Stagg Bowl XXXIX - Mount Union Purple Raiders

If you listened carefully you could have almost heard the collective annoyed "sighs" of DIII fans, while simultaneously rolling their eyes when discovering who emerged from the semifinals to meet in Stagg Bowl - for the seventh straight season. The fact is, I can't blame the fans who desire new blood in the Stagg Bowl. It's easy to offer up suggestions like "Why can't those two programs just move up to DII already?" Or "Why do the Purple Raiders always get to play home games during the playoffs." It has also been suggested to put both teams on the same side of the bracket to guarantee a different outcome. If a tournament is designed to have the two best programs face each other at the end of the season...then it succeeded. I think we all can agree on that. I say rather than trying to change the end result through legislation, fix it by proving to the DIII world that these two programs are beatable. Both UMU's and UWW's time will come to an end (sooner or later). Just like it eventually did for Wittenburg, Ithaca, Augustana, Rowan, La Crosse and (most recently) St. John's. The law of averages will eventually prevail, however it appears it takes a little longer for some.

The Purple Raiders entered the playoffs winning the Ohio Athletic Conference and received the Pool A automatic bid. Like Whitewater, Mount Union got to the Stagg Bowl with an undefeated 14-0 record, and is currently ranked No. 2 in the D3football.com poll. As far as common opponents go, both programs faced Oshkosh earlier in the season. The Raiders won convincingly at home against the Titans 41-17, while the Whitewater narrowly escaped at Oshkosh 20-17. So does that mean Mount Union is 21 points better than Whitewater? Lets just say I don't think any self-respected Mount Union fan will spot a Whitewater fan 21 points if a bet was placed. The Purple Raiders will be going for its 11th Stagg Bowl title since winning its first in 1993. This 18-year stretch for the Purple Raiders has been the best sports dynasty we've witnessed this side of the Harlem Globetrotters.



Mount Union Running Back Jeremy Murray

This year, compared to previous seasons, Mount doesn't have its typical prolific offense that makes defensive coordinators cry at night. That's probably because this is the first time since 2004 that the Raiders don't have a NFL caliber wide receiver running circles around defenses. Don't get me wrong, their offense still manages to put up nearly 39 points per game. I'm just saying Mount's offense in previous seasons has been like a 12 (on a scale of 10), and now they're just a nine (out of 10). Most schools could only dream of being a nine. Like last season quarterback Neal Seaman led this offense through the better part of the season. Only to get banged up, and turn the signal-calling duties over to Matt Piloto. This year Seaman and Piloto shared duties during the regular season, only to have Piloto emerge as the primary QB when Seaman went down. The junior, Piloto, has thrown for 2068 yards thus far and has tossed 20 touchdowns (with seven ints). What makes this offense tick is the legs of Jeremy Murray. The junior rushed for 1671 yards along with scoring 22 total touchdowns this year. Murray was named First-Team All OAC as he led the conference in rushing. Despite missing some time earlier in the playoffs with an injury, Murray has looked great in the semi and quarterfinals. He rushed for 152 yards against Wabash, then put up 120 on Wesley last weekend. Thanks to ESPN3 I was able to watch Murray against Wesley. He is very quick and bounced off would-be tacklers throughout the game. One last skill position player worth mentioning is preseason All-American Jasper Collins. The wide receiver missed four-plus games (if you include the Capital game) during the regular season, but came back in time for the second round of the playoffs. Collins absolutely tore apart Wesley catching nine balls for 139 yards and three touchdowns. He did a great job of finding the holes in Wesley's secondary throughout the game last weekend. On the season, this First-Team All-Conference wideout has 776 receiving yards on 58 receptions for 13 touchdowns with only playing in ten games this year.



Purple Raiders' Defensive Back Nick Driskill

With all but three defensive starters listed on the All-OAC list this year (1st team, 2nd team or honorable mention), it's no secret that the Purple Raiders have an outstanding defense. When it comes to defensive backs, it's hard to find someone with the same abilities as Mount Union's Nick Driskill. However, the Warhawks did have to go up against La Crosse's Derek Dreher (twice) who, like Driskill, was named to the 2011 AFCA Coaches All-American team as a DB. Driskill was also awarded the Lee J. Tressel Award, which is given to the OAC's most outstanding defensive back. On the season the junior accumulated a team high 105 tackles, along with four interceptions, nine pass breakups, 6.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss. Driskill is extremely skilled at attacking and swarming to the ball. It'll be a huge challenge for Whitewater to keep him off the ball carrier. The Raiders' defensive line is led by First-Team All-OAC defensive lineman Charles Dieuseul. The junior leads the team with 9.5 sacks on the season, and is the second leading tackler with 74. Mount Union plays the unique 4-2-5 base defense to perfection. Not too many programs stick with only two linebackers in its formation. But when you are athletic and fast like the Purple Raiders, you can more than make this defensive style affective. The entire team has very good sideline-to-sideline speed, preventing running backs from turning the corner and taking the ball up field. As usual it's going to be a great matchup to see the speed and athleticism of the Mount Union defense go up against the speed and athleticism of Levell Coppage.


2011 Statistics (National Rank)

Mount Union Rushing Offense: 238.93 ypg (21)
Whitewater Rushing Defense: 90.57 ypg (12)

Mount Union Passing Offense: 212.64 ypg (86)
Whitewater Passing Defense: 163.07 ypg (50)

Mount Union Total Offense: 451.57 ypg (20)
Whitewater Total Defense: 253.64 ypg (14)

Mount Union Rushing Defense: 72.29 ypg (3)
Whitewater Rushing Offense: 229.00 ypg (25)

Mount Union Passing Defense: 130.50 ypg (7)
Whitewater Passing Offense: 206.57 ypg (96)

Mount Union Total Defense: 202.79 ypg (2)
Whitewater Total Offense: 435.57 ypg (28)

Whitewater's Stagg Bowl Games
2005 - Mount Union over UWW, 35-28
2006 - Mount Union over UWW, 35-16
2007 - UWW over Mount Union 31-21
2008 - Mount Union over UWW, 31-26
2009 - UWW over Mount Union, 38-28
2010 - UWW over Mount Union, 31-21

Looks like most of the DIII fan base expects Whitewater to take home its fourth Stagg Bowl title. But I'm not ready to rule out Mount Union quite yet. I remember back in 2007 when Whitewater was heavy underdogs against an extremely talented Mount team, and the Warhawks managed to pull one out for its first Stagg Bowl title. Over the past few seasons it seems Whitewater builds off of beating strong-playoff competition to get themselves the Bronze and Walnut, while Mount Union gets the easy road to Salem. However, this year, it seems the roles are reversed. Mount Union actually had the tougher road to the Stagg Bowl, while Whitewater was barely tested (outside of maybe St. Thomas) in the playoffs. We'll see if the tougher road pays dividends for the Purple Raiders as it did for Whitewater in the past. I think UWW is playing its best football of the year right now all while staying healthy. Mount, on the other hand, is a tad dinged up at some key positions, but is playing very well through them. I have to believe the Warhawks will win this game. The outcome will be something close to the final score of the 2007 and 2010 Stagg Bowl game - probably even closer. This one is for bragging rights, the pivotal game seven is on its way!