By Keith McMillan
D3sports.com
One might think that watching Mount Union rally for a 33-30 victory at John Carroll would make coaches and players at the other eight Ohio Athletic Conference schools cringe. Surely, they must be rooting against the Purple Raiders, who have won 60 consecutive OAC games.
The frustration might be the deepest for John Carroll, who has been good enough to beat Mount Union in each of the past three seasons, only to lose in overtime, by 10 and by three. But, as Ohio Northern coach Tom Kaczkowski points out, there is more to Mount Union’s success in OAC games than just numbers.
"What I think Mount Union’s success does," said Kaczkowski, "is it raises everybody’s level."
The OAC fields some of the nation’s best runners-up in Kaczkowski’s Polar Bears, John Carroll and Baldwin-Wallace, to name a few. Even when those teams haven’t been successful against the Purple Raiders, they’ve excelled in out-of-conference and postseason ventures.
Mount Union’s presence has forced the OAC’s other competitiors to get stronger, faster and better in hopes of clearing the Purple Raider hurdle. Kaczkowski says it makes the conference stronger as a whole, and postseason berths for ONU in the two seasons under the 28-team playoff have resulted in three victories over champions of other conferences.
"It’s not until we run into Mount again that we start to struggle," Kaczkowski said.
After an exhausting come-from-behind 21-20 win against the Yellow Jackets last week, Kaczkowski’s Polar Bears visit Alliance and the Purple Raiders. And the Baldwin-Wallace win followed a 14-10 loss in the opener at UW-Stevens Point and a night game at Muskingum on Community Day.
"It’s part of being in the OAC," Kaczkowski says of the top-to-bottom competition in the conference. "You don’t get a break."
But it still has to be frustrating for a powerhouse like ONU, who is 22-1 against Division III competition since 1999 and 0-4 against the Purple Raiders. Mount Union has won all four games by at least 24.
But ONU still wants to be the one to knock off the Purple Raiders.
"I think it’d be hard to say no [we don’t]," Kaczkowski says. "Everybody wants to have the opportunity be the team to beat them. But after this week we’ll dust ourselves off, win or lose, and get ready for Otterbein."
That’s just how tough the conference is.
So let’s get a couple of honest answers before we put this debate to bed.
The Polar Bears' recent history against Mount Union begs the question: Now that the Purple Raiders are over the John Carroll hump, can any OAC team beat them in 2001?
ONU, Baldwin-Wallace and Wilmington are all, at least in theory, good enough to win the rest of their games and snap Mount’s string of six consecutive OAC titles. But first someone will have to beat them, and only the Blue Streaks have come close.
Do OAC teams root for the Purple Raiders — who have won four national championships since they last lost a conference game in 1994 — to lose?
"We’re in a conference race," says Kaczkowski, "where any coach would look at the opportunity for one team to beat another if it could help his team. Anybody that could defeat your perennial champion could [help you]."
But, he says, there’s no dislike for the Purple Raiders except for during the week they meet.
"We’re proud of Mount Union and what they’ve done," Kaczkowski says, "and I think if you ask any other coach in the conference that, he’ll tell you the same thing."
Around the Nation
Cornell is off to an impressive start and has knocked off two of the top three preseason contenders in the IIAC the last two weeks. (Wartburg and Buena Vista). They don’t play Central, the other preseason contender, until Week 10 and visit surprising Simpson this week. The Rams had struggled since coming over from the Midwest Conference, where they had been successful prior to the move (they and Coe left in 1997).
It’s early to be looking at showdowns, but No. 24 Washington U. (4-0) and Carnegie Mellon (3-0) could be unbeated when they meet in their Oct. 13 UAA matchup. The Bears face Trinity (Texas) the week before, and if they get through that stretch unscathed, it could be "hello, playoffs."
Gettysburg’s Ryan Moore has what coaches term "a nose for the end zone." And he plays linebacker. Moore returned an interception 36 yards for a score as the Bullets trounced Averett 61-6. Moore has picked of four passes this year and returned three for touchdowns. He has 14 career picks and has returned five for TDs. Maybe Gettysburg could use him at defensive back and running back too.
Albright tied a D-III record for least passing yards allowed, holding Dickinson to minus-6 yards through the air in Albright's 27-12 win. It matched the record set by Central on Oct. 19, 1985, against Simpson. The Red Devils' Keven Williams and Mike Smith combined to go 1-for-8 with two interceptions but compiled 266 yards on 43 carries.
Games to Watch
TCNJ at No. 2 Rowan
The College of New Jersey takes a trip to South Jersey to face the red-hot Profs, who are averaging 52.3 points per game, in a 7 p.m. Friday night matchup. The Lions are unbeaten and 2-0 in the NJAC, but staying with Rowan will be a tall order.
