Dear Emporia State: I know we just started our whirlwind relationship, but I'm pretty sure it's over. I know you tried. Tyler Eckenrode held up his end of the bargain. His 23 for 38 for 270 yards and 11 rushes for 71 yards were ALL career highs.

It's not me. It's you. You're just sloppy. You're better than Fort Hays, but you turned the ball over three times in the fourth quarter. You did it last year against Truman and again in the season opener this year.

I'll never forget you, though if things don't get better, I wish I'd be able to.

Love always, but not anymore,

Aaron

So seriously, who needs a 'dark horse' anyway. I know it's only one game, but it doesn't get any easier for the Hornets, who goes to Pitt State and hosts Central Missouri in the next two weeks. Maybe this top half and bottom half of the conference are more concrete than we ever thought and we're in for more of the same.

That's what we saw last night in Kirksville and Maryville. Northwest and Central Missouri both continued with prolific aerial assaults left behind by their graduating quarterbacks. Oh, but Aaron, look at the competition... Fine, I'll give you Truman. But Southern is returning the best defense in the conference, total-yards wise, and there's no way I thought Tommy Corwin would break out six TD tosses in his first game as a starter.

I'll tell you what did surprise me. Travis Partridge's complete inability to get anything going on offense. Seriously Little P? 10 for 20 for 79 yards? He didn't look good, and the one play where he showed some life, when he was trying to take a short run and turn it into a touchdown inside the 10, he fumbled away. Now don't get me wrong. I liked what I saw out of Pitt State, on both sides of the ball, but 34-7 (and that 7 was a fluke anyways) is not acceptable when you have the kind of team Western does (or at least we thought they had).

How about them 'Bods, huh? Man, jumping up 27-0 sure was nice, huh? But does what happened the rest of the game concern anyone else? Washburn quarterback Dane Simoneau started with 14 straight completions and three touchdowns, but after that, went a much more modest 13 for 26. Heck, I can live with 50 percent, but after the quick start, Washburn had 9 possessions that included four 3-and-outs, a 4-play 11-yard drive, five punts, two missed field goals and a touchdown.

Look, I'm not here to rain on Simoneau's parade - I just wish the fast start could have been maintained a little longer is all... Alright, there's some thoughts on all five of Thursday's games. In case you are living under a rock, here's the scores.

FHSU 27 ESU 17 box score
NWMSU 65 TSU 3 box score
UCM 42 MSSU 24 box score
PSU 34 MWSU 7 box score
WU 33 Sioux Falls 17 ]box score

Agree with me? Disagree? Good, now tell me why. Leave a comment below, e-mail me at [email protected], @ me on twitter @miAARONd2 or message me at Facebook.com/apheintz.