FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Ralph Turner]

The Jackson, MS newspaper has an outstanding article on Juan Joseph this morning.  It's more about Juan as a student, his background, and the choice of playing at a D3 school instead of about his accomplisments on the field.  Here's the link:

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20081015/COL0504/810150361/1287/SPORTS

Great article...



I would use this as Trinity psychological warfare, but a great kid like Juan Joseph won't fall for it.   

Juan Joseph has to be on the short list for the Gagliardi.

Best wishes, Juan!

[roocru]

what all should AC be expecting from BSC this weekend?  This game is very important if they want any shot at a winning season this year.

I'm just not all that impressed by our wins so far.  Yes it was good to come from behind in their 3 wins but McMurry, CC and Sewanee are a combined 2-14.  They could have beat Centre and threw it away.  The loss to S'western Assemblies is what really kills me though.

Will this simply come down to the least mistakes?

Kent,

I think you are being  a little negative here.  I have seen all the home AC games (except McMurry while I was dodging a hurricane) and the SWAG game as well.  I was also dissappointed with the loss to SWAG, but the Roos are playing better each week.  They have definitely become a second half team as critical adjustments are being made and acted upon in the second half. 

As far as their opponents records if you look at the SCAC standings only Depauw and two top 25 teams, Trinity and Millsaps are ahead of them.  IMHO they are very capable of winning their next three games and finishing 6-4.  Even 5-5 is much better than it has been in the past few years.  I am proud of their progress!!

[Bill McCabe]

roocru, that would be great if they could finish 6-4.  I'll be pulling for them.

[D3_DPUFan]

The problem with Depauw is that they can't seem to play 60 good minutes of football in a game:

----Against Anderson, DePauw fell behind 10-0 after a quarter, then scored 45 unanswered points and eventually won 52-17.

----Against Centre, DePauw was up 13-0, then fell behind 13-14, then rallied to win 27-14.

----Against Sewanee, DePauw was up 24-0 at the half and had to hold on for a 27-20 win.

----Against BSC, DePauw fell behind 7-21 at the half and then scored 24 unanswered points in the second half for a 31-21 victory.

----Against Millsaps the first half was so bad (7-35) that it made the 2nd half a moot point.

The bottom line is that DePauw has been a very good team for stretches during the season, just not for an entire game.  If they can play 60 minutes at their potential this weekend, then they will make things interesting in San Antonio.  If DePauw starts off this weekend like they did against Anderson, Millsaps and BSC, then they are in for a long day.

Frank---
Your general premise is a good one...DePauw has experienced some slow starts...but it's silly to support it with comparing scores (as someone correctly suggested with the halftime score of the Trinity-BCS game)..

Anderson---DPU with 2 early turnovers deep in their own territory...then winning 52-17 with the starters playing 3 quarters...should they have made it 77-17?

Centre---Falling behind and rallying? DPU was behind for all of two plays...and took a knee on multiple plays inside the 10 at the end of the game to run out the clock...I don't think the actual score of 27-14---or what would have been at least 34-14 on road at Centre is anything to sneeze at...

The Sewanee and BCS games were more indicative of what you're talking about...and for a team that has seen for stretches its entire receiving corps and its entire running back group out with injuuries they have performed pretty well.

In the BCS game the Panthers used a trick play and two fumbles by a sophomore DPU running back to grab that early lead....and should point out that young RB shook off the rough start to come back and runn very hard and very well the rest of the game...

Anyway...injuries are part of the game...coulda, shoulda, woulda...for sure DePauw will need to bring its A+ game to San Antonio this weekend...

[RooBro]

what all should AC be expecting from BSC this weekend?  This game is very important if they want any shot at a winning season this year.

I'm just not all that impressed by our wins so far.  Yes it was good to come from behind in their 3 wins but McMurry, CC and Sewanee are a combined 2-14.  They could have beat Centre and threw it away.  The loss to S'western Assemblies is what really kills me though.

Will this simply come down to the least mistakes?

Kent,

I think you are being  a little negative here.  I have seen all the home AC games (except McMurry while I was dodging a hurricane) and the SWAG game as well.  I was also dissappointed with the loss to SWAG, but the Roos are playing better each week.  They have definitely become a second half team as critical adjustments are being made and acted upon in the second half. 

As far as their opponents records if you look at the SCAC standings only Depauw and two top 25 teams, Trinity and Millsaps are ahead of them.  IMHO they are very capable of winning their next three games and finishing 6-4.  Even 5-5 is much better than it has been in the past few years.  I am proud of their progress!!

I have also been at all the home games (including McMurry) and have not "felt good" about how we have won. However we did win and that is what matters. I still feel like our best football is in the windsheild, not the rearview mirror.

[frank_ezelle]

Frank---
Your general premise is a good one...DePauw has experienced some slow starts...but it's silly to support it with comparing scores (as someone correctly suggested with the halftime score of the Trinity-BCS game)..

