October 22nd, 2013 12:00am
As nine point come-from-behind victories go, Northwest Missouri State's win over Pittsburg State last weekend was about as dominant a win as a team could have. Despite losing senior quarterback Trevor Adams to an injury early in the game and squandering several great scoring opportunities in the first half, Northwest put together two touchdown drives in the third quarter to pull away for a 24-15 win.
The Bearcat defense was stifling, to say the least. They recorded two safeties to go along with four forced turnovers and five sacks. They limited one of the top offensive teams in the country to just 27 rushing yards and 10 first downs. Northwest Missouri now sits at 7-0 and is in prime position to reach the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season.
The level of success that this program has had over the years is remarkable. Since the start of the 1996 season, NWMSU has won 205 games and lost just 33. They have won 11 conference titles, made 15 playoff appearances (missing out just twice), reached the national championship game seven times and won three national championships.
I know many people expected this program to drop off when Mel Tjeerdsma retired after the 2010 season, but I do not see that happening. The Bearcat team I saw on Saturday plays just like those Tjeerdsma-coached teams did in almost every respect. In his third year as head coach Adam Dorrel now has a 28-6 career record and he is backed by a group of talented and dedicated assistants, many of which have been with the program for over a decade.
I am sure some of you are thinking "You do not have to remind us Bob. We know NWMSU is good." But that is exactly the reason I bring this subject up: The Bearcats have played at such a high level for so long that I think the success is taken for granted, even by their own fans. What this program is doing is not easy, especially when you look at Northwest's competition within its own conference: The other programs the Bearcats are routinely beating in the MIAA are similar size schools with similar resources. They say nothing last forever, but 17 consecutive years of dominance in college football is pretty darn close.
Observations from Last Week
-West Alabama did not handle prosperity very well. Two weeks ago the Tigers were riding high after knocking off Valdosta State but last week they appeared to not even get off the bus in being blown out at Midwestern State 45-21. It will be interesting to see if this loss serves as a wakeup call or if it exposed some weaknesses that future opponents will also take advantage of.
-It was announced this week that Slippery Rock will be playing PSAC West rival Mercyhurst at Michigan Stadium next season. This will actually be SRU's third visit to Michigan Stadium as The Rock also played there in 1979 and 1981. The relationship between SRU and Michigan goes back to the 50's when it became a tradition to announce the scores of SRU games at Michigan home games.
-I do not think this is quite what the two Oklahoma schools-- Northeastern State and Central Oklahoma-- had in mind when they joined the MIAA last year. Both teams are 0-7 and quite frankly have not been competitive at all. These programs have some big improvements to make if they want to compete in the MIAA.
-Stonehill's 29-26 win at New Haven last week has created a very interesting situation in the Northeast-10 as the Skyhawks, Chargers and American International now sit in a three-way tie atop the league. It also has created a problem for the conference as every team in the league now has at least two D2 losses overall. Since the Northeast-10 went just 2-6 in non-conference D2 games, the strength of schedules for league teams will not be very high which will make it difficult for any NE-10 team to make the playoffs.
-IUP suffered a second straight loss, losing 36-30 to Edinboro last week. I had picked the Crimson Hawks as a national championship favorite in the preseason and now it appears as if they will not even make the playoffs. It is shocking to me that a team with so much talent appears to be in a freefall.
-In last week's column I stated that I thought Bloomsburg running back Franklyn Quiteh did not have much of a shot at breaking Danny Woodhead's D2 career rushing record. Quiteh then responded with a school-record 304 rushing yards in the Huskies' 52-38 win over East Stroudsburg. I still think he is a long shot to break Woodhead's mark, but with 1406 rushing yards, 19 touchdowns and an astounding average of 9.6 yards per carry Quiteh has to be the Harlon Hill favorite right now.
Top Games this Week
Winona State (5-2) at Minnesota State (7-0)
WSU has recovered nicely from a pair of tough defeats to start the season and still hang on to slim playoff hopes if they can win this game. The Warriors have scored 45 or more points in five straight games and will challenge the outstanding MSU defense. I think this will be a tight game but I will go with Mavericks at home.
Minnesota State 30 Winona State 26
North Alabama (4-2) at Valdosta State (5-1)
These two old GSC rivals (with six national championships between them) will go at it with a lot on the line. Both have one D2 loss and neither can afford a second loss as it hurts playoff chances obviously. VSU has not played particularly well the last two weeks but I do think they win a close game at home.
Valdosta State 28 North Alabama 24
Pittsburg State (6-1) at Missouri Western (7-0)
Despite the loss last week, I came away impressed with the Gorilla defense as they played very well in containing a talented Northwest Missouri State offense. They will also have a great deal of motivation to avenge last season's embarrassing 63-14 loss to the Griffons. All that said, I think quarterback Travis Partridge and the Griffons will do just enough to win this game.
Missouri Western 31 Pittsburg State 28
Henderson State (7-0) at Harding (5-1)
The Reddies give up just 64 yards per game on the ground while the Bisons average over 400 per game rushing. Something will obviously have to give. I think Kevin Rodgers and the HSU offense will score just enough to win the game.
Henderson State 38 Harding 31
Missouri Southern (5-2) at Northwest Missouri (7-0)
MSSU outplayed outplayed Missouri Western last weekend but were done in by six turnovers in a 35-21 loss. That result tells me that the Lions have enough talent to hang with the Bearcats if they hold on to the football. I do not think they will pull the upset in Maryville, however.
Northwest Missouri 38 Missouri Southern 26
UNC-Pembroke (6-0) at Newberry (6-1)
UNC-Pembroke is the only unbeaten team in SR2, despite having just two home games so far this season. They will be playing a motivated and talented Newberry team that is coming off a 35-14 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne. This should be a very good game.
UNC-Pembroke 27 Newberry 26
Azusa Pacific (5-2) at Central Washington (5-2)
The winner of this game gets sole possession of first place in the GNAC. The two teams met a month ago at APU with CWU winning 7-3. They held APU standout running back Terrell Watson to just 40 yards in that game, the only time all season Watson has failed to rush for 100 yards in a game. I think Watson may have a bit more success this time around, but the Wildcat offense has improved over the last month as well.
Central Washington 28 Azusa Pacific 17
Mailbag
[Q] How was a program like Colorado State-Pueblo able to become so good just a few years after starting a team?
John
[A] They committed a lot of resources towards becoming a good program. Among other things, they built a new stadium and hired a coaching staff early on in the process so they could get a couple of recruiting classes in place.
This phenomenon of new D2 programs becoming competitive very quickly is not limited to CSU-Pueblo. UNC-Pembroke, New Haven and Ohio Dominican are three other schools that have started-- or in UNH's case reinstated-- programs within the last 10 years. All of those programs have had patterns of success similar to CSU-Pueblo.
In many ways it is easier to start a new program and have success than it is to rebuild a losing one. With a losing program a new coach and his staff have to be able to erase the negative perception that usually surrounds the team. With a new program everything is positive as the team is new and exciting. It is also an easy sell to recruits: they get an opportunity for immediate playing time at a school that often has new facilities and a great deal of community support. Who would not want to play for a team like that?
Contact Me
Feel free to contact me with any comments or criticisms or if you have a question you would like answered in the Mailbag.