FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Tex]

Haha!  Good stuff, keep up the entertaining posts fellas!  Comparing common opponents is always fun, but in early season when there's not much film available, it's not very valid.  Also, you have to take into account when the particular head coach calls off the dogs and puts his 2nd and/or 3rd teams in.  Lots of variables that most of you don't seem to take into account in your equations. 

I'm so glad to see this board up and active again.  That was one long spring/summer draught.

[frank_ezelle]

How would I compare the 2007 Millsaps team to the 2008 team?  First, I would point out that the 2007 team was really, really good.  You all know the story--all they had to do was play their starters throughout the MC game and then run out the clock against Trinity after recovering an onside kick and Millsaps would have been 10-0 in the regular season and maybe knocking on the door of the Top 10. 

That's all water under the bridge, but with that in mind, I don't see where this year's team could be considered significantly better right now than a team that could have easily been 10-0 and maybe a Top 10 team in 2007.  The task at hand for the 2008 team is to go through the entire season without having a "what if" moment like the two from last year. 

I do think that Millsaps will improve over the course of the season.  There are new faces on the offensive line and a lot of new faces on defense.  It seems logical that these groups will improve with more game experience together.  The kicking game has improved over last year and that's always a big plus in a tight game.  I'm not sure if the passing game can get much better when compared to 2007, but Juan Joseph has become more of a running threat this season.  The running game might be the area where Millsaps can really improve over 2007, not so much because of greater talent, but because of more depth, more experience, and maybe a more balanced offensive approach. 

Time will tell on all that.  At this moment, Millsaps needs to remember that about a year ago an undefeated Trinity team went to Memphis to play a 2-2 Rhodes team that had only beaten LaGrange by a score of 28-21 and Birmingham Southern by a score of 10-7.  As unlikely as it sounds, Trinity slipped up that day and needed a miracle to earn a share of the SCAC crown.  I hope the Millsaps team remembers that lesson as well as the 2006 season when Millsaps barely held on for a 14-6 win at Rhodes.

[Ralph Turner]

Trinity was up on McMurry 21-0 at the end of the first half.

I think those are bona fides for a good Trinity team.

[D3_DPUFan]

I'm quite aware of exactly what happened in that football game, my friend.  However, your average voter that doesn't comb every single box score isn't aware of that, and seeing DPU give up 17 after Taylor gave them 17 isn't going to win anybody over.  Unfortunately, unless you beat those teams in a Mount Union-esque manner, it's not going to wow anybody.

Hello...earth to Wes...I don't give a crap about rankings. I don't care if DePauw gets any votes at all...i am simply responding to your earlier, uninformed post. 

[D3_DPUFan]

Comparing common opponents is always fun, but in early season when there's not much film available, it's not very valid.  Also, you have to take into account when the particular head coach calls off the dogs and puts his 2nd and/or 3rd teams in.  Lots of variables that most of you don't seem to take into account in your equations. 

I'm so glad to see this board up and active again.  That was one long spring/summer draught.

well said!

[DPU3619]

Really?  Seriously?  You don't care?  Then leave me alone. 

You've nitpicked every single thing I've said all day, which seems a bit much if you actually don't care.

[D3_DPUFan]

DePauw WR is SCAC Offensive Player of the Week.


http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=22162

[historymajor]

A hungry group of Trinity players, coaches and fans take the Tiger show on the road this weekend to Colorado Springs.  It'll be good to shake some rust off and see what this year's Trinity Tiger team is made of!  Back to backs in CO and BHM should prove to get them ready for the rest of their SCAC schedule.

[D3_DPUFan]

I ran across the following on another website, written by a Brian Fisher, who I assume is a DePauw student...



Sep 22, 2008 10:47 PM
A different gold helmet

I had butterflies in my stomach on my drive up to South Bend for Notre Dame's home opener against the second worst team in Division I-A football. The tradition, the aura, the sea of navy and gold - it far surmounts overwhelming. Looking over the top of the stadium, touchdown Jesus seems to embrace the crowd, saying "it's going to be alright, I'm on your side."

I have grown up as a devout Irish fanatic. Childhood Saturday's were filled with cries of "Whoa Nelly!" from Keith Jackson. But I left Notre Dame Stadium that day a little disappointed, as did thousands of other Irish fans. The Domers were nearly upset by San Diego State, a team that many think should worship the ground that Charlie Weis walks on. I wasn't disenchanted because my face was blue from holding my breath through three painful quarters. But, as I took the shuttle bus back to my car (yes, I was parked that far away), it dawned on me that Notre Dame football had merged closer to the ideals of Donald Trump and further away from gold polished helmets that symbolized halos in boyhood lore.


The clamoring of cash registers drowned out the chants of the crowd. Venders swarmed fans on campus like paparazzi pester Angelina Jolie at Starbucks. There was more security than a Sarah Palin speech. And the only thing missing from the astronomical concession prices was a $10 cold beer. Two years ago, quarterback Jimmy Clausen was ushered into town like Joe Montana as he stepped out of his limo to announce via press conference that he would "play" for Notre Dame. I wonder if he was in shock when he arrived on campus and it dawned on the Californian that Notre Dame was also a school. And to top it all off, my nachos that day were not even up to par with mediocrity.


I had butterflies in my stomach on my walk to Blackstock Stadium for DePauw University's home opener in anticipation of filling up on hotdogs and tossing the pigskin around the parking lot. But that day more than surpassed my expectations. I don't know why, but it took me a full week to realize why that ordinary Saturday afternoon filled the void hole in my heart left from South Bend the weekend before.


DePauw University routed visiting Anderson College 52-17 in a meaningless Division III football game that didn't get airtime on NBC, receive highlights on SportsCenter, or hear the velvety echoes of Keith Jackson. Yet even nuns would have marveled at the purity of the day in small-town Indiana.


