WACO, TEX. -- After a loss to Ohio Northern on October 22 snapped a 110-game regular season win streak, Mount Union rolled off eight straight victories to earn its eighth national title in 13 years and claim the No. 1 spot in the final American Football Coaches Association Division III Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.
No. 1 Mount Union beat No. 2 Wisconsin-Whitewater, 35-28, in the Stagg Bowl, finishing No. 1 in the AFCA Coaches’ Poll for the fourth time in the seven-year history of the poll. Whitewater finished with a 14-1 mark in 2005, which set a new school record for victories in a season. No. 3 Linfield ended its season with a 44-41 loss to Whitewater in the quarterfinals. No. 4 Rowan made it to the semifinals before falling to eventual national champion Mount Union, 19-7. Delaware Valley rounds out the Top 5 after going 12-1 and earning a trip to the quarterfinals.
St. John’s (Minn.) fell four spots to No. 6 after losing to Whitewater, 34-7, in the second round of the playoffs. Wesley made a run to the semifinals and rose from unranked status in the final regular season poll to No. 7. No. 8 Capital won two playoff games for the first time in school history before succumbing to eventual national champion Mount Union, 34-31, in the quarterfinals. Mary Hardin-Baylor lost to Wesley, 46-36, in the second round and fell five positions to No. 9 while Concordia-Moorhead stayed in the 10th spot with its appearance in the second round.
Bridgewater made it to the quarterfinals, but stayed in the 11th position. Wabash moved up a notch to No. 12 after making the second round while Union lost to Rowan, 28-24, in the second round and jumped four spots to No. 13. No. 14 Augustana was ousted by Mount Union, 44-7, in the second round. Occidental fell 10 spots to No. 15 after losing to Linfield, 63-21, in the opening round.
No. 16 Thiel finished the season with an 11-1 record and made its first-ever Division III playoff appearance. Trinity (Tex.) lost to Mary Hardin-Baylor, 35-6, in the first round and fell 10 spots to No. 17. No. 18 North Central also made its first appearance in the NCAA playoffs, losing to Capital, 21-19, in the opening round. Washington & Jefferson fell to Bridgewater, 30-21, in round one and dropped to No. 19, while Hobart earned a trip to the second round of the playoffs and jumped two spots to No. 20.
Central comes in at No. 21 after losing to Whitewater, 34-14, in the first round, while fellow IIAC member Coe is ranked No. 22 after its 27-14 loss to Concordia-Moorhead, also in the first round. Hardin-Simmons did not qualify for the playoffs, but falls in at No. 23. No. 24 Ithaca made its 15th appearance in the postseason, but lost to Union, 55-41, in the first round. No. 25 Monmouth ended its season at 10-1 after an opening round loss to St. John’s.
Conference Breakdown: American Southwest (Mary Hardin-Baylor, Hardin-Simmons), Atlantic Central (Wesley), Empire 8 (Ithaca), Illinois-Wisconsin (Augustana, North Central), Iowa (Central, Coe), Liberty (Union, Hobart), Minnesota (St. John’s, Concordia-Moorhead), Ohio (Mount Union, Capital), Presidents (Washington & Jefferson, Thiel), Middle Atlantic (Delaware Valley), Midwest (Monmouth), New Jersey (Rowan), North Coast (Wabash), Northwest (Linfield), Old Dominion (Bridgewater), Southern California (Occidental), Southern Collegiate (Trinity), Wisconsin (Wisconsin-Whitewater).
Poll Points
Mount Union’s eight Division III national championships ranks first for most collegiate football titles for teams playing within a playoff format ... Wisconsin-Whitewater runningback Justin Beaver finished the 2005 season with 2,420 rushing yards, breaking the NCAA Division III season rushing record previously held by Dante Brown of Marietta, who rushed for 2,385 yards in 1996 ... Linfield quarterback Brett Elliott won the Gagliardi Trophy after he completed 69.9 percent of his passes for 4,019 yards and 49 touchdowns in 2005. He finished second in the nation in passing efficiency with a 191.5 rating and third in total offense at 371.6 yards per game ... Wesley, who had never won a Division III playoff game before this season, made it to the semifinals for the first time in school history ... Rowan reached the NCAA semifinals for the 10th time since 1992 ... For the second year in a row, Delaware Valley won the Middle Atlantic Conference title and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA playoffs, losing to Rowan ... 2005 AFCA Regional Coach of the Year winners Jack Leipheimer (Thiel), Pete Fredenburg (Mary Hardin-Baylor), Jim Collins (Capital) and Bob Berezowitz (Wisconsin-Whitewater) all have their teams ranked in the final Division III Coaches’ Poll ... Mount Union finished second in the nation in total offense at 520 yards per game and allowed opponents just 223.67 yards per game, ranking them third in total defense ... Monmouth quarterback Mitch Tanney set the Division III record for season completion percentage at 73.6 (215 of 292), breaking the old mark of 72.9 set by Mount Union’s Jim Ballard in 1993.
