You don't mess with Oreos.  You don't change the formula for Coke.  And UW-Whitewater didn't change what got it a sixth consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, a sixth straight NCAA III playoff berth, and a sixth appearance in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.  In the end, it also resulted in the Warhawks thirtieth consecutive win, longest in NCAA football -- and the NCAA III championship with a 31-21 win over the University of Mount Union Saturday in the 2010 Stagg Bowl at Salem Stadium in Salem, Virginia.  UW-W's NCAA championship web site

box score
championship game slide presentation
Saturday collage
photo gallery 1 (courtesy of Leah Thyne; all photos are for sale)
photo gallery 2 (courtesy of Leah Thyne; all photos are for sale)
photo gallery 3 (courtesy of Leah Thyne; all photos are for sale)
photo gallery 4 (courtesy of Jerry Erdmann; all photos are for sale)
Homecoming Celebration (courtesy of Gregg Theune; all photos are for sale)

If fans were paying attention, the first quarter was like the geysers at Yellowstone.  Most of the time it didn't seem like anything of note was happening, but there was a portent of things to come.

Mount Union took the opening drive from their 24 to Whitewater's 29.  Facing a second and 10, Mount QB Matt Piloto threw a ball into the right corner that Ryan Wenkman (Wisconsin Dells/Wisconsin Dells) intercepted at the one.  Defense pulls one out.  (Remember the formula.)

After the Raider defense forced a three and out, and Mount taking Whitewater's punt at the UW-W 44, the interception may have turned out to be as effective as a punt.  Mount moved to the Whitewater 19, but a 35 yard field goal attempt was wide left.

After the miss Whitewater started at its 20, and six plays later junior running back Levell Coppage (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park) broke a 54 yard run for a touchdown, with Eric Kindler (Germantown/Germantown)'s kick making it 7-0 with 4:35 left in the quarter.  (Don't forget, the formula.)

Mount's next drive moved the ball twenty yards to midfield, but Matt McCulloch (Janesville/Parker) picked off Piloto pass and returned it to the Whitewater 48.  It was McCulloch's team-high seventh interception, tied for fourth in the UW-W record book. 

Mount Union's defense forced a three and out, but UW-W punter Kris Rosholt (Reedsburg/Reedsburg) booted a 44 yard punt that Cecil Shorts fair caught at the three yard line.  For all practical purposes that ended the first quarter, Whitewater leading just 7-0, but the formula already in place.

Whitewater was 1-5 passing, Mount was 5-13 with two interceptions.Coppage had 85 yards.

After Rosholt's punt the Warhawk defense did not give up a yard in three plays, and Mount's punter shanked the ball out of bounds at his own 28.  Kindler converted on that opportunity with a 30 yard field goal with 12:59 in the second, making it 10-0 Whitewater.

Whitewater's next drive ended unexpectedly, with the Raider's forcing a rare Coppage fumble, recovering it at the Warhawk 40. Two plays later Mount QB Jeremy Piloto hit Kyle Miller with a 39 yard scoring strike and the conversion cut Whitewater's lead to 10-7 with 10:44 left in the second. 

With the momentum changing, Mount made it shift 180 when all-American defensive end Lambert Budzinski picked off a pass at Whitewater's 32 and rambled down to the four.  Two Jeremy Murray rushes and a PAT gave Mount it's first lead, 14-10, still with 9:40 left in the period.  With that score UW-W faced its largest deficit of the season (twice having trailed by three points previously).

Less than three minutes later that "largest deficit of the season" went by the board, as Mount moved the ball 76 yards in four plays, with Piloto hitting 2009 D3football.com Player of the Year Cecil Shorts with a 54 yard pass to put Mount up 21-10 -- and there was still 6:50 before halftime.

It didn't take UW-W long to show their resilience, taking the kickoff and marching 65 yards on eight plays.  Coppage carried the ball six times for 40 yards on the drive, including the last 11 for the score. Mount Union 21, Whitewater 17 with 2:46 on the clock.

The Warhawks weren't done responding, taking their next possession at their own 23, and covering 77 yards in just 1:01 to regain the lead 24-21. Lee Brekke (Sun Prairie/Sun Prairie) found Tyler Huber (North Prairie/Mukwonago) in the end zone for the score, Huber's first TD of the year and just his fifth catch of the season. (No one would know it at the time, but since it was the game winning points, Huber, a sophomore, may be hard pressed to make a more important catch in his next two years.)

And that, after scoring a total of seven points in the first quarter, ended the wild 38 point scoring onslaught of the second quarter.

Coming out of the locker room after halftime fans might have expected to see some more flashing lights in the third quarter, but not if they had followed UW-W in the playoffs.  The Warhawk defense has been lights out after halftime, adjusting and holding opponents at bay -- and even though it was a quality opponent in the national title game, it wasn't any different in Salem Stadium.

Mount's possessions in the third went: three and out, interception by Steve McCollom (Farmington, MI/Shrine), and 13 yards.  Mount was equally stingy, ending one Warhawk threat with an interception at the Raiders' ten yard line.  Meanwhile Whitewater's offensive line, rightfully lauded all year, continued to pound away, giving Coppage and Booker Stanley (Milwaukee/Whitefish Bay) twelve carries in the quarter and controlling field position. 

If you've followed the Warhawks, you can see what's coming.  Start of the fourth, and Mount goes minus three yards, Whitewater gets the ball and Rosholt again pins them deep with a punt that rolls out at the one yard line.  Mount decided to try to break the stalemate by moving Shorts to quarterback, but Steve McCollom (Farmington, MI/Shrine) forced Shorts to fumble and recovered the ball for UW-W at the Whitewater 49.

Whitewater pounded Coppage into the defense five of the next six plays, and kept field position when Rosholt put another punt out of bounds inside the 20.  The Warhawk defense yielded 21 yards, but stalled the Raiders at Mount's 39, and took over after a punt at the Whitewater 21.  Two more Coppage rushes set up the defining moment of the game, Coppage rushing through a gap for 75 yards and scoring the final points of the game with 2:34 left on the clock.  The formula was completed when, again, the defense ended Mount Union's last drive with McCulloch's second interception of the game with just 54 seconds on the clock.  The pick gives McCulloch a share of the school interception record, eight, a mark that has been reached three times previously, most recently by Ben Farley in 2007.

So here are the numbers in the formula:  Offense; Wear down the opponent, rushing the ball 48 times for 312 yards, with Coppage setting a Stagg Bowl record with 299 on 39 carries (breaking former Warhawk Justin Beaver's record set in 2007, 31 carries for 249 yards) and earning the game's Most Valuable Player Award.  Defense: Pick off four passes, recover a fumble, and force the opponent to go one dimensional after gaining just 45 yards on 26 attempts. And, unlike "New" Coke, the architects of the Warhawks' success aren't likely to tamper with the formula.  If you've got Oreos in the cupboard, just get a glass of milk and enjoy.