The 2007 Carroll College football season will long be remembered as the season that produced one of the most iconic sports images of the 20th century. The photo of Brandon Day, covered in mud, raising his arms to the sky after winning the Saints fifth national title in six seasons, has been seen around the world. It was the cover of Sports Illustrated and widely praised. 

The picture is iconic. It shows the immense elation of winning a national title. What it doesn't show is the story of one of the most dominant teams in NAIA History. The Saints gave up just 49 points for the entire 11-game regular season and just 32 points in the playoffs en route to the perfect 15-0 record.

Carroll opened the season with a 17-0 non-conference win over Black Hills State before opening Frontier Conference play with a 35-3 road win over Rocky Mountain. The Saints then rattled off wins over Eastern Oregon (38-3), MSU-Northern (10-3), Montana Tech (17-0) and Rocky (42-0) without giving up a touchdown. 

The Saints topped Eastern Oregon 28-7, giving up the first touchdown of the year on a fake field goal. Carroll topped MSU-Northern 10-3 before a tough 30-16 road win against Montana Western. 

The regular-season finale against Montana Tech was one for the ages. The Diggers entered the game on a four-game winning streak and were 7-3 on the year with a chance to maybe sneak into the playoffs with a marquee win over the Saints. 

The Tech defense was stifling, holding the Saints to just four first downs all game and -6 rushing yards. The savior of the day was Carroll kicker and defensive back Marcus Miller. Miller returned an interception 32 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, but the Diggers built a 14-0 lead at the half. In the fourth quarter, still trailing 14-7, Miller picked off another pass and this time, returned it 58 yards for the score to tie the game at 14. 

Two plays later, Brandon Day intercepted a pass and returned it to the 12-yard line to set up Miller who gave Carroll the lead on a 23-yard field goal. When you add in the two extra points, also scored by Miller, the final score was Marcus Miller 17, Montana Tech 14. The win was the 100th for coach Mike Van Diest and his staff. 

In the playoffs, the Saints rattled off wins against Black Hills State before meeting Morningside in the second round. The Mustangs scored 16 points on the Saints, tied for the highest of any opponent on the year but it wasn't enough to slow down Carroll who rolled to the 27-16 win. 

In the semifinals, Carroll held St. Francis (Ind.) to just 10 first downs while Gabe Le ran for a season-high 164 yards. St. Francis led 7-3 after the first quarter, but the Saints closed the game on a 20-0 run to earn the 23-7 win.

The championship game was the one everyone expected from day one. No. 1 Sioux Falls and No. 2 Carroll. USF entered the game at 13-0 while the Saints were 14-0. 

It was a defensive slugfest in the torrential downpour, and after the first half, Carroll led 3-0, but Sioux Falls took a 6-0 lead on a touchdown early in the third quarter. Le answered the bell. He scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives to highlight his 116 yards on the day. The two scores gave the Saints a 17-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter. USF added a field goal with 2:47 left but the Saints recovered the onside kick and closed out the win. 

Le was named the MVP, and Own Koeppen was named the Defensive Player of the Game after notching six tackles and a forced fumble. 

Koeppen was the Frontier Conference Defensive MVP and was also named a First-Team All-American. He tallied 119 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, eight sacks and an interception. 

Quarterback John Barnett was named the Frontier Offensive MVP. He notched 216 completions for 2,567 yards and 18 touchdowns. He had a .610 completion percentage. He also ran for 464 yards and eight touchdowns.

Koeppen, Day, Zach Richardson, Nick Milodragovich, Phil Lenoue, Mike Paffhausen and Zach Thiry were all named Frontier All-Conference First-Team on defense.

Barnett, Travis Browne, Marshall McEwen and Bryson Pelc were named Frontier First Team on offense. Miller was Named to the First Team as a kicker. 

The team will be honored with the other inductees in at the Hall of Fame brunch Saturday Oct. 7 at 8:30 a.m. Tickets are still available for purchase here.