Hardin-Simmons just isn’t very good right now
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In Week One it was a 47-21 loss to UW-Oshkosh and then this week the Cowboys found themselves down 26-7 to Linfield before going berserk offensively. HSU scratched back to 27-26 lead in the third quarter and led 35-32 with 2:05 to go in the third.
From that point Linfield scored 20 straight points to take a 52-35 lead before HSU put one more touchdown up to close the gap to ten points.
I listened to this game on the Internet for a while and it sounded like a fun – and very long – game to watch. The numbers are staggering in both the positive and negative categories. The two teams combined for 1,191 yards of offense with 834 of those coming through the air.
After going with a bit of a platoon system in the first game the Cowboys opened the game with Clint Bricker under center. Bricker soon gave way to Justin Feaster and he proceeded to light things up. Feaster went 27-44 for 323 yards and two touchdowns and was assisted by Quinton Jones (143 yards and 3 touchdowns) and Mychal Carrillo (5 rec., 80 yards and two touchdowns.
But that defense? They’re struggling bad.
Now, writing this part of the column is going to be tricky for a few reasons:
First, I graduated from UMHB. UMHB is HSU’s biggest rival and I don’t want to appear overly biased. Don’t get me wrong…I’m biased. But I don’t look for things to nitpick about when it comes to HSU. But this is a column, not a news story and I’m going to write what I think.
Second, Jimmie Keeling is a phenomenal coach who I respect greatly. I don’t ever want to insult him or his efforts.
Third, the guys that play work their tails off and football is ten times more demanding than any basketball game I ever played in.
(For the record, my last college basketball game was a JV game against Hardin-Simmons. I scored one-point, almost got ejected and screamed a curse word about three feet from this girl I liked and her mom. If you’re going out, go out in blaze of glory.)
Fourth, it’s a little bit of a rant against the website that hired me to write this column.
And finally, polls are ridiculous. At least official preseason polls are. They do more harm than good. I do these Regional Rankings and they are completely harmless. They don’t even qualify as unofficial. Last week I ranked Sul Ross in the No. 5 slot and I haven’t seen them play since, like, 2001. I’ve never watched Millsaps play in my life.
I rank them based on things I read and people I talk to. Facts and informed opinions. Which is okay when you’re doing a harmless Around The Region column that only three message board guys and my dad are reading.
All that being said, Hardin-Simmons just isn’t very good right now. At this point in the season, I don’t believe that they deserve to be ranked in the Top 25.
For a group of people that vote in a national poll to rank an 0-2 team that has given up 99 points in two games in the Top 20 is just plain lazy. They don’t want to spend the time to see if Bridgwater or St. Olaf or Salisbury might be a better football team deserving of a better ranking.
I know very intelligent, powerful people in the Division III football ranks who think I am wrong but the logic doesn’t make sense. The reasoning is that they lost to two higher-ranked teams so they weren’t expected to lose. You might call my rant “biting the hand that feeds me” but I just don’t get it.
If UMHB was ranked No. 3 and lost 47-21 to No. 1 Mt. Union and then 52-42 to No. 2 UW-Whitewater then I wouldn’t expect them to stay No. 3. Last year the Crusaders, ranked No. 6, lost to the No. 2 Warhawks 7-3 and didn’t drop in the polls. Not a big issue in my opinion because it was Week 8 when it happened and it was a 7-3 game.
Take a look at the Top 25 poll and see if it makes any sense to you. Undefeated and in the Top 25? Sure. One win and one loss and in the Top 25? Sure. Zero wins and two losses and in the Top 20? What? Who is voting in these things?!
If you think I’m biased and I’m the only one who thinks this way then go vote in the poll in the front page of the site. More than 2,800 people have voted and 32.9% of them believe that Hardin-Simmons is the 0-2 team in the most trouble this season.
The people reading can tell that the Cowboys are currently not the HSU of old. The AFCA poll was just released and the Cowboys received votes. That still doesn’t make sense to me because it appears that the voters are not voting on performance. They are voting on familiarity.
No one can be expected to know the ins and outs of every single Division III football team on the planet. Not even Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan. But if you are going to have the responsibility and privilege of voting in a national poll then the proper time needs to be put in. It can’t be subjective. It needs to have substance and each vote supported by facts.
