FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[johnnie tats]

Yes, it was great seeing everyone at the Tailgate and also meeting those famous( or should I say infamous)  ppsters from this board! Too bad the Johnnies could not pull it out in the end. I agree with Veek's comments about the Refs( they should made what seemed like a faster than normal beeline  off of the fieldd at the end of the game) BUT I guess we should have not let the game get to a point where anything other than the fact that we had enough points to win would matter!

[Touchdown Tommy]

Good Monday morning you rabble rousers.  I see the Little Wiener Doggie has awoken from his offseason slumber and come out throwing bombs.  Fair enough I can play.

Tough loss on Saturday night in Eau-Claire.  It was one of those games where it feels like neither team deserves to win.  I'm told the Referee called "helmet to helmet" contact on the roughing the passer call on John Stanton.  This seemed a bit ridiculous especially at that critical juncture in the game.

However, LWD is correct.  The true BONER call by the WIAC officiating crew was the INT in the endzone and spotting the ball at the 3 yard line.  I'd love to hear the explanation.  Either it is a touchback and the ball goes to the 20 yard line or it is on the 1 foot line outside the endzone.  No other options unless there are some new rules this year I'm not aware of.  That was crucial because it forces the Johnnies to be conservative in their play calling and then end up punting backed up to the endzone (so a quick punt is essential) instead of having plenty of breathing room (and field position) out at the 20+ yard line.

The WIAC crew was horrendous.  They should be suspended as they clearly didn't have a clear grasp on the rules.  How bout that complete botch of the OT positioning?  Embarrassing.  Are these cats doing 9 man high school games on Friday nights?  How can this happen?  Especially the head referee.

Great to see my pal BlueDevil Bob and meet fellow Johnnie Samwill47 at the tailgate.  Lots of good camaraderie and bullsh!t.  Great spread of food and absolutely no Harassment from some power hungry rent-a-cops like I hear our Linfield pals had to deal with in Thousand Oaks, CA.  GHC's blue jug had to swallow it's pride and dispose of its contents in the view of the Cal Lutheran 8 dollar an hour campus rent-a-cops.

Here is Patrick Reusse's piece slobbering all over the Tommies from yesterday's Strib.  Note the quote from USTD QB Dakota Tracy...

[Touchdown Tommy]

I had a chance to catch the 1st half of the Hamline vs Pacific Lutheran game on Saturday at Noon.  As expected, very unimpressed with the Pipers.  Terrible defense, missed tackles, huge plays, etc.  The Lutes (whom the PA announcer repeatedly called the Utes much to the chagrin of the PLU fans) were equally mediocre on defense yet I thought they had some potent weapons on offense.  Most notably, WR #14 Greg Ford.

Everyone's favorite MIAC Tweeter Ray Grant had no catches for no yards and one dropped pass that I witnessed (he gave himself the old slap on the helmet after the drop).  4 catches 50 yrds and a TD?  C'mon son.

I then went over to the UST vs River Falls game for the 2nd half.  Very nice crowd for USTD (lots of bandwagon jumping going on).  They've added fixed individual purple seats (4 rows) to the visitor's sideline next to the new $60 million dollar fortess.  Should be raucous next October when the Johnnies make the trip to Summit and Cretin.  No idea where everyone is going to park.  They are building the Monument to Lee & Penny Anderson on the former parking lots next to the stadium.  I may walk from The Nook next season...

The Tommies looked good.  Big, physical, fast, lots of weapons, unpredictable playcalling etc.  I was, however, unimpressed by their continued lack of discipline.  They committed a roughing the kicker penalty and had a series of mental mistakes that would be penal if they were playing a more competitive team.

Lastly, I know the LWD has been eagerly awaiting TDT's food review.  Had lunch at Brasa on Grand Ave before the football extraganza on Saturday.  Very tasty braised beef sandwich with crispy onions and sharp cheddar cheese on a great ciabatta roll.  Good vibe to the place with patio seating and open air dining.  They specialize in rotisserie meats and are getting rave reviews in the MSP media.

[johnnie tats]

However, LWD is correct.  The true BONER call by the WIAC officiating crew was the INT in the endzone and spotting the ball at the 3 yard line.  I'd love to hear the explanation.  Either it is a touchback and the ball goes to the 20 yard line or it is on the 1 foot line outside the endzone.  No other options unless there are some new rules this year I'm not aware of.  That was crucial because it forces the Johnnies to be conservative in their play calling and then end up punting backed up to the endzone (so a quick punt is essential) instead of having plenty of breathing room (and field position) out at the 20+ yard line.

The WIAC crew was horrendous.  They should be suspended as they clearly didn't have a clear grasp on the rules.  How bout that complete botch of the OT positioning?  Embarrassing.  Are these cats doing 9 man high school games on Friday nights?  How can this happen?  Especially the head referee.