I give up.  Somehow my effort to point out that DePauw is a potentially more dangerous team than some may think has been taken as being critical of DePauw.  If I'm going to offend the DePauw fans when I'm actually trying to prop up their team, then I might as well be brutally honest and offend them all the way:

"If DePauw goes to San Antonio and plays as poorly as they played in Jackson, then they will find themselves at least 40 points down when the final horn sounds."

That's not the type of comment that I would usually make on this board, but if I'm going to be whacked for saying that I think DePauw has a chance against Trinity, then I might as well get whacked more legitimately by saying that DePauw is going to get killed.  Is everybody happy now?  I should learn my lesson and never try to be supportive of another program.

[frank_ezelle]

On another subject and sticking strictly to Millsaps, I wanted to get back to something from the Juan Joseph story.  He mentions that he could have gone to D1 Alcorn State on scholarship and instead he choose Millsaps.  In the article he says:

"But the bottom line is, I wouldn't change a thing," he says. "I'm right where I need to be. What I love about Division III is that if you're playing out here, you have a passion for the game, because you aren't getting anything else for playing. You play because you love to play."

The flip side of this story is the commonplace tale of a recruit who got away, a story that could be told at just about every D3 program.  I know Millsaps was recruiting a QB this year who would have been a strong candidate to take over as the starter in 2009 (I'm sure the current backups would have something to say about that).  As it turns out, this QB ended up going as an invited walk-on to a premier program in one of the premier D1 leagues. 

For all I know, that might have been the greatest thing that could have happen to this young man and he may never regret that decision for the rest of his life.  However, I saw a story about this particular team and the head coach said they had 4 QBs on scholarship and they had brought in a walk-on just to be sure that the scholarship kids didn't have to throw too much in practice.  One of those scholarship QBs is a freshman who is considered to be their starter of the future.

Maybe this walk-on will be that rarity that somehow becomes a rags to riches story.  Maybe he'll be happy as the guy who spends his entire college career as the scout team quarterback.  Or maybe he'll be like my nephew who walked on at a D1 basketball program his freshman year and then decided it was a lot more fun to play for a championship at D3 than to watch from the bench at D1.  I really think a lot of young men and women pass up fantastic opportunities when they pass up a chance to play D3 in order to become a mostly non-playing athlete at D1 or D2.

[D3_DPUFan]

I give up.  Somehow my effort to point out that DePauw is a potentially more dangerous team than some may think has been taken as being critical of DePauw.  If I'm going to offend the DePauw fans when I'm actually trying to prop up their team, then I might as well be brutally honest and offend them all the way:

"If DePauw goes to San Antonio and plays as poorly as they played in Jackson, then they will find themselves at least 40 points down when the final horn sounds."

That's not the type of comment that I would usually make on this board, but if I'm going to be whacked for saying that I think DePauw has a chance against Trinity, then I might as well get whacked more legitimately by saying that DePauw is going to get killed.  Is everybody happy now?  I should learn my lesson and never try to be supportive of another program.

Sorry you took it that way...if you actually read the post...I said I AGREE with your premise...I was taking issue with the comparative scores in games like Anderson, Centre, etc. that you used to make your point...comparing scores is a slippery slope..that's all I was saying...believe me, i wouldn't want to offend anyone who wants to say nice things about DPU...

[wabashcpa]

I give up.  Somehow my effort to point out that DePauw is a potentially more dangerous team than some may think has been taken as being critical of DePauw.  If I'm going to offend the DePauw fans when I'm actually trying to prop up their team, then I might as well be brutally honest and offend them all the way:

Frank,

Reminds me of the line about pledges in Animal House (paraphrased)...

"You can't talk about DePauw like that.  Only WE can talk about DePauw like that!"

Sounds like this man needs a Monon Bell ticket!   

[jekelish]

what all should AC be expecting from BSC this weekend?  This game is very important if they want any shot at a winning season this year.

I'm just not all that impressed by our wins so far.  Yes it was good to come from behind in their 3 wins but McMurry, CC and Sewanee are a combined 2-14.  They could have beat Centre and threw it away.  The loss to S'western Assemblies is what really kills me though.

Will this simply come down to the least mistakes?

AC is travelling there ... is this the week they finally open their new football stadium?  Could make for a difficult combo.

The game is being played at Hoover High, I believe.

[DPU3619]

That's not the type of comment that I would usually make on this board, but if I'm going to be whacked for saying that I think DePauw has a chance against Trinity, then I might as well get whacked more legitimately by saying that DePauw is going to get killed.  Is everybody happy now?  I should learn my lesson and never try to be supportive of another program.

Nobody here was criticizing you.  In fact, I merely pointed out a unique commonality between the two teams.  My comrade didn't even do that.  He actually agreed with you.  Take a deep breath, friend.  Neither he nor I are out to get you.

[frank_ezelle]

It might not have helped that I wrote the post last night after enjoying a few brews with the guys at Nick's bar. 

It just seemed like the responses to my post were a little defensive which made me think that my post was taken as some sort of criticism of DePauw.  That wasn't my intention and I certainly might have misread the responses.  At this point that is neither here or there.

