Mount Union’s Unstoppable Winning Streak: A College Football Dynasty

[00:00:00] On November 12, 2016, Division III Powerhouse Mount Union, part of the Ohio Athletic Conference, loses its first conference game in over 11 years, ending their streak of 112 conference wins, showing how dominant they were as a football team at just any level of competition.

[00:00:25] Today we're going to dive into that football team, how they got to their greatness and such consistent domination. Today on Daily Sports History.

[00:00:42] Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive into sports history every day.

[00:00:49] And today's trivia question is, what Mount Union alum led the NFL in receptions in 2013?

[00:00:59] Mount Union is a private liberal arts university in Alliance, Ohio.

[00:01:04] And the school was founded in 1846.

[00:01:08] And they actually preached equality for men and women, which was unusual at the time.

[00:01:14] And of course, as football grew, they decided to jump in on the action and started their first football program in 1893.

[00:01:22] Where their first season, they went one and two and wouldn't have their first winning season until 1899.

[00:01:30] And in 1914, they would join the Ohio Athletic Conference, the conference that they would go on to dominate in the early 2000s.

[00:01:38] But they didn't always dominate. And it wouldn't be till 1985 when they would win their very first conference title.

[00:01:46] And the first birth into the Division III NCAA college football playoffs.

[00:01:50] And if you don't know, the actual Division III college playoffs started in 1973.

[00:01:56] Which might seem crazy to all you that pay attention to only Division I, where they haven't had the playoffs until more recently.

[00:02:03] And to get into this, and to get in, you need to win your conference.

[00:02:07] And they were let, this team was led by Ken Wable, who's also that same year named Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

[00:02:15] But he would retire after 24 years with Mount Union, having a 123-95 record with two ties.

[00:02:25] And his dedication helped lead them to their new coach, who would take them over the top.

[00:02:30] And their new head coach that took over was Larry Karras.

[00:02:35] And Larry worked his way up.

[00:02:37] And Larry was an alum of Mount Union, and actually played there from 67 to 70, where he was a quarterback, and set the school record for a 95-yard touchdown pass.

[00:02:47] Then he would go on to coach at Bowling Green, Johnston High School, and then he would become the offensive coordinator at Mount Union, before taking over the head coaching job.

[00:02:57] So how did they get good?

[00:02:59] Well, it helped that the program had turned itself around and be a consistent winner when Larry was an OC under the previous head coach.

[00:03:06] But it was also just Larry's coaching style.

[00:03:09] He'd be tough on the players, but also be encouraging as well.

[00:03:13] He wouldn't let you just dwell on the negatives.

[00:03:15] He'd give you a word of encouragement, even if he just yelled at you in front of the team.

[00:03:20] He would motivate you and make sure that everything ran to perfection.

[00:03:25] Now, one thing that also helped them is their strategy.

[00:03:28] As a Division III school, that meant they had no scholarships to offer.

[00:03:33] At Division III, players play to play.

[00:03:35] And I coached at a Division III school near Mount Union.

[00:03:38] And we lost a lot of recruits to Mount Union.

[00:03:41] Because what they really like to do is they want to get numbers.

[00:03:46] The more players you have on the team, the more chances you have to have success.

[00:03:51] And it breeds competition.

[00:03:53] And you get the best of the best.

[00:03:55] So they would regularly start the season with over 200 on the roster.

[00:03:59] Now, if you don't know, most Division III schools have between 80 and 100 players on their team.

[00:04:05] Some less, some more.

[00:04:06] But they usually average around that amount.

[00:04:09] And to have 200 is a large number.

[00:04:12] Especially since the school has just over 2,000 students in attendance.

[00:04:17] Which meant 10% of the entire school played on the football team.

[00:04:21] It meant the school bought into football and it returned the favor.

[00:04:25] So Mount Union would regularly have over 100 freshmen on their team.

[00:04:28] And they would have these unique practices where not everyone would practice together.

[00:04:32] And they would separate them.

[00:04:33] Have freshmen practice alone.

[00:04:35] And all these different ways they would do things.

[00:04:37] And it helped breed a culture and a want to grow with the team.

[00:04:42] The more you wanted to move up, the more you wanted to stay.

[00:04:45] And it also meant that when they had juniors and seniors playing on Saturday,

[00:04:50] they had their best players playing.

