By Don Stoner
Augsburg Sports Information Director
MINNEAPOLIS -- It might be a case of déjà vu all over again.
A year ago, Millikin entered the sixth week of the regular season unbeaten. The Big Blue then suffered a 12-7 loss to Carthage to drop from the unbeaten ranks. But in week seven, Millikin bounced back, topped Wheaton 37-32, and proceeded to claim its first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title since 1990 and a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs.
This year, Millikin entered the sixth week of the regular season unbeaten. A narrow loss to Carthage followed -- this time 7-6. Now, 5-1 Millikin has to face 6-0 Wheaton this Saturday, this time at McCully Field in Wheaton, Ill.
Will the eerie case of déjà vu continue this Halloween weekend?
Maybe. But one thing is for certain. The two teams have earned the respect of many observers around the nation and could possibly secure not only one, but two, berths for the CCIW in the upcoming playoffs.
Wheaton, one of 15 unbeaten teams in the AFCA Top 25, is ranked 11th in the latest query. Millikin, rated as high as 16th last week dropped out of the Top 25, but is only a few coaches' votes away from returning.
While the poll isn't an official indicator of who will make the expanded 28-team playoffs, it is still a good gauge of finding out where teams stand among their national bretheren.
Wheaton remained unbeaten with a last-second 22-20 win at Illinois Wesleyan, the Cruasders' third straight win in Bloomington, Ill. Chris Baughman's 20-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining secured the victory and kept the Crusaders unbeaten.
"We have a lot guys that are hurt. We have 75 guys on our roster and probably 50 healthy bodies," said Wheaton coach Mike Swider, "The great thing about Wheaton is we have kids coming to Wheaton from all over the United States. They are not coming to Wheaton College because of me -- they are coming to Wheaton College from all over America because there is something greater happening here."
Swider's not kidding. Wheaton's roster is like a Rand-McNally atlas -- players populating the roster come from 21 different states, from Idaho to Florida, from California to New York, from Montana to Maryland. Millikin's players are a little less scattered.Just five players are from outside the state of Illinois.
"We have great respect for Wheaton's coaching staff and players. We look forward to the challenge of playing an outstanding football team," said Millikin coach Doug Neibhur. "Wheaton is a solid team in all phases of the game."
Neibhur's Big Blue were stifled offensively last week, only able to convert two field goals by Jonathan Owen in the 7-6 loss to Carthage. Millikin's offense, which is averaging 375.8 yards per game, was limited to just 230 yards.
Don't look for a low-scoring game this week, however. The two teams have explosive offensives; Wheaton leads the CCIW in scoring offense at 35.7 points per game while Millikin is third at 30.7. Last year's game was a 37-32 thriller, in which the two teams combined for 52 first downs and 985 yards of total offense. Millikin quarterback Tim Brylka set school records for pass completions (33) and total offense (442; 372 passing and 70 rushing) in the game.
The winner of Saturday's game will obviously have an inside track to the CCIW's automatic bid to the playoff. But the loser will still have an outside shot at making it. And neither team can take a week off the rest of the year -- perennial CCIW contender Augustana (Ill.) is also 5-1 and lurking in the wings. Millikin has already beaten Augustana 20-7 this year, while Wheaton and Augustana will hook up in the final game of the season on Nov. 13.
"There are still a number of teams vying for the CCIW championship," Millikin's Neibhur said. "The importance of this game is obvious to all teams involved in the race."
Midwest Game of the Year
If you could consider one game as the "Game of the Year" in the Midwest, next week's game between Central and Wartburg in Waverly, Iowa, would be it. Both Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams are unbeaten at 7-0 entering this week's play; Central is currently ranked No. 4, while Wartburg has moved into the Top 10 for the first time, at No. 9 this week.
Central hosts 3-5 William Penn on Saturday in Pella, Iowa, while Wartburg plays at 3-4 Coe in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. William Penn is having its best season in the 90s; its previous best year was a 2-8 finish in 1991. Of course, both unbeaten teams don't want to look past their opponents this weekend, but if you were a player on either team, you couldn't help but wonder ...
"The rankings are still irrelevant at this time," said Wartburg coach Rick Willis. "The rankings don't mean much until the season is over."
Platteville on a roll
Winning streaks and Wisconsin-Platteville have not been synonymous in recent years. But under first-year coach Mike Emendorfer, the Pioneers have an impressive streak to pin their hopes on going into this week's home game against Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference co-leader Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
The Pioneers have won three games in a row for the first time since 1994, and if they upset the Pointers, could have a four-game streak for the first time since 1992. Consider that 4-3 Platteville has already won more games this season than it had the previous three years combined.
Already, Platteville -- 1-9 last year -- has accomplished several significant milestones under the new coach -- the streak-starting 27-14 win against UW-La Crosse snapped a 24-game WIAC losing streak, and the 25-20 win against UW-Oshkosh two weeks ago was the first back-to-back wins for a Platteville team in four years. Last week, Cory Thompson provided the dramatics for Platteville, with a school-record 87-yard interception return for a touchdown, providing the winning margin in a 14-9 win against UW-Stout.
How have the Pioneers turned the season around? With offense. Emendorfer was the offensive coordinator at pass-happy Hanover for eight years before coming to Platteville, and his Hanover teams led Division III in passing four times. This year, Platteville is averaging 253.7 passing yards a game and 315.7 yards of total offense per game, an improvement over last year's 295-yard average. Quarterback Joel Beard is averaging 219 yards of passing in seven games.
Meanwhile, Stevens Point is looking to rebound with a new winning streak of its own, after its 11-game streak was snapped last week in a 21-14 loss to UW-La Crosse. The Pointers, now 6-1 overall and rated 18th in the latest AFCA national poll, can still clinch the WIAC title by winning its final two conference games. An automatic berth in the playoffs can be clinched if the Pointers win their last two games and if La Crosse drops one of its final two league games -- at Eau Claire this weekend and hosting Oshkosh in its WIAC season finale next Saturday.
Games of the Week
Concordia-Moorhead (5-2) at Macalester (2-5), 1 p.m., St. Paul, Minn.
How do you bounce back from a 74-0 loss? Macalester will have to find out this week by hosting the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference co-leaders, a week after dropping a 74-0 decision to Bethel. While the prospects of doing so aren't good, Macalester still has a shot at finishing with a .500 record -- the first time a Macalester squad would have accomplished that feat since 1986. Meanwhile, Concordia is still in the hunt for the MIAC title and an automatic berth or one of the four second-place berths in the playoffs. The Cobbers dropped Gustavus 44-10 last week, behind a 213-yard passing performance by Jeff Hertel and a dominating 377-yard rushing performance on the ground. Concordia put together 596 yards of total offense in the game.
Lake Forest (4-3) at St. Norbert (6-1), 1:30 p.m., De Pere, Wis.
Another Midwest Conference challenge for St. Norbert, which survived a 43-40 marathon overtime win at Grinnell last week. The Knights can clinch the Midwest title and the national playoff automatic berth with a win this weekend and a win against 6-1 Beloit next week. St. Norbert pulled off one of its biggest comebacks in school history last week when it rallied from a 31-9 third-quarter deficit. The Knights put together 564 yards of total offense -- 399 from quarterback Tim Pierret, who threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for 103 yards and a score.
This column is drawn from a variety of sources, including the outstanding work and research of sports information directors from Division III schools all over the Midwest.
