FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[sjujohnnie]

Either St John's has a lot of room for improvement or Aurora is having a very off night or North Central is just that much better than both St John's & Aurora! I had hoped that Aurora would give North Central a run for their money. Does not appear that they've dropped off whatsoever!

[art76]

I was at the game to see the new field at BU, and to get eyes on the team first hand. I saw a very good showing for the second game of a season. Mistakes were made, coverages were a step or two off, but nothing that put a dagger in your heart. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was when BU was knocking on the door and fumbled the ball on like the 2 yard line. Got to give Coach J credit for hanging in there and sticking to a game plan to wear down the Pioneers and put the game away in the fourth quarter.

I cannot post this without saying something that had nothing to do with the play on the field, and that is how the pre-game ceremonies were conducted. Along with the new score board were a set of new flag poles for displaying the stars and stripes. Being the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, there was a moment of silence for remembrance and then the Star Spangled Banner was played sans a voice, over the the new PA system. As the song played on, more and more folks joined in singing, and it was very moving to see and hear such a grass-roots response to our national anthem.

[sjusection105]

Well NCC looks outstanding. Did Aurora just not really show up or is SJU that far behind the tier 1 teams? Lots of work to do during this season and Bethel will be a very interesting game for both teams.

I believe there is a clear separation of the Power 5 of D3 and SJU is looking up at the Power 5...........

[sjujohnnie]

#4 North Central decimated #21 Aurora 64-7 a week removed from St John's back-and-forth 39-33 victory over Aurora. North Central faces #5 Wheaton on the road next Saturday. Obviously the season's young & I'm sure St John's will be working hard to improve!

[Stagg Again!!]

Australia is the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the world.  And things here have turned really downhill.

NSW Health limits residents of locked-down tower block to six beers per day

"Residents in a Sydney tower block under a strict coronavirus lockdown are having their alcohol deliveries policed."



Sheesh.

Nothing personal Oz, but you couldn't pay me enough to live in that fascist state right now.

Think we all agree on that front BleedPurple!

[sjusection105]

#4 North Central decimated #21 Aurora 64-7 a week removed from St John's back-and-forth 39-33 victory over Aurora. North Central faces #5 Wheaton on the road next Saturday. Obviously the season's young & I'm sure St John's will be working hard to improve!

SJU secondary had better be putting in extra time on technique or it's going to be a short season, staying in their dorm rooms watching games on the web. 9-18 will show nothing vs Martin Luther, it may instill false hope if somehow they put in what appears to be a solid game. 9-25 vs Bethel will show a lot. Cobbers have discovered the forward pass and 10-2 could spell disaster for SJU. Two words for 10-9, Augsburg and Homecoming. How many heartbreaking Homecoming losses vs Augsburg in the past 20 years on Hail Mary TDs because SJU secondary had blown coverages. 10-23 GAC on the road with a QB who has been in the league longer than half the SJU coaching staff. He can sling it. He's the Tom Brady of the MIAC.  If Johnnie fans take off the rose colored glasses and look at the real weaknesses of SJU, they'll know that unless the Johnnies make tremendous improvements over week 1 vs Aurora Johnnie version 2021 won't make it to the inaugural MIAC Championship game. If, by chance they "Johnnie Up", they'll not only win the MIAC Championship game, they roll into the play offs with momentum. Who knows, anything can happen in the play offs. 

***Side note: Out of 200+ SJU should be able to find one CB who can cover- Aurora barely threw to Deters' side of the field, instead feasting on the other side of the formation. Johnnies found a kicker, they surely can find another cover corner.

[faunch]

This just in...NCC is very, very, very good...possibly better than the were in 2019 when they beat UWW in the Stagg Bowl 41-14. Johnnies need to focus on improving the secondary.

[MadRedFan]

Some D1 team is losing 9-3 to a D2 team!

