Choctaws face unenviable task
|
|
I’m running out of clever UMHB headlines
I’m going to provide a different take on this game, I think. This section will be used to tell you how Mississippi College can keep this game close late and have a chance to win (cue reader double take). Yes, I know I said that. Hold that email for just one second, please. Allow me to elaborate. It’s certainly feasible. A scenario could unfold to make what I just said come true. What is it, exactly? Fundamentals, of course! Joseph says it’s fairly simple:
“We have to protect the quarterback. We have to have a balanced offense, so that they don’t know what’s coming at them,” he said. “Defensively, we have to play extremely well. They are scoring a lot of points. They are very good. That’s one of their major things. They score, get the lead, and keep pressure on you defensively.”
This is a matchup of the conference’s two most high-powered offenses. UMHB comes in at 56 points per game while MC rolls up 40 a game. I don’t think that anybody looks at the way the Crusaders call plays on offense and thinks they’re the stereotypical “high-powered offense,” but putting up half a hundred is still putting up half a hundred. Coach, what’s the plan?
“We have got to play assignment football. They are so balanced with what they do. They run everything so well: the power play, the option, the counter, and misdirection. If you get out of position, they will burn you. If everybody follows their assignment on the given play call, we’ve got a chance. If everybody takes care of their responsibility, we’ll execute from there.”
Here are a few things you may not know. While UMHB leads the conference in just about everything, MC is second in the conference in rushing offense at 181 yards per game. They both allow fewer than 60 rushing yards per game. Mississippi College is actually better than UMHB in category, fourth nationally at 44 yards per game. In the total offense category, UMHB is fifth nationally at 515, while MC follows closely in eighth at 471.
Put the hype aside for just a second. A lot of people are going to write this puppy off as a foregone conclusion. Maybe I should do the same thing. But there’s just something about this one that won’t let me. You’ve got two teams who are very successful at running it and two teams that are exceptional at stopping it. Sure, UMHB has the better personnel. Sure, they’re one of the greatest teams at running the football that many of us have ever witnessed. But, this will be the best team UMHB has seen yet this season.
Furthermore, UMHB has a lot to play for next week against Whitewater. I’m not saying they are looking ahead, but if they were going to, this is the time. We’re talking about a No. 1 seed likely being on the line next week (assuming Whitewater gets by No. 20 UW-Stevens Point this week). Do not forget that next week’s game will be a regional game for both teams. I say again, for the purpose of clarity, it is not that they are looking ahead, it is that the possibility exists. Fredenberg is a very, very good football coach and I do have a hard time believing he’d let something like that happen. But, this would the time for it.
Am I picking MC? I just don’t think I can pull that trigger. But, I do think is the last chance for an ASC team to be able to take a run at UMHB late. No offense to you, ETBU and HPU. Close and late is something UMHB hasn’t seen yet. Keep in mind that as good as MC is on the ground with Chris Blanton & Co., they’ve got a pretty good quarterback back there in Adam Shaffer. He’s finally completely back to 100% after missing nine and a half games last year.
“The big thing with Adam was getting him back. In the very first game last year, in the first half against Millsaps, he threw for five touchdowns and over 300 yards and then he got hurt on the last play of the half. We lost him for the rest of the year. Now he’s back and it’s taken him three or four ball games to get back into that old form. He’s back to where he was as far as playing fast, anticipating, finding wide receivers when they are open. He’s helped us to get back to what we’ve been doing.”
The Choctaws are fairly balanced on offense. They can go two-dimensional and be successful at it. Maybe this game will be close. Maybe. “But Wes, how can the MC offense hang,” you say? I’ll let Coach tell you.
“If you’re just one dimensional, you will have a very hard time. You need balance. They’re a great football team. They’re a great defense. The stats show that,” said Joseph. “They’re a quality team. They block punts and kicks. They return punts and kickoffs. Offensively, they are going to run it and make you like it.”
Joseph also spoke very highly of Fredenberg. “Pete’s done a great job down there. He’s got a great team. He’s doing well. I was the first coach at Belhaven when he started his program. We started our programs at the same time and we used to play each other,” said Joseph. “You can see by the continuity of his program, the continuity of his staff, the continuity in his recruiting… that lends itself to success and he’s done a great job with that.”
So the stage is set in Clinton on Saturday. Can the Choctaws keep the Crusaders to a small number on the ground (relatively, of course)? Can they have some success against the Purple Crush and put some points up? I suppose we’ll find out on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
Six. Hundred. Yards.
My friends and family have determined that I have finally regained enough mental stability to revisit Saturday’s Trinity/DePauw game.
Trinity had over 600 yards of offense. 600. Seisceintos. DC. (That’s Roman numerals, if you are scoring at home.) If you want to specific, it was exactly 619 yards. I don’t have a great grasp on 619 in Roman numerals (DCXIX?), so I rounded. Anyway, since 1995, DePauw has not allowed 600 yards to an opponent. The highest yardage allowed was in the 42-33 shootout against TU in ’02 when the Texas Tigers gained 526.
