D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast

UW-Whitewater found a freshman-sized answer to a championship-sized challenge, while St. John’s turned shovel passes into an avalanche against Bethel and WashU broke through with the first top 10 victory in program history. Across Division III, defenses joined the scoring spree, long field goals delivered big wins and the playoff picture got a whole lot more interesting. Which two defenses each produced three pick-sixes on the same Saturday? Which quarterback ran for three fourth-quarter touchdowns on just four carries? Which offense somehow scored 335 points on 336 plays? Oh yes, we did the math. Full postgame interviews: Bethel at St. John’s Who came up with the key defensive plays to get a game ball in Trinity’s revenge win against Berry? Who became a one-man Falcon wrecking machine in Whitewater? Who hit from 54 yards to give Luther a win, and who earned the nickname “Patty Ice” while kicking St. Olaf to a win? Plus, WashU coach Aaron Keen joins us for Fast Five, the analytics say what they’re going to say, and Dickinson produces a third quarter unlike just about anything we’ve seen. Who survived an even longer delay than the one at St. John’s? Who scored three touchdowns before the opponent even recorded a first down? And who finally got to see the St. John’s tailgate? And looking ahead: Can Whitewater follow its biggest win of the season by winning at UW-La Crosse? Will Rowan’s defensive prowess continue at Salisbury? Might Howard Payne make a statement at Mary Hardin-Baylor? Can Ohio Northern throw a great big … bear paw … into the OAC race? And most importantly, what happens when No. 1 North Central and No. 2 Wheaton meet for the Little Brass Bell? Patrick and Greg tackle all this, plus your mailbag questions, in the latest edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device. You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps: Apple Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Podcast Addict: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast iHeart Radio: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Spotify: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Photos: Semanco Media for WashU athletics; Evan Laserstein for UW-Whitewater athletics, Ella Carlson for St. John’s athletics

Christopher Newport struck the biggest blow this week among ranked teams, with the Captains coming up with six takeaways and shutting out Susquehanna on the road, while the Goat and the Cheese Bowl got some time in the spotlight (mmm, goat cheese) and Springfield survived in a rain-swept defensive battle. Which conference gave us a huge Act 1 finale this weekend? Which punter came up with a huge game in his team’s win? Which broadcast team shouted out Pat Coleman on the air, and got him to answer? Oh yes, we’re listening. Who came up with the key defensive plays to get a game ball in a shutout win? Who got the special teams play his team desperately needed on a day where the offense was struggling? Who finally bookended a win in a rivalry game? Plus, Christopher Newport coach Paul Crowley joins us for Fast Five, the analytics say what they’re going to say, and St. Francis finally gets out of the queue and onto the field. How many people played quarterback for Texas Lutheran? Who opened the door in Region 4? And over-under: How many yards for Wash U against John Carroll this upcoming week? How many points will the winning team end up scoring in the Berry-Trinity (Texas) game? How many yards will Tyler Szalkowski throw for for Utica against Cortland? How many points do we really expect Baldwin Wallace and Heidelberg to put up on Saturday? And lastly, how many people will cram in the gates at Whitewater and St. John’s this weekend for their top 10 clashes? Patrick and Greg answer these, plus your mailbag questions, in the latest edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device. You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps: Apple Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Podcast Addict: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast iHeart Radio: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Spotify: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Photo: @leary_kell38655

My goodness. It’s been 38 years since Heidelberg did that — that being winning a football game at Mount Union. This is just the third OAC loss for Mount Union since the turn of the century — how’s that for words we never expected to say — but it seems more impactful than the Ohio Northern game in 2005 or the John Carroll game in 2016 because it’s the Purple Raiders’ third loss in four games. And Mount Union is just 12 seconds away from being 0-3 on the season. What’s wrong with the Purple Raiders? This isn’t a question that we take lightly around here. When Mount Union did not win the national titles in consecutive years and then lost a regular season game, there was some glee in the Division III crowd, thinking that the Mount Union run was over. It was not. This was 2005. Mount Union has won six more titles since then. Patrick and Greg talk through the game, the repercussions for Mount Union, what might happen to the program this season. Surprise: There is still reason to be hopeful in 2026, Purple Raider fans. UW-River Falls continued its amazing start to the season, one fueled by its defense in a 31-14 win at Wartburg. Patrick Coleman talks to Falcons running back Trevor Asher, Falcons coach Jake Wissing and Wartburg coach Chris Winter. (Plus more interviews and highlights in the video at the bottom of the page.) Susquehanna and Chapman register big wins against ranked opponents as well. Our hearts go out to everyone in the UMass-Dartmouth community after the deadly stabbing of freshman running back Marvins Antoine following the team’s Friday night game. Greg got over to the showdown of restart programs in Southern California, where Azusa Pacific got the win vs. Whittier, and we hear from APU coach AJ Parnell and quarterback Laki Wallwork. We tell you why your unbeaten team isn’t in the D3football.com Top 25. We hand out game balls, find the interesting stats of the week, Jake Wissing is our guest for Fast Five and more. Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas get you to your 21st night of September in this week’s edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Mentioned in the episode: Podcast 264, the one with the second-round shocker. Story starts at the 3:00 mark. Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device. You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps: Apple Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Podcast Addict: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast iHeart Radio: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Spotify: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Photos: Heidelberg athletics by Nikki Miller; Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

