Wisconsin-River Falls football coach Matt Walker was asked this week how he’s “advising” his players about maintaining focus amid the hoopla that comes with playing for a national championship.
“Maybe I should advise them more,” Walker said with a smile. “We’re kind of all enjoying the ride a little bit.”
That’s been the modus operandi for the Falcons throughout a historic season that will culminate with Sunday night’s Stagg Bowl against North Central for the Division-III title. River Falls operates in two spaces, the clouds and the mud. The former represents the accolades, experiences and joy that comes with high-level success. The latter is the work required to achieve it.
Walker pointed to senior linebacker Gage Timm and senior quarterback Kaleb Blaha as the Falcons’ steady leaders who set the tone with their quiet focus. That’s especially beneficial in a week like this one, which is stuffed with interviews, ESPN promotional activities and banquet dinners.
It’s not normal for Division III football programs to fly out three days ahead of a game.
Walker isn’t worried.
“As crazy as it sounds and unknown, different, special and it’s going to be — different for all of us — I don’t worry about this group. … I don’t have to babysit and worry about our mindset. This group right here, they’re hungry,” the coach said. “We’ll do the hoopla and get to do all the cool things … and it’ll be great.”
But when the time comes to work, Walker knows his players will deliver.
“It’s just block out everything as much as possible. In today’s world, there’s so much social media that you could go online and scroll forever to try to find anything you wanted to,” Blaha said. “But at the end of the day, we’re focused on winning that game on Sunday. We really haven’t achieved all of our goals yet. So, we’re just focused on that game, and after that, you can do whatever you wanted.”
It’s why, perhaps, Wisconsin-River Falls is as well positioned to play in the Stagg Bowl as any title game debutant can be. The difference in experience in this spot is stark. North Central, the defending national champion, is making its sixth-straight title game trip.
Brad Spencer is in his fourth year guiding the North Central program. The Cardinals have lost one game in that span, the 2023 national title game. This year, they’ve scored the most points per game in the country (49.4) and allowed the fewest (10.07).
The Cardinals remind Walker of past Division III dynasties such as Wisconsin-Whitewater and Mt. Union in that they’re “boringly a little better at every position” than their opponent.
“Nothing super flashy,” he said. “Just so solid and so fundamental and weapons everywhere. No holes on their football team. Super balanced. Can score it running and throwing. Such an ability to control the clock.”
Yet Walker doesn’t see this as some David vs. Goliath bout, and believes it’d be foolish for anyone to take such a view.
“It doesn’t feel that way to our kids. … I bet you North Central is not even saying that. I think they’ve seen our season,” he said. “There’s no way they’re overlooking us.”
The Falcons are 13-1 while playing in the nation’s best conference. They’ve blown out top programs from Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wisconsin-La Crosse and St. John’s, among others.
“I think the tournament got it right. This is the two best teams in the country playing. I think that’s become kind of fun and obvious,” Walker said. “In terms of matchups on paper, I bet you neither team is talking much about David and Goliath. This is the two best teams in America, and they’re going to duke it out in a clash of two styles. It’s going to be as fun to watch as any game that I can think of if you’re a fan.”
Walker conceded there’s an experience advantage for the Cardinals. They’ve played the night game under the bright lights on national television. But the advantage is somewhat muted this week. This is only the second time the title game has been played this late in the year with the two full weeks off between the semifinals and championship round.
North Central, a school based in Naperville, Ill., played in that edition, as well — and Walker, funnily enough, has been in contact with Spencer about that — but he noted you create your own road map for these trips.
“Because there isn’t a blueprint for this,” he said.
“I have no clue if I’m handling it right,” he added with a laugh. “We’re going to find out.”
Walker noted that in the past, coaches could create their own narratives, because they were the distributors of information. Now, everyone knows everything. There’s no hiding from the truth.
North Central, Walker noted, is “frickin’ good.” The stage is huge. The implications are massive. There will be nerves. It will feel different. There’s only so much you can do to prepare.
This is why teams build foundations throughout the course of the season: to have something to lean on in the most pivotal times.
“I’ll definitely have some nerves. I have nerves going into every game,” Blaha said. “I think the biggest thing for me and our team is staying in the moment and focusing on doing our job. You can’t really think too much about the game or how cool the stadium is. You’ve got to be locked into the moment. I think we’ve done that all year long.
“The past six weeks, each week has been the biggest game up to that point, and every single time we kind of just focused on one play at a time and that game and it’s gone pretty well for us.”
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