Last week, Around the Nation gave you the first of our three-part look back at the 2006 season. This week we highlight the memorable players, coaches and teams.

We named our All-Region teams and All-American teams in December, which means we've already chosen our offensive and defensive players of the year and our coach of the year. Here, we focus on some additional highlights.

The memorable players
Ten players who as a group rival the actual Gagliardi Trophy finalists
Around the Nation has no beef with the selection committee, which seems to be a good mix of folks from many walks of life, most with Division III ties. And we realize everyone on the committee doesn't get to see as many games as Pat Coleman or myself, and didn't have the benefit of seeing the game we saw that greatly influenced who we both ended up putting No. 1 on our ballots.

Alma quarterback Josh Brehm was a fitting winner. Although his Scots team finished 6-4 and missed the playoffs, he put up huge numbers, and was a tremendous all-around candidate, with 3,448 passing yards, 30 TDs and a 3.78 GPA. However, his taking home the trophy signified what sort of year it was in Division III. There was no dominant player who was a no-brainer, like Linfield's Brett Elliott last season. Well, perhaps there was one, but when UW-Whitewater junior running back Justin Beaver missed five weeks with a broken collarbone, the race opened up.

With that in mind, here are 11 others (sorry, ATN couldn't settle on 10) whose play would have made them fine Gagliardi finalists:
Joel Clark, Sr., QB, Whitworth
Andy Collins, Sr., QB, Occidental
Pierre Garcon, Jr., WR, Mount Union
Nate Kmic, So., RB, Mount Union
Rocky Pentello, Sr., QB, Capital
Bryan Robinson, Jr., DE, Wesley
Mark Robinson, Sr., RB, St. John Fisher
Vance Schuring, Jr., RB, Central
Chris Sharpe, Jr., QB, Springfield
Derek Stanley, Sr., WR, UW-Whitewater
Justen Stickley, Sr., DE, Mount Union

The actual Gagliardi finalists (all seniors):
Tom Arcidiacono, RB, Union (East Region finalist)
Josh Brehm, QB, Alma (North Region finalist, eventual winner)
Ryan Kleppe DT, UW-Whitewater (West Region finalist)
Jordan Neal, QB, Hardin-Simmons (South Region finalist)
Also:
Tom Brew, LB, Case Western Reserve
Kirby Carr, LB, Bethel
Adam Haas, DT, Cortland State
Kam Kniss, QB, North Central
Tristan Murray, RB, Wittenberg
Chad Otte, S, Wilmington

Remember the best players
As we said in this space last year, it's such an undefined quality, what makes one player the best. No back excels without his line, and so, even though we've given this honor already to UW-Whitewater defensive tackle Ryan Kleppe and Mount Union running back Nate Kmic (When D3football.com named its All-American team on the day of the Stagg Bowl, it also chose an offensive and defensive player of the year), we should also extend it, in Kmic's case, to his line: Tackles Jason Lewis and Ryan Creachbaum, guards Tim Reash and Derek Blanchard, center Eric Safran and tight ends Anthony Antonucci and Chad Reynolds.

Together, these guys put together a rarity: a 2,400-yard season. And when looking at how few carries Kmic got in some games, one wonders if this could have been a a 2,500-yard or 3,000-yard year had Mount Union needed it to be.

Here's how Nate Kmic's 2,402-yard 2006 season compared to Justin Beaver's 2,420-yard 2005. The backs have compiled the second- and third-highest rushing totals in Division III history:

Their game-by-game breakdowns, with carries, yards and rushing TDs:

Beaver 2005
St. Norbert: DNP
St. Xavier: 13-110-2
Lakeland: 11-138-2
UW-Eau Claire: 32-193-2
UW-Stevens Point: 34-212-2
UW-La Crosse: 49-273-3
UW-Platteville: 24-123-3
UW-Oshkosh: 34-162-0
UW-Stout: 47-207-2
UW-River Falls: 30-145-1
Central: 32-182-1
St. John's: 34-168-0
Linfield: 34-197-3
Wesley: 24-185-2
Mount Union: 30-125-1

Kmic 2006
Averett: 17-73-1 (receiving TD as well)
Otterbein: 11-135-1
Muskingum: 6-61-1
Heidelberg: 12-126-2
Ohio Northern: 24-204-3
Wilmington: 13-74-2 (receiving TD as well)
Baldwin-Wallace: 35-215-1
Capital: 35-240-3
John Carroll 19-75-3
Marietta: 24-175-2
Hope: 6-43-1
Wheaton: 29-293-3
Capital: 38-169-0
St. John Fisher: 42-371-3
UW-Whitewater: 25-111-0

Both were sophomores when they had their big years, and Beaver's bad break in '06 leads us to spin the cliche anew: Junior jinx?

