FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[nkwest]

The game had to be fun for the Tommie's, I know it was!

I LOVED the pride and passion coming from the WR 1s & 2s at the edge of the team area on the sideline when SR WR Teddy Andrews got to the pylon in the 4th quarter. That's a young man who has been in the program for four years and worked his butt off every practice for his teammates to get the glory on game day; the coaching staff puts him in a position to score on Senior Day, and he takes advantage of the opportunity.

[badger1845]

WOW!!! This isn't pee wee football! Only one team wins. This is a sport where one teams objective  is to destroy the other team, physically and mentally.  Carleton could of ran some trick plays if they wanted to they could tried anything on the Tommie's to win. So UST had a little fun with some trick plays, in which they had game time experience to try them out. The game had to be fun for the Tommie's, I know it was!  Carleton on the other had should be at a cross road,  if I were them this would be the wake-up call... that maybe the program needs... I would take that loss personally! I would try to change the program and figure a way to compete with other teams in MIAC at a higher level. We all have been in blow outs, on the winning side and the losing side... I learned more from the losing side and by losing first you learn to win...

As a neutral party to all of this I honestly think UST would get a better "game look" at trying these plays out on their own players in practice than running them against Carleton.  Just my opinion on that.  I get the whole getting it on tape part but the teams in the playoffs I'm sure will go over each of these trick plays once to know how to line up and that will be the end of it.  As far as Carleton taking the loss and trying to figure out how to change the program, that is a bit tougher than just going and saying hey we should recruit like UST.  They can't.  Admissions requirements at Carleton are much higher than UST.  Now don't take that as me saying UST is full of stupid kids, they aren't.  It's just not the same academic institution that Carelton is.  They won't get the same kids because the academics eliminate a good amount of good football players for them.  It was the same at MAC, but they've managed to find a way.  So yes Carleton can try to get better but it won't ever be able to match the athletes UST gets.  Then again most of the MIAC probably can't, other than the ones you see at the top consistently year to year. 

[SagatagSam]

Any predictions on how many touches Sura will get this weekend and what that could spell as far as his pursuit of the SJU all-time rushing record?
St. Olaf has the 239th ranked rush defense in D3, which is better than only two schools, giving up 274 yds/gm.

[faunch]

Any predictions on how many touches Sura will get this weekend and what that could spell as far as his pursuit of the SJU all-time rushing record?
St. Olaf has the 239th ranked rush defense in D3, which is better than only two schools, giving up 274 yds/gm.

How many yards does Sura need?  Considering SJU is optimistic about a playoff berth I don't believe the coaching staff would want to subject him to any unnecessary hits.

[SJUrube]

I can send you a private message with the tweets when I get off work. I was trying to avoid posting tweets with people's names.

I would like to see them.  I don't doubt you, as we've all seen our share of over-zealous sports parents, so I'd like to see what's been said.

I second that.

Tom Thumb did follow me on Twitter for a few weeks recently. I'm assuming he found me through my tongue in cheek use of #RollToms & the like. He's a few years younger than I - and a better football player & faster track athlete to boot - but we do share some real life acquaintances. I imagine one of the Satan tweets he referenced was from an exchange I had w/ a few UST friends of mine. Feel free to check my timeline from Sunday morning for the exchange. My profile is public so you can see most of the exchange - exception being one of my friends has a blocked profile, just like Tom Thumb does. Feel free to judge for yourself if I was making a direct comparison, or rather poking the bear that are my friends.

[d-train]

I thought Satan was busy coaching the Crimson Tide.

[wm4]

The game had to be fun for the Tommie's, I know it was!

I LOVED the pride and passion coming from the WR 1s & 2s at the edge of the team area on the sideline when SR WR Teddy Andrews got to the pylon in the 4th quarter. That's a young man who has been in the program for four years and worked his butt off every practice for his teammates to get the glory on game day; the coaching staff puts him in a position to score on Senior Day, and he takes advantage of the opportunity.

THAT....was simpley awesome to see!

[SagatagSam]

Any predictions on how many touches Sura will get this weekend and what that could spell as far as his pursuit of the SJU all-time rushing record?
St. Olaf has the 239th ranked rush defense in D3, which is better than only two schools, giving up 274 yds/gm.

How many yards does Sura need?  Considering SJU is optimistic about a playoff berth I don't believe the coaching staff would want to subject him to any unnecessary hits.

222 yards to catch Tim Schmitz.

My thinking is they give him touches until he hits 100 yards or the end of the first half, whichever is longer.

[faunch]

Any predictions on how many touches Sura will get this weekend and what that could spell as far as his pursuit of the SJU all-time rushing record?
St. Olaf has the 239th ranked rush defense in D3, which is better than only two schools, giving up 274 yds/gm.

