Two of Baker's losses were to playoff teams
By Steven Allspach | Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Morningside isn't misled by three-time loser Baker University, the foe Saturday at Elwood Olsen Stadium in the first round of the 16-team NAIA football playoffs.
The Kansas collegians from Baldwin City are 8-3 and one of three teams in the playoffs with three losses.
The cautionary note here is that one of those losses is to NCAA Division I-AA (FCS) Tennessee-Martin, and the other two to Heart of America Athletic Conference rivals Lindenwood (Mo.) and MidAmerica Nazarene.
The two HAAC rivals have also qualified for the playoffs. Baker, ranked 13th, lost 42-41 in two overtimes to fourth-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene, missing a 25-yard field goal by All-America kicker Derek Doerfler in the second extra session that would have won it and seventh-ranked Lindenwood escaped with a 25-21 win.
Baker was way out of its league when it got clobbered 56-0 by Tennessee-Martin, ranked 17th in the FCS, but two of UTM's losses are to Auburn and South Florida (coached by former Morningside assistant Jim Leavitt), both Division I (FBS) programs.
Coach Mike Grossner's Big Orange also own a 26-22 win over No. 18 Missouri Valley.
The other three-loss teams selected are St. Ambrose (8-3) and Dickinson State (7-3) and will be vast underdogs in the opening round.
St. Ambrose plays at second-ranked Sioux Falls and Dickinson State is at No. 1 Carroll (Mont.), the unbeaten 11-0 and No. 1-ranked defending national champs.
Morningside slipped from fourth to sixth after losing 34-31 Saturday at Sioux Falls in the GPAC title game. The setback snapped a 15-game regular-season winning streak for Coach Steve Ryan's Mustangs and also spoiled a bid for a 10-0 regular season.
Morningside, 47-11 since the start of the 2004 season, is making its fifth straight appearance in the playoffs, while Baker is making its first playoff appearance since 1993.
Baker did lose to Linfield, Ore., in the then-Division II national title game in 1986.
Morningside must deal with a couple of touted FBS transfers in the first-round contest.
Baker quarterback Mack Brown spent his freshman year as a redshirt at the University of Colorado, then transferred, and his favorite receiver, Tyrell Spain, was a member of Nebraska's touted 2005 recruiting class.
The 6-3, 205-pound Spain played in nine games for the Cornhuskers in 2006 at cornerback and special teams, then transferred. He spent his first two seasons at Mesa Community College.
The 6-3, 212-pound Brown is from Liberty, Mo. (Shawnee Mission North High School). He's passed for 2,911 yards and 21 touchdowns this season and 6,068 career yards in four seasons at Baker.
Spain, from San Diego, Calif., has caught 55 passes for 762 yards and 11 TDs.
The other highly decorated Wildcat is Doerfler, a junior placekicker and punter.
The first-team All-American from Lee's Summit, Mo., booted a national record 23 field goals last season, including seven of 50 yards or more with one of them traveling 62 yards against William Jewell.
He's only 9-for-18 this season, however.
For comparison purposes, Morningside kicker C.J. Gradoville, a sophomore, is 11-for-11 on field goals this season and 63-for-64 on extra point boots.
In the passing department, Morningside senior Ian Gilworth has passed for 2,426 yards and 34 touchdowns. In his two seasons with the Mustangs, Gilworth has thrown for 70 touchdowns and 6,049 yards.
The Kansas collegians from Baldwin City are 8-3 and one of three teams in the playoffs with three losses.
The cautionary note here is that one of those losses is to NCAA Division I-AA (FCS) Tennessee-Martin, and the other two to Heart of America Athletic Conference rivals Lindenwood (Mo.) and MidAmerica Nazarene.
The two HAAC rivals have also qualified for the playoffs. Baker, ranked 13th, lost 42-41 in two overtimes to fourth-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene, missing a 25-yard field goal by All-America kicker Derek Doerfler in the second extra session that would have won it and seventh-ranked Lindenwood escaped with a 25-21 win.
Baker was way out of its league when it got clobbered 56-0 by Tennessee-Martin, ranked 17th in the FCS, but two of UTM's losses are to Auburn and South Florida (coached by former Morningside assistant Jim Leavitt), both Division I (FBS) programs.
Coach Mike Grossner's Big Orange also own a 26-22 win over No. 18 Missouri Valley.
The other three-loss teams selected are St. Ambrose (8-3) and Dickinson State (7-3) and will be vast underdogs in the opening round.
St. Ambrose plays at second-ranked Sioux Falls and Dickinson State is at No. 1 Carroll (Mont.), the unbeaten 11-0 and No. 1-ranked defending national champs.
Morningside slipped from fourth to sixth after losing 34-31 Saturday at Sioux Falls in the GPAC title game. The setback snapped a 15-game regular-season winning streak for Coach Steve Ryan's Mustangs and also spoiled a bid for a 10-0 regular season.
Morningside, 47-11 since the start of the 2004 season, is making its fifth straight appearance in the playoffs, while Baker is making its first playoff appearance since 1993.
Baker did lose to Linfield, Ore., in the then-Division II national title game in 1986.
Morningside must deal with a couple of touted FBS transfers in the first-round contest.
Baker quarterback Mack Brown spent his freshman year as a redshirt at the University of Colorado, then transferred, and his favorite receiver, Tyrell Spain, was a member of Nebraska's touted 2005 recruiting class.
The 6-3, 205-pound Spain played in nine games for the Cornhuskers in 2006 at cornerback and special teams, then transferred. He spent his first two seasons at Mesa Community College.
The 6-3, 212-pound Brown is from Liberty, Mo. (Shawnee Mission North High School). He's passed for 2,911 yards and 21 touchdowns this season and 6,068 career yards in four seasons at Baker.
Spain, from San Diego, Calif., has caught 55 passes for 762 yards and 11 TDs.
The other highly decorated Wildcat is Doerfler, a junior placekicker and punter.
The first-team All-American from Lee's Summit, Mo., booted a national record 23 field goals last season, including seven of 50 yards or more with one of them traveling 62 yards against William Jewell.
He's only 9-for-18 this season, however.
For comparison purposes, Morningside kicker C.J. Gradoville, a sophomore, is 11-for-11 on field goals this season and 63-for-64 on extra point boots.
In the passing department, Morningside senior Ian Gilworth has passed for 2,426 yards and 34 touchdowns. In his two seasons with the Mustangs, Gilworth has thrown for 70 touchdowns and 6,049 yards.
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