Keith Ricca Photo by Pat Coleman, D3sports.com

As a new year begins and the 2005 football season begins to fade into the recesses of your memory and ours, perhaps just a few moments will stand out. Likely they’ll involve a team you played for or followed closely. With roughly 231 teams and 1,198 games making up the season, we at D3football.com certainly weren’t able to be everywhere, but we did ask our reporters and avid fans coast to coast to send us their standout moments while they were still fresh in their minds.

The 2005 season was also a year D3football.com continued to shoot for bigger and better, with Kickoff 2005, the debut of The Daily Dose blog and the shift to a new message board, among other things. So what better way to close the book on the season than with Around the Nation’s most comprehensive year in review yet?

With that, I thought I’d try something a little different, shifting the focus from superlatives to memorable moments. It was a bear to write, and might be one to read, so make sure your coffee is fresh, cancel your next appointment or bookmark the page.

So that you can look back at 2005 as more another season ending with Mount Union winning it all, here are 105 ways — our traditional awards included — that you can remember the 2005 Division III football season:

The memorable games and plays
1. Remember the great regular-season “under the radar” games
Trailing Baldwin-Wallace 31-13, Marietta scored three TDs in the final 7:57, including an 11-yard TD pass from Jason Vrable to Nic North with 51 seconds left. Nick Manson’s PAT provided the winning margin in the 32-31 final, partially because the Yellow Jackets had scored twice on safeties earlier in the game, and the Pioneers failed on a 2-point conversion and had a PAT blocked during their rally.

We received several e-mails suggesting this for the game of the year, including one from Jason Vrable, who says he “attended” the game. A fellow with the same name also also happened to complete 32 of 52 passes for 305 yards that day, having a hand in five TDs. The two teams combined for 855 yards, standard for a shootout, but teamed for a remarkable 18 third-down conversions in 37 attempts (49%), and another eight on nine fourth-down attempts. That meant 70% of the day’s drives were converted on a suspense-filled down.

Wheaton, playing a week after coming out on the bad end of a dramatic finish in a Little Brass Bell loss to North Central, rallied from a 21-7 fourth-quarter deficit for a 41-35 triple-overtime victory. Suggested by fan Nate Brown for “most bang for the buck,” the Thunder win fit here because the game garnered almost no attention because it was played on the same day Howard Payne upset then-No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor, third-year Huntingdon nearly beat SCAC power Trinity (Texas) and Northwestern (Minn.) won twice.

2. Remember the great games during the playoff push: Coming off of a 47-0 loss at Brockport State, where Salisbury won 35-30 earlier in the season, Wesley looked like it might have an uphill battle for the ACFC title heading into the Salisbury game, especially since the Sea Gulls came into the game rushing for 396 per contest. Instead, the Wolverines got it rolling during a 35-point second quarter and coasted to a 63-19 win that virtually locked up a playoff spot.

3. Remember the great playoff games: Certainly, the playoffs are filled with great games each season, despite the propensity for mismatches and blowouts. Among the epic battles this year was eventual runner-up UW-Whitewater’s trip to 2004 champion Linfield.

As e-mailer Kurt Stefan, who listened to the game streamed over the Internet, said: Even though the playoffs are not over and my alma mater is still alive (Go Warhawks!), I can't imagine one of the three remaining games being as exhilarating as this one …[T]he game lived up to all of the hype and then some. You never seemed to know what was going to happen next. There were great offensive and defensive performances by both teams, big plays, a great finish, and an upset (well according to the rankings) at the end. … This game epitomized everything that is great about D3 football.”
> Suggested by: Several.

4. Remember the great rivalry games: Since I was there, I can say that there Monon Bell game is second to none in Division III. Wabash and DePauw sit 27 miles apart in a stretch of central Indiana where there isn’t much else to get excited about. But they’ve been doing the season-ending game for both teams big since 1890, and it’s as chippy now as it ever was. Wabash hung on for a 17-14 win this season in a game where the play along the lines was fierce and both quarterbacks were warrior-like. They lead the series 52-51-9.

But no tale from game day summarizes how big the rivalry is like this does: As soon as I wrote I was coming, three Wabash e-mails arrived, politely thanking me for choosing to attend but mentioning how much better the game is when not at DePauw. Now that’s a rivalry. 

The best rivalry game is “a toss up between the Dutchman Shoes and Monon Bell,”
says D3football.com’s Gordon Mann. Union and RPI combined for close to 1,000 yards, 91 points and one heckuva battle for the Dutchman Shoes. Wabash and DePauw had a similar situation with both teams entering the game with playoff aspirations.”
> Suggested by: Wabash-DePauw by Mike Gregory, Lee McLaughlin, Paul Schreel
> Also suggested: Muskingum-Marietta, by Chris McDaniel

5. Remember the great upsets: Ohio Northern’s win at Mount Union was one of the year’s most surprising wins, but the Polar Bears were no pushover. On the other hand, given Rowan’s semifinal finish against those same Purple Raiders, their 20-19 loss to 5-5 William Paterson was either a big misstep on the Profs part or a sign of things to come for the Pioneers. William Paterson beat two playoff teams this season — it defeated Wilkes in its opener — but lost to every NJAC team but Rowan. In New Jersey, however, a win over the Profs resonates. As fan Gary Rich points out, Rowan beat William Patterson 61-6 in 2004, so the win could be a big selling point during recruiting.

The Massey Ratings had the Pioneers’ win over the Profs as, mathematically, the least likely result, followed by McDaniel’s Sept. 3 win over Bridgewater (Va.) and these eight:

3. Manchester 32, Defiance 29, Nov. 5
4. Hanover 41, Mt. St. Joseph 35, Oct. 1
5. Bethany 34, Franklin & Marshall 21, Sept. 3
6. Brockport State 47, Wesley 0, Oct. 22
7. Baldwin-Wallace 17, John Carroll 14, Nov. 12
8. Buffalo State 27, Cortland State 20, Sept. 24
9. William Paterson 21, Wilkes 17, Sept. 3
10. Ursinus 21, Johns Hopkins 17, Oct. 29

> WPU/Rowan suggested by: Rich, WPU Sr. defensive back Daniel Casanovas; Ohio Northern/Mount Union by Dave Ross (SeventiesRaider)

6. Remember the wildest regular-season shootouts: Although Thiel fan Michael Voelker suggested a doozy, the Tomcats‘ 50-48, triple-overtime victory at Carnegie Mellon, a different shootout set the standard this season. Earlham’s 69-62 victory over Manchester broke a two-year old record for scoring in a single game and marked what’s becoming an annual occurrence: two teams playing a tight game right on into the 60s. In 2003, it was Coe’s 66-63 win over Cornell, and last season Olivet outlasted Franklin 63-62 when the Grizzlies went for two and missed.

More bizarre was that the Quakers, who scored 110 points in their first two games with Justin Rummell quarterbacking, lost him to injury and managed just 41 points in their final eight games, all losses. After putting up 62, Manchester scored seven points in each of its next five games, but came on late, averaging 27 points in its final three games, all against teams .500 or better. The Spartans’ two wins were also an improvement from an 0-10 2004.
> Suggested by: Chris Steiner

7. Remember the surprising regular-season blowouts: John Carroll (7-3) was an enigma, handing Ohio Northern one of its two losses, by 25 points, and Otterbein one of its three, by 26. But while that sounds like the résumé of an unlikely blowout candidate, before either of those wins, Mount Union hung 70 on the Blue Streaks and shut them out. In hindsight, Wesley’s 47-0 loss at Brockport and Hardin-Simmons’ 38-7 defeat against Mary Hardin-Baylor were just as surprising, but not as high-scoring.
> Suggested by: by Dave Ross (MUC/JCU); Colin Bloodworth of Belton, Texas (UMHB/HSU); Mike Mangone (Brockport/Wesley).

8. Remember the wildest playoff shootouts: While defense still wins championships, great offenses are bound to collide in the postseason. UW-Whitewater’s 44-41 win at Linfield was exciting, as was the 35-point fourth quarter at Delaware Valley, in which Hobart fell short on four passes into the end zone at the end of a 21-14 loss. Wesley got so far out in front of Mary Hardin-Baylor that their 46-36 win was more a result of the Crusaders playing furious catch-up than an mano y mano slugfest. Mount Union and Capital were more that in their 34-31 quarterfinal, but none of those were the wildest shootout. In upstate New York, a back rushed for 264 yards and a quarterback passed for 416 … and they both played for Union. Ithaca’s Kyle Crandall returned the opening kickoff 67 yards, and the Bombers led 41-34 going into the final period. Union scored 14 seconds into a fourth quarter they dominated 21-0 en route to a 55-41 win.
> DelVal/Hobart suggested by: Paul Schreel

9. Remember the surprising playoff blowouts: UW-Whitewater against St. John’s matched two of Division III’s longtime coaching greats, not to mention a pair of top 10 teams. But the sound you heard Nov. 26 was the thud of unfulfilled hype hitting the turf. Or perhaps it was a collective groan from Johnnies fans wondering what kind of game it would have been if their team hadn’t fumbled eight times on a dry day during a 34-7 loss to the Warhawks.

