August 29th, 2017 12:00am
The operative word for the 2017 seasons seems to be change.
Northwest Missouri and North Alabama- the two teams that played in the national championship game last season- both have new head coaches and lost significant talent to graduation.
Will Hall, who led West Georgia to national semifinal appearances in 2014 in 2015, left the program for a Division I job. His replacement is David Dean, who lead Valdosta State to national championships in 2007 and 2012. UWG and VSU also happen to be major rivals.
For the first time since 1979, Carson-Newman will have someone other than Ken Sparks leading its program. Sparks retired from C-N last fall and unfortunately passed away from cancer in March. Long-time C-N assistant Mike Turner takes over as the head coach.
Eight of the nine Harlon Hill finalists graduated, leaving the door wide open for new stars to emerge. The sole returnee among the group is Grand Valley State junior running back Marty Carter, who was our offensive player of the year last season.
But perhaps the biggest change in 2017 will be the realignment of the regions, which will shift the power structure in D2 football. The former alignment had been in place since 2012. Here is a breakdown of each of the four regions along with my thoughts on the impact the changes will have:
Super Region One
Change: The CIAA departs while the newly formed GMAC is added to the region. This region now includes the PSAC, NE-10, MEC and GMAC.
Thoughts: The GMAC is made up of six former GLIAC teams, but Ohio Dominican is the only one that had much success recently. Since SR1 is not as strong overall as the other regions, it is probably a matter of time before ODU or one of the other GMAC teams steps up and makes some noise. Winston-Salem State was the only team from the CIAA to have much success in the playoffs, but that was a few years ago when the Rams had a spike in talent after returning from D-I. MEC teams have won the region three of the last four years so look for continued success from those programs. Overall, I do not think the new configuration changes this region much from a power standpoint.
Super Region Two
Change: The CIAA is added to the region. The region now includes the GSC, SAC, CIAA and SIAC.
Thoughts: As mentioned above, CIAA teams typically do not provide much of a threat in the postseason so I do not see the addition of the conference upsetting the apple cart. However, in the past SR2 has enjoyed the benefit of having the fewest teams of any region. This led to years where the GSC enjoyed getting four teams into the playoffs. This will be much tougher to do in the future with 10 more teams in the region and the CIAA taking up at least a spot or two.
Super Region Three
Change: The NSIC and GNAC depart while the GLIAC and GLVC join the region. SR3 is now made up of the MIAA, GLIAC, GAC and GLVC.
Thoughts: In my opinion the MIAA and GLIAC both rank somewhere among the top three leagues in D2, so having them in the same region is going to create quite the power struggle. Over the last 19 seasons, those two conferences have combined for 11 national championships and eight additional appearances in the title game. When you look at our preseason poll, the top four teams all come from this region. The GAC and GLVC are the big losers in this realignment because they will struggle to win playoff games.
Super Region Four
Change: The GLIAC and GLVC depart while the NSIC and GNAC join the region. This region now consists of the NSIC, RMAC, LSC and GNAC.
Thoughts: The teams that make up this region will be the biggest beneficiaries of realignment, since all four conferences previously had to deal with teams from either the MIAA or the GLIAC within their regions. Overall this region is not as strong as SR2 or SR3, but Colorado State-Pueblo from the RMAC and Minnesota State from the NSIC did play for the 2014 national title.
Top Games this Week (2016 records in parentheses)
Grand Valley (12-1) at Indianapolis (6-5)
The normally strong Greyhounds went through a bit of a rebuilding year in 2016, but won their final four games to finish on a high note. This will be our first look at what should be an explosive GVSU offense, led by running back Marty Carter (1908 rushing yards, 20 TDs) and quarterback Bart Williams (3334 passing yards, 33 TDs). I am most interested to see how the Laker defense looks. GVSU has some new players on this side of the ball and if they can improve some from last year this team will be a national title contender. Grand Valley 41 Indianapolis 17.
Ashland (9-2) at IUP (10-2)
What I find remarkable about this game is despite the fact that these two schools are located just 200 miles from each other, this is the first time they have met on the gridiron. Seems strange with the success the two programs have had.
IUP is led by senior quarterback Lenny Williams, who was in the midst of an epic season before going down with an injury last fall. In my opinion he is the top dual threat quarterback in all of D2. The Eagles are also solid at quarterback with Travis Tarnowski going into his fourth season as the starter. Ashland has eight returning starters on offense, but will need to replace NFL-bound tight end Adam Sheehan.
