Mount Union led all of Division III in scoring (49.1 ppg) and total offense (530.0 ypg) during the regular season on its way to winning a fifth National Title in eight years.
The Purple Raiders were never seriously challenged in the fourth quarter until Stagg Bowl XVII when they marched 65 yards on 11 plays culminating in a Rodney Chenos 20-yard field goal with :01 second on the clock, earning a 10-7 win over Saint John's (Minn.).
The ground-game took hold in 2000 as Chuck Moore had 263 attempts for 1,647 yards and 27 touchdowns while running-mate Dan Pugh totaled 985 yards rushing on 185 attempts with 16 scores.
Quarterback Gary Smeck, who finished his career 40-1 as a starter (.976), was 264-of-381 (.693) for 3,793 yards, 38 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
His favorite target, wide receiver Adam Marino, hauled in 110 passes for 1,643 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Defensively, outside linebacker Jesse Pearson had 106 hits, inside linebacker Matt LaVerde finished with 81 hits,11 tackles for loss and four interceptions, outside linebacker Jason Perkins totaled 78 hits and 15 tackles for loss,and cornerback Chris Kern had 63 hits, six interceptions and 18 passes broken up.
