This is the home for week-to-week occurrences that we know we'll want to come back and take a look at when the ATN year-in-review is compiled.
Week 4 had a 3-0 win involving DePauw and an 8-5 Coast guard/Westfield State game (least bang for the buck). TCNJ scoring 67 is the most bang I've seen so far.
There were some incredible finishes in September, maybe too many to list, but it can't hurt to try. Wheaton scored on the last play to beat Bethel 29-26, right? Pretty sure the Coast Guard/USMMA rivalry game went to overtime.
What are the ones I'm forgetting?
What about Emory scoring 29 4th qtr points to beat NCW. Add to that the fact that they went 50 yards in 11 seconds.
Pretty much my whole column after Week 3 (http://www.d3football.com/columns/around-the-region/midatlantic/2009/Every+second+counts+for+Ferrum%2C+Bridgewater) was dedicated to down-to-the-wire finishes -- though only one outside of overtimes that actually happened as time ran out. Still, that's six fantastic finishes in just one day in my region.
This is good:
QuoteCentral 41, Dubuque 27
Sep 19, 2009
DUBUQUE, Iowa — Fourth-and-goal plays loomed large for the Central College football team Saturday but this time it was the defense that delivered as the No. 16 Dutch escaped with a 41-27 victory at the Univ. of Dubuque Saturday.
A week ago Central (3-0 overall, 1-0 Iowa Conference) scored on a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line in a 22-21 win over Wis.-Stevens Point. But Saturday, with the Dutch clinging to a 33-27 fourth-quarter lead, Dubuque (1-2 overall, 0-1 conference) twice had fourth-and-goal opportunities and were denied.
You might be able to come up with an even more extreme example, but in the "stat sheets and scoreboards are not always compatible" division:
Total yards: IWU 415, Millikin 158
First downs: IWU 27, Millikin 8
TOP: IWU 34, Millikin 26
Final score: IWU 13, Millikin 19.
And neither team even lost a fumble!
The keys seem to be a Millikin 73-yard 'pick six', and a blocked punt which gave Millikin possession on the IWU 27 (each team probably lost a score to an interception - IWU had an INT in the end zone; Millikin had one on their 7).
cc: from ATN thread
Quote from: Hawks88 on October 11, 2009, 10:19:15 AM
How rare is it for a team to run 100+ offense plays in a regulation game? Huntingdon has now done it twice in a row with exactly 100 against both Louisiana College and Millsaps and has had one opponent do it, Maryville with 104. I looked back through six seasons of our boxscores and the biggest numbers I found were 88 and 89 with 80 being broken only a few times. I'm not sure if anyone knows or has the time or inclination to research, but it would be interesting to know if what we have done is very unusual.
Quote from: frank uible on October 11, 2009, 05:31:45 PM
Yesterday Middlebury ran 99 offensive plays - 74 of them were passes, yet only scored 10 points. The flow of that game would have been interesting to see.
For consideration and to invite other responses...
Toughest schedule of the season: How about ETBU.
Current rankings (Week #6 Top 25)
Week #1 Lost to #24 UW-LaCrosse 13-28
Week #2 Lost at #25 Redlands 3-36
Week #6 Lost to Pre-season #5 HSU 10-13
Week #8 Hosts (RV #28) Mississippi College
Week #9 Pl;ays at #3 UMHB
Quote from: Ralph Turner on October 13, 2009, 12:30:32 AM
For consideration and to invite other responses...
Toughest schedule of the season: How about ETBU.
Current rankings (Week #6 Top 25)
Week #1 Lost to #24 UW-LaCrosse 13-28
Week #2 Lost at #25 Redlands 3-36
Week #6 Lost to Pre-season #5 HSU 10-13
Week #8 Hosts (RV #28) Mississippi College
Week #9 Pl;ays at #3 UMHB
Might I suggest ONU?
Week #1 beat then #4 NCC (who has beaten 4 opponents since by an average of 66 points)
Week #2 lost to #1 MUC
Week #3 lost to (then) #13 Otterbein
still to meet never-a-slouch JCU and (current) #16 Capital (who gave chills to MUC)
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on October 13, 2009, 01:02:05 AM
Quote from: Ralph Turner on October 13, 2009, 12:30:32 AM
For consideration and to invite other responses...
Toughest schedule of the season: How about ETBU.
Current rankings (Week #6 Top 25)
Week #1 Lost to #24 UW-LaCrosse 13-28
Week #2 Lost at #25 Redlands 3-36
Week #6 Lost to Pre-season #5 HSU 10-13
Week #8 Hosts (RV #28) Mississippi College
Week #9 Pl;ays at #3 UMHB
Might I suggest ONU?
