FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[MasterJedi]

My prediction is now a 35-34 STU win.

[Tom Thumb]

The Pioneer Press did a nice article on DB Mozus Ikuenobe: http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_29204230/area-colleges-st-thomas-ikuenobe-grows-into-game.

Caruso has brought in a few other first generation Nigerian/West African football players during his time at UST. Guys like Chinni Oji (Nigeria), Ayo Idowu (Nigeria), Ayo Okesanya (Nigeria), and Jesse Addo (Ghana) have had a lot of success both on and off the field at St. Thomas. I'm sure a few of them have similar stories to Ikuenobe.

[hazzben]

My prediction is now a 35-34 STU win.

I think this game is about a healthy backfield for UST.

Linfield proved on Saturday, their backup QB is decent (nearly 500 yds decent!!  ). Obviously they'd love to have Riddle back under center. On a similar note, is there some sort of black magic going on out in Linfield. Amalgamate the names of their two quarterbacks and you get...Tom Riddle. Lord Voldemort anyone?? Just sayin 

For UST though, having both Roberts and Kaiser banged up is bad news. Gould played great on Saturday, but this team is still built to have the running game stirring the offensive drink. A healthy Roberts is a big deal. He was gutting it out on Saturday (tough kid!). But he's clearly far short of 100%. And a bad shoulder, for a RB who makes his money pounding the ball, is tough duty. It's amplified with Kaiser also gimped up.

If they can get those guys healthy, I think we've got a great matchup. The Linfield DLine is packed with stars, led by Hassle the Hoff. It'll be great to see them against the UST beasts. The Tommie secondary will face it's stiffest test of the season. Really, the entire D. It's not just that this will be the best team they've faced all year (you typically assume that in the Semi's), but also the most balanced. The Cats have an very good passing attack and a really good running game. Playoff balance is always a tough challenge.

Honestly, these final 4 games are really exciting. I can't remember being this pumped about all four teams at this point. It feels like we've got 4 teams, who if healthy are a legit threat. When is the last time that was the case in D3??

[OzJohnnie]

Massey picks the Tommies 41 - 24.

[art76]

I've been pretty quiet during the play-off run this year as teams have "decided it on the field".  We're down to four teams, that really, no-one is terribly surprised at seeing here in the final two weeks of play. The two teams that played close this past weekend, UMHB and UW Oskosh, had they won, would not have been a surprise either. I think I can say fairly confidently that any of these final six teams could have been put anywhere in the bracket at the beginning of the playoffs, and would have had the chance to be in the Semi-finals. Obviously, this is all hind-sight now.

Moving forward, my personal opinion is that St. Thomas wins over Linfield. There are a couple of caveats for this to come about. I shared here earlier in the year that I had the opportunity to see the Wildcats play in McMinnville. At the time I thought they stacked up pretty well against the Tommies. Now having seen glimpses (as a result of poor streaming) of games played at O'Shaugnessy Stadium, I think they have that "step ahead" that is going to be needed at this time of the season. It looks like the Tommies are able to impress their collective will on the out come of the game. (They're almost "borg-like" - resistance is futile.) Don't get me wrong, if Linfield plays cat-like, makes quick hits to get into the lead early and then hang tough until their prey stops quivering, then they stand a better chance. If St. Thomas scores first and gets up by a couple of scores, like they have in the recent past against other teams, I don't think the Wildcats will be able to claw back into the game to kick a game winning field goal two weeks in a row.

On the other side of the bracket, it is my opinion that either of the WIAC teams would be able to play through Alliance and end up in the Stagg Bowl. I'll be surprised if the Purple Raiders can stay within two scores of Whitewater. This game could be over by half time. I am not impressed in Mt. Unions play - at all. It seems to me that they are resting on their laurels, living on their past glories. Yeah, they put up great numbers, but they only just met decent competition in last week's game against Wesley. I have to say, I was hoping Wheaton would somehow have been seeded so that they played Mount Union earlier in the bracket to "upset" them.  While the Warhawks won't be coasting in this upcoming game, they are part of a trio of teams on that side of the bracket that I think had the tools to beat Mount Union.

Looks to me like we'll see smash mouth football in the Stagg Bowl this year as the Tommies take on the Warhawks, but I've been wrong before.

[jamtod]

My prediction is now a 35-34 STU win.

I think this game is about a healthy backfield for UST.

I think that is absolutely the case. If Kaiser and Roberts don't go, will we see a healthy dose of Waldvogel toting the ball?  I've been very impressed by what I've seen of Tucker Trettel, but that may have been a function of playing more in garbage time and he hasn't seen much run the last couple games.

We'll get to see if our defense can hold out against a strong passing attack. The last few weeks have proven that they can slow down a bruising back, so this will be a different test. 

I'd love to see the special teams continue to step up and provide some offense, but I wonder if some of the trickery gets toned down (not all, obviously, it's just how we play) in a tighter game.

[MasterJedi]

My prediction is now a 35-34 STU win.

I think this game is about a healthy backfield for UST.

Linfield proved on Saturday, their backup QB is decent (nearly 500 yds decent!!  ). Obviously they'd love to have Riddle back under center. On a similar note, is there some sort of black magic going on out in Linfield. Amalgamate the names of their two quarterbacks and you get...Tom Riddle. Lord Voldemort anyone?? Just sayin 

For UST though, having both Roberts and Kaiser banged up is bad news. Gould played great on Saturday, but this team is still built to have the running game stirring the offensive drink. A healthy Roberts is a big deal. He was gutting it out on Saturday (tough kid!). But he's clearly far short of 100%. And a bad shoulder, for a RB who makes his money pounding the ball, is tough duty. It's amplified with Kaiser also gimped up.