Here's where Kmic and Beaver rank -- after the Stagg Bowl -- in comparison to the all-time great rushing seasons, by total yards and with playoffs included (unlike the official NCAA records before 2002):

Ricky Gales, Simpson, 2,424 in 11 games in 1989
Justin Beaver, UW-Whitewater: 2,420 in 14 games in 2005
Dante Brown, Marietta: 2,385 in 10 games in 1996
Nate Kmic, Mount Union: 2,365 in 15 games in 2006
Chuck Moore, Mount Union: 2,349 in 14 games in 2001
Dan Pugh, Mount Union: 2,300 in 14 games in 2002
R.J. Bowers, Grove City: 2,283 in 10 games in 1998
Carey Bender, Coe: 2,243 in 10 games in 1994
Tony Sutton, Wooster: 2,240 in 12 games in 2004
Mark Robinson, St. John Fisher, 2,194 in 12 games in 2004

If there were a statistical way to quantify what Kleppe meant to his team, perhaps Gagliardi voters would have put that up against Brehm's 3,448 passing yards, 30 TDs and three interceptions and made a different decision. Instead, Kleppe had to be satisfied with a second consecutive Stagg Bowl (which I'm sure he wouldn't trade for a Gagliardi, as nice as the trophy is) and a D3football.com Defensive Player of the Year acknowledgement. The 6-0, 290-pound senior did have 14.5 sacks, including one in the Stagg Bowl, and 24 tackles for losses, not to mention perhaps the moment of the year. When the entire right side of Mary Hardin-Baylor's offensive line, three big dogs in all, devoted themselves to blocking Kleppe alone on a play in the Warhawks' 7-3 win in Texas, it showed what a force the Warhawks' big man was.

Remember this year's great surprise players
He was no surprise to close followers of Springfield, since he established himself late last season. But from afar, Chris Sharpe's emergence as the nation's leading rusher (161.8 yards per game, 4.1 yards better than Kmic) and scorer (35 TDs and a two-point conversion, for 17.7 points per game) came as a surprise. The junior quarterback operated the Pride's triple-option offense to perfection, and helped a revival that included six more wins this season than last. His prowess as a scorer was so great that if you take away his seven-TD day against St. John Fisher in October, he and Kmic would have tied for the most TDs scored this season. That seven-TD game, by the way, produced a lengthy list of new records, presented on the Springfield Web site as The Sharpe Report.

Remember this year's unsung heroes
We can't list them by name. We don't know all of their stories. If we did, they'd be sung heroes, right?

Still, it only makes sense to acknowledge the bit-part players alongside the big-time ones. Without everybody working in concert, each season -- and really the whole college football experience -- wouldn't have been what it was.

This is the item that gives it up for the players who switched positions so the team would be better off. The coaches who changed their schemes to fit personnel. Or noticed subtle details from the press box, or while watching video.

The wedge-breakers, up-backs and rocket men. The guy who hustled from the backside of the play to make a touchdown-saving tackle. The players blocking downfield. The letter-writing recruiter. The groundskeepers and stadium staff.

The fullbacks. The cut-blockers. The guys who play man coverage so you can blitz. The long-snapper. The holder. Whoever made your line calls. The guy who kept your huddle together. Or held you back when you wanted to lose it.

The workout wonder that was so far ahead of the pack when you ran, you had to push yourself just to keep it respectable. The tight muscle-shirt wearing guy who did the same for you in the weight room.

The guy who barely got on the field for four years and appreciated it more than some of the full-time starters.

Give it up for your unsung heroes. Don't forget about these guys.

Remember the comeback kids
We don't mean the guys who led rallies, but those who rallied to have a great 2006 after '05 was ruined by injury.

St. John Fisher running back Mark Robinson and Hardin-Simmons quarterback Jordan Neal were two of the best among those.

Robinson rushed for 1,570 yards and 24 TDs while sharing carries with James Reile, the back who stepped in last season when Robinson missed all but five games because of shoulder injuries. The duo, along with a Gene Lang-led defense, helped the Cardinals win the East bracket with a 31-0 blowout of Rowan. Robinson rushed for 110 yards and a TD in the semifinal loss to Mount Union, and finished his career with nearly 5,000 yards rushing. He was also an academic all-American.

