FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Ron Boerger]

The latest D3football.com Top 25 is out.

Trinity 21st, Millsaps is the first team RV (26th). 

[Ralph Turner]

The latest D3football.com Top 25 is out.

Trinity 21st, Millsaps is the first team RV (26th). 

The best chance that I see for Millsaps to crack the Top 25 is for #19 Linfield to lose to Pac Lutheran in a tight game for the NWC lead.  I think that the winner of this game has the best chance for a Pool B bid.

[HunterT]

Ralph, are you saying that if Millsaps wins out they won't crack the top 25 unless somebody loses? Granted, that will probably happen, but to be stuck at 26th would be rather frustrating.

In other news, Rhodes Homecoming this weekend vs. Austin College. After a tough/lucky road win we come back to Memphis where we feel and play a little better as everybody knows. But Austin is coming off a trouncing of a game against BSC which could increase their confidence.

I think Rhodes wins by 10 and I finally get a good reason to celebrate in Memphis.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph, are you saying that if Millsaps wins out they won't crack the top 25 unless somebody loses? Granted, that will probably happen, but to be stuck at 26th would be rather frustrating.

I was specifically thinking about this weekend.

Reviewing the Top 25 shows that there are very few 9-1 teams from competitive conferences that don't crack the Top 25 by week 11.

There are plenty of conferences in which the contenders still have to play, which was the gist of the front page article yesterday, e.g., Franklin winning the critical HCAC game versus MSJ and Wabash pulling ahead in the NCAC so early.

Millsaps is comfortably positioned on the radar, and I can see a successful  Millsaps post-season performance boosting them as high as they go deep into the post-season.

[TigerDad]

RE: various comments on Trinity's game at DePauw

Had a great weekend on the trip with the Trinity Tigers.  A very fine group of young men and their coaches ... I was proud to be associated with all of them.  Definitely turning heads in the airports and restaurants as a group of 20-year olds in neckties and jackets is really something to witness!

The atmosphere was all business on Friday and Saturday pre-game ... everyone focused and determined.  Not alot of nonsense or small talk.  The guys seemed anxious to get on the field and erase the bad taste from the previous weekend.  Cool and dry weather provided a great day for football in Greencastle.

Trinity came out strong and other than a let-up and a couple errors just before the half, they looked very good.  Barmore was cool in the pocket and stepped up or rolled out as pressure from the defense was applied.  To answer earlier questions about the long completions ... the backs and O-line provided good protection, but when defenders broke through, Barmore moved well and forced DPU's DB's to watch him instead of their coverage.  Trinity receivers stayed on route or broke to open spots and that's why there were so many big-yardage receptions by so many different receivers.  Well done, men.  The running game got on track in the second half to eat up some clock time and that also helped open up the passing game.  The Black Flag responded well to early miscues and mostly contained Marks (just returned from a few games off due to injury) and showed tougher coverage on DPU receivers who still managed a number of tough catches.

All-in-all a very fine performance by a good Trinity team.  Good plans were well executed resulting in stronger trust between coaches and players.  The theme is clearly "one week at a time" as it should be under the circumstances.  I would expect everyone to work hard to maintain this momentum.  Zero comments on later season opponents were overheard ... Sewanee is the current focus.

Congratulations to the TU Tigers on a fine performance and looking forward to more of the same in coming weeks.  Bring your best every day and good things will happen.

[frank_ezelle]

Interesting trivia from the SCAC website:

--Millsaps leads the SCAC in scoring defense (11.1 ppg), pass defense (137.4 ypg), rushing defense (78.3 ypg), and total defense (215.7 ypg).  Obviously Millsaps has an outstanding defense and the numbers aren't because the Millsaps offense is on the field so much.  In time of possession Millsaps only ranks 7th in the SCAC at 28:56 minutes per game.

--Given the team defensive numbers, you would think that Millsaps would have players high up the SCAC tackle chart.  As it turns out, two players from Millsaps rank in the SCAC's top 50 in tackles--Shawn Gillenwater ranks 40th at 5.3 per game and Casey Younger is tied for 46th at 4.9 per game.  In breaking down the players from 1-39, I found the following number of players ahead of Gillenwater:

Colorado College--7 players
Centre--6 players
Rhodes--5 players
Birmingham--5 players
Sewanee--5 players
Austin College--4 players
Trinity--4 players
DePauw--3 players

Compare these numbers to last year when Millsaps finished with 8 players in the top 50 and 5 of those players were in the top 23.  Great individual numbers but the team defense was near the bottom of the conference, ranking 5th in scoring defense, 7th (last) in passing defense, 4th in rushing defense, and 7th in total defense.

I found the numbers interesting and surprising.  We've talked all year about the depth of talent on the Millsaps defense, but I didn't realize that depth of talent had diluted the individual stats so much.

[oldmoose]

Think of it this way:  the better your defense plays as a unit, the fewer the offensive plays your opponents can run.  The fewer the offensive plays your opponents run, the fewer the opportunities for your defensive players to rack up individual stats.  If your defenders are making lots of tackles, it's because your opponents always have the ball.

[DPU3619]

Think of it this way:  the better your defense plays as a unit, the fewer the offensive plays your opponents can run.  The fewer the offensive plays your opponents run, the fewer the opportunities for your defensive players to rack up individual stats.  If your defenders are making lots of tackles, it's because your opponents always have the ball.

