All Things D2 and D3 College Football 2023 Season Thread

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BleedGopher said:

Go Gophers!!
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White Water almost lost to a much lower ranked team last week. Trinity had 1/2 of there defense out the second half of last week. All one has to do to stop SJU is pressure their QB.
 
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MIAC scoreboard -
Macalester 56, Martin Luther 27
Wartburg 16, Bethel 2
UW-Whitewater 56, St. John's 28
Carleton 45, Pomona-Pitzer 24
Concordia 26, Pacific Lutheran 21
Rockford IL 38, St. Scholastica 37
St. Olaf 52, Luther IA 21
Hamline 49, UM-Morris 28

next week: (last round of non-conf games)
Bethel at UW-Eau Claire
Martin Luther at Augsburg
Crown College at St. Scholastica
Gustavus at UW-Stout
Carleton at UM-Morris
 


Reusse: Bethel and Wartburg's matchup displayed best of D-III football — in more ways than one

You can make a case that all competitors in Division III football are underdogs. They have put heart and soul into the most gruesome of North American team sports while being turned aside or overlooked by coaches and recruiters from three higher levels of collegiate competition.

What D-III does have in common with those other levels is that the power is spread across a very thin layer at the top — and with primarily the same teams there year after year.

When those D-III powers happen to meet in a nonconference September setting, the competition can be fierce, but there is also mutual respect that does not seem forced.

There was one of these contests on Saturday — Wartburg, a national semifinalist in 2022, and Bethel, a national quarterfinalist, in Arden Hills. The smashmouth contest ended with the odd score of Wartburg 16, Bethel 2, and when it was over, this occurred:

Both teams heard speeches from their coaches and then mingled on-field with fans and parents, and after almost 30 minutes of this, they started heading toward the locker rooms.

As players from both teams walked near one another across a parking lot, a Wartburg defensive player asked about a Bethel offensive lineman and then said:

"Tell him to keep his eyes down in his stance. He looked at me almost every time when the play was coming that way."

www.startribune.com

Bethel and Wartburg's matchup displayed best of D-III football

Wartburg won the nonconference meeting between the Division III as Bethel's David Geebli broke his ankle in the first half.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 


Here are the scores from the NSIC this weekend:
  • Minnesota State-Moorhead defeated Minot State 56-14
  • Augustana defeated Chadron State 27-3
  • Winona State defeated Concordia-St. Paul 33-8
  • Sioux Falls defeated Mary 36-17
  • Bemidji State defeated Southwest Minnesota State 34-14
  • Minnesota-Duluth defeated Northern State 41-21
  • Minnesota State-Mankato defeated Wayne State 31-14
Standings
Bemidji State (2-0, 2-0)
Minnesota State-Mankato (2-0, 2-0)
Augustana (2-0, 1-0)
Minnesota-Duluth (2-0, 1-0)
Winona State (1-1, 1-0)
Minnesota State-Moorhead (1-1, 1-1)
Sioux Falls (1-1, 1-1)
Southwest Minnesota State (1-1, 1-1)
Wayne State (1-1, 1-1)
Concordia-St. Paul (1-1, 0-1)
Mary (0-2, 0-2)
Minot State (0-2, 0-2)
Northern State (0-2, 0-2)
 




D2 coaches poll is out. NSIC schools in bold. Minnesota schools in italics.
  1. Ferris State (27) (2-0)
  2. Colorado School of Mines (2) (2-0)
  3. Pittsburg State (2-0)
  4. West Florida (2-0)
  5. Ouachita Baptist (2-0)
  6. Minnesota State-Mankato (2-0)
  7. Grand Valley State (1-1)
  8. Delta State (2-0)
  9. Angelo State (1-1)
  10. Bemidji State (2-0)
  11. Harding (2-0)
  12. Emporia State (2-0)
  13. Slippery Rock (2-0)
  14. Shepherd (2-0)
  15. Northwest Missouri State (1-1)
  16. Benedict (2-0)
  17. Virginia Union (1) (2-0)
  18. Indianapolis (1-0)
  19. Assumption (2-0)
  20. Lenoir-Rhyne (2-0)
  21. Texas A&M-Kingsville (2-0)
  22. Colorado State-Pueblo (1-1)
  23. Henderson State (2-0)
  24. Davenport (2-0)
  25. Western Colorado (2-0)
Others Receiving Votes
Ashland, Indiana (PA), Notre Dame College, West Georgia, Minnesota-Duluth, Saginaw Valley State, Tuskegee, Augustana, Central Missouri, Tiffin, East Stroudsburg, Mars Hill, Millersville, Wingate, Bowie State, Valdosta State, Newberry, Lincoln (PA), Virginia State
 

