FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[SagatagSam]

3.  I think U$T has at least two personal foul penalties
Did anybody think that on the big punt return in 4th quarter U$T got away with a
couple illegal blocks?

From what I remember, VOJ counted two illegal blocks in the back on the punt return, and then proceeded to talk about it for the next 3-4 plays.

[faunch]

Random thoughts and observations from yesterday.

What a game.  Beautiful day.  Full house.  Very quiet Tommy crowd in the 2nd half.  Especially at the end.  ;-)  I was standing on about the 10 yard line, a bad angle to view the field goal.  I knew it was a miss by the reaction of the Tommy student section.

Biggest accomplishment of the coaching staff yesterday:  they convinced the kids they could win.

Biggest difference on the field:  The past two years UST was physically dominant.  That was not the case yesterday.  The physical aspect of the game was pretty evenly matched.  This is the most encouraging thing I took away from the game.

The transformation of the defense from week 1 versus River Falls to yesterday was amazing.  Was like it was a completely different set of players.

I was a little surprised when I looked at the box score.  My sense watching the game was that the statistics would be pretty close.  They were not.

Sam Sura is the real deal.  Really liked that they rode him for the whole game.  He had 25 of 26 rushes by SJU running backs.  I spoke to him on the field after the game.  Very nice, respectful kid.

Trust me, Bruns is the guy.

During the half time re-presentation of GC's coach of the year awards, the PA guy used the word legend or legendary in reference to GC or the "Caruso era." I don't remember exactly, but I've captured the meaning of what was said.  What does that make John Gagliardi?

What is the protocol for teams exiting the field at half time?  UST literally sprints across the field to the opening leading to the locker rooms to be sure they exited before SJU.

Besides the turnovers yesterday, the other thing big thing for UST was, as in the Stagg Bowl loss, they did not create big plays on defense and special teams.  No forced fumbles, not a lot of tackles for loss, no blocked punts or field goals.  Bruns was only sacked one.  And he is not exactly highly mobile.  Looks like some of the irreplaceable guys on defense who graduated were not replaced.

Great to see Bench, and especially Mrs. Bench.  Bench did not shy away from post game discussion and analysis.

One Armed Scott predicted a half time score of 28-0.  I think he was being conservative.

Was anyone else surprised that Caruso was on the field for this especially with his team trailing and not playing all that well.  An obvious attempt to tout him as the coaching kingpin of the MIAC in front of the SJU faithful. 

Just re-read this...it was re-presentation of the award? 

[faunch]

3.  I think U$T has at least two personal foul penalties
Did anybody think that on the big punt return in 4th quarter U$T got away with a
couple illegal blocks?

From what I remember, VOJ counted two illegal blocks in the back on the punt return, and then proceeded to talk about it for the next 3-4 plays.

I'm sure he did.

[sju56321]

Those were pretty obvious watching the webcast.

[SagatagSam]

[...]  During the half time re-presentation of GC's coach of the year awards, the PA guy used the word legend or legendary in reference to GC or the "Caruso era."  I don't remember exactly, but I've captured the meaning of what was said.  What does that make John Gagliardi?  [...]

I'm sure there are a couple of Toms out there would be willing to grumble about how you have no respect for GC and then immediately fire off a few incontinent old man references about Gagliardi.

[sjusection105]

3.  I think U$T has at least two personal foul penalties
Did anybody think that on the big punt return in 4th quarter U$T got away with a
couple illegal blocks?

From what I remember, VOJ counted two illegal blocks in the back on the punt return, and then proceeded to talk about it for the next 3-4 plays.

There was also a pretty obvious no call block in the back by UST on the opening kickoff. The history of personal fouls by UST parallels the "Caruso Era".

[Pat Coleman]

You heard O'Connell was "battling pneumonia"?  Um, I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure no one "battling pneumonia" is going to be out playing in a football game.  The flu, bronchitis, a bad cold - those are possible.  But pneumonia?  Who'd you hear that from - Chicago Tommie?

It was reported in the story in the Star Tribune that he was getting over mononucleosis; which I had as a teenager, so he probably took a nap at halftime.....

I saw that on Twitter early in the day as well. Whether it means anything or not is up to you guys, but at least it was not postgame spin.

[OzJohnnie]

3.  I think U$T has at least two personal foul penalties
Did anybody think that on the big punt return in 4th quarter U$T got away with a
couple illegal blocks?

From what I remember, VOJ counted two illegal blocks in the back on the punt return, and then proceeded to talk about it for the next 3-4 plays.

There was also a pretty obvious no call block in the back by UST on the opening kickoff. The history of personal fouls by UST parallels the "Caruso Era".

What do you think?  Will UST becomes Kings of the Cheapshot?  Will Meidt's legacy finally fall?

[retagent]

3.  I think U$T has at least two personal foul penalties
Did anybody think that on the big punt return in 4th quarter U$T got away with a
couple illegal blocks?

From what I remember, VOJ counted two illegal blocks in the back on the punt return, and then proceeded to talk about it for the next 3-4 plays.

