There's no doubt the California Vulcans played their best game of the season last week. But the question is this: did it come too late?

John Luckhardt's team looked every bit as advertised in its 28-10 win at IUP. Quarterback Peter Lalich was mistake-free, wide receivers Thomas Mayo and Chedrick Cherry showed big-play skills, tailback Lamont Smith was difficult to bring down -- and that's just the offense. On the other side of the ball, California's front four dominated the Crimson Hawks' young offensive line, and their linebackers made plays when they had them. In the secondary, safety Rontez Miles looked like a man among boys.

But thanks to their 17-3 loss to Slippery Rock three weeks ago and their less-than impressive 32-26 overtime win against Mercyhurst the following week, the Vulcans don' seem to have the same swagger as before.

But maybe now they will, although beating a 5-3 IUP team doesn't make the Vulcans instant contenders.

"This was," Luckhardt told me after the win, "our best game yet."

California (7-2) broke into the regional rankings this week and sit eighth entering Saturday's game against Edinboro (7-2). But with only two games left, is it too late for the Vulcans to work their way into the playoff picture?

It seems possible, although somewhat unlikely that California will continue its streak of four straight appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs. Beating Edinboro will help California's strength of schedule factor, but having to play lowly Cheyney (1-8) next Saturday will hurt it. And having lost the head-to-head matchup with No. 6 Slippery Rock, the Vulcans are left to hope at least two teams above them slip up, most likely No. 5 Elizabeth City State and No. 7 Southern Connecticut State.

Nonetheless, there stands a decent chance that California could finish 9-2 and be left out of the playoffs, which would be a shame. I'm a big believer in playoffs being for contenders, and I'd bet there aren't many teams in the region that would welcome a date with California in the playoffs.

IT'S A MYSTERY
This has not been a good year for the PSAC officials.

Whether it be the extra-point kick that looked good (but was called a miss) in the California-Mercyhurst game, or the non-calls in the Bloomsburg-C.W. Post game, or any of the other times fans were left feeling sick, officials have been the target of criticism all season.

So I'm going to go ahead and pile on.

I've been covering the PSAC since 1998, and one thing that has mystified me the whole time is the "opponent penalties" statistic. It's a simple statistic: the number of times a team's opponents have been penalized.

What's mystifying is this: Take a look at the rankings, and it's a safe bet you'll find teams near the top are near the bottom of the standings. This season, the PSAC's only winless team, Lock Haven, leads the conference in opponent penalties, with 74. If this holds up, this will be the third time in four seasons that the Bald Eagles have led the conference in opponent penalties.

Last season, a decent C.W. Post team led the PSAC in opponent penalties, but Lock Haven (0-11) was fourth, Millersville (2-9) was fifth and Cheyney (1-10) was eighth. Cheyney led the league in opponent penalties in 2006 and 2007, when the Wolves went a combined 2-20.

Perhaps it's not just a PSAC issue. In other Division II leagues, Livingston (1-8, CIAA), West Liberty (1-8, WVIAC), Tiffin (0-9, GLIAC) and Lincoln (1-8, MIAA) all lead their leagues in opponent penalties while sitting in the basement of the standings.

Maybe a team's success is conversely proportionate to its opponents' penalties. Or maybe the two are completely unrelated. But the fact bad teams usually are near the top in this statistic makes me wonder if some officials feel bad for teams like Lock Haven and Cheyney and throw flags on their opponents that they might otherwise not.

If so, that's a shame.

GAME OF THE WEEK
Bloomsburg at Kutztown: Motivation won't be a factor for either team. The loser is out of the playoff race; the winner still has hope.

For Bloomsburg, this week in practice certainly must feel odd. Due to their loss last week to C.W. Post, the Huskies find themselves with their backs to the wall, a relatively new phenomenon for a team that has usually taken care of its business. The key to this game is ball control. Keep the ball in the hands of Franklyn Quiteh and Eddie Mateo, and out of Kevin Morton's.

For the Golden Bears, this is the game they circled on their calendars at the end of last season. And if it weren't for their still mystifying loss to Shippensburg earlier in the season, the Golden Bears would be using this game as a springboard to a No. 1 seed in the region. Since that loss, Kutztown has been rolling along, waiting for this chance.

I give the edge to Kutztown, for home field and motivation.

POWER RANKINGS
1. Slippery Rock (8-1): Should cruise into the state game.
2. Bloomsburg (8-1): Still awfully tough, but there are *****s in the armor.
3. Kutztown (8-1): Hopes pinned on this week's game.
4. California (8-1): Playing better, but good enough?
5. C.W. Post (5-4): Could be most unlikely East champ in a while.
6. IUP (5-3): Not ready for prime time.
7. Edinboro (7-2): See No. 4.
8. Shippensburg (5-4): Developing quite a ground game.
9. West Chester (4-5): Laid an egg last week. Should be primed for Millersville.
10. Mercyhurst (3-6): Injuries have destroyed a once-promising season.
11. Gannon (3-6): One step forward, two steps back.
12. East Stroudsburg (2-7): Obviously not the same without Wagner.
13. Millersville (3-6): Could go out with a bang next week.
14. Clarion (2-7): The definition of growing pains.
15. Cheyney (1-8): Could bear the brunt of California's frustrations next week.
16. Lock Haven (0-8): When will the streak end?