If there is one thing that can be said for D-II football, it's that this division knows how to play championship games. Valdosta State's 25-20 win over Northwest Missouri marked the seventh consecutive season that the title game has been decided by a touchdown or less.

The key to the VSU win, of course, was the Blazers' ability to stop Xavier Omon. Considering what Omon had done in the postseason to that point (706 rushing yards in 3 games), it truly was amazing that Blazers were able to limit him as well as they did.

Still, it took coming back from an 11 point halftime deficit for the Blazers to win. Coming from behind is something that became commonplace for this team-- they did it in all four playoff games, including overcoming double digit deficits in the last two. It's very unusual for a team to be able to consistently overcome deficits against top notch competition week after week. Clearly this Valdosta State team had a special makeup amongst its players and coaching staff to continue to "believe" in the face of adversity each week in the playoffs.

For Northwest Missouri State, there is little doubt that this was a very tough loss to take. Losing three straight championship games by a combined 12 points, when a play made here or there could have meant multiple national championships, is not a pleasant experience. I'm sure though that once the sting of losing this game wears off, everyone involved with the Bearcat program can look back with pride on what a feat it was to reach three title games in a row.

When looking back at the season from an overall point of view, the thing that sticks out to me is the fact that the top teams ended up being pretty balanced. What I mean by that is this: if you could rewind the season and start over in August, the chances are good that there would have been two different teams in Florence playing for the title. Unlike in 2006 when Northwest Missouri and Grand Valley were clearly the top two teams all year long, there were probably six or eight teams talented enough to win it all this year. Kudos to Valdosta State for being the team that made all the necessary plays at the critical times to get it done.

Woodhead Wins the Harlon Hill

Danny Woodhead was named the winner of the Harlon Hill award for a second straight season, the first two-time winner since Dusty Bonner in 2000-01. To me, Woodhead won this season on the coattails of 2006-- he clearly did not have the numbers this year to merit winning the award.

As I noted in my last column, I thought that of the three finalists, Michael Eubanks had the best resume. Unfortunately, Eubanks finished third among the three finalists in Florence.

I guess the results of the Harlon Hill this year should not surprise anyone. The voters are getting it wrong with increasing frequency (Jimmy Terwilliger had no business winning in 2005 over Wesley Beschorner, either) and when we have instances of top players not even making the list of finalists, there is a problem. I'm not sure what the solution is, but the Harlon Hill committee needs to make some changes to the voting process to maintain the integrity of the award in the future.

Best and Worst of 2007

Best Offensive Player: Xavier Omon, Northwest Missouri. Despite having a rough championship game, Omon was clearly the dominant player in D-II this year. He almost single-handedly put an end to Grand Valley's winning streak with his 292 yard, four touchdown performance. Without Omon, NWMSU would likely have had a difficult time just reaching the playoffs.

Best Defensive Player: Michael Eubanks, Delta State. D-II's all-time sack leader was tremendous this season, leading a Statesman defense that was among the best in the country. Eubanks had 90 tackles, 27 tackles for loss and 12 sacks in 2007.

Top Newcomer: Zach Amedro, West Liberty State. The freshman quarterback threw for nearly 300 yards per game, had 26 touchdown passes, and compiled a passer rating over 160. To avoid a sophomore slump, Amedro must find a new number one receiver with the loss of Almonzo Banks to graduation.

Best Coaching Job: David Dean, Valdosta State. Yes, Chris Hatcher left Dean with a stacked deck. But Dean still had to navigate the pitfalls of being a first year coach and overcome several tough challengers on the way to the national title. Especially impressive was the way Dean's team was able to stay patient and come from behind so many times in the playoffs.

Most Surprising Team: Mesa State. The Mavericks were hammered by Abilene Christian in the first round of the playoffs, but MSC still won 10 games and was a point away from an unbeaten regular season (MSC lost 7-6 to Chadron State). What made this team such a surprise is the fact that they went 4-7 last year and the program was just 9-24 over the past three seasons.

Most Disappointing Team: C.W. Post. The Pioneers went from a pre-season league favorite in the Northeast-10 to the program's first losing season (4-6) in 13 years. It was also the first time in Bryan Collins' ten seasons that the Pioneers finished with more than three losses. With the school shifting to the tougher PSAC next year, it won't be easy to rebound.

