D-III Spreadsheet: (Excel2003, 433 kb)
D-III Game of the Week:
There can be only one option here. Unranked and unbeaten Concordia-Moorhead traveled to #10 Bethel (MN) to sort out their differences, and settled into a brisk defensive struggle which found the Cobbers leading 14-7 late in the fourth quarter. Concordia had scored at the end of the first half on a one-yard run by Brent Baune on fourth-and-goal. Bethel later tied the score on a one-yard Jesse Phenow run, but the Cobbers regained the lead with nine minutes to play on a 40-yard hookup from Griffin Neal to Chris Gilson. Bethel had the ball late and drove desperately, but were facing third-and-10 from the Concordia 17 with only one second remaining. Dropping back to try and connect on one final pass, Bethel QB Erik Peterson was stripped of the ball, and Concordia recovered the fumble and ran it back the other way for the win…
…except for one small problem. When the ball came loose, Concordia players — thinking it had been an imcomplete pass, not a fumble — crossed the sideline into the field of play to begin celebrating. Because they did so before the play was blown dead, a live-ball unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called, which meant that Bethel not only retained possession, but got the yardage from the original line of scrimmage and an untimed down. From the nine, Peterson connected with Jay Hilbrands on a fade in the end zone, and Bethel trailed 14-13.
Royals’ coach Steve Johnson decided to take advantage of the chaos and the shocked frustration of the Cobber players and opted to go for two to win the game outright rather than settling for overtime. Peterson hit Mitch Hallstrom on a swing pass to the outside, and Hallstrom angled into the end zone for the conversion and the stunning victory.
It was a heartbreaker for the Cobbers, who never trailed in the game until after time had already expired, and who learned a pretty severe lesson in discipline. The loss cost Concordia an almost certain move into the top 25, a continued chance at an unbeaten season, and — if Bethel can upset Saint Thomas in what’s likely to be this week’s game of the week, an outcome which is certainly possible — any shot at all of capturing this year’s MIAC title, which means they probably cost themselves a playoff berth in the process. Bethel, meanwhile, heads to Saint Thomas feeling like they may be on a course with destiny.
Other Key Games:
Sixth-ranked Wesley (DE) knocked off #15 and previously unbeaten Birmingham-Southern 28-17, and will finally get a break in their insane schedule as they host unaffiliated Virginia Lynchburg on Saturday in a game they should win handily. Next week they’ll travel to the Pacific Coast to take on Menlo, a decent NAIA team; the biggest problem the Wolverines will face there is travel. After that, they’ll take on current #23 Huntingdon, who just happens to be taking two weeks off to prepare for them. Wesley’s only loss this season has been to #2 Mary Hardin-Baylor, so they’re in very good shape with the nightmare schedule they’ve taken on. Meanwhile, Huntingdon — who knocked off unbeaten Millsaps 45-24 on the road Saturday — has only one loss this year… to Birmingham-Southern, whose loss to Wesley cost them exactly one spot in this week’s poll.
Salisbury, ranked seventh and whose only loss has been to Wesley (see how this all ties together?), took a trip to unbeaten and ninth-ranked Saint John Fisher and came away with a 28-17 win which gives them a huge leg up in the hyper-competitive Empire 8 race. Fisher’s still in good shape; they drop to 11th in the poll, but like virtually every top-flight team involved in this merry-go-round, they’re going to be able to point at their loss as at-large justification if they win out. Birmingham-Southern and Saint John Fisher were the only top-25 teams to suffer defeat this week, leaving the poll largely unchanged except for slight adustments; there are 26 teams in this week’s edition, however, as unbeaten Heidelberg moved into a tie for 25th with Otterbein and oh look they play each other this weekend.
Purple Raider Watch:
Mount Union, as expected, shut out Wilmington (OH) 66-0. The Purple Raiders have now gone a ridiculous 253:50 without allowing a single point, that being the sole touchdown scored by Franklin in Mount Union’s season-opening 45-7 win. They have outscored their opponents 274-7, 229-0 in conference play, and with 1-4 Capital coming to Alliance on Saturday they’re very likely to maintain this incomprehensible streak. Next week, the Raiders visit currently unbeaten Otterbein; one might expect the streak to end there if it’s still alive, but to put this in perspective… in 2010, Ohio Northern went 10-1 in the regular season and made the playoffs. Their only loss was a 27-0 setback at Mount Union. You get what I’m saying?
Still Perfect:
After fourteen teams suffered their first loss of the season last weekend, twenty teams remain unblemished. #4 Saint Thomas (MN) hosts #9 Bethel (MN) in a battle of 5-0 teams Saturday, and the two teams tied for 25th — Otterbein and Heidelberg — will face off, both also 5-0. As a result, the unbeaten list will shrink by at least two on Saturday. Also at 5-0 are Coe, Concordia (IL), Gettysburg, Illinois Wesleyan, Johns Hopkins, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Mount Union, Ohio Wesleyan, Widener, Willamette, and Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Hobart, Salve Regina, and Waynesburg are 6-0, while Linfield is 4-0. At 3-0 are three NESCAC squads: Middlebury, Trinity (CT), and Wesleyan (CT).
Other than the Otterbein-Heidelberg matchup and Saint Thomas’s test against Bethel, two other unbeatens are in very real danger this week as Mary Hardin-Baylor travels to #21 Louisiana and Wisconsin-Oshkosh hosts #13 Wisconsin-Platteville. Also, third-ranked Linfield hosts 5-1 Whitworth in a game they should win but can’t take lightly.
Still Imperfect:
Twenty-nine teams remain winless after six teams got off the mat on Saturday. As with the unbeatens, that number will decrease by one as Morrisville State visits Western Connecticut State on Saturday. Both teams are 0-5, as are Anderson (IN), Buena Vista, Earlham, Hiram, Howard Payne, Juniata, Luther, Maine Maritime, Maranatha Baptist, Marietta, McDaniel, Morrisville State, Puget Sound, Rockford, Saint Vincent, Western Connecticut State, Wilmington (OH), and Wisconsin-River Falls. Mirroring the unbeatens, three NESCAC teams check in at 0-3: Colby, Hamilton, and Tufts. The two teams which are members of the Claremont Colleges Consortium, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer, are 0-4, while Beloit, MacMurray, Misericordia, Nichols, Olivet, and Saint Lawrence are all 0-6.
The New Top 25:
Results of Curious Distinction:
Nail-Biters:
Bluffton 37, at Rose-Hulman 34 (3OT)
at Bethany (WV) 42, Geneva 36 (OT)
at Carleton 21, Macalester 20
Baldwin-Wallace 22, at Ohio Northern 20
Wesleyan (CT) 31, Colby 28
at Case Western Reserve 31, Wooster 28
at Elmhurst 31, Augustana (IL) 27
Ohio Wesleyan 26, at DePauw 22
Done Been Trucked:
at Coe 69, Loras 7
at Kean 58, Western Connecticut State 7
Westfield State 63, at Maine Maritime 13
at Endicott 56, Nichols 7
Carroll (WI) 55, at Lawrence 6
at John Carroll 61, Marietta 14
Hardin-Simmons 56, at Howard Payne 10
Pacific (OR) 62, at Puget Sound 21
Hanover 54, at Anderson (IN) 14
Defense Is an Optional Package:
Sul Ross State 75, at Mississippi College 42
Utica 51, at Buffalo State 44
at Mount Ida 48, Anna Maria 35
No Offense… But No Offense:
at Chicago 10, Allegheny 0
Centre 10, at Sewanee 7
Thiel 14, at Saint Vincent 7
Averett 14, at LaGrange 7