2017 playoffs: Delaware Valley bracket
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Delaware Valley Aggies
| Seed: | Likely No. 1, Delaware Valley bracket |
| Last Top 25 ranking: | No. 7, Week 11 2017 |
| Location: | Doylestown, Pa. |
| Enrollment (FT undergrads): | 1761 |
| Stadium: | James Work Stadium (4500) |
| Playing surface: | Turf |
| Conference: | MAC |
| Preseason ranking from Kickoff: | 20 |
| Head coach: | Duke Greco (Delaware Valley '03) |
| Career record: | 37-6 (.860) |
| Base offense: | Multiple |
| Base defense: | 3-4 |
| Record in NCAA playoffs: | 7-6 (2004-05, 2009-11, 2014) |
| NCAA D-III championships: | None |
• D3football.com team page: Schedule and results, more news
| Points for | Points against |
| 402 | 90 |
| How they got here: | Pool A, MAC champ |
| You'll know they're playing well if: | The running game picks up yards in big chunks and the defense is able to use its speed and athleticism to stymie the other team. Devauntay Ellis averages 6.6 yards per carry and quarterback Deshawn Darden averages 5.5 yards a pop. The Aggies are leaning more heavily on their running attack nowadays. Meanwhile the defense has scored in just about every big game this season. |
| You'll know they're playing poorly if: | The defense doesn't get stops on third-and-long and the offense can't use the run to set up the pass. As great as Del Val has been against the run, the Aggies struggle at times when speedy receivers spread the defense out and run slants against man coverage. The Aggies offense has scored a ton despite passing for just 139 yards total the last two weeks. Del Val will need more balance to advance. |
| This season's turning point: | The Delaware Valley-Albright game mostly garnered attention for what happened during the national anthem, but the Aggies on-field performance was pivotal in the MAC race. Del Val trounced the Lions 41-6 in a showdown of unbeaten teams and the Aggies never looked back en route to a seventh conference title. |
| Strength of schedule (rank): | .524 (59) |
| Rushing/passing yards per game: | 255.4/176.1 |
| Rushing/passing yards allowed: | 66.5/172.5 |
| Yards per play/allowed per play: | 6.6/3.6 |
| How far can they go? | That depends in large part on how healthy Ellis is. The MAC Offensive Player of the Year hurt his hamstring late in the first half against Widener and didn't play the second half. The Aggies have depth at that position, but no one else with the combination of power and speed that make Ellis a legit threat to break a big gain on any play. If he's healthy, then a trip to the national semifinals is doable |
Brockport Golden Eagles
| Seed: | Likely No. 2, Delaware Valley bracket |
| Last Top 25 ranking: | No. 10, Week 11 2017 |
| Location: | Brockport, NY |
| Enrollment (FT undergrads): | 6304 |
| Stadium: | Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium (11000) |
| Playing surface: | Turf |
| Conference: | E8 |
| Preseason ranking from Kickoff: | 29 |
| Head coach: | Jason Mangone |
| Career record: | 35-17 (.673) |
| Base offense: | Pro style |
| Base defense: | 3-3 stack |
| Record in NCAA playoffs: | 2-4 (2000-03) |
| NCAA D-III championships: | None |
• D3football.com team page: Schedule and results, more news
| Points for | Points against |
| 372 | 118 |
| How they got here: | Pool A, E8 champ |
| You'll know they're playing well if: | The offense is playing with balance, dominating time of possession and the defense is forcing turnovers. Key here is the health of quarterback Joe Germinerio, who was knocked out with a vicious hit in Week 10. |
| You'll know they're playing poorly if: | The offense is struggling with penalties (the Eagles average 80-plus yards per game in flags on the season) and the defense can't stop the run. |
| This season's turning point: | Nursing a three-point lead against Alfred with 3:42 remaining and the Saxons with the ball at their own 48, an interception by the Golden Eagles senior linebacker Julius Mizro secured the game and the Empire 8 title. |
| Strength of schedule (rank): | .525 (57) |
| Rushing/passing yards per game: | 212.7/251.3 |
| Rushing/passing yards allowed: | 26.9/208.6 |
| Yards per play/allowed per play: | 6.7/4.0 |
| How far can they go? | As far as Joe Germinerio and their defense can carry them, but this is a bracket the Golden Eagles can advance out of. |
Springfield Pride
| Seed: | Likely No. 3, Delaware Valley bracket |
| Last Top 25 ranking: | No. 19, Week 11 2017 |
| Location: | Springfield, Mass. |
| Enrollment (FT undergrads): | 2114 |
| Stadium: | Benedum Field (2500) |
| Playing surface: | Turf |
| Conference: | NEWMAC |
| Preseason ranking from Kickoff: | 90 |
| Head coach: | Mike Cerasuolo (Springfield '93) |
| Career record: | 15-5 (.750) |
| Base offense: | Triple option |
| Base defense: | 3-4 |
| Record in NCAA playoffs: | 3-5 (1998, 2000, 2002-03, 2006) |
| NCAA D-III championships: | None |
• D3football.com team page: Schedule and results, more news
| Points for | Points against |
| 459 | 109 |
| How they got here: | Pool B |
