FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[rscl70]

Its not even the fact that we can't even enjoy the win because grown men want to belittle our program after we win. Looking for a reason for your teams shortcomings and trying to spin our wins as less than your victories. You all know there is bias in the NCAA for you northern folks and can't accept that it still won't help. You took a home game from NCC and still lost. You always have the easy path and still lose. Lose with some dignity and quit putting others down when they dont deserve that crap. UMHB won and if you think your team is better then call up the athletic office and schedule a game with them. Pretty sure your coach won't do that though.

Nobody made you come to the OAC board to read comments.

I didn't take anything from NCC. The NCAA took the home game from the Cardinals.

I'm sorry that my posts hurt your feelings.

Actually your feelings must have been hurt because MU wasn't in the game so you took it as a chance to bad mouth MHB. Reading a post from you is laughable because you show how little you know about football. Obviously you are one of those fans.

Nah I'm good. I also do know little to nothing about football because I'm not from TX.

Only tobacco chewing, Subaru driving, fans from TX are knowledgeable about the sport.

Shouldn't you be out recruiting SMU Transfers and JuCo graduates?

Ouch. ^

Actually with state championships this weekend, i bet if you were to poll most of them,  self proclaimed, non tobacco, truck driving fans in Texas (fixed it for you), you would see that very few of them have a clue about D3 programs. It's all D1 or bust in Texas for most kids. After a kid doesn't get into the UTs or A&Ms, is it then that the ones who still want to play do research to see there are tons of programs that offer football at the non scholarship level.

Can't knock a kid for leaving SMU and wanting to play again. He won a ring and had a great game. Also, I'm sure MU has had their fair share of transfers come to their program, cough cough PG.

Anyways not my fight here. There have been a lot of kids grow to love D3. If it weren't for MU I doubt the division would have the recognition it has received. They need the respect for what they've proven. Now the south needs some respect because we play dang good football down here too.. I'm glad there are new teams fighting every year to replace the prior champ. It's good for the game.

Season is over....time to regroup and move on.

I do wear a cowboy hat and have boots. Also dip and ride horses. Also can sling a pigskin. But you won't find many Texans driving Subarus down here

You sound like a respectable Cru fan. Congratulations on the 'Ship!

PG transferred from another D3 school. Although Mount does have a LB from Akron. But most wouldn't consider Akron a D1 school.

Akron has a football team?

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

I drive a Dodge Stratus!

https://youtu.be/ANE8j5ay_UU

[djy]

A little perspective is needed here.  A quote from "old 40" would suffice.  Let's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect. 

[D3fanboy]

I get defending your team and being proud. But arguing about National Titles against Mount and UWW fans is short sighted at best.

Go test drive an Outback and rethink your strategy.

I'm not comparing history, especially since we didn't even have a program until the late 90's. I'm pointing out the current reality to a couple of jealous MU fans (two UMHB national championships since their last), and a bitter UWW fan (three national championships since their last), as to who the premier program in D3 has been for the last half decade..... and counting.

I'm not on any other boards talking trash to any other fan bases because they're all showing class and giving credit where it's due. I just felt the need to bring some reality to the conversation on this board, where it appears a bunch of sour grapes are being ingested by a few.

an entire half of a decade??? what a program!!! that's less time than most of UMHB's kids spend in college

[UMHB03]

I get defending your team and being proud. But arguing about National Titles against Mount and UWW fans is short sighted at best.

Go test drive an Outback and rethink your strategy.

I'm not comparing history, especially since we didn't even have a program until the late 90's. I'm pointing out the current reality to a couple of jealous MU fans (two UMHB national championships since their last), and a bitter UWW fan (three national championships since their last), as to who the premier program in D3 has been for the last half decade..... and counting.

I'm not on any other boards talking trash to any other fan bases because they're all showing class and giving credit where it's due. I just felt the need to bring some reality to the conversation on this board, where it appears a bunch of sour grapes are being ingested by a few.

an entire half of a decade??? what a program!!! that's less time than most of UMHB's kids spend in college

Well, that is almost a quarter of our program's history.