American Football Coaches Association Division III Coaches’ Poll
December 20, 2005
| Rank | School (1st votes) | Rec. | Pts. | Prv. | Last Week | Next Game |
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| 1. | Mount Union (Ohio) (40) | 14-1 | 1,000 | 6 | D. No. 3 Wis.-Whitewater, 35-28, in Stagg Bowl | Larry Kehres | | 2. | Wis.-Whitewater | 14-1 | 960 | 3 | Lost to No. 6 Mount Union (Ohio), 35-28, in Stagg Bowl | Bob Berezowitz | | 3. | Linfield (Ore.) | 10-1 | 889 | 1 | Lost to No. 3 Wis.-Whitewater, 44-41, in quarterfinals | Jay Locey | | 4. | Rowan (N.J.) | 11-2 | 866 | 9 | Lost to No. 6 Mount Union (Ohio), 19-7, in semifinals | Jay Accorsi | | 5. | Delaware Valley (Pa.) | 12-1 | 753 | 8 | Lost to No. 9 Rowan (N.J.), 27-21, in quarterfinals | G.A. Mangus | | 6. | St. John’s (Minn.) | 11-1 | 738 | 2 | Lost to No. 3 Wis.-Whitewater, 34-7, in second round | John Gagliardi | | 7. | Wesley (Del.) | 12-2 | 714 | NR | Lost to No. 3 Wis.-Whitewater, 58-6, in semifinals | Mike Drass | | 8. | Capital (Ohio) | 10-3 | 687 | 23 | Lost to No. 6 Mount Union (Ohio), 34-31, in quarterfinals | Jim Collins | | 9. | Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) | 9-2 | 646 | 4 | Lost to Wesley (Del.), 46-36, in second round | Pete Fredenburg | | 10. | Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) | 10-2 | 609 | 10 | Lost to No. 1 Linfield (Ore.), 28-14 in second round | Terry Horan | | 11. | Bridgewater (Va.) | 10-2 | 571 | 11 | Lost to Wesley (Del.), 46-7, in quarterfinals | Mike Clark | | 12. | Wabash (Ind.) | 11-1 | 522 | 13 | Lost to No. 23 Capital (Ohio), 14-11, in second round | Chris Creighton | | 13. | Union (N.Y.) | 11-1 | 474 | 17 | Lost to No. 9 Rowan (N.J.), 28-24, in second round | John Audino | | 14. | Augustana (Ill.) | 10-2 | 458 | 12 | Lost to No. 6 Mount Union (Ohio), 44-7, in second round | Jim Barnes | | 15. | Occidental (Calif.) | 9-1 | 430 | 5 | Lost to No. 1 Linfield (Ore.), 63-21, in first round | Dale Widolff | | 16. | Thiel (Pa.) | 11-1 | 426 | 15 | Lost to No. 11 Bridgewater (Va.), 24-13, in second round | Jack Leipheimer | | 17. | Trinity (Texas) | 9-1 | 410 | 7 | Lost to No. 4 Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas), 35-6, in first round | Steve Mohr | | 18. | North Central (Ill.) | 9-2 | 307 | 18 | Lost to No. 23 Capital (Ohio), 21-19, in first round | John Thorne | | 19. | Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) | 9-2 | 282 | 14 | Lost to No. 11 Bridgewater (Va.), 30-21, in first round | Mike Sirianni | | 20. | Hobart (N.Y.) | 9-2 | 259 | 22 | Lost to No. 8 Delaware Valley (Pa.), 21-14, in second round | Mike Cragg | | 21. | Central (Iowa) | 9-2 | 248 | 19 | Lost to No. 3 Wis.-Whitewater, 34-14, in first round | Jeff McMartin | | 22. | Coe (Iowa) | 9-2 | 218 | 20 | Lost to No. 10 Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.), 27-14, in first round | Eric Raeburn | | 23. | Hardin-Simmons (Texas) | 8-2 | 111 | 21 | DNQ playoffs | Jimmie Keeling | | 24. | Ithaca (N.Y.) | 8-3 | 103 | 25 | Lost to No. 17 Union (N.Y.), 55-41, in first round | Mike Welch | | 25. | Monmouth (Ill.) | 10-1 | 100 | 16 | Lost to No. 2 St. John’s (Minn.), 62-3, in first round | Steve Bell |
Dropped Out (last week’s rating): St. John Fisher (N.Y.) (24).
Others Receiving Votes: Ferrum (Va.), 42; St. John Fisher (N.Y.), 36; Cortland St. (N.Y.), 33; Trinity (Conn.), 32; Mount St. Joseph (Ohio), 16; Hampden-Sydney (Va.), 12; Albion (Mich.), 10; Wilkes (Pa.), 10; California Lutheran, 8; Lakeland (Wis.), 4; Wis.-Oshkosh, 4; John Carroll (Ohio), 3; Alfred (N.Y.), 2; Curry (Mass.), 2; Johns Hopkins (Md.), 2; Rensselaer (N.Y.), 1; St. Norbert (Wis.), 1; Washington & Lee (Va.), 1.
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