In the past two postseasons, the talk has often been "these aren't those same old Bridgewater Eagles." 

Folks in Virginia had grown used to them being the Old Dominion Athletic Conference doormat, for decades, until they shocked Washington & Jefferson by rallying from a 28-3 deficit to win 59-42 in the 2000 playoffs. Then last year, they were three points shy of defeating Mount Union in a Stagg Bowl where many Purple Raiders admitted they'd met their match.

Once again, these aren't the same old Eagles; the 2002 squad is much different from the one that lost 47-41 to Trinity (Texas) in the second round in 2000, and different from the one that beat them 41-37 in the second round last season.

Now the Tigers and Eagles meet again, this time in a regional final.

But the top-seeded Eagles don't have quarterback Jason Lutz to bail them out with a TD pass in the final minute, like he did against Trinity last year. The Eagles don't have their top running back (Davon Cruz) or receiver (Marcus Richardson) from last season either.

In fact, head coach Michael Clark says he took 60 kids to the Stagg Bowl last season; for various reasons, not just graduation, only 27 of those same kids dressed for the Eagles 19-17 win against King's on Saturday.

"To a certain extent, this is a different team," Clark said.

But that doesn't necessarily mean it's worse.

"Defensively, I can say we've never been more disclipined," said junior linebacker Gary Nelson, who was in on 10 tackles, a pass breakup and a sack Saturday. "We've got those athletes still."

True, Bridgewater was built on speed, and the Eagles are still fast, even at positions where players are traditionally big.

Middle linebacker Jermaine Taylor, the ODAC player of the year, is a fine example of that. The soft-spoken junior is just 5-foot-10, 210 pounds, but he's so fast that he actually had to slow himself down on Saturday.

Clark said that King's running back Richard Jackson gave Bridgewater some of the same problems that Mount Union's Chuck Moore did in the Stagg Bowl last season. To reduce Jackson's effectiveness at finding cutback lanes, the Eagles' defensive coaches asked their linebackers (Nelson, Taylor and junior Kelly Moore) to slow down so they wouldn't run themselves out of certain plays.

The strategy worked — sort of. Though Jackson rushed for 259 yards, he didn't get within 10 yards of the end zone after he scored twice in the first period.

Clark also says the Eagles are much better in the kicking game, which he said was a weakness last season. The Eagle coaching staff didn't recruit freshman kicker Kyle Beach as a kicker, and discovered his ability by accident. Beach is 7-for-9 on field goal attempts with a long of 36 and 40-for-43 on extra points.

That the Eagles stayed in the game with special teams when nothing was working offensively against King's is no shocker. Clark, the defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech from 1988-92, comes from the same school of coaches that have made the Hokies one of the nation's most efficient kick blocking units.

Steward White blocked a punt that set up a touchdown against the Monarchs. King's also missed a field goal, had a 15-yard punt and roughed the punter, giving Bridgewater a first down. Three plays later, quarterback Robbie Jenkins threw a 54-yard bomb to Brian Ratliff that made the score 14-13.

In Trinity, Bridgewater has an unlikely, yet familiar opponent.

The 12-0 Tigers, 10-time Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference champions, are scoring about 48 points per game and allowing 15. The Eagles are scoring 39 and averaging 11.5.

No. 2-seeded Trinity brings the nation's top offense (542 yards per game) to Bridgewater. The Eagles aren't ranked among the top 40 defensive teams in Division III by yards allowed, but they're 8th in points allowed. They've given up just 17 touchdowns in 11 games.

Tiger quarterback Roy Hampton has mind-boggling statistics: 3,443 yards, 38 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Lutz put up crazy numbers for the Eagles last season, but this year's quarterback, Robbie Jenkins, has statistics that are far more pedestrian than either Hampton or Lutz. But he hasn't lost a game as a starter, and he rallied the team to victory against Western Maryland two years before that.

On Saturday, he showed he had command of his huddle. With the offense struggling, Jenkins had no problems giving teammates a stern talking-to.

Jenkins symbolized the new Eagles: not nearly as flashy, but just as effective.

Or as Clark puts it, "After you've won for a while, you kind of find a way to win."

The Tigers and Eagles, playing for the third year in a row, should know each other well for schools that are 1,500 miles apart.

But then again, who really knows these brand-new Bridgewater Eagles?

Playoff Points
Even with two exciting weeks in the books, I see only one surprise team in the round of eight: Brockport State.

The independent Golden Eagles advanced by upsetting 2001 semifinalist Rowan 15-12. Brockport must be a big believer in the old 'defense wins championships' mantra: The Golden Eagles are first in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 8.8 points per game through 12 contests, in which they're 10-2. They're eighth in yards per game, at 226.7.

I wonder what it says for the strength of New York/New Jersey football, that Cortland State and New Jersey beat Brockport. Cortland and TCNJ are also NJAC rivals of Rowan's.

The grand plan for splitting up the two Ohio Athletic Conference playoff teams seems to be proving the conference's power. Ohio Northern, regular-season runners-up to Mount Union in 1999 and 2000, won three playoff games and got bounced by the Purple Raiders each time. (Of course, the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin champ always gets bounced by Mount Union too).

This year's OAC runner-up, John Carroll, travels to upstate New York to play Brockport on Saturday. But they would probably be favored.

If they win, John Carroll will travel to either Wabash or Mount Union.

Putting the Purple Raiders and Blue Streaks in separate brackets may not have been enough to keep them from meeting again. Since the two would meet on semifinal week, at least one of four quality opponents (Linfield, St. John's, Trinity or Bridgewater) would be their Stagg Bowl opponent.

Surprises from week one: Two Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams advancing was a nice show of strength, especially since Coe beat UW-La Crosse. Nice until the IIAC teams each got crushed last weekend, Coe by St. John's and Wartburg by Linfield. The combined score: 97-29.

It was nice to see Redlands play St. John's so tough (31-24). So can the SCIAC get a little respect already? How about Hanover earning some for the Heartland? Sorry Dixie, Illini-Badger, Midwest, Freedom and New England Football Conferences. Based on your teams' performances in round one, no, you cannot get a little respect already.

I still don't like the pairing of teams so that we had a conference game rematched last weekend, when Wabash defeated Wittenberg. I realize some scenarios can't be avoided, but considering how the OAC avoided such a scenario, some effort should have been made to keep these North Coast Athletic Conference foes from meeting again so soon.

Though the playoffs expanded to 28, a couple of coaches last week said that they thought the real playoffs begin in the round of 16. In other words, some "dogs" may get into the first round, but the competition is real once the first 12 games weed out 12 teams.

I enjoyed having a lot of new teams in the playoffs this season, unfamiliar conference champions like King's, Muhlenberg, Coe, Wabash and Salisbury. But one team you should get used to seeing in the playoffs, though it surely isn't their first time, is Linfield. I've heard from more than one different person that this is one of the best Wildcat teams ever. Not to jinx them as they host St. John's, but this is a team we could see in the Stagg Bowl. Then again, everyone left is pretty legit.

Quote of the Week
Jenkins, on havoc the King's defense wreaked on the Eagle offense: "One play, we had a seven-step drop. I knew when I hit my seventh step, and I got dropped, that wasn't what it meant."