FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bcflyguy1]

If you really think that GAC, Olaf, Augsburg, or Carleton is going to finish 9-1, then the league might steal a pool C bid.  I just don't think that'll happen.

[stanbob]

I wouldn't want to be in GAC's shoes this coming weekend.

[chewey]

300 yards of offense and still only 6 points = terrible offense.  From what I saw today, I'd have a hard time believing that they actually got 300 yards.  They are not doing the fundamentals.  They are not doing ordinary things extraordinarily.  Not Hanging on to the ball.  High snaps to the kicker for PAT.  Blown snaps/handling for PAT.  Not keeping with your blocks on o-line.  Throwing balls behind receivers.  The entire o-line, or at least the left side, should be benched.  I think the QB is going to be between Hansel and Boyle.  I did not see Crees in there after the 1st qtr.  When they are in there, they are too afraid of being benched so they don't play with confidence and they are trying too hard not to make mistakes.  They play to not mess up and don't have any kind of free-wheeling confidence.  Stick with one of them.   Maybe this is a year where the QB develops and we don't make the playoffs and next year is good.  I hope such is not the case though.  If the o-line is decent/average instead of god-awful, I think any one of them could take the team to at least a conference championship, if not beyond a round or two.  I don't see how you allow your defense to fight for you and make a dramatic goal-line stand and then you can't even get blocks to get your back one friggin yard.  A SAFETY??  Are you kidding me?? After that excellent goal line display of toughness???  Schnobrich must have been hit 3 yards into the end-zone.  If I were a member of the defense, I think I'd take out the horse-whip on Monday. 

To Bethel fans:  Just remember the Johnnies in 2001.  The lost 2 out of the gate and ran the table and went to the semi-finals against MUC.  I think one loss was to UWEC and the other was to St. Olaf.  It's still possible to make the playoffs given your present position.  Given the strong showing last year by Bethel, I think Bethel will have a lot more respect this year.  It's good that Bethel finally got past the "one and done" playoff curse. 

[bcflyguy1]

To Bethel fans:  Just remember the Johnnies in 2001.  The lost 2 out of the gate and ran the table and went to the semi-finals against MUC.  I think one loss was to UWEC and the other was to St. Olaf.  It's still possible to make the playoffs given your present position.  Given the strong showing last year by Bethel, I think Bethel will have a lot more respect this year.  It's good that Bethel finally got past the "one and done" playoff curse. 

Chewey-
The thing about that '01 SJU team was that they got into the playoffs with two losses because they got the MIAC Pool A bid.  Bethel needs to win out and have everybody else in the MIAC finish with two league losses for them to get the Pool A bid.  I'm not brave enough to bet on all that happening.  It's even more unlikely that they would get a pool C bid with two losses.  Remember that SJU was sweating whether they would get in last year with only 1 loss.  By no means am I reading this year's BU team their last rites because there is alot of good football still to be played.  All I'm saying is that another post-season adventure doesn't look like happening this year even if the boys play lights-out over their last seven games, which I hope they do.  They just need to get out of their own way and take better care of the football.  "Clobber the Cobbers," as our former team mascot would say.

[chewey]

I really wrote off the 2001 SJU team but they surprised me with a sense of urgency that lasted all season.  If Bethel still has a lot of the o-line and d-line and d-backs from last year and a good, not great, QB, I think they are going to still be very dangerous.   If my wife was not due that weekend, I'd be at Bethel wearing my "Beer.  It's swell." T-shirt and making fun of the gyro-jump.  I don't know what it is about Carleton but they seem to have Bethel's #.   I take the Tom Linneman term and call them the "Cobblers."  When he was broadcasting, that's how he referred to them.  They do deserve kudos for today and I don't want to take much away from them.  They are a good team and I hope Bethel goes up there and beats them for the sake of the rest of the conference.

[Willy Wonka]

Wonka's state of the MIAC address

• SJU is/was completely overrated. Fourth in the country? The way things currently stand, they might not finish in the Top 4 in the MIAC (they will...but a guy can dream, right?). They have no QB and lost their best defensive player for the season. The Johnnies won ugly the first two weeks and lost ugly today. This has the feeling of the 2004 season to me....which happened to include a 42-14 beatdown of the Gusties

(For the record, Wonka would have LOVED to go 7-3 and just miss a conference title in any of his years in the Black and Gold. But that's a down year for the SJU program.)

• Bethel is, perhaps, even more overrated than the Johnnies. They've been sloppy and were shut out in the first half by Carleton. Carleton! A trip up north isn't exactly what the doctor ordered....

• GAC will *not* finish 9-1 in Schoenebeck's swan song, as much as I'd love to see it. Given the state our of pass defense and QB play, I'd be happy with 6 wins.

• Carleton will not finish with more than 6 wins, either. Ramler has them doing good things, but I don't think they're close to winning a title yet.

Who does that leave to challenge Concordia, who has assumed the early lead in the title race after today's win? Olaf and Augsburg, who are both receiving votes from the esteemed D3 staff.

If the chips fall right, I could see either of them making a run to the playoffs. I think Olaf is more balanced with better depth, but Auggie Tech has the best athlete in the MIAC (Winford) and the best QB (Berg). Both happen to be seniors. Who's to say they can't work their magic for 8 more games before riding off into the sunset?

• St. Thomas might also have a say in this race, especially against the rival Johnnies. They seem to have a handful of freshman playing important roles, which bodes well for down the road. What better way for Caruso to officially become a Tommie than winning that game?

This is easily the most wide open the league has been in years, and that's a reflection of SJU and Bethel both having rough starts. We'll know a LOT more after next week's games, especially the one played on the turf. I'll be in Collegeville hoping for another upset, but I'll have a mole giving me steady updates on the Ole/Auggie showdown for any Stiffyfesters able to think outside the box.

