I grew up in Colorado and went to college at Mizzou. In short, I’ve never had a horse in the MIAA race nor cared much about the winners either way . My opinions of each school have been shaped by my interactions with its coaches, SID and athletes. And on the whole, covering this conference has been a great experience, dealing with helpful and friendly people on a daily basis.

With that preface out of the way, there are times when your objectivity can’t help but give way to your humanity, and we’re there with this Missouri Western team. I don’t know that even the Jayhawks deserve to lose three straight weeks in the same manor as the Griffons. (On second thought, yes, they do, but they are the exception in this case.) Let’s face it, Western is four plays away from a 4-1 record with a pair of wins over ranked teams. Sure, Drew Newhart could stop giving the ball away, and the Griffons could stop taking dumb penalties. But the effort and desire certainly are there among a talented and deserving group of devastated coaches and players who have to be wondering when they’re going to catch a break.

Western dominated Saturday. There is really no way around it. Total yards: 470-228. Time of possession: 38:45-21:15. First downs: 32-8, all in favor of the Griffons.

Washburn’s offense left me trying to fathom how the Ichabods managed 35 points against Missouri State and 34 versus Central. Quarterback Jake Iverson just throws the ball as hard as he can with little consideration for accuracy.

The Ichabods gave up on the deep ball after Iverson’s interception Saturday, preferring the run on first down, run on second, throw short or scramble on third down approach. Without having to worry about the deep ball, the Griffons defense looked 37 times better than last week, packing the box and keying on Brandon Walker.

So how did Western lose? Four plays: No. 1 – Washburn’s blocked field goal to end Western’s first drive. It was Strickler’s first miss of the season and meant the Griffons couldn’t just kick the game-winning field goal at the end. No. 2 – another roughing-the-passer penalty on Western (Martin Lane, I believe) that sustained Washburn’s first scoring drive. No. 3 – A chop-block penalty on Western in the second quarter that took the Griffons out of field-goal range. No. 4 – Newhart’s second-quarter pick that set up the Ichabods on the Western 5-yard line. Two penalties, a great special teams play and poor throw. If any one of those plays – or Newhart’s late pass to tight end Alvaro Prado is three inches lower – goes Western’s way, the Griffons win.

When I told Washburn coach Craig Schurig afterward that the MIAA’s top receiver – Cedric Houston – didn’t play at all for Western, he replied, “We were lucky.”

After three weeks of heartbreaking losses, Western deserves a little luck too, and I hope it comes the Griffons way at some point this season. They’ve certainly paid the price.

A few quick thoughts to close…

--- The R.J. Cooper feature curse strikes again as Strickler’s first attempt of the game was blocked.

--- Western back Thomas Hodges finally has figured out he is 220 pounds the past two weeks and has just started bowling over people. On two separate times Saturday, he bounced off of three tacklers on a run.

--- Drew Newhart scrambled for two first downs Saturday – something he has been hesitant to do during his college career. I’m not advocating he be Zach Miller, but it was good to see him take those easy yards rather than forcing a play.

--- And finally, after Kendall Davis’ third-quarter interception, the head official announced Davis had an illegal block in the back on a play. Pretty impressive feat to get the pick and block – illegally nonetheless – for yourself during the return. I love the MIAA.