No. 4 Washington & Jefferson at Westminster (Pa.)
The Presidents are winning this year with defense and solid all-around play, as opposed to the high-powered offense that carried them last year. (They put up 50 five times and 36 or more four more times). But quarterback Brian Dawson can still wing it, and Todd Fry toasted Hanover for 157 yards and two scores last week. The Titans are the last team to beat W&J in the regular season (19-17 last year) and they host this season. The former D-II school is ineligible for the PAC title, but they’d still love to atone for a 1-2 start against NAIAs and D-IIs by knocking off the Presidents for a second straight year.
No. 5 Widener at No. 16 Lycoming
I was at this game last year, and the Pioneers’ 50-49 overtime win still ranks as probably the best game I have ever seen. Wideouts Jim Jones and Michael Coleman torched the Warrior defense last year, and that was when Lyco had a senior-dominated defensive backfield. But I’ve seen Lycoming dismantle a team with defense, and I’m sure they’ll scheme something up to slow the Widener attack. Both squads are 3-0 in the MAC, while it's Widener's turn to play 10 conference games for tiebreaker purposes. The winner of this game has a leg up on the MAC AQ, just like the Pioneers got last year when they won and never looked back.
No. 22 Linfield at Pacific Lutheran
The Lutes are 0-2 and dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time in the three-year history of the AFCA poll following a 27-26 collapse at Whitworth. The Wildcats haven’t played a Northwest Conference game yet, but they swept the conference slate and went 9-0 last season. Linfield, who won 38-28 in 2000, gained just 40 yards in a 23-11 loss to current NAIA No. 5 Southern Oregon but has had two weeks to prepare for the Lutes.
No. 15 Western Maryland at Muhlenberg
Usually after the Green Terror beats Ursinus and then the Mules, they lock up the Centennial title. But Western Maryland ground out a 15-3 win at home last year, and could be without the services of star QB Boo Harris, who missed the second half of the 35-9 win over the Bears with a hamstring injury. The Green Terror is solid all-around, and blocked three punts last week. The Mules, behind RB Matt Bernardo and WR Joshua Carter, have outscored their last two CC opponents 92-6.
St. Norbert at Ripon
Some will call this the de facto MWC title game, The Green Knights won the past two conference titles and went to the NCAA playoffs in two years under Jim Putrill, and still feature All-American linebacker Jerimiah Janssen. He’ll lead the defense against the The Red Hawks’ Dan Henken, who caught 10 passes for 130 yards and 3 TDs in a win over Carroll and Troy DeVoe, who added 161 yards rushing.
Worcester State at Salve Regina
The Lancers, 2-0 in the NEFC Bogan and 4-0 overall, visit the Seahawks, 2-0 NEFC Boyd and 3-0 overall, in an early season battle of division leaders. Worcester State’s 19-15 win over Salve Regina was just one of three losses last season for the 7-3 Seahawks. The Lancers finished 7-2.
St. Thomas at St. John’s
The Johnnies meet the Tommies 100 years after they first played in 1901, and St. John’s coach John Gaglardi has been there for half of the meetings, going 34-14 vs. the Tommies. A win for St. Thomas, led by RB Jake Barkley, could get the Tommies looking ahead to big MIAC matchups with St. Olaf and Bethel. By the way, Tom Linnemann, the quarterback who led the Johnnies to the Stagg Bowl last year, is now an analyst for KKJM-FM, 92.9 in St. Cloud. The game kicks off at 1 p.m.
Hanover at Alma
The Panthers are 1-2 following a loss to fourth-ranked W&J, but haven’t played a Heartland game yet. Alma, from the MIAA, venture out-of-conference once more, two weeks after an upset of top-5 Wittenberg. Quarterback Steve Slowke leads a Scots offense that is scoring 33 points per game by averaging 283 yards per game.
Shenandoah at Christopher Newport
The Captains are hoping for their first win, and might get it against Dixie Conference opponent Shenandoah, a second-year squad themselves. The Hornets won three games in their inaugural season and already beat Gallaudet 37-6 this year. CNU is solid on defense, but has managed just 16 points in their first two games.
Utica at Mount Ida
Utica (0-1) has eight varsity games scheduled in its first season, while Mount Ida scored just 16 points while going 0-8 last season and had to cancel two games. Hartwick has beaten both teams by 30 or more this season, but the good news is someone will win Saturday.
Also keep an eye on: No. 1 Mount Union at Ohio Northern, No. 3 Bridgewater (Va.) at Hampden-Sydney, No. 6 Central at Coe, Simpson at Cornell, Gustavus Adolphus at Concordia-Moorhead, UW-River Falls at No. 23 UW-Whitewater, No. 11 Montclair State at Cortland State, Allegheny at No. 19 Wittenberg.