MIAC football results - 9/16/23

Bethel 24, UW-Eau Claire 0
Augsburg 62, Martin Luther 0
St. Scholastica 38, Crown College 18
UW-Stout 24, Gustavus 7
Carleton 38, UM-Morris 12

next week - 1st round of conference games --
Hamline (2-0) at Carleton (2-0)
Augsburg (2-0) at Gustavus (1-1)
Bethel (1-1) at St. Johns (1-1)
Macalester (2-0) at St. Olaf (1-1)
Concordia (1-1) at St. Scholastica (1-1)
 


Gustavus has been flirting with joining St. John’s and Bethel at the very top of the MIAC for a while (being the obvious #3 team in the conference for a while) but today’s convincing loss to Stout suggests real success is still a ways off.
 



Schnauzer said:
Gustavus has been flirting with joining St. John’s and Bethel at the very top of the MIAC for a while (being the obvious #3 team in the conference for a while) but today’s convincing loss to Stout suggests real success is still a ways off.
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I wouldn't jump to conclusions yet. All three of those teams have multiple touchdown losses on their resumes so far this year.
 

Augsburg has played two "lesser" opponents to start the season. so this week's game against Gustavus will be the first real test for the Auggies. they can move the ball and score points - I think the real question is whether the Auggies' defense can hold down an MIAC opponent.

Gustavus beat Augsburg last year 34-20.
 

St. Johns give up 5 consecutive TD's to finish their last game. They gave up around 900 yards on defense during their first two games. They will make it to the first or second round again, like the last few years.
 

If I was Tsar of the NCAA, I would ban public universities from D3. Plain and simple.

You can still be in D2 and are not forced to offer scholarships. Be cheap all you want. Just stay out of D3.

There is no place for UW schools to be competing for national championships with MIAC schools.


Moving on
 

Schnauzer said:
Gustavus has been flirting with joining St. John’s and Bethel at the very top of the MIAC for a while (being the obvious #3 team in the conference for a while) but today’s convincing loss to Stout suggests real success is still a ways off.
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I watched most of the game. Gustavus moved the ball well (through the air and struggled to run it). Missed 3 FG's and got stopped on 4th and short three other times in Stout territory. Their Defense played well to start, but didn't tackle real well as the game went on.
 

Here are the results from the NSIC in the past week:
  • Minnesota State-Moorhead defeated McKendree (Ill), 38-17 |:drink:|
  • Minnesota-Duluth defeated Sioux Falls, 42-34
  • Bemidji State took down Winona State, 36-10
  • Minnesota State-Mankato won over Minot State, 52-25
  • Wayne State ran over Southwest Minnesota State, 49-10
  • Northern State defeated Mary, 41-10
  • Augustana earned a win over Concordia-St. Paul, 24-16
NSIC Standings
  • Bemidji State, 3-0 (3-0)
  • Minnesota State-Mankato, 3-0 (3-0)
  • Augustana, 3-0 (2-0)
  • Minnesota-Duluth, 3-0 (2-0)
  • Wayne State, 2-1 (2-1)
  • Minnesota State-Moorhead, 2-1 (1-1)
  • Winona State, 1-2 (1-1)
  • Northern State, 1-2 (1-2)
  • Sioux Falls, 1-2 (1-2)
  • Southwest Minnesota State, 1-2 (1-2)
  • Concordia-St. Paul, 1-2 (0-2)
  • Mary, 0-3 (0-3)
  • Minot State, 0-3 (0-3)
Top 25 Polls, NSIC teams in bold, Minnesota teams in italics.