It was far and away one of the most remarkable offensive performances I’ve ever seen. Blake Barmore went 22-32 for 476 yards and two scores. He also ran for two more touchdowns. Trinity averaged 8 yards a play, 14 yards per pass attempt, and 21 yards per completion. Those numbers are all fairly high.
Trinity ran out to a quick 19-0 lead. I thought it was going to be a long afternoon. DePauw opened the play book and rallied to 26-14. Trinity had the ball with the half set to expire when TU RB Matt Moorefield inexplicably attempted to lateral the ball to nobody in particular. DPU safety Mike Sprengnether scooped and scored and DPU went in down just 26-21. However, whatever TU saw in the first half, the adjustments they made for the second half worked. TU scored 17 straight against DPU to put it way early in the fourth quarter.
DePauw did have Jeremiah Marks, but I’m not sure he was 100%. He went for 77 yards on 20 carries. Spud Dick had a career day, tallying 318 yards on 27-for-50 passing with three touchdowns and three interceptions. It wasn’t enough, though. Barmore absolutely picked the DePauw defense apart. He made great read after great read. It made it seem like DePauw was playing with 8 on defense. I must give credit to him for an absolutely remarkable effort.
So the stage is set for TU/Millsaps for all of the proverbial marbles next week. I’ll have more on this in next week’s column, but after seeing both Trinity and Millsaps, I’m not sure I can make heads or tails out of the whole thing. I just don’t know. They’re both really good football teams. I would not be doing either team justice by picking an early favorite.
As far as DePauw goes, it’s another loss to Trinity and another season without playoffs. They’ve still got a tough schedule left (at Colorado, vs. Austin, at Rhodes) before they host Wabash for the 114th Monon Bell Classic. It’s not necessarily a guarantee they’ll be 7-2 when they see the Little Giants on Nov. 11.
Games Worthy of the Live Stat/Audio/Video Feed
2:00 CT: Mary Hardin-Baylor vs. Mississippi College. Once again, I don’t know if this will be close in any manner. It might be. It might not be. I could feasibly see this thing being closer than people think. I could also see UMHB running wild and putting up a big number against the Choctaws. Let us find out together.
2:00 CT: Austin College vs. Rhodes. The Lynx are not out of this thing yet. If they can win out and get a Trinity win at Millsaps, we’ll have a three-way tie on our hands. Before they start thinking about winning out, they better think about how they’re going to get by the much improved Kangaroos.
6:00 CT: East Texas Baptist vs. Louisiana College. Are you really as good as you’ve been playing, ETBU? You lost by only two to Hardin-Simmons last weekend. You are contributing to a 3 team logjam behind UMHB in the ASC. We’ll sort some of that out this week.
Best of the Week
Blake Barmore. See above. Other noteworthy offensive performances include Sul Ross wide receiver Jarrett Dickers. 10 catches for 205 yards and 4 touchdowns will get you in this space every week. The ASC gave their offensive POTW to the UMHB front 5 this week. I think that’s a fine idea. I’m going to borrow it if such a thing is allowed. To Luke Long, Josh Littlejohn, Tyler Hykel, Jordan Hataway, and Caleb Woodall, heck of a job, fellers. The Crusaders went for 420 on the ground in their 70-14 win over Louisiana College.
Defensively, Howard Payne linebacker Landon Dyer had 15 tackles in the loss to McMurry. In the same game, McMurry’s Joe Alexander had two fumble recoveries, one of which he took to the house and an interception. He single-handedly came away with three turnovers. The rest of his team only had five. Eight Howard Payne turnovers. You won’t win many that way. In the SCAC, Millsaps cornerback Jonathan Brooks had a very Joe Alexander-esque day. He had two interceptions and a scoop and score fumble recovery in the win against Sewanee.
My ATR Top 5
1. No. 2 UMHB (6-0, 5-0) at Mississippi College
2. Millsaps (6-1, 5-0) vs. some team named “Bye”
3. Trinity (5-1, 2-1) vs. Sewanee
4. Mississippi College (5-1, 3-1) vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor
5. RETBHS University
Everything stays the same until we get to No. 5. That’s Rhodes East Texas Baptist Hardin-Simmons University, since I know you were confused. I decided to give it to all three of them. While Rhodes has two losses overall, they did beat Trinity, so I give credit for that. I don’t know if they’ll win out and finish 8-2, but they’re playing as good as they’ve played at any point this year. ETBU played Hardin-Simmons tough, and if Hardin-Simmons had everybody else’s schedule, they’d be 5-1. I call it a tie.
Medium for submitting responses
I say again: I do greatly appreciate all of the feedback you folks send my way. Got a few critical emails this week and that’s perfectly OK, too. I write this for you people who enjoy ASC and/or SCAC football. Tell me how to make it better.
Contact me at wes.anderson@d3football.com with feedback of any nature including, but not limited to: queries (Can I get you to not say “What’s the planley, Stanley?” anymore?), suggestions, recommendations, compliments, criticisms, disagreements, conflicts, quarrels, sticking points, differences of opinion, incongruities, or factual inaccuracies.