12-9 final win for Tomcats. I didn't bother to read if it was an all FG day or if some weird 2 point PAT behind the back pass factored into the inaugural season with D1.....

Each team had a missed PAT.  So, FG and TD for each, then Purple kicked their FG at the end.

[jamtod]

Some D1 team is losing 9-3 to a D2 team!

12-9 final win for Tomcats. I didn't bother to read if it was an all FG day or if some weird 2 point PAT behind the back pass factored into the inaugural season with D1.....

Each team had a missed PAT.  So, FG and TD for each, then Purple kicked their FG at the end.

Yep both were blocked. Mich Tech's TD was on a blocked Dolan punt. And our first FG was a 3rd down TD that ref wrongly ruled Dolan's knee or arm or something was down before he made the pass

[art76]

Johnnies drop a spot in the top 25, BU moves up 2 and GAC gets some votes.

https://www.d3football.com/top25/2021/week2

Spots 2 to 4 separated by only 4 points.

[OzJohnnie]

This just in...NCC is very, very, very good...possibly better than the were in 2019 when they beat UWW in the Stagg Bowl 41-14. Johnnies need to focus on improving the secondary.

One week at a time, I reckon.  The Johnnies can only beat the team in front of them and then get ready for the next one.  You never know where a season will go.  Think back to the explosive improvement in 2018 between the start of the season and the end of the season.

[DuffMan]

If Johnnie fans take off the rose colored glasses and look at the real weaknesses of SJU, they'll know that unless the Johnnies make tremendous improvements over week 1 vs Aurora Johnnie version 2021 won't make it to the inaugural MIAC Championship game.

Wow, talk about gloom an doom! 

[hazzben]

If Johnnie fans take off the rose colored glasses and look at the real weaknesses of SJU, they'll know that unless the Johnnies make tremendous improvements over week 1 vs Aurora Johnnie version 2021 won't make it to the inaugural MIAC Championship game.

Wow, talk about gloom an doom! 

Yeah, this seems like a bit of an overreaction. They've played 1 game, with a new QB. Just because NCC blew up Aurora doesn't mean SJU isn't good. Still stuff to work out, but no reason to panic by predicting they won't reach the MIAC Championship game after what we've seen so far. Wait until after Bethel beats them  (tbh, I have no idea what to think of that game yet. Our D seems legit, Kidder is a stud, but we are young on the Oline)

[art76]

It's a light week for the MIAC this week with only three teams playing.

Carleton travels to Crown with a noon start for the first game. The way the Knights handled the Cougars this past week, I expect to see similar results against Storm and his cubs.

Game number two starts at 1:00 pm with Hamline traveling to MN Morris to become the third MIAC team the Cougars will play this season. Like the Scots and Knights before them, the Pipers will prevail, and MN Morris will start the season at 0 and 3.

The third MIAC game this week is in Collegeville as St. John's hosts Martin Luther at 1:00 pm. The last time these teams met back in 2018 was the first time they met, and the score was lop-sided at 84 to 6, in favor of the Johnnies. Hopefully the Knights' can keep it a little closer this time around.

The game most of the rest of us will be paying attention to is the CCIW contest where North Central is at Wheaton, with the game starting at 6:00 pm. This looks to be an epic battle for The Little Brass Bell.

[USee]

FYI, the Wheaton v NCC game is at 6pm central.

I don't take much from the NCC v Aurora game. StJU had 1 returning OL and a backup RB on offense and a bunch of new faces on defense. They are well coached and have good players who will improve in a tough league as the season wears on. The NCC v Aurora game was predictable because NCC had so many OL and DL returning along with veteran secondary and WR's. So StJ had young Off vs young Def and young def v vet offense in their Aurora matchup and won. NCC had veteran O vs young D and crushed them and had a veteran secondary vs a veteran offense. The NCC offense ran 77 plays to Gimbleman's 54 because Aurora couldn't stop the run.

St Johns will be fine and a tough matchup playoffs IMO