D2football.com: Tony Nicolette's Gliac Column

Game of the Week

#24 Hillsdale (4-1, 4-1) at Indianapolis (3-1, 4-1)

As I mentioned above, Hillsdale has not been as crisp on the road as they would like. The Chargers are 1-1 away from Muddy Waters, and gave up 41 points in each affair. Based on the way UIndy's defense has been playing lately, I don't think it's a stretch to surmise that if the Greyhounds score 41 on Saturday they'll be in pretty good shape. With that said, UIndy hasn't had to slow down a team scoring even close to 45 points a game since they lost to Tech back in Week Two. The Chargers are clipping along at 45.6 per heading into Saturday.

Much has been made of these two QB's, and the match-up should be entertaining. I'll be more interested to see how each team is able to run the ball. Will the injury-plagued 'Hounds be able to keep up the solid production they have enjoyed? Will Hillsdale be able to establish enough of a ground game to keep the UIndy defense honest so Mark Nicolet to do what he wants?

Hillsdale Keys:
- Stop the run. UIndy has been successful running the ball, despite the fact that they are down to their sixth and seventh string guys having to get carries. Because of that success, Casey Gillin hasn't had to throw the ball very much. Not only are the RB's dealing with injuries, but the top two/three WR's are all out as well. If UIndy has to throw (especially in a pressure situation), will the untested receivers be up to the challenge? HC might be well-served to find out.
- Keep opposing offense off the board. So far, this has been a big problem on the road. It can't be this weekend for Hillsdale to win.
- Generate turnovers. Hillsdale is a league best +10 in turnover margin. Indianapolis is a league worst -6. Exploiting that might be a good idea.
- It's been a magic season thus far for Mark Nicolet. Another great game (almost pedestrian for him at this point) will certainly put the Chargers in position to claim the victory.

UIndy Keys:
- Get pressure on Nicolet. No one really has yet this year, and making him react vs. doing what he wants will be important.
- No mistakes. Gillin and company have done well at that thus far, and Hillsdale doesn't need any help with short fields.
- Run the ball. Hey, NMU had one guy get over 300 yards against them. Despite the injuries, UIndy has had success at this anyway. Having some more this week is imperative. Long drives keep Nicolet off the field.
- Homecoming - Loud crowd, etc. All right, I've beaten that to death and you all get it.

Prediction: These are two teams that are playing at a pretty high level at the moment. Both have shown the ability to play good defense, and each has a potent offense. With that said, I just think that Hillsdale has way too much firepower. If they can avoid the turnovers and sub-par defense that plagued them in their last two road games, I think they just have too much for UIndy. It won't be a gimme, however. Hillsdale 35, UIndy 27.

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Charger fans will be tailgating in Lot 14 which is located just west of the stadium. Tailgating begins at 3:00 PM. Game time is 6:00 PM.

CSTV Offers Free Slate of D2's Best

Al Gore will never get my vote, but the man gets my sincerest thanks. If he hadn't invented the Internet, there is no way I would be able to catch all of the following great games on CSTV's free webcasts. Visit their D2 page to watch.

Oct 6 - 3:00 PM
Pittsburgh State at Northwest Missouri State

Oct 6 - 8:00 PM
West Texas A&M at Midwestern State

Oct 13 - 2:00 PM
Minnesota State Mankato at Minnesota Duluth

Oct 18 - 8:00 PM
Chadron State @ Nebraska-Kearney: Watch reigning Harlon Hill Winner Danny Woodhead lead CSC.

Oct 27 - 1:00 PM
North Alabama at Valdosta State: Battle for the GSC crown

Oct 27 - 2:00 PM
Mesa State at Chadron State

Oct 27 - 7:00 PM
Ferris State at Grand Valley State: Anchor Bone at stake

Nov 1 - 8:00 PM
South Dakota @ Nebraska Omaha

Tunnels Trump Blowup Dolls

One of the best additions Hillsdale has added to Muddy Waters Stadiums is the player entrance tunnel leading from the locker room to the field. There's nothing classier than to see a sea of blue all jacked up, ready to come bursting onto the field. I'll take the tunnel anyday over the inflatable cartoon characters that lots of schools like to run through now. In the GLiac you can run out a dog's mouth, through a ship's wheel, under a "W", or through a wolf. I will gladly take the tunnel any day. Good job Otter and the rest of the people at Hillsdale for bucking the inflatable trend. What could the Chargers run out of anyway? They don't use the horse image enough. Maybe a big black cloud with lightning bolt slide would have worked, nah! The tunnel is the obvious choice.

GLIAC: Big 1, Little 11 huh?

I am getting pretty sick and tired of fans around the country taking pot shots at the GLIAC as a one-horse show. Grand Valley has looked mighty tough on Saturdays and just might cruise to an undefeated season. What is also apparent to people who really follow the GLIAC as opposed to making glancing at a poll once in a while is that the GLIAC has seriously stepped up its game on almost every campus.

If Grand Valley was so far above all of the rest of the league, then it would reason that they would dominate the league statistically as well. Not true at all. What is true is that the GLIAC as a conference has tons of teams and players ranking very highly in the nation. Here are major categories where GLIAC teams or players are in the top 25.

Total Offense:
6. Hillsdale
7. Ashland
15. GVSU
16. Northern Michigan (0-4), How many other leagues have 0-4 in the top 20?

