FB: Northwest Conference

[criswyly]

Looks like you have to be a cable TV subscriber to watch the Stagg....usually I just watch it on my PC internet access.  So sad....

[D O.C.]

Sad first, because it's not in the middle of the nation despite the hospitality of Salem, western VIRGINIA and second because it's not available without a contract.
My provider will carry it.
Remember 2004 when it was on Saturday afternoon TV?

[D O.C.]

Congratulations Sam Riddle, d3 #1 Qb.

[wildcat11]

Congrats to Sam in being named D3 offensive player of the year!

[criswyly]

Here is the free link to the Stagg replay

http://www.espn.com/watchespn/player/_/id/2946041/

http://www.espn.com/watchespn/player/_/id/2946041/

[CalCat]

Ok here is what l like for final top ten

1. MaryHardin Baylor
2. UW-Oshkosh
3. Mount Union
4. St. Thomas
5. UW-Whitewater
6. North Central
7. John Carroll
8. Linfield
9. Wheaton
10. John Hopkins

[speedybigboy]

Another fine year of following d3 on the internet with you guys.

Have a Merry Christmas and I'll see you all next season.

[MonroviaCat]

Ok here is what l like for final top ten

1. MaryHardin Baylor
2. UW-Oshkosh
3. Mount Union
4. St. Thomas
5. UW-Whitewater
6. North Central
7. John Carroll
8. Linfield
9. Wheaton
10. John Hopkins

I dunno:  John Carol Beat Whitewater and Wheaton beat North Central (in the playoff rematch).  I think you might have to do a few swaps.....
I'd go with this:

1.  Mary Hardin Baylor
2.  UW-OshKosh
3.  Mt. Union
4.  St. Thomas
5.  John Carroll
6.  Wheaton
7.  Whitewater
8.  Linfield
9.  North Central
10.  John Hopkins

[Mr. Ypsi]

Since JCU went to the semis (just like UMU), and beat UMU AT UMU h-t-h, I'd go JCU 3, UMU 4.  And despite being a CCIW guy, I'm not confident Wheaton would beat UWW or Linfield - I'd slot them behind those two.

[D O.C.]

You guys are LEFT Coast, not left out.

JohnS Hopkins.   

You see, I am cultured and drove by it on Charles Street after eating at a Diners, Drive-ins and Dives BBQ in the parking lot of a strip joint in Baltimore.

[Mr. Ypsi]

You guys are LEFT Coast, not left out.

JohnS Hopkins.   

You see, I am cultured and drove by it on Charles Avenue after eating at a Diners, Drive-ins and Dives BBQ in the parking lot of a strip joint in Baltimore.

Is that how you ended up at Johns Hopkins Medical Center?

[D O.C.]

 

[Pat Coleman]

Sad first, because it's not in the middle of the nation despite the hospitality of Salem, western VIRGINIA and second because it's not available without a contract.
My provider will carry it.
Remember 2004 when it was on Saturday afternoon TV?

That game was played at 11 a.m. ET. Trophy shots at the end were still in daylight!

[catjumper]

And having gone back there to attend that game, it felt a lot earlier than that - and not because of the time zone difference. 

[Foss]

Thought I'd throw out some random thoughts/stats. The first part shows how UMHB's history, before winning the Stagg this year, had some similarities to ours.

Both of us have been 0-5 against the top WIAC teams since 2005. We've lost to UW-W 4 times and UW-O 1 time. UMHB had lost to UW-W 5 times. They've been blown out a couple of times, whereas all of our games against both WIAC teams have been very close and a couple could have easily gone either way. Point is, they finally got over the hump and beat the top WIAC team this year. In addition, they obviously finally beat us (twice) as well as UMU for the 2nd time in the playoffs. That was about as well deserved a Stagg Bowl as we've seen in some time.

Point being: History of losing (frequently) to a certain team/league doesn't matter when a new opportunity arises. If they can do it, we can do it. After all, we've defeated this team 4 out of 6 times, and once on the road when they were ranked #2 and another, just last year, with our backup QB.