How many yards does Sura need?  Considering SJU is optimistic about a playoff berth I don't believe the coaching staff would want to subject him to any unnecessary hits.

222 yards to catch Tim Schmitz.

My thinking is they give him touches until he hits 100 yards or the end of the first half, whichever is longer.

Sura will be lucky to get a 100.  If SJU gets up by 3 or 4 scores in the first half his day will likely be very short.  Maybe he will be fortunate to get the record playing in a playoff game or two.

[RoyalsFan]

Of course this applies to SJU & Saint Gags vs. Hamline but not UST & GC vs. Carleton. Of course.  It's not like UST's 3-deep RB ran for 110 yards and 2 TDs behind the OL's 3s & 4s on nine touches.

I look at it a little differently when the lopsided score involves numerous trick/gadget plays.  Obviously, you don't see it that way, but not surprisingly, many people share this viewpoint, and when even staunch Tommie backers are admitting that it was maybe just a bit out of line, you viewpoint may be in a minority. 

I guess I'll throw in my  2 cents about it. The 3 extra points from the 2 point conversion attempts didn't really make that much of a difference as far as the score being lopsided. So is 80-3 really that much worse than 77-3? Just because they ran trick plays on the 2 point conversions didn't really contribute much to running up the score. Now if the trick plays were run during a regular play that resulted in a td, then that would be different. There has also been some criticism about the drop kick being a trick play, which I don't understand why. Just because it is seldom used doesn't make it a trick play, plus it is still just 1 point so how is that running up the score?  I guess the only issue I have would be the on-side kick.

[wm4]

Of course this applies to SJU & Saint Gags vs. Hamline but not UST & GC vs. Carleton. Of course.  It's not like UST's 3-deep RB ran for 110 yards and 2 TDs behind the OL's 3s & 4s on nine touches.

I look at it a little differently when the lopsided score involves numerous trick/gadget plays.  Obviously, you don't see it that way, but not surprisingly, many people share this viewpoint, and when even staunch Tommie backers are admitting that it was maybe just a bit out of line, you viewpoint may be in a minority. 

I guess I'll throw in my  2 cents about it. The 3 extra points from the 2 point conversion attempts didn't really make that much of a difference as far as the score being lopsided. So is 80-3 really that much worse than 77-3? Just because they ran trick plays on the 2 point conversions didn't really contribute much to running up the score. Now if the trick plays were run during a regular play that resulted in a td, then that would be different. There has also been some criticism about the drop kick being a trick play, which I don't understand why. Just because it is seldom used doesn't make it a trick play, plus it is still just 1 point so how is that running up the score?  I guess the only issue I have would be the on-side kick.

At the end of the day, it's all about optics.  Nobody remembers the score was 6-3 when UST ran the behind the back pass play.  They just see the scored of 80-3, plus the videos floating around and reach their conclusions.  People see what they want to see. 

Last year UST beat Carlton 83-7.  UST even tried (and missed) the drop kick in that game.  No comments on any of that, however, leading up to this year's game.  People move on and they will from this too.

[BDB]

I saw the behind the back pass play on channel 9 sports and thought it a bogus thing to do on a football field regardless of the score.

Looked like something we would do at St. Augustine Elementary during recess when I was in 6th grade.

What was the point? Not like the Tommies would use this in a competitive game it would get picked off and maybe housed the other way. No opponent is going to spend time practicing to defend it so why do it.

[OzJohnnie]

What?  Random tweet police?

For crissakes, own your arrogance Tommies.

EDIT: Ha!  Own it it like CT!  Ends justify the means, baby!  There's no room for sportsmanship in DIII Tommie football! That's more like it.

[wm4]

I saw the behind the back pass play on channel 9 sports and thought it a bogus thing to do on a football field regardless of the score.

Looked like something we would do at St. Augustine Elementary during recess when I was in 6th grade.

What was the point? Not like the Tommies would use this in a competitive game it would get picked off and maybe housed the other way. No opponent is going to spend time practicing to defend it so why do it.

Laughing...imagine what the plays look like that Caruso DOESN'T run. 

[wif]

Follow up to my post last week. My concern about SJU being able to handle bethels power run game were taken care of by a solid performance from the defense. I realize Bethel's injury situation and the quick johnnie lead played a part in that equation, but the d played very well.

It was also nice to see special teams make a significant contribution. There are some really talented players playing special teams for SJU, and in big games, this added depth can make a difference.

In the first half, the offense looked much as it has for the last several weeks, with good balance, good QB play and a creative game plan. The second half wasn't nearly as productive, but SJU went to clock management mode and when they did get in the red zone, they shot themselves in the foot with penalties.

All in all, it was a gratifying win for SJU over a tough rival at a place where success has been hard to come by in recent years. I look for a solid performance from SJU this week against he Oles. These guys want to make a great final impression on the selection committee, and I think they will come out and get it done.