Games to watch for 2005
|
|
“South” Region?
The NCAA’s South Region, like the West Region, covers a huge geographical expanse. This isn’t because someone in New Yawk doesn’t like us; rather, it just reflects the reality that most Division III football teams can be found in the northeast quadrant of the country. Dividing the teams equally into four groups means that the South Region includes teams everywhere from Pennsylvania to Indiana, Texas to Georgia, and points in between.
To make things easier on the writers, D3football.com divides its territories into smaller chunks. So when I refer to the South Region in this column, I am talking about two conferences and one independent. The American Southwest Conference includes eight football-playing schools in Texas, one in Louisiana, and one in Mississippi. The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference includes two each in Indiana and Tennessee plus one each in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Texas. Add to that independent Huntingdon in Alabama and you have the sum total of teams we’ll cover in this column. This small subset of Division III — numbering 18 teams — has contributed two Stagg Bowl finalists in the past three years. Pat Cummings’ Mid-Atlantic column essentially covers the rest of the NCAA’s defined South Region.
With the housekeeping out of the way, let’s have a look ahead to some of the games of interest in the South Region in 2005:
Week 1 (Sept. 3)
No. 4 Hardin-Simmons at UW-Stevens Point: Some folks in Texas are still unhappy about UW-Stout buying its way out of 2004’s game in Abilene, but the difficulty of finding quality D-III opponents means the Cowboys are once again headed to the land of cheese. At least Hardin-Simmons doesn’t have to result to facing a conference opponent twice to fill out a schedule as it did in 2004 (Sul Ross State).
Wesley at DePauw: New Tiger coach Tim Rogers doesn’t get an easy first game, as Wesley (8-2 in 2004) makes a visit for a rare ACFC-SCAC match up. Quarterback Ross Weithoff joins 14 other starters who return this season. In addition to dealing with its third coach in as many seasons, DePauw will be hard-pressed to find a replacement for graduated All-America wide receiver Jamarcus Shephard.
No. 11 Trinity (Texas) at Austin: This game is the last time the two long-time foes (69 meetings dating to 1904) will enjoy a friendly meeting, as the Kangaroos join the SCAC in ‘06. Although Trinity has dominated this series in recent years, they only lead overall 34-29-6. Junior Jacob Cannon draws the starting quarterback assignment for Trinity.
Week 2 (Sept. 10)
 UMHB had success running right at teams in 2004. D3football.com photo |
Huntingdon at Sewanee: A battle of two teams apparently headed in opposite directions. The Hawks improved four games from a winless 2003 and showed considerable progress late in the season. Sewanee dropped to its worst record since 1994 (2-8, 1-5 SCAC), with one of those wins coming at Huntingdon. Last year’s 28-17 result could easily be reversed.
Week 3 (Sept. 17)
Concordia-Selma (Ala.) at Millsaps: The Majors, with a huge incoming freshman class, promise continued improvement from 2004’s 4-5 (3-3 SCAC). This game is an unfortunate reality of playing Division III football in the Deep South. Legitimate Division III opponents outside your conference are hard to come by; perhaps that difficulty is why this game against a team with provisional NAIA status was put on the schedule. Millsaps is hardly alone; other ASC and SCAC teams frequently resort to scheduling NAIA or NCAA D-II squads due to the problems lining up D-III opponents. And, in case you’ve been in hiding, former Alabama head coach/recruiter extraordinaire Mike Dubose joined Millsaps this summer as defensive coordinator. CC-Selma offers “institutional aide” to its athletes per a story in the Selma Times-Journal, and lost its opener to West Alabama (2-7 in 2004) 34-12.
Texas Lutheran at No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor: Texas Lutheran might have one of the toughest schedules in the country. A week after facing No. 11 Trinity, the Bulldogs are once again on the road to face the No. 2 Crusaders. Last year, a young Texas Lutheran squad kept it to single digits in losses to both Trinity and Mary Hardin-Baylor, finishing at 7-3 (8-2 ASC). One more victory this year and the Bulldogs could find themselves squarely into the hunt for a Pool C nod. Nineteen returning starters, including nine on defense, should give them a chance.
Howard Payne at East Texas Baptist: Both teams come off of disappointing 2004 seasons. Mike Redwine replaces Vance Gibson at Howard Payne, and both he and East Texas head coach Ralph Harris face a daunting rebuilding task in the hotly contested ASC. Making matters worse, Redwine must replace 2004 all-ASC quarterback Adam King. For ETBU, it’s as much a matter of regaining the swagger that carried them through to the second round of the ’03 playoffs, as it is regaining form on the field.
Week 4 (Sept. 24)
DePauw at No. 11 Trinity (Texas): Once again, the first conference game of the season for these two bitter rivals will have a great deal to say regarding the eventual SCAC champion. DePauw has never managed to defeat Trinity despite steadily closing the gap. Two years ago a botched punt snap in the second half led to a safety and an eventual two point loss. 2004 saw the home-standing Tigers staked to a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, only to yield 13 points to lose by a single point. Whichever inexperienced unit — either DePauw’s receiver corps or Trinity’s secondary — wins the battle may turn the tide in this game. It would be nice to see the SCAC shake up the schedule once in a while, too.
