Bryant DIII - Season 84 Review 2
So 3 weeks to the post-season, and things are looking very promising in DIII Bryant. The national championship is up for grabs, and competition is looking stiff. In the first 4 weeks of conference play, we've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. A lot of upsets, and a lot of top matchups as well. Let's review week by week.
Week 6:
There's simply no point of wondering what the biggest upset of the week was, with
Williams defeating
MIT 23-20. After a 5-0 start, including a win against the reigning national champions,
MIT suffered their first loss of the season, in an effort in which they committed 10 penalties for 75 yards. This turned out to be the difference against a
Williams team that played a well rounded game all around the field, pulling up a huge upset.
Top games were also played in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Association. In the first,
Mount Union cemented their position as one of the top contenders with a
20-0 shutout against
Otterbein, who suffered their first loss of the season.
Mount Union outgained
Otterbein 423 yards to 184 on offense, and
James Adams ran all over them, with 24 carries for 194 yards and a TD.
Mount Union also capitalized on 3 turnovers committed by
Otterbein.
In the WIAA, Wisconsin-Platteville came up on top on Wisconsin-Stevens Point in a stormer,
51-48 in double OT. Offensive stats couldn't be closer, and
James Frazier connected with Jerry Barnett on a 3-yard TD pass to win the game in OT. Frazier finished 21/48 for 352 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT. Ironically, this was Barnett's only catch of the game.
Week 7:
No major upsets this week, but huge conference games were on the board. In the NJAC,
Huntingdon eased past
Cortland in a battle of undefeated
44-13. They completely dominated the games, and outgained their opponents 555 yards to 265.
In the MIAA,
Colorado College continued proving they are one of the top dogs this year, with a
37-7 dominant win at
Wisconsin Lutheran, outgaining them 472 yards to 185. That was Wisconsin Lutheran's first loss of the season.
Willie Logan had another great game, finishing 28/34 for 334 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT.
In the ASC, another battle of undefeated saw another dominant performance, with
Austin walking over
East Texas Baptist 30-9. Those 3 games that we just discussed are probably one of the biggest reasons behind Huntingdon, Colorado College, and Austin being ranked #1, #2, and #3 in the current WIS rankings.
Week 8:
If you are interested in upsets, Week 8 was the week to see, with 3 upsets we will go through, including 2 Top 10 teams.
In the OAC,
Mount St. Joseph ended
Mount Union hopes of an undefeated regular season, defeating them
31-27.
Thomas Garcia hit
Robert Perry with a 14-yard touchdown pass with 14 seconds remaining to win the game.
In the MAC, another undefeated went down, as
Widener shocked
Susquehanna 24-10. Susquehanna started the game with their young 2nd string team, and trailed 21-0 at halftime, a deficit that turned out to be too much to overcome.
Another undefeated team went down in the MIAC, as
St. John's defeated
Grove City 41-38.
In the top games of the week,
Huntingdon completed their dominant season with a
24-5 win over
New Jersey in the NJAC.
In the MIAA,
Macalester defeated
Albion 21-7, that was Albion's first loss of the season, while Macalester had their 8th straight win after losing their season opener against Concordia (WI).
Jonathan Ray was the player of the game, finishing 13/28 for 233 yards and 3 TD.
In the SCAC,
Trinity (TX) defeated
Whittier 21-10. Whittier once again outgained their opponent without being able to pull out the victory.
Randy Fletcher had 9 carries for 127 yards and 2 TD, and 1 reception for 8 yards and a TD.
Week 9:
Top games in week 9 saw defending national champions
Concordia (WI) pulling off a great comeback to defeat
Greenville 34-30 in the IBFC. After 2 INT in the first half,
Lee Garcia pulled together a great second half, finishing 32/52 for 364 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT. Greenville's RB
Kevin Torres showed why he is dubbed the best RB in DIII, finishing with 34 carries for 203 yards and 3 TD.
In the MIAA,
Wisconsin Lutheran suffered their second defeat of the season against
Alma,
44-21.
Luis Davis lead Alma's all-pass offense, finishing 33/65 for 326 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT.
In the MIAC,
St. Olaf continued their fine form with a dominant win against
Grove City 48-13.
Jim Lindsey finished 23/35 for 347 yards and 4 TD.
EPR Power Rankings (Week 9):
1.
Huntingdon: do you really need a comment here?
2.
Ferrum: well they're still undefeated, and they still have Michael Cannon. He is
3.
MIT: despite the upset against Williams, they still have the talent and the numbers to be a top quality contender.
4.
Mount Union: same comment as MIT.
5.
Susquehanna: same as MIT and Mount Union.
6.
Austin: a 9-0 start but a key game against California Lutheran in week 13.
7.
Menlo: a 9-0 start and a pretty good chance of finishing 13-0 in the regular season.
8.
Concordia (WI): defending national champions and a big win against conference rival Greenville has them at 8.
9.
Colorado College: a 9-0 start and huge win at Wisconsin Lutheran. Key game against Macalester in week 10.
10.
St. Olaf: A close loss due a last second turnover and that's all, good all around team and a definite contender.