Agreed.

[frank_ezelle]

That's certainly part of the story, but it's surprising that the number of defensive snaps per game isn't that different for all the teams in the SCAC.  I may be off by one on a couple of these, but I came up with these defensive snaps per game:

Trinity--62
Millsaps--64
Rhodes--66
Austin--66
Centre--70
Sewanee--71
DePauw--71
Colorado--72
Birmingham--75

So in reality the Millsaps defense is playing about the same number of snaps as the other teams, they are just spreading out the tackles over so many players this year.  I just thought it was interesting that the individual numbers were down so dramatically this season.  From what I know of the players, they are much more concerned about the team stats than their individual totals.

[DePauwDad]

That's certainly part of the story, but it's surprising that the number of defensive snaps per game isn't that different for all the teams in the SCAC.  I may be off by one on a couple of these, but I came up with these defensive snaps per game:

Trinity--62
Millsaps--64
Rhodes--66
Austin--66
Centre--70
Sewanee--71
DePauw--71
Colorado--72
Birmingham--75

So in reality the Millsaps defense is playing about the same number of snaps as the other teams, they are just spreading out the tackles over so many players this year.  I just thought it was interesting that the individual numbers were down so dramatically this season.  From what I know of the players, they are much more concerned about the team stats than their individual totals.

Could it be that teams are passing more? If Millsaps is generally ahead from the start I would think that teams are throwing to catch up- which translates into fewer tackles. You might look at the passing attempts against Millsaps and find your answer.

[KentATM]

Could it be that teams are passing more? If Millsaps is generally ahead from the start I would think that teams are throwing to catch up- which translates into fewer tackles. You might look at the passing attempts against Millsaps and find your answer.

well not so much if you are Austin College.  we only threw it 15 times in that game.

[Just_that_kid]

2007 SCAC Football
          Millsaps College Overall Team Statistics (October 13, 2007)
                                   All games

TEAM STATISTICS                          MC          OPP
--------------------------------------------------------
RUSHING YARDAGE...............          800          548
  Yards gained rushing........          953          795
  Yards lost rushing..........          153          247
  Rushing Attempts............          224          232 
  Average Per Rush............          3.6          2.4
  Average Per Game............        114.3         78.3
  TDs Rushing.................            9            4
PASSING YARDAGE...............         2337          962
  Att-Comp-Int................    325-215-4    217-94-11
  Average Per Pass............          7.2          4.4
  Average Per Catch...........         10.9         10.2
  Average Per Game............        333.9        137.4
  TDs Passing.................           25            5
TOTAL OFFENSE.................         3137         1510
  Total Plays.................          549          449

Teams are actually trying to be fairly balanced against Millsaps, and actually favoring the run.
Though the Millsaps offense does jump on people quickly most times, teams usually stick to their game plan atleast through the first half. The few times the Millsaps offense has struggled, the defense held tight and gave the offense some good looks via turnovers.

[DPU3619]

Teams are actually trying to be fairly balanced against Millsaps, and actually favoring the run.
Though the Millsaps offense does jump on people quickly most times, teams usually stick to their game plan atleast through the first half. The few times the Millsaps offense has struggled, the defense held tight and gave the offense some good looks via turnovers.

With further research, I find that Millsaps has seen their opponents attempt more passes than any other defense in the conference by anywhere between 10-50 attempts depending on the team.

Furthermore, more of those passes are resulting in incompletions due to Millsaps being the 6th best team nationally in pass efficiency defense (78.0, no other SCAC team in the Top 50).  One has to think if they see more passes than anybody else, and a higher percentage of them are incomplete than anybody else, it must provide fewer opportunities for tackles to some degree. 

I'm no math major, but I think that sounds about right, doesn't it?

[HunterT]

Agreed.

Wes you could teach me algebra anytime. I actually followed what you said.

[Ron Boerger]

SCAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Games of October 13

BLAKE BARMORE OF TRINITY UNIVERSITY, a 6-3, 213-pound senior quarterback from Friendswood, Texas, has been selected the SCAC Football Offensive Player-of-the-Week for games played Saturday, October 13. Barmore enjoyed the best game of his career – and one of the top performances in school history – in a must-win on the road against DePauw University on Saturday, leading the team to a 43-28 victory. Barmore finished with a school and SCAC record 518 yards of total offense in the game, including 476 yards passing – the fourth-highest total in school history. Barmore completed 22 of 32 passes and threw two touchdowns, and also rushed for 42 yards and two scores. He accounted for four of the team's six touchdowns. For the season, Barmore has completed 118 of 181 (65.2%) through the air for 1,802 yards and 11 touchdowns. He is averaging 300.3 yards per game passing and holds an efficiency rating of 164.46 on the year. The two rushing touchdowns this week were the first of the season for the senior quarterback.

SCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

JONATHAN BROOKS OF MILLSAPS COLLEGE, a 5-8, 175-pound junior cornerback from Roxie, Miss., has been selected the SCAC Football Defensive Player-of-the-Week for games played Saturday, October 13. Brooks picked off two passes and returned a fumble 14 yards for a score to pace a Millsaps defense that allowed a season-low 125 total yards in a 45-7 win at Sewanee on Saturday. In his first year in a Majors uniform, Brooks leads the team with four interceptions and is tied with teammate Marcus Harris with nine passes defended.