Neal came back for a sixth year at Hardin-Simmons after a broken collarbone cost him 2005. The quarterback was ultra-consistent, passing for at least 225 yards in every game but one, with a TD pass and a completion of 30 yards or longer in each game. He was second to Wabash QB Dustin Huff in passing efficiency, and led his team to the playoffs with an 8-2 mark. Both losses came against quarterfinalist Mary Hardin-Baylor, while there might have been a ninth win if lightning had not canceled the Cowboys game at Louisiana College with Hardin-Simmons leading 28-12 in the second quarter.

The great story we never told
Cortland State safety Stef Sair, we figured, would be a good feature come playoff time. After all, he knows what it takes to excel in a tournament. He was the Division III 174-pound wrestling champion in '05-'06. Despite the Red Dragons' 9-1 finish, they didn't make the playoffs, and we waited too long on Sair's story. He was calm and humble, even though he was a force on defense, returning punts and even on offense -- his 25-yard run accounted for Cortland's only touchdown against Rowan. We would have liked to let you get to know Sair a little better, but with 234 schools and 11 weeks to tell their stories (16 if you make it to the Stagg Bowl), we can't do it all.

Remember the Division III players who might represent us in pro football
Whitworth's 6-7, 264-pound tight end Michael Allan hauled in Division III's first NFL combine invitation in three years. But no one from our division played in the Jan. 14 Hula Bowl.

Division III players are rarely drafted, and without a combine invite or post-season all-star game, a player's best hope is likely the seventh round or a post-draft free-agent contract. Cornerback Tony Beckham of UW-Stout was a fourth-round pick of the Titans in 2002, while Widener wide receiver Michael Coleman was a seventh-round pick of the Falcons that year. The Raiders took Gustavus Adolphus receiver Ryan Hoag with the last pick of the 2003 draft, and it's been all free-agent contracts, even for Gagliardi Trophy Winners like Blake (St. John's, Vikings) and Brett (Linfield, Chargers) Elliott, ever since.

Still, we've found that dozens of Division III players have at least caught a scout's eye, even if their NFL chances are a long shot. NFLDraftScout.com, a source used by USA Today, has at least a bare-bones listing for the following Division III players. Of course, many of these players won't even get into their rankings.

Adrian LB Taz Wallace
Alma QB Josh Brehm
Anderson RB Denny Kimmel
Averett RB Kyle Wilson
Bethel RB Phil Porta
Bridgewater RB Winston Young
Bridgewater State DE Mike Sirignano
Brockport State DT Nate Bowerman, T Thad Loomis
Buffalo State WR Johnathan Allen
Carnegie Mellon SS Aaron Lewis
Carthage FS Brandon Fox and SS Donovan Moore
Centre WR Adam Clark
Cortland State FS Stef Sair, DT Adam Haas
Dubuque CB Walner Belleus
Earlham QB Justin Rummell
East Texas Baptist DE Chad Glover, RB RoShawn Johnson
Frostburg State G Frank Boca
Guilford WR Chris Barnette, K Travis Fisher, WR Micah Rushing
Hampden-Sydney G Paul Williams
Hardin-Simmons CB Will Galusha
Hobart RB Doug Blakowski
Howard Payne WR Brandon Tolbert
Illinois Wesleyan DE Mike Stephens
Kean CB Aharon Kiett
King's CB Craig Haywood
Lebanon Valley T Dave Zimmerman
Linfield DT Michael Greenberg, G James Holan, DE Mike Ketler, T Jake Lucey
Mary Hardin-Baylor P Hunter Hamrick, FS Josh Kubiak
Millikin RB Nathan Wallick
Millsaps WR Chris Jackson
Mississippi College P Jonathan Russell
Monmouth WR Evan Haffner
Montclair State CB Derrick Simmons
Moravian RB Chris Jacoubs
Mount Union T Jason Lewis, DE Justen Stickey (listed as an OLB)
North Central CB Tim Bellazzini
Occidental QB Andy Collins
Ohio Northern DE Jason Trusnik
Ohio Wesleyan FS Kyle Sherman
Puget Sound RB Rory Lee
RPI RB Jay Bernardo, TE Jon Branche
Rowan DE Keith Heimerl, QB Mike Orihel, CB Dawaine Whetstone
Salisbury CB Byron Westbrook
Shenandoah FS Joey Berry
St. John's WR Kyle Gearman
St. Thomas WR P.J. Theisen
Texas Lutheran FS Jake Robbins
Thiel FS Darious Thompson
Trinity (Texas) T Derek Farney
Union RB Tom Aricidiacono, WR Steve Angiletta
UW-Oshkosh DE Ryan Neff, P Tom Roszak
UW-Platteville WR Brian Gallick
UW-Stout WR Jesse Wendt
UW-Whitewater T Max Sakellaris, TE Pete Schmitt, WR Derek Stanley, QB Justin Jacobs (listed as WR)
Wesley QB Chris Warrick, FS Mario Harris
Whitworth TE Michael Allan, QB Joel Clark
Wilkes FB Matt Pizarro
Wittenberg T Ted Londot
Wooster T Rick Drushal