Biggest Upset: Central Washington's 20-17 win over Nebraska-Omaha in the second round of the playoffs. Not only did the Wildcats rally from 10 down to in the final three minutes to win the game, but they did it on the road against a team they had just lost to at home by 38 points two weeks prior.

Ten Teams to Watch in 2008

Carson-Newman (10-1): The Eagles started 14 sophomores on a team that was snubbed for the playoffs this year. 2008 could very well be Ken Sparks' best team since the one that played for the national championship in 1999.

Central Washington: (10-3): The Wildcats return the nation's top quarterback (Mike Reilly) and nine starters on defense to a team that should have gained a great deal of confidence from winning two playoff games this year. CWU needs to get better line play on both sides of the football to contend for the national title.

Northwest Missouri: (12-2): The Bearcats will miss Xavier Omon and there are holes to fill on defense with the loss of five impact players among the front seven. But Mel Tjeerdsma has become very adept at finding the right transfers to fill positions that are lacking and there is plenty of overall talent to build around. A fourth straight trip to Florence in '08 is not out of the question.

Nebraska-Omaha (10-1): The Mavericks return a very talented group of offensive players, led by senior quarterback Zach Miller, who is one of the top dual threat quarterbacks in the country. The key will be replacing all three starters on the defensive line and finding a way to overcome the playoff jinx that hovers over this program.

Grand Valley: (12-1): The Lakers will be hit hard by graduation, losing seven starters on each side of the ball. But quarterback Brandon Iciek returns after an outstanding first year as a starter and this program is at the point where it simply reloads. Plus, a much softer northwest region makes it likely that GVSU will be the team to beat.

West Texas A&M: (12-1) The Buffaloes will return as much individual talent as anyone in the country next season. WTAMU just needs to get a bit more physical on defense and cut down on all the silly penalties to become a serious national title contender.

California: (13-1) The Vulcans lose just 10 seniors off this year's semifinal team but the problem is that seven of them were All-PSAC selections and an eighth was 4-year starting quarterback Joe Ruggerio. But there is still a deep group of talent returning and look for John Luckhardt to complement it with a few transfers this off-season.

Valdosta State: (13-1) It's tough to count out the defending champs before the season has started, but David Dean has plenty of rebuilding to do if this team is going to reach Florence again in '08. The Blazers lose 23 seniors, several of them impact players on both sides of the ball.

North Alabama: (11-2) If the Lions are to finally get over the hump and get back to the championship game, it will likely be due to the leadership of A.J. Milwee, who will be starting at quarterback for a third consecutive year. The big holes to fill will be at receiver and on the defensive line, where the Lions lose several key players.

Abilene Christian: (9-3) If this team can field any sort of competent defense, the Wildcats have a chance to be very good in 2008. Seven All-LSC players will return on the nation's leader in scoring offense, including Harlon Hill runner up Bernard Scott.

Cleaning out the Mailbag

[Q] How can Dervon Wallace not be a finalist for the Harlon Hill?

Dwight

[A] Wallace was not the biggest oversight among the Harlon Hill finalists. That distinction clearly belongs to Xavier Omon, who I obviously feel is the top player in the country this year.

It has been mentioned that Wallace was among the top rushers in the country, but the player that led the nation in rushing yards per game-- South Dakota's Amos Allen-- wasn't even nominated for the award. And Allen played against much tougher competition than did Wallace. So the argument that Wallace should have been there based on statistics doesn't hold much water either.

Wallace is obviously a very good player, but not the best in the country. And you also can not ignore the fact that much of what he accomplished was against competition that is inferior to what a player like Omon sees on a weekly basis.

Personally, I think that a player that comes from any of the weaker leagues in D-II should have to have an incredible season (like Danny Woodhead had last year) to get strong consideration for the award.

[Q] Are the kicking games in D-II significantly inferior to D-I?

[A] I don't think there is any question that the kicking at this level is inferior to what you typically see in D-I for obvious reasons. Generally speaking, D-II kickers are less consistent and have less range on field goals than their D-I counterparts, which is to be expected. Also, with smaller and less specialized coaching staffs, D-II kickers are not coached up like they are at the upper division.

