September 1st, 2009 12:00am
What exactly is going on at St. Paul's College?
The school cancelled its season opener against West Virginia Wesleyan just 48 hours before kickoff last weekend using the excuse that the team's helmets and shoulder pads hadn't come in yet.
Yeah right. A young child could come up with something more plausible than that.
We are really going to believe that a college football program would still be waiting on an equipment shipment two days before the first game? What happened to the equipment that was used last season? How had the team supposedly conducted three weeks worth of practices without equipment?
All legitimate questions, but predictably, no one in charge at St. Paul's is saying much. Probably because the helmets and should pads excuse is likely covering for a much larger problem.
St. Paul's is a small (550 student) private school with a small endowment. In this economy, an educated guess would be that the school is having financial problems.
But the question is why would people like Athletic Director Leroy Bacote or President Robert L. Satcher not be forthcoming? Why make things worse by coming up with an excuse so laughable that it is getting national press?
I get that the school may be having problems, and certainly there are many small colleges suffering right now due to the stagnant economy. But competent leaders handle issues such as this with integrity and honesty. West Virginia Wesleyan should have been notified well in advance that there could have been a potential problem. As it stands now, WVWC is on the hook for 40 unused hotel rooms and incurred the expense of housing an entire football team on campus (for preseason practice) a week longer than necessary.
As of Wednesday, there is still no official word on whether St. Paul's will honor its contract to play at UNC-Pembroke on Saturday. The Braves need to play this game because eight games against D-II opponents is a requirement to be considered for the playoffs and UNCP would fall below that number if SPC cancels. If I were UNCP AD Dan Kenney, I'd be more than a bit nervous right now.
And as much of an impact as the problems at St. Paul's have or could have on potential opponents, let's not forget the biggest losers in all of this: the 100 or so kids that play on the SPC football team. Unfortunately, they are getting a real life lesson in the problems inept leadership can cause.
An Interesting Week One
A very entertaining opening weekend saw seven of the top thirteen teams in the D2Football.com poll suffer losses. Random thoughts on the first week of D2 football:
- The quality of both defenses in Abilene Christian's 19-14 win over Northwest Missouri State was something to marvel at. It was great to have this game on national TV so people could see the speed and the type of athletes the elite teams in this division have on the defensive side of the ball.
- Texas A&M-Kingsville's manhandling of Delta State came as a major surprise to just about everyone. But before declaring TAMUK back among the nation's elite and writing off DSU, let's take a step back and see where these two teams are at in a month. By then we should know if this game was an aberration or not. Another result that fits this description: Winona State beating Carson-Newman.
- Despite losing 28-21 to IUP, I was quite impressed in watching Southern Connecticut State last week. The Owls have typically been overmatched against PSAC opponents in the past, but they actually doubled IUP in total offense and if not for a couple of touchdowns on returns, SCSU could easily have won this game.
- Commit this name to memory as you will be hearing a lot about this player over the next two seasons: DaRante Hunter. The Charleston quarterback was electrifying in his team's impressive 31-14 win over Tusculum last week. Not only did Hunter run for 128 yards, but he also passed for 217 on just 13 attempts. Plus, reports are that he is really becoming a leader on the field. If Hunter keeps it up, we at D2Football.com may look very wise for picking Charleston to win the WVIAC.
- The big question mark at Pittsburg State coming into the season was on offense, but the Gorillas shredded a decent Central Oklahoma defense for 590 yards of offense last week. Before PSU fans get too optimistic, though, let's see how the Gorilla "O" fares against Chadron State and Northwest Missouri State these next two weeks.
- If last week is any indication, Minnesota-Duluth may have the luxury of bringing young quarterback Jon Lynch along slowly. Bulldog running back Isaac Odim (384 total yards, five touchdowns) has thrust himself to the front of the Harlon Hill race and the Bulldog defense looked eerily similar to the dominant unit it was a year ago in a 56-0 pasting of Concordia-St. Paul.
- For a team with many new faces, I actually thought West Texas A&M represented themselves quite nicely against GVSU last week. The Lakers were clearly the more polished team and capitalized on WTAMU miscues, but the Buffaloes showed that they have the athletes to compete with anyone if they can develop some consistency.
- Eastern New Mexico quarterback JJ Harp attempted a D2 record 78 passes against CSU-Pueblo on Saturday, throwing for 513 yards and three touchdowns. But as often happens with gimmicky offenses, the Greyhounds still lost the game 28-23. The seniors on the ENMU team have seen the entire spectrum of offensive philosophy. Two years ago while still running the option, ENMU attempted just 75 passes all season!