Players, coaches and fans deserve the facts. But that’s just my opinion.
Fantasy South
Got a great email from my old editor last week about what my Fantasy Football team would look like if I just chose players from South Region teams.
I am playing in my first Fantasy Football league this season and You get two quarterbacks, two running backs, three wide receivers, a kicker and a defense. If I were picking purely on fantasy points I think this is what my team would look like:
QB: Juan Joseph, Millsaps. The Peyton Manning of the SCAC.
QB: Adam Shaffer, Mississippi College. The Peyton Manning of the ASC. Hard to leave Ben McLaughlin out of the mix but I’m still giddy over Shaffer throwing for 311 yards and 5 TD’s in a half last season.
RB: Quinton Jones, Hardin-Simmons. The best player in an offense that is hitting it’s stride.
RB: Jeremiah Marks, Depauw. He leads the SCAC in yards per game (148) and has four touchdowns.
WR: Rodney McLain, ETBU. I’m going with McLain because I think he’s going to develop some serious chemistry with new quarterback Stephen Oehlschlager.
WR: Joc Quise Brown, Sul Ross St. 408 yards and five touchdowns in three games.
WR: Eric McCarty, Millsaps. No one in the SCAC has more receptions or receiving TD’s.
K: Kyle Pope, ETBU. Pope has had more opportunities to kick this season or TLU’s Holt Storrie would be the no-brainer.
Defense: UMHB. Trinity would be another great pick just because you should get fantasy points for a cool name. Black Flag is definity more masculine that Purple Crush. If I had to draft late round and both of those were gone I’d go sleeper pick and take Rhodes.
I would absolutely love to hear what you all think about my fantasy squad or what changes you might make. Email me at chris.allman@d3football.com.
The fight for independents
Huntingdon dropped a 27-24 overtime decision to Maryville on Saturday dropping them to 1-2 on the season. LaGrange dropped to 0-3 with a 38-12 loss to Shorter College.
Huntingon led 13-8 heading into the fourth quarter and had a seven point lead with less than 30 seconds to go before Maryville’s Lucas Wall connected on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left.
In overtime Adam Brummett kicked a 43-yard field goal to give Huntingdon a 24-21 lead but Maryville scored from 2-yards out on the first OT possession for the win.
Being an independent must be tough with the reasons ranging from recruiting to scheduling. There are no patsies on the schedule. I commend the Hawks for what they do and I sincerely hope they can string together a three or four-game winning streak. That will be tough though with Wesley on the schedule on Sept. 29.
Having a 59-year old linebacker didn’t help much
I feel like I sound kind of negative in this column but I don’t see the story in a 59-year old linebacker that doesn’t play. Did having a grandfather on the sidelines make a difference in Saturday’s 55-14 loss to UMHB?
Making a football team at any level is commendable. Making a college football team at 20 should be applauded. Making a college football team at 59 is nothing short of remarkable.
But if Mike Flynt doesn’t ever see the field and doesn’t help Sul Ross win football games then we won’t be seeing his life story on Disney any time soon.
I harken back to something Pat Coleman wrote as the media began to get wind of the story brewing in Alpine. The media is only apt to cover Division III sports like it’s the news of the weird or something.
In my opinion the story of Sul Ross is every single player on the roster. Remember they were 0-10 two seasons ago and they went 5-4 last season with no one on the roster over 30. I applaud Mike Flynt and I don’t begrudge him for soaking up the cheers but let’s not forget the kids that have made Sul Ross formidable again.
Top performers
Even though I didn’t put him on my fantasy two-deep roster I love the progress of Louisiana College sophomore Ben McLaughlin. He was 25-40 for 336 yards in Saturday’s win over McMurry and guided the Wildcat offense to 627 yards of offense – the most in school history.
I mentioned McLain because I really think Stephen Oehlschlager is going to be a good player for ETBU. I covered Oehlschlager a couple of times when he was in high school at Plano Prestonwood and I really liked him. I think those two are going to cause problems for people. Oehlschlager hit McLain for five of McLain’s eight receptions and his touchdown.
Kyle Pope also had another big week for ETBU as he kicked a game-winner with two seconds left on the clock. This came a week after he had tied an ASC record with four field goals in a game against Ouachita.