With you 100% TDT! Serioulsy, those refs must work for BP during the week( what there is no oil leak, the environment will be fine)! or maybe they are TV News weathermen, you know never correct but always keep their jobs! I had a freind along who is not a fervent Johnnie fan, and played semi-pro ball in Chicago and he was simply speechless at the calls and inability of the ref to turn off his mike!!   

[cobbernation]

Looking at the box score of the Johnnie/UWEC game it looks like UWEC had some good field position on both of their TD's in the fourth quarter.  Both drives it took them 3 plays to go 40+ yds for the scores.  Was the SJU defense on the field more in the 2nd half where they might be tired?   Did they score when SJU had to punt out of the endzone on the pick in the endzone=ball on the 3 yd. line rule, sounds about as bad as the lions no TD rule. 

Anyway, the cobbers will definately have their hands full in collegeville this weekend.  THe cobbers had a confidence boost win over a poor Valley city state squad this past weekend.  The cobbers had a balanced attack of pass and run while the starters were in.  Should be a great opening week of MIAC play.

[DutchFan2004]

Good Monday morning you rabble rousers.  I see the Little Wiener Doggie has awoken from his offseason slumber and come out throwing bombs.  Fair enough I can play.

Tough loss on Saturday night in Eau-Claire.  It was one of those games where it feels like neither team deserves to win.  I'm told the Referee called "helmet to helmet" contact on the roughing the passer call on John Stanton.  This seemed a bit ridiculous especially at that critical juncture in the game.

However, LWD is correct.  The true BONER call by the WIAC officiating crew was the INT in the endzone and spotting the ball at the 3 yard line.  I'd love to hear the explanation.  Either it is a touchback and the ball goes to the 20 yard line or it is on the 1 foot line outside the endzone.  No other options unless there are some new rules this year I'm not aware of.  That was crucial because it forces the Johnnies to be conservative in their play calling and then end up punting backed up to the endzone (so a quick punt is essential) instead of having plenty of breathing room (and field position) out at the 20+ yard line.

The WIAC crew was horrendous.  They should be suspended as they clearly didn't have a clear grasp on the rules.  How bout that complete botch of the OT positioning?  Embarrassing.  Are these cats doing 9 man high school games on Friday nights?  How can this happen?  Especially the head referee.

Great to see my pal BlueDevil Bob and meet fellow Johnnie Samwill47 at the tailgate.  Lots of good camaraderie and bullsh!t.  Great spread of food and absolutely no Harassment from some power hungry rent-a-cops like I hear our Linfield pals had to deal with in Thousand Oaks, CA.  GHC's blue jug had to swallow it's pride and dispose of its contents in the view of the Cal Lutheran 8 dollar an hour campus rent-a-cops.

Here is Patrick Reusse's piece slobbering all over the Tommies from yesterday's Strib.  Note the quote from USTD QB Dakota Tracy...

Not seeing the game the question I have is the did the helmet to helmet contact happen.  If if did then it should have been called no matter what point in the game it is.  If you are saying that late in a close game no penalties should be called why call any at any time?  You can't ask an official to suck on his wistle and not throw a flag at certain points in a game.  It is either a penalty or it is not from start to finish. 

[sjusection105]

  That was crucial because it forces the Johnnies to be conservative in their play calling and then end up punting backed up to the endzone (so a quick punt is essential) instead of having plenty of breathing room (and field position) out at the 20+ yard line.

Monday morning quarterbacking asks- why not take an intentional saftey at this stage of the game with the punter stepping out of the back of the end zone 
It's just a thought, the coaching crew has forgotten more about football than I will ever know.

[faunch]

Good Monday morning you rabble rousers.  I see the Little Wiener Doggie has awoken from his offseason slumber and come out throwing bombs.  Fair enough I can play.

Tough loss on Saturday night in Eau-Claire.  It was one of those games where it feels like neither team deserves to win.  I'm told the Referee called "helmet to helmet" contact on the roughing the passer call on John Stanton.  This seemed a bit ridiculous especially at that critical juncture in the game.

However, LWD is correct.  The true BONER call by the WIAC officiating crew was the INT in the endzone and spotting the ball at the 3 yard line.  I'd love to hear the explanation.  Either it is a touchback and the ball goes to the 20 yard line or it is on the 1 foot line outside the endzone.  No other options unless there are some new rules this year I'm not aware of.  That was crucial because it forces the Johnnies to be conservative in their play calling and then end up punting backed up to the endzone (so a quick punt is essential) instead of having plenty of breathing room (and field position) out at the 20+ yard line.