Likewise, Bridgewater’s quarterfinal at Wesley seemed like a matchup of a pair of mid-Atlantic heavyweights. The Eagles would bring defense, a running game and speed, while the Wolverines would bring physical line play, smart quarterbacking and speed. And the game would be on turf! How could it disappoint? One might want to ask a well-rounded Wesley team that poured it on from the jump. The one time the Eagles looked like they would make a game of it, after a 99-yard TD pass narrowed the score to 19-7, Wesley came back with a Larry Beavers reverse that went 65 yards for a TD. Final score: Wesley 46, Bridgewater 7, disappointment, 1.
> UW-W/SJU suggested by Dave Ross (SeventiesRaider), Paul Hamann; Wesley/Bridgewater by Kurt Stefan

10. Remember the most surprising playoff nail-biter: Only nine of the 31 playoff games were decided by a touchdown or less, and all of those were between fairly evenly matched teams. The most surprising close game didn’t have a nail-biter final score, but seeing Concordia-Moorhead hold a halftime lead over defending champion Linfield, and keep it a game until the end was eye-opening. Not so much because the Cobbers should have been a pushover, but because the Wildcats had rolled 63-21 the week before over unbeaten Occidental, and looked to be unstoppable. The Cobbers showed chinks in the armor in a 28-14 loss, and UW-Whitewater followed up, eliminating Linfield the following week. 
> Suggested by: Dave Ross (SeventiesRaider)

11. Remember the great games that weren’t: What a different season it could have been if hurricane-related weather hadn’t wiped out DePauw’s crack at breaking the SCAC stronghold of Trinity (Texas). The Tigers’ losses were by three and five to teams that advanced into the playoffs. One of the teams that beat DePauw, Wesley, thumped Mary Hardin-Baylor in the second round, a week after the Crusaders eliminated Trinity 35-6. And speaking of the Cru, fallouts from this season’s hurricanes cost them a game with offensive juggernaut Louisiana College, while Millsaps and Mississippi College each postponed September games as well.

Says Mann “DePauw/Trinity could’ve changed the complexion of the entire South Region. If DePauw beats Trinity, they win the SCAC. Is someone else the top seed in that bracket then? Does UMHB not meet Wesley until later? If ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts…”

Along those lines, Linfield vs. Mount Union wasn’t cancelled, but the hoped-for matchup of titans never too place because UW-Whitewater entered the picture, eliminated the Wildcats, and battled the Purple Raiders in the Stagg Bowl.

12. Remember the best plays: Certainly there were scores of great finishes, and scores finished in great ways each week. Beyond that, there were surely many moments in which something instinctive, or some attention to detail, affected a play, which affected a game, which affected a season.

No play brought all of those things together like the Week 7 finish in Moorhead, Minn. If it had closed out mighty St. John’s, Concordia would likely have won its second MIAC championship in a row and could have avoided the second-round playoff matchup with Linfield that ended the Cobbers’ season.

Instead, with a half a minute to go, Johnnies quarterback Alex Kofoed stepped up in the pocket, bought himself some time by scrambling, and launched a pass to Kyle Gearman, streaking across the field from the backside. The play turned into a stunning 74-yard TD pass with 25 seconds left in St. John’s 20-16 win.

It looked to have a great effect on the national picture, but by playoff time, it didn’t really matter. Both MIAC teams won a first-round home game, then lost to a powerhouse in the second round.

> Suggested by: Ken Kofoed, Noah Retka and Paul Hamann
> Also suggested: Union safety Alex Markel’s 76-yard interception return for a game-winning touchdown with 31 seconds left against Coast Guard; A Pierre Garcon catch for Mount Union against Capital.

13. Remember the best play that wasn’t: Replay entered the college football mainstream this season and its effects filtered down to Division III, where it was used in the Stagg Bowl. But we’re still looking for the first reversal of a call. The game was stopped three times for plays to be reviewed and two were clear-cut decisions to let the play stand as called. The only debatable one was whether UW-Whitewater tight end Pete Schmitt had control of a pass as he crossed the goal line. The call on the field was an incomplete pass and the booth upheld the call. A touchdown would have given Whitewater a chance to tie the game before halftime.

The memorable players
14. Remember the best players: It’s such an undefined quality, what makes on player the best. I saw a lot of players this season, and I think Wesley defensive lineman Bryan Robinson impressed me the most. But does that make him the nation’s best player? Given the raves about St. John’s Damien Dumonceaux, Robinson might not have even been the best at his position.

Luckily, quantifying how valuable a great lineman to a team is won’t be necessary this year. We’ve mentioned many times how he lost his starting spot, ahead of a player who later became the NFL’s No. 1 pick, at Division I-A Utah, but came to Linfield and led the Wildcats to a championship. Quarterback Brett Elliott get the Wildcats over the West Region hump in 2004. In 2005, the Wildcats were eliminated in the round of eight, but Elliott still brought home hardware: the Gagliardi Trophy. His candid, gracious pre-Stagg Bowl interview gave listeners a glimpse at a player who really did fit the D-III mold.
> Also suggested: Aaron Krepps, by Brandon Patterson

15. Remember this year‘s great surprise players: Nate Kmic was a pleasant surprise for the Purple Raiders and an unpleasant one for every opponent,” says D3football.com’s Gordon Mann. “He emerged after Aaron Robinson’s injury in the first round of the playoffs to carry the ball for more than 1,000 yards and 12 TDs in the postseason, which helped carry the Purple Raiders to the title.

16. Remember the players who were surprised to enter the game, but did well: Rowan and Hardin-Simmons needed injury fill-ins at quarterback when Mike Orihel and Jordan Neal went down, respectively. But Joe Rankin kept the Profs on pace, for the most part, helping Rowan survive injuries to two more key players.

Jordy Bernhard stepped in for Hardin-Simmons, which narrowly missed the playoffs, and Kmic, of course, helped power the national champions’ offense in the postseason.

Added Mann: “Could be Kmic again. But I was impressed with the Profs who, as a team, rallied after Brian Bond’s injury to keep the Rowan run defense stout.”

17. Remember the great individual seasons: It’s hard to be a one-man show when your quarterback passes for more than 3,000 yards, but Catholic wide receiver Nick Bublavi managed it. He accounted for 1,797 receiving yards — 179 of the Cardinals’ division-best 434 passing yards per game. Four ways to put Bublavi’s season in perspective: First, there was just one receiver who came within 400 yards of his total. Union’s Steve Angiletta racked up 1,612 yards … in 12 games. Two, Bublavi and Guilford’s Chris Barnette tied for the national lead in receptions per game. Each had 101 catches and 15 TDs, but Bublavi had 428 more receiving yards. Third, if you take away Bublavi’s best game, a 386-yard outing against La Salle, he still would have led the nation in receiving yards. And fourth, Bublavi was a senior who did not play in 2004. With him in ‘05, the team nearly doubled its offensive output, from 2,426 yards to 4,707.
> Suggested by: Brendan Nugent of Iowa City, Iowa

18. Remember the great two-man shows: The first drive of Linfield’s first game, against Western Oregon, ended with a touchdown pass from Brett Elliott to Casey Allen. The first drive of Linfield’s last game ended with a touchdown pass from Elliott to Allen against UW-Whitewater. In between they connected for 20 other touchdowns and earned handfuls of postseason honors. 
> Suggested by: Gordon Mann

19. Remember the great transfers: Linfield’s Brett Elliott, two seasons removed from Utah, took home the Gagliardi Trophy and Pierre Garcon, one season removed from Norwich, caught two TD passes in Mount Union’s Stagg Bowl triumph. Still, Pat Cummings and I agreed that the transfer with the most impact was Guilford quarterback Josh Vogelbach.

The former East Carolina (Division I-A) quarterback rallied Guilford to a 5-5 finish after an 0-4 start, including a second-place tie in the ODAC at 4-2. The Quaker coaching staff briefly toyed with the idea of replacing him with an option-oriented quarterback, and benched him for the start of the Hampden-Sydney game. But Vogelbach cemented his status with the first of five five-passing-touchdown games in leading Guilford back from a 37-8 deficit, nearly beating the Tigers. The Quakers lost just once more after that 47-45 final, and the redshirt freshman passed for more than 350 yards per game, among the nation’s top five in total offense.

Says Cummings: “Garcon was a great transfer, but he was inserted to a program that was real good without him. He made them better. Guilford football doesn't get any recognition, Vogelbach got me to recognize him, and get some Guilford alums to start
writing me about him, etc. That surely never happened before. He was the transfer of the year.”

20. Remember the best (true) freshmen: We certainly can’t analyze the performance of each freshman, but a few stood out. Geoff Troy made 18 of 21 field goals for Kings Point, earning him one of two first team All-American spots for freshman. Washington and Lee freshman Stuart Sitterson (national-best 34 yards per kickoff return) was the other. Keith Ricca, who passed for 3,311 yards for Catholic, was among the true freshmen with the most impact. And of course, Nate Kmic was a big help during Mount Union’s championship run.

