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2024 Extra Points Bowl: Marietta vs Westminster (PA)

Extra Points Bowl: What To Know, How To Watch Marietta vs. Westminster (PA)

Extra Points Bowl: What To Know, How To Watch Marietta vs. Westminster (PA)

Here’s a look ahead at all you need to know about the Extra Points Bowl, part of the Opendorse Bowl Series, streaming live and exclusively on FloCollege.

Nov 20, 2024 by Briar Napier
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Bowl season has arrived in college football.

NCAA Division III wrapped up its regular season this past weekend, and while the best of the best will be squaring off against one another in the playoffs beginning this week, many other talented teams will be continuing their seasons in a variety of D-III bowl games.

Enter the Extra Points Bowl, which plays its inaugural game this weekend at one of the most hallowed grounds in the sport — and will be broadcast only on FloCollege.

Here’s a look ahead at all you need to know about the Extra Points Bowl, part of the Opendorse Bowl Series this weekend being streamed live and exclusively on FloCollege:

Extra Points Bowl

Part of the Opendorse Bowl Series being streamed live and exclusively on FloCollege, the Extra Points Bowl will be one of two NCAA Division III football bowl games to be played Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Opendorse Bowl Series schedule kicks off at 1 p.m. (ET), when Hanover from the North Coast Athletic Conference will face Wabash from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in the ForeverLawn Bowl. The Extra Points Bowl between Marietta from the Ohio Athletic Conference and Westminster (Pennsylvania) from the Presidents’ Athletic Conference follows right after at 6 p.m.

What To Know About The Marietta Pioneers

Record: 8-2 (7-2 Ohio Athletic Conference)

The lowdown: Hitting the eight-wins mark last season for the first time since 1995, the Pioneers have now hit that plateau in back-to-back seasons. 

They almost went and won a conference title this time around, too, which is saying something when you’re in the same league as 13-time national champion Mount Union.

Marietta started 8-0, its best start in program history, and also became a ranked team in the D3football.com poll for the first time in program history with it. Dreams for an unbeaten season and potentially historic OAC title were dashed when Mount Union scored a last-minute touchdown on the Pioneers in their game on Nov. 9, and while a loss to John Carroll in its season finale stung, too, Marietta has earned the right to play some postseason ball all the while with a stellar year.

The Pioneers are second in the OAC, only behind the Purple Raiders, in offensive yards per game with 461.3 on average, leading the league in passing yardage with 277.2 per game behind star quarterback Connor Vierstra. The defense is also stout, with Marietta’s pass rush proving especially effective throughout the season.

Player to watch: Chance Knight, DL

Speaking of Marietta’s pass rush, Knight has been the anchor of the Pioneers’ defensive line throughout the year and enters the Extra Points Bowl as one of the best in the country at getting to an opposing quarterback.

Last year’s OAC Defensive Lineman of the Year, Knight has notched his third straight season of at least 8.5 sacks by tallying a career-high 12 going into the bowl game, while also recording a career-high 18 tackles for loss. His sack numbers currently put him tied for fifth nationally in D-III, as well, with Knight having multiple three-sack games on the season coming in the Pioneers’ season opener against St. John Fisher and in an OAC clash against Capital. 

Knight has also been a big part of why the Pioneers both gave up an OAC-low 79.2 rushing yards per game to their opponents this season, plugging up gaps in the trenches and stifling rushing attacks, and also had a league-high 15 interceptions thanks to his ability to help force quarterbacks to make rash decisions throwing the ball. That being said, Knight also picked off a pass this year for good measure, too. 

What To Know About Westminster (Pennsylvania) Football

Record: 7-3 (7-3 Presidents’ Athletic Conference)

The lowdown: Playing for what could be their first eight-win season since 2021, having already notched its eighth season in 11 years of winning seven or more games, the Titans are postseason experienced as they’ll play in their fifth postseason game in the past six seasons this weekend.

Though Westminster couldn’t quite break into the PAC top three of Carnegie Mellon, Grove City, and Washington & Jefferson, it won games against every other opponent in its conference-only schedule and finished as a top-five team in the league in both offensive (34.4 points scored per game) and defensive scoring (15.3 points allowed per game). 

Solid in just about every aspect of the game, the Titans have a quarterback in Ty McGowan who doesn’t have numbers that jump off of the page (1,521 passing yards, 10 touchdowns this year), but is very much a reliable option and steady hand to rely on as he’s thrown only three interceptions in 193 attempts. Westminster’s backfield is a committee, with Ryan Gomes (78 carries, 343 yards, five touchdowns) leading the way on the ground this season.

Add in a defense that has 18 sacks, nine interceptions and allows under 150 (147.6) passing yards per game, and the Titans will be trying their hardest to make scoring difficult this weekend in Canton for Marietta.

Player to watch: Brice Butler, DB

For a player who does not play on offense, having seven touchdowns in your career — like Butler does — is an impressive achievement.

It’s also a testament to how dangerous the senior is in everything that he does for the Titans.

Butler is a key and productive member of Westminster’s secondary, having tallied 41 total tackles on the season two interceptions, and a forced fumble, including a pick-six in the Titans’ game at Allegheny in mid-September. It is the third year of his four-year career that Butler has taken back at least one interception to the house, showcasing his ability to read defenses upfield and find gaps to explode.

That attribute and skill set are also vital for Butler in the return game, too.

No player in the PAC this season had a punt return touchdown except Butler, and he had two of them, with one coming against Thiel and the other coming against Bethany (West Virginia). The option back deep when Westminster forces a punt, Butler can explode anywhere, anytime as an important part of the Titans’ special teams game.

Don’t be surprised if a big-play moment from Butler happens during the Extra Points Bowl — and if it ends up being a crucial part of the game’s final result, too.

AFCA NCAA Division III Football Rankings In Week 13

  1. North Central (Ill.) (38) 10-0
  2. Cortland (N.Y.) (11) 10-0
  3. Mount Union (Ohio) (1) 10-0
  4. St. John’s (Minn.) 10-0
  5. Hardin-Simmons (Tex.) 10-0
  6. Susquehanna (Pa.) 9-1
  7. Salisbury (Md.) 10-0
  8. DePauw (Ind.) 10-0
  9. Wisconsin-Platteville 9-1
  10. Wartburg (Iowa) 9-1
  11. Endicott (Mass.) 9-1
  12. Linfield (Ore.) 9-1
  13. Aurora (Ill.) 9-1
  14. Hope (Mich.) 10-0
  15. Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) 9-1
  16. Grove City (Pa.) 9-1
  17. Johns Hopkins (Md.) 9-1
  18. Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) 9-1
  19. Springfield (Mass.) 10-0
  20. Wisconsin-La Crosse 7-3
  21. Randolph-Macon (Va.) 9-1
  22. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 6-3
  23. Lake Forest (Ill.) 10-0
  24. Coe (Iowa) 9-1
  25. Wisconsin-River Falls 7-3

Dropped Out: Wisconsin-Oshkosh (23), Marietta (Ohio) (24)

Others Receiving Votes: Wheaton (Ill.), 75; Bethel (Minn.), 71; Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 40; John Carroll (Ohio), 35; Wisconsin-Whitewater, 35; Hobart (N.Y.), 28; Ursinus (Pa.), 21; Wisconsin-Stout, 18; Wabash (Ind.), 12; Berry (Ga.), 12; Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.), 10; Alma (Mich.), 4; Marietta (Ohio), 3; Massachusetts-Dartmouth, 3; Maryville (Tenn.), 1; Texas Lutheran, 1.

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