FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[57Johnnie]

Go to in-game updates folks

[cobbernation]

Cobbers up 17-7 in the 2nd quarter!

[cobbernation]

Punt return for TD for the cobbers 24-7!

[OleHog74]

Oles  up 26-7 at the break!  Clark is looking great, and Haberman has 3 TD passes.

[OzJohnnie]

Ole & Cobber:  Put the updates over in the MIAC ingame updates board.  Helps us all stay up-to-date easier.

+k all around.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Nice start on the day for the MIAC-- 5-0 with Auggie hosting CLown tonight. Awesome job by the Cobbers knocking off Willamette the power of the pacific NW! Ole had little trouble with Luther, Bethel demolished Concordia-WI , UST stomped on Mac and SJU righted ship to top ReeferFalls. Hopefully no injuries anywhere. Sweet day all around!!!

[OleHog74]

Hopefully no injuries anywhere. Sweet day all around!!!

Ole QB Haberman tweaked his ankle and only played 1 half.  But it didn't look serious, if the game hadn't been won by halftime, he probably would have returned.

[TC]

The Johnnies sophomore starting cornerback Adam Weber was carted off the field in the second half with what looked to be a serious leg injury.  He was making his first start and is the brother of fromer Johnnies Brian (wide receiver) and Corey (running back).  He was replaced by a freshman, Alex Powell, for the rest of the game.

[TC]

Congrats to the Cobbers - that's a huge non-conference win for the program and the league.  I know they got one of the scores on a punt return and the defense had to hold the lead late, how'd the offense look with all the replacement starters?

*****

Beating UW-River Falls 28-24 was no one's idea of the optimal way to start the season, but it sure beats losing--which looked pretty damn likely most of the afternoon.

The defense made the plays they needed to make late in the game, but they sure looked soft most of the day.  The second Falcons' TD (putting them ahead 14-0)looked like a designed QB run on a bootleg.  He was getting the business from John Stanton, but he couldn't chase him down and the QB made what looked to be an improvisational overhand pass for the TD.

The offense had trouble moving the ball early when they tried to go conservative.  It seems like they flipped a coin all first half:  heads, fullback dive for a yard, tails, option pitch for two yards.  Once they fell behind 17-0 in the first half and during the 4th quarter comeback, though, they had to air the ball out and Boyle and Vanderheyden looked really, really good.  I think they could have a really nice passing attack this year if the o-line can give them any protection.  Unfortunately, that could be a big "if".

A lot of delayed draws and shovel passes in the second half that looked nice, mostly to Reding.  The two freshmen running backs, Nick Schneider and Steve Johnson, both had moments of brilliance.  They really tried to get the ball to sophomore receiver Andrew Rotschafer, including a few handoffs and pitches.  I think they have big plans for him this year.

I heard the sentiment from multiple sources that the defense was too full of itself.  Hopefully this game serves as a wakeup call:  this defense shouldn't give up 24 points to that team.

At the end of the day, a win is a win.  Assuming they keep passing the ball, I'm actually kinda looking forward to what they can do on offense.  There won't be many blowouts this year, but at least the games should be interesting.

*****

A River Falls fan pointed out that Finsleft is immature and a poor influence on me and TDT.  Pretty perceptive, them.

[cobbernation]

Cobbers played well for the first game of the year.  The cobbs committed one penalty, converted 11 of 18 3rd down conv. and forced 3 TO's.  However, the cobbs had 3 TO's themselves.  But definately a great win for the cobbs to start the year by beating a top 10 team in the opening weekend!  Way to go MIAC on a strong weekend of football.

[OzJohnnie]

Upon my reflection, for what it's worth, I'm pretty happy with today's game.  The offense scored 28 under some extreme pressure and ther is a reasonable expectation of some improvement and the defense barely did enough with a reasonable expectation of a huge improvement.  Plus, the MIAC did very well all around which leads me to believe that topping the conference will take a very good team.

All in all, a good season to look forward to.

[D O.C.]

The johns did a good job coming back today. Flashes of past teams. (sort of ) impressive.

[natedog228]

Congrats to the Cobbers - that's a huge non-conference win for the program and the league.  I know they got one of the scores on a punt return and the defense had to hold the lead late, how'd the offense look with all the replacement starters?

The third drive for the Cobbers, after they fumbled and punted, ate almost eight minutes off the clock, a 17 play 72 yard drive that ended in a touchdown. The thing this year for the Cobbers is their offensive line. They lost just one to graduation, and from what I saw yesterday, didn't sub a whole lot on the O-Line. The offense sputtered at times, epecially in the second half. New quarterback this year means getting the timing down with receivers, the exchanges with the runningbacks and the exchange with the center. The Cobbers fumbled five times, lost three. Their defense is just straight nasty. You can't run on them period. However, the offense can't continue to put the defense on the field deep in their own territory and expect them to hold like they did yesterday. For sure, many things to work on this week as they prepare for a sub-par Valley City State team, so hopefully they use that to work out the offensive kinks. On a personal note I like Larson at quarterback. He's a big guy who bounced off several initial hits. He also has a big frame to see over the line to hit his recievers deep down the field. Looks like the Cobbers can be a legit contender in the MIAC. As they say, defense wins championships.

[DustySJU]

The Johnnies sophomore starting cornerback Adam Weber was carted off the field in the second half with what looked to be a serious leg injury.  He was making his first start and is the brother of fromer Johnnies Brian (wide receiver) and Corey (running back).  He was replaced by a freshman, Alex Powell, for the rest of the game.

Yes, Carbo and I sat next to Alex's mother... she was excited.

We did our best to keep Finsleft away from her.

Developing....

[DustySJU]

SJU/UWRF photos up at www.JohnnieFootball.com

Developing....