Thursday, September 9, 2010

UNO-UNK? Ouachita Baptist has top-notch rivalry game

Filed by Rob White

4:25 p.m.: You think UNO's football rivalry with UNK – hey, the Victory Bell means something now that the Lopers have won two in a row – is good and getting better? Intrastate rival just 2-1/2 hours down the road (that's sportswriter, speed). About to become conference rivals. Hey, great stuff.

But how about the rivalry that Ouachita Baptist – UNO's Thursday night opponent – has? The Tigers play Henderson State each year in the Battle of the Ravine. It's no intrastate rivalry, and it's better than an intracity (Arkadelphia, Ark.) rivalry. The teams' stadiums are about 500 yards (yards!) apart, according to OBU sports information director Alan Greenwood. Across a ravine. OBU players walk to the game at Henderson State from their own stadium. OBU coach Todd Knight can see the top of Henderson State's bowl-style stadium from a hill on campus. Heck, some of Henderson State's buildings appear to be on the OBU campus. Crazy.

What else do we know about OBU? Well, just as they are starting to move solidly into the middle of the pack – and perhaps higher – in the Gulf South Conference (a league often considered the football equal of the MIAA in Division II), the Tigers are leaving. The six Division II Arkansas schools, plus three Oklahoma schools from the Lone Star Conference – are forming their own league, cutting down travel costs for all. It looks like OBU has a leg up on being one of the best, if not the best, football school in that league.

There isn't a whole lot of tremendous football history at OBU, which moved from the NAIA to Division II in the late 1990s and hadn't had a winning season since 1987 until 2008. But the Tigers do own three victories over Arkansas and another over Ole Miss — from back in the 1920s and earlier. Check the start of the 1922 season: win over Arkansas, tie against Ole Miss, loss to Texas A&M. Things have changed.

So, there's your Ouachita Baptist (named after the Ouachita River, by the way) primer. Enjoy what should be one of the more intriguing, non-UNK nonconference games in several years at Caniglia Field. »

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Defensive tackle Ehlers' has big shoes to fill
12:23 p.m.: Over and over UNO football coach Pat Behrns tells you that one of the keys to the Maverick defense this year is Kevin Ehlers.

That's Kevin Ehlers, backup defensive tackle.

"It's nice to hear, but at the same time I know it anyway," said Ehlers, a senior from Omaha Creighton Prep. "You can tell the way the coaches are treating you that you are being counted upon. At the end of the day, that's nice."

Ehlers has demonstrated his value the past two seasons, serving as a swing man on the defensive line with the ability to play both inside spots – tackle and nose guard – as well as defensive end.

But the 6-foot-1, 263-pounder added about 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason to concentrate on playing only the inside spots. He's listed as the backup to Justin Sindelar at tackle and will also spell nose guard Kent Fleming. He said he feels equally comfortable at both positions.

The Mavs, who open the season Saturday night at 6 against the University of Nebraska at Kearney, have a big hole to plug in the middle of the defensive line: All-MIAA nose guard Zac Keller completed his eligibility last fall.

That's where the inside rotation becomes important.

"You lose a Zac Keller, sure, but I think Justin Sindelar has a chance to be as good as Zac Keller," Behrns said. "So now we've got to get one of those two (Ehlers and Fleming), or both, to be as good as Sindelar (was last season)."

UNO had the second best rush defense in the MIAA last year, allowing 126.6 yards per game. And in the MIAA, just as important is getting a push up front to put pressure on the league's top quarterbacks like Northwest Missouri State's Blake Bolles, Missouri Western's Drew Newhart, Central Missouri's Eric Czerniewski, Washburn's Dane Simoneau and Fort Hays State's Mike Garrison.

The Mavs had 25 sacks last year in 12 games and ranked second in pass efficiency defense.

"We've all been here for a while," Ehlers said. "We know each other well, we get along well, we read each other well. And everyone who knows defense – or football in general – knows that it all starts up front. The three of us can be a very big component to our success."

Even without Keller, Ehlers said UNO isn't planning on any sort of dropoff.

"Zac was a very good player, no doubt," he said. "But we all know we need to take a step forward. And talking about the accolades of past players, I just don't think there's a lot of room for it. We have to move forward as a group. That was last year and this is this year."

Ehlers had 16 tackles in his first extensive playing time in 2008, then had 24 tackles – including two sacks – last season, when he started three times.

Asked if his versatility has prevented him from earning a full-time starting job at one spot, Ehlers turned it around.

"I think it helped more than anything," he said. "Playing end and tackle got me on the field more than playing one single position." »

Thursday, August 26, 2010

MIAA loaded at top

Filed by Rob White

12:01 p.m.: UNO has virtually everybody back on offense and many of its key defensive contributors returning from a team that went 7-5 overall (though not that far from 10-2) and tied for second place — and winning the tiebreaker — in the rugged MIAA.

Looks like a banner season ahead, right?

Maybe so, but maybe not. The MIAA is considered the gold standard of Division II football conferences — in my mind, and on paper, it appears better than the Gulf South Conference (North Alabama, Valdosta State, Delta State, etc.) right now.

Why? Everybody is loaded. No let's amend that: the best teams are loaded again. And there appears to be a widening gulf between the league's top-level teams and it's lower-division teams.

Northwest Missouri State, the defending national champion which has played in five straight championship games, has 10 starters — 10! — back on offense, and most of its defense. Missouri Western also has 10 starters back on offense. Washburn has eight back on both sides of the ball. Central Missouri has its key players back on offense. Northwest won the league last year, with UNO, Washburn, Western and Central in that four-way tie for second in the league.

MIAA teams will be hard-pressed to break into that top five. Fort Hays State has a shot with most of its key players back from an improving team. Pittsburg State has practically no starters back from the team's first losing season in 30 years. Will the Gorillas rebound? Maybe Missouri Southern can make a jump after being decimated by injuries.

Emporia State is still building and doesn't look ready. Same with Truman State.

The season starts Thursday, and seven of the league's 10 teams play their opener this weekend. It's the start of what should be a wild ride. »