Turning off the spin cycle
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By that I mean the Backyard Brawl between Mississippi College and Millsaps, which ended with MC scoring the final 21 points and grabbing a season-opening 27-26 win over the defending SCAC champs.
Ever since it went down the message boards have been blazing with all types of rumors, suggestions, explanations and excuses. You know what I call it?
Spin. Pure and simple.
The discussions on the boards have been about whether or not Millsaps coach Mike DuBose pulled all of his starters in the first half or whether or not Juan Joseph was injured or whether Millsaps was even trying to win.
None -- I repeat, none -- of that matters. What matters is the facts and the fact is that MC won the game 27-26.
They won because they didn’t lie down and die when they were down 20-0 late in the second quarter. They won because they overcame their own miscues such as fumbles, blocked punts and penalties. They also won because of a sneaky fake punt from their own 7-yard line that saw Marcus Terry scamper 51 yards to set up the winning touchdown pass from Adam Shaffer to Justin Bullard.
No one cares what conspiracy theories Major fans are going to hatch or the playoff scenarios that are going to be thrown out. First of all, no one’s postseason fate is decided in the first week of the season -- except the Michigan Wolverines. That’s what makes D-III football such a treat. And also, Mike Dubose is a whole lot smarter than any of us on the World Wide Web and, if he did sit his first-teamers, there was a reason. Let him coach his team.
And don’t forget that Millsaps only rushed for 28 yards and allowed four sacks after giving up a total of seven in 2006. So for those who think that Millsaps gave the game away, don’t take anything away from the MC defense. Particularly Corey Cooley, who was named ASC Defensive Player of the Week thanks to nine tackles, a sack and a game-clinching interception.
We should all be cheering the fact that Division III football was treated to a barn-burner in Week 1 between two rivals who are playing for so much in 2007. What should be celebrated is a gutsy fake punt call that led to a win. We should remember that Millsaps signal caller Juan Joseph was fantastic again going 25-for-37 for 289 yards and three scores in less than three quarters of play.
The chatter will continue but the simple fact is that Mississippi College scored 27 points and Millsaps scored 26. It’s over and done with so let’s all think about next week.
Bad Week 1 but far from done
As good as Jordan Neal was in his career at Hardin-Simmons there is nothing the former quarterback could have done about 678 yards of offense. That’s the number that UW-La Crosse put up in its 47-21 win over the Cowboys.
Prior to this one all eyes were on the quarterback position, where someone had to replace Neal. Turns out this week is was three someones as Clint Bricker, Jordy Bernhard and Justin Feaster all saw playing time.
Judging simply by the box score, Feaster had the best day going 12-for-20 and throwing a pair of touchdowns. Bernhard was 5-for-10 while Bricker only threw five passes completing two. Only Jimmie Keeling knows who has the leg up going into the Linfield game in two weeks.
Another thing Keeling knows is that his team is not yet playing to typical Cowboys-standards.
“We’re not where we want to be yet, but I still feel we’ll get there,” Keeling told the Abilene Reporter News.
Keeling had to have been talking about his defense that was outgained 678 to 339. La Crosse’s Griffin Moe was spectacular completing 17 of 20 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns. While UW-La Crosse has had a great deal of success, giving up nearly 700 yards of total offense is unheard of in Abilene and you can imagine that major improvements will be made in their off week. The Cowboys are off this week before the head to Oregon to take on 2004 National Champs Linfield. Last season HSU beat the Wildcats 21-6 in Abilene.
The loss dropped the Cowboys 11 spots in the polls while Lacrosse jumped from No. 7 to No. 6.
Non-conference win vs. a conference opponent
This is totally my opinion but I think Sul Ross State needed to win its opener against Texas Lutheran to help people believe that last season’s 5-4 record was no fluke. What’s most impressive about their season-opening 33-31 win is that the Lobos won a game they probably should have lost.
ASC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year T.J. Barber had only 70 yards and didn’t score and the Lobos fumbled four times and committed ten penalties. Yet they still left Seguin with a two-point win. Though a coach would never be happy with those numbers he would be happy with a win and there are more than a few of us that remember those back-to-back 0-10 seasons when Sully wasn’t winning any games, let alone ones they should have lost.
