Mount Union beats Trinity

Congratulations to Mount Union for their impressive win over my Trinity Tigers in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. The Purple Raiders won their third straight national championship and sixth in seven years with a dominating 48-7 victory. Senior running back Dan Pugh scored four touchdowns, giving him a record 41 for the season, two more than Barry Sanders.

Would the presence of suspended quarterback Roy Hampton have made a difference? I don't know, and Trinity coach Steve Mohr refuses to play the what-if game:

"I don't think that is a fair question," Mohr said. "And I'm not going to subject myself to answer that."

Mount Union head coach Larry Kehres addressed the question in the AP wire story:

"It was a very difficult thing for Trinity to play without him," Kehres said. "I really respect Coach Mohr for the way he was able to handle it, but no team can, on short notice, deal with a problem like that."

As I said before, I'm sad for Hampton's teammates, who deserved a chance to play for the title with their leader. I initially thought that Hampton's sin was not suspension-worthy, but I now believe it was appropriate and I'm glad that my alma mater did what they thought was right.

Any season that ends 14-1 and national runnerup has got to be considered a smashing success. My sincere congratulations to both teams. We'll get 'em next year, Trinity.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on December 22, 2002 to Other sports | TrackBack