FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Ron Boerger]

What's the total score and outcome as Millsaps visits DePauw this weekend?

<= 20 points - DPU wins -0 (0%)
<= 20 points - Millsaps wins - 3 (9.7%)
21-39 points - DPU wins -9 (29%)
21-39 points - Millsaps wins -9 (29%)
>= 40 points - DPU wins -2 (6.5%)
>= 40 points - Millsaps wins -8 (25.8%)
   
Total Voters: 31

[Ron Boerger]

With 4:17 to go, Colorado College scores on a 1-yard Jon McDonald dive and it's 35-30 Austin College. 

[Ron Boerger]

AC stops CC on a fourth-down at their forty and should pick up their first conference win.  With 1:09 left, Colorado College takes its last time out.   Still 25-20 AC. 

[DPULefty22]

With all due respect to the Trinity and Wabash programs... I will be stunned if DePauw plays a better team than the Millsaps Majors this season. Their defensive front seven is terrific - that DT Younger was swallowing up two blockers on every play and the Tigers couldn't generate anything on the ground. Offensively, that Joseph is the truth - he would have had something like 550 yards through the air if his receivers hadn't become afflicted with the drop-sies in the first half. Once the Majors figured out that DePauw's middle linebackers couldn't stay with the slot receivers on the seam, they had no problem scoring points.

The 35-17 score really isn't indicative of how the game really went, though - it was 14-3 after three and DePauw's defense did a pretty nice job pressuring Joseph and taking away the short pass. It was the deep ball that did us in.

Sure wish we could have had Marks today so you could have seen the Tiger offense at full speed... but the way your defense played it may not have mattered anyway. Hats off to the Majors, but don't count the Tigers out of things just yet.

[DPU3619]

Back from Greencastle with a few thoughts...

DePauw just couldn't run the football today.  DePauw won't beat many teams, let alone one the caliber of Millsaps, if they only pull down 1.8 yards/carry.  Does Marks change that?  Probably some. 

DePauw's offense couldn't stay on the field.  Millsaps would put a few plays together to continually switch the field position in their favor.  Aside from 4 or 5 blown coverages with missed assignments, the DPU D played as well as I could have hoped through the first three quarters.  Got to the fourth with only 14 allowed.  Can't ask for much more than that.

On another note, Juan Joseph is probably the smartest quarterback I've seen play football in this conference in the 8 or so years I've been following it.  The guy just doesn't make bad decisions.  What a great performance from him.  Can't remember the last time somebody went for that many yards through the air on Depauw.

[DePauwDad]

Millsaps were the better team today. The Depauw offense is better than the 17 points scored today. I think the loss of both backfield starters (47 and 31) was a significant disadvantage to the DePauw attack. Had they both played the score would have been closer, but not sure that it would have affected the final outcome. Without the ability top run, DePauw couldn't keep Joseph off the field. The coaches for Millsaps noticed the open center of the field and scored at will after that. Majors and their fans are a class act. Best of luck.

[HunterT]

well the story from St Louis is that Rhodes lost 24-3. After looking at the stats, nothing really stands out, except the inability to convert 3rd and 4th downs (2/14 and 1/4 respectively) compared to stopping the other team on 3rd and 4th downs (6/19 and 4/6). If your offense can't stay on the field, and your defense can't get off the field... then it's harder to score points.

I will say this, the improvement in taking care of the ball is obvious. 1 fumble, 1 int. Not ideal, but much better than Birmingham last week. Rhodes needs to keep improving. it's important to go back home now and work hard and put everything behind us. Big games coming up and a long road trip over. get a win this week or next, get the positive attitude back up and we'll see what happens. could make for some interesting games down the stretch.

[Just_that_kid]

With all due respect, that is one of the more funny posts I've had the pleasure of reading. If the Millsaps bus breaks down on the way from the hotel, and they must forfeit, would that not be the reason they lost? If the entire Millsaps OLine gets food poisoning and craps themselves half to death, would that not be a valid reason as to why the majors were less effective during the game? By the way, I hope neither happen.

I am not looking for excuses, because DePauw will not need any. If Marks doesn't play, Millsaps will have a clear advantage.