21. Remember the comeback kids: Here’s a fan who says it better than I could:
“I have a feeling that this category is designed for teams that made a huge comeback during a game or perhaps a season, but I'd like to nominate a player. Russ Harbuagh, quarterback, Wabash College. After winning the starting job as a sophomore in '03, Russ played musical quarterbacks in '04, was much maligned for relatively benign mistakes, and received a lot of the blame for Wabash's disappointing 6-4 season. As a senior, Russ shook off the naysayers, led Wabash to a perfect 10-0 regular season, had the best season at quarterback in Wabash history (not a small feat given what Jake Knott accomplished during his career), and was named a Gagliardi Trophy finalist. Even the most optimistic of Wabash fans couldn't see this coming, and it's one of the more warming stories of the year.”
> Suggested by: Greg Thomas (wally wabash), Lafayette, Ind.

22. Remember to appreciate: We got three nominees for ‘most under-appreciated,’ all of essay length, quite opinionated and in some cases filled with “facts” we can’t substantiate. We can share a quote from each though.

Hardin-Simmons QB Jordy Bernhard
Suggested by: Rabbit1 (message board handle)

Jordy stepped on the field early in the second quarter of the second game of the year versus La. College, substituting for injured QB Jordan Neal. In his first extended play in two years, he shook off the dust quickly, finishing the day 25-14-270-3TDs & added 58 rushing yards. The kid led HSU to an additional five wins this season, losing only to UMHB, then went down with an ACL (surgery in Nov.) in the first quarter of Game 8 versus McMurry.

… Top it off with a distinct possibility that he will be named a Academic All-American.”

Capital QB Rocky Pentello
Suggested by: Superap3@aol.com

“Rocky Pentello, junior QB at Capital, is the most underappreciated and overlooked player in the country. In just three years, Rocky has transformed Capital football from a laughing stock into an elite eight team and a national title contender. … This year in head to head contests, he has beaten three league player of the year winners (Doug Phillips of John Carroll (the OAC’s outstanding offensive back), Kam Kniss of North Central, and Russ Harbaugh of Wabash), the last two on the road and in the playoffs, and two national player of the year (finalists) (Phillips and Harbaugh). All this in the very difficult and highly regarded OAC. … He has done something much more difficult than being another very good piece in an already dominant puzzle (at Mount Union), he is building a program and creating tradition. Very good quarterbacks have played in the OAC over the past 15 years, all things being equal, I take Rocky every single day of the week and twice on Saturday afternoons. 

The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Suggested by: Kurt Stefan
“The WIAC is the most underappreciated conference in the nation. Yes, the argument against the conference (up until this year) is that they’re always one-and-done. However, the conference consistently has two or three teams in the top 25 in the nation. Obviously, when you have such tough competition in your conference schedule you get beat up throughout the year and probably will come out of the season with a couple of losses. … Maybe with the success of Whitewater this year means the WIAC will finally get some respect and be represented by two teams in the playoffs. I think the WIAC, one of the toughest conferences in the nation, is deserving of that.”

23. Remember the first time you heard of the next big things on Saturdays: Without question it's going to be (sophomore) Justin Beaver,” Kurt Stefan e-mails. “This kid is already unbelievable and has the opportunity to leave a legacy at UW-Whitewater and throughout D3 football.”

We agree. Beaver, the only non-senior among 10 Gagliardi Trophy finalists, is already a big thing, the perfect example of the symbiotic relationship between team success and individual recognition. 

24. Remember the last time you saw the next small thing on Sundays play: Linfield’s Brett Elliott, the Gagliardi Trophy winner, heads a list of five players who show up on NFL watch lists and a different group of five who participated in the Jan. 21 Hula Bowl.

Ohio Northern defensive back/return specialist Wes Hostetler, UW-Oshkosh tight end Bob Docherty, North Central linebacker Lenny Radtke and Occidental safety Derek Turbin joined Elliott in the nationally televised all-star game. 

Casey Allen, who caught passes from Elliott at Linfield, joins Ohio Northern defensive end Jason Trusnik, Frostburg State defensive lineman Kevin Culbert (projected as a linebacker), Docherty and Elliott as players previously spotted on ESPN.com draft charts.

THE MEMORABLE COACHES
25. Remember the great regular-season coaches: With 34 of the 231 teams improving by three wins or more, there is no shortage of viable candidates we could call “great.” Around the Nation often leans toward recognizing coaches who did a lot with a little. In that sense, Ferrum’s Dave Davis or Defiance’s Robert Taylor would make great honorees, each taking a team with a losing record in 2004 and turning it into a winner. Defiance went from 1-9 to 6-4, while Ferrum went from 4-6 to 9-2. But Kenyon’s Ted Stanley, Guilford’s Kevin Kiesel, Maine Maritime’s Christopher McKenney and Frostburg State’s Rubin Stevenson each led significant turnarounds. And then there are the coaches who got their teams through serious on- or off-field adversity. John Carroll’s Regis Scafe led his team to six consecutive victories after a 70-0 drubbing. That takes serious mental strength, but so did just getting through the season for Dean Paul’s Ohio Northern team (their tribulations are mentioned later).

We’re waffling here, but it’s deliberate. No way are we prepared to say one coaching job this season was the greatest. Let’s just point in the direction of our All-Region coaches of the year, Union’s John Audino, Wesley Mike Drass, Capital’s Jim Collins and UW-Whitewater’s Bob Berezowitz and leave it at that.

26. Remember the great half-season coaching jobs: Bowdoin’s David Caputi took a team with 16 seniors who had gone 3-21 in their first three seasons and got them out of the gate 4-0. Three of the wins — 22-21 over Middlebury, 16-13 at Amherst and 10-8 at Tufts — came as the Polar Bears were dramatically outgained. Bowdoin was no match for the NESCAC’s top two teams, scoring just six points against Trinity and Colby. In the end, they beat just one team with a winning record and watched the White Mules secure CBB bragging rights, but to go 6-2 while outscoring your opposition 131-124 is a testament to great coaching, either X’s and O’s, or getting players to believe any game is winnable.

In the second half, after starting 0-3 with losses to Division II Western Oregon, then-No. 2 UMHB and NAIA power Asuza Pacific, Willamette’s Mark Speckman rallied his team to the brink of the playoffs. But it wasn’t just that the Bearcats ran off five wins before Linfield eliminated them from playoff consideration. It’s how hard they had to work for them. A Michael Plank TD catch with 57 seconds left helped defeat Puget Sound, and the Bearcats went last-minute the following week in a double-overtime victory over Southern Oregon on Oct. 8. Then, not playing again until Oct. 29 because of a planned bye and the cancelled Lewis and Clark game, Willamette picked up where it left off, although the last-minute heroics were on defense. The Bearcats stopped Pacific Lutheran on fourth-and-goal from the 7 in a 34-27 win, and then finished the amazing run with a 40-34 overtime win at Whitworth.
> Also suggested: Mike Miello for William Paterson, by Daniel Casanovas

27. Remember the great coaching jobs in the postseason: Since we honor Larry Kehres’ genius below, Mike Drass and offensive coordinator Chip Knapp took the postseason, and the capital city in Delaware, by storm. Playing four games, alternating home and away, the Wolverines dumped the past two South Region champions in unceremonious fashion. Drass and his staff remained classy all the way, and, aside from a rumored misjudgement on what type of shoes to wear on grass, made all the right calls. How appropriate that Drass (16 years) and Knapp (17) have been around Wesley football since its infant Division III stages and were still around to enjoy its greatest moments.
> Kehres also suggested by Dave Ross (SeventiesRaider); Drass by UMHB fan Colin Bloodworth

28. Remember the great coaching performances by rookie head coaches: At least 20 teams debuted new coaches this season, and success was instant at some institutions. Mike Miello led an inconsistent, but at times great, team in his first year at William Paterson. Kevin Kiesel’s Guilford team began to click beautifully, at least on offense, midway through the season. Kalamazoo’s Terrance Brooks and Bridgewater State’s Charles Denune each helped their school improve by three wins over last season.

29. Six ways Larry Kehres awed us with his coaching: This season struck me as positively Jordanesque for the Purple Raiders coach. A little much, you say? Well without a doubt, we are witnessing one of the all-time greats in his prime. Here are five reasons why:

He delegated. After calling plays for 19 seasons, Kehres let former players Matt Campbell and Jason Candle handle about 80% of the duties (although Kehres did call plays in the Stagg Bowl). Formerly the quarterbacks coach, Kehres turned the job over to his starter last season, Zac Bruney. 

He lived without. Kehres’ defensive coordinator of two decades took a head coaching job elsewhere, and the Purple Raiders were as good as they’ve ever been on defense. Former players Jeff Wojtowicz (’84), Vince Kehres (’98) and Nick Sirianni coached that side of the ball.

