FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OzJohnnie]

I love the sound of that, Oz! Appreciate your much more skilled observations! I hope they hold true all the way to a national title!

Ha!  That made me choke on my cornflakes.  Enthusiastic, yes.  Skilled, embarrassingly not.

[faunch]

SJU threw in some new offensive wrinkles this week.  I  like to see the offense constantly evolving.

Gary's post game interview this week was interesting on this point.  Not a lot of detail, of course, but he mentioned it.

I noticed when I rewatched the first half that the receivers are running some pretty complex routes.  A lot of cross overs and presenting targets at multiple layers.  Plus, they often change receiving formation after the count has started.  It all adds up to the defense needing a highly skilled and adjustable secondary.  If Erdmann stays sharp and the receivers hands stay sticky then it will be a challenge for anyone at the DIII level to defend that play style.

I've noticed variations in formations. Also thinking that Heckendorf has added a number of wrinkles on routes. Curious how our playcalling will be late in a game when we need a score. Watching U$T / GAC it looked like the Tom$ had some trouble getting plays called on the final drive. I worry that SJU could have the same issue in a tight game.

[jamtod]

The UST game recap indicated that 6 regulars were out against GAC. I didn't notice any starters missing on O or D. Anyone know anything?

The quote from the article said:

playing without six injured regulars

Not sure if this means that 6 guys played with an injury, which would be odd to highlight (everybody's playing with some sort of injury as this point in the season) or 6 guys didn't play.

[DuffMan]

I just compared the "game starters" from the box scores of the SJU/U$T and GAC/U$T games, and all 22 U$T starters were the same for both games.

[GoldandBlueBU]

I just compared the "game starters" from the box scores of the SJU/U$T and GAC/U$T games, and all 22 U$T starters were the same for both games.

Maybe they were regularly part of the pajama crew?

[DuffMan]

Maybe they were regularly part of the pajama crew?

Good call.  Perhaps they suffered pillow-fight injuries.

[jamtod]

I just compared the "game starters" from the box scores of the SJU/U$T and GAC/U$T games, and all 22 U$T starters were the same for both games.

Yeah, I looked at that, but those also don't tend to be super reliable (particularly so for an away game). If I get a chance later, I may dig into the boxscore or look at the on demand Stretch a little closer. We need all the (healthy) bodies we can get for Bethel.
We've mostly avoided the injury bug this year, aside from Trettel being out all year.

[Pat Coleman]

I just compared the "game starters" from the box scores of the SJU/U$T and GAC/U$T games, and all 22 U$T starters were the same for both games.

Yeah, I looked at that, but those also don't tend to be super reliable (particularly so for an away game). If I get a chance later, I may dig into the boxscore or look at the on demand Stretch a little closer. We need all the (healthy) bodies we can get for Bethel.
We've mostly avoided the injury bug this year, aside from Trettel being out all year.

Right -- those are taken almost exclusively from the submitted pregame depth chart and sometimes they are subject to the coach playing games with the info, sometimes just not updated by the SID. They can be checked against who actually takes the field and I have seen that happen in some press boxes, but often that info gets out of date and doesn't get updated.

[OzJohnnie]

SJU threw in some new offensive wrinkles this week.  I  like to see the offense constantly evolving.

Gary's post game interview this week was interesting on this point.  Not a lot of detail, of course, but he mentioned it.

I noticed when I rewatched the first half that the receivers are running some pretty complex routes.  A lot of cross overs and presenting targets at multiple layers.  Plus, they often change receiving formation after the count has started.  It all adds up to the defense needing a highly skilled and adjustable secondary.  If Erdmann stays sharp and the receivers hands stay sticky then it will be a challenge for anyone at the DIII level to defend that play style.

I've noticed variations in formations. Also thinking that Heckendorf has added a number of wrinkles on routes. Curious how our playcalling will be late in a game when we need a score. Watching U$T / GAC it looked like the Tom$ had some trouble getting plays called on the final drive. I worry that SJU could have the same issue in a tight game.

This was discussed in the post-game interview as well.  Technically, VOJ gushed and Gary denied, but it was talked about.

[DuffMan]

Right -- those are taken almost exclusively from the submitted pregame depth chart and sometimes they are subject to the coach playing games with the info, sometimes just not updated by the SID. They can be checked against who actually takes the field and I have seen that happen in some press boxes, but often that info gets out of date and doesn't get updated.

Ah, I figured that the listed starters would be noted at the start of the game, not from what the coach submits.  That shows how much time I have spent in a press box.

I would put about as much faith in it as I do in certain attendance numbers. 