   I'm glad you enjoyed the post! If Millsaps' bus would've broken down, I'm sure they would've walked the remainder of the way, and if the whole offensive line would've soiled themselves... well they're big boys and would've played through. It might have actually been an advantage. I wouldn't want to rush against them in that case!  Anyway, either you're saying that Marks is the equivalent of an offensive line or an entire team, and I'm not sure that makes sense at all. DePauw is a very good team with or without any one player! And I never said anyone was looking for an excuse, just simply saying I hope that it doesn't become a "well if... then...", though it already seems it might head that way. 
  It's been awhile since any team has actually let Millsaps throw vertical, so it seemed to take awhile for them to get in sync, but that "pick your poison" offense finally got it going. Millsaps did also have some WIDE open receivers in the first half that got overlooked, too. Taking nothing from the DePauw D... they played an excellent game.
On the defensive side of the ball for Millsaps... well I wonder how many people are still sleeping on 'em..?
  Regardless, other than the some embarrassing DePauw fans that were behind the Millsaps bench, DePauw fans and players were great sports! Hats off to them!! Great game, and good luck to DePauw the remainder of the season. They're a first class program!

[frank_ezelle]

I had planned to stop posting for the football season--a plan that only lasted a week.  With 7 sports to photograph at Millsaps this fall and plenty of Millsaps posts already here, I thought that it would be okay to take a break.  But I had to come back to make a comment about yesterday's game:

As is usually my habit, I listened to the opposing team's broadcast of the game.  I know what our announcers think about Millsaps, so I find it more interesting to hear the viewpoints of the opposing team's announcers.  I wanted to post today to say that I could not be more impressed with the job done by the guys at WGRE--they were outstanding.  They were knowledgable, well spoken, extremely honest and fair in their comments about the game, and it was just a great broadcast as is usually the case by the WGRE sport team.  (NOTE:  We know that the Millsaps broadcast is a totally different style that grates on the nerves of non-Millsaps listeners--please don't take my compliment of the DePauw crew as an opportunity to bash the Millsaps broadcast.)

Since I felt a need to post because of the above, let me get in a few other comments and thereby create one of my traditional "way too long" posts:

--While I'm glad to have a Millsaps victory, I would have preferred DePauw to be a full strength.  Millsaps went into the playoffs with an injured Tyson Roy last season so we've been where DePauw was yesterday.  Would a healthy Roy last year or a healthy Marks yesterday turned a defeat into a victory?  There's no way to know but it's a shame when a team has to play a big game without a key player.

--MS State went to Auburn earlier this year and won.  Auburn went to Florida yesterday and won.  The score gets reset to 0-0 every week and Millsaps can not afford to think that they now have a 1-game SCAC season.  They need to focus on getting better each week and being ready to play each week--I feel certain the players and coaches will do just that and they don't need a reminder from me.

--Bad news from the ASC.  MC lost to Hardin-Simmons 45-42 on a field goal in the last 7 seconds.  I was hoping for MC to go 9-1 (this is going with the common belief that UMHB will go undefeated in the ASC), Millsaps to win the SCAC, and then we could have a Millsaps vs. MC matchup in the first round of the playoffs.  That would have been an ironic twist to the Millsaps-MC saga, but it now seems unlikely.

--Hardin-Simmons in an interesting team for Millsaps followers.  They opened the season with a 47-21 home lost to #6 UW-La Crosse and a 52-42 road loss at #12 Linfield.  That has been followed by two games against teams Millsaps has also played.  Hardin-Simmons won 41-34 at home against Louisiana College, a team Millsaps beat 44-10 on the road, and Hardin-Simmons won 45-42 at MS College, a team that beat Millsaps 27-26 in a game that can be viewed from a variety of angles.

I know that some of this is like comparing apples and oranges (LC was playing their opener and Millsaps was playing their 2nd game, I believe MC has probably improved greatly since the first game, Hardin-Simmons had a long road trip to MC, etc.), but it still gives a small piece of the picture for those who are trying to see how teams compare against each other and how a team like Millsaps might compare against some of the nationally ranked teams.  Regardless, Millsaps still needs to get better in their pursuit of the SCAC title and then they can worry about how they compare to other teams in the playoffs.

