FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[faunch]

Word I heard was that the job is actually Fenske's to lose. He's been lights out and the staff has tons of confidence in his ability and knowledge of the offense. This isn't to say that Perra won't be good when he's got the chance. But my source has it that unless Fenske stumbles, he's the #1. Maybe it's smoke and mirrors, but I think it's pretty solid.

Interesting.  You'd have to think that having two former D1 QB's breathing down your neck would keep you at the top of your game.

I'm curious if we'll see Robert's pulled a little earlier sometimes this year, or just working through a reduced load of carries, as he seemed to wear down toward the end of the year last season in the playoffs.

Perhaps the biggest question is whether Stretch Internet will be up to the task of providing lag free viewings this year...

He fought through some injuries, but I thought his production was good throughout. But 15 games with 20+ carries is a lot for a guy who was somewhat of a back-up and redshirt the few years prior. In 2015 Kaiser was battling injuries again, Trettel was pretty raw and really wasn't trusted until mid/late regular season and there seemed to be a commitment to moving Waldvogel away from the backfield as much as possible because they were trying to find an identity as a receiving corps. I think Trettel is probably prepared to take on that RB2 role, but the depth is a bit up in the air beyond that. Quite a few freshmen, and another sophomore that I don't think saw any PT last year.

I'd like to see Trettel get some good work in and see what we have in him. Roberts looked great against Linfield, but was slowed a bit in a few of the other games and battled through some injuries.

Intrigued to hear that Fenske might be the guy. I haven't seen much of him (or anyone else on the roster).

Anyone else going to make it out to the Caruso Smokefest at the Church of St Glenn (Plum's) tonight? Our plans were cancelled and I got the go-ahead to attend.

Last time I was at Plum's, on the patio, a rat ran under my chair and into the dumpster area!  No plans to go back there soon!  But if that's the kind of establishment the Tommie$ like?

[Robert Zimmerman]

I heard rumors that the SJU coaching staff will try to get 4-5 drives for Ben Alvord, the number 2 quarterback, on Saturday.  Developing . . .

[OzJohnnie]

Watching the Twins trying to fight off their 11th loss in a row. While I love baseball, even I think I'm being weird.

The Twins are so bad that I haven't been able to watch one game this year.  Absolutely zero coverage down here. Not even against the Yankees who have about half their games broadcast.

Here's the last five minutes of Hawthorn v Collingwood. Every announcer is the anti-VOJ and its wearing thin. They all want a new Grand Final winner.

https://youtu.be/supb9YAnnMY

[OzJohnnie]

I heard rumors that the SJU coaching staff will try to get 4-5 drives for Ben Alvord, the number 2 quarterback, on Saturday.  Developing . . .

That would be half or more of the offensive time. Maybe they expect the first line to be back on the bench in the second quarter?

[sjusection105]

Caruso SmokeFest^TM: Like a Johnnie SmokeFest^TM with the added benefits of wealth, women, and winning.

This one always cracks me up. Like going to a certain school guarantees that you'll be wealthy. Not even the Ivies or Stanford can make that bold claim. Yes, your chances are enhanced but there is something call applying yourself and making the most of an opportunity. I have clients as well as personal friends,who with nothing more than a high school education,common sense,and determination are multimillionaires.I also have clients with advanced degrees who are so stupid in real life situations they can't balance a checkbook.

I'm off my soapbox now and will return you to regular programming. 

[jamtod]

Word I heard was that the job is actually Fenske's to lose. He's been lights out and the staff has tons of confidence in his ability and knowledge of the offense. This isn't to say that Perra won't be good when he's got the chance. But my source has it that unless Fenske stumbles, he's the #1. Maybe it's smoke and mirrors, but I think it's pretty solid.

Interesting.  You'd have to think that having two former D1 QB's breathing down your neck would keep you at the top of your game.

I'm curious if we'll see Robert's pulled a little earlier sometimes this year, or just working through a reduced load of carries, as he seemed to wear down toward the end of the year last season in the playoffs.

Perhaps the biggest question is whether Stretch Internet will be up to the task of providing lag free viewings this year...

He fought through some injuries, but I thought his production was good throughout. But 15 games with 20+ carries is a lot for a guy who was somewhat of a back-up and redshirt the few years prior. In 2015 Kaiser was battling injuries again, Trettel was pretty raw and really wasn't trusted until mid/late regular season and there seemed to be a commitment to moving Waldvogel away from the backfield as much as possible because they were trying to find an identity as a receiving corps. I think Trettel is probably prepared to take on that RB2 role, but the depth is a bit up in the air beyond that. Quite a few freshmen, and another sophomore that I don't think saw any PT last year.

I'd like to see Trettel get some good work in and see what we have in him. Roberts looked great against Linfield, but was slowed a bit in a few of the other games and battled through some injuries.

Intrigued to hear that Fenske might be the guy. I haven't seen much of him (or anyone else on the roster).

Anyone else going to make it out to the Caruso Smokefest at the Church of St Glenn (Plum's) tonight? Our plans were cancelled and I got the go-ahead to attend.

Last time I was at Plum's, on the patio, a rat ran under my chair and into the dumpster area!  No plans to go back there soon!  But if that's the kind of establishment the Tommie$ like?

