By Clyde Hughes
D3sports.com
St. Norbert's Jim Purtill isn't ready to get rid of his underdog status in the Midwest Conference just yet.
When you ask Purtill about the Knights 2-0 start, including a 42-35 double-overtime victory over a Wartburg team that was ranked No. 17 in the preseason polls, he will point you in the direction of MWC favorite -- No. 11-ranked Monmouth -- as the team to beat.
"Monmouth has beaten us two of the last four years, and both of those were at home for us," Purtill said. "They went undefeated in the conference last year and have a very good team this year. They are the team to beat."
While the Monmouth nice talk can be put off as "coach speak" in an effort to not produce bulletin board material for its rival, Purtill clearly knows how it feels to have a target on his team's back. St. Norbert was the reigning king of the Midwest Conference for six years straight before Monmouth got its big win against the Knights in 2005.
Of course that came with the MWC title. St. Norbert quickly returned to the top of the heap until last year when the Knights lost to Monmouth 31-22 and Ripon 19-7 for a rare two-loss conference record. Monmouth in the meantime went undefeated last year and won a first-round playoff game.
"There are a lot of talented teams in this conference," Purtill said. "Just about anyone can knock you off if you don't show up."
St. Norbert found out first hand last week when the Knights slipped by Grinnell 14-11 in the Midwest Conference opener. It was a game many thought might not be much of a contest after St. Norbert's big win a week earlier, but the Knights defense held off the Pioneer's fourth-quarter comeback attempt for the victory. Grinnell had won six games in the last three years going into this season.
"In our first game, our offense played very well," Purtill said. "Against Grinnell, our defense played very well and our offense didn't, so we're on this kind of yo-yo here. We're still a work in progress."
Purtill said he has been pleased overall by his defense, particularly linemen John Troyer, Bret Blozinski and Kyle Ripley, for their play this season. He said he would like to see more consistence out of his offense before he starts to lavish too much praise, but believes his team has chance to play the hunter roll effectively.
One of the byproducts of not being the conference favorite year in and year out, Purtill said, is that players become more appreciative of what you're trying to accomplish. He said he believes his players understand that -- at least for the most part.
"I would have said that 100 percent until last week," Purtill said with a laugh. "I think we had a good attitude and did some good things in the summer. We didn't play as well as we could have played on Saturday. If we play as well as we can on offense and defense, we could be a very good team."
While many St. Norbert fans have one eye focused on the Knights' Oct. 10 match-up with Monmouth, Purtill said his team can't afford to look past anyone.
"We start with Lawrence and we have to keep that focus on each game," Purtill said. "We have to play solid football and all three units have to play well every week."
The good thing for Purtill and St. Norbert, they've learned that lesson early and still managed to get a win out of it.
Stretching the field
No. 4 Wheaton, the Midwest's highest ranked team avoided the upset with a last minute victory over Bethel last week. The Thunder takes on a usually pretty good Concordia (Wis.) team on Saturday.
• Franklin tumbled out of the Top 25 after getting trashed 42-19 against non-scholarship FCS Butler. Probably a better measuring stick for Franklin will be its game Saturday against defending MIAA champions Trine. Trine beat Franklin last year and knocked them out of the rankings while on its way to a surprising finish in the MIAA and reaching the playoffs. Trine edged Manchester in its opener last week.
• Could this be the year Concordia (Ill.) make some noise the Northern Athletic Conference? Okay, it's just two games, but it's still noteworthy that the Cougars are 2-0 after beating St. Scholastica 40-19 and Eureka 34-21. It was the first time Concordia has started its season 2-0 since 1999 when it beat Crown and Principia. It was Concordia's first victory over Eureka since 2006. Unfortunately for Concordia in 1999, it was the only wins it had that season, going 2-8 and 0-7 in the old Illini-Badger Conference. Concordia must still fight off ghosts of seasons past. They have won three games in 2007 and 2008 and did not win a game in 2002, 2004 and 2005.
• It may be too early to claim Rose-Hulman as offensive dynamos, but the Engineers are one of four Division III teams that have scored more than 100 points in its first two games this season. Rose-Hulman and scored 109 points in victories over Earlham (61-24) and North Park (48-17). Only Springfield (112 points) and Utica (126) have scored more and Hampden-Sydney has scored 101 points. The Engineers seem to have a balanced attack averaging 264 yards on the ground and 289 yards in the air while converting 54 percent of its third down attempts (13 of 24). Rose-Hulman, though, will get a much stiffer test this Saturday when it takes on undefeated Mt. St. Joseph in its Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener at home.
