September 27th, 2016 12:00am
As we continue to roll along through another season of D2 football, one thing I kind of thought I knew all along has now become completely apparent to me: Northwest Missouri State is once again the best team in the country.
It does not seem to matter which team the Bearcats play, the results are the same every week. NWMSU pounded a good Central Missouri team 42-17 last Saturday at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium to run their record to 5-0. The other Northwest scores this season: 41-14, 41-7, 52-14 and 45-21.
The one question mark for Northwest coming into the season was at quarterback. Well, senior Kyle Zimmerman has not only done a nice job running the offense, he has outperformed his predecessor Brady Bolles. So far this year Zimmerman has completed 69% of his passes for 1332 yards and 13 touchdowns without throwing an interception. Oh, and he is also more than capable of running the football (144 yards and a touchdown) as well. As if opposing defensive coordinators did not have enough other things to worry about.
But what makes the Bearcats so dominant and in my opinion almost impossible to beat is their defense. NWMSU allows just 223 yards per game and 3.7 yards per play. The Bearcats have only allowed 152 yards per game through the air despite the fact that they have played against two prolific passing offenses in Emporia State and UCM. They have an All-America caliber player at each level of their defense in defensive end Collin Bevins, linebacker Jacob Vollstedt and safety Kevin Berg. Defensive coordinator Rich Wright is tremendous at making adjustments: from the second quarter on this season the Bearcats have only allowed 39 points total through five games.
I fully expect Northwest Missouri to be back at Children's Mercy Park in December celebrating yet another national championship. The question now becomes this: who is playing for second?
A Weekend of Upsets
Eight Top 25 teams went down to defeat last week, including four losing to unranked opponents. The biggest surprise was 4th-ranked Ashland losing 35-32 to a Tiffin team that had just one win over a D2 opponent coming into the game.
The marquee matchup of the week was of course 6th-ranked North Alabama hosting 2nd-ranked West Georgia and the game certainly lived up to the hype. The Lions won 24-23 after Bobby Wallace used all three of his timeouts to ice UWG kicker Hunter Heck, who then missed on a 22-yard field goal attempt on the game's final play. The Braves had a big edge statistically which indicates they probably should have won the game, but continued problems with turnovers and offensive consistency was their downfall in this one.
Other News and Notes
-Coming off the big win over Colorado Mines, Western State (3-2) suffered the ultimate letdown, losing 28-20 at Dixie State. The Trailblazers had lost three straight coming in, but did a decent job containing Austin Ekeler (163 rushing yards) while racking up 277 yards of their own on the ground.
-The Texas A&M-Kingsville conference losing streak was extended to 22 games with another frustrating loss. Angelo State running back Josh Stevens recovered his own fumble in the end zone with 3:28 remaining to give the Rams a 22-21 victory. TAMUK's three conference losses have been by a total of five points.
-Chowan has been one of the more surprising teams in D2 this fall. The Hawks had losing seasons in six of their first seven seasons in the CIAA, and have never won more than six games in a season dating back to 1993 when they became a four-year school. Chowan is 4-1 this season, and undefeated against D2 competition. This includes a 35-28 victory three weeks ago against West Florida, which is starting to look like a very good win.
-A big reason that Humboldt State (3-2) is unlikely to make a repeat appearance in the playoffs this year is the injury bug. The Lumberjacks have been hit hard, as they were minus several starters at Chadron State last week, including All-America running back Ja'Quan Gardner and standout receiver Chase Krivashei. HSU still managed to win, defeating CSC 31-27.
-All three of the teams I mentioned last week as early season disappointments won their games on Saturday. Lenoir-Rhyne beat Carson-Newman 20-17. Southwest Oklahoma State upset Southeast Oklahoma State 37-33 and St. Cloud State beat Minnesota-Crookston 28-7.
-In the first game after firing head coach Mike Jones, Lincoln University (MO) broke its 14-game losing streak by beating Lane 12-9 last Saturday. The hero for Lincoln was kicker Alex Templeton, who kicked four field goals in the game, including a 54-yarder with :02 on the clock which provided the winning points.
-Six of the 16 NSIC teams average over 40 points per game. Half of the conference averages over 400 yards per game of total offense, with four of the top eight teams in the entire country in total offense residing in the NSIC. It has been a little bit like arena football on the northern plains so far this fall. The offensive explosion is in large part due to a very talented group of junior and senior quarterbacks across the league.
-This Saturday's scheduled game between North Alabama (3-1) and Florida Tech (4-1) has been canceled due to Hurricane Matthew. The game will not be rescheduled.