D2.Com Top 25 Poll
  1. Ferris State: 2-1
  2. Colorado Mines: 3-0
  3. Pittsburg State: 3-0
  4. Grand Valley: 2-1
  5. Minnesota State-Mankato: 3-0
  6. Delta State: 3-0
  7. Bemidji State: 3-0
  8. West Florida: 2-1
  9. Ouachita Baptist: 3-0
  10. Emporia State: 3-0
  11. Harding: 3-0
  12. Slippery Rock: 3-0
  13. Benedict: 3-0
  14. Shepherd: 3-0
  15. Lenoir-Rhyne: 3-0
  16. Virginia Union: 3-0
  17. Indianapolis: 2-0
  18. Davenport: 2-0
  19. IUP: 2-1
  20. Western Colorado: 3-0
  21. Angelo State: 1-2
  22. Texas A&M-Kingsville: 3-0
  23. Henderson State: 3-0
  24. Truman State: 3-0
  25. Central Missouri: 2-1
DII Coaches' Poll
  1. Ferris St. (Mich.): 2-1
  2. Colorado School of Mines: 3-0
  3. Pittsburg St. (Kan.): 3-0
  4. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.): 3-0
  5. Minnesota State-Mankato: 3-0
  6. Grand Valley St. (Mich.): 2-1
  7. West Florida: 2-1
  8. Delta St. (Miss.): 3-0
  9. Bemidji St. (Minn.): 3-0
  10. Harding (Ark.): 3-0
  11. Emporia St. (Kan.): 3-0
  12. Slippery Rock (Pa.): 3-0
  13. Shepherd (W.Va.): 3-0
  14. Benedict (S.C.): 3-0
  15. Virginia Union: 3-0
  16. Indianapolis (Ind.): 2-0
  17. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.): 3-0
  18. Texas A&M-Kingsville: 3-0
  19. Western Colorado: 3-0
  20. Henderson St. (Ark.): 3-0
  21. Davenport (Mich.): 2-0
  22. Angelo St. (Tex.): 1-2
  23. Minnesota-Duluth: 3-0
  24. Assumption (Mass.): 2-1
  25. Central Missouri: 2-1
Others receiving votes: Valdosta St. (Ga.), 34; Tuskegee (Ala.), 33; Truman St. (Mo.), 32; Augustana (S.D.), 30; Virginia St., 28; Northwest Missouri St., 23; Indiana (Pa.), 17; West Georgia, 11; Tiffin (Ohio), 8; East Stroudsburg (Pa.), 5; Central Washington, 4; Colorado St.-Pueblo, 4; Mars Hill (N.C.), 4; Missouri Western St., 3; Ashland (Ohio), 2; Notre Dame (Ohio), 2.
 

MplsGopher said:
If I was Tsar of the NCAA, I would ban public universities from D3. Plain and simple.

You can still be in D2 and are not forced to offer scholarships. Be cheap all you want. Just stay out of D3.

There is no place for UW schools to be competing for national championships with MIAC schools.


Moving on
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It does make little sense that schools like NYU and UT Dallas with enrollment near 30,000 students each are D3 (UT Dallas going D2 next year). There are a handful other state universities in the northeast (mainly New York) that have total enrollment way over 10,000. UT Dallas holds its own athletically but several of these large universities are commuter schools with little emphasis on athletics. But still....

Larger public schools that DO emphasize D3 athletics can have an advantage. The higher school revenues, state aid, and more alumni can potentially be the equivalent of having a large donor at a smaller private school. Some of the WIAC schools might fall into this category. That combined with minimal D2 athletics in WI, IL and IA improves the pool of D3 athletes available for the WIAC.
 