--And finally, for all the increased volume on the SCAC board this year, there has been a noticeable lack of posts from Trinity.  I have a feeling that the Trinity folks and the Trinity team are enjoying all of this attention being focused on Millsaps and they are more than happy to let Millsaps think they are the new "King of the SCAC".  Last year was last year and I expect a very tough game when Trinity comes to Jackson.  I suspect they have been working on plays and packages all this season that are geared specifically for Millsaps and that should be a barnburner of a game.  Jackson will be a great place for D3 football on October 27th.

[Just_that_kid]

Great post Frank! 100% correct!  ...and Trinity will no DOUBT be a great game, but both teams still do have to go one week at a time!! There are no clear cut favorites, and anyone can win any week! (Just look at D1 this weekend! What a mess the BCS will be now! Thank God for a playoffs system!  )

[HunterT]

Frank, I agree that there has been a lack in Trinity posting this year, and a rise for Millsaps. I hope this doesn't turn into a board where the defending SCAC Champs are the majority posters.

So let's stir up a little trinity emotions. Coming to Memphis this weekend for the first home game for the Lynx in a while. If I know Rhodes, they should be a little better than the past weeks given that they are at home. It's been 4 years since Trinity lost at Rhodes in 2003, and since then, the Lynx haven't put up much of a fight no matter where the game was played (yes I'm talking bad about myself for two of those years just so everybody knows).

I have no doubt in my mind that the Tigers will be focused and ready to play come saturday, but Rhodes generally gets a little more hyped up for them. I'm not calling upset (yet), but I think it could be closer than the experts think.

Haven't heard much about the Tigers this year. Any info on their situation??

[Ron Boerger]

"The" Tigers?      This is the SCAC, there's no such thing!

It's a fairly typical team from down in SA.  Good passing attack, not much run, pretty tough defensively and until yesterday nobody had gained 100 yds in the air on the Black Flag.  Little Urban (Caleb) resembles Big Urban (Jerheme, activated by the Cards today and has two catches for 35 yards at the half against Pittsburgh, btw) but is only the #3 or 4 WR.  QB Blake Barmore seems more effective than last year - and was solid then - and so far has stayed healthy.  I'm sure they know they have their work cut out for them - the next four weeks are @Rhodes, @DePauw, home for Sewanee, and @Millsaps. 

Rhodes wants to win because it's always fun to beat Trinity in Memphis and to turn the season around; DePauw wants to win out so they can have a shot at a pool C bid, and everyone knows what will be at stake if Trinity can beat those two and Sewanee. 

[evacuee]

I wouldn't say that it's typical of the Tigers to not run the ball well or not score repetitively from 50 yards out.  I think that was the case last year but even with all the passing in previous years, Trinity has usually had a 1000 yard rusher.  Oh well, I'll take the results so far, which are typical.  Still they don't have the size or scoring power to take it easy on anyone.  This should be a tough game at Rhodes. 

[Ron Boerger]

1000 yard rusher?  Not recently.  In fact according to the Express-News the 100-yard game from Bielski was the first 100-yd effort since '04.   As far as recent leading rushers go:

Greg Bielski had 414 yards in 2006;
Jerrold Jones had 543 yards in 2005;
Jones had 1045 in 2004;
Ray Valencia had 789 in 2003.

So once in the last four years.  It's been a long time since the halcyon days of 2002 when Jeremy Boyce had 1500 yards - running has been a struggle more often than not since then. 

On a happier note, Jerheme Urban had two catches on the opening drive of the second half for the Cardinals and scored his second career NFL touchdown from six yards out.    Not too shabby for his first day back in the NFL since 2005; 4 catches, 50 yards, 1 TD, 1 tackle, and apparently one of the Pittsburgh DBs taunted him after a catch, drawing a flag! 

[evacuee]

I don't really think 2004 was that long ago.  When a kid graduates and not one of his teammates rushed for over 1000 yards while he was there, I'll start to agree, but in the last decade, they've only had three seasons in which a back didn't reach 1000 yards.  I hope you're not thinking that the last two seasons in San Antonio are "typical" of Trinity football.  The win totals are similar, but the victory margins are certainly not.