MC’s Adam Shaffer was 14-27 for 255 yards and three touchdown passes to Jake Allen. Allen finished the day with six catches for 141 yards.
Howard Payne struggled offensively in the game but linebacker Mark Jimenez had seven tackles, two sacks and one interception in a loss to ETBU. Also, Texas Lutheran cornerback Dwight Bonner had two interceptions and had six tackles in a loss to Mississippi College.
It’s not very often that we recognize punters but Mississippi College’s Jonathan Russell averaged 48.3 yards on three punts and all were downed inside the 20.
Juan Joseph set career-highs in completions and yards in a 43-10 rout of Austin College. He connected with 13 different receivers and hit on 32 of 44 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns. His pass efficiency rating for the day? 158.45.
He leads the SCAC in both passing yards (290.0 yards per game) and passing efficiency (151.7) and is third in total offense (280.7 yards per game).
Quarterback Jon McDonald of Colorado College, in his second career start, completed 25 of 31 passes for career highs of 310 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran 16 times for 46 yards.
Desmond Hendricks of Rhodes had eight tackles - six for losses - as the Lynx came from behind to beat Birmingham Southern, 10-7. Hendricks also had three quarterback sacks and leads the SCAC with four quarterback sacks. He’s also tied for the league lead in tackles for loss with seven.
Senior defensive back Tyler Moody of Centre recorded nine tackles (seven solo and two assisted), including a tackle for loss, and also forced a fumble and broke up two passes in a 38-7 loss to DePauw.
Memory lane
In last week’s column I wrote about the first games of some of the SCAC’s members and I got a fantastic email about a pretty memorable game that Centre was involved in back in 1922. I can’t believe I failed to mention Centre’s history.
The Colonels played in the first football game ever played south of the Ohio River in April of 1880 and since then they’ve racked up more than 500 wins. In fact, Centre currently ranks 13th in wins among all Division III schools. In 1921 they pulled of one of college football’s great upsets, beating Harvard 6-0 in front of 45,000 fans.
On Jan. 2, 1922, Centre played a role in giving birth to one of college football’s greatest traditions during their game with the Texas A&M Aggies in the Dallas Dixie Classic.
The top-ranked Colonels had outscored their opponents 314-6 heading into the game and both squads were apparently beating the life out of each other when A&M head coach Dana X. Bible had to call on a student from the press box to stand ready on the sideline. The Aggies went on to win 22-14.
Contrary to what some people think, that student – named E. King Gill – never played a down but the symbolism of “answering the call of his team” has become the rallying cry of the student body in College Station ever since. This never would have happened if the mighty Centre Colonels would have been putting a pounding on the “Fightin’ Farmers”.
I grew up in an Aggie household. Both grandfathers, an aunt and an uncle are alums and I know the story of the 12th Man like the back of my hand. What I never put together was that the Centre College that they played in the ’22 Dixie Classic was the same Centre team that I write about today. So thanks for the reminder Frank.
Rankings – National and Regional
I’ve shared my thoughts on the D3football.com poll already but there was more going on in the South than just Hardin-Simmons.
UMHB is now up to No. 2 behind Mt .Union. UMHB is up one spot from last week and two spots from the preseason spot.
Trinity is No. 15 while Millsaps and Mississippi College each received votes.
There are now two polls to take a look at each week as the AFCA released their first poll this week.
UMHB debuted at No. 2 behind Mt. Union. The Cru received one first place vote while Purple Raiders garnered the other 39 votes. Trinity came in at No. 15 while Hardin-Simmons and DePauw each received votes.
Here are my completely irrelevant, just-for-fun, no harm done Regional Rankings for the week.
5. Mississippi College 2-0, 1-0 ASC
4. DePauw 2-0, 1-0 SCAC
3. Millsaps 2-1, 1-0 SCAC
2. Trinity 2-0, 0-0 SCAC
1. UMHB 2-0, 1-0 ASC
So there is it for this week. MC is in and Sully dropped out. DePauw is also in thanks to a 3-0 mark. As always you guys can reach me by e-mail. If any of you HSU fans want to begin sending your hate mail that address is chris.allman@d3football.com.