The BU@CC showdown will also be telling, though I doubt many will travel up to the (un)frozen tundra for that one. I'll rely on the a-hole CC backers to provide the details

PS - I can't stand Lou Holtz...

[sfury]

This season feels a little like 1997, for the Johnnies and, perhaps, the whole league. SJU couldn't fine a QB that year either. Linnemann was a sophomore and probably would have had it, but he was hurt. St. John's finished 6-4, including losses to Augsburg and Gustavus (that just feels weird typing).

And they pulled miniupsets by beating Bethel and Concordia on the road. Augsburg won the title (Hvistendahl's coming out party), but going into the last week of the season, I think there were three teams, maybe four, who had a shot at the title. St. John's even had a chance at it, though about a dozen things would have had to happen in the last week. But St. Thomas beat them in the Dome.

The highlight of that season for SJU was watching Matt Griffith dominate on the D-Line. But there weren't many offensive highlights (of course many of the players on that team went on to star on the tremendous 98, 99 and 2000 teams).

[OzJohnnie]

Ok, I went and checked the box after it was published and this is what stands out:

* 300 yards with f-all to show for it

* 7(!!1!1!) fumbles with two lost

And it's all down to chemistry, chemistry, chemistry.  The O doesn't have any.  The D found themselves today on the 6 inch line.

Arg!  We want to believe.  Just give us a reason.

[TC]

So the MIAC season has begun, huh?  Crazy Saturday.

Coming into the season (and even into today's game), I was of the opinion that St. John's had three talented QBs and the situation would work itself out when one of them stepped up and played spectacularly.  Um, yeah...  That hasn't happened.  It's pretty apparent that, while none of the three will singlehandedly lose a game for the Johnnies, none are prepared to step up and make the plays to beat a quality team.  It's even more apparent that the coaching staff needs to pick one guy and, sink or swim, stick with him.  I'm not as high on Boyle as everyone else seems to be, but if he's the guy so be it.  He has a high ceiling and 2 and a half years left.  Let's see what he can do when he's not surveying the field and looking over his shoulder at the same time.

Going back to a discussion topic from earlier in the week, it looks like the offensive line took advantage of a weak UW-River Falls team a week ago to look respectable.  Either that, or that Cobbers are A LOT better than expected up front.  Could be a combination of both, but there's no way the Johnnies are getting out of Arden Hills with a W if they don't get more protection up front. 

If the Johnnies had to lose to someone in the MIAC, I would prefer it be the Cobbers.  Nice turnout by their fans today.  I didn't exact stick around to soak in the postgame scene, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary from their fans that other posters have hinted at.  It sucks that they went out west and lost to Willamette.  It looks like the only way the MIAC team is getting two teams in this year (which I'm in favor of, as long as those teams aren't Bethel or St. Thomas) is if the Johnnies and Cobbers both win out.  I don't see that happening.

What's the best way to soften the blow of the Johnnies losing?  Carleton 17, Bethel 14.  Nice. 

A wide-open MIAC (and West Region, with Central and Wartburg both losing early and UW-Whitewater looking, um... less unbeatable?) isn't necessarily a bad thing--it should be a fun season to follow.  I don't think anyone had any delusions of grandure for this season's St. John's squad, but it will be interesting to see how they respond to this game.  As the offense was lurching and sputtering toward a potential go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, a fromer Johnnie QB mentioned that in those situations the Johnnies are usually able to just get the ball to the most talented player on the field and let them make a play.  Unfortunately, the 2008 Johnnies don't have a Blake Elliott or a Chris Moore or a Chris Palmer this year (or any of the past 5 years) and that really reduces the margin of error no matter who the QB is.

Good to see cobbernation and everyone else at the Festivities.  I've rambled long enough.

[TC]

In difficult times, I think it is important to keep a rational and measured perspective, but I have one more quick thing I'd like to add: 

THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH SWEARS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TO ACCURATELY DESCRIBE MY FEELINGS TOWARDS JIMMY [CENSORED] GAGLIARDI CALLING A [CENSORED] PITCH IN HIS OWN [CENSORED] END ZONE WHEN HIS [CENSORED] [CENSORED] OFFENSIVE LINE HASN'T GOTTEN A PUSH IN FIVE [CENSORED] YEARS.  WHAT KIND OF HORSE[CENSORED] CALL WAS THAT?  [CENSORED].

Thank you for letting me vent.  It feels great to get that off my chest.

Go Johnnies!

[janesvilleflash]

6 am here, and stanbob reminds me to have my coffee and Bailey's this morning. Sorry stanbob, I'm out of Bailey's, so, time to crack that first beer. It's great to be alive. (I think I hear cows talking!)

[sju56321]

Guess I picked a good game to miss. I have to agree with TC, pick a QB and sink or swim and develop someone for next year. It could be like '97, but the nice thing about that team was they played much better the second half and in '98, SJU had a great season.
It is kinda amazing that with 185 player, SJU can't find a good QB or O-line or a playmaker.
Good news, only one conference game has been played, plenty of time to get things on the right course.

[OzJohnnie]

Because when you think things are going bad, there's always someone who has it worse.   This guy for example, who's mother apparently hated him:

[sjusection105]

Game story up on www.JohnnieFootball.com

As mentioned by other posters last evening, the MIAC will be interesting this year.

[sjusection105]

Since TC had a double posting, I thought, why not me too?

A Chewey & Brice sighting at Clemens yesterday. Wow, I thought those guys only made road trips to Pella, Spokane, Salem etc..... in the freezing cold. Who'd a thunk they'd be at Clemens on a 75 degree sunny day