FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Major Rev]

Thought for sure that Kevin Peters would be on the TOW especially after his mention in the Statistical Spotlight article earlier this week.  I guess you could chalk that one up to "too many players from one team in a row" thinking ...

[Major Rev]

I also want to give a shout out regarding the play of #11 Tevin Goggins.  I had him credited in my mind with three pass breakups instead of the two that are reflected in the stats.  I'm not sure he got credit for what I called the "Immaculate Deflection" resulting in one of Kevin Peters' interceptions.
Maybe Kevin Maloney can help us out there ...

[frank_ezelle]

Kevin had a great week as did the 4 DBs who made the most recent team of the week.  I'm sure there were other DBs who had great games last Saturday as well.  

But all this was covered about so many great players and so few slots last year in regards to Juan Joseph not being picked on a particular week.  That's a string of posts that we don't need to repeat in 2009.

Team of the week link:  http://www.d3football.com/tow/09/week4.htm

[Major Rev]

Ha!  Or maybe I'm just getting greedy ... 

Any thoughts on Goggins?  I note that this was his second game appearance.  Maybe we're seeing some depth developing in that defensive backfield.

[Patriot_Pride]

I totally agree on the Kevin Peters shaft. To reply to Major Rev, Goggins and Kenny Reeves are basically competing/splitting time at the cornerback spot. Tevin was an unbelievable athlete in high school, as are tons of players, having played three different sports. I think he'll be a gamebreaker come his junior and senior campaign. He's also got some good hops as we saw last week vs Trinity. I'm really looking forward to the DePauw game and will be watching online this weekend.

Well, here goes this weekend's predictions.

Millsaps at DePauw (Millsaps 26, DePauw 13) http://www.sportsnation360.com/schools/webcast/Millsaps-College

Sewanee at Centre (Centre 41, Sewanee 16) http://www.centre.edu/web/athletics/livestats/football/xlive.htm

Birmingham-Southern at Trinity (BSC 30, Trinity 24) http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/Football/livestats/xlive.htm

Rhodes at Wash. U (Wash. U 17, Rhodes 16)  http://www.stretchinternet.com/wustlvideo.html

Tecnologico de Monterrey at Austin College (TDM 31, Austin 30) http://baseball.austincollege.edu/

[frank_ezelle]

I've been editing football photos which gives me plenty of time to think.  Hopefully I can pull an all-nighter and finish the Trinity game photos, but right now I need a break so the extra strength Excedrin can kill the pain in my shoulder.  Here are some randon thoughts:

---I heard back from the Millsaps SI Dept. on the pass breakups for Tevin Goggins.  Yes, it should have be three instead of two.  I believe the one that was missed was on a Kevin Peters interception and the question was whether a pass breakup and interception can both be credited on the same play.  Apparently they can.

---Said it before and I'll say it again.  This 2009 Millsaps team is so much like the 2006 Millsaps team.  They will improve a lot between game 1 and game 10 of the season.  Something tells me the passing game is going to improve a good bit even though they are already averaging 250 ypg and have 6 receivers with a reception of 40 yards or longer (a figure that matches the 40+ yard receivers in 2008).

---It's a shame that Birmingham Southern, Centre, Rhodes and Sewanee don't have anyone posting to the message board.  The players and coaches at those schools deserve the support.  For example, someone from Centre should be here posting congratulations to Centre running back Jonathan Pinque for making the D3Football Team of the Week.

---While there hasn't been a lot of talk about Millsaps at DePauw, there's been nothing mentioned about the other 4 games (except for the post that was written while I was writing this):

1) Sewanee at Centre--Winless Sewanee on the road at undefeated Centre.  This has the potential to be uglier than last weekend's weather at Sewanee.

2) Birmingham Southern at Trinity--It may be a non-conference game, but this is a big, big game.  Trinity started out with 4 road games, winning squeakers at McMurry and Texas Lutheran, winning by 21 at Rhodes, and then losing at Millsaps.  BSC is 2-1 including a home win by 34 over Rhodes.  If you were setting the line on this game in Vegas, who would you pick to win and by how much?  It's an interesting question--this is a big game for both schools.

3)  Rhodes at Washington--The good news is that Washington lost their last game by a 46-0 score to Whittenburg, a good team that received a handful of votes in the latest D3 poll.  The bad news is that Rhodes at 2-2 still has DePauw, Centre, Millsaps, and Austin to play.  It seems like Rhodes needs to win Saturday to keep alive any hopes for a .500 season.

4)  Tecnologico de Monterrey (Mex.) at Austin--I tried to do a search on this school's football team and all I got were Monterrey soccer stories.  So when in doubt regarding a Mexico vs. America matchup, pick the Mexicans if it is "Futbol" and pick the Americans if it is "Football".  Austin needs a win after the last two "close but no cigar" games.

---Well, I'm starting to think that the all-nighter working on photos is a bad idea.  The combination of tomorrow being a work day and me being an old-timer makes staying up all night a rather foolish, and probably impossible idea.  They will get done eventually, as will the JV photos that are halfway finished.  Somehow, someway, it all gets done eventually.

