Far from the eye-catching blowouts, F&M won in a nail-biter on Saturday. Franklin and Marshall athletics photo

The margins of victory were hefty: 38 points, 49 points, 56 points, 86 points. Several teams in the Top 25 rolled over their opponents on Saturday, while equally wide ranges were found down through the rest of the scoreboard.

These kinds of results are the necessary byproduct of the size of Division III. It’s long been recognized that there are teams that benefit from opportunities and more support from school administration than others – it means better recruiting channels, shinier facilities and most of all a culture on campus that promotes success on the football field.

There are haves and have-nots in this respect.

There is room in Division III for every kind of team and every kind of philosophy. I appreciate all of them and fully understand their individual motivations. We just need to realize that lopsided results will happen from time to time, and if you put the spotlight on certain teams, it seems to happen with more frequency in their stat boxes.

I broke ranks and spent Saturday at a non-Division III game with my family. We got lucky and saw a game that coursed with nail-biting intensity and was capped with a game-winning touchdown in the closing seconds. Which game that was isn’t important, but it was a stark illustration at how narrowly won games are among the most celebrated from the winners while at the same time cast some of the deepest, darkest palls of disappointment for the defeated.

These are the kinds of games that teach us about who we are as players, coaches and fans, while providing the most acute insight into our strengths and weaknesses. Blowouts in college football may be inevitabilities, but it’s the one-score margins that keep us hooked -- urging us to tune in the following Saturday to see if it’ll happen again.

The first of the weekend’s two upsets of a Top 25 team was just this kind of game, which kept viewers on the ropes wondering “what if.” Franklin and Marshall had posted just three points through the first three quarters, but the Dips also kept No. 23 Muhlenberg within striking distance before pouring on a 13-point rally in the fourth quarter to lock down a 16-15 win.

Another ranked team, No. 14 Washington and Jefferson, was in a similar boat, though offense helped dictate the pace more than defense did against conference-mate Westminster (that’s the Westminster, Pa., one for anyone who read last week’s Around the Nation feature story). There were five lead changes and a final period that saw 28 points added to the board in an exciting 35-31 finish to keep the PAC with two undefeated front-runners.

In the second Top 25 upset, Hardin-Simmons, too, rallied in the fourth quarter over No. 18 Texas Lutheran to shake the thunder off of a Bulldogs team that had come off of last year with much-earned confidence. The Cowboys won 35-27.

It’s understandable that the Muhlenberg, TLU and Westminster communities felt heartbreak in those closing minutes, but particularly in Division III, a season isn’t over with just one loss. If a team can grow from the setback, there are deep playoff possibilities. Anything can happen in the automatic qualifier race for a playoff spot, and one-loss teams, whose only blemish is to a strong opponent, stand a fighting chance for getting picked for an at-large spot.

For the winners in these kinds of games, it’s important to rejoice in the way talent and fortune blended so perfectly on the football field. These close ones are more fun to watch than the blowouts, and they’re more fun to play in, as well.

In some cases, the deal gets even sweeter. George Fox can explain it …

What George Fox’s win says about the SCIAC

The second-year program won just its second D-III game, knocking off Redlands, a team that typically fights for a title spot in the SCIAC.

But maybe that has as much to do with the SCIAC’s woes as it does George Fox’s potentially rising star. Last year’s SCIAC champ, Chapman, lost a lot of starters and was on the receiving end of one of those lopsided scores mentioned in the first line of this column. Also, if Redlands falls to a youngster like George Fox, what can we really expect out of the Bulldogs?

Where does that leave the SCIAC?

In Kickoff and in the most recent Triple Take, I hitched my SCIAC cart to Cal Lutheran, based on a gut feeling as much as on a combination of factors that could work in the Kingsmen’s favor. Their season began with a victory over Pacific Lutheran, a welcome perk for the conference.

The SCIAC seemed more wide open than usual, and I wouldn’t be surprised if teams beat each other up (a la the ODAC or Empire 8), and no clear favorite emerges. These situations ultimately send a conference champ to the postseason with two or three losses on their record. The best hope is that players are healthy.

The SCIAC is 4-5 in non-conference play.

Other conferences in worse shape?

Maybe worse isn’t the right word (it’s probably too soon to make any definitive claim), but there are a couple that are worth keeping an eye on.

Pat and Keith talked in the ATN Podcast last week about the IIAC and whether there’s some backsliding as a whole. Coe was the big week-to-week swing, losing by 38 points in Week 1 to Wheaton and then crushing rival Cornell by 47 points in Week 2. Additionally, Wartburg seems to have lost a step, as the Knights’ first two opponents have closed the gap significantly compared with last year’s matchups.

With losses already this season by Heidelberg, Capital and Baldwin Wallace (a surprise result against Bluffton), the OAC is appearing a little more penetrable. The conference, which plays only one nonconference regular-season game a year, has just four nonconference wins, which is two fewer than at this point in 2014.

Maryville might have turned in one of the most talked-about wins of Week 2 prior to Saturday (a nail-biter, how about that?), but the team’s two wins so far are the brightest points in a continued struggle for the USA South to make some noise on a national scale. The conference as a whole has wrapped up the first two weeks of nonconference play with a record 4-12. A slate that includes Emory and Henry, Guilford and Hampden-Sydney still to come will make improving upon that ratio an uphill battle.

For the best of reasons

I always appreciate D-III teams that use their games to raise money or awareness to good causes. For the game between Buena Vista and St. John’s, bracelets were sold to help fund cancer research, prevention, treatment and other programs relating to the cancer community's needs.

Here was the brief “Tackle Cancer” video St. John’s did for the event:

According to the Johnnies’ website, “In 2014, the MIAC football teams contributed to the grand total of $228,000 raised by the [Minnesota Football Coaches Association] to benefit Minnesota's cancer community.”

Knowing how much money can come from games like this, the 56-7 St. John’s win no longer becomes the stat most worth talking about. If you know of charity events centered around Division III football teams coming up, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll do my best to help spread the word throughout the season.

Tweets, et al.

There will be a handful of opportunities each week for me to showcase what’s going on nationally in Division III. On:

• Sundays, look for my reaction and recap of Saturday’s games in Snap Judgments;
• Thursdays, see my centerpiece feature story of the week;
• Fridays, read our Triple Take prediction column, where Pat, Keith and I give you some things to look out for in the following day’s games, including the top matchups and upset possibilities.

Between all that will be D3football.com’s regional columns, the ATN podcast, and the team of the week, among other things. Don’t go too far!

Follow me on Twitter at @NewsTipps, as well as D3football.com’s main account, @d3football.

(Also, if you are tweeting about Division III football, don't forget to use the #d3fb hashtag.)