Anyway, not taking away anything from Mount Union's great history. Their past excellence is worthy of pride, just as UMHB's present and forthcoming excellence is. No reason to be bitter about being overtaken. You had an amazing run, and all dynasties come to an end at some point. Acting entitled and jealous is just unbecoming.

Happy Holidays!

[Raider 68]

For the Mount Union Season 2021:

Having attended most of the Raider games and watched the others online, I wanted to share some thoughts on 2021

First of all, the Raiders had a good season and went to the semis which was better than I thought. They were a good, but
not great team in 2021. IMHO, they could not have won over UHHB or UWW this year and lost to NCC.

What was good in 2021:


- a talented receiving group

- a young but talented O line, that returns several in 2022

- a good QB with a good arm, and consistent for most of all the 14 games

- an improved secondary even with the barrage of passing teams in the playoffs

- an improving D line

- an adequate running game for the regular season


What was not good in 2021:

- Too much focus on the passing game

- Play calling was disappointing

- HC not on the field until the playoffs

- Not enough blitzing, causing too much pressure on the secondary

- Kicking game that was below expectations

- Pass first mentality and not enough focus on ball control

- No real deep passing threat compared to other years

What needs to be improved:

- recruit a few powerful running backs ( Kmic, Moore, Pugh) type, current roster does not have any

- Hire an OC, Dartt can't do it all, much like V. Kehres found out trying to do both

- O line and D lines need more size, speed and quickness are great, but against playoff teams it helps only to a point

- Great recruitment for 2022, Mount Union is still a premier program in D3

I do not believe the Mount Union's time has past as a premier D3 program, but a new coach needs a few years to create
his own philosophy. Coach Dartt is 17-1 after a season and one half. In the past few seasons in D3, we have parity
at the top now, so the challenge becomes greater. Do not think for a minute that Mount Union is fading any more
than UW Whitewater. UMHB and North Central will in the hunt along with the Raiders and Warhawks.

Let's see what happens in 2022!

[D O.C.]

In the reign supreme years, what's the farthest UMU has traveled to play a game?

[Cowboy2]

I always watched MU growing up. Well more so kept tabs on score and stats. Never got to see them until stagg bowl airings on the blue tube. This is back when most D3 games were lucky to have a radio playback over dial up internet. With that being said, trying to find any one of those three RBs is about like hitting the powerball. It happened three times. You'll be hard pressed to find a player of that caliber, type of player - once in a decade, let alone an entire stable of them over and over. Anyways they did their damage due to the fact those OLs were bigger than everyone. Their #2s at most positions would have started for most of the country...time have changed recently. At least now it seemed that way to me. Growing up MU running backs were Like old gladiators toting the rock. Then came the era of big play WRs. MU has always had good players on the entire roster. Essentially They got whoever didn't make it into the horseshoe. This was before the rise of the UW schools. UMHB was still a young program when MU was adding titles. Usually their hardest game wasn't until 1/4 finals m, and usually that was against inter conference foe JC. Hardest competition wasnt Until they would play them again. Those days usually they would face the likes of a Bridgewater or Rowen type power house in the semis or ship. Programs rise and fall. MU became a dynasty due to the fact they had a great coach and administration that went all in for football. Much like the UW schools are doing. STJ and Linfield have always been around. HSU and Trinity were power houses of the south back the. Then Wesley was always a contender.

Now days there is a lot more parity in my opinion with more kids training and wanting to continue to play. MU is still good, but I feel there are teams that don't chalk up a loss prior to stepping on the field anymore. I feel they're a different team now. Which is good for the rest of D3. It will be interesting to see how they come back next year. Unless teams had a Blake Elliot Swiss Army knife, usually they were toast before kickoff.

This year I only saw the JC, Ohio northern, John's Hopkins, and Mules game. MU has a lot of talent but they're no longer the old school BIG 10 type of team that would just abuse their opponents. They throw the ball more as do 90% of college teams in today's era.