IceBoxGopher said:
Here are the results from the NSIC in the past week:
  • Minnesota State-Moorhead defeated McKendree (Ill), 38-17 |:drink:|
  • Minnesota-Duluth defeated Sioux Falls, 42-34
  • Bemidji State took down Winona State, 36-10
  • Minnesota State-Mankato won over Minot State, 52-25
  • Wayne State ran over Southwest Minnesota State, 49-10
  • Northern State defeated Mary, 41-10
  • Augustana earned a win over Concordia-St. Paul, 24-16
NSIC Standings
  • Bemidji State, 3-0 (3-0)
  • Minnesota State-Mankato, 3-0 (3-0)
  • Augustana, 3-0 (2-0)
  • Minnesota-Duluth, 3-0 (2-0)
  • Wayne State, 2-1 (2-1)
  • Minnesota State-Moorhead, 2-1 (1-1)
  • Winona State, 1-2 (1-1)
  • Northern State, 1-2 (1-2)
  • Sioux Falls, 1-2 (1-2)
  • Southwest Minnesota State, 1-2 (1-2)
  • Concordia-St. Paul, 1-2 (0-2)
  • Mary, 0-3 (0-3)
  • Minot State, 0-3 (0-3)
Top 25 Polls, NSIC teams in bold, Minnesota teams in italics.

D2.Com Top 25 Poll
  1. Ferris State: 2-1
  2. Colorado Mines: 3-0
  3. Pittsburg State: 3-0
  4. Grand Valley: 2-1
  5. Minnesota State-Mankato: 3-0
  6. Delta State: 3-0
  7. Bemidji State: 3-0
  8. West Florida: 2-1
  9. Ouachita Baptist: 3-0
  10. Emporia State: 3-0
  11. Harding: 3-0
  12. Slippery Rock: 3-0
  13. Benedict: 3-0
  14. Shepherd: 3-0
  15. Lenoir-Rhyne: 3-0
  16. Virginia Union: 3-0
  17. Indianapolis: 2-0
  18. Davenport: 2-0
  19. IUP: 2-1
  20. Western Colorado: 3-0
  21. Angelo State: 1-2
  22. Texas A&M-Kingsville: 3-0
  23. Henderson State: 3-0
  24. Truman State: 3-0
  25. Central Missouri: 2-1
DII Coaches' Poll
  1. Ferris St. (Mich.): 2-1
  2. Colorado School of Mines: 3-0
  3. Pittsburg St. (Kan.): 3-0
  4. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.): 3-0
  5. Minnesota State-Mankato: 3-0
  6. Grand Valley St. (Mich.): 2-1
  7. West Florida: 2-1
  8. Delta St. (Miss.): 3-0
  9. Bemidji St. (Minn.): 3-0
  10. Harding (Ark.): 3-0
  11. Emporia St. (Kan.): 3-0
  12. Slippery Rock (Pa.): 3-0
  13. Shepherd (W.Va.): 3-0
  14. Benedict (S.C.): 3-0
  15. Virginia Union: 3-0
  16. Indianapolis (Ind.): 2-0
  17. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.): 3-0
  18. Texas A&M-Kingsville: 3-0
  19. Western Colorado: 3-0
  20. Henderson St. (Ark.): 3-0
  21. Davenport (Mich.): 2-0
  22. Angelo St. (Tex.): 1-2
  23. Minnesota-Duluth: 3-0
  24. Assumption (Mass.): 2-1
  25. Central Missouri: 2-1
Others receiving votes: Valdosta St. (Ga.), 34; Tuskegee (Ala.), 33; Truman St. (Mo.), 32; Augustana (S.D.), 30; Virginia St., 28; Northwest Missouri St., 23; Indiana (Pa.), 17; West Georgia, 11; Tiffin (Ohio), 8; East Stroudsburg (Pa.), 5; Central Washington, 4; Colorado St.-Pueblo, 4; Mars Hill (N.C.), 4; Missouri Western St., 3; Ashland (Ohio), 2; Notre Dame (Ohio), 2.
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Bemidji is blowing everyone out the water so far. I'd love to see a story done about the renaissance of that program.
 

Panthadad2 said:
Bemidji is blowing everyone out the water so far. I'd love to see a story done about the renaissance of that program.
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They've been on an upward swing since about 2016. They've really hit a good stride in recruiting and I think have taken advantage of a couple things.

One, Minnesota Duluth taking a slight step back in the northern NSIC opening a window. Two, St. Cloud State football going down opening up more of an opportunity.

