No Burton? No problem
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D3football.com
And the title chase begins.
The Trinity University football team wasted no time at all last weekend in dispelling any doubts about its potential for this season, despite heavy losses over the offseason due to graduation.
Quarterback Michael Burton, the national player of the year in 1998, might no longer be under center for the Tigers, but his replacement didn't leave much to be desired. Roy Hampton tossed a couple of touchdown passes and led the Trinity offense to 466 yards of total offense as the Tigers routed Texas Lutheran 40-21 last Saturday.
His performance is a solid indicator that Trinity could once again be primed for a journey deep into the postseason, as the Tigers have advanced to the national semifinals in each of the past two years.
Hampton threw TD passes of 14 and 46 yards, and the Tigers only allowed 277 yards on defense. If Trinity keeps up such a balanced attack, they should be hard to stop at any point this season.
For the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs, there was still a very thin silver lining to this dark cloud. After getting trounced in the first period -- TLU gave up 26 points in the first 15 minutes -- the Bulldogs may have actually played even with the high-powered Tigers.
Texas Lutheran will have a week to think things over before returning to action against fellow American Southwest Conference foe Sul Ross State. As for Trinity, the Tigers will have their home opener this week against Gustavus Adolphus, from the MIAC. Don't count on a nail-biter.
It's payback time
Mississippi College was widely expected to be among the contenders for the ASC crown this season, but that road just got a little bit longer and a little bit windier after an early-season setback.
The Choctaws started off their 2000 campaign with a heart-breaking loss at the hands of crosstown rival Millsaps. An estimated crowd of more than 10,000 fans watched as Millsaps nailed a 29-yard field goal to top Mississippi College for just the first time since 1954. That is a lot of crow the Majors have had to eat over the years, but they found out first-hand just how sweet revenge can be.
Millsaps strung together a 43-yard drive during the game's final two minutes to set up the winning kick by Derrick McNeal. Things won't get much easier for the Majors this week when they travel to Sherman to face an Austin College team with a new stadium and a new attitude.
What a start
Louisiana College knew that this first season was probably going to be a rough one. But what they didn't know is that it could be pretty rough on someone other than themselves.
The Wildcats truly went wild last Saturday, throttling Southwest Assemblies of God 60-0 in the season opener, which marked the first Louisiana College football game since 1968.
Now, before you Wildcat fans go getting your hopes up, just keep in mind
that LC will have to entertain a mean Howard Payne squad bent on avenging a 28-14 Week 1 loss at the hands of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Game of the Week
While many fans in Abilene are eagerly awaiting the season openers for ASC powerhouses Hardin-Simmons and McMurry, the best game this week could come from outside the ASC's borders.
Rhodes College, picked by some to contend for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference title, will look to continue its quick start on the road against an upstart Maryville team.
Rhodes is coming off a narrow 17-12 victory against SCAC foe DePauw, and a similar back-and-forth battle is to be expected this weekend as well.
Maryville is riding a wave of confidence after a big 24-21 victory against NAIA school Cumberland, a scholarship program. This should make for an interesting matchup in Week 2.