Passing Offense:
2. Hillsdale
4. Saginaw Valley
6. Ashland
11. Mercyhurst
21. N. Michigan

Rushing Offense:
4. Northwood
19. GVSU
22. Indianapolis

Passing Efficiency:
4. Hillsdale
6. GVSU
9. Ashland
24. Mercyhurst
25. Saginaw Valley


Scoring Offense:
6. Hillsdale
9. Ashland
10. GVSU
22. Mercyhurst


Total Defense:
8. Indianapolis

Rushing Defense:
15. Indianapolis

Pass Efficiency Defense:
6. GVSU

Scoring Defense:
7. GVSU

Turnover Margin:
5. Hillsdale
10. Findlay


Rushing Yards per Game:
8. Bell, WSU
14. Childs, NU
15. Boussuah, NMU

Total Offense:
1. Nicolet, Hillsdale
9. Dougherty, SVSU
11. Cundiff, Ashland
15. Van Wieren, Ferris
20. Rivera, NMU
24. Iciek, GVSU

Catches per Game:
6. Waldie, Hillsdale
11. Gurica, Hillsdale

Receiving Yards per Game:
1. Waldie, Hillsdale
9. Gurica, Hillsdale
11. Gilmore, Ashland
23. Ziegelhofer, Ashland

Total Receiving Yards:
1. Waldie, Hillsdale
10. Gurica, Hillsdale
13. White, MTU
18. Hill, Mercyhurst

Scoring:
4. Schroeder, Ashland
5. Bell, WSU
14. Waldie, Hillsdale
23. Panizzi, Hillsdale

All Purpose Yards:
7. Bell, WSU
11. Waldie, Hillsdale
23. Wells, NMU
25. Harvey, Ashland

Passing Yards:
2. Nicolet, Hillsdale
4. Phillis, Mercyhurst
5. Dougherty, SVSU
13. Short, MTU

Passing Yards per Game:
2. Nicolet, Hillsdale
4. Dougherty, SVSU
15. Cundiff, Ashland
17. Phillis, Mercyhurst
20. Rivera, NMU

Rushing Yards:
9. Bell, WSU
13. Stokes, Mercyhurst
21. Wright, UIndy
24. Childs, Northwood
25. Boussuah, NMU

Total Tackles:
11. Wisniewski, WSU
14. Korte, Hillsdale
14. Volmering, SVSU

Solo Tackles:
3. Korte, Hillsdale
7. Volmering, SVSU
9. Meyer, Findlay

Sacks:
5. Miller, SVSU
12. Wild, Mercyhurst
19. Harvey, Findlay
19. Williams, UIndy

TFL:
4. Wild, Mercyhurst
21. Clement, Northwood
21. Jacobs, SVSU
21. Miller, SVSU

Save your "Your league is weak so everybody puts up big numbers." takes. If that were true than the national rankings would be ruled by leagues we can all agree are weaker than the GLIAC. Bottom line is that the GLIAC is seeing great performances every week in hard fought games. Teams have all ramped up their talent-levels and some of the best in the country.

Big 1, Little 11 huh?

Visit http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/ranksummary and see how other leagues compare nationally. Make the same list. Let's see what they have.

Hillsdale to Face Red Hot Greyhound Defense

As Saturday's game at the University of Indianapolis approaches the Hillsdale offense must prepare for what should prove to be its toughest defensive yet this season. The Greyhounds own top defensive marks in several GLIAC categories and have absolutely dominated their last 3 opponents.

Despite all sorts of injuries on the offensive side of the ball, great defense had allowed UIndy to match Hillsdale's impressive 4-1 record. The Greyhounds have given up just 19 total points in 3 weeks. You don't need a lot of points to win games under those conditions.

They held Findlay to 15% passing completions, only 6.4 yards per catch, 112 yards of total offense, 3 points, and 7 first downs.

They held Gannon to 6 yards per catch, .6 yards per rush, 5 first downs, no points, and 65 total yards of offense.

St. Joe's squeaked in 16 points on them in between those two games.

The bright spot for the Chargers is that earlier in the year Indy gave up a ton of points and yards to Michigan Tech in a 44-30 loss. Hillsdale had its best defensive day of the season against Tech, but this is on the road and the road hasn't been especially kind to the Chargers this year.

Indy will be fired up as they are likely still scratching their heads as to how they lost to Hillsdale last year. It is also homecoming at U of I.

Indy's coach played and coched at Hillsdale. He's a fiery guy on his quietest days, so he will be really amped for this one.

I can guarantee that Otter is talking a ton about the last too road outings for the Chargers. If they protect the football and play good defense, then we will be fine.

Hillsdale Football Cracks D2 Top 25

Hillsdale College, who now sits alone at 4-1 and second place in the GLIAC standings has cracked the top 25 for the first time in 8 years. The Chargers are currently ranked #24 by D2football.com. Grand Valley is ranked number one and the only other GLIAC team ranked. Several Northwest Region foes and possible first-round playoff opponents make up this week's list. North Dakota is #2 at 5-0. Nebraska-Omaha is #5 at 5-0. South Dakota is #20 at 3-2. Central Washington is 23 at 3-1. The national polls play no role in playoff seedings. The regional rankings that select the six playoff teams for each region are expected out after this coming weekend's games.