FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[DuffMan]

Why worry about scoring from the red zone?  Just do it from 60+ yards. 

BOMBS TO THE ENDZONE!!!

[Pat Coleman]

Hope that O-line can keep him on his feet long enough for that to be a thing! Pretty sure Wheaton will bring plenty of pressure from its front four.

[DuffMan]

Pat Coleman:  Always a Johnnie naysayer. 

The Johnnies have some decent o-linemen.  The Wheaties brutes can't get to him every play.

[astro9046]

The passing game can be the great equalizer.
I don't imagine the Johnnie fans see their team this way, I see St. John's as the Aurora and NCC of the tournament.
Those teams went 1-1 to this point, and nearly 2-0.

Yeah, you're right.  I see Aurora and NCC as the Aurora and NCC of the tournament.

Observers are reading far too much into the Concordia loss and the SJU tendency to sleepily enter games this year.  I also think the MIAC's appetite for runaway destruction of the lower half is much less, this year in particular.  I think there are a few factors which have led to SJU not meeting expectations for a point-a-minute offense and a point-a-quarter defense.  But I have little doubt that this year's Johnnies are more dangerous than last year's Johnnies and I think most people recognize that last year's team was pretty damned dangerous.

But we'll see on Saturday.  We'll be the team in the distance leaving a dust trail in our wake as we streak away to the end zone, in case anyone was having trouble seeing us.

Oz I think you're right, having watched Wheaton on film this is a classic match up of johnnies speed D concept against Power Grit football. I don't think Wheaton has seen a D like this, this year. The key will be for our D to provide the offense time to take off, and Jackson to release quickly and use that pass rush against them. this is going to be an epic battle on the field. 
Look forward to hanging with a Wheaton alumi Player from the 80's that I coached with.
This will be a defensive game in the 1st half for dominance.
Go JOHNNIES

[Pat Coleman]

Pat Coleman:  Always a Johnnie naysayer. 

Only in Minnesota do people think that!

[jamtod]

Pat Coleman:  Always a Johnnie naysayer. 

Only in Minnesota do people think that!

Johnnies vs The World

[wally_wabash]

The passing game can be the great equalizer.
I don't imagine the Johnnie fans see their team this way, I see St. John's as the Aurora and NCC of the tournament.
Those teams went 1-1 to this point, and nearly 2-0.

Yeah, you're right.  I see Aurora and NCC as the Aurora and NCC of the tournament.

Observers are reading far too much into the Concordia loss and the SJU tendency to sleepily enter games this year.  I also think the MIAC's appetite for runaway destruction of the lower half is much less, this year in particular.  I think there are a few factors which have led to SJU not meeting expectations for a point-a-minute offense and a point-a-quarter defense.  But I have little doubt that this year's Johnnies are more dangerous than last year's Johnnies and I think most people recognize that last year's team was pretty damned dangerous.

But we'll see on Saturday.  We'll be the team in the distance leaving a dust trail in our wake as we streak away to the end zone, in case anyone was having trouble seeing us.

Oz I think you're right, having watched Wheaton on film this is a classic match up of johnnies speed D concept against Power Grit football. I don't think Wheaton has seen a D like this, this year. The key will be for our D to provide the offense time to take off, and Jackson to release quickly and use that pass rush against them. this is going to be an epic battle on the field. 
Look forward to hanging with a Wheaton alumi Player from the 80's that I coached with.
This will be a defensive game in the 1st half for dominance.
Go JOHNNIES

I think that makes a postseason banter bingo!

[DuffMan]

I think that makes a postseason banter bingo!

For sure!

[BDB]

In the one SJU game I saw in person and a couple others I saw online I think they have a very good power running game that is under utilized.

Maybe it's time to run the ball more.

[mdrem7]

The passing game can be the great equalizer.
I don't imagine the Johnnie fans see their team this way, I see St. John's as the Aurora and NCC of the tournament.
Those teams went 1-1 to this point, and nearly 2-0.

Yeah, you're right.  I see Aurora and NCC as the Aurora and NCC of the tournament.

Observers are reading far too much into the Concordia loss and the SJU tendency to sleepily enter games this year.  I also think the MIAC's appetite for runaway destruction of the lower half is much less, this year in particular.  I think there are a few factors which have led to SJU not meeting expectations for a point-a-minute offense and a point-a-quarter defense.  But I have little doubt that this year's Johnnies are more dangerous than last year's Johnnies and I think most people recognize that last year's team was pretty damned dangerous.

But we'll see on Saturday.  We'll be the team in the distance leaving a dust trail in our wake as we streak away to the end zone, in case anyone was having trouble seeing us.

Oz I think you're right, having watched Wheaton on film this is a classic match up of johnnies speed D concept against Power Grit football. I don't think Wheaton has seen a D like this, this year. The key will be for our D to provide the offense time to take off, and Jackson to release quickly and use that pass rush against them. this is going to be an epic battle on the field. 
Look forward to hanging with a Wheaton alumi Player from the 80's that I coached with.
This will be a defensive game in the 1st half for dominance.
Go JOHNNIES

Hard to use the "pass rush against them" when Wheaton doesn't really bring pressure that much. They rush 4 before they're exceptional at getting pressure with just those 4. Quite a different concept than using the quick game to find holes behind blitzing linebackers.

[DuffMan]

The build up for these 4 Wheaties d-linemen is incredible!!!

[SagatagSam]

In the one SJU game I saw in person and a couple others I saw online I think they have a very good power running game that is under utilized.

Maybe it's time to run the ball more.

I've thought the same thing a little bit. Trost reminds me of a younger, faster Sam Sura. I still think they are making good utilization of Trost, Barber, and Udoibok both running and catching passes out of the backfield.

I'll be interested to see if there are any new wrinkles against Wheaton. Though, I wouldn't anticipate a ton of new stuff. You've got to go largely with what got you here, that being Erdmann's arm.

[USee]

The build up for these 4 Wheaties d-linemen is incredible!!!

Almost as much as Erdman! Amazing isn't it?

[TheChucker]

Game notes!

https://gojohnnies.com/documents/2019/12/4//120719_WheatonNCAA_GameNotes.pdf?id=1426


What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? We'll find out this Saturday. The Johnnies currently rank second in NCAA Division III in passing offense (370.9 yards), fourth in total offense (535.2 yards) and sixth in passing efficiency (184.9). Individually, senior quarterback Jackson Erdmann leads Division III in passing yards (4,291) and passing yards per game (357.6). Wheaton, meanwhile, boasts college football's (across all divisions) top scoring defense (6.8 ppg.), total defense (186.7 ypg.) and pass-efficiency defense (75.3).

In reading the notes about the CCIW, I was reminded that Augustana IL was in that conference. Those guys completely dominated D3 in my day. I'm curious as to what happened with that program? Teams that strong don't often drop into obscurity like they did.

[GoldandBlueBU]

The build up for these 4 Wheaties d-linemen is incredible!!!

Almost as much as Erdman! Amazing isn't it?

Seems to me that the story of the game will be whether Erdmann is able to summon enough lightning bolt passes from the sky, a-la Thor God of Thunder (see what I did there, Wheaton "mascot"?), before The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse currently playing D-line (great recruiting get by Swider to have them all on roster) for Wheaton annihilate the SJU offensive line...

Should make for an entertaining Saturday.

Sarcasm aside, I'm really excited for this game, and seeing how the various story lines play out, and which strength wins out.

Pulling hard for SJU (enough that it's making me feel ill).