ESPN.com lists far fewer players, the limited pool perhaps a better indication of who might actually get draft-day consideration:
Young, although ESPN has him on Bridgewater State, not Bridgewater (Va.)
Belleus (listed as a return specialist)
Collins
Trusnik
Heimerl (listed as OLB)
Allan
Stanley
Wendt

The memorable coaches
We chose top coaches in each region, and Around the Nation stands by the D3football.com all-Region selections. But if anything stood out among this year's most successful coaching runs, it was the influence of stability.

At Carnegie Mellon, Rich Lackner has been part of 31 consecutive non-losing seasons as a starlinebacker and coach. Lackner joined the staff after graduating in 1979, and became head coach in 1986. Two men who were with him that season, offensive coordinator Rich Erdelyi and defensive coordinator Tim Bodnar, helped him guide this year's 11-1 playoff team.

Much was made of Bob Berezowitz's retirement from UW-Whitewater after 22 years, but big reasons why the Warhawks were Stagg Bowl-bound for a second consecutive season were longtime assistants. Stan Zwiefel, the book-published architect of the UW-W offense, had 16 seasons experience with the Warhawks while defensive coordinator Brian Borland had 13.

Wesley offensive coordinator Chip Knapp has been alongside defensive-minded head coach Mike Drass since the early 90s. And while Mount Union doesn't have as many longtime assistants as it once did, most of its staff is home-grown, with former players filling several roles.

It took 16 seasons, but St. John Fisher coach Paul Vosburgh brought the Cardinals from a club football program to a national semifinalist. Mary Hardin-Baylor head coach Pete Fredenburg started the Crusaders program from scratch a decade ago.

The big coaching lessons this season seemed to be that the benefits of stability and longevity can be measured in victories.

Best excuse for not updating the team's Web site
We'd give Dubuque a harder time about still having a preseason article out front in January, but according to the fine print on the site itself, Vince Brautigam is responsible for both maintaining the site and coaching the team.

Brautigam excelled at the latter part of his job, improving from 2-8 to 6-4, with a season-ending win over Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference power Wartburg and a top-half finish in the IIAC. Dubuque was competitive in the second half of '05, bonded on a May '06 trip to Germany and then turned in the school's first winning season since 1987.

The six wins was more than the Spartans had from 2002-05 combined. Brautigam, hired before the 2001 season, was 7-43 before this year, but finally got the program on the track he wants it on.

So no rush on that website thing.

(For the record, there are articles from the '06 season on the Dubuque site under Team News/Recaps)

Best excuse for missing the team bus
St. John Fisher defensive coordinator Blaise Faggiano gets kudos just for showing up to the Mount Union game, as he and his wife left for Guatemala on Tuesday of game week to complete the adoption of a 7-month-old boy.

Faggiano returned to Rochester, N.Y., on Friday night, long after the Cardinals had left for Alliance, Ohio. So, having done most of his scheming for the game on Sunday and Monday, he rode with Fisher alums and made it to Alliance in time to coach the biggest game in the program's history Saturday at noon. Holding the Purple Raiders to 24 offensive points may not have been enough to win, but only Baldwin-Wallace and Capital slowed Mount Union as much this season.

And their defensive coaches likely had less hectic weeks in which to prepare.

Why Larry Kehres keeps growing on us, even as his teams are whipping us
It would be a lot easier if we could just hate the guy.

Instead though, the more we get to know the man behind Mount Union's success, the more we like him.