I hate seeing it. MSUM's primary rival in football other than Concordia is Bemidji, they've played since the 1920s. From 2012-2019, the series went 4-4. MSUM won in 2013 and 2014, Bemidji won in 2015, the Dragons struck back in 2016 and Beavers were victorious in 2017. Next year, MSUM won, and in 2019 Bemidji State edged the Dragons 28-24.

Following the COVID year off, though, Bemidji State won both past seasons and have gotten really good. I think I've mentioned it before, but it's kind of like what Gopher fans have experienced with Wisconsin.
 

Crazy to me that Moorhead still has football while St Cloud dropped it. Not saying Moorhead should drop, glad they have not.
 

MplsGopher said:
Crazy to me that Moorhead still has football while St Cloud dropped it. Not saying Moorhead should drop, glad they have not.
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Yeah it was surprising to me too. I totally understood the Minnesota-Crookston situation. However, I figured St. Cloud was large enough to keep it around. I guess the financial issues were just too much in St. Cloud.

From what I've seen in Moorhead, MSUM has also seen an uptick in fundraising in the last decade which has helped the athletic department grow, plus the current coach has gotten them back to being competitive after falling off a cliff in the 2000s.

Coincidently, St. Cloud State's last football game ever was against MSUM, where the Dragons won 24-13.
 

IceBoxGopher said:
They've been on an upward swing since about 2016. They've really hit a good stride in recruiting and I think have taken advantage of a couple things.

One, Minnesota Duluth taking a slight step back in the northern NSIC opening a window. Two, St. Cloud State football going down opening up more of an opportunity.

I hate seeing it. MSUM's primary rival in football other than Concordia is Bemidji, they've played since the 1920s. From 2012-2019, the series went 4-4. MSUM won in 2013 and 2014, Bemidji won in 2015, the Dragons struck back in 2016 and Beavers were victorious in 2017. Next year, MSUM won, and in 2019 Bemidji State edged the Dragons 28-24.

Following the COVID year off, though, Bemidji State won both past seasons and have gotten really good. I think I've mentioned it before, but it's kind of like what Gopher fans have experienced with Wisconsin.
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Good call out. I never considered that the loss of St. Cloud, and Crookston football for that matter, might improve the pool of athletes for Bemidji.
 

MplsGopher said:
Crazy to me that Moorhead still has football while St Cloud dropped it. Not saying Moorhead should drop, glad they have not.
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It is to some extent, because they exist in the shadow of NDSU (and did even when both were D2 schools), and to some extent, Concordia, which has the kind of private school/alumni interest not generally found the in MnSCU public colleges.

Both schools have seen enrollments drop 40% or so from their peak but SCSU was so much larger, that I think it's hurt them a lot more. MSUM was actually over-enrolled at the time I attended and was actually for a couple years, larger than NDSU in terms of enrollment. The current size of around 5000 students seems about right for the campus.
 

IceBoxGopher said:
Yeah it was surprising to me too. I totally understood the Minnesota-Crookston situation. However, I figured St. Cloud was large enough to keep it around. I guess the financial issues were just too much in St. Cloud.
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I still think it's kind of remarkable that the U has kept Crookston open at all.
 

IceBoxGopher said:
Yeah it was surprising to me too. I totally understood the Minnesota-Crookston situation. However, I figured St. Cloud was large enough to keep it around. I guess the financial issues were just too much in St. Cloud.

From what I've seen in Moorhead, MSUM has also seen an uptick in fundraising in the last decade which has helped the athletic department grow, plus the current coach has gotten them back to being competitive after falling off a cliff in the 2000s.

Coincidently, St. Cloud State's last football game ever was against MSUM, where the Dragons won 24-13.
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If you're a MSUM fan...

There's a kid on that team, Gage Florence, who's a really talented receiver. Leads the NSIC in receptions this year and led the conference last year as a freshman. A bunch of friends and I knew his dad so we've kept track a little. I'm a little surprised he didn't end up on at least an FCS roster.
 


Panthadad2 said:
Bemidji is blowing everyone out the water so far. I'd love to see a story done about the renaissance of that program.
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They have an excellent coach and staff, have done very good recruiting the past few years. Bolte (the head coach) has had the opportunity to leave for better jobs but has stayed.
 

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