Sunday, December 19, 2010

D3 Season Ends
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
National Champions

For the sixth consecutive year, the Mount Union Purple Raiders and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks squared off in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem Virginia to determine the National Champion of Division III football. For the second year in a row, the Warhawks came out on top, this year by a score of 31-21. These two teams have proven to be the standard bearer for D3 football.

Click link below to see article from d3football.com

7 comments:

  1. This is a joke- the same 2 teams meeting in the championship 6 years in a row- not to mention Mt Union has been there around 15 times in the last 20 years. Neither one of these teams has come close to losing a playoff game in that time span either. I don't see how this is good for D3 football.

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  2. Take a look at rosters of both of these teams or Wesley or Mary Hardin - Baylor; really any of these top D3 teams. The rosters are filled with 21 and 22 year old sophmores. Recruit D1 drop outs or redshirt everyone. That's how to build your program. No athletic scholarships but lots of ways for the institutions to give plenty of "merit" scholarships to the right folks.

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  3. You would think Mt Union would schedule atleast 1 game every now and than against a d2 or 1aa team- for the heck of it. They'd rather continue beating every team 55 to nothing in the regular season year after year. Not to mention the 15 games they play every year including the playoffs- which also means they own just about every individual and team record in d3- since playoff games started counting towards records 10 or 15 years ago.

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  4. Sounds like they know how to play the game or maybe know how to build a program. It is just another reason why Harper and especially Adams should have been let go. Really what will change if the coaching staff that was the problem before is still there. I really would like to know what has Harper changed as of today. The clock has started.

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  5. This biggest issue with Ferrum is its location. Living in the Northern Virginia area I have seen allot of really good overlooked football players. Whether I was attending a combine with my son or watching a game there are some really good athletes. Most of them have never heard of Ferrum or have never been to a rural setting. Some how this obstacle has to be overcome. Our son first went to a D2 school and then transferred to Ferrum. We as a family drive 9 hours round trip to watch and support the Ferrum games. It takes a toll on your wallet but parent involvement helps make the transission easier. Some how Ferrum needs to be advertised more. Coaches could get players from their home town to talk to prospective players about Ferrum. Might help but the location is the biggest challenge.

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  6. re: "Sounds like they know how..."

    Listen- your kid just isn't good enough to crack the starting lineup or he would be playing. If you're that upset about it i don't understand why you don't transfer your kid to another school- but you do know that the coach there will also play whoever gives them the best chance to win?

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  7. It's unfortunate that most posts on this site become redundant arguments between angry parents of current players and staunch supporters of the old Ferrum traditions. These pointless barbs at one another only prove to damage the core of the team and the program. The bottomline is simple. What once worked for Ferrum is no longer working and therefore change is needed.

    Yes, the campus is remote and very rural. That will never change. Yes, Ferrum will struggle to recruit certain kids because of this fact. Kids from NOVA and other urban areas most likely will not be happy in this setting. They either select another school or come for a season and leave. Take a look at the year-to-year rosters of the Ferrum teams. Compare the numbers of incoming freshmen that never become sophomores. Look at the number of sophmores that never become juniors, etc., etc., etc. Herein lies the problem.

    Ferrum can recruit kids, but, are the RIGHT kids recruited? Are they recruiting for quantity and not quality? Why do so many kids come as freshmen and leave the program in numbers much higher than other schools in the conference?

    Fix this and Ferrum will compete in the conference. This past season, CNU had 23 seniors at season's start and 21 at the end. How many did Ferrum have? In an earlier blog post, it was suggested that Ferrun needed better weight training and bigger o-line/d-line. Yes, but, this is much easier and sensible if those same o and d linemen are 21 or 22 year old seniors instead of 18 or 19 year olds. Same argument for depth. If the starters are seniors and your twos are juniors, how much better would the team be?

    Teams like Mt. Union and Wisconsin Whitewater recruit well and retain their athletes. This is the challenge Dave Harper must overcome. Ferrum must retain a higher number of their recruits, keep them in school and organically grow the program.

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