The WIAC crew was horrendous.  They should be suspended as they clearly didn't have a clear grasp on the rules.  How bout that complete botch of the OT positioning?  Embarrassing.  Are these cats doing 9 man high school games on Friday nights?  How can this happen?  Especially the head referee.

Great to see my pal BlueDevil Bob and meet fellow Johnnie Samwill47 at the tailgate.  Lots of good camaraderie and bullsh!t.  Great spread of food and absolutely no Harassment from some power hungry rent-a-cops like I hear our Linfield pals had to deal with in Thousand Oaks, CA.  GHC's blue jug had to swallow it's pride and dispose of its contents in the view of the Cal Lutheran 8 dollar an hour campus rent-a-cops.

Here is Patrick Reusse's piece slobbering all over the Tommies from yesterday's Strib.  Note the quote from USTD QB Dakota Tracy...

Not seeing the game the question I have is the did the helmet to helmet contact happen.  If if did then it should have been called no matter what point in the game it is.  If you are saying that late in a close game no penalties should be called why call any at any time?  You can't ask an official to suck on his wistle and not throw a flag at certain points in a game.  It is either a penalty or it is not from start to finish. 

I'm growing very tired of all the helmet calls at all levels of football.  I understand the desire to reduce injuries but it's a violent game with guys flying around all over the place.  The one that drives me nuts is the defensive player that's trying to knock down a pass and the contact is an incidental love tap.  My high school football coach used to smack us on the helmet harder than that.  If the goal is to keep everybody safe why don't we just strap a couple flags to their waists.

[WithasilentK]

Shane Henfling was a nice MIAC QB who was from the area you are correct. He did not have a desire to sit behind Koefed for 3 years and ended up having a good career at Carleton. That being said he was not an elite level QB.

He may not have been "elite level", but he was an All-Region player, a distinction that Kofoed never received.  And the original post said that the reason that the QBs were so bad in '08 was because there weren't any local QBs worth recruiting (which is where Henfling comes in).

I would say the WR play has fallen off more than the QB play, though.  I haven't seen a real threat at WR for SJU since Gearman graduated.

Define "elite level." Henfling wasn't ready to play until his junior year and his senior year he came a defensive stop, a not blown call, and a made extra point away from being one of the most clutch QBs in MIAC history (would've been 4 game-winning scores inside 2 minutes). He didn't have the strongest arm, wasn't very fast, and those things didn't happen, so he went down as a very good MIAC QB.

As for the SJU game, it happened about like I thought it would until the 4th quarter. Not too big of a deal right now unless they played like crap, but I didn't see the game, so I have no idea about that.

[DutchFan2004]

Good Monday morning you rabble rousers.  I see the Little Wiener Doggie has awoken from his offseason slumber and come out throwing bombs.  Fair enough I can play.

Tough loss on Saturday night in Eau-Claire.  It was one of those games where it feels like neither team deserves to win.  I'm told the Referee called "helmet to helmet" contact on the roughing the passer call on John Stanton.  This seemed a bit ridiculous especially at that critical juncture in the game.

However, LWD is correct.  The true BONER call by the WIAC officiating crew was the INT in the endzone and spotting the ball at the 3 yard line.  I'd love to hear the explanation.  Either it is a touchback and the ball goes to the 20 yard line or it is on the 1 foot line outside the endzone.  No other options unless there are some new rules this year I'm not aware of.  That was crucial because it forces the Johnnies to be conservative in their play calling and then end up punting backed up to the endzone (so a quick punt is essential) instead of having plenty of breathing room (and field position) out at the 20+ yard line.

The WIAC crew was horrendous.  They should be suspended as they clearly didn't have a clear grasp on the rules.  How bout that complete botch of the OT positioning?  Embarrassing.  Are these cats doing 9 man high school games on Friday nights?  How can this happen?  Especially the head referee.

Great to see my pal BlueDevil Bob and meet fellow Johnnie Samwill47 at the tailgate.  Lots of good camaraderie and bullsh!t.  Great spread of food and absolutely no Harassment from some power hungry rent-a-cops like I hear our Linfield pals had to deal with in Thousand Oaks, CA.  GHC's blue jug had to swallow it's pride and dispose of its contents in the view of the Cal Lutheran 8 dollar an hour campus rent-a-cops.

Here is Patrick Reusse's piece slobbering all over the Tommies from yesterday's Strib.  Note the quote from USTD QB Dakota Tracy...

Not seeing the game the question I have is the did the helmet to helmet contact happen.  If if did then it should have been called no matter what point in the game it is.  If you are saying that late in a close game no penalties should be called why call any at any time?  You can't ask an official to suck on his wistle and not throw a flag at certain points in a game.  It is either a penalty or it is not from start to finish. 