| You'll know they're playing well if: | They establish the fullback as part of the triple option attack, and will be able to take care of the football. Springfield has the top rushing offense in all of college football, and it will need to show. |
| You'll know they're playing poorly if: | The veteran defensive line is unable to get pressure up front, and if Springfield falls behind early and is forced to throw the ball on offense. |
| This season's turning point: | The Monday following their Week 2 home-opening win against Kean, the Pride learned that their Team IMPACT teammate Luke Bradley was diagnosed again with leukemia. The team went to Boston Children's Hospital together and have been focused on battling through the season just like their 13-year old teammate in his everyday life. Luke has been to a number of home games since his diagnosis and will be receiving a bone marrow transplant in the next two weeks. |
| Strength of schedule (rank): | .513 (91) |
| Rushing/passing yards per game: | 452.3/38.3 |
| Rushing/passing yards allowed: | 87.6/132.7 |
| Yards per play/allowed per play: | 6.6/3.6 |
| How far can they go? | If the ground game is clicking, who knows? They could run right into December. |
Wesley Wolverines
| Seed: | Likely No. 4, Delaware Valley bracket |
| Last Top 25 ranking: | No. 13, Week 11 2017 |
| Location: | Dover, Del. |
| Enrollment (FT undergrads): | 1407 |
| Stadium: | Mike Drass Field at Scott D. Miller Stadium (2500) |
| Playing surface: | Turf |
| Conference: | NJAC |
| Preseason ranking from Kickoff: | 11 |
| Head coach: | Mike Drass (Mansfield '82) |
| Career record: | 220-60-1 (.785) |
| Base offense: | Multiple pro |
| Base defense: | 4-3 |
| Record in NCAA playoffs: | 28-13 (2000, 2005-16) |
| NCAA D-III championships: | None |
• D3football.com team page: Schedule and results, more news
| Points for | Points against |
| 344 | 101 |
| How they got here: | Pool A, NJAC champ |
| You'll know they're playing well if: | The one-two punch of running back E.J. Lee and quarterback Khaaliq Burroughs is carving up the opposing defense, and penalties are not stalling drives. The Wolverines do not want to rely too heavily on one or the other. When the offense is balanced, it is difficult to slow down. |
| You'll know they're playing poorly if: | The defense can't get off the field. In the only three games this year in which Wesley allowed 20 points or more, the defense allowed opponents to convert 40 percent of their third downs. Frostburg State ran 87 plays and Salisbury ran 79. |
| This season's turning point: | A 27-24 overtime win at Frostburg State. The Wolverines lost their opener, then won three shutouts against overmatched NJAC competition. Their first real conference test took them to the wire. The Wolverines held on and were only tested one more time later in the season, against Salisbury. |
| Strength of schedule (rank): | .527 (50) |
| Rushing/passing yards per game: | 226.0/146.5 |
| Rushing/passing yards allowed: | 212.8/108.5 |
| Yards per play/allowed per play: | 6.7/4.2 |
| How far can they go? | They could win this bracket and return to the semifinals, this time breaking the "East" drought. |
Husson Eagles
| Seed: | Likely No. 5, Delaware Valley bracket |
| Last Top 25 ranking: | Never ranked |
| Location: | Bangor, Maine |
| Enrollment (FT undergrads): | 2227 |
| Stadium: | Winkin Complex (3000) |
| Playing surface: | Turf |
| Conference: | ECFC |
| Preseason ranking from Kickoff: | 107 |
| Head coach: | Gabby Price |
| Career record: | 62-42 (.596) |
| Base offense: | Pro style |
| Base defense: | 4-2-5 |
| Record in NCAA playoffs: | 0-2 (2014, 2016) |
| NCAA D-III championships: | None |
• D3football.com team page: Schedule and results, more news
| Points for | Points against |
| 412 | 112 |
| How they got here: | Pool A, ECFC champ |
| You'll know they're playing well if: | Senior running back John Smith is having one of his "average" games, which is more than 180 yards rushing and two touchdowns. |
| You'll know they're playing poorly if: | The offense is committing turnovers and the defense is giving up more than 21 points, which only happened twice this season. |
| This season's turning point: | A fumble on the 3-yard line by Smith sparked Western New England to come back, down 14-0 to win 21-14. Smith learned from his mistake and the Eagles have been unstoppable since. |
| Strength of schedule (rank): | .492 (152) |
| Rushing/passing yards per game: | 273.2/174.0 |
| Rushing/passing yards allowed: | 77.4/140.0 |
| Yards per play/allowed per play: | 6.7/4.1 |
| How far can they go? | One thing for sure, it'll be a short first-round game, at least. |
Plymouth State Panthers
| Seed: | Likely No. 6, Delaware Valley bracket |
| Last Top 25 ranking: | Never ranked |
| Location: | Plymouth, N.H. |
| Enrollment (FT undergrads): | 4148 |
| Stadium: | Currier (3000) |
| Playing surface: | Grass |
| Conference: | MASCAC |
| Preseason ranking from Kickoff: | 165 |
| Head coach: | Paul Castonia (Trinity, Conn. '86) |
