater, Catholic U., to chat with the Cardinals’ new coach, Kory David. Of course, things look a little different around CUA these days, and the new coach is a longtime defensive coach who played and coached at Cortland, while also driving defenses at Hobart, Muhlenberg and Eastern. In addition to answering the long-debated question of Wawa vs. Sheetz, David also talks about his two young coordinators, who he hired away from Mike Sirianni at Washington & Jefferson, as well as recruiting the northeast corridor, bringing a startup mentality to a CUA program which was 3-7 last year, and much more.

Plus we answer mailbag questions about Rowan and Hardin-Simmons, and discuss the latest coaching change at Hilbert.

That and more in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is a weekly conversation during the season, twice monthly in the offseason, about NCAA Division III football, and has been running since 2007.

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

Photos: Mike Atherton, d3photography.com; Ohio Northern Athletics; Rowan athletics; Patrick Coleman, D3sports.com