- Give it up to the Lincoln (PA) Lions, who won their first game since disbanding the football program 50 years ago by knocking off Cheyney 41-20. The Lions have a good shot at starting 2-0 with another freshly reinstated program-- New Haven-- coming to town this week.
- The surprise of the week may have been Ashland managing so little offense in its 10-7 loss to Bloomsburg. But the Eagles lost standout offensive lineman Justin Magruder to injury in the preseason and started three freshmen up front in the opener. Those young linemen had better grow up fast or quarterback Billy Cundiff might not have the big senior year we have all been counting on.
Strength of Schedule
Yes, I know it's too early to start worrying about figuring out each team's strength of schedule. But out of conference games against D2 competition play a major role in determining seeding and who gets in the playoffs at season's end.
For example if a team from Conference A is 9-2 and a team from Conference B is 9-2 but Conference A as a whole fared much better in non-conference play, chances are that the team from that league will have the upper hand when it comes to making the playoffs because it will have a higher strength of schedule.
Of course this isn't an exact science because some conferences have divisions where not everyone plays each other etc., but it's still fun to look at.
Here is a region-by-region breakdown of non-conference records for each league in D2 after the first week. This only reflects games against D2 opponents because the others don't matter for the purposes of playoff selection. I will update this again next week so we can start to see which leagues may have an upper hand when it comes to playoff selection time.
Super Region One
WVIAC 4-2
PSAC 9-5
NE-10 1-4
CIAA 1-5
Super Region Two
SIAC 1-0
SAC 4-2
GSC 2-5
Super Region Three
GLIAC 6-1
NSIC 4-2
RMAC 3-6
Super Region Four
GNAC 2-0
MIAA 7-3
LSC 5-6
Top Games this Week
After a majority of the games last week were of the non-conference variety, this week brings a mixture of conference play, non-conference play, and games against Division I FCS teams.
Thursday
Central Washington (1-0) @ Minnesota-Duluth (1-0)
TV: CBS College Sports Network 8 PM Eastern
Both teams posted shutouts in their openers, but the defending national champs showed that they can still play a little offense in a 56-0 pasting of Concordia-St. Paul.
Isaac Odim and the UMD running game will be too much for the Wildcats to overcome. Minnesota-Duluth 31 Central Washington 20.
Michigan Tech (0-0) @ Hillsdale (1-0)
Both teams have playoff aspirations this season so common sense dictates that this a very big early season game in the GLIAC.
The Chargers have a game under their belts and the advantage of playing at home, but I like the MTU offense led by quarterback Steve Short to score enough points to pull this one out. Michigan Tech 31 Hillsdale 28.
Saginaw Valley State (1-0) @ Wayne State (1-0)
The key match up in this game will be SVSU's stifling defense trying to contain WSU standout running back Joique Bell.
The Warriors were also impressive defensively last week but I think the Cardinals have the advantage with their more multi-dimensional offense. Saginaw Valley State 24 Wayne State 17.
Nebraska-Omaha (1-0) @ Nebraska-Kearney (0-1)
After uncharacteristically struggling with line play some last season, the Mavericks looked like themselves again in a dominating win over East Central last week.
UNO has won 13 of the last 14 in this one-sided in-state rivalry and if that trend continues, UNK's playoff hopes may once again be dashed early in the season. Nebraska-Omaha 35 Nebraska-Kearney 24.
Chadron State (1-0) @ Pittsburg State (1-0)
Both the CSC defense and PSU offense were major question marks coming into this season and both made major statements in dominating last week.
The Gorillas won a 38-31 shootout last season in Chadron, and while I expect this game to also be close, I don't think there will be as many points scored this time around. Pittsburg State 27 Chadron State 19.
Bloomsburg (1-0) @ California (0-1)
The two teams split a pair of close games last season with California winning the most important one in the Super Region One final.
The Vulcans are backed into a corner a bit after a season-opening loss to Saginaw Valley State and will have a point to prove this week. California 24 Bloomsburg 17.
Carson-Newman (0-1) @ North Alabama (1-0)
C-N's loss to Winona State was not only a surprise, but also puts the success of the entire season in serious jeapordy.
UNA sailed through its opener with Southern Arkansas, and unless the Eagles really play well it will not be a pleasant trip to Florence. North Alabama 30 Carson-Newman 17.
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