Despite an atypical effort from Barber, the Lobos got a fantastic performance from their defense (only 198 yards of offense for TLU) and a near-record performance from receiver Joc Quise Brown.
Brown snagged ten passes, three for scores and totaled 256 yards receiving in the game -- just 20 yards shy of the ASC record set by ETBU’s Earl Morris against Howard Payne in 2004. Brown’s touchdown grabs came from 31, 43 and 31 yards again and two of them tied the game after TLU had grabbed leads. For his efforts, Brown was named ASC Offensive Player of the Week.
Brown wasn’t the only standout though. His quarterback Austin Davidson was 23-38 for 454 yards and four touchdowns. TLU’s Anthony Smith had 26 carries for 122 yards and was the brightest bright spot for the Bulldogs. He also returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a score. For that he was named ASC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Though TLU and Sully are conference opponents, this one was a non-conference affair. They'll hook up again Oct. 13 in Alpine.
SCAC attack
The SCAC had several big-time performances as every team in action picked up a win with the exception of Millsaps' one-point loss.
It's just one game but Trinity looks like they might be back to being Trinity -- at least on the defensive side of the ball. The Tigers and their "Black Flag" were in full force in a 23-0 shutout of East Texas Baptist. Trinity led 3-0 at halftime before finally getting untracked in the second half. Blake Barmore threw for 270 yards and two scores while running back Chris Baer (who suffered a season-ending injury in this game last season) scored twice. The Black Flag allowed just 142 yards of offense and only ten first downs.
Congrats also go out to Sewanee and Centre, who both opened their seasons with wins. Centre used defense and just enough offense to beat Bluffton University 14-9. The duo of Matt Johnson (16.5) and Adam Hay (13) combined for 29.5 tackles and Hay added a sack.
Sewanee snagged a 30-21 win in head coach Robert Black's first game. Blake Mears ran for 176 yards and a couple of scores while the quarterback duo of Brient Hobbs and Patrick Shelton did what was asked of them by completing seven of 12 passes and handing the ball to Mears.
Full schedule this weekend, almost
Only two ASC teams have yet to play their first games while three SCAC teams will open their seasons this weekend.
UMHB, the nation’s No. 4 ranked team, opens this Saturday in Belton against No. 12 Christopher Newport. The Captains beat the Cru 15-10 in Virginia last season and revenge could (and should) be sweet this weekend. CNU jumped from No. 23 to No. 12 in the polls thanks to a 23-17 win against Rowan. My pick is my alma mater by the score of 28-16.
Louisiana College starts their second season under Dennis Dunn with a home game against Millsaps. This is going to be a blast to watch as both teams can score with the best of them.
In the SCAC DePauw, Rhodes and Colorado College will play their first games while Birmingham Southern will play their first game ever on Sept. 15. Southern will host the Lynx and their stingy defense in two weeks.
Regional rankings
I'm not going offer any regional rankings based on one week's results nor do I really want to rank anyone on preseason merit alone.
But I understand that it gives people something to talk about so here's an unofficial regional rankings following week one:
5. Hardin-Simmons: If they give up almost 700 yards to Linfield, they won't be in here much longer.
4. Sul Ross State: Lots of offense, solid defense and the funniest coach in the league.
3. Trinity (Texas): History and a 23-0 opening win say they belong in the rankings.
2. Millsaps: Despite the loss, they're still the defending SCAC champs with the best player in the league.
1. UMHB: The best team in the South hands down.
These regional rankings bring me to my final point. I got an e-mail from an anonymous Huntingdon fan wondering what they had to do to get some respect in the rankings. I want to pitch the same question to the readers. My response was to simply keep winning games. I think that being an independent is tough and that the rankings are based a lot on historical performances. Teams are often ranked based on how good they were the season before. I'm just an observer and a fan but I'd love to hear more thoughts from fans or gurus like Pat and Keith.
So give me a shout at chris.allman@d3football.com. That's all I've got this week. See you in seven days.