ATN Podcast: A tangled, tangled web

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Pat Coleman

Nate Oropollo’s four sacks helped drag Delaware Valley out of the Top 25.
Lycoming athletics photo

Having played two weeks can sometimes be more confusing than having played one, when you come to think about it. That’s because with some teams, we have to pretty much erase everything we thought we learned in Week 1 when it’s completely contradicted the second time around.

This week, Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman talk about the conundrums posed by Delaware Valley losing to Lycoming, which lost to Brockport State, or Rowan, which beat Delaware Valley, losing to D-II Merrimack. And of course, Brockport went on to beat Buffalo State, after Buff State beat Cortland the week before. And don’t even get us started on Lebanon Valley, which has a signature win against Montclair State, except that Salve Regina also beat Montclair this weekend …

In addition, Pat and Keith talk about what a great Sunday it was in Division III, and that doesn’t happen very often. Plus R-Kal Truluck gets his name mentioned again. And it’s been a great season for the MIAC so far, which is 13-0 as a conference, but it’s also been good for the ECFC.

And of course, the big games are mentioned as well: Wesley-Salisbury, Linfield/Hardin-Simmons, St. John Fisher-Washington and Jefferson and more. All that and more in the Around the Nation podcast. Press play below to listen or follow the prompts to download. And if you want to more know about who we talked about, check the tags at the bottom of this post.

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Plus, here’s this week’s D3football.com reports.

Triple Take: Enter Rivalry Week

Posted on November 11, 2011 by ryantipps

Joe Wojceichowski and the Widener defense will try to shut down Delaware Valley.
Widener athletics photo

The intensity of rivalries is virtually unmatched. The players become more focused, the crowd more vibrant. Alumni flood to stadiums, and memories are dredged up. A win against a rival opponent can rescue an otherwise sour season. And it makes Saturday night celebrations so much sweeter.

Across the country, rivalries will be taking place Saturday as the regular season comes to a close and the playoff prowess in a few remaining conferences shakes out.

Pat Coleman, Keith McMillan and Ryan Tipps walk you through the action, with Selection Sunday right on the horizon.

Game of the Week.
Ryan’s take: Huntingdon at No. 7 Wesley. It’s been a couple of years now since the Wolverines were in a position in which losing the regular season finale would likely mean no playoff performance. But there are question marks for Saturday. Wesley’s loss to Kean earlier in the year made perfection necessary for the final eight games of the season. And Huntingdon won’t be a pushover. The Hawks have already dealt losses to teams that currently stand at 8-1 and 7-2. Could a team like Wesley, which has been to the national semifinals each of the past two seasons, get left out in the cold entirely? Their performance Saturday will be telling.
Keith’s take: Wherever you’re headed. The other guys nail the games with the farthest-rippling playoff implications. So I’ll go ahead and cop out, under the premise that there’s no need to single out a game when we have five conference championships decided (NEFC, NJAC, MAC, LL and NWC), rivalry games from Indiana to Massachusetts to Virginia — and Iowa and Pennsylvania — that make or break seasons. And beyond that, it’s Week 11 — the last game of the season for all but 32 playoff teams and 14 ECAC bowl-bound squads. Hundreds of seniors will hang it up after this. Parents will see their son play one last time, and tailgate grills will make a final appearance before heading into the garage for offseason storage. So I’ll play the Jon Gruden “everything’s awesome” role. Because, you know, it is.
Pat’s take: Widener at No. 11 Delaware Valley. Literally, you can’t do a playoff projection without the result of this game, and there are a lot of factors. Let’s see, Delaware Valley has this tremendously backloaded schedule, with Lycoming and Widener at the end. The Aggies haven’t looked very much like the young team that they are this season. Widener surprised Delaware Valley last year and sent them on a course for Mount Union in the second round, so the rivalry got amped up a little higher and Delaware Valley has even more motivation. But what could be more motivating than the only chance Widener has to get a playoff bid?

