ANALYSIS Mount Union at head of the class

The Purple Raiders are one win from their fourth straight national title.
By MARK W. MILLER
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
ALLIANCE -- A successful college football program comes from excellence in organization, coaches' intelligence in preparation, quality players who are motivated by experienced leadership and a fierce desire to win.
Getting the little things accomplished through discipline, flawless execution, hard work on the practice field and trying to improve daily are some of the reasons Mount Union College is one win away from a fourth straight NCAA Division III national championship.
Distinction
Mount Union holds the Div. III record for consecutive victories (55), the most ever in college football in any division. Nobody on the current team (13-0) wants that to end as the Purple Raiders head into Saturday's Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Va., against St. John's (Minn.) (13-1).
So why is Mount Union so successful? A private school, it doesn't award scholarships. Because of its seven national titles, it attracts athletes who want to be involved in a school that excels, not only in football, but in the classroom and the community.
The remarkable thing about Mount Union is there are 23 seniors, eight who start on offense and nine who start on defense.
There are 15 players on offense and 17 on defense with a lot of game experience. That makes practice very competitive as they work hard to secure playing time.
Another remarkable thing about the Purple Raiders was their representation on the 2003 Football Gazette NCAA Div. III North Region squad. It included seniors, wide receiver Randell Knapp, right guard Bob Bradley, right tackle Larry Kinnard, defensive tackle Antoine Dillard, middle linebacker Shaun Spisak and cornerback Mike Miller as first-team selections, and defensive end Johnny Joseph was a third-team choice.
Comments
Coaches in the Ohio Athletic Conference and of the three playoff teams the Purple Raiders defeated say Mount Union is so successful because of a combination of two things.
Mike Swider, coach of Wheaton College (Ill.), summed it up best after the Thunder were dealt a 56-10 quarterfinal beating.
"Mount Union has tremendous continuity in its coaching staff and its players," Swider said. "They have great senior and junior players and they develop players who have to pay their dues to earn playing time."
Here are some other comments from coaches whose teams have lost 109 out of the last 110 games to Mount Union.
U"They played crisp and sharp. Give them credit, they never let up."
U"We made mistakes and they took advantage of them, got momentum going and we couldn't change that."
U"They were more physical than us. They made big plays and we didn't. They out-coached us. They embarrassed, dominated, humiliated, manhandled us and wore us down."
U"We did our best to stop them and couldn't. We thought we played a good game against them and that will help our program."
What's so impressive about the Purple Raiders is their huge, powerful, strong offensive and defensive lines that go at opponents so many ways. Games are won up front in the trenches.
Program's foundation
Mount Union teams are consistently, fundamentally sound, and their discipline and attention to detail is why they achieve excellence in the many goals they set.
The Purple Raider teams are opportunistic and capitalize on opponents' mistakes, turning those errors into scores. Their special teams make huge contributions, aiding in the outcome of wins.
Mount Union had 188 athletes on its roster at the start of the 2003 season -- 16 were from the Youngstown area and 74 were freshmen.
Going into Saturday's title game, the Purple Raiders have tied their Div. III single-season record for points scored (654) and set a record for total yards of offense (7,042).
The Purple Raiders have scored in 265 consecutive games since 1981, which includes 42 shutouts.