He adjusted. After quarterback Mike Jorris struggled early in the Stagg Bowl, Kehres called mainly basic plays to help settle his quarterback down. “We decided in the first quarter that we had to get the quarterback in a comfort zone,” Kehres said. “We went to some plays that we hadn’t stressed” in game-planning or much of 2005, actually. Kehres said the plays were ones installed and drilled when a quarterback first gets to Mount Union. Settling Jorris down resulted in a 50-yard TD pass to Pierre Garcon. “Our first TD today was the same as our first in ’98,” he said. “Same end zone, same side of the field.”

He kept his sense of humor. Asked during the Stagg Bowl teleconference if other teams had begun to catch up to Mount Union, coach Larry Kehres replied: “Yeah, there’s no doubt about it. One of them passed us,” referring to the Ohio Northern loss. He also joked about enjoying Salem for the first time when his daughter played there for Wittenberg in the national volleyball championship. During nine trips to town for Stagg Bowls, Kehres admitted he’d “barely been out in Salem.”

He regrouped. Rather than taking the loss to Ohio Northern hard, he took advantage. “These guys heard an awful lot about losing a game,” he said after the Stagg Bowl. “Internally, within the family … that’s all it was. We don’t feel like we have to go into a deep depression. We looked internally at ways to improve in Weeks 8, 9 and 10 and in this 5-week march through the playoffs.”

He represented. Pressed by a reporter after the game about why he hadn’t pursued a Division I job more intensely, he said he’d had his chances but “didn’t follow that path.” “I just like these kind of guys,” he said of Division III players. “They don’t feel any sense of entitlement. Their parents pay, and sometimes it’s a great sacrifice for them to do this.” He also revealed the two questions he asks players during recruiting visits: “Are you a good man?” and “Do you have a passion for football?”

THE MEMORABLE TEAMS
30. Remember this year‘s great surprise teams: When I asked a few D3 staffers if anyone could beat Ferrum, resident smart aleck Gordon Mann replied: “Wesley did, quite convincingly. :)"

Yeah, Gordon, I meant in this category, as this year's surprise team. The staff and I were split on that, as I thought Ferrum came more out of nowhere (4-6 in 2004), whereas Wesley was 8-2 in '04 before its run to the national semifinals. Still, Mann said "Seriously, I think it needs to be the Wolverines who went from 0 votes in the preseason to South region champs.” Pat Cummings added, “Oh, c'mon...Wesley out of the South. Beating UMHB on the road … that was big.”

While we’re on the matters of Wesley and votes, only two pollsters took notice of the Wolverines’ 31-26 win over DePauw on Sept. 3 by ranking them. Pat Cummings voted for Wesley 20th, and I tabbed them 25th.

31. Notable steps forward: Asks fan Jack Fuchs: “Isn't perennial loser Kenyon's advance to 6-4 and second in the NCAC the hands-down favorite? Losing to Wooster 84-21 at home in 2004, but winning at Wooster 27-24 has to be the biggest turnaround in the nation.” Well, Jack, it was up there, especially if you’re influenced by gut feelings. By the numbers alone though — and I did look at all 231 finishes — the Lords had a lot of company. 

Of the 229 Division III teams that played in 2004, 89 finished this season with more wins, 41 won the same amount and 99 lost more.

Of the 89 that won more, 13 made an improvement of more than three wins. Kenyon was one of eight that won four more (St. John’s, Wesley, Thiel, Frostburg State, Bowdoin, Guilford and Maine Maritime were the others). Four teams won five more games (Wabash, Union, Ferrum and Defiance) and UW-Whitewater improved by seven wins, going from 7-3 to 14-1.

But going by gut feeling, Kenyon, Defiance and Bowdoin were some of the better feel-good stories of the year. Others included Ferrum (despite being outscored 103-21 in its final two games), since it climbed into the playoffs after a 4-6 season, winning their first nine and leading Division III in rushing offense.

Three near-perfect years were large improvements: Wabash went 11-1 on the heels of a 6-4 season, Union’s 11-1 came from 6-3, while Thiel surged to 11-1 from 7-3.
> Kenyon suggested by Fuchs; Catholic by Brendan Nugent.

Six teams that far outperformed their preseason ranking
UW-Whitewater, Wesley, Thiel, Ferrum — we know those teams excelled. How about …
32. Bridgewater State, ranked 182nd of 231 by myself and Pat Coleman in the preseason, finished 9-1.
33. Frostburg State, ranked 160th, went from 2-8 in 2004 to 6-4, not including an ECAC Bowl loss to Moravian.
34. Bowdoin, ranked 189th, flipped its record from 2-6 to 6-2. Though they were fortunate to win some early games during which they were painfully outgained, the only teams to beat the Polar Bears were Trinity and Colby, a combined 15-1.
35. Defiance, ranked 221st, went to 6-4 from 1-9. 
36. Maine Maritime, ranked 207th, went from 3-6 to 7-3.
37. We ranked Trinity (Conn.) 59th. Simply put, we just weren’t respecting the NESCAC powerhouse. I finished with them in the top 20 on my ballot, ahead of Trinity (Texas). 

38. Notable steps backward: Shenandoah‘s slide, from the 2004 playoffs to 1-9 this season, is about as far as you can go. 

Norwich missed Pierre Garcon, falling from 7-3 (7-4 with an ECAC loss to Alfred) to 3-7 with their star sophomore at Mount Union. Springfield slid from 8-2 to 4-6, while Lake Forest, Nichols and The College of New Jersey also won four fewer games than in 2004. Mary Hardin-Baylor and Carthage were each down by four as well, but more due to exceptional 2004 records than bad seasons in 2005.

Grinnell, Mount Ida, UW-Platteville, Wooster and Muhlenberg each won five games fewer than it did in 2004, while Shenandoah dropped by six.

Seven teams that fell well short of their preseason ranking
There were some dogs for sure, led by Shenandoah at 62 and Emory & Henry at 74. Both went 1-9. Here are five more bad calls:

39. No. 29 UW-Stevens Point had national champion Linfield on the ropes in 2004, but finished 4-6 this year against a brutal schedule.
40. No. 44 Muhlenberg’s precipitous drop from the playoffs to 3-7 wasn’t quite as bad as Shenandoah’s, but the Mules were the team that emerged from the five-way tie to represent the Centennial Conference in the playoffs in ’04.
41. No. 47 Pacific Lutheran. One of only four in our top 50 to finished with a losing record. The Lutes’ fall from 1999 national champion to 3-6 this year would have been more painful if they weren’t so youthful.
42. No. 57 UW-Platteville dropped to 1-9. Perhaps we were giving out too many points just for being in the WIAC, but then again, this was no typical year in that league. The good was great (UW-Whitewater). And then there were the Pioneers, who lost every game after a 26-0 win over Dubuque to start the year, and allowed 37 points per game in the nine losses.
43. No. 56 The College of New Jersey went from 7-2 on the playoff fringe to 3-7, including a 30-13 season-opening loss to fellow disappointment Muhlenberg. 
44. Millsaps, ranked just 106th but with an coaching staff with recognizable names and Division I-A experience, and coming off a 4-5 year, went 2-7.
45. We only had Mount Ida at No. 156 following a 6-2 season in 2004, but the tagline earns it play here. In the 1-231, we predicted Mount Ida was “looking at another small step forward.” It finished 1-9.

46. First-half teams that went bad in the second half: McMurry, WPI, Kenyon, UW-Stout.

47. Best second half team (The slow start, strong finish award): Remember that five games does not a season make. There were several solid nominees for our ‘slow start, strong finish award. Guilford and Willamette had two of the best second halves, but we have featured them elsewhere. A third team had a great second half: After a 1-3 start, Howard Payne could have given up on 2005. Instead, a 24-20 win over Mary Hardin-Baylor, No. 2 in the country at the time, began a streak for the Yellow Jackets. Howard Payne won its last six games, four by a touchdown or less, to get to 7-3 and finish tied for second in the ASC.

48. Proof that wins are hard to come by: Aside from Trinity (Conn.), which didn’t have to put its 8-0 record on the line in the playoffs, no one went undefeated. But 11 went winless. They were Massachusetts Maritime, Nichols, Concordia (Ill.), Wesleyan, Lewis and Clark, Heidelberg, Becker, Macalester, Menlo, Juniata and Tri-State. To be fair though, 11 teams did finish the regular season unbeaten, and the only team to make it through the playoffs without a loss, Mount Union, lost in mid-October.

THE MEMORABLE STATISTICS
49. Hard to beat the OAC in the playoffs: With Capital — No. 3 on my final ballot — eliminated in the round of eight by Mount Union, it marked yet another year when one of the country's best teams was stopped by the best team, who also happened to be a conference rival. Since the playoffs expanded from 16 teams in 1999, the OAC has sent 12 teams to the postseason. The conference is 33-8 in the playoffs since then, but four games were head-to-head meetings, meaning the conference is 29-4 (.879) against teams from other conferences.
> Suggested by: Chris Barr

50. Receptions aren’t everything: Mary Hardin-Baylor wide receiver P.J. Williams only caught 32 passes but had a great year, with 11 total touchdowns and 1,428 yards all told, between kickoff and punt returns. He also broke a Division III record with 278 punt return yards in a game.

