FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hazzben]

^ no question Mt. Union will be our biggest test of the year so far and by far. They've got more talent, more playoff experience/success and better coaching than anyone we've faced to this point. But that's how it should be in the playoffs! It's great to be in the semis and a privilege to get to line up against a program of Mounts caliber. A great chance to see how we stack up against the best of the best. Great chance to see how far we've come in 4 years.

No doubt our defense will be the key to the game. They have to play a great game and have to keep the score down. We won't score 30+ against UMU so we've got to keep it close so we can keep going with our run game. Can't wait to see how it falls!

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

RE: "Down" year for MTU

I was one who thought this may be the year that MTU didn't make it to the Stagg.  That was early on (even midway) in the season.  But, it appears that this year's Defense is on par, or better with defenses of the past. 

The one wildcard is Neal Seaman at QB.  He is still young, and not a polished veteran.   But, he had an OFF week last week and MTU still won handily.  If he was ON last week, the score would have been much worse (double monkey-stomp) at least.

[Pat Coleman]

And Pat...drops?!? Watch the game film. Drops wasn't UST's problem, it was the BU secondary. They were all over them. Hone in on Flaherty, #3, and you'll see exactly why he was all MIAC and should get serious All Region and All America consideration.

Both schools have the opportunity to provide their input on any of the 1,200 games all season.

[CobberHawkeye]

I was going to point people to NCAA.com to show that they had a nice Bethel/SJU photo for their playoff feature about going into the semifinals.

ncaa.com>sports>football

Unfortunately, when I clicked in the link, the picture is of the quality that, if you didn't know the teams, you'd be hard pressed to tell.

Oh well....

[Freebird]

I was going to point people to NCAA.com to show that they had a nice Bethel/SJU photo for their playoff feature about going into the semifinals.

ncaa.com>sports>football

Unfortunately, when I clicked in the link, the picture is of the quality that, if you didn't know the teams, you'd be hard pressed to tell.

Oh well....

Kind of makes you want to shoot the games and let them use your photos doesn't it?   

[CobberHawkeye]

I was going to point people to NCAA.com to show that they had a nice Bethel/SJU photo for their playoff feature about going into the semifinals.

ncaa.com>sports>football

Unfortunately, when I clicked in the link, the picture is of the quality that, if you didn't know the teams, you'd be hard pressed to tell.

Oh well....

Kind of makes you want to shoot the games and let them use your photos doesn't it?   

I shot last week's playoff. They didn't, however, contact me afterwards.....   

[Johns Knees]

You know, this Bethel squad reminds me a lot of the 2000 SJU squad that won like 5 games on the road to get to the title game, were huge underdogs to Mount and lost on a last second FG. Don't overlook them - this team shutdown a Tommie offense that hasn't been shut down by anyone all year. And they did it twice. On the road.

But unlike that Johnnies squad, Bethel doesn't have the diversity on offense that's required to  beat Mount. Johnnies could run or pass (and usually can do either). I don't think you can beat the likes of Whitewater and Mount Union without being able to move the ball on the ground and through the air. Cause Mount will find a way to stop the run and Aakre has looked pretty mediocre throwing the ball in the three games I've seen.

[OzJohnnie]

UMU... You Moo...

Wasn't that the name of the nerdy girls sorority in Revenge of the Nerds?  Good news for the Raiders is that the Nerds won in the end.

[tmerton]

Out of curiosity, does anyone know how much UST fans pay to sit in the reserved seating section on the visitors side of the field?

I stopped by UST to see their new digs and improvements after this year's Bethel game and it seemed pretty clear they intended those to be some sort of VIP seats (seats are purple and numbered).  Intriguing use of the visitor's sideline to give them no seats but instead to create VIP seats for the home team. 

Congrats to Bethel on their win last week, and good luck on Saturday. 

[bennie]

If anyone had told me that maturi was going to wait until the day after ust(D) was eliminated to name a coach, I woulda swore it would have been caruso.   