Sounds like there may be a correlation between Johnnies on the patio and rat's on the patio. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

[Mr.MIAC]

Caruso SmokeFest^TM: Like a Johnnie SmokeFest^TM with the added benefits of wealth, women, and winning.

This one always cracks me up. Like going to a certain school guarantees that you'll be wealthy. Not even the Ivies or Stanford can make that bold claim. Yes, your chances are enhanced but there is something call applying yourself and making the most of an opportunity. I have clients as well as personal friends,who with nothing more than a high school education,common sense,and determination are multimillionaires.I also have clients with advanced degrees who are so stupid in real life situations they can't balance a checkbook.

I'm off my soapbox now and will return you to regular programming. 

I heard SJU provides a wealth of opportunity when it comes to beer chugging, cow tipping, and avoiding the opposite sex. So you got that going for you, which is nice.   

[art76]

My pre-season take on the upcoming first games of the season.

Concordia at Jamestown      1:00
Gustavus at Westminster (Mo)   1:00
Crown at Hamline         1:00
Bethel at Dubuque         1:00
Carleton at Macalester      1:00
St. Scholastica at St. John's   1:00
St. Olaf at Grinnell         1:00
St. Thomas at UW Eau Claire   6:10
Augsburg at Northwestern      7:00

It's finally happened. The MIAC has finally gotten all its non-conference games at the front of the schedule, ensuring that all the bye-weeks occur during the final 9 weeks of league play. Now, if we can just get the Cobbers to quit playing at NAIA Jamestown to help out the conference come play-off time at the end of the season.

While there has been a fair amount of chatter here on this board about what may come to pass this season, there is still a little bit of intrigue this opening week because of all the cobwebs that have gathered over the off-season that need to be "blown out".

I'm going to put the first five games into a group this week, as there are too many variables in my mind to be able to pick a clear winner in any of them. Particularly, the St. Olaf/Grinnell, Crown/Hamline, Carleton/Macalester, Augsburg/Northwestern and Bethel/Dubuque games. I suspect the MIAC will win at least three of these five games, maybe four, and I'll be pleasantly surprised if all five. In all cases, we'll see if the MIAC teams have what it takes to compete in the conference this season once conference play starts in week three. All five of these are games are amongst peers, so we get some feedback on how this years' MIAC squads deal with that kind of pressure. (I find it interesting that over on the pick-em's board that the spreads on some of these games are so wide.)

The Cobbers game doesn't count for anything in the NCAA, so it really doesn't matter what happens, though I think they'll win like they have the last couple of times they have played the Jimmies.

Gustavus will beat Westminster. What will be telling is by how much. If it is less than four touchdowns, then it could be a long season for the Gusties.

I see the St. John's/St. Scholastica game somewhat the same way – except that the Johnnies could "coast" after getting control of the game and the score could be deceiving as to how good they really are.

The Tommies will crush the Bluegolds, but I would be surprised to see any "behind the back extra point" plays, as they will be trying to impress on anyone that looks, how good they think they are. But this game will not really be that test  That won't happen until week four when they meet the Johnnies.

Have fun at the games and get out to see a couple of them this weekend, as there are two night games this week that are easy drives from just about anywhere in the conference.

[OzJohnnie]

Frank's Hamline preview. Also, he's got a live chat at noon Tuesday. Is that today?

http://www.sctimes.com/story/sports/football/johnnie-football/2016/08/30/sju-blog-miac-previews-hamline/89573112/

[AO]

Now, if we can just get the Cobbers to quit playing at NAIA Jamestown to help out the conference come play-off time at the end of the season.

Playing a likely 1-9 UW-Eau Claire is far more harmful to the conference SOS than playing Jamestown.  The Jamestown game is just a missed opportunity to schedule a D3 with a winning record.  If they're not willing to schedule a D3 team likely to finish above .500 again, the SOS would improve if they scheduled another NAIA instead of Eau Claire.

[USTBench]

Now, if we can just get the Cobbers to quit playing at NAIA Jamestown to help out the conference come play-off time at the end of the season.

Playing a likely 1-9 UW-Eau Claire is far more harmful to the conference SOS than playing Jamestown.  The Jamestown game is just a missed opportunity to schedule a D3 with a winning record.  If they're not willing to schedule a D3 team likely to finish above .500 again, the SOS would improve if they scheduled another NAIA instead of Eau Claire.

Concordia is slashing their budget all over the place. Seeing as how they're on the ND border there's little chance their AD is going to be scheduling a decent non-conference D3 team if they have to travel much further beyond Western Wisconsin. Jamestown is 90 miles from Moorhead, they are there and back before dinner. Too bad the old DAC-10 couldn't get on the same page and go D3.

[jamtod]

Frank's Hamline preview. Also, he's got a live chat at noon Tuesday. Is that today?

http://www.sctimes.com/story/sports/football/johnnie-football/2016/08/30/sju-blog-miac-previews-hamline/89573112/

That's today. Coming up in 30 minutes. Slow day at work, so I might just follow along. I'm not brave enough to try to troll for the Tommies.

[Tom Thumb]

Anything of interest from QB Club last night?

[GoldandBlueBU]

Apparently Teddy has suffered a "serious" knee injury in a non-contact drill...if he's done, at least we won't have a playoff game to have our hearts broken in...

[BDB]

I see Brett Favre is trending on Twitter with Teddy Bridgewater getting hurt in practice. This could get interesting...