Week #1 beat then #4 NCC (who has beaten 4 opponents since by an average of 66 points)
Week #2 lost to #1 MUC
Week #3 lost to (then) #13 Otterbein
still to meet never-a-slouch JCU and (current) #16 Capital (who gave chills to MUC)
I know Frostburg State thinks its schedule is one of the nation's toughest. 6 road games, top teams from the PAC, NJAC, MAC, ODAC, E8 and ACFC potentially.
at Geneva • L, 41-28
Washington and Jefferson • L, 34-12
at Brockport State L, 37-32
at Widener • L, 35-16
at Wesley * • L, 44-19
Randolph-Macon • L, 23-19
Ithaca
UNC Pembroke
at Newport News *
at Salisbury * •
St. John Fisher might have an argument with Mount Union, then E8 games. But looks like ETBU and ONU have these guys beat.
To correct a misstatement I made:
NCC has scored an average of 66 points a game since ONU; that is not their margin of victory.
This could very easily be split into two subtopics: teams with the toughest schedule overall and teams who played the toughest nonconference schedule. It's one thing to be in a brutal conference like the OAC or ASC and to have to play these ranked teams. It's another to go out and look for some of the best of the best on your own.
Frostburg has tried to do it. So has DelVal, Chrisopher Newport, Hardin-Simmons, Union, Rochester, Coe,.... There are several more, I'm sure, but they're just the first few that hit me.
Hate to give away my secrets guys, but the new (2 yrs old?) NCAA stats package has a toughest schedule rating.
You can sort by games played to date, games yet to be played, or full season's schedule.
Only caveat is teams with fewer than 9 games against D3 opponents are a completely different search & sort (I forget why)
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/toughest%20schedule/3_9games_cumm.pdf
Basically,
Augustana, Del Val, Oshkosh, Florham and Rochester are your top 5 to date, with Bethel at 6.
Sorted by games played so far, it's Moorhead, Oxy, Augie, Del Val, Millsaps.
As Tipps said, there are other ways to look at this, in schedules deliberately made to be tough and those which just happen to be that way. Although in the end, it's sorta the same thing.
And the NCAA stats package is based on win pct. ... anecdotally, most of us would agree that a 3-2 WIAC or OAC team is better than some conferences' 5-0 teams, so even then, the rating of "strength" is subjective.
Quote from: Ryan Tipps on October 15, 2009, 11:21:46 PM
Frostburg has tried to do it. So has DelVal, Chrisopher Newport, Hardin-Simmons, Union, Rochester, Coe,.... There are several more, I'm sure, but they're just the first few that hit me.
Good choices mostly. Although I don't know that Frostburg necessarily goes looking for trouble. They're hamstrung by a 3-game conference schedule, and then they probably try to make it sound as good as possible.
Joining the E8, they'll still have a tough sked though
If we're gonna have a category for 'voluntarily tough', I nominate Hope.
Residing in (per Kickoff) the 4th weakest conference in D3, they scheduled (in order, also by Kickoff) #82 IWU, #89 Carthage, #32 UWEC, and #6 Wheaton (then got to start their conference schedule @ #39 Trine). While they lost all five games, they never lost by more than a TD. If there was a better 0-5 D3 team, I have no clue who it would be! :D
A final record of 5-5 would not surprise me (I'm not yet ready to commit to their hosting of Kickoff's #76 Adrian).
UW-Whitewater's Jeff Schebler, senior Davenport, Iowa, tied and later set the career kick scoring record in the Warhawks 38-3 win at UW-Stout today. Now with 390 points, Schebler broke the record of 383 points held by Mount Union's Mike Zimmerman (2003-2005)
Since the year is wrapping up, I must plea once more for anything that stood out -- or might have slipped under the radar -- about this season that was noteworthy or unique -- and the more unique the better.
Frequent readers will recongize the classic categories, but I don't think any suggestion is out of bounds.
I want the 68-62 Dome Day game, followed by the 3-0 game, to be considered. Pat had a funny quote about it, something like he was still reeling from teh first game so much he didn't even realize til halftime the second one was tied at 0.
How about the 2OT victory for Con. IL over Con. WI...a team they haven't beaten since 1987. The Falcons had a chance to win it in the first OT with a 42 yd. field goal. The kick had plenty of distance, but it bounced off the left upright sending it to the second OT. Falcons scored a TD and got the extra point, leaving the Cougars needing to score to stay alive. They scored a TD and decided to go for the win with a 2pt. conversion. The desicion to go for 2 in the second OT as was a gutsy one, but paid off as the 2pt. conversion was successful and kept the Con. IL Cougars playoff hopes alive, and sending the players, fans, and parents into a frenzy on the field.