Three moments from this season stand out:

Many of you heard about this first one. Before Stagg Bowl XXXIV, Kehres had kind words for UW-Whitewater coach Bob Berezowitz, coaching his final game after 22 at the helm.

"He said to me 'If I have to get beat, I wouldn't mind getting beat today,’" Berezowitz recalled after the 35-16 loss. "I knew he didn't mean it though," the coach laughed.

There was no victorious riding off into the sunset for Berezowitz, who quarterbacked UW-Whitewater to an NAIA football championship in 1966, a year after he was a catcher on the Warhawks' baseball champion. Kehres coached for the 10th time in Salem since 1993, and took home the championship trophy for the ninth time.

Not many know about these last two. Pat, Pat, Gordon, Ryan and the rest of the D3football.com crew have been showing up at enough games over the years to recognize a lot of coaches, and have them recognize us. As the playoffs whittle it down to teams we've usually seen before, we're often fortunate enough to be able to walk up to a head coach on the sideline before a game and get a last-minute update on injuries, the team mood, what they think about the weather, etc.

These are things we often use in the broadcast, to bring the listener closer to the game's site and its principals.

Talking to Kehres before the Stagg Bowl this year, he barely mentioned football. Kehres asked how my 2-year-old son was doing, recalling how he was yelling in the background when it was my turn to ask a question during the previous week's conference call. He complimented by my suit (and apparently he's seen us enough times to know sweaters and polo shirts are as nice as we get, at least until the championship game). And Kehres shared observations about the diverse state of Virginia, which he has taken an interest in as his friend and former defensive coordinator Don Montgomery has been head coach at Emory and Henry the past two seasons.

Here we were moments before the biggest game of the season, and Kehres is so prepared he's beyond worry. He's asking me about my kids, which is about the furthest thing from the Stagg Bowl.

After the St. John Fisher/Mount Union postgame news conference, Kehres introduced a young man from the St. John Fisher student newspaper, and told us he had been contacted by him several times and that he was interested in journalism. You'd figure a coach who just won a national semifinal in somewhat of a struggle, would blow the guy off and go enjoy the win with family, players or fans. Instead, Kehres pulled us all together for a picture. We never did get to talk journalism with the guy, who appears from the paper's Web site to be Mike Spier (if you're out there, drop us a line), but we're frozen in time in that camera. Maybe it was nothing more than a funny moment, but hopefully it was a lesson to that student (as well as the rest of us) that there are nice guys at the top.

There are those who say Kehres has a fiery side, that he hates to lose, and isn't always a saint. But you've got to be a member of the Purple Raiders inner circle to see that. Quite frankly, behind closed doors is where most of those moments should stay.

For the rest of us, affiliated with the 233 schools that didn't win the past two championships or nine since 1993, we'll probably keep respecting a guy we can't find a way to hate.

Then again, all love and no hate -- what could be more Division III-appropriate than that?

The memorable teams
These might be the greatest honors, since football is pretty much the ultimate team game. No back can truly excel without a great line, and a great offense wins few games without a great defense. Football finds a role for fat guys and thin guys, fast and slow, tall and short, black and white, brutish and those more concerned with finesse. There are even roles for the young (players) and old (coaches, who are so crucial to success).

When we celebrate the memorable teams, we celebrate what all those individuals have sacrificed to bring everything together.

Remember this year's great surprise teams
Coming off a 1-9 season, Emory & Henry gave itself a chance to win the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship, but lost 24-6 at Washington and Lee, and finished 6-4. But it was two playoff teams, Carnegie Mellon and Springfield, that register as the year's biggest surprises.

As the Tartans continued to win, questions were raised about the competition they played (and they were legitimate questions, as CMU won 10 regular-season games against precisely one team with a winning record). But they were rewarded for their 10-0 effort nonetheless, and with a home game to open the playoffs against Millsaps, the Tartans scored all 21 of their points in the second half during a shutout victory.

The Pride, as mentioned elsewhere, got a great season from quarterback Chris Sharpe and went from 4-6 to 10-2, bowing out in a playoff rematch against St. John Fisher, 27-21.

Notable steps forward
Generally, the notable steps forward are taken by programs who seem to be headed in the right direction and aren't just one-year wonders. There's no way to know for sure what's really an indication of what, but we figure that Emory and Henry's five-win improvement to 6-4 and Springfield's six-win jump to 10-2 will mark returns to prominence for both programs. Bethany and Menlo, meanwhile, each improved significantly in the wins column, but were still subject to lopsided late-season defeats that indicated there's still a ways to go. Dickinson, which became an eight-win playoff team, may be a candidate to fall back to the pack as the Red Devils lose 19 seniors.

