#6 Concordia Univ of Ann Arbor at Olivet Nazarene Univ at 2 pm ET

CUAA is 1-0 having defeated D2 Kentucky Wesleyan (17-14). ONU is 0-1 losing to Sienna Heights Univ (MI) (20-18). CUAA won this match-up last year 27-18.

 

#13 Lindsey Wilson College vs. Faulkner Univ. at 2:30 pm in Columbia, KY

LWC is 2-0 having defeated Campbellsville Univ (40-24) and Point Univ (34-9). Faulkner Univ. is 1-0 with a win over Bluefield College by a score of 38-19. These two teams last played in 2016 with LWC gaining the victory, 21-14.

 

2019 Boone County graduate, DB Jantje Wingo, had 4 tackles for LWC in last week's game against Point Univ.

 

#21 Georgetown College has a bye.

 

I included these teams because of my interest in several 2019 graduates from NKY. Feel free to add to this list in your own posts, whether you know someone from NKY on the team or not.

I was at the Concordia - Kentucky Wesleyan game and was surprised that Concordia was ranked that high. Both teams struggled mightily on offense and have got a lot of work to do on that side of ball. Hard to tell if the defense for both teams was that good or just the lack of production from the offense that made them look good.

I will give the Panthers defense credit for playing as well as they did, especially in the first half as they were on the field about 90% of the half.

@SX1250.1, I agree with you 100% that CUAA did not look like a #6 team. There are several reasons for that. Let me enumerate them.

 

1. They are not a #6 team. I think the coaches poll placed them too high. They had a great season last year, losing in the second round of the playoffs. But Marian (IN) is ranked one spot below them. I saw both teams last year and Marian was the better team. Marian won in the head-to-head contest 48-17. I saw Marian against Taylor Univ. and they blew the Trojans out of the water 55-0. CUAA beat Taylor 42-14. CUAA played good ball in the play-offs. Marian lost to St Xavier (Ill) in the first round of the playoffs. Keep in mind that Marian destroyed St. Xavier in the regular season 52-7. Marian should not have lost that playoff game. In fact, I had a Head Coach of another team in the conference shared by CUAA and Marian tell me he thought Marian would win it all in NAIA. Teams from that conference (MSFA) seem to dominate.

 

My point is, CUAA wound up with a preseason ranking higher than the team they actually are. Please don't tell them I said so.

 

2. Joe Conner, their terrific RB, moved on and tried to go pro. They are not the same team without Conner. You knew every game last season, that it was just a matter of time before Joe Conner would break out for a big play. CUAA has two pretty decent sophomore RBs, but they ain't Joe Conner. Conner was NAIA 1st Team All-American.

 

3. CUAA also graduated important senior leaders from the defense. Two of the most important were their all-conference inside LBs. They don't quite have things figured out yet, though the defense showed up at KWC.

 

4. Tons of penalties kept KWC in that game. The 16 penalties for 187 yards accumulated by CUAA definitely took points off the board. The offense had so many big plays and first downs and a TD called back due to penalty. They made a lot of mental mistakes and had their share of dumb plays, along with a few bad calls by the refs, IMO.

 

5. The first string QB for CUAA got hurt early in 3rd quarter.

 

My point is that CUAA was given their #6 ranking based on the reputation of their coach (he is a brilliant young coach) and the reputation the team had from last year. This year's team is not as good as last year's team. They will be challenged within their own conference that is loaded with good teams.

 

BTW, I was at the game in Owensboro last week too but didn't see you... or maybe I did but just did not know it.

Remember that preseason NAIA rankings are based entirely on the results of last year. More often than not a team will not move unless they lose. Unfortunate by is how it is.

 

The first weekly poll of the season will be released after this week’s games, but there is still a long way to go.