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| Nick Freund and DePauw are on
the 'right foot' side of the ledger after being on the 'wrong foot'
side vs. Sewanee in Week 1 last year. DePauw athletics file photo |
Everyone is looking to get off on the right foot going into Week 1. Some succeeded, yet others found success to be elusive. End-of-2013 momentum, new coaches, more experience under center or just the right day when the pieces come together can make the difference in how a team kicked off 2014.
Even with a loss, teams are in nonconference play right now, so if a school is in a conference with an automatic qualifier, a playoff bid is still possible despite the blemish. Yet not everyone has such assurances. With 244 teams across the nation, Division III provides a concrete path to the postseason – even if only 32 teams ultimately get to walk it.
While we all know that teams such as UW-Whitewater and Mount Union got their season off on the right foot, there’s no point in pointing that out. Let’s drill a little deeper.
On the right foot
• Johns Hopkins and Illinois Wesleyan: Despite fielding senior-laden teams last fall and each returning only three starters on offense, the Blue Jays and Titans made sure that no one forgot about them this year. Hopkins crushed a Randolph-Macon team that was by all accounts going to be as solid as in years past. And IWU came out of the gate toppling Top 25 Franklin thanks in part to a stretch of 21 unanswered points over an eight-minute span in the first half.
• Averett: The Cougars are 2-18 in the past two seasons, and they hadn’t beaten a Virginia team since their .500 season in 2010. Averett poached Ferrum defensive coordinator Cleive Adams in the offseason, and Adams wasn’t kidding when he said there was a new energy on campus thanks to a new staff and new stadium. It paid off with Averett’s win over Washington and Lee – the Generals’ 22nd straight opener loss on the road. Averett’s next move: double last year’s win total.
• Hendrix: One of a triad of startup teams in 2013, the Warriors were undoubtedly the most successful of the bunch, beating the other two as well as Westminster (Mo.) last fall. With 142 rushing yards from Dayton Winn and 127 receiving yards from Ben Luedtke, no last-second field goal was needed to beat the Blue Jays this year. This time around, Hendrix didn’t even give them a chance.
• Framingham State: The Rams picked off opposing quarterback Drew Frenette four times, including one that Matthew Mangano took 71 yards for a score. It’s a great start for a team that could soon get more notice nationally if it continues to play this way. Framingham State was barely ousted from the playoffs last year after putting together a 9-1 regular season. This year is starting the same way as the Rams gear up to face Rowan and hope their fortunes change from last season’s outing.
• DePauw: The only time I saw the Tigers in person last year was in the rivalry game against Wabash to cap the season. Despite the loss, they showed themselves to be a team that was finally coming together after a couple of rocky seasons. There were flashes of talent, though marred then by the inconsistency of youth. This weekend, big runs and big passes were showcased, which do more than just hint that this DePauw team is carrying with it the momentum it had through much of the end of the 2013 season.
• Macalester: The Scots got a field goal as time expired to beat Carleton after an 11-year drought and win back the traveling trophy called the Book of Knowledge. (This certainly wasn’t the only trophy/rivalry game played Saturday, but I’m abstaining from including more for fear of leaving some out.)
On the wrong foot
• Washington U.: The loss to Ohio Northern will hurt. One-loss teams are regularly left out of the postseason, and with the Bears part of the Pool B group, they’ve just dug themselves into a hole that will be hard to get out of if they want to play an 11th game this season.
• Trinity (Texas): Speaking of Pool B ... The Tigers were downed in a close one to Howard Payne, a school for which you have to go back almost a decade to find a winning record. Trinity is breaking in a new coach, Jerheme Urban, a Trinity graduate known for his playing prowess more than his coaching experience (short stint as offensive coordinator). There are many watchful eyes eager to see what he can do with the team.
• Misericordia: I’m not going to lie, with a quarterback returning who has legs that make him a standout rusher, too, and a boatload of returning starters, this was a team I had high hopes for after the program earned its first win in the finale last season. The wave they were riding crashed spectacularly in a 55-0 blowout loss to Utica. Without some quick adjustments, this is going to be another long season for the Cougars.
• The HCAC: The Heartland had among the worst conference-wide showing in Division III, going 3-6 in Week 1 (including Manchester's win vs. Trine that finished on Sunday). If there’s any possibility that the luster is off of Franklin, one can’t help but wonder who will be the new standard-bearer and if it’s still possible to raise the profile of the conference as a whole. (The ECFC, NJAC and UMAC also had very tough weeks top to bottom, but on the other side of things, the E8 was a perfect 9-0.)
The Gentlemen’s Classic
I spent Saturday in Crawfordsville, Ind., to see all-males colleges No. 16 Wabash and No. 21 Hampden-Sydney square off for the first time in history. Piling up more than 400 yards an outing was no problem for the Tigers last year, but this weekend, the Wabash defensive line took advantage of a young H-SC offensive front. Sydney had just 242 yards of offense. Tigers quarterback Nash Nance, a preseason All-American, saw another All-American, Wabash defensive lineman Cody Buresh, wreaking havoc more than a few times. Wabash defenders dropped Nance for six sacks and forced three turnovers, including a second-quarter pick-6 by Ethan Buresh. The Little Giants, in turn, had zero turnovers and were able to spread the ball around both in the air and on the ground.
The two teams will meet for the return game next year in Virginia.