http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22514058/chicago-bears-release-jerrell-freeman-two-seasons

Quote from: Ralph Turner on September 07, 2014, 07:09:03 PM
Thanks for the link. They played into the 3rd quarter. Since it was non-conference, I guess they decided to "cancel" rather than give a decision.

General information question...

Might that leave an option for HSU to have a "bowl game"?

Given HSU only had 8 DIII games on the schedule already, I'm concerned that this might keep them out of the running for a potential at-large playoff berth--provided of course they can beat either LC or UMHB and run the rest of the table.  6-1 in region/vs. DIII competition isn't a real compelling case when there are so few spots available in Pool C.   

Things like this have happened before--not getting to kick an extra point in OT against ETBU kept them out a few years back...

A few DIII references of interest, one specific to the ASC.

ETBU?  Ouch!

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11468858/tusculum-sets-ncaa-record-minus-100-total-yards-allowed

Thanks for sharing this, Ralph.  I passed it along to Jennifer and Lyn.

Here are a few things I know to be factually true:

1.  The folks that advocated the most strongly that McMurry should be a DII school are no longer affiliated with the University.

2.  The folks that put up the greatest resistance to the Texas-based ASC-SCAC schools from joining forces are no longer affiliated with any of their respective institutions.

3.  Austin College did not leave the ASC for the SCAC because they wanted to "win more".  At least not as their primary motivation.

4.  HSU would accept McMurry back into their conference before a lot of other current ASC-SCAC schools would.

5.  The expenditures on athletics UMHB is outlaying--as exemplified by the new stadium construction, among other things--are not viewed by other ASC schools as an attempt to "get along". 

Again, it will be interesting to see what happens.  Shoot, we might even see buyout clauses for DIII conferences in the not-so-distant future--especially in cases where an AQ spot might be put in jeopardy!

I wouldn't be surprised to see HSU, ETBU, and HPU all try to work something out with the four schools currently playing in the SCAC.  Some egos would have to be laid aside to get it done, but it would be an all-Texas football conference (great for travel budgeting) with an AQ spot.

I'm not as connected as I once was, but from the little bit I do understand there has been considerable angst amongst the ASC membership over the McMurry and Mississippi College defections--in addition to the perceived financial emphasis UMHB seems to be putting on athletics over academics (at least when referenced against other current ASC members).

Those three schools leaving for the SCAC would solve all of those problems--even if they had to invite Sul Ross along just to get the deal done.

It will be interesting.

I was thinking more in terms of clock management. 

With a rushing offense like UMHB's, I would think that it would be fairly easy to kill a minimum of 6 minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter just by staying in bounds and running the play clock down to 1 second before snapping the ball--even if they were forced into a three-and-out situation by the MUC defense.

Having not seen the game, I don't know if the situation would have actually allowed it or not.  I did see the MUC scored at least two 4th quarter TDs on long, sustained drives, though.

Did not watch the game and am just now having a chance to sit down and look at the scores from the weekend.  Please know that I'm not trying to rub salt in any open wounds by asking this question...

...but how does a rushing offense as prolific as UMHB's manage to give MUC enough ball possession to score 34 points in the fourth quarter?  I would think that would have been the time the UMHB O-Line would have been able to take over (after wearing down the MUC front seven all day)...

That stat just jumped out at me and made me scratch my head.

Kyle, I think the model you describe is more the rule than the exception in DII.  It's also used a lot in DI-FCS (the Patriot League, where I used to work, for example).

Seems like I missed quite the discussion last week.  Reminds me of the good old days!

FWIW, my personal opinion on UMHB's rise to prominence in ASC football has as much to do with location and timing as it does money and budgets.  Sure, the school has budgeted significantly for football, but UMHB is still the most centrally-located Texas school playing football in the ASC.  They can easily recruit from all four of the state's biggest cities--DFW, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.  Being in the Belton/Temple/Waco/College Station corridor is nice, too. 

Though it's hard to quantify, I would not underestimate the attraction of players being able to be away from home and on their own, but also being close enough to their family in case of emergency.  For a group of Texas kids that may or may not have really ever travelled too far away from home, this is an attraction.  I know it was for me when I left Hamlin for HSU. 

Anyway, I really think location is the only inheirent "advantage" UMHB has over other ASC football playing schools in the recruiting area.

Additionally, I think it's worth noting that the new football programs at UTSA and Incarnate Word have spread the DIII talent in Texas even thinner over the last few years--so UMHB got a little lucky (institutionally speaking) timing-wise in the recruiting department that they were on the upswing when those other schools added the sport and starting picking off kids that might have found their way onto ASC rosters otherwise.  If the pool is smaller, the better players are going to want to go where they have the chance to be the most successful--all other things being equal or close to equal.

Just some random thoughts that may or may not have any grounding in reality.

Quote from: d3Kyle on September 27, 2012, 03:45:06 PM

Quote from: K-Mack on September 27, 2012, 03:14:53 PM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on September 27, 2012, 02:56:00 PM
Good job getting that for us five hours early!

No doubt. Breaking news is one of the things that's hard for us to do a lot of since all the writers and staffers have other jobs or business. It usually takes connections, time and work to break stuff. Good one here.