I'm sure he did.

If you look on the In Game board, I asked if anyone else saw a block in the back on the fumbled, then recovered long punt return, right after the play. I thought I was alone.

[hazzben]

2. What was the story with the chop blocks?  I didn't see them...Bethel better hope they never have this crew. 

I'll just chalk up the Bethel reference to you not knowing the difference between a chop block (when a player is already engaged high and a second blocker comes in below the waist - it's irrelevant where it happens on the field) and a cut block, which Bethel is very adept at employing and also totally legal.

However, a cut block on special teams or after a turnover is strictly illegal, just ask Suh.

[hazzben]

Illegal "chop blocks" occur when a player blocks below waist inside the tackle box, or when another player is engaged with the defender and another player hits the defender below the waist, also known as a "hi-lo" looked upon as very dirty/cheap play.

Corrected it for you. You can cut block anywhere on the field during a typical play from scrimmage in college football, just not on a change of possession, turnover or special teams.

They can certainly be dirty. Sometimes it is just the nature of the game though. A running back goes to cut a blitzing LB and while he's going down another OL turns and engages the guy high. In these cases, it still needs to get called because it's a good way to blow out a knee, but not necessarily dirty.

[SagatagSam]

3.  I think U$T has at least two personal foul penalties
Did anybody think that on the big punt return in 4th quarter U$T got away with a
couple illegal blocks?

From what I remember, VOJ counted two illegal blocks in the back on the punt return, and then proceeded to talk about it for the next 3-4 plays.

I'm sure he did.

If you look on the In Game board, I asked if anyone else saw a block in the back on the fumbled, then recovered long punt return, right after the play. I thought I was alone.

I was away from the screen and could only hear the radio call when that play happened.

[edstone]

What do you think?  Will UST becomes Kings of the Cheapshot?  Will Meidt's legacy finally fall?
[/quote]

Oz - I'm late to this show - how does Meidt and Meidt's legacy fit with the topic of personal fouls and other assorted cheap shots? Just wondering . . .

[USTBench]

Random thoughts and observations from yesterday.

What a game.  Beautiful day.  Full house.  Very quiet Tommy crowd in the 2nd half.  Especially at the end.  ;-)  I was standing on about the 10 yard line, a bad angle to view the field goal.  I knew it was a miss by the reaction of the Tommy student section.

Biggest accomplishment of the coaching staff yesterday:  they convinced the kids they could win.

Biggest difference on the field:  The past two years UST was physically dominant.  That was not the case yesterday.  The physical aspect of the game was pretty evenly matched.  This is the most encouraging thing I took away from the game.

The transformation of the defense from week 1 versus River Falls to yesterday was amazing.  Was like it was a completely different set of players.

I was a little surprised when I looked at the box score.  My sense watching the game was that the statistics would be pretty close.  They were not.

Sam Sura is the real deal.  Really liked that they rode him for the whole game.  He had 25 of 26 rushes by SJU running backs.  I spoke to him on the field after the game.  Very nice, respectful kid.

Trust me, Bruns is the guy.

During the half time re-presentation of GC's coach of the year awards, the PA guy used the word legend or legendary in reference to GC or the "Caruso era."  I don't remember exactly, but I've captured the meaning of what was said.  What does that make John Gagliardi?

What is the protocol for teams exiting the field at half time?  UST literally sprints across the field to the opening leading to the locker rooms to be sure they exited before SJU.

Besides the turnovers yesterday, the other thing big thing for UST was, as in the Stagg Bowl loss, they did not create big plays on defense and special teams.  No forced fumbles, not a lot of tackles for loss, no blocked punts or field goals.  Bruns was only sacked one.  And he is not exactly highly mobile.  Looks like some of the irreplaceable guys on defense who graduated were not replaced.

Great to see Bench, and especially Mrs. Bench.  Bench did not shy away from post game discussion and analysis.

One Armed Scott predicted a half time score of 28-0.  I think he was being conservative.

Tip of the cap to SJU.

I thought the secondary for the Jays played an outstanding game. They stayed home (for the most part) on the sneaky roll outs, throwbacks and really didn't let UST have much on the edges. Keeping containment and making UST go north/south might be the recipe to beat them this year.

The play of Matt O'Connell and the run blocking were some points of concerns I thought. I would like to see what UST can do between the tackles a lot more than what I've seen in games 1 through 3. Our offense was just way too cute for my taste yesterday. If you're going to be "O-Line U" then there is no excuse for not pushing a d-line that's about 220 across the board off of the ball.

SJU has a defense that might take them to a conference title, it'd be really cool to see two teams from the MIAC this year. I just hope one them is UST.

[OzJohnnie]

What do you think?  Will UST becomes Kings of the Cheapshot?  Will Meidt's legacy finally fall?

Oz - I'm late to this show - how does Meidt and Meidt's legacy fit with the topic of personal fouls and other assorted cheap shots? Just wondering . . .

[/quote]

While he was coaching at STO this board ran riot with discussion of the team consistently leading the league in personal fouls.  Cheap shot academy.