Thanks for the informative coverage.  I just hope BC will be able to keep Coach Khayat for a while longer. He's so well-spoken and humble, especially compared to the self-promoters who land a lot of Division I-A jobs. . .  The point about only 17 players on the team when he came aboard in 2017 was especially telling in what he, the other coaches (some of them his former players), and the dedicated players he's brought to Brevard over four years have been able to accomplish. It's pretty clear that the third spring 2021 Brevard-Huntingdon game will never take place, but it looks like there will be a full fall season--Brevard will get their shot then.

Congratulations to Huntingdon on the spring football title.  I'm also looking forward to to fall and what will ideally be a full schedule. . . . But Brevard, after taking care of N. C. Wesleyan to stay undefeated on their new campus field, still has Sewanee (there) on April 10. I'm looking forward to that one as the Tornados look to go 5-1 for the spring. It's a great opportunity for Brevard to play another historically-storied program on a classic campus. Two years ago it was a solid win in an ECAC bowl game at Carnegie-Mellon. Brevard coach Bill Khayat, who came on board with the move to Division III, and his staff are building a fine program at BC. It's a real departure from the disappointments of too many outclassed seasons in Division II (SAC) after football was reintroduced at Brevard in 2005. . . .  I watched some of the Sewanee stream against Greensboro on Saturday and expect it will be an honor for Brevard to play on the field there with all the traditions of Sewanee football. But unless the Tornados bury themselves with penalties--which seems to be the team's biggest weakness this spring--their defense and an offense that has seemed to have just enough to get it done this spring, ought to come away with another win to add to BC's growing Division III success.

It almost had to be a coin toss that put Huntingdon in the 2021 spring title game over Brevard.  Because Brevard played Averett outside the division (and won), they ended up with a divisional 2-1 record, tied with Huntingdon. But head-to-head Brevard was clearly better than Huntingdon despite each team's winning at home. Brevard also beat Maryville more convincingly than Huntingdon did. Instead of the title game Brevard gets N.C. Wesleyan, but at least it will be a home game on Brevard's new field. Brevard should win that one handily, then beat non-conference Sewanee the following week for a solid 5-1 season that will give them momentum going into the fall.

I'm not saying that Huntingdon getting the title game is necessarily unfair. This has been a weird part-season, and the chance of a divisional tie was pretty high. Best of luck to Huntingdon--they built a decent lead in the opener against Brevard and hung on. But the result two weeks later in Brevard was probably more indicative of the relative strength of the teams.

Brevard fan here, rejoining the board after absence since 2017 . . .  Now that Brevard is getting better-established in Division III and will soon be a full, football-title competitor in the USAS I'm getting to know the conference teams better and enjoy following the Tornados by way of the video game coverage most schools now have. With the win against N. C. Wesleyan last week BC has a decent shot at finishing over .500.  The only  winning season to date since the program was restarted in 2005 was in 2009, when Brevard ran over their non-conference opponents, then played fairly well in the conference (SAC, Division II).  Those seasons in Division II were difficult for a school with an enrollment under 1,000 trying to operate in an athletic scholarships situation against strong programs like Carson-Newman and Lenior-Rhyne.   Division III is a much better fit for Brevard, and as they get established it looks--as some others have mentioned here--that they can be a factor to be reckoned with in future USAS seasons. 

The current Brevard coaching staff came in with the division move and has revamped the offense from a ball control running orientation to a more wide-open style.  The only thing Brevard used to win every week was time of possession, but that has changed dramatically and the Tornados are essentially able to score from any point on the field.  This didn't happen overnight, since there were problems with retaining players for more than a season while the team played in Division II, and the offensive players who did stick around were recruited and schooled in the option running game.  But there is finally some stability at quarterback, resulting in the ability to recruit better receivers, and Brevard has retained a usually-reliable ground game keyed by an offensive line that is getting the chance to play together for more than one season.   . . .  Most of the Brevard coaches have some NFL experience, and that has shown to advantage with the 2019 defense. The defense has either scored or set up a number of Brevard points this season.  Granted, that's not something a team can rely on, but it's something that opponents seem to be keeping in mind against the Tornados.

I'm optimistic for a Brevard win at LaGrange this week to set up what would be the biggest home game to date in the 15-year history of revived Tornado football--Averett. There's still not a lot of student support for football here, with Brevard's emphasis on outdoor education and a nationally-known cycling team, but these things take time. If Brevard can become an annual contender for the USAS football title, maybe even the hikers and bikers will spare some of their weekend time for a football game.

DG Pugh:  If you're connected with the Compughter Rankings website, it's fantastic! 