Quote from: Cougswillwin on November 11, 2009, 08:29:03 AM
How about the 2OT victory for Con. IL over Con. WI...a team they haven't beaten since 1987. The Falcons had a chance to win it in the first OT with a 42 yd. field goal. The kick had plenty of distance, but it bounced off the left upright sending it to the second OT. Falcons scored a TD and got the extra point, leaving the Cougars needing to score to stay alive. They scored a TD and decided to go for the win with a 2pt. conversion. The desicion to go for 2 in the second OT as was a gutsy one, but paid off as the 2pt. conversion was successful and kept the Con. IL Cougars playoff hopes alive, and sending the players, fans, and parents into a frenzy on the field.
That makes it more unique than your average 2OT victory.
Great contribution. Keep 'em coming.
Nevermind me everybody. Just making some notes.
Albright coming from 23 down to beat Leb Val in OT, likely for a spot in the playoffs, belongs too.
QuoteRivalries roll into playoffs
DePauw clinched its playoff bid last week, but Wabash has done its best to sew up an at-large bid this week, defeating DePauw in the Monon Bell game 32-19. The win gives Wabash a 54-53-9 edge in the series and puts the Little Giants in the clubhouse at 9-1, making them the top at-large team in the North Region.
Hampden-Sydney clinched the Old Dominion Athletic Conference title, as Steven Fogleman returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to give the Tigers a lead and a 34-27 win against archrival Randolph-Macon. Hampden-Sydney held the ball for just 17:32 in the win. Saturday's scores.
All of the automatic bids have been handed out as we approach Selection Sunday, and the 3 p.m. ET announcement on ESPNews. Also, you can get more in-game notes by following @d3football on Twitter.
Maine Maritime became the first team to clinch a bid on Saturday, scoring on the last play of the game to beat Curry 48-42. A 36-yard touchdown pass completed the Mariners' 32-second drive. Susquehanna walked away from the Liberty League with a trophy (photo gallery), beating Union 28-17 to clinch an automatic bid before it heads to the Centennial in 2010. Montclair beat Kean 14-6 in a defensive struggle to win the NJAC. Lakeland wrapped up the NATHC title with a win while Concordia (Ill.) lost to Benedictine.
Illinois Wesleyan clinched up the CCIW with a 49-0 win against North Park, while Mississippi College did the same for the ASC with a 38-24 win against Texas Lutheran. Alfred and Johns Hopkins clinched automatic bids by finishing off overmatched opponents as well. Cal Lutheran clinched its first-ever Division III playoff spot with a win against Redlands.
Thomas More and Mount St. Joseph each ran the table and have already clinched playoff spots. But not all 9-0 records are created equal. No. 11 Thomas More proved that by crushing No. 25 Mount St. Joseph 42-17.
But you want to know what your at-large chances are, right? You can start with our most recent projected bracket. Pool C hopefuls got some good news when Ursinus defeated Dickinson 35-32 to knock the Red Devils out of playoff consideration. But if you're looking for help getting in, well, you didn't get much today. Dickinson lost, but St. Thomas, Coe, Mary Hardin-Baylor and Wabash all won, while Albright may well join them in Pool C with a 44-43 double overtime win against Lebanon Valley. The Lions rallied from a 23-point deficit in the final 20 minutes.
Other bubble teams won as well, with Ohio Northern crushing Wilmington, North Central defeating Elmhurst and Washington and Jefferson topping Waynesburg.
We'll be updating the automatic bid list all day. At the end of the night, we'll do one last set of playoff projections. Then get ready for the waiting game, as we prepare for the selection show at 3 p.m. ET.
No. 1 seed candidates Mount Union, UW-Whitewater, Wesley and St. John's finished running the table, while Case Western Reserve and Wittenberg did as well.
Outside of the playoff picture, Hanover sophomore wide receiver Daniel Passafiume set an NCAA all-divisions single-game record with 25 catches in a 42-28 loss. Passafiume finished with 153 yards and two touchdowns. His effort surpasses the mark of 24 set by receiver Jerry Rice and Chas Gessner. Amherst finished a perfect season by scoring 23 unanswered points in knocking off archrival Williams 26-21. It's the Lord Jeffs' first 8-0 mark since 1984.
Grove City corralled the Mercer County Cup with a 31-24 double-overtime win against Thiel. Greensboro finished with a winning record for the first time in the program's history, edging Shenandoah 23-20.
Shenandoah losing 6 games by 3, or whatever the stat in Tipps' column this week said.
Must have "The Sneak" from the Monon Bell game at our own 18 Yard line by Matt Hudson and Coach Raeburn....Gutsy Gutsy call..."Coach I will not fail you"