Puget Sound, with one win from 2001-03, was a seven-win team that might soon be a playoff contender. The same can be said of Rochester, which was competitive in losses to Union, Hobart and Alfred, and Kean, no longer a "gimme" in the NJAC.

To figure out who was moving and shaking, Around the Nation charted the increase and decrease in wins from last season for all 234 teams. This generally showed who was on the right track, but charting wins only can be deceiving, since teams didn't always play the same number of games they did in 2005.

Husson, for instance, surged to 6-4 after a 3-4 record in 2005. Three more wins, same number of losses, but odd circumstances were responsible. In 2005, the Eagles scheduled eight games, including a same-season home-and-home with Becker. Then NAIA Southern Virginia cancelled its game while Husson was heading south from Maine. The Eagles played a full 10 this year, and Southern Virginia was not among them.

More often, the postseason created a difference in the number of games played. Whitworth went to 11-1 after a 5-3 season, Their 12 games this season came from a 10-game schedule and two playoff contests. In '05, Whitworth had a nine-game schedule before Lewis and Clark cancelled, and the Pirates missed the postseason.

Without further ado, here are the biggest movers among the 234:

21 had three more wins in '06 than in '05: Allegheny (6-4 in 2006/3-7 in 2005), Austin (4-6/1-9), Baldwin-Wallace (7-3/4-6), Bethany (4-6/1-9), Concordia, Wis. (10-1/7-3), Colorado College (5-5/2-8), Gustavus Adolphus (6-4/3-7), Husson (6-4/3-4), Illinois College (6-4/3-7), Kean (7-4/4-6), Massachusetts Maritime (3-6/0-9), Middlebury (6-2/3-5), Minnesota-Morris (7-3/4-6), Mississippi College (5-5/2-8), Newport News Apprentice (7-3/4-6), Puget Sound (7-3/4-5), Rochester (7-4/4-6), St. Lawrence (5-4/2-7), Wesleyan (3-5/0-8), Wheaton (10-2/7-3), Wilkes (11-1/8-3).

12 had four more wins: Bethel (9-2/5-5), Dickinson (8-3/4-6), Dubuque (6-4/2-8), Franklin (9-1/5-5), Lebanon Valley (6-4/2-8) Menlo (4-6/0-10), Mount Ida (5-4/1-9), Rhodes (6-4/2-8), Springfield (10-2/4-6), St. John Fisher (12-2/8-3), UW-La Crosse (9-2/5-4), UW-Platteville (5-5/1-9).

Three had five more wins: Nichols (5-4/0-9), Emory & Henry (6-4/1-9), Millsaps (7-4/2-7).

Four had six more wins: Springfield (10-2/4-6), Coast Guard (8-3/2-7), Whitworth (11-1/5-3), Carnegie Mellon (11-1/5-5).

Notable steps backward
Delaware Valley, Johns Hopkins, Lakeland, Linfield, Monmouth and Wabash were all playoff teams in '05 that dropped off by three or four wins in '06. Union did the same, going from 11-1 to 7-3, but still got in. Willamette has gone from '04 playoff team to 2-7 in '06, but theirs wasn't this season's most precipitous fall.

Concordia-Moorhead had St. John's on the ropes again this season, but lost 14-12 to fall to 0-3. The Cobbers hobbled home 4-6, with a 35-point loss to St. Olaf the lowlight. That was a big difference from 2005, when Concordia-Moorhead was 10-2 and a second-round playoff team.

Thiel was a second-round playoff team in '05 as well, but lost a lot of offense. Quarterback Darrell Satterfield and receiver Brandon Chambers graduated, and an offense that averaged 32.9 points per game scored only 21.2. The Tomcats dropped from 11-1 to .500, though the losses were by 14, 10, seven, four and four.

Ferrum fell even further, from 9-1, leading the nation in rushing and in the playoffs to 2-7. The Panthers were competitive in early-season losses to Guilford and Bridgewater (Va.), the latter in overtime, before stomping Shenandoah 42-0. But the losses mounted, and November was unkind: They were outscored 110-21, in a 55-14 loss to North Carolina Wesleyan followed by a 55-7 defeat vs. Christopher Newport.