What we all can agree upon is that DePauw's chances of playing in the post season go away if they don't win this Saturday.  A second loss in conference rules out the chance of the AQ and it also rules out the at-large hopes.  If DePauw does win, then they probably go into the Wabash game with an 8-1 record and maybe a national ranking. 

Personally, I think DePauw is somewhere in the range of a 3 TD underdog.  Trinity has a lot on the line as well and they aren't going to overlook this game.  But still, when DePauw is playing well they are a difficult team to beat if they play well the entire game.  This link to the DePauw-BSC Drive chart shows just how good DePauw can be (2nd half) and just how inept they have also managed to play in spots this year (1st half). 

http://www.scacsports.com/sports/fball/2008-09/stats/bscdu.htm#GAME.DRV

If DePauw can put together 60 minutes like they played to end the BSC game, then they'll have a shot at pulling off the upset.  I'm not sure if a DePauw win would be good for the SCAC or for Millsaps, but it should would be a big deal for the DePauw team.

[wabashcpa]

Personally, I think DePauw is somewhere in the range of a 3 TD underdog.

You been sneaking peeks at the pick 'ems for this week, Frank?   

[frank_ezelle]

Personally, I think DePauw is somewhere in the range of a 3 TD underdog.

You been sneaking peeks at the pick 'ems for this week, Frank?   

Maybe great minds think alike?  I actually had seen your point spreads earlier in the week for your pick-em and maybe that 3 TD number was still somewhere in my subconscious.  For the record, I think the following lines are pretty good lines:

Austin (-3.5) @ Birmingham-Southern
Colorado College @ Rhodes (-17.5)
Sewanee @ Millsaps (-31.5)
DePauw @ Trinity (-20.5)

---The Austin @ BSC is interesting.  I think BSC will come up with a big game at home and get this win.  As a fairly young team, the difference between how they play at home and how they do on the road seems to be wider than with most other SCAC teams.  I see them snapping their 4-game losing streak against an Austin team that is the better team.
---It seems like the Colorado @ Rhodes game is the safest of the 4 picks.  Colorado has the long road trip and Rhodes will be itching to get their offense back on track after the shutout last week. 
---Millsaps won by 32 or more against MS College, Austin, Rhodes and DePauw.  They won by 20 against Belhaven and Centre.  It sounds disrespectful of your opponent to say that you think you'll beat them by almost 5 TDs or more, but based on the seasonal results, it looks like Millsaps is the team to pick here.
---DePauw at Trinity.  I do believe that DePauw can make this interesting if they play a full 60 minutes at the top of their game.  That's a BIG IF based on the first half of the season.  It's not a "big if" to think that Trinity will play their best game of the year this Saturday.  I believe this for numerous reasons, such as:
1) It's DePauw and that has always been a big game on the schedule.
2) It's the best test Trinity will have on the schedule to prepare for Millsaps.
3) It is a statement game for Trinity.  So far the Trinity schedule has created the attitude of "yeah they won, but look who they were playing" (no disrespect meant to the teams Trinity has played).  A big win Saturday may shut up some of that talk--and a close game might fuel that talk since Millsaps beat DePauw by 42.
4) I suspect the Trinity nation has been greatly ticked off this year with all the Millsaps talk and I'd feel the same if I supported Trinity.  They'll want to release some of that pent up anger on their Tiger breathen from the North. 

Earlier in the week I thought that DePauw was going to make this a close game.  Now that I think about it from the Trinity side of the coin, I believe that they will cover your 20.5 spread.  The talent, the motivation, the home field advantage,etc, make a compelling argument that Trinity will play very close to full potential this week.  Plus, with the shortage of running backs at the moment, I think the Trinity defense will be able to bring the pressure needed to shut down the DePauw passing game.

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity Nation?      

All good comments, Frank, but I don't think the guys who will trot onto the field at EM Stevens are focused on satisfying us or putting big numbers on the scoreboard.  I know that margins of victory in some of the wins could easily have been larger if that was a concern, but with very few exceptions Coach Mohr subs liberally once his team is comfortably ahead and uses the time to get those guys some quality playing time.  I know that most of the coaches do this, but IMO Trinity does it earlier than most.   Admittedly, my opinion is not unbiased in this regard. 

They don't want to lose to DPU, who has always been a rival, but they don't want to lose to anyone.  I don't see them putting a three TD whomping on the visiting Tigers because it is a rivalry and DPU wants to get the Trinity monkey off their back after so many years.   It seems strange that a consistently good team like DPU has not managed to pull off a win yet in the series.  And wounded Tigers are dangerous ...

This is the meat of the season for the men from San Antonio.  DPU, a road game on the mountain at Sewanee, then of course uber-motivated and talented Millsaps.   And if they should get by Millsaps, a visit the next week to Centre who has thrown a monkey wrench into Trinity undefeated regular seasons before.  It'll take focus, strong play, and maybe even a little luck  to win all four.