[jamtod]

Right -- those are taken almost exclusively from the submitted pregame depth chart and sometimes they are subject to the coach playing games with the info, sometimes just not updated by the SID. They can be checked against who actually takes the field and I have seen that happen in some press boxes, but often that info gets out of date and doesn't get updated.

Ah, I figured that the listed starters would be noted at the start of the game, not from what the coach submits.  That shows how much time I have spent in a press box.

I would put about as much faith in it as I do in certain attendance numbers. 

The inflated SJU numbers? Or the one that showed 0 people at the UST game?

[DuffMan]

Can't it be both? 
And the Cobbers. 

[hazzben]

I've got a few buddies who are all in when it comes to rowing the gopher boat.  I recently told them that P.J. Fleck's brain is a repository for the most vapid buzzwords and theories of every MBA capstone leadership course in existence.

They were not amused.

He's not my cup of tea, either, but if that's what works for kids today, then I guess that's fine.  His recruiting classes seem to be pretty positive, but obviously he'll need to improve a lot in the W/L category over the next few years, otherwise he's just Brewster 2.0.

My initial take on Fleck, he seemed like high risk/high reward candidate. Might be Brewster 2.0 ... might also be the kind of guy who has the energy to actually turn things around in a substantive way for the Gophers. He also "looks" just like the kind of face you want on your program (for whatever that's worth).

The more I observe and watch, I think Fleck seems like a B1G version of Caruso, minus the advantages UST has in institutional backing, resources, facilities, and coordinators.

Fleck seems like a competent recruiter. He's also good at building the brand and building tradition at a school that doesn't have much recent history to lean on (both similar to Caruso and UST). But Caruso has deep pockets behind him and D3 facilities that are as good as anywhere. The U has given a massive facelift to their athletic and football facilities, but it's still not in the top half of the B1G when it comes to facilities.

His real issue is that he seems like a motivator and recruiter and CEO type HC. Not an X's and O's, develop the talent through fundamentals type (i.e. Ferentz, Fitzgerald, Chryst, etc.). He's also not a schematic genius. So he needs to have great coordinators and a really solid staff to fill that out, and I'm just not convinced he does. Caruso doesn't strike me as a scheme genius, but he knows how to hire competent Lieutenants and Coordinators. And he knows how to develop talent. And he's getting the D3 equivalent of OSU level talent. The U is far from that kind of talent under Fleck.

Minus those things, I think Fleck is far from being any sort of program savior. He still needs to out scheme and out develop the Top B1G programs if he's going to see long term success. And I just don't see it.

That said, as long as the U keeps the SDSU's and Georgia Southerns of the world on the schedule, he'll keep scrapping together enough wins against the dregs to be near Bowl Eligibility each year. I put the over/under at 2.5 more years for him to turn things around. His personality, positivity, and glad handing with the donors probably puts that at 3. But eventually wins need to start coming in the 7+ range.

[AO]

The U has given a massive facelift to their athletic and football facilities, but it's still not in the top half of the B1G when it comes to facilities.

The stadium isn't as big as some stadiums in the B1G, but if there's a nicer practice facility in the B1G I haven't seen it.  Admittedly I've only toured the Gopher facility and compared it to pictures/video of the other facilities, but it certainly appeared to tick all the boxes of features that the elite programs have.

[art76]

Chiming in from up North - lots of deer in the fields and roadways, none in the forest where we are,

Final week of MIAC play for 2018.

The Johnnies have the visiting Thomas More Saints in Collegeville for the Saints' final game as a D3 school, as they are headed to D2. This will be a good game to get the Johnnies ready for the post-season. TM is playing for its play-off life, but the Johnnies will prove to be too much for them to handle.

As I shared a couple of weeks ago, Hamline and Augsburg play this final week for the cellar dweller moniker for the season. Both were blanked this past weekend. I really don't have a good idea of who might win this game. My hope is Hamline can pull it off to get at least one win this season, as Augsburg has their 2 non-conference wins.

Carleton heads up to the wind swept field of Concordia Moorhead to try to beat the Cobbers to end up above them in the final rankings, but it ain't gonna happen. It looks like the Cobbers will go out with a win for this season.

The Gusties head down to St. Olaf for their final win of the season. I over-estimated how the Oles would finish out their season. The Cobbers had their way with them this past weekend.  Was really impressed with how the Gusties had pinned the ears of the Tommies back for 3 quarters!

And the final game of the regular season for 2018 in the MIAC is St, Thomas playing at Bethel for their play-off hopes. Others have already posted what Bethel needs to do to come out victorious against the Tommies. If we fill our tags before Saturday, I will be at the game, that's for sure. Otherwise, will be listening on the good neighbor, because I think Stretch has been stretched to the limits, and I won't be able to stream it on my phone.