Games to watch for 2007
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Last year was my first year writing Around The South and picking the top ten games to watch was a task because I didn’t have extensive knowledge about every team or every conference. In fact, I had very little knowledge of the SCAC outside of Trinity.
Now with a year under my belt, I have a little bit more of an idea of what a big game is for each school and each conference. But while we’re here let’s look back at the top ten games I picked from 2006 and see if they were worth their salt:
10. Trinity at Texas Lutheran: I thought that Texas Lutheran had the potential to pull the upset despite a down year in 2005. I was right as TLU upset the Tigers 14-9.
9. Mary Hardin-Baylor at Christopher Newport: Last year I wrote “a win is good for the Cru’s national reputation.” A close game is usually a good game and though CNU prevailed 15-10, UMHB won six straight after the season-opening loss.
8. Trinity (Texas) at Huntingdon: This one was bigger for Huntingdon just because of their independent status. I believed Huntingdon, in just its fourth year of football, could make waves nationally with a win. They lost 24-13.
7. Howard Payne at Mary Hardin-Baylor: This was a revenge game for UMHB, who lost to the Yellow Jackets 24-20 in 2005. And it was a great game…if you live in Belton. UMHB walked 55-7 after building a 48-0 lead.
6. Mississippi College at Millsaps: The Backyard Brawl is always a big game, whether I predict it is or not. I projected (and prayed) that this one wouldn’t be a duplicate of the 9-0 snoozer from 2004 and I was right. MC quarterback Adam Shaffer went berserk in the first half but suffered a season-ending injury. MC still won 52-28 but Millsaps went on to stun the SCAC and won the conference crown.
5. Linfield at Hardin-Simmons: Both of these teams were ranked in the top ten when the season began but by the time this Week Three matchup ended these two teams were heading in opposite directions. HSU won 21-6 and by the time the season ended, the Cowboys were in the playoffs while Linfield finished 6-3 and missed the postseason two years after a national title.
4. UW-Whitewater at Mary Hardin-Baylor: An opening kickoff for a touchdown and a fourth quarter field goal?! From two Top Twenty offenses? The effort was superb but this was boring to watch, boring to read about and boring to write about. Hopefully this year will be different.
3. DePauw at Wabash: I ranked this one way up high for two reasons. First, I got on the DePauw bandwagon and I really thought that this game would be the regular season finale for the Tigers as they geared up for the playoffs. Secondly, they had played 112 times before this, usually in front of big crowds and on national television. Wabash went up 14-0 early before DePauw tied it at 14-14 before the Little Giants won it 23-20.
2. DePauw at Trinity: I already mentioned my fascination with DePauw so I thought this game and these two teams would determine the SCAC winner. It was a fantastic game that saw Trinity score twice in the last six minutes to get a 26-15 win but who knew that both of these teams would bow to Millsaps in the long run?
1. Hardin-Simmons at Mary Hardin-Baylor: The Cru continued their dominance over the Cowboys with a pair of wins in Belton. First they beat HSU 28-16 in Week Five and then again, 33-21 in the first round of the playoffs. UMHB has now won seven of the last eight meetings but, in my opinion it will still be one of the top games to watch each year simply because no one else in the conference is consistently as good as these two.
If I had to do it all over again, knowing what I know now I probably wouldn’t change much. I would have removed the Trinity/Huntingdon game as well as the UMHB/HPU game and inserted the Millsaps/Trinity game (34-12 Millsaps win) and the HPU/Sul Ross game (60-56 Sul Ross win).
Without further ado, let’s look at this year’s Top Ten to watch:
10. Sul Ross State at Howard Payne, Sept. 27, 1 p.m.: This one won't have much of an impact on the ASC championship but we can all hope and pray for another game like last season. These two combined for 116 points and 1,115 yards of offense. Sul Ross led 38-35 at halftime, which is impressive considering they didn't score 38 points in a game before or after the HPU game. It's highly unlikely that they'll rack up these kind of numbers again but Sully's T.J. Barber is explosive enough to make magic happen.