That record in and of itself caused some consternation among Widener fans, who were aghast when we noted Williams had broken the record of Otterbein’s John Conroy. But of course, when Billy “White Shoes” Johnson set his punt return record in 1972, Widener was Division II. The first Division III championship wasn’t held until 1973.
> Suggested by: Colin Bloodworth of Belton, Texas

51. One dad, 7,059 passing yards: This e-mail from the father of three Division III quarterbacks, including two that started this year, fit well here: 
“Keith - I'm not sure what category this would be, but against Dickinson, J.D. Ricca (my son) threw 6 TD passes in the first half to six different receivers … maybe never been done before … and you'll be glad to know that you still hold the individual record for most interceptions of a Ricca in a game (4) ... but the way Catholic heaves it that may not last much longer.
John Ricca”

Keith Ricca passed for 3,311 yards for Catholic, while J.D. passed for 3,748 for Hampden-Sydney. Both were among the nation’s top 10 in total offense, though only J.D. was in the top 70 (he was fourth) in passing efficiency.

52. Thirteen sacks, then eight fumbles: In their 62-3 playoff victory over Monmouth, St. John’s had 13 sacks and held the Scots to minus-3 rushing yards on 44 carries. And Monmouth held the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game (38:20). Ouch.

The following week, by the way, the Johnnies fumbled eight times, losing seven, in a 34-7 loss to UW-Whitewater.
> Suggested by: Ryan Coleman

53. Standings falling into place: “Interestingly,” says Mann, “not a single team in the SCIAC beat a team that finished higher than them in the standings. Occidental was undefeated, Cal Lutheran beat everyone but Oxy, Redlands everyone but those two, etc. There were some close games between these teams, but no upsets according to the final standings.

Other leagues had remarkable symmetry in the final standings. Like the SCIAC, no two teams won the same number of conference games in the IBFC, Empire 8, NEFC Bogan or Liberty League. The W column in the conference standings reads 7-6-5-4-3-2-1-0 (without the 7 in 7-team conferences), and the L column read the same back up. There’s no guarantee the standings will shake out that way, even in a closed league like the NESCAC, whose teams were a symmetrical 8-0, 7-1, 6-2, 6-2, 5-3, 3-5, 2-6, 2-6, 1-7 and 0-8. 

54. Fast starts: Thiel finished the season with the nation’s ninth-best rushing defense, allowing just 80 yards per game. Waynesburg’s Ryan Abels ran for 102 yards against the Tomcats … in the first quarter. The Yellowjackets built a 21-0 lead, but Thiel came back to win 35-28 in two overtimes. And Abels finished with 125 yards rushing.
> Suggested by: Ronald Abels

55. Virginia is for offense: Teams from the Old Dominion, or those who played several games inside its borders, take home our “most bang for the buck” honor this season. Sure, their poor defenses didn’t get them very far, even for the state teams that made the postseason, but it sure made for some fireworks on Saturdays. 

Consider the offenses of Ferrum, Hampden-Sydney and Bridgewater. Remember that Guilford and Catholic racked up much of their offense in the state, as members of the ODAC. Even Randolph-Macon had the 12th-ranked receiver in Division III.

56. Least bang for the buck: “Look no further than the Framingham State Rams who managed to score just 57 points on their entire season,” says Paul Schreel, a former Division III player who worked with our Gordon Mann during three playoff broadcasts. “Shut out four times on the year, they actually managed to win two games this season (which accounted for 41 of their 57 points). The Rams have not broken the 100-point plateau for a season since 2001 so their inability to light up the scoreboard is nothing new. The Rams gave up 57 or more points in a game twice this season, against Bridgewater State and Fitchburg State.” 

Across Division III, Schreel notes, 78 teams scored 57 or more in a single game. 

57. Remember how difficult offensive consistency is to find: Lebanon Valley (2-8) scored 35 or more five times, and scored 27 once. In the other four games, they were held to a single touchdown.

> Suggested for two-man show by Jim Coughlin: Lebanon Valley’s Dan Kelly and Adam Brossman.

58. Remember the best individual single-game offensive performance: Every suggestion ATN received for this category was for Kmic‘s 361-yard day against Augustana. Pat Cummings, who called the game for D3football.com, sent the e-mail to nominate him right after it happened: “Nate Kmic's 361 yards against Augustana's run defense, which was allowing 125 yards per game on the ground. No trickery involved — Kmic just did it easily. 37 carries, averaging 9.1 yards per carry with no run longer than 34 yards. Lots to look forward to in Alliance.”
> Also suggested by Mike Bradshaw of Canton, Ohio; Dave Ross (SeventiesRaider); Thiel fan/student Michael Voelker

Others to remember: McMurry’s Ty Sellers (by Ralph Turner), for a 200/200 passing/rushing performance, and five TDs against Louisiana College. He nearly did it again against Sul Ross State, having a hand in six TDs and rushing for 223, but passing for “only” 191.

59. Best single-game offensive performance, team: Rockford and Washington & Jefferson each racked up 778 yards in a game, against Principia and Hanover, respectively. Fifteen teams racked up 658 or more yards in a game, but only one did it against a defense that finished among the nation’s top 120. St. John Fisher’s 672-yard, 58-32 win over Rochester on Sept. 10 ranks as the most impressive, since the 4-6 Yellowjackets actually played a little defense. They held six opponents to 20 points or fewer and had the 95th-ranked defense, including the Cardinals’ big day. St. John Fisher set a school record that day, as Noah Fehrenbach had more than 200 yards receiving and Mark Robinson went over 200 rushing.
> Other games that stood out: Mount Union’s 70-0 win over John Carroll (7-3), UW-Whitewater’s 73-12 defeat of Lakeland, an eventual playoff team, and Augustana’s 64-42 win over Elmhurst, which finished 6-4 and came into the Vikings game allowing 16.6 points per game.

60. Best single-game defensive performance, player: Monmouth double-teamed Gagliardi Trophy finalist Damien Dumonceaux, a first-team All-American defensive end who led the team in tackles. That freed up the other end, junior Kevin McNamara, for 7½ of his 12 sacks on the season. Monmouth coach Steve Bell told thePeoria (Ill.) Journal-Star the pair worked together: “McNamara was just getting the end result. Dumonceaux would flush Mitch out of the pocket and right into McNamara." 
> Suggested by: Noah Retka

61. Best single-game defensive performance, team: In their 12 wins, Wesley averaged more points than some basketball teams (47.9). But national runner-up UW-Whitewater shut them down during a 58-6 semifinal win. More stunning was Brockport State’s 47-0 win over the Wolverines, given that the Golden Eagles allowed nearly 21 points per game to everyone else it played. 

62. Most overhyped: We’re guilty of thinking Don Montgomery’s experience at Mount Union would translate into immediate success at Emory and Henry. But since we’ve touched on that elsewhere, let’s touch on something else that gets more play than it deserves:

We've heard about enough of these false records that have arisen since the NCAA began counting postseason statistics in official records, something it did not do before 2002. This season's most-repeated record-that-really-wasn't involved UW-Whitewater sophomore running back Justin Beaver.

Although Beaver finished with 2,420 rushing yards, a tally few have reached in a single season at any level, he did it in 14 games, including a 30-carry, 125-yard Stagg Bowl. That breaks down to 172.8 yards per game, which is both ridiculously impressive and nowhere near the Division III record. In fact, by average, it's not even one of the 10 best seasons of the past decade or one of the 25 best all-time.

The highest rushing total truly belongs to Simpson's Ricky Gales, who rushed for 2,035 yards in a 10-game regular season, then gained 389 more on 51 carries in a single playoff game. That 42-35 first-round loss to St. John's in 1989 ended the most prolific rushing season in Division III history at 2,424, an average of 220.4 per game. And even that ranks as the fourth-best per-game average, behind three backs who did not make the playoffs. Marietta's Dante Brown rushed for 238.5 yards per game in 1996, Grove City's R.J. Bowers went for 228.3 in 1998 and Coe's Carey Bender ran for 224.3 in 1994.

And considering that Beaver had zero receptions on the season, one could argue that St. John Fisher's Mark Robinson (2,194 rushing yards, 232 receiving yards in 12 games during his sophomore year in 2004) has done what Beaver's done by going over 2,400 yards from scrimmage. Including 345 kick-return yards and 49 receiving yards, Wooster's Tony Sutton totaled 2,634 yards in 12 games (219.5 per) last season.

Point being, Beaver's yardage output was exceptional, but not unprecednted. Perhaps his accomplishment is better cast in the light of him being consistent enough to rush for that many yards, week in and week out. Only three teams had ever played 15 games before (2004 Mary Hardin-Baylor, 2002 Trinity (Texas) and 2000 St. John’s).