Surprisingly close game.
Ryan’s take: No. 12 Johns Hopkins at McDaniel. Part of the motivation here is seeing JHU almost drop their matchup against Franklin and Marshall last week, a team that should have been handled easily by the high-powered Blue Jays. However, what makes McDaniel a thinker in this situation is its track record this year: of the Green Terror’s seven losses, five were by eight points or less. McDaniel hasn’t really been able to bring all the pieces together to get wins, but the team has been able to hang around long enough to make it interesting. This Saturday’s game will be interesting, too.
Keith’s take: Trine at Albion. Maybe surprising only in the sense that the Britons are playoff-bound no matter the outcome, and Trine — the dominant MIAA program of the past few seasons picked up two conferences losses by mid-October. But I’m not sure I expect Albion to win, observing from afar. After an impressive five-game stretch, the Britons outgained DePauw 380-126 last week but managed just three points. Trine is the MIAA’s top rush offense (179 yards/game) and Albion is the top rush defense (96 yards). Should be a fun one.
Pat’s take: UW-La Crosse at No. 1 UW-Whitewater. UW-La Crosse gave UW-Whitewater a decent game in the season opener. It’s not likely to be the same close game it was in September, but it will be interesting to see how the teams have grown since Week 1 … not to mention how Whitewater might do if it needed to use Levell Coppage in the fourth quarter.

Most likely Top 25 team to get upset.
Ryan’s take: No. 18 Franklin. Over the past four weeks, the Grizzlies have progressively played their way through the bottom four teams in the HCAC, starting with 4-5 Rose-Hulman and ending with 0-9 Earlham. So how will they react to all of sudden having to play a more competitive team again? Franklin is unquestionably the better team in this matchup, but Hanover’s advantage is being able to push Franklin enough to throw the Grizzlies off their game. This is a rivalry game, too, played for the Victory Bell. Hanover will be well aware of the fact that this is the last game of their season, win or lose. The Panthers will surely want to win.
Keith’s take: No. 9 Wabash. Just kidding Little Giants fans. Admit it, you got mad there for a second. No. 22 Bethel is my real pick. And with the 10th best rushing offense in the country at 279 yards a game, and with the No. 14 total defense, the Royals probably are just an unfortunate version of the team that played in a national semifinal last season. That said, it’s not easy to force yourself to play just for pride, and that appears to be all the Royals have left when they face 6-3 Augsburg in the Metrodome. Bethel and Augsburg had similar results against St. Thomas and St. Olaf, but only the Royals have to realize there’s no long playoff run ahead this year, just a long football-free December like most of are used to, and turning that into positive motivation.
Pat’s take: No. 13 Redlands. Last year, Redlands barely beat Chapman, finishing 8-1. The previous two years, Redlands lost in Week 11 to finish 7-2 each season and miss out on any shot at the playoffs. Not going to say any more.

They’ll be on your radar.
Ryan’s take: Muhlenberg. A win in the Mules’ crosstown rivalry game against Moravian would position them well for an ECAC postseason game. Muhlenberg stumbled a couple of times during the season but showed they could compete with the likes of Delaware Valley and Johns Hopkins. The team’s seniors certainly remember the special run the Mules had during their freshman year, and they’ll certainly be eager to channel that energy again.
Keith’s take: UW-Platteville. If the Pioneers can beat UW-Stevens Point for a second time, they’ll finish 7-3 and go down as the best team not to beat anybody great, but to only lose to really good teams. The three losses are to Wheaton, UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh, which are 22-5 combined. A seventh win would also eclipse the best record of the D3football.com era, a 6-4 mark in 2004.
Pat’s take: UW-River Falls. The Falcons started the season 0-8, but had two close losses at home, then won at UW-La Crosse last week to snap the losing streak. River Falls returns home this week to face UW-Eau Claire.