If they can get those guys healthy, I think we've got a great matchup. The Linfield DLine is packed with stars, led by Hassle the Hoff. It'll be great to see them against the UST beasts. The Tommie secondary will face it's stiffest test of the season. Really, the entire D. It's not just that this will be the best team they've faced all year (you typically assume that in the Semi's), but also the most balanced. The Cats have an very good passing attack and a really good running game. Playoff balance is always a tough challenge.

Honestly, these final 4 games are really exciting. I can't remember being this pumped about all four teams at this point. It feels like we've got 4 teams, who if healthy are a legit threat. When is the last time that was the case in D3??

I've been pretty quiet during the play-off run this year as teams have "decided it on the field".  We're down to four teams, that really, no-one is terribly surprised at seeing here in the final two weeks of play. The two teams that played close this past weekend, UMHB and UW Oskosh, had they won, would not have been a surprise either. I think I can say fairly confidently that any of these final six teams could have been put anywhere in the bracket at the beginning of the playoffs, and would have had the chance to be in the Semi-finals. Obviously, this is all hind-sight now.

Moving forward, my personal opinion is that St. Thomas wins over Linfield. There are a couple of caveats for this to come about. I shared here earlier in the year that I had the opportunity to see the Wildcats play in McMinnville. At the time I thought they stacked up pretty well against the Tommies. Now having seen glimpses (as a result of poor streaming) of games played at O'Shaugnessy Stadium, I think they have that "step ahead" that is going to be needed at this time of the season. It looks like the Tommies are able to impress their collective will on the out come of the game. (They're almost "borg-like" - resistance is futile.) Don't get me wrong, if Linfield plays cat-like, makes quick hits to get into the lead early and then hang tough until their prey stops quivering, then they stand a better chance. If St. Thomas scores first and gets up by a couple of scores, like they have in the recent past against other teams, I don't think the Wildcats will be able to claw back into the game to kick a game winning field goal two weeks in a row.

On the other side of the bracket, it is my opinion that either of the WIAC teams would be able to play through Alliance and end up in the Stagg Bowl. I'll be surprised if the Purple Raiders can stay within two scores of Whitewater. This game could be over by half time. I am not impressed in Mt. Unions play - at all. It seems to me that they are resting on their laurels, living on their past glories. Yeah, they put up great numbers, but they only just met decent competition in last week's game against Wesley. I have to say, I was hoping Wheaton would somehow have been seeded so that they played Mount Union earlier in the bracket to "upset" them.  While the Warhawks won't be coasting in this upcoming game, they are part of a trio of teams on that side of the bracket that I think had the tools to beat Mount Union.

Looks to me like we'll see smash mouth football in the Stagg Bowl this year as the Tommies take on the Warhawks, but I've been wrong before.

Good analysis guys. Hope the UST crowd doesn't kill me for getting the name wrong *ducks*

I especially hope art76 is right about UWW.

[wildcat11]

Obviously, it's going to be tough sledding for the 'Cats to knock off UST but I'm looking forward to seeing how we stack up.  Go 'Cats!

[Pat Coleman]

Obviously, it's going to be tough sledding for the 'Cats to knock off UST but I'm looking forward to seeing how we stack up.  Go 'Cats!

Hopefully no actual sledding will be required in this game.

[jamtod]

Obviously, it's going to be tough sledding for the 'Cats to knock off UST but I'm looking forward to seeing how we stack up.  Go 'Cats!

Hopefully no actual sledding will be required in this game.

mrs_jamto saw the updated forecast and might already be backing out on me, after enlisting her mom to watch the kids already. Although looking again, this morning's forecast for next Saturday (snow) has already changed.  I'd love a good snow game - hoping that might favor a healthy enough Jordan Roberts and the St Thomas ground game.

[Mr.MIAC]

Speaking of weather, it looks like Minneapolis is roughly 20 degrees colder that McMinnville this week. Do you think Linfield will have trouble acclimating even if there's no snow come Saturday?

[MasterJedi]

Speaking of weather, it looks like Minneapolis is roughly 20 degrees colder that McMinnville this week. Do you think Linfield will have trouble acclimating even if there's no snow come Saturday?

They played fine when it was 6 without the wind chill in 2013. I doubt this type of "cold" will really do them in.

[wildcat11]

Speaking of weather, it looks like Minneapolis is roughly 20 degrees colder that McMinnville this week. Do you think Linfield will have trouble acclimating even if there's no snow come Saturday?

I don't see that being a problem.  Even though we're not around those colder temps all the time, the program played at UWW the past two seasons late with low temps and it didn't seem to impact anybody on Linfield's sideline.  Me on the other hand....my fingers were miserable.

[desertcat1]

Obviously, it's going to be tough sledding for the 'Cats to knock off UST but I'm looking forward to seeing how we stack up.  Go 'Cats!

Hopefully no actual sledding will be required in this game.

mrs_jamto saw the updated forecast and might already be backing out on me, after enlisting her mom to watch the kids already. Although looking again, this morning's forecast for next Saturday (snow) has already changed.  I'd love a good snow game - hoping that might favor a healthy enough Jordan Roberts and the St Thomas ground game.

Massey picks the Tommies 41 - 24.

What more do you boys want?  You already have 1. home field,2. Massey, and now you want SNOW too

I will take any part of that spread .. send e-mail
G

[D O.C.]

What he said.