Adjusted to include the playoffs, Pat Coleman and I compiled some of the highest rushing yardage totals in history:
Gales, Simpson, 2,424 in 11 games in 1989
Beaver, UW-Whitewater: 2,420 in 14 games in 2005
Brown, Marietta: 2,385 in 10 games in 1996
Chuck Moore, Mount Union: 2,349 in 14 games in 2001
Bowers, Grove City: 2,283 in 10 games in 1998
Bender, Coe: 2,243 in 10 games in 1994
Sutton, Wooster: 2,240 in 12 games in 2004.

OUR MEMORABLE “AWARD-WINNERS”
63. The ‘Glad we went to 32 teams this year’ award: Says Mann: “I’m not sure Capital would’ve made the postseason with two losses under the old format. But they made the most of their chance and pushed the eventual champs to the limit. Wilkes might have been the last team in according to our calculations, but I'm not sure they can be “thankful" for getting pummeled by Rowan in the first round. 

Says Paul Schreel, an Ohio Northern graduate who has done radio with D3football.com broadcasters: “Capital would have been sitting at home like ONU did in 2004 had the 28-team field still been in place. They represented very well in the playoffs and showed everyone they deserved their Pool C. And for the record, I am eating some crow in pointing this out so I want to make sure Capital gets the credit they deserve.”
> Capital also suggested by Mike Bradshaw; Eric Park, Paul Schreel.

64. The ‘Wish you were here’ award: Officially renamed the Trinity Bantams Award, as Connecticut’s finest capped a third consecutive unbeaten season without joining the postseason fun. I know we normally go with the NESCAC [for this award],” says Mann, “but they exclude themselves by choice. So how about a pair of seniors who appeared playoff bound until injuries shortened their seasons? Jordan Neal of Hardin-Simmons (preseason No. 4) only played in three games for the Cowboys who were gunned down short of the playoffs. Dustin Johnson of Salisbury (preseason No. 15) suffered a similar fate in the Sea Gulls’ Week 4 loss to Montclair State. Who knows if either team would've made the playoffs with their starting quarterbacks under center. But it's unfortunate they didn't get a chance to try.”

65. The “Don't forget why we're here” award: Sure, there was a national championship game on Saturday, but four UW-Whitewater football players got their hands on something besides walnut and bronze hardware: They graduated the Thursday before the game. From the Stagg Bowl diary on UW-Whitewater's official Web site: "We can't do justice to the day by going in chronological order, because the most important event of the day took place during lunch. Seniors Mike Askren, Michael Chaulk, Jim Leszczynski and Jake Kreiser went through graduation ceremonies. Although the quartet will miss the formal ceremonies in Kachel Fieldhouse Saturday, Dr. Martha Saunders, UW-W chancellor, presented the diplomas and conferred degrees, via speakerphone, with the aid of UW-W director of athletics Paul Plinske and Joe Bailey. Chaulk was recognized for earning cum laude honors."

66. The crazy schedule award: UW-SP, Brockport State, Wesley, Montclair State (played seven of its ten games on the road, including an ECAC game), Willamette
Also suggested: Brockport State, by Mike Mangone

67. The crazy road trip award: On Oct. 8 Husson (Bangor, Maine) had a date with Southern Virginia (Buena Vista, Va.) for some non-conference, non-division football fun. Heavy rains cancelled the game after the Eagles arrived, sending Husson back the way it came. “I’ve driven from Philadelphia past Bangor, Maine and from Philadelphia past SVU,” said Mann. “On both occasions I said to no one in particular, ‘Wow, this a long drive.’ ” If Husson made both legs of that drive only to find out the game was cancelled, now that’s a road trip that stunk.

68. The glass ceiling award: Occidental is 19-2 in its past 21 games, with both losses coming against West Coast power Linfield. That is the Tigers’ reward for an unbeaten regular season —a first-round game at the defending national champions and a 63-21 loss.

> From fan Nate Brown: “The CCIW. Contrary to some people on the message boards, I still believe the CCIW is a stronger conference top to bottom than the OAC (six out of eight CCIW teams have made the playoffs in the past 10 years, compared to five out of 10 OAC teams), but the top of the OAC is something we just can't get past. I would like to point out that since 1992, only four CCIW playoff teams lost to someone other than Mt. Union (including Millikin's first two playoff appearances in 1998 and 2000 and first-timer North Central this year), but Augie's destruction in Alliance this year shows that this is still a glass ceiling for us. We are 12-4 against other teams, and 0-10 against MUC in the playoffs in that stretch.

Yeah but Nate, two of those four losses came against OAC teams other than Mount Union: North Central to Capital this year and Millikin to Ohio Northern in 2000. And Wheaton beat Baldwin-Wallace 16-12 in 2003 before losing to Mount Union. Wittenberg in 1998 was the only non-OAC team to eliminate a CCIW team, so give the rest of the OAC some credit for being the CCIW’s glass ceiling, not just Mount Union.

69. The constant turmoil award: In 1994, Tom Clark revived a dormant Catholic football program which was nearly eliminated after the 1993 season. With offensive coordinator Marty Favret, now head coach at Hampden-Sydney, by his side, Clark’s Cardinals were playoff regulars in the late ’90s. Favret left after the 1999 season, and Clark left after going 6-4 in 2000. Rob Ambrose coached a 3-7 season, leaving in July for a Division I assistant’s job. That left Tom Mulholland as interim coach in 2002, a position he kept in 2003. Clark returned in 2004 to find eight starters suspended, and went 0-10. The Cardinals went 3-7 with a star receiver and a budding quarterback, only to have Clark resign a second time, this time for a coaching job at Liberty. That means from 2000-06, the Cardinals will have had five head coaches, if you count Clark twice. Catholic hired David Dunn, who spent just one year at Becker before leaving.

70. Alumni awards: A Division III alumnus was being named a first-time head coach in the NFL as we wrapped this column up. Eric Mangini, like mentor Bill Belichick a Wesleyan graduate, was tabbed to take over the New York Jets. 

A couple dozen Division III alums were employed, mostly as assistant coaches, around the NFL over the past few years. There’s no telling how many of them will land on their feet with 10 NFL teams turning over their coaching staffs this offseason.

At Curry, former New England Patriots Steve Nelson and Mosi Tatupu are coaches, Nelson in charge. Although it was an NAIA school when he played, former Cal Lutheran tackle (’70-72) Rod Marinelli was named Lions coach. 

Buffalo’s London Fletcher, Seattle’s Jerheme Urban and Carolina’s Jamal Robertson were among the Division III alumni who logged significant minutes for their NFL teams this season.

Elsewhere, G.A. Mangus recently resigned from Delaware Valley to become offensive coordinator at Division I-A Middle Tennessee State. Steve Ryan, a 1989 Wheaton graduate, coached Morningside into the NAIA playoff semifinals.

MISCELLANEOUS MEMORABLES
71. Most painful playoff score comparison: Anything that runs through Wesley is guaranteed to be painful. Wesley blew out two teams (Ferrum 59-14 and Bridgewater 46-7) and then got blown out by UW-Whitewater 58-6. The most painful is Whitewater to Wesley (52 points) to Bridgewater (39) to Thiel (17) to Johns Hopkins (25). But tack on Mount Union’s seven-point win against UW-Whitewater and run that list through to Ferrum … a conference rival of Averett … Mount Union’s opening opponent next season. You do the math. Good thing margins of victory don’t translate that way.

72. Best postseason conference showing: “The Ohio Athletic Conference was the only conference to advance two teams to the regional finals,” reminds fan Mike Bradshaw of Canton, Ohio. “They also eliminated champions of the NCAC, CCIW, HCAC, NJAC and WIAC. Not bad for five weeks’ work.”

73. Worst postseason conference showing: “The MWC watched its undefeated champion get annihilated 62-3, which is painful,” says Mann. “But the CCIW is a more interesting pick. Depth is one thing, but if you’re going to be one of the top conferences in the country, you have to get more than a win against the IBFC in the playoffs. North Central was respectable against Capital but still one of just two teams to lose at home in the first round. And the conference champ lost by a much larger margin than anyone other than Mt. St. Joseph.”
> Also suggested: Empire 8, by Mike Mangone

74. Most top-heavy conference: Perhaps it depends on how we define this. I call a conference top-heavy when there are a few teams at the top, a few at the bottom, and virtually none in the middle. But Gordon Mann took it to mean a conference with a dominant team on top and not much else. In the SCIAC, “Occidental beat runner-up Cal Lutheran by 32,” Mann said. Only two of the CCIW‘s eight teams, on the other hand, had losing records. In the NESCAC, there was a clear top five and bottom five. The ACFC had three teams 4-1 in conference play and three more 1-4.

But the ODAC takes the top-heavy trophy. Aside from crowning the same champion for the fifth year in a row, the conference also showed a remarkable division. Bridgewater, Hampden-Sydney and Washington & Lee each won seven games or more, while Catholic, Randolph-Macon and Emory & Henry combined to win just six. In the conference standings, the Eagles, Tigers, Generals and Quakers (of Guilford) each won four conference games or more, while the other three won just one each. 

