Nebraska wins a football conference championship afterall

[eomaha]

UNO 'outplayed' in loss but still wins NCC title

MANKATO, Minn. - Look for any angle you want to describe how Minnesota State- Mankato upset 15th-ranked UNO 20-13 Saturday, and it still boils down to one basic truth.

"We got outplayed today," University of Nebraska at Omaha Coach Pat Behrns said. "We got out-hit today. That football team was well-prepared. They played very well today."

UNO (8-3 overall, 5-1 NCC) still wound up in sole possession of the conference championship because South Dakota (9-2, 4-2) lost to North Dakota (8-2, 4-2). UND, which lost on Oct. 30 to UNO, scored a 41-21 victory over the Coyotes.

Even though UNO had its sights set on a potential spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs and an outright conference championship, it couldn't overcome an MSU team that was going for its first winning season since 1994 and seeking to end a seven-game losing string in the series.

And, on Senior Day before 2,018 at Blakeslee Stadium, MSU used an efficient offense and a sure-tackling defense to end UNO's winning streak at six games.

"I told the seniors this was going to be the game they remembered for the rest of their lives," said Jeff Jamrog, the first-year MSU head coach and a former Nebraska player and assistant. "I still remember losing to Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. You don't remember what your record is, but you always remember the last time you leave that football field. I asked them, 'How do you want to be remembered?' "

MSU's seniors will remember completing a six-game improvement from last year's 0-11 debacle that is the second-best turnaround in Division II since 1996. And they may just remember ruining UNO's chances to play in the postseason.

"It's a tremendous victory for our program," Jamrog said. "To have a winning season, a six-game turnaround coming off an 0-11 season, and to beat a very quality team in Nebraska-Omaha, who I have a lot of respect for. I'm so proud of what our players did today. I've been a coach since 1988, and for where we've been and how far we've come, this ranks right up there with any win I've been a part of."

UNO running back Jamar Day rushed for just 81 yards in 24 carries, which is 134 yards fewer than he has averaged since becoming a starter. And he lost a fumble while struggling for extra yardage on UNO's only third-quarter possession.

Meanwhile, Harlon Hill Trophy candidate Sean Treasure showed his mettle by rushing for 153 yards - part of a 435-yard day for MSU against a UNO defense that had allowed just 170 yards last week to North Dakota.

"They won the fundamental battle of blocking and tackling, and they did a better job than we did," Behrns said. "We couldn't get off the field against the run, and we couldn't stay on the field with our run."

When the elusive Treasure wasn't causing problems, MSU quarterback Ben King completed 21 of 30 passes for 259 yards. MSU racked up 28 first downs and had a time of possession advantage of 36:13 to 23:47.

"You have to give credit to their running back," UNO linebacker Taiwo Onatolu said. "He played a lot better than we thought he was going to play. They played hard-nosed football and kept pounding us. On first downs they'd throw quick little hitches. It was a good scheme."

Still, UNO had its chances.

"We couldn't finish on offense," quarterback Brian Masek said. "We had some big, long drives, and we couldn't get it in from the 20-yard line. We got a couple of field goals, but as an offense, we've really got to finish the drives and put it in the end zone."

UNO marched 13 plays and 67 yards on its second possession, but Chris Denney dropped a third-down pass that would have provided a first down inside the MSU 5. It was one of two drops for Denney during a day when he had career highs of nine receptions and 166 yards.

UNO had to settle for a field goal and had to do so again early in the fourth quarter to tie the game 13-13 with 11:13 left. UNO had gotten the ball at the MSU 10 when a Don Grafton punt deflected off the back of MSU's Nick Wilson and was recovered by UNO's Jarad Kness.

MSU (6-5, 3-3) bounced back and drove 72 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, with Treasure carrying seven times for 47 yards and scoring from the 3 with 5:55 to go.

UNO had two more possessions, but both ended on interceptions of passes intended for Denney.

"Did we go to our big guy?" Behrns asked. "Yes. But I guarantee you, when you get into a jam, those are the guys you go to."

MSU dominated the second half, as Treasure rushed for 108 of his 153 yards against a UNO defense that played all day without starting nose guard Tom Cramer, who was out with an ankle injury.

Meanwhile UNO managed just four second-half first downs on 115 total yards after halftime.

"It hurts because he's a hard-nosed player who plays hard every down," Onatolu said. "Cramer being out means more reps for our other defensive linemen. We were out there a lot today, so they just got worn down. That was part of it."

[GaryFL]

Don't conference champions get an automatic bid to the D-II playoffs?

[projectman]

Usually.

[Coyote]

Mavs fail to make tournament field

Satisfaction and disappointment are the interchangeable feelings that best describe the state of the UNO football team.

While the 8-3 Mavericks wound up winning an outright North Central Conference championship, their first since 2000, they were not included among six teams from the Northwest Region to participate in the NCAA Division II playoffs.

"At least we got the conference championship," said linebacker Taiwo Onatolu, a junior and one of UNO's captains. "If there's something to be excited about, that's it. But we kind of wanted to see what we could do in the playoffs.

"I feel real bad for the seniors, because they worked so hard and put a lot of time into the program. It's sad that we had such a good season and then had it end all of a sudden like this."

A 20-13 loss Saturday at Minnesota State-Mankato dropped the Mavs from likely host of a first-round game to out of the playoffs completely.

"We were in control, and we didn't handle it very well," University of Nebraska at Omaha Coach Pat Behrns said. "Does it mean we had a bad season? No. We're proud of winning the conference outright. We did have some good accomplishments."

Behrns and members of his coaching staff listened to the announcement of the playoff field Sunday from their offices. They had spoken to a few members of the team by Sunday afternoon.

"We're obviously disappointed, but not surprised," Behrns said. "I just don't think you can lose a game like that to a non-playoff team on the last week of the season and expect to get in."

Northwest Missouri State (10-1) earned the second seed in the Southwest Region.

Defending national champion Grand Valley State (8-2) knocked off regional top seed Michigan Tech (9-1) on Saturday to effectively bump UNO out of the playoffs. Grand Valley State had been No. 7 in the region, while UNO dropped out of the top six after being No. 4. Two teams in the regional field are St. Cloud State (8-2) and North Dakota (8-2), teams that UNO beat in back-to-back weeks before Saturday's loss at MSU.

"That's a little bit frustrating, but in order to get there you have to take care of business, and we didn't do that," Behrns said. "You always figure that if you win the conference championship you have a chance to be in the playoffs, but that doesn't hold true any more."

Since the NCC now has just seven schools, each team plays only six league games. So, instead of winning eight or nine conference games to win the league championship, UNO won just five.

"Now the non-conference schedule is the key," Behrns said. "That's something we have to address. And I hate to say it, but you've got to get home games."

UNO went 3-2 in non-conference games, including a loss at Western Washington.

Behrns has noticed that North Dakota and St. Cloud State played just 10 regular-season games, as did many of the other playoff teams around the country. He said he would consider playing 10 games next year, both to potentially increase playoff chances and to give his team the in-season break an open date allows.

Of the 24 teams to reach the postseason in Division II, 16 played 10 games or less.

"There's something to say for that," Behrns said. "And that's too bad because I've always believed that if you have the chance to play 11, you should play 11."

[projectman]

That's too bad.