I'm growing very tired of all the helmet calls at all levels of football.  I understand the desire to reduce injuries but it's a violent game with guys flying around all over the place.  The one that drives me nuts is the defensive player that's trying to knock down a pass and the contact is an incidental love tap.  My high school football coach used to smack us on the helmet harder than that.  If the goal is to keep everybody safe why don't we just strap a couple flags to their waists.

Faunch,

I understand what you are saying.  A lot has changed from when we played the game.  Including the size and speed of the players.  I think that the rules are they to help keep the kids in the game and have a life after they are through playing.  Sinde the rules are what they are the official are enforcing them.  The only complaint that i see here is if the officials were only calling the game one way  for one team. 

[DuffMan]

He didn't have the strongest arm, wasn't very fast...

One could say the same things about Tom Linneman

[faunch]

Anybody know where there might be information enrollments of Division 3 schools.  The Ruesse piece from Sunday got me thinking bit.  I went through some of the schools on d3football.com and was kind of surprised by the range...for example Hiram in Ohio has an enrollment of 870 whereas the WIAC schools range from about 5,000 at Platteville to up to 11,000 at Oshkosh.  Has there been any talk lately of reconfiguring D3?

[AO]

Anybody know where there might be information enrollments of Division 3 schools.  The Ruesse piece from Sunday got me thinking bit.  I went through some of the schools on d3football.com and was kind of surprised by the range...for example Hiram in Ohio has an enrollment of 870 whereas the WIAC schools range from about 5,000 at Platteville to up to 11,000 at Oshkosh.  Has there been any talk lately of reconfiguring D3?

Mount Union doesn't seem to have too much trouble with 2000.  I don't understand why we need 4 divisions.  I was a witness to what I thought was a mediocre D-II school (yes I realize they recently moved up a level) come in and beat the gophs at the bank. 

[USTBench]

Checked out UST on Saturday and can say a few things: they showed a lot of poise and a lot of depth in a good win over a decent football team.

UST had little trouble moving the ball and moving it quickly, though their first drive stalled close to the endzone. It was very apparent however, that UWRF is very technically sound and is your typically physical establish the run type WIAC team that had little trouble running the ball early. UWRF's first drive took FOREVER, but UST was able to eventually figure it out and frustrate the process for UWRF the rest of the day. It was sort of bend but don't break at first but the Tommie D was able to hunker down quite a bit by rotating fresh players in every frew plays or so. Linebackers and D-linemen were constantly rotating in and doing a very effective job, and that was great to see. I think Wartman got the wind knocked out of him early on the first drive, so his play was limited by Colin Tobin came in and did a great job filling his shoes. Greg Morse spelled Dakota Tracy for a quick series that resulted in a touchdown and they were able to sort of pick each other up, with Tracy shouldering a majority of the load and Morse coming in to give UWRF some different looks and schemes to address from time to time.

Overall, great win over a solid non-conference team. Nice to see UST bolster the non-conference schedule and take care of business. In addition, the opening day fan support was outstanding. Unlike anything I've seen in my 10 year association with UST football, so that was great. Packed house to start the season is awesome. Should be a good year for UST if they can avoid a few potential buzzsaws, which I believe will be St. Olaf, Bethel and of course SJU.

[sjusection105]

Checked out UST on Saturday and can say a few things: they showed a lot of poise and a lot of depth in a good win over a decent football team.

UST had little trouble moving the ball and moving it quickly, though their first drive stalled close to the endzone. It was very apparent however, that UWRF is very technically sound and is your typically physical establish the run type WIAC team that had little trouble running the ball early. UWRF's first drive took FOREVER, but UST was able to eventually figure it out and frustrate the process for UWRF the rest of the day. It was sort of bend but don't break at first but the Tommie D was able to hunker down quite a bit by rotating fresh players in every frew plays or so. Linebackers and D-linemen were constantly rotating in and doing a very effective job, and that was great to see. I think Wartman got the wind knocked out of him early on the first drive, so his play was limited by Colin Tobin came in and did a great job filling his shoes. Greg Morse spelled Dakota Tracy for a quick series that resulted in a touchdown and they were able to sort of pick each other up, with Tracy shouldering a majority of the load and Morse coming in to give UWRF some different looks and schemes to address from time to time.

Overall, great win over a solid non-conference team. Nice to see UST bolster the non-conference schedule and take care of business. In addition, the opening day fan support was outstanding. Unlike anything I've seen in my 10 year association with UST football, so that was great. Packed house to start the season is awesome. Should be a good year for UST if they can avoid a few potential buzzsaws, which I believe will be St. Olaf, Bethel and of course SJU.

Great observations Bench.
BTW- does anyone know if Auggie is for real this year or do they just have a great passing game with no Defense?