FB: Northwest Conference

[George Thompson]

Anyone that commits such a heinous sin is NOT a Catholic let alone a Christian! Lumping animals in with one group that strives for good is idiocy.

Agree 100%!

GT

[George Thompson]

Back to the team that is still playing...

So let's start breaking down next year's Linfield starting line up....

We need some backup QBs.    Both our 2nd and 3rd QB graduate.
Need someone to replace Duke Mackle

GT

[speedybigboy]

Unfortunately after waiting 2 days for all the computations to formulate I received an error message that said the game was canceled do to a herd of goats that had eaten the field. I will try again later this evening for a better result.

True story.  Back in 1999, I was a freshman at SJU, and I was not on the playoff roster.  At that time, the field was grass, and there are a lot of deer on campus that liked the tender grass of the field.  Well, my work study job that year was with the grounds crew.  I don't recall exactly who we played that day--UW Stevens Point, I'm pretty sure, but the field was covered in deer crap, so I got the call to grab a shovel and clean up.  I took a lot of guff from the opposing team while they were warming up.  Thankfully, we won.

Preventative maintenance would have worked better. And dinner would have been on the table.

[DuffMan]

Preventative maintenance would have worked better. And dinner would have been on the table.

Right?!?  They do usually have a deer hunt on the university grounds to help thin out the herd.

Eventually, they put a fence around the field that helped keep them at bay (and kept out people who snuck into games without paying).  Now, with turf, it's no longer a problem.

[wildcat11]

Oh, come on, (509)Rat.  We've got thicker skin than that! 

It certainly doesn't appear that way...

But back to football. Whitworth could play a very similar game against SJU as the Tommies did, minus the turnovers, and make this a game all the way to the final whistle. Just looking at the box score, St. Thomas appears to have moved the ball just fine against SJU, but you can't throw 5 picks and win. Whitworth has to be negative in the turnover differential. Pick off Erdmann once or twice and force a fumble and the Pirates can stay in this one. Throw 3-5 picks yourself and it'll be over very quickly.

Rats have to generate pressure on Erdmann or it's going to be a long day.

Whitworth has a punchers chance and we all know that the Rats are developing a good reputation for throwing hands.

[OzJohnnie]

Oh, come on, (509)Rat.  We've got thicker skin than that! 

It certainly doesn't appear that way...

But back to football. Whitworth could play a very similar game against SJU as the Tommies did, minus the turnovers, and make this a game all the way to the final whistle. Just looking at the box score, St. Thomas appears to have moved the ball just fine against SJU, but you can't throw 5 picks and win. Whitworth has to be negative in the turnover differential. Pick off Erdmann once or twice and force a fumble and the Pirates can stay in this one. Throw 3-5 picks yourself and it'll be over very quickly.

Rats have to generate pressure on Erdmann or it's going to be a long day.

Whitworth has a punchers chance and we all know that the Rats are developing a good reputation for throwing hands.

The Johnnie offense has been firing at a very high level for five 1/2 straight weeks now.  As a first point of competing, Whit must score every drive to keep up.  That means no turnovers.

On the flip side, Erdmann hasn't thrown an int since the first half of the Tommie game when the Jays were under scoreboard pressure and Erdmann was under rushing pressure and being flushed from the pocket.  He demonstrated exceptional composure in not breaking down under the Tommie blitz-crazy rush, but can he do it again?

So, the key to beating SJU (other than hitting them on a down game) is to score with regularity and keep up with the Johnnie O (who have consistently put it in the end zone on 4 out of 5 drives for the entire second half of the year).  Convert any turnovers into points in order to really ratchet up the pressure.

But I don't think the Johnnies will be drawn into a defensive battle this game, so it's a scoring race to the finish line.

[DuffMan]

Whitworth has a punchers chance and we all know that the Rats are developing a good reputation for throwing hands.

So, they're the Bethel of the NWC?

[(509)Rat]

Preventative maintenance would have worked better. And dinner would have been on the table.

Right?!?  They do usually have a deer hunt on the university grounds to help thin out the herd.

Eventually, they put a fence around the field that helped keep them at bay (and kept out people who snuck into games without paying).  Now, with turf, it's no longer a problem.

[umhb2001]

Of the teams remaining, who are statistically the best at each position?

Passing:

David Tammaro     Johns Hopkins     3330 yards
Broc Rutter            North Central     3275 yards

Receiving:

Jalon Hibbs            Centre                1148 Yards

Rushing:

Markeith Miller        UMHB                1401 yards

Interceptions per Game

Jefferson Fritz         UMHB                 8 Ints  .7 per game  135 Return yards

Tackles for Loss

Frankie Feaster       Muhlenberg         20.5        1.9 per game

Field Goal Percentage

Anthony Avila         UMHB               .909 FG Percentage

Kickoff Returns

Brayden Corona       Whitworth         316 Return Yards    26.3 Avg

Punt Returns

KJ Miller              UMHB             593 Return Yards
Aaron Sims          UMHB             424 Return Yards

Lots of good stuff here. Should be great for stat tracking this Saturday.

[DuffMan]

Frankie Feaster gets the award for best name.

[Foss]

Whitworth has a punchers chance and we all know that the Rats are developing a good reputation for throwing hands.

So, they're the Bethel of the NWC?

Haha! I knoooooooooooow what you mean by this, Duff. 

Maybe I'm just not giving Whitworth enough credit, but I honestly don't see how your Johnnies don't win this by 3-4 TDs. And it's not because Whitworth isn't good. It's just that this seems to be one of the best SJU teams in awhile. If you can beatdown STU & the Royals the way you did, I'm having a hard time seeing how a Whitworth team can hang w/ you, esp after flying out to MN. I actually think you guys have a legit shot of taking down UMHB in the quarterfinals.

[OzJohnnie]

Frankie Feaster gets the award for best name.

In navy bootcamp I knew a guy named Anthony Anthony (no middle name).

[sjujohnnie]

Iowa played (& beat) #13 Oregon this past Thursday. Oregon has Manute Bol's 7'2" son, Bol Bol.

[MonroviaCat]

And don't forget those Mario brothers.

Luigi Mario
And
Mario Mario

[DuffMan]

The science nerd in me got some enjoyment out of the scores of the SJU/MLC and Whitworthless/CMS games - 84-6 and 48-6.

I think this week will be another transposition of those numbers.  Whitworthless is a bit better than MLC, so my prediction is 64-8 for the Johnnies.

The MIAC - Where NWC teams come to die.