 All-American Ryan Short needs a big game Saturday |
Can Coach Chris Creighton's team, most of whom are Hoosier born and bred, dethrone powerhouse Mount Union? Creighton thinks so.
"We just took down a dynasty," said Creighton after Wabash's 25-14 victory over Wittenberg last Saturday. "…In six days we'll take down another. And I am dead serious about that."
Creighton is uniquely qualified on this subject. A graduate of Kenyon (OH) College, where he led the football team to its only North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championship in 1989, Creighton has first-hand experience with Ohio football. In directing the Little Giants to a 19-game winning streak and the top of the NCAC this year, there's no doubt that Wabash is on the ascendancy in football.
But Mt. Union's Purple Raiders are the New York Yankees of the NCAA Division III gridiron, except they win more than the Yankees. Head coach Larry Kehres has a career mark of 189 wins, 17 losses, and three ties. That's a .917 winning percentage, the most successful college football coach in history. Period.
Mt. Union has captured five of the last six NCAA Division III championships, and is 76-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) since 1994. An alumnus and star quarterback at Mt. Union, Kehres was an assistant in Alliance for 11 years before becoming head coach 1986. He's the overseer of every aspect of the Mount Union football program. He's innovative (among the first coaches to use goal-post cameras for game films), a great motivator, a master manipulator, and famous for making second-half adjustments to direct his team to victory.
No matter how one looks at this NCAA Division III quarterfinal game, there are sub-stories all around. First there's the conference clash. Seven NCAC colleges (Denison, Hiram, Kenyon, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg and Wooster) are former OAC members. Next there's the generational clash. Most of Mt. Union's coaches are 15-20 years older than the Wabash coaching staff. Then there is the Hoosier-dominated Wabash squad versus the Ohio-bred Purple Raiders team.
The latter subject is one near and dear to loyal, long-time Wabash fans. They recall that when the Little Giants last participated in the NCAA Division III football playoffs, in 1977, "experts" believed that Wabash's Indiana-heavy team could not compete against collegians from more experienced football states. Wrong. Quarterback Dave Harvey directed the Little Giants to two consecutive playoff victories before falling in the national title game to Widener (PA) 39-36 in a thrilling nail-biter that was decided in the final minutes.
Yet the nay sayers still criticized Little Giant football. Powerhouse Ohio teams Dayton and Wittenberg and Baldwin-Wallace went to the NCAA football tournament in the years after 1977, while very talented Wabash teams sat on the sidelines. Wabash's last unbeaten team, the Dave Broecker-led 10-0 squad in 1982, defeated Dayton 14-13 and was ranked sixth in the final-season Division III poll but still didn't get an invitation to the dance. From 1978 to 1982, Wabash went 42-3-1 yet was never asked to play in the postseason.
So at Christmastime 2002, Wabash is exorcising the ghosts of playoffs past. Wittenberg is dead. Now its on to Mt. Union and the supposedly all-powerful OAC, which still has another team, John Carroll, in the Division III tournament.
Those who remember the Wabash-Widener game in December 1977 should see a similar seesaw contest in Alliance. These teams are different. Mt. Union prefers to run and control the ball. Wabash has the better air game and is more opportunistic with turnovers. But these teams balance each other out in many respects. If you're listening, don't turn off the radio or the Internet until after the final gun has sounded.
One other prediction - look for the winner of Wabash-Mt. Union to be favored to become the next Division III national champion. Coach Creighton was right: if the Little Giants do take down another dynasty, they will be in the driver's seat for a trip to the Stagg Bowl on December 21.
What to expect:
When Wabash has the ball... Jake Knott's prolific passing directs the offense. Knott's 100 career TDs and over 10,000 yards passing put him in exclusive company, as only 16 quarterbacks in NCAA history have achieved these milestones. Ryan Short and Brandon Clifton are among Knott's favorite targets. Mt. Union All-American cornerback Chris Kern will direct a secondary out to stop the Wabash air game. Chris Morris is averaging 5.8 years per carry and more than 110 yards per game. Wabash will strive to balance running and passing on offense, and the more times Morris carries the better the Little Giants' chances for victory.
When Mt. Union has the ball… Dan Pugh is the Purple Raiders' offensive workhorse. He scored four touchdowns and rushed for 161 yards in Mt. Union's 42-21 victory over Wheaton last week, and is the nation's leading scorer with 30 touchdowns in 2002. Wabash's linebacker corps, led by Nate Boulais and Nick Fanelli, will be out to shut down Pugh. Rob Adamson, junior quarterback, has a .595 completion percentage and has tossed 21 TDs this year. Mt. Union attempts about half as many passes per game as Wabash. If the Purple Raiders go to the air frequently, it will probably be due to lack of ground yardage -- a good sign for the Little Giants.
Other tidbits….. Mt. Union's special teams played big against Wheaton last week, scoring touchdowns on a blocked punt and a kickoff return. But remember that Wabash blocked a field goal try, and then Blair Hammer scored on a 30-yard interception return late in the fourth quarter to help the Little Giants whip Wittenberg. Wabash has a big edge in turnovers. The Little Giants are +23 in takeaways, while Mt. Union is even (0) on the year.
The weather… There's snow on the ground in Alliance, but it should be sunny with a temperature in low 30s around the 12-noon kickoff.
Kerezy is a 1977 Wabash graduate and lives in suburban Cleveland.