It all comes down to this
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Let’s start with the simpler of the two situations. As we mentioned last week, No. 7 Trinity (8-1, 5-0 SCAC) has sewed up the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference’s NCAA bid. Even so, this week’s game at Millsaps (3-2, 4-4) is hardly meaningless. Trinity would like to have the championship back to itself after having to share 2003’s title with a Centre squad it defeated 52-7.
Then there’s the little matter of hosting a first-round playoff game. As things stand now, Trinity would likely host Mary Hardin-Baylor next week. With a loss, the Tigers would have to travel to Belton. Defeating the Majors won’t be easy; David Saunders’ men have played well the last two weeks, upsetting Rhodes (5-4, 3-3) in Memphis just last week. If the Majors can pull off another upset, it would clinch third place in the SCAC. DePauw (7-2, 5-1) would share the 2004 conference title with Trinity.
Over in the ASC, the situation is a bit more complicated. No. 3 Hardin-Simmons (9-0, 8-0 ASC) leads the conference over both No. 8 Mary Hardin-Baylor and unranked Texas Lutheran, which spot identical records of 8-1, 7-1 in conference play.
Should the Cowboys win at home this weekend against the Bulldogs, they get the conference’s automatic bid, and UMHB likely gets one of the three available Pool C bids. If TLU can pull of what would be a shocking upset, however, the ASC’s three-way tiebreaker would come into play. Per the conference office, since the only losses the three teams would have came against each other, the automatic bid would determined by a random draw.
In this scenario, the ASC could qualify as many as three teams for the playoffs. If TLU wins on Saturday and won the draw, it’s quite possible that both HSU and UMHB could receive Pool C bids; this year’s pool C field is not as strong as last year’s. Still, Hardin-Simmons must be considered the overwhelming favorite to win on Saturday.
Milestone for King
Thanks to a strong performance against Louisiana College, Howard Payne quarterback Adam King passed the 10,000-yard mark in his career last week. King accounted for 397 yards and three scores through the air on 21 of 35 passes. He even added 73 yards on the ground as the Jackets (6-3, 3-3) came from behind in a seesaw battle to nip the Wildcats (4-5, 3-5), 44-41. The senior leads the conference in passing with 3,020 yards and has completed nearly 60% of his passes.
Playoff projections
There haven’t been a lot of changes here. This week’s regional rankings still tend to favor Pool C selectee Mary Hardin-Baylor facing Trinity in week 1, with the winner to face Hardin-Simmons in Abilene in week 2. Salisbury did slip ahead of Trinity in the South regional rankings, but most observers think that the Sea Gulls will be shipped to the East Region. In this scenario, Washington & Jefferson will likely get the No. 2 seed, Trinity No. 3, and Mary Hardin-Baylor No. 4.
Even though the Texas teams will be forced to play each other in the first two rounds, the higher seeds remain important, as they will determine where the regional final will be held. If W&J is upset in the first two rounds, or if Hardin-Simmons wins what some have called the “Texas sub-regional,” the final would be held in Texas. Given the distance between the teams in the state and the other regional qualifiers, that is no small consideration.
As mentioned above, should Texas Lutheran win, the ASC’s pool A bid will be determined by random draw; HSU, UMHB, or both could get a pool C bid. In this scenario, I would consider the Cowboys to have a better chance than the Crusaders due to the magnitude of HSU’s win over UMHB. DePauw (7-2, 5-1 SCAC) has the slightest of possibilities for a Pool C bid, but only if a lot of other teams lose this weekend, and the Tigers defeat Wabash. If not for the Week 2 loss to UW-Stout, DePauw would be right in the thick of the battle for a Pool C bid. Perhaps we will see the day when the SCAC gets a pool C bid, but that day is yet to arrive.
Monon Bell time
The last week of the regular season also brings us the 111th annual battle between DePauw and Wabash — for the last 72 meetings, better known as the Monon Bell Classic. DePauw (7-2) and Wabash (6-3) seem to be evenly matched. The Tigers, under first-year head coach Bill Lynch, are looking to break the Little Giants’ three-year stranglehold on the Monon Bell. The game will be broadcast in central Indiana, and will be telecast live nationwide for the first time on DirecTV channel 321. Former DePauw head coach Nick Mourouzis will provide color commentary for DirecTV. As usual, the game will be sold out by game time (only 650 tickets were left on Monday, despite an expansion to 10,000 seats). Also as usual, a paragraph or two can’t do the game justice. See DePauw’s Web site and Wabash’s Web site for much more detail than can be provided here.