9. Trinity at DePauw, Oct. 13, 1 p.m.: I would be willing to bet that either Trinity, DePauw or Millsaps will win the SCAC so this game will go a ways toward determining conference finishes. Millsaps and DePauw will play two weeks before this (more on that below) so DePauw could have a leg up on the conference by the time these two meet. Jeremiah Marks can make another big case for SCAC Player of the Year in this game.
8. Millsaps at DePauw , Sept. 29, 1 p.m.: This will be Millsaps’ first really tough SCAC challenge and if you ask me, their conference title defense begins here. Whoever wins this game will have an immediate leg up towards the conference crown. The real treat will hopefully be DePauw's Marks versus Millsaps superstar Juan Joseph.
7. Hardin-Simmons at Linfield, Sept. 15, 1:30 p.m.: These two are again starting the season ranked in the Top 15 and Linfield will be trying to avoid the fate they suffered last season. Last year's loss dropped Linfield to 0-2 and they finished 6-3. With no Jordan Neal or Brett Elliott, neither team will feature a Gagliardi Trophy finalist at quarterback for the first time since 2004.
6. Christopher Newport at Mary Hardin-Baylor, Sept. 8, 6 p.m.: This is quite simply a game the Crusaders shouldn't have lost in 2006. They shouldn't lose in 2007 either. CNU is No. 23 in the preseason and anything other than a convincing UMHB win (14 points or more) should be considered a disappointment to Cru fans.
5. Wabash at DePauw, Nov. 10, 1 p.m.: The 114th edition of the Monon Bell game is the only one of our top ten games to be televised nationally (on HDNet). Wabash will be defending the "championship" this season thanks to a 23-20 win in last year's finale. If DePauw doesn't win the SCAC automatic berth, they'll need this win -- and a few others -- to get into the postseason.
4. Millsaps at Mississippi College, August 30, 6:59 p.m.: Offense, offense, offense. The 45th Annual Backyard Brawl kicks off the season and it should be offensive. Shaffer was injured in last year's game but not before throwing for 311 yards and five touchdowns in the first half. There won't be any shortage of fireworks -- or fans -- in this one. More than 11,000 people watched last year's 52-28 MC win.
3. Mary Hardin-Baylor at Hardin-Simmons, Oct. 6, 2 p.m.: Even though UMHB has won seven of the last eight meetings, this game always means something in Belton and in Abilene. If Mary Hardin-Baylor wins this one that will make UMHB quarterback Josh Welch 4-1 in his career against the Cowboys. His predecessor, Cody Fredenburg was 2-2 in his career. That's like Vince Young beating OU four times or Brady Quinn beating USC four times. It's a big deal.
2. Trinity at Millsaps, Oct. 27, 1 p.m.: A SCAC title game rematch that no one would have predicted. I'm interested in seeing how Trinity responds to the 34-12 season-ending loss last year. Once UMHB got over the hump with the Tigers, they kept on beating them. Will Millsaps do the same?
1. Mary Hardin-Baylor at UW-Whitewater, Oct. 27, 1 p.m.: Whitewater is ranked No. 2 in the preseason polls and UMHB is at No. 4 and this one will command national attention just like last year. Hopefully for all of us, these two offensive powerhouses will score more than ten combined points (7-3 UW-W win in 2006). Both also have nationally ranked defenses but the Warhawks have the biggest offensive star in Justin Beaver. In their brief history the Crusaders only have a few losses they need to avenge: Linfield, Wesley and Whitewater. They could get back one of those losses in this one.
I should be at at least two of these games (CNU/UMHB and UMHB/HSU) so hopefully I'll see everyone there. If you think I left any important games off, just shoot me an e-mail at chris.allman@d3football.com and we'll discuss. Feedback is always welcome. See you next week.