Rivalry game you’re most interested in (alma maters excluded).
Ryan’s take: Amherst at Williams. No matter what, this is the end of the road for both of these teams, which opt not to compete in the playoffs. So at stake is pride: the Ephs’ pride in keeping Amherst from an undefeated 2011 season; the Lord Jeffs’ pride in avenging last year’s loss. If you don’t know the history between these two schools, look it up. It’s unlikely that any two institutions have claim to a more natural rivalry than these two. And it’s rare for them to produce anything but a captivating game.
Keith’s take: Coe at Cornell. Okay, you can get Curt Menefee to pose in a “beat Cornell” shirt. Probably could get Fred Jackson too. But as long as I’ve been writing rivalry stories, I’ve never been able to say anything about this game but that they’ve played it for a long time (121 and counting). Am I just not talking to the right people? The two teams have followed each other from the MWC to the IIAC and are going their separate ways as Cornell heads back to the MWC, but I’m interested in whether fans in Iowa really care about this rivalry.
Pat’s take: No. 14 Kean at No. 15 Montclair State. Okay, so it won’t appear on too many lists of great rivalries but I’m going to go ahead and pick it here because there should be plenty of bad blood … or blood, anyway … to go with what’s on the line in this game, for the NJAC title. Kean coach Dan Garrett and both of his coordinators played at Montclair, which is just 18 miles from Kean, in northern New Jersey.

Who will have the least momentum going into the playoffs?
Ryan’s take: Albion. The Britons have to be scratching their heads after last weekend’s loss to DePauw and should have spent this week learning how to once again become in tune with their offensive mojo. Even though Trine doesn’t have the luster of the last couple of seasons, the team still knows how to force turnovers and run the ball down its opponent’s throat. Albion knows how to handle the run — usually — and the ability to stop that will help them with their confidence going into the playoffs. However, it won’t be a surprise if Albion is an eighth seed in the region, which wouldn’t be doing them any favors. The mental hurdle will be as tough as the physical one.
Keith’s take: St. Thomas. They’re 10-0, sure. But they don’t have a game this Saturday. So I guess it depends how you define momentum.
Pat’s take: Thomas More. Regardless of whether Thomas More wins this week or not, the Saints are already back on their heels after the loss to Waynesburg. Thomas More went solely from being a heavy favorite to being a favorite against Mount St. Joseph in their local rivalry game, but either way, the damage has been done.

Which team can alter its fortunes the most?
Ryan’s take: Lewis and Clark. The question isn’t which team “will,” but rather which team “can.” And the Pioneers certainly can. A win at Linfield puts L&C — a team just three seasons removed from a long string of 0- and 1-win seasons — in the playoffs. On the flip side, a loss for the Pioneers means they’ll be sitting at home next week.
Keith’s take: Hampden-Sydney. Besides Widener and the other teams that can play their way into the playoffs with wins, H-SC could change course the most on Saturday. A win over 7-2 Randolph-Macon continues the Tigers’ dominance in the series and gives them an advantage in recruiting. A loss could mean the difference between a home playoff game against somebody like Christopher Newport, Centre or Thomas More, or a road game at Salisbury, Wesley or Johns Hopkins.
Pat’s take: Trinity (Texas). Not sure it’s in a positive way, however. Austin has to be motivated to not finish the season 0-10. The Kangaroos have been fairly decent at home while the Tigers have struggled a little bit on the road.

Triple Take: Yet to see the field

Posted on September 9, 2011 by ryantipps

Mary Hardin-Baylor gets started this week.

Many got to take a deep breath after Week 1, knowing the opening day jitters for their teams are past.

Yet many people don’t have that luxury. Lots of teams across the country have yet to take a regular-season snap. It could be even more worrisome if one’s opponent already has a game under its belt. How much does one team improve between games one and two? We’re sure to find out on Saturday.

Pat Coleman, Keith McMillan and Ryan Tipps bring you a breakdown of many of the matchups set to take place.