The point I would like to address about kicking on this level doesn't have anything to do with placekicking, though. Since the NCAA made the decision to move the kickoffs back five yards to the 30-yard line this year, it has made a huge difference at the D-II level, in my opinion.

Since most D-II kickers generally didn't have the range to reach the end zone on kickoffs under the old rules (kickoff from the 35), there weren't all the touchbacks like there were in D-I. I always felt that the kicking game was "about right" at this level as far as the number of returnable kicks and the average starting field position after the kickoff.

But under the new rules, it seems that almost every kick in D-II is returnable and often very short. I don't have any concrete evidence to back this up, but it seems like almost every drive after a kickoff this season was starting out past the 35-yard line which also seemed to lead to more points with the short fields.

It seems to me that, like the changes to the timekeeping rules in 2006, moving the kickoff from the 35 to the 30 yard line was all about what is best for D-I with little regard to how it affects the game at the lower levels. I wish the rules committee would move the kickoff back to the 35-yard line, where it belongs.

[Q] What are some programs that you think could be the next California and come out of nowhere to become Division II powers?

Don

[A] I don't think teams just come out of nowhere to become powers. It's not a process that happens overnight. Even with California, anyone that was observant could see that the Cal program was starting to do the sorts of things two or three years ago to lay the groundwork for the success the team is experiencing now? things like maximizing scholarship dollars, bringing in better athletes, and establishing a winning attitude. This was why I predicted that California would win the Northeast Region each of the last two years, despite the fact that the team had never made a playoff appearance before.

[Q] With the NSIC absorbing the four former NCC teams next year (St. Cloud State, Minnesota State-Mankato, Minnesota-Duluth, and Augustana), where do you think the level of play in the NSIC will rank among D-II conferences?

Sean

[A] Middle of the pack. The four NCC teams will definitely make the NSIC more competitive, but the fact that none of the four are national powers tempers their impact a bit. Plus, three of those four schools are going through coaching changes and they will need to reduce scholarships down to the NSIC limit of 24. If this conference could raise its scholarship limit to even 30, it would be much more competitive.

Overall, I would say that the "new" NSIC will be behind the GSC, MIAA, GLIAC, SAC, and LSC in level of play and be similar to the PSAC.

[Q] I've only been following the D-II level of play for a couple of years now since my son started playing on one of the teams. California (where I live) and Florida have some of the top talent in the country yet there is only one D-II school (Humboldt State) between those two states that plays football at this level. Why?

[A] California used to have several D-II programs, in fact there was a California-based D-II football conference at one point in time. But a few of the programs moved to D-I and several others dropped football in the mid-90's. The schools that dropped football did so because they believed that the only way they could stay in compliance with Title IX is if they got rid of their football programs. Once one or two schools dropped the sport, several others followed suit and suddenly only Humboldt State and California-Davis (who has since moved to D-I) were left standing. I kind of doubt that any of the California schools that dropped the sport (Sonoma State, Chico State, San Francisco State, etc.) would be interested in adding football again anytime soon.

There is also a D-II conference in Florida (the Sunshine State Conference). The SSC is made up entirely of private schools, and to my knowledge, none of them have ever sponsored football. Sometimes private schools at this level will choose to add the sport in an attempt to boost enrollment, but I honestly have no idea if any SSC schools have ever considered it. Part of the issue there is that in a populous, growing state like Florida, schools usually don't need to add football to increase enrollment.

The Florida school that I feel is most likely to add football at some point is the University of West Florida. UWF is in the Gulf South Conference, so it wouldn't need to go searching for a league to play in. There have been rumors in the past that UWF was considering the addition of football, but I have no idea if it was looked into with any sincerity.

Thank You

Once again, thank you to all those who contacted me this season with feedback. The response I have gotten from the readers over the years has been overwhelmingly positive and I sincerely appreciate the compliments. I also got a chance to meet several readers at games this season which I enjoyed.

I do want to apologize for being late in getting my final column out. In addition over 2,000 miles of driving over the holidays, I also had my computer crash on me while I was on the road and it took a few days to acquire a new one and get everything back in order. If nothing else, at least it didn't happen in the middle of the season!

Contact Me

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