FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OzJohnnie]

Johnnie game notes are out.  And I find another interesting bit of info in there...

Sophomore quarterback Aaron Syverson passed for 278 yards and two touchdowns in SJU's 31-25 win over Bethel last Saturday in Collegeville.

Trivia question: Who was the last SJU quarterback to throw for 250+ yards and 2+ touch-downs in his first three starts?

...Jackson Erdmann? No. Alex Kofoed? No. Willie Seiler? No.

The answer? Aaron Syverson.

I watched the first half of the BU game again last night and the Johnnies didn't play well at all.  The four defensive front men kept us in the game for the second half when it finally clicked.  But looking at Syverson, if he starts here and progresses as normal for a player... wowzers are we in for some AirJohnnie goodness.

[OzJohnnie]

In fact, after re-watching that half I find it hard to believe BU didn't score 21 or even 28.  They burned a lot of clock when they had the ball, which worked in our favour, and the front four played very well with some really important tackles at crucial moments.  Otherwise, we would have been toasted.

I think the CON airball (did I actually just type that?) will be tough for us.  If CON come out hot we could be in some big trouble.

[sjusection105]

I think the CON airball (did I actually just type that?) will be tough for us.  If CON come out hot we could be in some big trouble.

Fact Check = True

[DuffMan]

I agree that the Cobbers spell trouble.  Also, though, the Johnnies left a few scores on the table vs. Bethel--most notably Ganz dropping a wide open TD ball that hit him in the bread basket.

[carletonknights]

That way, in the event of an off year where Saint Scholastica is playing Carleton (nothing personal, guys) for the conference championship

You mean the #1 scoring defense in D3 so far?  No offense taken, although I like to believe Carleton will be considered among that second tier of MIAC teams in a few years.

I'm not sure what the conference should do for the MIAC championship game. If there was a venue like the Fargo Dome in the twin cities that'd be perfect: indoors, neutral, and not so big that you could still 10k fans without ruining the atmosphere. Alas, to my knowledge such an option does not yet exist. I do not believe that playing at home is as big as an advantage at this level as it is in say the SEC. In fact, I think it may be negligible and therefore don't have an issue with the games being played at a non-neutral location. I do think that the right neutral location however adds to the pageantry and may help draw in more fans. As has been alluded to already on this board, not everyone at target field or allianz had a connection to the teams. If I still lived in the area I would absolutely buy a ticket to see the inaugural MIAC championship game no matter who was playing. I don't know about the average TC resident, but with a good marketing push and the amount of MIAC alumni in the area who knows what a realistic attendance # is? Could it reach as high as 20k? Is that enough to make allianz financially worth it?

I'm curious to know if the game will be televised at all, like state tournament games were on channel 45 (do they still do that?). That would be a real boon for the MIAC

[OzJohnnie]

My vote is for whatever location gets the most people in the door.  If that's playing on campus then I'm ok.  If that's playing neutral then that works as well.  I tend to think the on campus atmosphere is better with more students in attendance but fill an off campus location and that works, too.


One thing I'll give UST, they had a bold marketing vision and did the SJU/UST rivalry a huge favour in its last three years.  Were the MIAC or some schools able to achieve the same marketing inspiration then I think the championship game could be something with a bit of enduring appeal as a neutral site event, regardless of participants.

[art76]

The first game this week has St. Scholastica coming South on I-35 to play Hamline for the first time. The Saints are going to get their halos dinged again this week by the Pipers. Hopefully they learned a thing or two last week and can hang a little tougher this weekend.

St. Olaf is also in the cities this week at Augsburg. The Oles have a couple of wins already this season and the Auggies seem a bit off their game so far. It's not much of a stretch for me to say the Oles go home victorious Saturday afternoon.

Are you ready? I'm going to mix it up a bit and look at the next two games together. Arguably, the number 1 team in the conference is playing the number 4 team in the conference as the Johnnies head up to play the Cobbers. The Gusties, arguably the number 3 team so far this season comes up to the cities to take on the supposed number 2 Royals. Both of these games are going to be great contests. If we talk chalk, Concordia's Homecoming will likely be a bust, while Bethel's will most likely be celebrated. However, I've been around long enough to know that any one of these teams could put together and execute a game plan that simply decimates the opponent, or the ball bounces in an odd way and an upset is at hand. Last week both BU and St. John's showed glimmers of greatness and growing pains, as that game played out. The Gusties and Cobbers both have something to prove.

The last game of the week is the Book of Knowledge contest between Macalester and Carleton. The unbeaten Knights travel up to play the 1 and 2 Scots in the annual "Brain Bowl". It's a no-brainer to see that the Knights keep the Book of Knowledge for another year.

[art76]

Royal Crown Game - ha! Finally had time to listen to this week's podcast - thanx Pat! https://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/2021/09/27/atn-podcast-287-classic-comebacks/

[DuffMan]

I saw a pic of the trophy, art76.

[Wdavis5]

Art76. 

CSS def looked like a team with 53-54 freshman. I think 17 of our 22 starters are Freshman. We lost our Qb on the 1st play of the game. I think we will show a little better this week. We will see.

[art76]

I saw a pic of the trophy, art76.

+K - Ha!

[Pat Coleman]

Art76. 

CSS def looked like a team with 53-54 freshman. I think 17 of our 22 starters are Freshman. We lost our Qb on the 1st play of the game. I think we will show a little better this week. We will see.

Obviously tough to compete in the MIAC with all those freshmen. I know CSS didn't take part in the UMAC's spring season earlier this year because they only had about 30-some kids in the program at that point.

[Wdavis5]

Art76. 

CSS def looked like a team with 53-54 freshman. I think 17 of our 22 starters are Freshman. We lost our Qb on the 1st play of the game. I think we will show a little better this week. We will see.

Obviously tough to compete in the MIAC with all those freshmen. I know CSS didn't take part in the UMAC's spring season earlier this year because they only had about 30-some kids in the program at that point.

Yea. This year is going to be interesting. Was hoping for a little better but now im just hoping to see the team grow.

[faunch]

I agree that the Cobbers spell trouble.  Also, though, the Johnnies left a few scores on the table vs. Bethel--most notably Ganz dropping a wide open TD ball that hit him in the bread basket.

The Gusties gashed the Cobbers for 220 on the ground. With as much attention that teams have to give the SJU passing game I'd like to see the Johnnies come out and run the ball.
Hopefully we can get pressure on the Cobber QB and get and interception or two. Agreed that our d line came up big last week...need our coverage guys to make a play or two. At times it seems there is absolute confusion in the secondary.

[hazzben]

Any word on if Veldman is out indefinitely?