Moore: A bandit in purple

More news about: Mount Union

Oct 26, 2023

You'll find Rossy Moore in any of a number of spots on the Mount Union defense, but no matter where he is, expect him to make an impact.
Photo by Tom Nettleton, d3photography.com

By Greg Thomas
D3football.com

As a sophomore at Mount Union last season, Rossy Moore earned a starting position as the Purple Raider’s bandit — a hybrid position asking players to function as a linebacker or an edge rusher depending on the situation.

How talented is Moore? While learning this position and surrounded by a team full of some of the best defensive position players in the division, Moore was named the D3football.com Region 4 Defensive Player of the Year.

So what does Moore have in store for an encore? “We just want to dominate,” Moore told Around the Nation. There are many, many superlatives we could come up with to describe what Mount Union has been doing defensively this season. The Purple Raiders have surrendered just 16 points on the season, never more than seven in one game. They’ve shut out four opponents this year — so far.

Dominate sounds like the perfect word to me.

Defense Week features

Moore was plenty dominant in 2022, but he’s causing havoc in opposition backfields this season. Moore is tied for sixth in Division III with 15.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Both of these totals approach his 2022 totals in just under half as many games. Moore attributes his increased production to comfort in the system. “This year, knowing my role and understanding my role on this team is to dominate and to go right at people and to be one of the leaders on the defense,” Moore said.

“I get a lot of opportunities. I'm thankful for my coaches and my teammates that help me out with that,” Moore said. “I know that I get put in positions to make a lot of plays. I just have to go out there and execute the best I can and trust in the work I put into this offseason.”

Moore’s athletic versatility makes him a perfect fit for the bandit role the way the Purple Raiders have designed it. Strong and fast enough to rush the passer from the edge, but also athletic enough to be dependable in coverage in the middle level of the field. In this role, Moore can be anywhere Mount Union wants him to be.

“They want me around the ball as much as they can, so, the best way to put people around the ball is just getting closer to the ball. I blitz a lot and I just try to disguise. I'm more of a disguise player in our defense. You don't really know what I'm doing — if I'm blitzing, if I'm dropping, if I'm going into deep coverage,” Moore explained. “It's a whole bunch of different things they like to use me for. Kind of like a Swiss Army knife.”

Playing one position that is really several positions rolled into one is a big assignment, but one Moore has embraced. “I love taking on the challenge that (defensive coordinator Daryl) Ely puts in front of me every day. He knows I'm ready for it. I worked really hard in the summer to be ready for this season. So I definitely love where I'm at and what I'm doing,” Moore said.

Moore is one of seven defensive players returning in 2023 from the Purple Raider starting lineup in the 2022 Stagg Bowl. Playing with so much returning experience in players like Mason McMillen, Duke Hill, and Von Factor make Moore’s job that much easier.

“With Mason out there, he just puts everybody in the positions where they're supposed to be. It’s just so easy to play next to him. I give a lot of credit to him because he doesn't have it easy. He has to look after 22 guys on the field pretty much all day. He still goes out there and dominates,” Moore said praising Mount Union’s standout middle linebacker.

Moore had more praise for his teammates on the defensive line. “Guys like Duke and Von who just aren't about themselves. It's about the team and that's why I feel like our defense is so good. Because we don't care about stats, man. We don't care about anything else but winning. As long as we win 15 games, we’ve got a smile on our face.”

While Moore and the Mount Union defense have been overwhelming OAC every Saturday this fall, their preparation comes against one of the best offenses in the division. Competing against Braxton Plunk, Wayne Ruby Jr., Deandre Parker, and Tyler Echeverry help push Moore as well. Of competing against their offensive teammates during the week Moore told Around The Nation that “It’s fun. I feel like we have a little bit more fun with it than they do. We like to talk a little more than they do and get under their skin a little bit. It's good for us, you know, we love to go out there and compete with those guys.”

“They're one of the best groups in the country,” Moore continued. “We take pride in being one of the best groups in the country as well. As you can imagine, practice is pretty intense and we like to get after it when they let us.”

All of this preparation and dominance is, of course, in the pursuit of one goal at Mount Union — their 14th national championship. While longtime followers of Division III football are used to seeing Mount Union in the Stagg Bowl perennially, Moore and his 2022 Mount Union teammates were the first Purple Raiders to reach the championship game since 2018. A return trip in 2023 would feel more like business as usual for Mount Union.

“I know me personally, we got to the national championship (game) and we were glad that we did. We can't do that this year. We’ve got to want it more than anything,” Moore said.

And if Mount Union does return to Salem Stadium, the site of all 13 of their previous championships, there’s just one thing Rossy Moore expects his team to do.

“This year. It's a business trip, man. We're not here for all the theatrics before the game. We just want to play the game and dominate in the game.”

And the Automatic Bid Goes To…

Mount Union has been in every one of the last 30 NCAA tournaments and while Mount Union can not clinch a bid to their 31st consecutive tournament, there are teams that can punch their tickets this weekend. Here are Week 9’s win-and-in scenarios:

Wartburg clinches the ARC bid with a win over Central
Susquehanna clinches the Landmark bid with a win over Moravian
Ithaca clinches the Liberty League bid with a win over Buffalo State
Grove City clinches the PAC bid with a win over Bethany

Other bids could be clinched with some win-plus-help scenarios in the ECFC and the NCAC. We’ll break those down on Monday’s edition of the Around The Nation podcast if they come to fruition on Saturday.

Also be on the lookout on Wednesday for the first published regional rankings. If you’ve been following Division III football for at least a couple of years, you already know that the rankings that we see on Nov. 1 will not be ranked per se, but those alphabetical rankings will be our first official indicator of which teams are on the radar for those four precious at-large bids. We’ll also be able to better pinpoint Week 10 and 11 games that will have high playoff leverage. Bonus hat tip to Quick Hits panelist Logan Hansen for introducing “playoff leverage” to the lexicon. That’s going to stick in the rotation.

On tap

It’s the last October Saturday of the season and some conference races are winding down while many others are heating up. Week 9 is going to provide a lot of clarity in conferences like the ARC, Landmark, and ASC. Almost inevitably, we’ll get an unexpected result that will shake up the playoff picture. D3football.com is covering all of those exciting races and impact results. Here’s what you can watch for every week at D3football.com:

Tomorrow: Quick Hits featuring our panel’s predictions and insights into this weekend’s games

Saturday: Game day. The D3football.com Scoreboard has all of your links for stats and broadcasts.

Sunday: New Top 25 poll

Monday: Around The Nation podcast. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas recap the weekend that was and preview the weekend to come in Division III football.

Tuesday/Wednesday: Team of the Week honors, features columns

Thursday: Around the Nation column

I’d Like to Thank…

Special thanks to Rossy Moore for spending time with Around The Nation this week. Additional thanks to University of Mount Union Director of Athletic Communications Nate LaRiccia for coordinating our conversation this week! One more thanks to all of our readers for following all of our coverage at D3football.com during Defense Week!

Read options?

There’s nothing small about small college football. Division III is home to 241 teams, and many thousands of student-athletes and coaches. There are so many more stories out there than I can find on my own. Please share your stories that make Division III football so special for all of us! Reach out to me at greg.thomas@d3sports.com or on Twitter @wallywabash to share your stories.

D3football

d3football.com