IUP 30 Ashland 23
Sioux Falls (12-1) at Minnesota-Duluth (10-2)
Both of these NSIC teams reached the playoffs last year, and both are now faced with the prospects of replacing a four-year starting quarterback. The Cougars also have a new coaching staff, leaving even more question marks. USF was the much better team defensively last year, and on paper it appears as if the Cougars have an edge in returnees on that side of the ball. But the Bulldogs are tough at home and that gives them a slight edge in this game.
Minnesota-Duluth 28 Sioux Falls 26
Texas A&M-Commerce (11-2) at North Alabama (11-2)
This is a very interesting early season game between two teams picked to finish atop their respective conferences. TAMUC has won three straight LSC titles with a strong offense, however they will be replacing six All-LSC performers on that side of the ball. Fortunately, quarterback Luis Perez (3326 passing yards, 32 touchdowns) is back to lead the way. Including Perez, the Lions have four players on our preseason All-American team.
This is a major transition year for UNA as this will be their last season in D2. After reaching the national championship game last season, the Lions have a new coach in Chris Willis plus 17 new starters. UNA is 9-1 all-time against teams from the LSC but the game on Thursday might be a tall order.
Texas A&M-Commerce 31 North Alabama 23
Winston-Salem State (9-3) at UNC-Pembroke (10-2)
UNCP won 20-17 in a hard fought game to open the 2016 season. Both teams went on to reach the playoffs but both teams look to be rebuilding a bit going into this season. With so many unknowns, I have to give the home team a slight advantage.
UNC-Pembroke 19 Winston-Salem State 16
Pittsburg State (7-4) at Central Missouri (9-3)
The Gorillas return seven players that received All-MIAA recognition last year, led by quarterback John Roderique. PSU should be able to score plenty of points. However, the key to success this season will be on the defensive side of the ball. The Gorillas gave up over 37 points per game last year so if they can improve and become at least average defensively they will win quite a few games.
The Mules were a playoff team a year ago, despite the fact that they had just 10 seniors on the roster. If new starting quarterback Brook Bolles can come close to replicating the production UCM received from Garrett Fugate last season, the Mules are poised for a big year.
Central Missouri 37 Pittsburg State 27
Colorado Mines (10-2) at CSU-Pueblo (8-3)
Last year in the season opener the Orediggers blitzed the Thunderwolves 57-21 behind 402 passing yards and six touchdowns from Harlon Hill trophy winning quarterback Justin Dvorak. However, Dvorak has now graduated, leaving a huge hole in the CSM offense.
The Thunderwolves struggled a bit with the passing game last year, but with standout running back Bernard McDondle back after missing most of last year with an injury I expect CSU-Pueblo to pick it up a notch offensively. The Orediggers should have the best defense in the RMAC.
CSU-Pueblo 38 Colorado Mines 30
Henderson State (8-3) at Harding (13-1)
These two teams have been the dominant programs in the short history of the GAC. Harding put together the best season in school and conference history last year but the Bisons have a new head coach in Paul Simmons, plus they must replace 24 seniors, including eight defensive starters.
HSU also was hit pretty hard by graduation, but the Reddies do return 27 players with starting experience in the past. Look for junior quarterback Andrew Black to have a breakout season in his second year as a starter.
Henderson State 27 Harding 24
Emporia State (11-2) at Northwest Missouri (15-0)
The two-time defending national champion Bearcats must replace 13 starters, including several standouts on both sides of the football. Long-time assistant Rich Wright steps in as head coach after the departure of Adam Dorrell. It would certainly seem like Northwest will come back to earth a bit this season.
Over the past two seasons ESU is 0-4 against NWMSU and 22-1 against everyone else. The Hornets have 13 returning starters, including standout quarterback Braxton Marstall, so it would seem like this would be a big opportunity to exact some revenge on the Bearcats. However, I think the Northwest program is to the point where it just reloads from year to year. The Bearcats probably had more talent on their second team defense last year than just about any other program*s number ones. Plus, ESU has lost 24 in a row in this series and has not been within two scores since 2003, so the mental edge has to go to the Bearcats.
Northwest Missouri 34 Emporia State 19
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