FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[HScoach]

I wondered how in the world JCU ever lost to Wilma, but after seeing the lack of effort from JCU today, it's easy to understand.  They're terrible.  Especially on the O-line.  McCullough, Millings, Parr, Andrews, etc spent the entire game in the JCU backfield.  Wasn't even a contest up front.  How the once mighty Streaks have fallen.

Capital beats Musky 19-13?  Are you kidding me?  19-13?  And we're discussing whether Capital gets into the playoffs?  Let's put that to bed for good.  Ugh.

No doubt the MUC defense is very, very good, but the OAC is way down offensively this season.   The 2nd best offense in the conference is the MUC 2nd string.  Third best offense is a toss up between MUC's freshmen team and Otterbein.  This might be the weakest the OAC has been in a long time.  Overall, the North Region is weak this season too.  Hopefully the lack of competition doesn't cost MUC in the Semi's or Stagg.

[HScoach]

Results for Week 10 and games for Week 11 of the Pick-Em's have been posted.

[cufan]

HS Coach...what do you mean are you kidding me.  I doubt there is a team in the country, other than MUC, who could lose their starting QB, starting RB, and one of the best WR's in the league and still remains competitive.  They will have done that and possibly end up in 2nd place with a distinct possibility of making the playoffs if they beat BW.  Yeah I know MU has the best freshman team, and their 3 team offense is great, they have best water boy and best whatever blah, blah, blah, but how about giving Cap some credit and finding ways to win, playing hard and battling every Sat minus many key players.

[gordonmann]

I was told today that Wilkes will host Ohio Northern to start the 2008 season.  The Colonels will return the favor with a trip to Ada in 2009.

Reality, bet you thought you were done with MAC land, eh?

[seventiesraider]

HS Coach...what do you mean are you kidding me.  I doubt there is a team in the country, other than MUC, who could lose their starting QB, starting RB, and one of the best WR's in the league and still remains competitive.  They will have done that and possibly end up in 2nd place with a distinct possibility of making the playoffs if they beat BW.  Yeah I know MU has the best freshman team, and their 3 team offense is great, they have best water boy and best whatever blah, blah, blah, but how about giving Cap some credit and finding ways to win, playing hard and battling every Sat minus many key players.

ZZZZZZZZZZ

Battling hard and finding ways to beat Muskingum . I seldom quote HSCoach but, "Are you kidding me"

There are at least 35 teams in DIII that could handle Muskingum with key players missing.

PS They are called playoff teams.

[purple]

 You guys see how hscoach shamelessly stole my" second team" line?

[bushman]

Just goes to show that when you play another team from another area you never really know what their competition has been.   With the OAC down this year, Muc could be tested  and possibly upset.  Has HS coach exposed their achilles heel?   Has their competition been so lackluster, that they are not as good as we thought? Perhaps they are just a medicore team playing in a terrible league?         Nah, HS coach worries too much.  This is the best Mt. team I've seen.  I believe the playoffs will show this to be true.  GO RAIDERS!

[JK]

Just got home from watching Navy end a 43 year losing streak to ND.  Someone mentioned how far JCU has fallen, but there is another Catholic University a few miles west of Cleveland that is REALLY struggling...

Lets not rush to judgement on Capital with a tough win over the Muskies.  It looks like they lost QB #2 (Wade Bartholomew) and had to go to their third string guy (Robbie Thayer) today.

The defense forced three or four turnovers and the stats were heavily in Cap's favor.  If not for a missed Cap FG and a late muskie TD, the score would have looked much worse.

[reality check]

I was told today that Wilkes will host Ohio Northern to start the 2008 season.  The Colonels will return the favor with a trip to Ada in 2009.

Reality, bet you thought you were done with MAC land, eh?

Somehow I think I'm done with MAC land but hopefully ONU has a great time on their visit in 2008.

I think this will be a pretty good opener for ONU the next two seasons.  I'd rather we face the 2007 version than the 2006 version but we will see what 2008 brings (after we take care of Wilmington).

[D3 Poster]

Etta wins 38-14 over Wilma behind 35 first half points for the Pios. 

Dexter Hughes passes for 399 yards and 4 TD's.  Rumor has it Dexter Hughes looks a lot like Josh Vrabel   

Wilma's Blackburn goes for 332 yards and 2 TD's but Wilma only managed 8 yards rushing against the "stout" Pioneer defense.

I'll still take whoever Marietta plays next week.  I just think whoever plays the Pioneers next has a chance to get a W.   

Was Josh an ONU QB?  Marietta had a Jason throw for a lot of yards 

Hughes has improved tremendously as the season moves along.  He should get a 'decent' test this week against that team from up north.  I do think Simmons is the future feature QB for the Bears...tough to have a freshman QB starting so assume Paul has been in development mode with him this year.

And I'll take whoever Wilmington plays next week...check that, how many points is hsc giving?

[section13raiderfan]

If Capital should make the playoffs, and they might, I fully expect them to hang with anyone they face first round...excepting MUC....just because of their defense. The problem is, that defense is going to have to outscore their own offense and special teams to advance to round two. Lets see you game plan for  that scenario. Would Capital have to play their defensive standouts on offense also to be competitive? I doubt their bench is deep enough to compete in the playoffs past round one. But hey, if they get in, God Bless Em. The more OAC reps the better! Just represent the conference well is all I care.

Larry Kehres could be heard plain as day from the JCU stands as little things got him rankled. He may have passed off some responsibilities to assistants but LK is still in charge. You mess up and you are gonna hear about it. Coaches included! 

