JCU No. 11 in D3 poll

As usual, hopes are high at John Carroll for the football team as it begins preparations for the 2021 season.

That’s because the Blue Streaks return a host of talent on both sides of the ball. On Aug. 18, the D3Football.com preseason Top 25 poll was released, and JCU checked in just outside the top 10 at No. 11.

The Blue Streaks received 322 points for the start of the fall, which can only be described as a wide-open season in Division III. More than half of the teams — 13 — in the preseason poll did not play in the fall or spring. JCU was one of the 12 teams that did, as it went 2-1 last spring.

Five teams received No. 1 votes, starting with preseason No. 1 Mary Hardin-Baylor (10). Mount Union was next with six first-place votes, then No. 3 North Central (Ill.) — the 2019 national champion — with four. No. 4 Wisconsin-Whitewater got one first-place vote, and Wheaton (Ill.) four.

JCU’s first game of the season is Sept. 4 against visiting No. 19 Washington and Jefferson, which makes for a rare outof-conference Top 25 showdown in D-III in Week 1.

Heidelberg was the third team from the Ohio Athletic Conference to appear in the preseason poll. The Student Princes are No. 24.

In other OAC news, the conference’s preseason coaches poll was released Aug. 18, and for the seventh year in a row the

Blue Streaks were the No. 2 pick behind perennial No. 1 Mount Union.

In those six season as the OAC’s No. 2 pick, the Blue Streaks are 55-13 with three NCAA D-III playoff appearances.

2021 OAC preseason coaches poll

(first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Mount Union 81 (9)

2. John Carroll 73 (1)

3. Heidelberg 64

4. Marietta 52

5. Ohio Northern 48

6. Baldwin Wallace 43

7. Wilmington 35

T8. Muskingum 22 T8. Otterbein 22

10. Capital 10

NEWS-HERALD FILE Mentor graduate Kyle Ulshafer (91) celebrates after his sack and forced fumble of Baldwin Wallace QB Kegan Armitage on March 12 during John Carroll’s 28-17 victory on March 12. Also pictured is teammate and fellow Mentor grad Dan Garcar (54).