Hawes Hope yall are well
Just watching em on the computer this year. We might try and ride over and see a game toward the last game this year

the first game was bothersome... but i believe you are right on the numbers
keep safe
keep the faith
Go Hawks

After a scare against Virginia-Lynchburg last week at home--homecoming, to boot--Brevard took care of Methodist nicely on Saturday.  The coaches did some good work with the offense during the week; the freshman offensive line seems to be coming together.  Quarterback O'Shea Carter was back on his game after some trouble against Va.-Lynchburg that might (no inside information here) have been due to a few injuries not collectively enough to keep him out.  We get to see yet another new opponent, Ferrum, at home this week and will see what kind of momentum a two-game winning streak can produce.  It's been a long time since Brevard has won two football games in a row! . . . I'm enjoying the availability of steaming video provided by most of the USA South schools, especially since Brevard's local radio station has dropped covering away games as it did when the Tornados were Division II. . . . Seemingly, Brevard can only get better as this year's freshman get more experience, although it's upperclassmen catching most of the passes and spearheading the defense.  . . . This program probably should have been Division III from the restart of football in 2006, but geography apparently got in the way and Presbyterian's spot in the SAC was too attractive to pass up.

It's good to finally be able to take part here as a supporter of a USA South conference school.  Brevard's years in Division II are best remembered dimly if at all.

We weren't sure just what the new Brevard coach (Bill Khayat) and his staff had to work with with the classification change and what type of offense they would choose to install to replace the old Brevard triple option.  The results against Davidson (ranked dead last in the Sagarin ratings of all FBS and FCS schools) and Emory & Henry weren't all that heartening, but the emphasis on passing was something BC fans hadn't seen since 2008, when the former coach brought in his son as a transfer and BC threw the ball all over the place for a season.  The new coaches attributed the Davidson and E&H losses to the defense having to spend too much time on the field--and that due to an inexperienced offensive line that resulted in far too many three-and-outs.  But Saturday against Greensboro (I saw most of the game on the Greensboro video feed) Brevard showed that a lot of excellent coaching had taken place in the last week and the coaching was starting to take hold.  Maybe Greensboro just isn't that good, or had a particularly bad day, but Brevard handled them the way many South Atlantic Conference teams used to handle Brevard.  It was pleasant to be on the other end for a change.

As the Tornados move on to LaGrange this week and into the rest of the USAC schedule beyond that, we'll see.  But BC has some offensive weapons, with a Division I-size quarterback who has a good arm and skilled veterans of the past couple seasons moved from alternating at option QB to pass receiving positions.  The offensive line looked respectable against Greensboro and is gaining valuable experience with each game.  The defense is solid but can't play 40 minutes, as the coaches recognize. . . .  LaGrange will be an interesting game from several perspectives, and I look forward to what veteran USAC fans think of Brevard as the season progresses.

New member here . . . Checking in as a follower of Brevard, hoping the Tornados can be competitive in the USAC with their new coaching staff and some fairly experienced players coming back from the Division II South Atlantic Conference.  With the smallest enrollment in the SAC and a startup program, Brevard should probably have gone into Division III at the outset over a decade ago, and it's been brutal ever since. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the 2017 Brevard schedule and getting familiar with the USAC programs.  The reduction to a 10-game schedule ought to help Brevard--same for (I hope!) no more $$$ games requiring road trips to Southern Utah.  Here in Brevard the community was very supportive of football until a season of playing "home" games 35 miles away in Asheville (due to a natural playing surface done in by too many teams and too many games) did a lot to kill off local support.  The student body hasn't turned out for football to any great extent, either.  They seem to prefer hiking and mountain biking to the home football experience on Saturdays. As a graduate of two Big Ten schools and a frequent visitor to Furman home games since moving to the area I know what football Saturdays can be.  Ideally, a competitive team will help that get established.

Brevard played a decent game against Emory & Henry in 2016, so it may be that the core is there for a competitive team early on.  One thing that Brevard teams have going for them is that they never quit, and I hope the new coaches can keep that ethic going.  Traditionally and even against vastly superior opponents, Brevard has played well early, but depth gets to them.  Their style of play under the now- departed head coach (from 2007) also doomed them--a triple option offense that never had a workable passing game and that was incapable of coming back from any significant deficit.  Brevard has always played tough defense, but depth has been a problem there as well.  Nobody has any idea what offense the new coaches will install, and early-on it will probably be dictated by personnel, but there's a lot of optimism here now.  A Brevard win now and then would be a sweet thing!

Thanks to any of you who read this for putting up with a newcomer's ramblings.  As I get more familiar with the USAC I hope to be a more pertinent and useful contributor.