Willamette ran over UW-Stevens Point to the tune of 277 yards rushing, with nine players getting carries, including senior Jose Green. Photo by Mark Kinslow

In a Week 1 without a great number of upsets, one ranked team did make a statement against another as No. 18 Willamette went to No. 16 UW-Stevens Point and rolled past the Pointers 33-14. Stevens Point scored the first 14, but Willamette the last 33.

• Week 1 scores, box scores, recaps

It's a big win for the Northwest Conference's consensus No. 2 team against the No. 2 from the WIAC, and gives us our first big game with playoff implications right out of the gate. Willamette did well for itself if it needs to compete for an at-large bid, while UW-Stevens Point would be in trouble.

In another late Saturday surprise, Hanover fell behind Centre 17-0 in the first half but came all the way back to beat the Colonels 28-27 in overtime. The Panthers scored 20 straight points in the second half only to see Jordan Gay nail a game tying 32-yard field goal with two seconds left. Centre scored first in overtime and kicked the extra point. Hanover answered and successfully converted a two-point conversion on a run by CJ Croft to grab the road victory.

Nate Snead went 15-for-22 for 257 yards and rushed for 76 more as Central held off UW-Oshkosh 34-28. The Titans scored twice in the fourth quarter but their last drive never got beyond the 24-yard line.

St. Thomas struggled at times on offense but the No. 5 Tommies still spoiled the opening of the new St. Norbert stadium, 40-7. Third-ranked Wesley lost its starting quarterback but still rolled at Christopher Newport 34-6.

No. 1 UW-Whitewater started slowly but picked it up in the second half en route to blanking Adrian 35-0. Matt Blanchard completed 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards and ran for 46 more in the win. After Steven Guelff missed three PATs in the Warhawks' first game without four-time All-American Jeff Schebler, Eric Kindler came in and was 2-for-2 and kicked a field goal.

Adam Anderson stayed on his feet but No. 15 Hardin-Simmons still limited him to 97 yards and Whitworth to 225 yards as a team in a 27-7 victory.

Ithaca survived the suspension of six starters to pull away from St. Lawrence for a 33-3 win. Alfred blanked Widener 37-0 with the help of six turnovers. No. 10 Delaware Valley downed Muhlenberg 27-7 but the Aggies were the only MAC team to win this weekend. Emory and Henry survived Ferrum 23-17 in double overtime. Christian Mulcahy kicked a 25-yard field goal with six minutes remaining to lift Plymouth State to a 16-14 win over Castleton State.

Check out our Game Day running blog to let us know what you saw on Division III's opening weekend. Plus, follow @d3football on Twitter for the latest on all sorts of games and hit the scoreboard for the full day's recap.