I see I'm not the first to suggest it, and unless I'm forgetting what Trinity and Austin's plans are, seems like affiliate football membership with the ASC is automatic if they want it and the ASC wants to keep its AQ. The two schools regain playoff AQ access, and conference awards, etc. and the ASC gets an eighth school to protect from another defector costing the AQ. The ASC has enough core members that adding affilates for football only would mean the ASC wouldn't have to lose its bid and wait two years to gain it back (hope I'm wording that correctly).

Only roadblock I see to that is if the schools don't want it. Austin left the ASC once already, but we'll see if they would rather be in a football conference and swallow their pride, or try to get eight random games a year. Trinity I'm guessing would welcome it since it scheduled UMHB, TLU and HPU this year ... fear of associating with not-like institutions or competitive disadvantages wouldn't seem to factor in. Games against teams in Texas make sense. Trinity and Austin would actually probably have some non-con dates open up if they went ASC.

100% speculation on my part. Makes too much sense.

If this were D-I, Wesley would join the ASC as an affiliate member for football. Geography, schmeography.

In my experience with the ASC, the perceived reason for the departure of Austin, Schreiner and TLU were for academic reasons. Those three schools had more similar admission standards to each other than that of the remaining ASC schools. Obviously, these types of decisions SHOULD trump what schools do with their athletic programs. With the SAA and USA South growing it will be interesting to see if the SCAC and ASC and possibly Trinity do to keep an AQ. However, I think (personal opinion) that several ASC schools will be looking to see if McMurry and MC can pull of their respective D2 moves well. Don't know how the Choctaws will structure their D2 move, but McMurry's model is a tuition discount / walk-on dependent model which has been successful for several existing D2's. There are rules as to how much financial aid an athlete through the NCAA Clearing House at the D2 level if they are a walk on. Thus creates more of a full-paying customer than general students who can tap in to federal, state and institutional aid. If you can create a program that attracts 50-100 walk-ons a year, revenue is generated to offset the athletic scholarships aka tuition discounts ... all this depends on each institution of course.

The other line of thought everyone needs to consider is that this is now the culture of college athletics. All this D1 conference jumping is trickling down in the "what have you done for me lately" society. I think we'll see more conference swaps, and institutional exits from various divisions and athletic conferences in the very near future.

Given my experience with the school and my historic connections to the ASC, I'd have a hard time envisioning Hardin-Simmons ever leaving Division III for Division II.  Of course, having said that, I would have said the same thing about McMurry.  Mississippi College surprises me less than McMurry's decision surprised me.

To Kyle's hypothosis, of the remaining schools it would seem to make the most sense for Sul Ross to explore Division II options, given their status as a public institution and the flexibility that affords them from a tuition/grant-in-aid perspective.  They'd potentially be good fits in the Lone Star Conference or even, perhaps, the Rocky Mountain Conference (It's only 300 miles farther from Alpine to Spearfish, SD than it is from Alpine to Jackson, MS). 

I suppose UMHB could be interested with their new stadium and all, but posts in this very forum by their previous President, Dr. Jerry Bawcomb, were dismissive of that idea.  Dr. Bawcomb is no longer President at UMHB, though, so that may or may not have any kind of impact on UMHB's institutional decision making process.

I also don't know much about LC, though (and I say this with no personal knowlege, just familiarity with his background and experience at Evangel) it's not hard for me to imagine Coach Dunn wanting to move up a notch on the competition ladder.  Complete speculation on my part, though.

What I do know is that MC leaving is bad news for the conference, and that the predominance of non-football playing ASC members is becoming a problem.  I hope the ASC leadership can figure it out.

I shall crawl back into my hole now.  Hope everyone is doing well.

Pat--

Just a quick check-in to let you know that I really like the new scoreboard page.  Makes keeping up with the game from afar much, much easier.

Hope that all my other d3 buddies are doing well--hope everyone is happy at the end of the football season!

Been a long time, guys--hope everyone is well.

Bill, I don't know if UMHB has plans to move up or not, but by the looks of the architectural renderings for the on-campus stadium they're planning to build soon, it wouldn't surprise me if it hasn't been discussed. 

That facility is impressive looking--much more so than what I'd expect a DIII stadium project to look like.

Gotta go--you guys all take care.

Most of you know by now that Sammy Baugh died last night.  If not, here's a link to the ESPN story:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3776838

What you might not know, however, was that Sammy served as the head football coach at Hardin-Simmons for several years in the late 1950's/early 1960's--just prior to his assuming duties as the first head coach for the New York Titans (now the Jets).  Many thanks to Mike Ditka for throwing in the obscure Hardin-Simmons reference on Sportscenter last night.

He lived in my part of West Texas most of his life, and I was fortunate to get to play a round of golf with him while I was home on break from HSU one summer.  He was a colorful character, but a real true good guy.

He is one of two NFL Hall of Famers who called HSU home at some point, the other being Clyde 'Bulldog' Turner, a standout for the Chicago Bears for many years.

Just thought I'd pass that along, in case any of it is of interest to someone out there.

Little surprised/disappointed that Justin Feaster, the ASC Offensive Player of the Year and Gagliardi Trophy finalist, was left off the All Region Team...