Those who fell:
Nineteen had three fewer wins: Adrian (5-5 in 2006/8-2 in 2005), Albright (2-8/5-5), Anderson (2-8/5-5), Augustana (7-3/10-2), East Texas Baptist (3-7/6-4), Johns Hopkins (5-5/8-3), Lakeland (5-5/8-3), Martin Luther (2-8/5-3), Monmouth (7-3/10-1), Moravian (4-6/7-4), Otterbein (4-6/7-3), Sewanee (2-8/5-5), Utica (3-7/6-4), UW-Eau Claire (3-7/6-4), UW-Stout (3-7/6-4), Wabash (8-2/11-1), Westfield State (1-8/4-5), Willamette (2-7/5-4), Worcester Polytech (3-6/6-3).

Twelve had four fewer wins: Beloit (1-9/5-5), Bowdoin (2-6/6-2), Delaware Valley (8-3/12-1), Fitchburg State (4-5/8-3), Frostburg State (2-7/6-5), Hampden-Sydney (4-6/8-2), Linfield (6-3/10-1), Luther (2-8/6-4), Methodist (4-6/8-2), Ohio Wesleyan (3-7/7-3), Union (7-3/11-1), William Paterson (1-9/5-5).

One had five fewer wins: Colby (2-6/7-1)

Two had six fewer wins: Concordia-Moorhead (4-6/10-2), Thiel (5-5/11-1)

One had seven fewer wins: Ferrum (2-7/9-2)

Notable steps in quicksand
Thirty-nine teams had the same number of wins as in 2005, including 14-1 UW-Whitewater, which returned to the Stagg Bowl, and 2-8 Cornell, which changed coaches and started 2-0.

Thirty-four teams won one fewer game than last season, including independent Huntingdon, which replaced N.C Wesleyan, Maryville and Westminster (Mo.) -- a combined 12-18 in '05 -- on its schedule with Ithaca, Wesley, Thomas More and LaGrange, a combined 26-18 in '06. The Hawks went 6-4 against the tougher opponents, after a breakout 7-2 season.

Twenty-nine teams won once more in '06 than they did in '05, including Mount Union (15-0/14-1) and Grinnell (2-8/1-9).

Twenty-nine teams also won twice more, including Wooster, which was a quiet 8-2 after a 6-4 season, and Concordia (Ill.), Juniata and Tri-State, who each stepped forward to 2-8 from 0-10. Macalester also went 2-7 after an 0-9 year.

Twenty-five teams lost twice more, including those who went from playoff-worthy to just above .500 like Cal Lutheran (6-3/8-1), Ohio Northern (6-4/8-2) and Salisbury (6-5/8-3) and those who took steps back instead of breaking the .500 barrier, like FDU-Florham and Knox (both 2-8/4-6).

Proof that wins are hard to come by
Playing in the mighty Ohio Athletic Conference, Heidelberg finished its third consecutive 0-10 season. Senior Student Princes have to go back to their freshman year for memories of their only career win, which might make the rest of us realize that nothing is a given. Victories are to be cherished, never taken for granted.

Heidelberg's season-opening loss came 48-34 against Oberlin, who in 2001 snapped a 44-game losing streak and a 59-game North Coast Athletic Conference losing streak. The Student Princes turned over their staff after the season, and the new coaches will have to win a game next year to keep Heidelberg from passing Oberlin or some of the others who currently outdistance the Student Princes. Bates, playing eight-game seasons in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, lost 37 in a row from 1991-95. Marietta lost 41 in a row from 1981-84. And Macalester once lost 50 in a row in the '70s.

We tip the cap to Lewis & Clark for finishing out the string this year, one season after playing its non-conference games but canceling its Northwest Conference slate, and going 0-4. The Pioneers played five more games this season, but had the same number of victories. They gave up 70 in back-to-back October road losses and 61 three weeks later, but we acknowledge the toughness of the 42 Pioneers on the roster, including the 17 freshmen who fulfilled a commitment even when the future of football at the school looked a bit uncertain. Interim head coach Chris Sulages and assistants Scott Pierce, Ian Falconer and Jarrod Murrieta kept it together for the Pioneers, who have the support of the administration -- for now -- in rebuilding the football program.

Becker still hasn't won a game in its two seasons, while Eureka, Hiram and Wisconsin Lutheran all backslid from 1-9 records in 2005.