Top Games this Week
Assumption (4-1) at Bentley (3-2)
The Greyhounds will need to recover from their first loss of the season and it won't be easy against a Bentley team that has been playing solid football. This should be a good game but I expect
Assumption to rebound with a win. Assumption 31 Bentley 21
Southwest Minnesota (4-1) at Sioux Falls (5-0)
As I mentioned earlier, there has been an offensive explosion in the NSIC this year, and these are the leaders of the pack. They rank 1st (USF) and 3rd (SMSU) in the country in total offense, but they do it in different ways. USF averages 360 yards per game on the ground while SMSU relies on arm of Blake Gimbel (325 passing yards per game) to move the football. Neither team is great on defense, but the Cougars have been much more consistent. Sioux Falls 51 Southwest Minnesota 36
Azusa Pacific (5-0) at Colorado Mines (3-2)
This is a very interesting mid-season non conference game. CSM of course is led by the arm of Justin Dvorak. The senior quarterback has thrown for 2086 yards and 21 touchdowns already this season. He will be facing an opportunistic APU defense that has forced 15 turnovers and allows just 333 yards per game. CSM doesn't have a very good defense, and I expect that APU's ball control offense will try to keep Dvorak on the sidelines as much as possible. Azusa Pacific 31 Colorado Mines 27
Truman State (4-1) at Southwest Baptist (5-0)
These teams are both unbeaten in GLVC play so this is a huge game. The Bearcats have the GLVC's leading rusher in Bubba Jenkins and leader in pass efficiency in TJ Edwards. TSU has a good defense, but I don't know if the Bulldogs can score enough points to keep pace in this one. Southwest Baptist 31 Truman State 21
Harding (5-0) at Henderson State (5-0)
This is looking like the game of the year in the GAC, as these are the only remaining unbeaten teams. Harding has really been the dominant team in the league so far, but the Bisons' triple option offense was slowed significantly by Ouachita Baptist last week. HSU also has a very good defense, so I expect the Reddies to make it tough on Harding as well. This should be a great game. Henderson State 27 Harding 24
Fort Hays State (4-1) at Pittsburg State (4-1)
The Tigers have very quietly become a formidable team in the MIAA, with a 19-9 record since the beginning of the 2014 season. They have used a sound defense and a plus six turnover differential to get off to such a solid start. The Gorillas are an opportunistic team: they don't have a great defense, but they have returned four interceptions for scores this season. They have also been outstanding in the return game. The Tigers can win this game if they play mistake free football, but if they get behind it will be a problem. Pittsburg State 33 Fort Hays State 24
West Georgia (4-1) at Valdosta State (3-1)
What better way for UWG to forget about last week's loss against North Alabama that a trip to Valdosta State, the Wolves biggest rival. After a very slow start to the season offensively, the Blazers have picked it up a bit the last two weeks. However, the fact that they really struggle to run the football does not bode well when facing a UWG team that plays great defense. The Wolves have had some offensive struggles as well, but I think they will find a way to win this game. West Georgia 27 Valdosta State 19
Ferris State (4-1) at Grand Valley (5-0)
Believe it not, the Bulldogs have won the Anchor-Bone trophy four years in a row in this heated rivalry, although the Lakers did end that four game losing streak by beating FSU in the playoffs last fall. FSU has done a nice job of moving on without two time Harlon Hill winning quarterback Jason Vander Laan, however the Bulldogs are not the dominant team they were a year ago.
GVSU looked very pedestrian in escaping with a three point win at Ohio Dominican last week. The Lakers struggled to run the ball in that game and gave up too many yards defensively. How will they respond this week? I think GVSU has more talent but you never know what can happen in a rivalry game. Grand Valley 34 Ferris State 23
Indiana (4-0) at California (4-0)
These have been the two top teams in the PSAC so far this season, and the winner of this game will have the upper hand in the race for the PSAC West Division title and a spot in the league title game. Both of these teams feature dominant offenses that can score in so many different ways. Quarterbacks Lenny Williams Jr. from IUP and Michael Keir from Cal have been outstanding and they both are surrounded by talent. I do think the Vulcans have the better defense and that is why I give them the edge in this game. California 40 Indiana 35
Midwestern State (4-0) at Texas A&M-Commerce (4-0)
These were expected to be the top two teams in the LSC this season, and neither has disappointed so far. TAMUC is very explosive offensively, especially throwing the football: Luis Perez has completed over 70% of his passes for 1193 yards and 11 touchdowns. MSU is more of a run-first offense, running the ball over 60% of the time so far this season. Neither defense is exceptional, so I expect turnovers to be the deciding factor. Texas A&M-Commerce 38 Midwestern State 34
Mailbag
[Q] Bob, Azusa Pacific is 5-0, have won in strong fashion since the first day they began playing D2 three years ago. Two years ago their running back Terrell Watson led the entire nation at all levels in rushing, broke every one of Christian Okoye's school records, and they only lost one game that year and yet did not even get a sniff at the playoffs. This year they beat Humboldt State at their place, went up and beat Western Oregon in their house, oh yeas, and they thumped West Texas A&M in week one…. yet you fail to give them any attention. Why?
Help me understand this Midwest/ east coast bias!
BTW, I can not wait to see how you handle having your darling Grand Valley's "skin of their teeth" win over an unranked team, and at least three of your top 10 losing this week!
No sour grapes, just new to this D2 thing and trying to get my head around it. Have a great week!
[A] I certainly appreciate the passion of all the fans that want to see their team get more coverage! There is no regional bias to the coverage I am giving; it is simply a numbers game. There are 171 teams playing D2 football. Only five of them are in the far west. The bulk of the coverage is going to go to teams in the Midwest and East simply because there are more of them. The purpose of my column this week is to give the readers a little insight into some of the interesting happenings going on around the country, but with so many teams it is impossible to write about everyone.
Contact
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