They still have the tools to get the job done. I just feel there is more competition across the entire division. No longer are there 2-3 schools that can win it. I feel there's 8-12 that have a realistic shot. I just wish programs had the funding to play out of region more to see competition from different parts of the country. I think then there wouldn't be all of these built up walls fans have. Then it wouldn't be a shocker when a team loses to someone out of region. How cool would it be to see a STJ at HSU. Wheaton at UMHB. Trinity at MU. Linfield at Ithaca. A young Berry at  UWW was one of the few we saw this year. We need more of these to take the entire division to the next level. Interesting but Exciting time for D3.

[formerd3db]

The Stagg Bowl has an attendance problem.  There ain't no getting around it.

P.T. Barnum and Bill Veeck are dead but you can't tell me that nobody currently living in America, a nation of marketers & marketeers, can figure out a way to fill (okay, half-fill) the stands.  I don't believe it.

it's DIII.  Who cares?

Seriously, I don't think the game was well marketed.  Not enough local involvement.  Big fail for Canton .

As much as I love Division III football like all of you do as well, I agree (with edwrd d.v.) that the Stagg Bowl has an attendance problem. My personal opinion is that they should have left it in Salem (I am glad it is returning there for the 50th anniversary celebration), although I have nothing against the other cities that since hosted the game nor those who have been chosen for the next 4 years. Yet, attendance well below 2,000 for the last two Stagg Bowls is disappointing and sad. Granted, the 6,816 in attendance for the 2018 game was supported by UMHB being in the title game.  That situation has also buoyed attendance in Salem  when some of the more regional teams have been finalists, although fans from teams in the title game from the mid-west have seemed to travel well for there for many of the last several Stagg Bowls in Salem as can be seen by the attendance records.

Admittedly, I have no personal knowledge of the factors involved that may have contributed to low attendance in the last couple of Stagg Bowls, although I take your word for it (rscl and raiderpa) that part of the reason is as you have mentioned. However, I also suspect that perhaps the covid situation in general for this year may have contributed to the low attendance as well. Anyway, we'll see what happens in the next couple of years in Annapolis and then the return to Salem.

I also believe that Division III football home attendance in general (and that of Division II for that matter, except for a couple of the really big successful winning programs i.e. Grand Valley State, Ferris State, etc.) has been declining in recent years, with the exception, of course, for a few schools and some of the big rivalry games such as the Monon Bell-Wabash/DePauw, the previous SJU/St. Thomas rivalry, Cortland/Ithaca, etc., although even those were down quite a bit from previous years. And much of this is even though some teams across the Division III conferences have had some great winning seasons in recent years. Again, I am at a loss as to reasons for the latter, other than it seems that football, as popular and important as it is for most small schools (i.e. enrollment purposes) is not in as much interest by many of the school's student-bodies as it was in the past couple+ decades.  And that, at least for me, is sad. On the other hand, some of this is cyclic over that time period as well. Additional thoughts, anyone?     

[Cowboy2]

The Stagg Bowl has an attendance problem.  There ain't no getting around it.

P.T. Barnum and Bill Veeck are dead but you can't tell me that nobody currently living in America, a nation of marketers & marketeers, can figure out a way to fill (okay, half-fill) the stands.  I don't believe it.

it's DIII.  Who cares?

Seriously, I don't think the game was well marketed.  Not enough local involvement.  Big fail for Canton .

As much as I love Division III football like all of you do as well, I agree (with edwrd d.v.) that the Stagg Bowl has an attendance problem. My personal opinion is that they should have left it in Salem (I am glad it is returning there for the 50th anniversary celebration), although I have nothing against the other cities that since hosted the game nor those who have been chosen for the next 4 years. Yet, attendance well below 2,000 for the last two Stagg Bowls is disappointing and sad. Granted, the 6,816 in attendance for the 2018 game was supported by UMHB being in the title game.  That situation has also buoyed attendance in Salem  when some of the more regional teams have been finalists, although fans from teams in the title game from the mid-west have seemed to travel well for there for many of the last several Stagg Bowls in Salem as can be seen by the attendance records.

Admittedly, I have no personal knowledge of the factors involved that may have contributed to low attendance in the last couple of Stagg Bowls, although I take your word for it (rscl and raiderpa) that part of the reason is as you have mentioned. However, I also suspect that perhaps the covid situation in general for this year may have contributed to the low attendance as well. Anyway, we'll see what happens in the next couple of years in Annapolis and then the return to Salem.