Alumni from both schools will gather at watering holes across to country to witness this intense rivalry. Last year’s victory gave Wabash a 51-50-9 lead in the series, but DePauw still holds a 34-32-6 edge in Monon Bell Classics.
Pickett to receive ASC’s media award
The American Southwest Conference and its Sports Information Directors have selected Abilene’s Al Pickett as the 2004 recipient of the 2004 Outstanding Media Service Award. The award honors a member of the sports media whose coverage of intercollegiate athletics has been significant to a member institution, the conference and NCAA Division III athletics. Pickett is in his second season as a member of the Hardin-Simmons football radio broadcasting team, and is a frequent contributor to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine, covering the American Southwest Conference in the annual season preview issue. He also provided general coverage of Big Country teams and the conference as former sports editor of the Abilene Reporter-News. Congratulations, Al!
Around the region
DePauw turned in possibly its best all-around performance of the season in defeating Rose-Hulman 30-3. The Tigers rolled up 507 yards on the ground and had three ball carriers over 100 yards. Quarterback Ross Weithoff had a career-high 186 yards on 15 carries; running back Jeremiah Marks became the first DePauw freshman to have four 100-yard games in a season with 129 yards on 17 attempts. Rose-Hulman (4-5, 1-4) dropped the fourth in its last five games.
Maryville (Tenn.) improved to 5-3 and clinched its first winning season since 1999 with a 14-13 squeaker over Newport News (3-7). Quarterback Edward Dobbs, who stepped in at mid-season, had 122 yards rushing and completed eight of 14 passes for 122 yards and the game-deciding touchdown in the fourth quarter. A wide receiver reverse/flea-flicker, where Dodds received a cross-field pitch from Blake Thackston and in turn, completed a 24-yard throw to a leaping Blake Thackston, was one of the key plays on the drive.
In fact, head coach Tony Ierulli assayed a fake punt, onside kick, and a wide receiver-to-quarterback pass on the day. All were ultimately successful, the latter thanks to an interference call. Ierulli’s team is 3-1 since Dobbs — a 6-1 sophomore — took over at quarterback.
Games of the week
Texas Lutheran (7-2, 7-1 ASC) at No. 3 Hardin-Simmons (9-0, 8-0), 2:00 p.m.: One winning streak will come to an end when the conference championship is decided in Abilene. The Bulldogs are riding a seven-game streak, their longest since re-establishing football in 1998. The Cowboys’ eleven-game streak dates back to last season.
TLU faces the unenviable task of stopping the nation’s No. 3 offense, No. 2 in scoring. The Cowboys first-string offense has not allowed a sack all year; the defense has only yielded three points after turnovers. Cornerback Will Galusha (whose status is up in the air) is tied for the NCAA with 1.0 interception per game (eight in total) but is not listed on the two-deep roster for this game. One of those Galusa is tied with? Texas Lutheran’s David Garcia.
Given the level at which Hardin-Simmons has played this season, it’s hard to imagine the game being close. If Texas Lutheran can keep it within two touchdowns, it would have to be considered a moral victory. Keeping it to single digits, as the Bulldogs did against both Trinity and Mary Hardin-Baylor, would be a major accomplishment.
Monon Bell Classic, DePauw (7-2) at Wabash (6-3) ,111th meeting, 12 noon: see story above.
Huntingdon (3-5) at Maryville (5-3), 1:30 p.m.: The two independent teams have both performed better than expected this year, and this meeting should let us know how they stack up relative to each other. This will be Maryville’s last game as an independent — they join the USA South next year. Look out, Christopher Newport, Methodist, and Shenandoah — you’re about to get a new kid on the block.
Trinity (8-0, 5-0 SCAC) at Millsaps (4-4, 3-2), 1:30 p.m.: This should be a good game for the Tigers on several fronts. First, it’s a road game, and if Steve Mohr’s crew is to have success in the playoffs, it will have to play some road games. Second, Millsaps is primarily a rushing team, averaging 191 yards on the ground, over 230 yards the last two weeks. While it’s not Mary Hardin-Baylor, stopping the Major rushing attack could provide confidence going into a likely first-round matchup against the Crusaders. Millsaps already has two more wins in conference play than in 2003, and would like nothing better than to add a third.
Coming up next week
We’ll look at what the NCAA selectors have wrought, and preview whatever the first round brings us.