Also, it is amazing the caliber of teams we've lost to since 2003. We obviously won it in 2004. But all of our losses in the playoffs, except for 3 (STU in 2010, Wesley in 2011 & UW-O in 2012) were to teams that ended up winning the Stagg or being the Stagg Runner Up. And even the 2010-2012 losses were to teams that won the region and made it to the semis. So since 2003 (actually 2002, if you want to count the loss to the St. John's team that made it to the semis), we've never lost to a team that didn't at least win the region and play in the semis.

2003: Lost at St. John's on the road by 6. Led in the 4th quarter and had a chance to win it at the end. They would go on to thump RPI by 28 and UMU by 18 to win the Stagg. Argument could be made we were the 2nd best team in the country that season.

2004: Won it all

2005: Lost to UW-W by 3 in an epic game. They would go on to crush Wesley by 52 and lose by 7 to UMU in the Stagg.

2009: Lost to UW-W by 10 on the road. Led them in the 2nd half, the only team all season to do so. It was a 3 point game very late until we sold out and rushed our entire D to try and get a turnover by their RB, who broke the other way and scored a late TD to make the final margin 10. They would go on to beat UMU by 10, but on a neutral field in the Stagg. We defeated an always tough UMHB by 32 in the 2nd round and a scary good STU team by double digits. Again, an argument could be made we were the 2nd best team in the country.

2010: Lost in double OT in devastating fashion to STU on the road. They lost to Bethel by 5 in the semis.

2011: Lost to Wesley on the road. Were inexplicably sent across the entire country in the 2nd round to play a team ranked below us in the D3football polls (yes, I know this has nothing to do w/ the playoff selections and matchups). We were also undefeated and they had a loss to a D3 team. No one has ever been able to give any semblance of a reasonable explanation why we were forced to travel there instead of the other way around. Still, we led 27-7 in the 2nd half and were driving to score again before an INT returned for a TD turned the tide and got the home crowd into it. That Wesley team would go on to win the region by beating an undefeated UMHB on the road. They then lost in the semis by only 7 on the road to UMU. I would love to know how far our 2011 team would have gone had we deservedly received home field against Wesley.

2012: Lost to UW-O with another crucial fumble in OT. We led by more than 2 TDs in the 4th and would have had home field in the semis. UW-O went to the semis that year.

2013: Decimated by injuries almost everywhere, we still somehow by pure will, jumped out to a 17-0 lead on the road vs. UW-W by the 2nd quarter. Shorthanded, we scored more points in just over a quarter against them (on the road) than any other team did in a full game that entire season. After coming back to defeat us, UW-W would go on to beat UMHB on the road and then destroy UMU in the Stagg 52-14. I received an email from a very cool UW-W poster who told me he was at the game and said had we been healthy, he was sure we would have beaten UW-W that season. And this was a UW-W team that trounced UMU by 38 points.

2014: Defeated #2 UMHB on the road. Emasculated Widener and their pathetic coach after traveling across the country, 45-7. Lost to UW-W by 6 in a game I thought for sure was going to be ours. Had the ball inside their 20 with about a minute left. I thought we were finally going to exorcise the demons in that one. They would yet again go on to win the Stagg, beating UMU by 9 on a neutral field. Once again, an argument could be made we were the 2nd best team in the country.

2015: Came back from a 21-0 deficit w/ our backup QB to defeat a powerful UMHB team that was one year away from winning it all. For the next game, we needed our dual threat and future #1 D3 QB in the nation, Riddle, especially on the road, to beat STU. But unfortunately injuries once again played a major role for us in the playoffs, as he was still hobbled and about 50%. STU would go on to play in the Stagg against UMU.

2016: Sent to Texas again. This time in the first round. Dominated a very good Hardin-Simmons team and won by 14, holding them to 15 yards rushing. The final score could have been a lot worse. Were then sent back to Texas to take on yet on another eventual national champ in UMHB. We had so many great and talented SRs, it would have been awesome to see how far we might have made it if not sent to the Cruthedral in Round 2.

So, in summary, since 2003 - We won it all once. Lost 3 times to teams that made it to the semis (if you wanted, you could also throw in our 7 point loss to SJU in 2002 - they also made it to the semis). Lost an incredible 7 times to teams that ended up making it to the Stagg, with 5 of them winning it.

To say we've been so close to making it back to the Stagg would be just a tad bit of an understatement.