75. Most even conference: One could argue for CCIW here in place of the WIAC‘s traditional “best top-to-bottom award.” But when your last place team is just two games out of second place, you get the prize. The Centennial Conference was full of surprises this season, not the least of which was Ursinus upsetting Johns Hopkins late in season. In Week 1, McDaniel beat Bridgewater before falling apart. Five teams finished in a five-way tie last season, and after Week 9 of this year, five teams had exactly two conference victories. Such balance didn’t lend itself to an overwhelmingly successful year for however. Only the Blue Jays had a winning record, and only Franklin and Marshall joined them with a winning record in conference games. Centennial teams were just 12-18 in non-conference play, with McDaniel and Johns Hopkins the only teams to win more out of conference games than they lost.

76. Best independent: “Huntingdon was about 15 minutes of football away from an undefeated regular season,” says Mann. “South region top-seed Trinity (Texas) needed a fourth-quarter rally at home to beat the Hawks. Maryville upset Huntingdon on a late touchdown in the season finale, but a 7-2 showing in the program’s third year is nothing to sniff at.”

77. Notable streaks extended: While Trinity (Conn.) stands well out in front of the crowd in the consecutive wins department, Linfield still holds the streak that takes the cake. Their winning season was the 50th in a row for the ’Cats from McMinnville, Ore. No team in the 136-year history of college football has done that. 

78. Notable streaks snapped: Mount Union’s 110-game regular-season win streak and 98-game OAC streak were each snapped in an Oct. 22 loss to Ohio Northern 

IN RETROSPECT
Remember the best preseason predictions 
One of D3football.com’s great advances in 2005 was our Kickoff edition, in which we previewed each of the 231 teams and 26 conferences. In some places, we were spot-on. Others, not so much.

79. Beaver’s breakout: From Tom Pattison, who wrote the WIAC preview in D3football.com’s Kickoff: 

”Look for a breakout from: UW-Whitewater running back Justin Beaver. The sophomore missed much of the 2005 season with a hamstring injury. Beaver will benefit from the Warhawks’ veteran offensive line and run-friendly offense to gain 1,000-plus yards.”

80. Don’t diss Mount: Twenty-four of our 25 top 25 voters ranked Linfield No. 1, since they were returning star quarterback Brett Elliott after a national championship. One voter, a coach from a playoff-contending South Region team, had the foresight to rank the eventual champions, Mount Union, first.

81. Preseason six-packs: In the Kickoff, I listed six playoff teams that would disappoint and six non-playoff teams that would emerge in 2005. Only one of the six disappointments, Delaware Valley, made it back to the playoffs. St. John Fisher (8-3), Carthage (7-3), Wooster (6-4), Willamette (5-4) and Muhlenberg (3-7) each took at least a small step in the wrong direction. Two of the six teams I picked to emerge, Wesley and Thiel, combined for 23 wins. The rest of the group, Hampden-Sydney (8-2), Whitworth (5-3). Albright (5-5) and Texas Lutheran (5-5) missed the playoffs.

82. WIAC-knowledge: Few even in Wisconsin expected UW-Whitewater’s Stagg Bowl run, and certainly none of the eight staffers that took a crack at 16 predictions in the preseason had the Warhawks even winning the West. But when asked who will win the WIAC, two of them — myself and Pat Cummings — did pick Whitewater. And for the record, the Warhawks were ranked (21st) in our initial top 25 and surged to No. 2, where they finished, by Week 8.

83. Shenan-DOH! Asked which would have the worst falloff record-wise, only Tom Wilson picked a 2004 playoff team that finished without a winning record in 2005. Shenandoah, a 21-17 loser to Delaware Valley in the 2004 first round, went 1-9, beating Randolph-Macon (2-8) 20-10 on Sept. 17.

Remember the bad preseason predictions: Pat Coleman: “Anything that involved Emory & Henry or Franklin & Marshall,” says Pat Coleman. Oh, that’s only the beginning.

84. Diplomatic ignominy: Perhaps our most dubious prediction was slotting Franklin & Marshall for a 10-0 season. That didn’t even last a week, as the Diplomats were beaten 34-21 by Bethany, which lost its other nine games, and trounced 34-0 by Hobart the following week. Their 5-5 finish, not including an ECAC bowl loss, is even more baffling when Pat Cummings reminded us that the Diplomats returned 17 starters, including an all-conference quarterback. 

85. Wacky Wasps: Kickoff 2005 marked Emory & Henry down for 7-3. We asked our eight staffers to predict the number of victories former Mount Union defensive coordinator Don Montgomery would lead the Wasps to. We all said between 5-7. If not for a three-point win in Washington, D.C., against Catholic, the ODAC’s team of the ‘90s would have gone winless in 2005.

86. Ringing Liberty’s bell: Pat Coleman and I didn’t give much love to the Liberty League in the preseason, ranking Union 77th, Hobart 79th and RPI 88th. By years end, our poll had the Dutchmen 14th, the Statesmen 22nd and RPI also receiving votes, or the equivalent of 29th. The league’s two playoff teams took Rowan and Delaware Valley, the best teams in the East, to the wire.

87. Almost passable: Touchdown Illustrated, a game-program insert infamous for picking Hampden-Sydney No. 1 overall last season, came back with a decent top 10 this preseason: Linfield, Mount Union, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Rowan, Christopher Newport, Washington and Jefferson, St. John’s, Delaware Valley, Ohio Northern and UW-La Crosse. Not bad. Wait, Christopher Newport at No. 5? Um, the Captains finished 6-4. We’d hate on this pick a little harder, but we ranked them 16th.

They also did Gagliardi predictions (Brett Elliott, Chris Edwards, Mark Robinson), an Elliott feature and caught up with former Plymouth State running back and Heisman voting darling Joe Dudek, so we do tip our hat to TI this year.

88. Off Wisconsin: Followers of Don Hansen’s National Weekly Football Gazette and others must have been really surprised when UW-Whitewater crushed St. Norbert 45-7 at St. Norbert in the season’s opener. Lindy’sranked St. Norbert No. 10 in the preseason, Street & Smith’s ranked the Green Knights No. 16 and Don Hansen ranked them 15th. None of them ranked UW-Whitewater in the Top 25. 

Only readers of the D3football.com Top 25 poll, with UW-Whitewater 21st and St. Norbert not in the Top 25, were warned of what was coming. That and the USA Today Sports Weekly preseason Top 25, with Whitewater at No. 19. (Disclaimer: Pat Coleman and I compiled that poll ourselves since we work on the publication.) 

89. Remember that even the year-in-review made predictions we can revisit: Last Jan. 27, we postedAround the Nation’s look at the 2004 season. In it, we highlighted a few Division III players who were fringe candidates to catch on in the NFL, but none lasted. We also picked Texas Lutheran as the next big thing, although an e-mail shortly afterward pointed out that Ohio Northern would have been a more fitting choice. Given how 2005 turned out, that e-mailer was right. 

90. Remember the season’s turning point: Mount Union’s loss to Ohio Northern sent the Purple Raiders back to the drawing board. Their aura of invincibility gone, Larry Kehres and a young coaching staff made up of several former Mont Union players gathered the resolve to bring home perhaps their most satisfying championship yet.

91. Worst moments: Two moments of tragedy came to mind, first when Minnesota-Morris junior basketball player Rick Rose died in a celebration that involved tearing down the goalposts following the football team’s Oct. 22 win against Crown. It was the last game on Morris’ field before they move to a new stadium in the fall. Then, barely a week later, Ohio Northern assistant coach Ron Bendekovic died suddenly at age 34. He had also been an assistant at Baldwin-Wallace and Marietta and was a four-year letterwinner at Allegheny.

Suggested by: Wabash fan Lee McLaughlin

92. Remember that sometimes, just getting through the season is winning: “Coach Dean Paul of Ohio Northern deserves battle pay for this season,” says Mann. “Between trying to keep his team focused amid rumors of NCAA sanctions and helping them grieve through a death, he still led them to a win over Mount Union and a solid 8-2 record.” Added ONU graduate Paul Schreel, “Whether it was the loss of Jason Trusnik in Week 3 to a broken foot for the remainder of the season, the NCAA sanctions and complicated appeal process, or the unfortunate and unexpected death of two-time OAC assistant coach of the year Ron Bendekovic, the Polar Bears went through a roller coaster of emotion this year. Still, they matched an 8-2 mark that they set the year before as they continue to rebuild the program and they managed to beat a pretty decent team from Alliance, Ohio, that no one in the conference had managed to beat since Oct. 15, 1994.”