Based on his choice, either Maturi got a lot of rejections or is as bright as Sid.  I'm reisgned to a few more years without a Big 10/12 team from MN going to a bowl worth bragging about (and, no, the Music City or Motor Classic is not a braggable bowl). The good thing about not going to a bowl at DI-FBS level is that it allows a chance for the athletic dept to break even or be in the black, financially. Michigan's AD was quoted along those lines in Sports Illustrated....the gist of his comment was by missing a bowl in 08 & 09, we turned a profit, but if we had gone to a bowl, we would have lost money.

Not to mention the extra weeks to recruit. 

Good thing Chip Kelly is a fast talker because he is going to have weeks of recruiting to make up!  

AlmostEx, it going to take a long time to live down that comment. Maybe by next season...

Go Ducks!

[tmerton]

bennie, I'm sure no one in Oregon has a problem with Chip (outside of Corvallis anyway) but his interviews sure turn me off.  Still, if he can keep winning, I guess he can have the last laugh.

[runyr]

UMU... You Moo...

Wasn't that the name of the nerdy girls sorority in Revenge of the Nerds?  Good news for the Raiders is that the Nerds won in the end.

Okay, since you brought up the subject of school acronyms.  I'm a visitor to this board and not used to seeing UST refer to anything other than an underground storage tank.  St. Thomas comes up third on Google search list for acronym UST.  (No. 9 is interesting.)
http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/UST

re: UMU
I guess alternative MUU would have been too much to live with when COW is just 35 miles away (College of Wooster).

[hazzben]

UMU... You Moo...

Wasn't that the name of the nerdy girls sorority in Revenge of the Nerds?  Good news for the Raiders is that the Nerds won in the end.

Okay, since you brought up the subject of school acronyms.  I'm a visitor to this board and not used to seeing UST refer to anything other than an underground storage tank.  St. Thomas comes up third on Google search list for acronym UST.  (No. 9 is interesting.)
http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/UST

re: UMU
I guess alternative MUU would have been too much to live with when COW is just 35 miles away (College of Wooster).

As any Johnnie poster on here will quickly point out...you were one letter off in the St. Thomas example: UST(d) 

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

UMU... You Moo...

Wasn't that the name of the nerdy girls sorority in Revenge of the Nerds?  Good news for the Raiders is that the Nerds won in the end.

Okay, since you brought up the subject of school acronyms.  I'm a visitor to this board and not used to seeing UST refer to anything other than an underground storage tank.  St. Thomas comes up third on Google search list for acronym UST.  (No. 9 is interesting.)
http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/UST

re: UMU
I guess alternative MUU would have been too much to live with when COW is just 35 miles away (College of Wooster).

I prefer MTU.

[Retired Old Rat]

At the St. Thomas / Linfield football game I ran into Steve Fritz (UST AD and basketball coach) on the sideline.  As diplomatically as I could, I registered my personal complaint regarding the new visitor side seating at  O'Shaughnessy. 

I stated that for years and years St. John's brings big crowds to St. Thomas.  We pay our money and then have to stand on the sidelines.

Now, finally, they add visitor seating to the visitor side and it is not available to the visitors.

Fritz did not react or respond.  Wasn't quite sure what to make of that.  I did ask him if they would be bringing in additional seating for the St. John's football game next fall.  He said they would.

To make things worse, it is no longer possible to stand behind the visitor bench.  The only standing area is the track from the 25 to the end zone.

To make things even worse, this new seating situates the Tommy faithful right on top of the visiting team bench.  It provides the most convenient spot possible for the rabid Tommy fans to make their feelings known to the visiting players.  During the Linfield game the Tommy fans were making good use of their perch to do so. 

Personally, I think the whole set up is arrogant and bush league.

Does St. Thomas have reserved seating on the home side?  If not, I suggest the SJU student buses arrive very early for the game and fill the sections behind the Tommy bench.

As one final note, St. Thomas does not allow the Rats "inside the ropes" at O O'Shaughnessy since they are not officially sanctioned.