Game of the Week.
Ryan’s take: UW-La Crosse at No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor. It’s a good sign for UW-L that in its opener against Whitewater, it held the defending national champs to just a field goal on four drives. (It could have been worse.) But on the other side of the ball the Eagles failed to rev up their own offense. That pattern won’t fly against UMHB. The Crusaders are making their season debut, but, especially playing at home, it would be silly to suggest anything short of the team being fully prepared to win.
Keith’s take: No. 16 Cal Lutheran at No. 7 Linfield. The West Coast powers clash for the third time in 12 games, after the Kingsmen opened last season in California with a 47-42 upset and the Wildcats returned the favor in Oregon, 42-26, in the first round of the playoffs. CLU rushed for 252 yards in its win and Linfield 197, so I’d point at supplementing the passing game by establishing the run again as a factor. Then again, offense wasn’t the problem in either game, and though there are 19 and 16 starters back, it’s a new season. I wonder if the Wildcats can generate a pass rush with Eric Hedin graduated, and if they can cover WR Eric Rogers.
Pat’s take: No. 1 UW-Whitewater at No. 21 Franklin. Despite protestations to the contrary in Kickoff about how difficult it is to swap in a new quarterback to replace the franchise name, Franklin did start strong last week. What a game with Valparaiso, which is D-I in name only, means, not sure. Jonny West did go 32-for-51 passing and threw for five TDs and Ethan Cook had a good day running the ball in a 49-35 win, but UW-Whitewater, not-yet-jelled offensive line and all, will be a much stiffer test.

Surprisingly close game.
Ryan’s take: Hanover at No. 10 Thomas More. Last year, this was a 56-12 shellacking during which everything went right for the Saints. So my baseline is that anything under a 44-point margin is surprisingly close, right? This year’s final will be well below that. Hanover’s defensive core is at the line of scrimmage, and the Panthers will make sure to disrupt some of Thomas More’s fluid run game.
Keith’s take: Delaware Valley at Washington & Jefferson. The Aggies won, 27-0, in the marquee game of the MAC-PAC challenge last season, but needed late heroics to beat Muhlenberg, 10-9, in Week 1. Meanwhile, W&J smashed Juniata, 40-0. The Aggies’ win over the Presidents last year wasn’t even as close as it looked, as W&J couldn’t muster a first down for three quarters. While most of the Aggies’ defense is back, and looked in form last week, they have almost an entirely new offense. Plus, thunderstorms are in the Pittsburgh-area forecast for Saturday, which means this one could be an ugly, points-are-hard-to-come-by affair.
Pat’s take: No. 4 St. Thomas at UW-River Falls. Expect Matt Walker’s Falcons to be more prepared than you might expect for a team playing its first game. Without a wealth of tape to go on against a program under a new head coach, St. Thomas will have to be ready to adjust on the fly.

Most likely Top 25 team to get upset.
Ryan’s take: No. 17 Alfred. This may not be because I’m high on RPI but instead because there are too many question marks surrounding Alfred. A returning starting quarterback Tom Secky is great to have, but does he have the supporting cast to put points on the board? RPI and the Liberty League should also be looking to redeem itself after a dismal 2010 season.
Keith’s take: No. 25 St. John’s. It wouldn’t be a major shock to have UW-Eau Claire and the Johnnies go to the wire, after an overtime game last season and three lead switches in the final 3:50 the year before. The Johnnies are coming off a 34-0 win in their opener, and the Blugolds a game where they gave up two TDs in the final six minutes to lose.
Pat’s take: No. 9 Hardin-Simmons. After a Week 1 in which each team had mildly surprising results, I just wonder if Hardin-Simmons has its way as easily with an opponent that didn’t bus 17 hours to go there. Instead, it’s the Cowboys with the long trip, to Willamette. Not that they’re busing to Oregon, mind you.

They’ll be on your radar.
Ryan’s take: Birmingham-Southern. Five picks. Five sacks. A rusher who went for 193 yards. If stats tell stories, then the Panthers are on their way to writing a novel for 2011. This Saturday, Birmingham hosts in-state rival Huntington, which is also coming off a lopsided win. With the SCAC logging Week 1 wins from Centre, Trinity and B-S, it’ll be interesting to see which of these conference-title contenders separates itself over the next few weeks.
Keith’s take: Pacific. The second-year Boxers led 21-10 in the third quarter before causing a lot of their own problems in a 36-28 loss to Simon Fraser. Turnovers, penalties and poor special teams caused Pacific to unravel. The 11^th game since the program’s revival could be its first win, if it cleans up the mistakes. The talent at former D-III member Menlo tends to vary wildly, suggesting it’s not out of the question for the Boxers to match up with the Oaks.
Pat’s take: Greenville. Likening this franchise to a little engine that could, as one of the favorites in the chase for the first UMAC crown. Last year this game took place later in the month and Millikin won by 10, but this year it’s Greenville’s sole non-conference game — the only chance for the team to impress outside of the league schedule.