The crowd cheered on golden helmets with paw print stickers that sparkled the home sideline. The only buses on campus were those of the visiting Ravens with no shuttles in sight. The single parking lot was filled with tailgaters. Families and students accounted for the entirety of the DePauw faithful, and the capacity crowd would be lucky to fill the Irish student section. But they were there for a sole reason - football.


Quarterbacks arrive on campus in non-chauffeured Taurus's without their PR agent. They attend DePauw to obtain a stellar liberal arts degree. They play football simply because they still can. There are no special admittances and players do not miss bowl games for violating team rules. As a matter of fact, there are no bowl games where the University can pull in millions in revenue. Admission is free and a Coke is $1.00.


It doesn't sound like much, but like I said, it took me a week to figure out that the remainder of my sunny autumn Saturdays will be spent in Greencastle. I wasn't harassed in the parking lot to buy cheesy I Hate Michigan t-shirts. I tailgated peacefully with my friends, and then cheered on my friends with the rest of the DPU faithful. The game ended and the players unveiled their capes to become ordinary students yet again until the following Saturday.


The afternoon was blissful. It was like Little League without the angry fathers. The game wasn't an ESPN Classic or a greedy revenue venture. It wasn't a nose-bleed seat and there were no red carpets. It was one thing - football. Nothing more and unquestionably nothing less.


I thought I had seen purity, but who needs halos when you have paw prints?

[Tex]

That was a nice read to go with my morning coffee. 

D-3 was nothing on my personal radar screen two-three years ago.  Now it's everything. 

I've had a few years here in College Station where I've rented homes to aggie football players from time to time.  I must say that in retrospect, I'd not want my son hanging around these guys.  First of all, most of them are not very bright.  Not very respectful of the house, nor my wife's management company.  Not very respectful of themselves looking at the evidence of filth left behind.  I have pictures that would frighten a "normal" adult. 

Is this sour grapes?  I certainly hope not.  Reality for most D-3 players (From my rather limited perspective) is that they kept their grades up in HS and they were an inch or two too short, or a few tenths too slow off the old forty time to garner the "big time D-1 offer".  We preach to these young men about their grades all through school and for many it pays off when they take the field for the first time wearing their new D-3 school unis.  It pays off. 

And, they play because they love it.  There's no D-2 or D-1 coach threatening to pull their scholie if they screw something up.  When they quit loving it, they leave and make room for others to step in to fulfill their dreams.  Or, they graduate with a camaraderie that lasts forever with a bunch of guys they've toiled and labored with under hot August suns. 

As I've heard my good friend Yuccaroot tell numerous boys and their families (he's a bit of a recruiting guru here locally), "there's 500+ colleges that play football out there.  If you want to play badly enough..."

[D3_DPUFan]

That was a nice read to go with my morning coffee. 

D-3 was nothing on my personal radar screen two-three years ago.  Now it's everything. 

I've had a few years here in College Station where I've rented homes to aggie football players from time to time.  I must say that in retrospect, I'd not want my son hanging around these guys.  First of all, most of them are not very bright.  Not very respectful of the house, nor my wife's management company.  Not very respectful of themselves looking at the evidence of filth left behind.  I have pictures that would frighten a "normal" adult. 

Is this sour grapes?  I certainly hope not.  Reality for most D-3 players (From my rather limited perspective) is that they kept their grades up in HS and they were an inch or two too short, or a few tenths too slow off the old forty time to garner the "big time D-1 offer".  We preach to these young men about their grades all through school and for many it pays off when they take the field for the first time wearing their new D-3 school unis.  It pays off. 

And, they play because they love it.  There's no D-2 or D-1 coach threatening to pull their scholie if they screw something up.  When they quit loving it, they leave and make room for others to step in to fulfill their dreams.  Or, they graduate with a camaraderie that lasts forever with a bunch of guys they've toiled and labored with under hot August suns. 

As I've heard my good friend Yuccaroot tell numerous boys and their families (he's a bit of a recruiting guru here locally), "there's 500+ colleges that play football out there.  If you want to play badly enough..."

couldn't agree more...

[LA Major]

Life experience------------>Wisdom
Wonderful insight from our DPU student teaching us all. Thanks for sharing the post.

[TigerDad]

Brian Fisher's DIII football commentary originally posted 9/22 here:
http://www.collegefanz.com/message/3301

Great post, especially since I grew up in a household where "ND" was something you said if you hit your thumb with a hammer ...

D3 RULES.

[Ron Boerger]

First AFCA D3 poll of the season is out.  South Region teams of interest:

3.    Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas)    2-0   897   
7.    Muhlenberg (Pa.)    2-0   602   
11.    Washington & Jefferson (Pa.)    3-0   567
12.    Hardin-Simmons (Texas)    3-0   438   
16.    Trinity (Texas)    2-0   347   
17.    Millsaps (Miss.)    3-0   333   
20.    Wesley (Del.)    1-1   304   

No votes for any other SCAC team; Louisiana College got 1 25th-place vote. 

[reality check]

I asked the following question in the wrong forum and I'm wondering if any of the Trinity folks might have an answer to this query.

I read an ESPN.com article this morning written by Gene Wojolotsofletters interviewing the actor who plays Matt Saracen on the TV version of Friday Night Lights.  The article referenced all the "football extras" ranging from former arena leaguers, college players and NFL alums.  Specifically referenced at the on-field version of Matt Saracen (QB) was a "former Trinity quarterback from nearby San Antonio."  I am wondering if anyone has a handle on who that former Trinity quarterback is since nothing I did to research netted any results.

Thanks guys.