SUWANEE,
Ga. -- After
snapping Trinity University’s
13-year string of conference titles in 2006, Millsaps College
is the preseason favorite to repeat as SCAC champions in
2007.
In exclusive preseason
voting by the league’s head coaches,
Millsaps was tabbed as the team to beat on six of nine ballots
and received 68 points in the voting process.
Both Millsaps
and Trinity entered the last regular season weekend of the
2006
season with identical 5-0 conference marks - setting
up a winner-take-all scenario in Jackson. With the SCAC title
on the line, the Majors jumped out to a quick 27-0 lead and cruised
to the 34-12 victory to earn the program’s first conference
championship since 1996 and first outright title since 1991.
The Majors return
19 of 22 starters from that championship squad, including the
entire defensive unit and 10 all-SCAC selections.
Leading the offense will junior quarterback Juan Joseph - the
2006 SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year. Joseph rewrote the school’s
record book last season - setting single-season marks in completions
(224), attempts (374), passing yards (2,495) and touchdown passes
(21) while setting single-game marks in completions (28, twice),
attempts (49) and TD passes (five).
Defensively, junior Marcus Harris returns to anchor a unit that
got stronger as the season progressed. A first-team all-SCAC
defensive back and honorable mention Football Gazette all-American,
Harris led the conference in passes defended (22 - tied for third
nationally) and finished tied for third on the team in tackles
(64). He also had five interceptions.
As victors of the SCAC, Millsaps made its second-ever appearance
in the NCAA Tournament, dropping a first-round matchup at 21st-ranked
Carnegie Mellon, 21-0.
Millsaps, along with
the rest of the conference, will be facing new competition
this season as the league’s membership
increases to an all-time high nine football-playing institutions
with the additions of Birmingham-Southern College and Colorado
College.
Birmingham-Southern, in the first year of its four-year provisional
transition from Division I to Division III, will not be eligible
for the conference championship and all conference games against
the Panthers will not count in the league standings.
Trinity was the coaches’ second
pick with 64 points, including three first-place votes. The
Tigers look to regain its perch
atop the conference standings and return to the NCAA Tournament
after missing out on the postseason for the first time since
1996.
Rounding out the 2007 predicted order of finish: DePauw University
was slotted third with 51 points and Rhodes College amassed 40
points to come in at fourth. The SCAC coaches tabbed Centre College
as the fifth pick with 34 points followed by Austin College and
Colorado College in a tie for sixth with 27 points. Sewanee-University
of the South was eighth with 13 points.
In addition to Joseph and Harris, several outstanding players
return to the SCAC gridiron in 2007, including preseason D3football.com
all-American Drew Gallaugher of Colorado College. The senior
defensive back had a team-leading seven interceptions, 12 pass-breakups
and 69 tackles for the Tigers last season.
Senior running back
Jeremiah Marks of DePauw, who led the league last season in
both rushing (1,117 yards) and scoring (14 TDs),
is currently ranked eighth in SCAC history in rushing yards (2,920)
and his 104.3 yards per game career rushing average places him
fourth all-time in that category. With 246 career points, Marks,
a three-time all-SCAC back, is just 78 points from becoming the
league’s all-time scoring leader.
Junior receiver Riley Curry, a first-team all-SCAC selection
last season, continues the tradition of great wideouts at Trinity.
Last season Riley finished second in the conference in catches
(41), total receiving yards (561) and yards receiving per game
(56.1). His 74-yard TD catch against Austin College was the longest
reception of the 2006 season.
Led by first-team
all-SCAC selections junior linebacker Desmond Hendricks and
senior defensive back Jake McCart, defense was
the name of the game last season for Rhodes. The Lynx led the
SCAC in both rushing defense (75.0 yards allowed per game) and
total defense (199.6 yards allowed per game). Hendricks finished
second in the league in sacks (nine) and tied for third in tackles
for loss (13). McCart is the team’s leading returning tackler
and had 80 total stops a year ago (seventh in the SCAC).
Another team banking on a strong defensive performance in 2007
is Centre. The Colonels return seven starters, including three
all-SCAC performers, on that side of the ball, led by two-time
all-SCAC first team linebacker Matt Johnson. Johnson, a second
team all-South region player a year ago, posted 86 tackles, including
3.5 for a loss and two interceptions in 2006.
Austin College led
the SCAC in rushing last season, averaging 206.8 yards per
contest, and the ‘Roos top two ground-gainers
return to Sherman to lead the attack. Senior running back Ryan
Cowley rushed for 809 yards (third in the SCAC) and 12 touchdowns
(second in the SCAC) with an average of 5.7 yards per carry a
year ago, while junior fullback Ross Hasten bullied his way to
469 yards (6.0 yards per rush).
Sewanee has a new head coach on the Mountain this season as
Robert Black (Class of 1989) returns to his alma mater to lead
the Tigers. Black will look to the leadership of senior running
back Blake Mears, a first-team all-SCAC selection last season
who rushed for 627 yards and six TDs - giving him 1,402 yards
for his career (third among all active SCAC running backs).
Along with the announcement
of its move from Division I to Division III, Birmingham-Southern
decided to renew its football program,
which had been dormant since 1939. Wasting no time, the Panthers
turned to head coach Joey Jones to lead the program. Jones, who
played at the University of Alabama under the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant
from 1980-83, compiled an impressive 13-year coaching mark of
125-38 (.767) in the Alabama high school ranks.
Also of note,
the annual gridiron battle between DePauw and Wabash (114th
meeting) will be nationally televised for the second
consecutive year on the high definition network HDNet.
2007 SCAC Predicted Order of Finish
1. Millsaps College Majors 68 (6)
2. Trinity University Tigers 64 (3)
3. DePauw University Tigers 51
4. Rhodes College Lynx 40
5. Centre College Colonels 34
6. Austin College Kangaroos 27
6. *Colorado College Tigers 27
8. Sewanee-University of the South 13
*Colorado College was a Division III independent last season.
#Birmingham-Southern, a Division III provisional member, was not considered
in the preseason rankings.
Note: First-place votes (in parentheses) are worth eight points,
second-place worth seven, on down to eighth-place votes being
worth one.
