All of the sudden, Dubuque is an IIAC player

DUBUQUE - No worries.

That's what Stan Zweifel says as his University of Dubuque football team plays this afternoon against Simpson. This appears to be the ultimate trap game for the Spartans, who are coming off a stunning 56-28 blowout of Central last week.

Dubuque (4-0) is No. 24 in the AFCA NCAA Division III poll for its first national ranking. Heady times, indeed, although Zweifel believes his team will handle them properly.

“We've had a nice start but that's all, right?” Zweifel said.

The coach is in his third season after a longtime stint as an assistant at D-III power Wisconsin-Whitewater. The rebuilding of one of the Iowa Conference's lesser programs seems to be right on track.

Zweifel's son, Michael, is an all-American as a rare two-way player, making an impact as a wide receiver and defensive back. He has combined with wideout Demacus Fleming for 74 catches and 11 touchdowns.

“Michael is the single best athlete I've ever gotten a chance to coach,” Stan Zweifel said.

Quarterback Wyatt Hanus, a junior from North Tama, has completed 75 percent of his passes for 1,193 yards and 15 touchdowns, a school-record tying six last week. He has been intercepted just three times.

The offense has piled up 164 points the last three games.

“When I got recruited here, Coach told me ‘When you come here, there are going to be some big things happening,'” Hanus said. “He told me ‘You're going to be in on a huge turnaround.'”

Dubuque has improved its facilities, which helped draw kids from the tri-state region.

“When we came here, we wanted to accomplish three things,” Zweifel said. “One, we wanted to change the culture by recruiting local kids: western Wisconsin kids, western Illinois kids, Eastern Iowa kids. We've done a good job of that, and that has really been beneficial for us.

“Two, we wanted to become relevant. I don't know if we are yet or not. It's too dang early.”

They're certainly a lot closer to being relevant. Zweifel said Dubuque wanted to emulate the programs at league powers Central, Wartburg and Coe, then knock one of them off to further its legitimacy.

“We wanted to beat one of the big three in our first three years,” he said.

Mission accomplished last week. Now it's being able to handle the success.

“Keep our focus,” Hanus said. “Being ranked is just a statistic.”

Albeit a nice one.

Bemidji State at Upper Iowa, 1 p.m.

Coe at Central, 1 p.m.

Dordt at Briar Cliff, 1 p.m.

Ellsworth CC at College of DuPage (Ill.), 1 p.m.

Loras at Luther, 1 p.m.

Northern Iowa at Missouri State, 1 p.m.

St. Ambrose at Grand View, 1 p.m.

Waldorf at St. Francis (Ill.), 1 p.m.

Wartburg at Cornell, 1 p.m.

Wright State at Iowa Wesleyan, 1 p.m.

Nebraska Wesleyan at Northwestern (Iowa), 1:30 p.m.

William Penn at Olivet Nazarene, 1:30 p.m.

Campbell at Drake, 2 p.m.

Peru State at Graceland, 2 p.m.

Dubuque at Simpson, 4 p.m.

Iowa Western CC at Grand Rapids CC, 6 p.m.

Texas at Iowa State, 6 p.m.

Iowa Central CC at Joliet, Ill., noon