Team playing its opener that you’re most curious about.
Ryan’s take: Wabash. Opponent Wooster isn’t as frail as it seemed in a shutout loss to open the season. And Wabash is set to prove that with several stars back this fall, the Little Giants deserve to be in the Top 15 or 20 nationally. The Scots can make this interesting if they can do some things they weren’t able to do a week ago, namely, hang onto the ball and protect the backfield. It doesn’t sound easy, and it’s even harder to put that into practice. Wabash will bring pressure for 60 minutes and rattle Woo’s cage the whole way through.
Keith’s take: Montclair State. I think the Red Hawks have a good chance at being the first East Region in four seasons to earn a No. 1 seed and relegate Mount Union to its own bracket in the North. But, one step at a time, and Salve Regina is no pushover. Montclair State’s excursion into the NEFC couldn’t have gone any better last season, in a 34-0 win against Westfield State. This time around, points could be at a premium. I’ll be watching closely to see if the Red Hawks can take the first step toward being that banner-carrier for the East.
Pat’s take: Mount Union. Who isn’t? Especially after UW-Oshkosh held on to beat Central last week. The Titans also have a week of practice up on the Purple Raiders, but note that I didn’t put this game as surprisingly close.

Which team will bounce back from a Week 1 loss?
Ryan’s take: Ursinus. The Bears surely learned after last week that what began in one half may not necessarily carry over to the next. There are things for Ursinus to build off of: posting almost 200 yards passing, picking off opponent Albright twice and having two players reach double digits in tackles. This week’s competition, Gettysburg, pushed an exciting game against Ursinus last season. No reason not to expect the same again — with Ursinus again coming out on top.
Keith’s take: No. 15 North Central. The Cardinals seem an obvious choice, as they were expected to be one of the nation’s elite teams before a loss at Redlands last week. They play another night game, but this one in front of the home crowd in Naperville. Bethel (Tenn.) pulled out a victory against UW-Eau Claire last week, but it will find a talented and eager-to-avoid-starting-0-2 team tougher to defeat.
Pat’s take: McDaniel. There have been some questions going around this week as to which team last week’s Widener-Moravian game more accurately reflects. (Widener won 44-6.) McDaniel took a tough loss in its opener against Catholic and both McDaniel and Moravian have show the propensity to give up points. But only McDaniel showed it can put them on the board as well.

Whose long road trip will turn out the best?
Ryan’s take: Ithaca’s. The Bombers are traveling down to Maryland — a 6.5-hour trip — to play Salisbury in the Gulls’ first conference game as a member of the Empire 8. While Ithaca struggled last week against a lower tier NJAC team, Salisbury hardly earned the automatic upper hand this week after blowing out non-D-III opponent Newport News. Why Ithaca may do well on the road is because the Bombers bottled up Brockport State’s run game something fierce last week. Including QB sneaks and sacks, Brockport gained a mere 40 yards on 27 attempts. Ithaca will need to bring this mentality to do well on Saturday.
Keith’s take: Hamline’s. The Pipers have been looking for a breakthrough win for a while now, and a weakened Pacific Lutheran (10 starters back) is ripe for the picking. New coach John Pate debuts an option-based offense, and as it’s more rare these days, players have even less experience to draw on when trying to stop it.
Pat’s take: Illinois Wesleyan’s. The Titans got a great performance last week from someone who wasn’t supposed to be in a position to contribute this year, and wasn’t even in the school last year. But Tate Musselman, a transfer from North Central, found himself high on the depth chart after injuries at wide receiver and responded with 34- and 82-yard touchdown catches. The IWU defense will face a bigger test at Alma than it did at home against Hope, but should come out well.