East Texas Baptist at Austin: With their 15-11 upset victory, the ’Roos sent the Tigers into a tailspin for the rest of the year. Unfortunately for David Norman’s charges, that win represented the high point in a season which at the time seemed full of promise.
Week 5 (Oct. 1)
I think I had the same problem on this week last year — nothing terribly compelling. Trinity visits Rose-Hulman, and in their last year as a SCAC members, the Engineers would no doubt like to leave the Tigers with something to remember them by. Unfortunately for Rose-Hulman, Trinity has won the last three in Terre Haute by more than forty points per game. The most competitive game may be Louisiana College at McMurry.
Week 6 (Oct. 8)
McMurry at Mississippi College: after combining for three wins last year, both teams are looking for better things in 2005. McMurry seemed on its way up in ’03 but stumbled back to the form of previous years in ’04. The trip from Abilene to Clinton is exceeded in length only by that from Alpine (Sul Ross) to Clinton.
Huntingdon at Trinity: The last of four SCAC opponents Huntingdon faces in its first five games, and perhaps the toughest opponent the Hawks have yet faced. Scheduling like this makes you wonder if the Hawks might apply to be a football-only member of the SCAC. It seems unlikely the conference would consider such a scenario; but had Austin not signed up for ’06 …
Week 7 (Oct. 15)
Rhodes at DePauw: Rhodes has to be considered a contender this year, but needs to rebuild both offensive and defensive lines. They will be strong in both offensive and defensive backfields. All-time Lynx signal caller Daniel Swanstrom graduated, leaving a huge hole. Sophomore quarterback Mark Oliver, who completed 5-of-12 in very limited playing time last season, will lead the Lynx attack.
Week 8 (Oct. 22)
No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor at No. 4 Hardin-Simmons: Hard to figure who has more motivation in this game. The Crusaders were waxed in last season’s homecoming, but won the more important match up in playoff week two. HSU cornerback Will Galusha is back after missing the latter part of 2004 with an injury. Why is this important? Galusha was a one-man wrecking crew in the victory at UMHB, recording 12 tackles, forcing two fumbles (recovering one), and picking off two passes with 57 return yards. He also had a 75-yard kickoff return that turned the tide early in the game. A good deal of the UMHB game plan will likely revolve around limiting Galusha.
Millsaps at DePauw: this game could determine the conference championship, if DePauw can exorcise the Trinity demons of season past. The Majors themselves came within a fourth-quarter end zone interception of defeating Trinity last year. Millsaps returns a solid nucleus, but depth could be a problem as 50 of the 89 players on the roster are freshmen. Only Sewanee (37) has fewer non-frosh. For DePauw, it’s another game in a schedule that brings most of this season’s serious SCAC contenders to Blackhawk Stadium.
Week 9 (Oct. 29)
Mississippi College at Louisiana College: Remember the old Southwest Conference, which in reality was the Texas conference plus Arkansas? In football, at least, Mississippi and Louisiana Colleges play the same role in the ASC. The importance of the game to the two teams is shown in part by the fact that it is Louisiana College’s homecoming. An interesting side note: former SWC commissioner Fred Jacoby is also the commissioner of the American Southwest and Lone Star Conferences.
Week 10 (Nov. 5)
Huntingdon at Westminster (Mo.): This will be a good test of Huntingdon’s progress, on the road against a good independent opponent. Westminster may be the second-best team on the Hawks’ schedule this year.
Week 11 (Nov. 12)
No. 4 Hardin-Simmons at Texas Lutheran: If the Bulldogs already have two losses, they will be going all out to win this one to possibly qualify for a playoff spot. It’s unlikely the Cowboys, the one team to overwhelm Texas Lutheran last season, will be in an accommodating mood.
Wabash at DePauw: In Greencastle, the football season is defined as a success when one thing happens — you defeat Wabash. When these two schools meet in the annual “Monon Bell Classic,” throw out the records and prepare yourself for one of the most intense rivalries in all of college football. In fact, a recent ESPN.com poll named the DePauw-Wabash rivalry as the best among all sports and classifications in the state of Indiana. The game is always a sellout, and this year’s battle will once again be televised live on DirecTV.
DePauw broke a three-year losing streak in the 2004 Classic, defeating Wabash 14-7. Rogers can keep the home fires burning with another victory in 2005.
South Region preseason Top Five
Probably no big surprises here ….
1. Mary Hardin-Baylor
2. Hardin-Simmons
3. Trinity (Texas)
4. DePauw
5. Texas Lutheran
Next week
I’ll be attending Trinity’s opener at Austin College (hey, it is only 30 miles from home) and we’ll start to dig a bit deeper into some of the fun stories this season promises to bring us. Questions, comments, and story ideas are always welcome at ron.boerger@d3football.com.
Hurricane Katrina’s effects on the Gulf states may take a while to be fully realized. Besides the obvious devastation likely in New Orleans, there will likely be impact to locations such as Jackson, Miss., (Millsaps and nearby Mississippi College) and possibly Memphis (Rhodes) and/or Montgomery, Ala. (Huntingdon). We hope that you and your loved ones have done what is necessary to stay safe.