[00:04:53] Because as a Division III, when you're relying on freshmen to play, it's a challenge.

[00:04:57] It's something that my team, that I coach, had to rely on multiple times.

[00:05:01] As we had coaching turnovers, then we had player turnovers.

[00:05:05] So freshmen played a lot.

[00:05:06] And we struggled because of that.

[00:05:07] Because an 18-year-old going against a 22-year-old is a huge gap.

[00:05:12] Not only in strength, but also mentality.

[00:05:15] It's a struggle.

[00:05:16] But also, Larry was able to adjust.

[00:05:20] The greatest long-time coaches are able to adjust.

[00:05:23] The game changes over time.

[00:05:25] As we've seen more recently, it changes really quick.

[00:05:28] So defensive styles change.

[00:05:30] Offensive styles change.

[00:05:32] You've got to change whether you run heavy, whether you pass heavy,

[00:05:35] and what fits your team the best.

[00:05:37] And Larry won his first national title against Rowan in 1993 to win the Stag Bowl 34-24.

[00:05:45] It was the first national championship in school history.

[00:05:49] And they were able to come back three years later, face Rowan again, and again win.

[00:05:54] And this was the start, this season was the start of a historic time.

[00:05:58] As this season, they started their 54-game win streak.

[00:06:01] And they lost in the 1999 playoffs.

[00:06:04] And they came back in the 2000 season and started another win streak,

[00:06:08] breaking their previous record, winning 55 games.

[00:06:12] They won 109 games out of 110, winning six national titles.

[00:06:18] And in 2005, they would start a win streak versus their conference,

[00:06:23] where they would not lose a game in conference for 11 years.

[00:06:27] Meaning they won 112 games in a row.

[00:06:32] And from 1994 to 2005, they had won 100 games in conference in a row.

[00:06:39] They destroyed their conference for over 20 years, basically the entire Larry Karras tenure.

[00:06:46] This allowed them to win 23 conferences in his 27 seasons.

[00:06:50] And in 2013, Karras would retire and become the athletic director for Mount Union.

[00:06:56] But he left it in good hands as his son, Vince Karras, took over and won six conference titles

[00:07:01] and two national championships in the seven years he was their head coach.

[00:07:05] And in 2020, he decided to lead the program and head on to Toledo.

[00:07:09] And then Jeff Dart took over the team, where he has a record of 42 and three with four conference titles.

[00:07:17] And as of 2024, Mount Union has the most national titles by any Division III team.

[00:07:24] And they have more than double of the number two team in Wisconsin Whitewater,

[00:07:29] who's become an arch rival of them as between 2000 and 2017,

[00:07:34] either Mount Union or Wisconsin Whitewater has won the national championship 15 out of 17 years.

[00:07:41] There have been a little bit more transparency in recent years,

[00:07:43] but it is still a huge margin towards Mount Union and Wisconsin Whitewater.

[00:07:49] Mount Union is still dominating their conference to this day.

[00:07:53] And the team actually has sent many players, but even more coaches to higher levels,

[00:07:58] including Pierre Garçon, who actually led the NFL in receptions in 2013,

[00:08:03] where he played for the Colts and the Washington team.

[00:08:08] And they've had many other players make it as coaches, including Don Capers,

[00:08:14] who actually became a head coach of the Carolina Panthers and the Houston Texans.

[00:08:19] And even though they're Division III, they play with such quality that you wouldn't know

[00:08:24] that none of these players are getting scholarships and to play college football,

[00:08:29] which shows they have a love of the game.

[00:08:34] And if you want to learn more about Division III football, check out In the D3FB Huddle,

[00:08:41] where hosts Frank and James recap all that's going on in Eastern regional football.

[00:08:47] So you can check out what's Mount Union, so you know what is going on in Division III football,

[00:08:54] which continues to grow in popularity more and more.

[00:08:59] And if you liked today's episode, make sure you're subscribed wherever you're listening,

[00:09:03] so you don't miss an episode.

[00:09:04] And we'll see you tomorrow for more Daily Sports History.

[00:09:09] And the answer to today's trivia question,

[00:09:12] what Mount Union alum led the NFL in receptions in 2013?

[00:09:17] And the answer is Pierre Garçon,

[00:09:20] and had 113 receptions for the Washington team in 2013.

[00:09:26] The