2006 Saint Francis Cougars football team

The 2006 Saint Francis Cougars football team represented the University of Saint Francis, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the 2006 NAIA football season. They were led by head coach Kevin Donley, who served his 9th year as the first and only head coach in the history of Saint Francis football. The Cougars played their home games at Bishop John M. D'Arcy Stadium and were members of the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA) Mideast League (MEL). The Cougars finished in 1st place in the MSFA MEL division, and they received an automatic bid to the 2006 postseason NAIA playoffs.

2006 Saint Francis Cougars football
NAIA national runner-up
MSFA (MEL) champion
ConferenceMid-States Football Association
DivisionMideast League
2006 record13–1 (6–0 MSFA (MEL))
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorPatrick Donley, Trevor Miller (3rd, 1st season)
Home stadiumBishop John M. D'Arcy Stadium
(Capacity: 3,500 )
2006 Mid-States Football Association standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Mideast League
No. 2 St. Francis (IN) x^  6 –0     13 –1  
No. 16 Walsh ^  4 –2     9 –3  
No. 17 Ohio Dominican  4 –2     7 –3  
No. 19 Malone  4 –2     7 –4  
Geneva  2 –4     4 –5  
Urbana  1 –5     5 –6  
Taylor  0 –6     1 –9  
Midwest League
No. 9 St. Ambrose x^  8 –0     10 –1  
No. 4 Saint Xavier ^  7 –1     10 –3  
McKendree  5 –3     5 –4  
William Penn  5 –3     5 –6  
Quincy  4 –4     6 –5  
Olivet Nazarene  3 –5     4 –7  
Trinity International  3 –5     4 –7  
St. Francis (IL)  1 –7     1 –9  
Iowa Wesleyan  0 –8     1 –9  
  • x – League champion/co-champions
    ^ – NAIA playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

The 2006 Cougars finished the regular season undefeated. In the postseason playoffs, the Cougars advanced to the national championship game where they lost to the Cougars of Sioux Falls, 23-19.

Schedule

On September 23, 2006, Saint Francis named its football field after Coach Donley in pregame ceremonies. A third consecutive return to the NAIA championship game saw the third consecutive runner-up finish for the Cougars, this time to Sioux Falls (SD). [1]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteResult
September 92:00pmat William Penn*No. 2Oskaloosa, IAW 39–6
September 16NoonNo. 38 Pikeville*No. 2
  • Bishop D'Arcy Stadium
  • Fort Wayne, IN
W 63–0
September 23NoonWisconsin – River Falls*No. 2
  • Bishop D'Arcy Stadium
  • Fort Wayne, IN
W 63–8
September 30NoonNo. 27 Ohio DominicanNo. 2
  • Bishop D'Arcy Stadium
  • Fort Wayne, IN
W 21–17
October 7NoonNo. 18 UrbanaNo. 2
  • Bishop D'Arcy Stadium
  • Fort Wayne, IN
W 35–12
October 141:00pmat TaylorNo. 2Upland, INW 49–0
October 21NoonNo. 23 MaloneNo. 2
  • Bishop D'Arcy Stadium
  • Fort Wayne, IN
W 34–13
October 281:00pmat Seton Hill*No. 2Greensburg, PAW 55–0
November 4NoonNo. 3 WalshNo. 1
  • Bishop D'Arcy Stadium
  • Fort Wayne, IN
W 21–7
November 111:30pmat No. 29 GenevaNo. 1Beaver Falls, PAW 21–20
November 18NoonNo. 16 Walsh*No. 1
  • Bishop D'Arcy Stadium
  • Fort Wayne, IN (NAIA First Round)
W 42–3
November 25NoonNo. 8 Bethel*No. 1
  • Bishop D'Arcy Stadium
  • Fort Wayne, IN (NAIA Quarterfinal)
W 42–35
December 2NoonNo. 9 Saint Xavier*No. 1
  • Bishop D'Arcy Stadium
  • Fort Wayne, IN (NAIA Semifinal)
W 49–20
December 161:00pm (FW time)vs. No. 2 Sioux Falls*No. 1Savannah, TN (NAIA Championship)L 19–23

National awards and honors
  • Senior linebacker Brian Kurtz was named as the 2006 NAIA Football Player of the Year. This was the second time in Cougar football history that one of their players received the award.

Ranking movements
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final 
NAIA Coaches' Poll 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2

References
  1. Archived June 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
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