93. Remember that playing a full season is never guaranteed: Lewis and Clark cancelled its season except for four non-conference games and was done by Oct. 8. It left Willamette and Linfield with just eight regular-season games. The coach and athletic director resigned, but the school appears willing to help the program succeed, 

94. Remember the good days: It was a good but long day Oct. 8 for Northwestern (Minn.), a first-year provisional Division III member that essentially took a split-squad approach in beating Trinity Bible in the afternoon and Macalester at night. (The second game’s starters played only a couple of series in the first game.)


95. Remember the tailgates: No way we could do justice to naming the best crowd, best fan, best tailgate without planning it and taking notes during the season. So consider yourself warned for next year. Spoil the D3football.com staff (essentially unpaid) in ‘06 and there could be some postseason recognition in it for you! In the meantime, here’s our favorite fan from 2005:

Pat Cummings recognized Llamaguy from the ODAC boards for being a superb fan and representation of the Division III spirit. A Bridgewater rooter, Llamaguy took “Stone Station” on the road, offering barbeque and the like to fans from both Mount Union and UW-Whitewater at the Stagg Bowl. Cummings said he “refused money when Mount/UWW fans tried to give it to him ... it was truly a welcoming moment.”

96. Among the moments we’d just as soon forget: Eagles fans (probably the NFL kind, too) were also involved in one of the less-hospitable moments D3football.com witnessed this season. Wesley fans welcomed Bridgewater to Delaware with a beat-down on the field, and then some postgame scuffling in the street outside the stadium. Well, Division III isn’t always fairy-tale perfect, now is it?

97. Remember the thankless jobs: From the players who hardly know how much you do for them to the sports information directors, broadcasters and officials who make small-college football big time, here’s your thanks. It may be a conversation-ender when you say you “worked the BC game” over the weekend, and you have to tell the person you meant Bowdoin … or Beloit … or Blackburn. But none of the players are in it for the recognition either. It would be disingenuous to assume most of us would turn down a free education or more money or an opportunity where thousands cheer your every move. But as we discovered the world of Division III football, we found a purity in the game and joy in the experience. And whether you’re playing for a school that drove down the football field before there were cars to drive, or a pioneer at a school that recently added the sport, remember you owe a debt of gratitude for simply being able to play. 

It’s owed to those who make the schedules in a lonely office, those paint the yard lines by themselves on a weekday morning, those who wash the team’s laundry well into the night. There are those who spend night compiling statistics, those who make split-second calls without the benefit of instant replay, and those who drive their own cars a few hundred miles so a few hundred listeners, if that, can feel the energy of a game-winning drive when a field is nowhere in sight. If you can’t thank those who gift you the gift of college football face to face, at least make them proud when they aren’t there to watch. 

Five off-the-beaten path things D3 staffers will remember about this season:
98. Talking shop: Sitting in the hospitality room the night before the Stagg Bowl watching a silent tape of UW-Whitewater at Linfield, and talking football with coaches (and committee members) from Capital, Cortland State and elsewhere. With the I-AA championship on the TV, that my friends, is small-school football junkieism at its finest.

99. A moment of reflection: Mann: (Long after the Stagg Bowl, and even the postgame news conference had ended), Larry Kehres walked into the empty stadium in Salem and paused at midfield for a few moments. We don’t know what was going through his head, but it was a poetic end to another remarkable performance for the Purple powerhouse leader.

100. Gas prices: Pat Cummings’ moment of the playoffs: “I made the 410-mile drive from Alliance to my home in Philadelphia on one tank of gas in my Pontiac Grand Prix.” From Pat Coleman: “I remember wondering if I was crazy for driving to see two games on Labor Day weekend, with the rest of the east coast traveling, with gas prices heading through the roof because of Hurricane Katrina. I pondered staying at home and hoarding my $2.64-a-gallon tank of gas but in the end, getting a look at Noah Fehrenbach and Mark Robinson of St. John Fisher was worth it. … I paid $3.11 a gallon in New Jersey to get through the rest of the trip.”

101. Ambitious student newspapers: As the (about to sound self-important alert) leading source of information on Division III football, D3football.com gets contacted from time to time from various media members. This year alone, I was quoted in Men’s Health, on several radio halftime shows and had the opportunity to write about Division III rivalries for Sports Weekly’s college rivalries special edition. But really refreshing was the efforts from the kids on campus. While college journalism is often more effort than precision, the calls we got from Elmhurst, Ithaca and elsewhere reminded us that somebody, somewhere was doing the same thing that we did as students. These are the future journalists of America, and we try to help in that whenever possible.

102. Airport inconsistency: The humor was not lost on me as I sat at my gate an hour before my flight departed on the morning of the Monon Bell game. A week prior, at about the same time of day, it took me 45 minutes to check in and get through security at Washington’s Dulles Airport. That may sound short, but I missed my flight. On Monon Bell day, I barely stood in the security line long enough to overhear the person in front of me talk about flying to see the Union-RPI game.

103. Division III omnipresence: It’s not terribly stunning to see a DelVal windbreaker or Kean sweatshirt at a Philadelphia Eagles game, as I did this year. But seeing a Bowdoin window sticker there? What about a Cortland State license plate frame on my commute to work in Northern Virginia? Not only did I hear about the Union-RPI trip on my way to Wabash-DePauw, but the person who rented me a car at Enterprise that day played for Hanover in 2004. Division III alumni are everywhere!

104. So long
Unsung veteran: J. R. Bishop, an offensive coordinator and former head coach that put Wheaton football on the map, retired at the end of the season after decades of service.
Destined for the SEC: G.A. Mangus, who left Delaware Valley’s pastures greener before heading off to greener pastures himself.
Before our time: Sam Mills, the Montclair State player who had a long, notable career playing and coaching in the NFL, died in April 2005. Mills, a four-time All-American (1977-80) and a five-time Pro Bowler (1987-88, 1991-92, 1996), lost his fight with cancer.
Don’t let the door hit you: Then there was this: “I'd like to nominate Brett Elliott for the "Farewell" award from everyone else in D3 Football. — Signed, A Cobber Fan”

105. Best trend: Mount Union’s championship this season was still endearing because no longer are the Purple Raiders automatically penciled in for a trip to Salem. Mount Union has shown itself to be beatable, not just in Salem, but in Alliance. That’s led to an overall parity that’s kept the playoffs exciting, even if lopsided games are still more common than not. In Salem, the trend of close Stagg Bowls continued with Mount Union’s 7-point victory over Whitewater. With the exception of a 41-point blowout in 2002, the past six Stagg Bowls have been highly entertaining. Two have been decided by a field goal, two more by a touchdown and a fifth, St. John’s 24-6 win in 2003, wasn’t broken open until Mike Zauhar’s 100-yard interception return TD with nine minutes left. 

Hmm, guess we have a few overtime categories, too.

1 OT. Best change from last year: It’s a little early to see the effects of allowing spring practice, or going to a 32-team playoff system for that matter. But at least we know that with 32 teams in the show, the arguments this year often hinged on how undeserving the last team to get in was, and not how deserving teams were left at home. If that’s any indication of the long-term effect of a 32-team playoff, then Division III football is better for it (especially considering it was a 16-team field as recently as 1998).

2 OT. Next year, this should be brought back: If our support for Salem, Va. — a city large enough to make the Stagg Bowl big-time and small enough to make it the big event in town — wasn’t strong enough already, a touch was added to the title game, that well, added to the title game. The instant replay added to the feel of the game, as did the video board trucked in for the game. The amount of volunteer work that goes into the Stagg Bowl is tremendous, and every year Salem ups the ante just a little bit. Aside from the video board, the stadium also received better wheelchair access seating, an elevator for those purposes and for the press box, and a new scoreboard. And yes, artificial turf is in the near future.

3 OT. Next year, this should be changed: Last, but not least, everyone. Division III football is running at nearly optimum level right now. 

I suggest just one subtle tweak to the 32-team playoff system. To avoid a scenario like this season, where most of the best teams in the country were loaded into the West and North playoff brackets, why don’t we select the four No. 1 seeds first, as they do in the NCAA basketball tournament? That way, we can still create brackets low on travel, respecting the limitations of a Division III athletic budget, while creating the most balanced playoff system possible. 

In other words, this season we may have had Linfield, UW-Whitewater, Wabash and Delaware Valley as top seeds, and then had to fill in below. We would have avoided a matchup of two of the best teams, Linfield and Whitewater, in the quarterfinals, and still had a fair opportunity for deserving teams to host and advance into later rounds. 

This season the No. 1 seed in the South was questionable before it was beaten 35-6 in the opening round. In the new system, the four strongest teams would get top seeds and have brackets designed around them. Most teams would have remained in the same region they were in under the current system, and the eight-team brackets can be made in four-team pods that would not require travel until later rounds, if certain teams advance. By making the change, Division III would create the best playoff system in American sports. It would be competitively balanced, low on cost and regionally organized to keep team and fan travel as easy as possible.

Remember that you can discuss the year-in-review column on the Around the Nation thread of Post Patterns, on the D3sports.com message board. And we’ll have some discussion of it on the Daily Dose as well.

NOTE: Some e-mails and quotes were edited for clarity, grammar and length.