[usee]

HS Coach...what do you mean are you kidding me.  I doubt there is a team in the country, other than MUC, who could lose their starting QB, starting RB, and one of the best WR's in the league and still remains competitive.  They will have done that and possibly end up in 2nd place with a distinct possibility of making the playoffs if they beat BW.  Yeah I know MU has the best freshman team, and their 3 team offense is great, they have best water boy and best whatever blah, blah, blah, but how about giving Cap some credit and finding ways to win, playing hard and battling every Sat minus many key players.

Not to be guilty of a J.O.P. here but Wheaton lost their starting QB, backup QB, Starting RB, 1st team all conf OT, All american DE, 1st Team all conf and leading tackler LB, and starting corner and ran off 8-0 before losing yesterday. With a win this saturday they will clinch a playoff spot. I don't think anyone would accuse Wheaton of being in MUC's class. 

There are lots of teams that deal with and overcome injury every year.

[bambord]

All you MUC fans should waltz on over to McDonalds and pick up the free copy of THIS WEEK IN FOOTBALL. There is a story written by Bob Frantz titled
MOUNT UNION SECOND-BEST COLLEGE TEAM IN OHIO. It is very factual and complimentary. Finally, some D3 respect from sombody! Frantz is a columnist with the San Francisco Examiner and a radio personality heard on WTAM locally.
He now knows what we all have known for quite a while here on D3FOOTBALL.COM. MUC is the real deal!

Are you sure those are the same Bob Frantz? I mean I have no idea, they very well may be, but the Bob Frantz that is on WTAM lives in Cleveland and came from a station in Toledo.  I had no idea this guy was writing for a San Francisco paper.  Like I said he may be but I had no idea if he is the same guy.

Bob Frantz of WTAM/Cleveland (http://www.wtam.com:80/pages/bobfrantz/ondemand/) tells me, definitively, that he did write the Raider piece in "This Week In Football" - TWIF.  Has he written for the SFChronicle as well?  I can't say, definitively.

Thanks to Mr. Frantz, I was able to find his Raider article and copy it below with thanks to him,  McDonald's and TWIF.

A few weeks back, I joked in this space about Ohio State's unique in-state schedule this season. A line-up that has included Youngstown State, Akron, and Kent State, I wrote, could only be viewed as a tune-up for the Buckeyes' inevitable showdown with Oberlin College for total state supremacy.
   Truth be told, I can now reveal that I chose Oberlin as my punch-line almost at random, having first considered Mount Union to drive my point home. But then it occurred to me:
   The Buckeyes would never be bold enough to mess with the Purple Raiders.
   Okay, so I'm still teasing. A little.
   Even in an era that has produced upsets by 1-AA schools such as Appalachian State over national powers like Michigan, the idea of the largest university in the entire nation lining up across from small liberal arts school with 2,200 students is absurd. But I use such a fictional match-up only to illustrate this point: Ohio State is just about the only amateur football team in the state that I would favor over the Raiders on any given Saturday. That includes the aforementioned state schools, along with Bowling Green, Toledo, Miami of Ohio, and the rest of the Division 1-A big boys.
   The non-scholarship boys from Division III Mount Union are just that good.
   Most Ohio football fans are aware of Mount Union's ongoing dynasty, yet there is still a certain lack of respect for the Raiders' accomplishments in many football circles. "It's only D-III," the cynics remind one another. "What's the big deal?"
   The big deal is that head coach Larry Kheres has supervised the most successful program in the history of college football—in any division—and the numbers will have you searching for a spatula with which to scrape your jaw off the ground.
   The Purple Raiders have won the last 2 national championships in the NCAA's small-school division, and an unimaginable 9 of the last 13 titles since 1993. The championship streak includes two "three-peats", with the Raiders claiming national titles from 1996 through 1998, and again from 2000 through 2002.
   They have won 15 consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference titles, and they own the two longest winning streaks in the history of college football, including a 55-game run from 2000 to 2003 that followed their own 54-game stretch.
   Want more? Try this one: Mount Union is now 155-2 in regular season games since 1992, and they have not lost a regular season road game since in 16 years.
   Saturday's 37-0 rout of Capital University improved the Raiders' 2007 record to 7-0, in which they've outscored their opponents by an average score of 54 to 3. Overall, the Mount Union football team has gone 224-10-1 since 1990.
   Simply staggering.
   And while big-school fans may still scoff at the Purple Raiders' incomprehensible dominance of the D-III competition, it should also be noted that each and every one of the team's 9 national championships was won on the football field—not in some computer lab. Kheres' boys have never been handed a single top-ranking based solely on reputation, the way schools such as Notre Dame and Michigan have done over the years. There is a national playoff system at the D-III level, which means the Raiders have had to face the very best teams in the nation in elimination games, year in and year out, before claiming their crowns.
   The Ohio State Buckeyes remain the top-ranked team in America right now, true, but if you're looking for the real kings of college football in Ohio...stop in Alliance on your way to Columbus. The Raiders are second to none.

I think it is fair to say that the admiration Mr. Frantz has for the football program carried on by Larry Kehres comes with the pain of being an alum of Heidelberg College.  But, in his words, "As a 1990 graduate of Heidelberg College, I'm well aware of D-III football and have watched in amazement as Mount Union has dominated since the early 90's."

[HScoach]

CUfan:  I don't care who is injuried, but playoff quality teams don't struggle with O-fer teams as bad as Musky.

Usee:  Sorry to see Wheaton slip up yesterday.  Good luck next week.  Always enjoy seeing the Thunder come to town.

[HScoach]

You guys see how hscoach shamelessly stole my" second team" line?

Your royalty check is in the mail!