I also believe that Division III football home attendance in general (and that of Division II for that matter, except for a couple of the really big successful winning programs i.e. Grand Valley State, Ferris State, etc.) has been declining in recent years, with the exception, of course, for a few schools and some of the big rivalry games such as the Monon Bell-Wabash/DePauw, the previous SJU/St. Thomas rivalry, Cortland/Ithaca, etc., although even those were down quite a bit from previous years. And much of this is even though some teams across the Division III conferences have had some great winning seasons in recent years. Again, I am at a loss as to reasons for the latter, other than it seems that football, as popular and important as it is for most small schools (i.e. enrollment purposes) is not in as much interest by many of the school's student-bodies as it was in the past couple+ decades.  And that, at least for me, is sad. On the other hand, some of this is cyclic over that time period as well. Additional thoughts, anyone?     

I'll pass on the "let's go brandon" as a reason and offer some other variables. You stated the most obvious ones but here are a few more:

1. Weekend before Christmas
2. not everyone has the funds to go.
3. Not everyone cares as much as the ones posting in this theatre about the stagg bowl.
4. Most people don't watch D3 outside of those who know about it.
5. Marketing is key. How do they market a fan base a week before the coin toss.
6. Travel and out of region.
7. Attendance and enrollment play a factor compared to power 5 programs. Say the average school has 1000 students. Say 58 or whatever it is travel. Assuming a team has 100 staff and and players (undressed) that go, that's only 100-200 parents for a program that may go and support the game. Say half go. Plus next to kin, family, friends, student body, it will be hard to fill any stadium with 500 fans.
8. Alumni. How many go when they can see it on espn? How many are even still attached to a program if they didn't have success while playing and a new coach is there.
9. Same purple powers usually are in it based on bracket. Change it up.
10. It's on a Friday. *High School state championships in Texas the same weekend.
11. Lack of awareness from lack of marketing.
12. It's the D3 game and sponsors don't get behind it. Which I hate!
13. Offer more than one game!

My advice would be to get more fans there, is maybe take the other 6 teams from the 1/4 finals.
Make a weekend out of it. Have 3rd place game. 5th place game. Etc.
Noon and evening. Showcase our division. There would be a lot of people that would then go to see the premier programs play. Kids could go and see other teams for recruiting. Hotels would fill up and local businesses could get behind it. Like a tourney. Anyways it would also help settle end of year rankings. The stagg bowl would be the big showcase. Maybe bring in some past NFL or Canadian Almuns for celebrity announcers and get real input on it. I mean look what espn does for the game day crew.

14. Don't ever have the same officiating crew they had last game, unless it's a volunteer deal.
15. Naming rightse "such and such 50th stagg bowl" like they do for the sugar, cotton, rose etc. Get a big boy to write the check to show Tesla or Amazon commercials for 5 min  breaks

[D O.C.]

Annapolis?!
By all means, have the Stagg a little farther from the Willamette Valley, say north of Boston somewhere.

[rscl70]

Annapolis?!
By all means, have the Stagg a little farther from the Willamette Valley, say north of Boston somewhere.

Yawnnnnnnn.

[Pat Coleman]

Annapolis?!
By all means, have the Stagg a little farther from the Willamette Valley, say north of Boston somewhere.

Nobody has ever told me that anyone in the PNW has put in a bid to host the Stagg. Is there interest?

[02 Warhawk]

Annapolis?!
By all means, have the Stagg a little farther from the Willamette Valley, say north of Boston somewhere.

Nobody has ever told me that anyone in the PNW has put in a bid to host the Stagg. Is there interest?

That will just make an unnecessary long trip for either Mount, MHB, UWW or NCC to travel to play in it. 

[Ralph Turner]

9. Same purple powers usually are in it based on bracket. Change it up.
10. It's on a Friday. *High School state championships in Texas the same weekend.
11. Lack of awareness from lack of marketing.

I read that the attendance for the Saturday UIL (Texas) 6A championships at AT&T Jerry World was 32,302 (including 1,000 college football coaches    ).

There were 12 state champs crowned in 4 days in Arlington, TX