D-III’s a Charm

Two Saturdays ago, Trinity University and Millsaps College figured out exactly how a pair of Division III football teams could get on "SportsCenter."

Simple. Just have a 15-lateral, 45-second, rugby-style kickoff return for the game-winning play as time expires like the one Trinity used to secure its victory.

But the bar ought to be a lot lower for fans because there is a lot to like about small-college football. One week after Trinity and Millsaps held their during-the-game fireworks, Waynesburg College squared off against Geneva College in a Division III tilt Geneva's home stadium at Beaver Falls, PA.

That game was just like hundreds of other small-college contests played last weekend throughout the country, which is to say that were a lot of things special about it.

Geneva is pretty much the Notre Dame of the Reformed Presbyterian Church and it takes its faith almost as seriously as the folks at South Bend. Actually, Geneva is probably a little more devout.

Every employee, from the janitors who spent last weekend raking leaves to football coach Geno DeMarco — whose father is a church pastor — has to make an expression of Christianity.

The athletic department's mission statement starts with the goal of "honoring Christ in and out of the athletic arena." You think the athletic department at Notre Dame told Charlie Weis he had to attend daily Mass or the deal was off?

Presumably, that principle also applied to Mark Mangino when he was offensive coordinator for the Golden Tornadoes back in the '80s before moving to Oklahoma. From there, Mangino was hired as head coach at Kansas, where he infected a basketball school with football fever.

On the outside wall of Geneva's fieldhouse, there is a listing of the three Geneva players whose numbers have been retired.

That includes one Cal Hubbard, who played for the team in the mid-1920s, when it was nicknamed the "Covies," short for Covenanters — the forerunner of the Reformed Presbyterians.

If you want to see Hubbard's Hall of Fame inscription, go to Canton. Or Cooperstown, take your pick.

Since Geneva shares the field with Beaver Falls High School, the wall also includes some guy called Namath.

And that doesn't take into account the game, which Geneva won, 24-17, in overtime. The Golden Tornadoes took a 17-0 lead into halftime, but Waynesburg scored 17 third-quarter points to tie the game and set up the extra session, when converted defensive back Matt Dean scored the game-winner.

While the Division III players are usually smaller and slower — which is the most noticeable difference between them and their D-I brethren, the game is pretty much the same, and sometimes more electric.

And, with D-I schools tightening the belts on scholarships, players who might have gone to football factories a generation ago are now falling to former also-rans, mid-major schools, and D-II programs, which at least partially explains surging programs like Rutgers and South Florida.

It also explains why players like Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger, from the University of Miami, are now making their mark in the NFL.

While it's not likely that too many D-III players will follow that path, there are still good reasons to check out small-college players. For one thing, most small colleges recruit their backyard, so there's certain to be familiar names in the program.

Geneva's roster includes more than 20 players who graduated from high schools located within 10 miles of campus.

Small colleges are where you'll find many of the names etched in the NCAA record books. Going into this season, college football's all-time leading rusher was R.J. Bowers of Grove City, which was on the schedule for both Waynesburg and Geneva this season.

That mark has since been broken by Danny Woodhead of Division II Chadron State. Woodhead, a senior has nudged the mark up over 7,500 yards.

One of the leading candidates to threaten that mark played in Beaver Falls last weekend. Nine games into his college career, Waynesburg freshman Robert Heller has more than 1,700 yards rushing and is averaging almost 200 yards a game.

Of course, to catch Woodhead, he'll need to turn that up a notch.

But that ought to be fun to watch, but it begs the question.

If a runner breaks the NCAA career rushing record and only 2,000 people are there to see it, does it get on "SportsCenter?"