| Career record: | 67-104 (.392) |
| Base offense: | Pro I |
| Base defense: | 4-2-5 |
| Record in NCAA playoffs: | 1-4 (1984, 1994-95, 2008) |
| NCAA D-III championships: | None |
• D3football.com team page: Schedule and results, more news
| Points for | Points against |
| 254 | 98 |
| How they got here: | Pool A, MASCAC champ |
| You'll know they're playing well if: | The offense runs the ball more than 30 times per game and the defense is tackling well. Only one game (which ended in a loss) saw an opponent find the end zone more than twice. Stout D is key. |
| You'll know they're playing poorly if: | The ground game accounts for half of Plymouth's offense, so if it's failing, the team is failing. Similarly, if the defense is getting beaten over the top. |
| This season's turning point: | While the final 10 seconds of the Framingham State-Western Connecticut ultimately got them into the playoffs, it was really the Jeremy Martin 22-yard field goal that beat the Rams 16-13 in overtime in Week 7 that put them in position to win the tiebreaker. |
| Strength of schedule (rank): | .492 (153) |
| Rushing/passing yards per game: | 123.2/146.6 |
| Rushing/passing yards allowed: | 98.5/202.0 |
| Yards per play/allowed per play: | 4.6/4.6 |
| How far can they go? | It's nice to get back to the playoffs. And that's about as good as it'll be. |
RPI Engineers
| Seed: | Likely No. 7, Delaware Valley bracket |
| Last Top 25 ranking: | No. 17, Week 2 2004 |
| Location: | Troy, N.Y. |
| Enrollment (FT undergrads): | 5778 |
| Stadium: | East Campus Athletic Village (5200) |
| Playing surface: | Turf |
| Conference: | LL |
| Preseason ranking from Kickoff: | 112 |
| Head coach: | Ralph Isernia (Davidson '91) |
| Career record: | 34-19 (.642) |
| Base offense: | Spread |
| Base defense: | Multiple |
| Record in NCAA playoffs: | 3-4 (1999, 2001, 2003, 2007) |
| NCAA D-III championships: | None |
• D3football.com team page: Schedule and results, more news
| Points for | Points against |
| 294 | 165 |
| How they got here: | Pool A, LL champ |
| You'll know they're playing well if: | A balanced attack leaves everyone fresh in the backfield and the opponent is forced to go to the air and it doesn't go well. The Engineers picked off Alfred six times in a win in October. |
| You'll know they're playing poorly if: | Short passing is the only facet of the offense that's at all effective and they can't control the clock. Hobart and Buff State each controlled the clock for 37 minutes in their wins vs. RPI. |
| This season's turning point: | Coming out and beating Ithaca after suffering back-to-back losses. Not only did the win help get RPI back on track, it was the decisive win in the conference tiebreaker at the end of the season. |
| Strength of schedule (rank): | .566 (11) |
| Rushing/passing yards per game: | 186.5/161.8 |
| Rushing/passing yards allowed: | 81.4/220.5 |
| Yards per play/allowed per play: | 5.4/4.5 |
| How far can they go? | This is a one-and-out trip, but the overall trajectory of the program is the important thing. |
Western New England Golden Bears
| Seed: | Likely No. 8, Delaware Valley bracket |
| Last Top 25 ranking: | No. 24, 2017 preseason |
| Location: | Springfield, Mass. |
| Enrollment (FT undergrads): | 2576 |
| Stadium: | Golden Bear Stadium (1500) |
| Playing surface: | Turf |
| Conference: | CCC |
| Preseason ranking from Kickoff: | 24 |
| Head coach: | Keith Emery (Dickinson '94) |
| Career record: | 86-48 (.642) |
| Base offense: | Multiple spread |
| Base defense: | 4-2 |
| Record in NCAA playoffs: | 1-3 (2011, 2015-16) |
| NCAA D-III championships: | None |
• D3football.com team page: Schedule and results, more news
| Points for | Points against |
| 399 | 192 |
| How they got here: | Pool A, CCC champ |
| You'll know they're playing well if: | The offense is balanced. WNE has compiled more than 200 passing yards and over 100 rushing yards in four of their seven wins this season. (In the two of the three wins with under 200 passing yards, senior quarterback Anthony Service threw for totals of 193 and 196 yards.) |
| You'll know they're playing poorly if: | The defense is unable to stop the run. The Golden Bears gave up totals of 435 and 242 yards rushing in their only two losses of the season to Springfield and RPI, respectively. Those represent the two highest totals this season. |
| This season's turning point: | Western New England opened the season 1-2 before hosting Husson on Sept. 23 in a rematch of last season's first round playoff contest. Down late in the third quarter, a Husson red-zone turnover led to the Golden Bears' first score of the game and sparked a game-winning rally that fueled season-long confidence. |
| Strength of schedule (rank): | .549 (23) |
| Rushing/passing yards per game: | 193.3/206.2 |
| Rushing/passing yards allowed: | 161.0/205.1 |
| Yards per play/allowed per play: | 5.8/5.0 |
| How far can they go? | This shapes up like a one-and-out situation, but perhaps competitive if Devauntay Ellis can't go for Delaware Valley. |