It feels like this matchup was destined to happen. The 2021 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the national championship for NCAA Division III college football, will be between the two top-ranked teams in the nation. North Central College will look to defend their national champion status against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. This year’s championship will take place at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio on Friday, December 17. Kickoff will be at 7p.m. ET.
Ever since NCC knocked off Wheaton in their second game of the year, they clinched the top overall spot in both the D3Football.com and AFCA Coaches Poll. UMHB was the top team in the polls for the first two weeks before it was NCC’s for the rest of the regular season. Regardless, UMHB has received seven first-place votes in each of the weekly polls. Now, the Stagg Bowl will determine who the true top team in the nation will be.
Dominant regular seasons
“We don’t like to worry about rankings too much,” said quarterback Luke Lehnen ’24. “We just want to go undefeated each week. Just need to keep telling ourselves, Go 1-0.”
Both teams went undefeated in the regular season and won their respective conferences. The CCIW and the ASC were both top-heavy, with both second-place teams (Wheaton and Hardin-Simmons) having only one loss. NCC didn’t clinch a conference title until the last regular-season game, an 84-6 victory against North Park University. Entering the playoffs on opposite sides of the bracket, NCC and UMHB were the top overall seed in their regional rankings as well.
Playoff routes
In the first round, NCC learned during the week that their opponent, Carnegie Mellon, had contracted too many positive COVID-19 cases on their roster. While NCC, the top overall seed in the tournament, received an unofficial bye, UMHB faced off against Trinity-Texas. In a battle of undefeated teams, UMHB won 13-3. The only touchdown scored was an Aphonso Thomas 17-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
In the second round, Wisconsin-Lacrosse traveled to Naperville. NCC came away with a 34-20 victory despite allowing the most amount of passing yards (323) all season. Meanwhile, UMHB hosted Birmingham-Southern College and blew out the Panthers, 42-7. The Crusaders limited BSC to only two successful third-down conversions from 12 attempts.
“La Crosse is one of the top teams in the country,” said head coach Jeff Thorne. “They were everything we thought they’d be and more. It was quite the baptism for [Lehnen] for his first playoff game.”
Lehnen completed 13 of 23 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown in the win.
“It was really nice to open the playoffs, especially against as good a team as La Crosse was,” said Lehnen. “That was like a semifinal-caliber kind of game. To get that win against that team boosted my confidence and will help me out for the rest of the playoffs.”
The national quarterfinals saw NCC host the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers, while UMHB hosted the Linfield Wildcats. The Engineers finished the game with a negative rushing yard total, while NCC had 516 total yards of offense, 197 yards through the air and 319 on the ground. The Cardinals cruised to a 55-6 win. Between the Crusaders and Wildcats, a game with over 1000 yards of offense was highlighted by a 21-point second quarter by UMHB.
Top teams on the road
This past weekend, both regionally top-ranked teams went on the road. NCC traveled to Mount Union, while UMHB traveled to Wisconsin-Whitewater. Despite confusion from NCC and UMHB communities alike, reporters flocked to Twitter to try to explain the NCAA’s ruling. Vague wording like “using the numbers” was all the NCAA Division III Football Committee would comment on, according to sources close to the members.
Frank Rossi, a college football reporter, published a Twitter thread explaining the reasoning for NCC having to travel to Alliance, Ohio. In the thread, he listed his complaints about the current way that the NCAA selects the home team in these matchups. In DIII football, there are no national seedings. Before the start of each round, the NCAA Committee selects who should host each game.
Rossi determined that the said “numbers” were each team’s strength of schedule, based on opponents’ winning percentages, along with each team’s record against ranked opponents. In the end, the no-contest against Carnegie Mellon is what dropped NCC below UMU’s numbers. Through 13 games, UMU had an approximate .593 strength of schedule and was 6-0 against ranked opponents. In 12 games for NCC, they had a .575 strength of schedule and a 5-0 record against ranked opponents.
Semifinal recap
In the semifinals, NCC relied on the legs of running back Ethan Greenfield ’22 during a windy and rainy game in Alliance, Ohio. A 26-13 Cardinal victory was led by Greenfield who totaled 190 yards. NCC’s scores came from a Lehnen scramble and completions to tight end Matt Robinson ’23 and wide receiver DeAngelo Hardy ’23. A hard-fought battle came down to the time of possession battle, as NCC held the ball nearly twice as long as UMU did.
In Whitewater, a 17-0 lead was the difference-maker for the Crusaders, who came away with a 24-7 victory. Brandon Jordan led the way with 11 catches for 164 yards and two touchdowns. The 6 foot 6 inch receiver bullied Warhawk defenders all afternoon.
“We call him ‘Bail-out Brandon”, UMHB quarterback Kyle King joked after the game. “When you get in trouble, you put it up and try to put it on his back shoulder, where he can use his body. Ninety percent of the time, he’s going to come down with it. It’s a comfortable feeling knowing you have him out there.”
Even after spending all week trying to figure out a way to defend the receiver, Whitewater came up with nothing.
“We felt good about defending the run and getting pressure on King, but [UMHB did a good job with] quick passes and getting the ball up high to Jordan,” said Whitewater’s head coach Kevin Bullis.
Tale of the tape
Now, the Stagg Bowl will see two of the top offenses in Division III. One of them is led by one of the top running backs in the country, with Greenfield being the country’s second-leading rusher. Greenfield along with wide receiver and Gagliardi award finalist, Andrew Kamienski ’22, have led the NCC offense to be the second-ranked unit in the country. The other is led by another of the best receivers in the country, as Jordan ranks in or near the top ten in every receiving stat.
The UMHB defense has allowed only 75 yards per game on the ground and only 158 yards per game through the air. The Cardinals’ defense has been fantastic with stopping the run, allowing only 60 yards per game. Their secondary has been successful in stopping the passing game, only allowing 175 yards per game through the air. However, that unit has also been susceptible to deep balls downfield. UMHB’s Brandon Jordon has a three-inch height advantage on the tallest NCC defensive backs, as Jake Beesley ’22 and Braden Lindmark ’23 both measure in at 6 foot 3 inches.
All of the awards
NCC totaled 17 All-CCIW picks along with 10 All-Region players, highlighted by Kamienski, Greenfield, guard Sharmore Clarke ’22, defensive end Dan Gilroy ’23, linebacker Ben Wong ’22, and Beesley. UMHB tallied up 25 All-ASC selections, along with 13 All-Region picks. Their highest accolade this season has been a fellow Gagliardi award finalist, defensive back Jefferson Fritz. The winner of this year’s Gagliardi award will be announced during the Stagg Bowl pregame show on Friday.
The college is in the process of organizing transportation for fans to make their way to the game. Tickets can be bought here for the student fan bus. ESPNU will broadcast the Stagg Bowl on television. NCC’s radio station, WONC 89.1 FM, will send a broadcasting crew to cover the Stagg Bowl as well.