[Tacttm1]

My prediction for the Millsaps v. DePauw contest.........M-17, D-10

Agreeing with Frank, wish there were some posters and 'champions' of some other schools on the boards, but I know there are plenty more readers than posters.  These D3 boards are well-done and moderated with an even hand, but I must admit that when I have visited a couple other Conferences' message boards. there was alot less talk on X's and O's and players.

Thanks to all who post here and provide such insight! 

[scaccommish]

This week's SCAC 360 show:

http://www.scacsports.com/inside_athletics/scac_360/week3

[Major Rev]

Im jumping in, too, since 'the water's fine' for it ...

I too predict Millsaps to win by two touchdowns.  Statistically, Depauw looks better on paper until you look at where their statistics come from - a win over a bottom of the pile team in a no name conference, a loss to a credible team, and a slop bowl in which nobody could gain yards or score points.  Add to that the loss of QB Spud Dick and it starts to get ugly.  May even be more than two touchdowns.

I also predict this will be BSC's coming out game.  After what Millsaps, particularly Bowser,  did to Trinity offensively, I see BSC's Arrington and Langston taking it out on the Trinity defense.  Though this could come down to special teams.

INS Major, I'm not sure Sewanee can muster that many points, but if the score differential is not at least what you predict, Centre may be a pretender.

Wash U has lost its mojo; Rhodes has a good chance.

I think the Austin Roos pull this one out.

I totally agree about who's missing from the D3 boards.  Think I'll email a couple of SIDs to see what we can stir up.  Nothing like a little locker room bulletin board material to stir the pot!

Hope you got some sleep, Frank.  We truly appreciate what you do!

[exmajor]

I think we don't hear as much from Sewanee, Rhodes, BSC, etc. because of the recent history of those programs.  We could soon see more from BSC and Austin has a very nice following already.  When I started following the board some 7-8 years ago I could count on one hand the number of Millsaps posters.  Things have changed quite a bit since that time, but so has the program at Millsaps.  Of course Trinity has always been well represented as has Depauw.  In fact, 6-8 years ago, it was 90% Trinity posters.  Of course this is not fact, but just what I believe to be the reason behind who posts on this board often.

[Ron Boerger]

Nothing like success to encourage fans to post, and there is no doubt the Trinity presence which once dominated the board has declined as Millsaps has ascended to the top of the conference standings.  We see the same behavior on the ASC board where posters from teams that once challenged (like ETBU and HPU) have virtually disappeared along with their team's performance. 

I am going to take the contrary view on BSC-Trinity, because if it's one thing I've seen over the years, it's that TU plays a whole lot better at home than they do on the road.   Since it's still grass and B-SC plays on turf, that could also factor into the equation.  Forecast is for rain starting Friday so it could get messy.   Last week notwithstanding, Trinity's run defense has been solid [allowing 70 ypg] though they will get a strong challenge from the Panthers. 

[frank_ezelle]

Admittedly, there's nothing like success to bring out the fans at all levels of sports.  Some of it might be jumping on the bandwagon and some might be the old saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".  

On the other hand, which team needs support the most?  Is it the team that has already found success or the one who is trying to build a program?  I've been involved on the basketball message board much longer than any of the other sports.  I've followed two Millsaps teams as they made it to the NCAA Tournament, and more teams than that who have struggled.  It always has seemed like the teams that were struggling needed someone posting for them far more than the teams that were succeeding.

It doesn't have to be much.  It could be as simple as posting links to stories on your school's website.  That's a start and it's much better than nothing.  If you want to add more, then great.  And if you want to keep your identity a secret, just go to yahoo and create an email account specifically for the message board.  Like they say on those crime stopper ads, "we don't want your name, just your information".  

The young men and women of the SCAC deserve more recognition and it would be nice if all the schools were represented on the message board.  If you have thought about posting but haven't yet, take the plunge.  I'm sure the athletes will appreciate your efforts.

[HSC85]

Well said Frank.  I hope many of the "reader" take these comments to heart on all of the boards.

[Major Rev]

Just discovered that in the 9-28-09 AFCA poll, Millsaps is No. 24.  Centre, MS College, Trinity, and Depauw are all 'receiving votes'.

[rooski]

Go Roo's!! Beat Monterry Tech!!   {this just feels kinda funky - thanks Colorado }

Honestly I have no sense for what to expect this weekend from our opponent, our team or our fans. I guess I'm just glad we're home for this one. What worries me is that a poor performance might hurt us more than a good performance would help us.

As for Centre, I see that their schedule is much tougher in the second half of the season. They rarely play at home after this weekend and have all the "big dogs" on the road. I'll say this. They really don't look like a pretender to me - but then I didn't think we would be 0-2 at this point.

*And what is the situation with DPU Spud? Will he play again? - Is the coaching change a bigger factor to DPU's start than I thought it would be?