The longest current losing streaks in Division III:
Heidelberg (36 consecutive losses, last win vs. Marietta, 21-13, on Oct. 4, 2003; 0-10 in 2006)
Lewis and Clark (18 consecutive losses, last win vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 27-11, Oct. 9, 2004; 0-9 in 2006)
Becker (18 consecutive losses, no wins in program history; 0-9 in 2006)
Eureka (16 consecutive losses, last win vs. Concordia (Ill.), 32-13, Sept. 24, 2005; 0-9 in 2006)
Hiram (16 consecutive losses, last win vs. Earlham, 7-2, Oct. 1, 2005; 0-10 in 2006)
Wisconsin Lutheran (16 consecutive losses, last win vs. Tri-State, 37-14, Oct. 1, 2005; 0-10 in 2006)

Look Mom, a new conference!
There were several movers in 2006 that came in with mixed results. Coast Guard (8-3) won six more games in its first season in the New England Football Conference than it did in its last season in the Liberty League. Austin became a 4-6 team in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after going 1-9 in the American Southwest Conference. Those made sense, as the Bears and Kangaroos each joined conferences considered to be weaker than the ones they left. But Menlo's jump to 4-6 as a member of the normally strong Northwest Conference was baffling following an 0-10 season as an independent. The Oaks were just 1-5 in NWC games, however.

Buffalo State, Plymouth State and Rose-Hulman saw virtually no difference in their new conferences, however. The Bengals were 3-7 in their first season in the New Jersey Athletic Conference after going 3-6 the last year in the Atlantic Central Football Conference. Plymouth State joined the NEFC and went 4-5, not much different from the 4-6 mark the Panthers put up in 2005 as an independent. And the Engineers may have engineered a move from the SCAC to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, but change was minimal: A 6-4 2006, after a 5-5 '05. Rose-Hulman was 3-4 in conference after a 2-4 SCAC mark, while Buffalo State was 2-5 in the NJAC after a 1-4 ACFC mark.

So for Colorado College (joining the SCAC next year) and other anticipated movers, the lesson is Be Like Menlo.

Remember that the more things change, the more they stay the same
A new year doesn't always guarantee a new result. Five Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams had same number of wins this year as in 2005, four with the exact same record. St. Olaf (8-2), Carleton (4-6), Hamline (3-7) and Augsburg (1-9) had no change year-to-year, while St. John's went 11-2 this season after an 11-1 mark last year. UW-Whitewater eliminated the Johnnies from the playoffs' West bracket each time.

The biggest stunner among the group may have been Carleton, which upset eventual MIAC champ Bethel 17-14 on Sept. 23 and earned itself an Around the Nation spotlight on Oct. 5. The Knights lost six of their last seven, however, including four times by five points or fewer, to end up with the same record as 2005.

Remember the first-half teams that went bad in the second half
Carleton is one. Sul Ross State, which started 5-1 and was in the playoff picture, is another. Their lone loss through Oct. 21 was to eventual quarterfinalist Mary Hardin-Baylor, but the Lobos dropped games at Hardin-Simmons 56-14, vs. Louisiana College 35-28 and at Mississippi College 31-7 to finish 5-4. Steve Wright is still leading one of the great revivals in Division III football, bringing Sul Ross to a winning season from back-to-back 0-10s in 2002 and '03. But at 5-1, folks tend to think there might end up a way to describe the season beyond "winning."

Remember the good middle-season teams
Buena Vista had a crazy season, losing three, winning four straight from Sept. 30-Oct. 21, then losing its final three. The Beavers were 1-2 in overtime games, including two OT losses in the final three games. But considering they were outscored 78-20 in games at Bethel, vs. Central and at Coe (combined 26-6 record) to start the season, the finish was with a flourish.

Remember the good second-half teams (The slow start, strong finish award)
Hope began the year 0-3, with competitive losses at Central (24-13), at DePauw (23-14) and vs. Wheaton (35-21). Two of those teams made the playoffs, and the three of them had a combined record of 26-7. The Flying Dutchmen pulled off a 24-21 win vs. Albion and a 49-43 overtime victory against Alma on the way to a 7-0 roll through the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. However, the early losses didn't help when it came time to set the playoff matchups, and Hope had none, losing 49-0 at eventual champion Mount Union.

Coming in Week 3: Our awards, In Retrospect (revisiting preseason predictions) and Miscellaneous Memorables.