It seems like Division III football made another big splash this past weekend, and we’re not just talking about that flood that overtook Washington & Jefferson’s field at halftime vs. Keystone. No, we’re talking about another great week of games. How about unranked Randolph-Macon taking down then-No. 3 Johns Hopkins? No. 1 North Central and No. 9 Wartburg tight going deep into the fourth quarter? No. 6 UW-River Falls taking it to No. 21 Coe? No. 14 Hardin-Simmons winning at No. 12 UW-La Crosse? And none of that even includes the fact that Mount Union was 16 seconds away from losing its third consecutive game. Game balls get handed out to some of the top performances and most memorable performances in Division III from Week 2. Plus, which team held the ball for more than 25 minutes in the second half? Yes, you read that right. Who’s hitting a ton in Region 1? What’s the hullabaloo in the 2? What do you see in the 3? Who’s got questions galore in the 4? Who’s taking a long drive in the 5? Who’s getting their kicks in the 6? Randolph-Macon coach Pedro Arruza joins us for Fast Five. Plus, when Patrick pulls over the podcast car to the side of the road, what is the big question? And didn’t Pumpkin Spice season come even earlier this year? We’ll have a Pumpkin Spice Showdown in the Final Countdown. Plus we take four mailbag questions, and much more. Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas deliver all of the goodness to your fall in this week’s edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device. You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps: Apple Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Podcast Addict: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast iHeart Radio: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Spotify: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Photos: Randolph-Macon athletics; Wade Gardner, d3photography.com; Hardin-Simmons athletics

The task seemed impossible: For as long as we’ve been waiting for these Week 1 games and talking about them, especially the two in the Chicago suburbs featuring four of the top five teams in the country, they couldn’t possibly live up to the hype we’d given them. Could they? Well, perhaps they couldn’t both live up to the hype, but one sure as heck did, as No. 5 Wheaton knocked off No. 3 Mount Union when offensive guard Aiden Byrne blocked the Purple Raiders’ attempt to tie the game with an extra point kick with 22 seconds left. So it was all celebration for the Thunder, and Patrick Coleman was there and brings the sounds and the observations, as we hear from Wheaton coach Jesse Scott in Fast Five, and we’ll hear from Byrne as well. Patrick was also at the Bethel-North Central game, three-quarters of it anyway, so he got the gist, and we’ll talk about the key new personnel for North Central as well as what was missing for Bethel, plus the things that the No. 1-ranked Cardinals and No. 2 Royals need to work on. And we’ll dive heavily into No. 11 St. John’s win vs. No. 10 UW-La Crosse also. And how many viewers did the Wheaton win get? Logan Hansen comes back to the podcast for the regular season with his breakdown of the top learnings from the week from an analytics perspective in Analytics 301, a 3 minute and 1 second swing through the big games coming up as well as key questions: Will the WIAC have a decent shot of getting four teams in the playoffs again? Plus, Patrick and Greg Thomas swing through all six regions of Division III. Who’s only just begun in Region 1? Who has a clue in Region 2, etc.? Plus they hand out game balls, pick out the stats of the week, and answer your mailbag questions. How did our team’s Week 1 predictions go? Yes, we hold each other accountable for that and we’ll own up to it on every weekly podcast. Plus, in the Final Countdown, three results that surprised each of us from this week. We talk about dozens of teams and dozens of games, so check it all out on the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device. You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps: Apple Podcasts: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Podcast Addict: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast iHeart Radio: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Spotify: D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast Photos: Michael Hudson Photography; Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com; Steve Woltmann for North Central athletics