FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bleedpurple]

Big news!

https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-uw-whitewaters-kevin-bullis-plans-to-retire

Whoa! Did not see that coming!

I wonder if this was a "you can resign or we will fire you" kind of situation. I would be pretty disappointed in UWW if that's the case. Bullis was trying to fill the shoes of a once-in-a-lifetime kind of coach.

Ice Bear says he hopes not Sagatag. He too would be quite disappointed if this was the case. Ice says best of luck to Bullis and best of luck to Rub A Dub moving forward.

This was Coach Bullis's decision 100%.  If he wanted to continue coaching, he wasn't going anywhere. Bleedpurple says Ice Bear has nothing to worry about.  (I always wanted to do that) 

[retagent]

Maybe a UWW booster supplied a golden parachute like you hear at D1 schools.

Retagent, what's the scoop on UWW and golden parachutes?! 

I backed out of Jump School, so I wouldn't know.

[OzJohnnie]

Maybe a UWW booster supplied a golden parachute like you hear at D1 schools.

Retagent, what's the scoop on UWW and golden parachutes?! 

Or if your contribution was really, really valued...

[OzJohnnie]

Man, I hope the boys are ready to take it to the Wartburgers this weekend.  No slow starts or brain fades or this game is a gonner.

I think the Johnnies have a much better offense but Wartburg's defense is pretty solid.  It looks like it will be a strength-on-strength clash and a heck of a game.  I can't wait for the game notes to come out.  I don't know why because they give us f-all insight on the game but they mean it's one day closer.  Thursday's football weekly interview with Gary should be quite good.  VOJ will be bursting for Gary to declare something big and Gary will be going "They are very good.  Their defense is very strong.  We'll need to be sharp and minimise the penalties."  And then the UNN.  Can't hardly wait.

It's Wednesday afternoon.  There are still 3 1/2 days until kickoff.  Christmas comes faster.

[sjujohnnie]

Thursday is Thanksgiving. Will there be an interview with Gary?

[57Johnnie]

Not football or beer but:
Just got notices from Fr. Tim that Johnnie Nation lost a couple of '57s recently:
Fr. Rene Tom McGraw OSB
Tom McCann
RIP Johnnies
57s are thinning out.
57johnnie

[USee]

I'm eager to see the Linfield/Bethel matchup as I haven't seen much of Linfield this year and they are a wild  card in these playoffs for me. They have a veteran defensive front and, as usual, a lot of great skill players. Their defensive front is senior dominated and leads the country in sacks (42 in 10 games) and is 3rd in rushing defense, allowing just 46 ypg. Bethel wants to run the ball and control the game but the strength of this team is their QB and WR's they have top level D3 WR's. They also are top 10 in the nation in fewest sacks allowed. I think that's largely because they are so committed to running the ball they don't find themselves in 2nd/3rd and long too often, leaving themselves manageable down and distance where the defense still has to think run or pass.

Linfields ability to shut down the run on 1st and 2nd down, while protecting from big play action passing (Linfield has occasionally struggled this year with big pass plays), will be a huge key. Linfield's punt return is also elite. I think Bethel may try the "Roste Punt" strategy to keep that unit off the field.

I think the Johnnies are toast vs Wartburg.  . Ha. Actually, it's a somewhat similar matchup with Wartburgs stout defensive front against the potent passing attack of the STJ. The lack of a running game could hurt the Johnnies in this one (though it hasn't hurt them so far!)

[repete]

Scroll down a bit for a Brawl of the Wild shot of Ravi A. (A different side of the punt special teams).

https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky-conference/montana-state-university/photos-montana-state-earns-brawl-of-the-wild-victory-over-montana/collection_5b7e4772-6860-11ed-9a7b-5fa0287a7164.html

[Ice Bear]

Big news!

https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-uw-whitewaters-kevin-bullis-plans-to-retire

Whoa! Did not see that coming!

I wonder if this was a "you can resign or we will fire you" kind of situation. I would be pretty disappointed in UWW if that's the case. Bullis was trying to fill the shoes of a once-in-a-lifetime kind of coach.

Ice Bear says he hopes not Sagatag. He too would be quite disappointed if this was the case. Ice says best of luck to Bullis and best of luck to Rub A Dub moving forward.

This was Coach Bullis's decision 100%.  If he wanted to continue coaching, he wasn't going anywhere. Bleedpurple says Ice Bear has nothing to worry about.  (I always wanted to do that) 

Ice Bear says +k Bleedpurple. Ice Bear says you did that to perfection!

[Ice Bear]

Ice Bear wants to wish everyone here on the MIAC board and their loved ones a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ice is grateful for the opportunity to enjoy and continue to learn about great MIAC football. Ice also appreciates the MIAC posters here welcoming him this season. Ice Bear says he's had lots of laughs and really has developed a growing respect and enjoyment of MIAC football from all the way over here in Schenectady, New York aka. Shocktown, New York.

[OzJohnnie]

The game notes are out. https://gojohnnies.com/documents/2022/11/23/112622_WartburgNCAA_GameNotes.pdf

The usual stuff.  But they did cause me to look at the Coe game in some detail.  Two Coe fumbles, one at the Coe 10 and another at the Coe 15, gifted WP 10 points late in the game and made the difference.  Wartburg's last four games of the year (not including the playoffs) were against competition with a combined record of 13 - 27.  Take out that Coe game and Wartburg faced teams with a combined record of 6 - 24.  Against teams with winning records, Coe at 7-3 and UWL at 9-2, Wartburg was pushed much harder, winning those games by 5 and 7 points respectively.

In contrast, the last four teams of SJU's season (not including the first round of the playoffs as above) was against teams with a collective record of 26-15.


I reckon the Johnnies are hitting this game when they are peaking.  If we come out ready to play and play our game, then I think we've got ourselves a good chance to win.

[SJU13]

The game notes are out. https://gojohnnies.com/documents/2022/11/23/112622_WartburgNCAA_GameNotes.pdf

The usual stuff.  But they did cause me to look at the Coe game in some detail.  Two Coe fumbles, one at the Coe 10 and another at the Coe 15, gifted WP 10 points late in the game and made the difference.  Wartburg's last four games of the year (not including the playoffs) were against competition with a combined record of 13 - 27.  Take out that Coe game and Wartburg faced teams with a combined record of 6 - 24.  Against teams with winning records, Coe at 7-3 and UWL at 9-2, Wartburg was pushed much harder, winning those games by 5 and 7 points respectively.

In contrast, the last four teams of SJU's season (not including the first round of the playoffs as above) was against teams with a collective record of 26-15.


I reckon the Johnnies are hitting this game when they are peaking.  If we come out ready to play and play our game, then I think we've got ourselves a good chance to win.

Not often you see a team best SJU in the sacks and tackles for loss category. That +21 T/O margin also points to a team that takes care of the ball and is aggressive getting it back. UNW gave us a ton of time to throw and I suspect we're gonna need to be prepared to release the ball much quicker. It'll be interesting to how much we attack the middle of the field as opposed to the outside. Hopefully success in the short game will open opportunities for the deep ball. 

[retagent]

Scroll down a bit for a Brawl of the Wild shot of Ravi A. (A different side of the punt special teams).

https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky-conference/montana-state-university/photos-montana-state-earns-brawl-of-the-wild-victory-over-montana/collection_5b7e4772-6860-11ed-9a7b-5fa0287a7164.html

Montana St made the FCS Playoffs, getting a bye in the first round. Ravi gets some quality PT, but is not a featured receiver. Their QB, Tommy Mellott (saw another in the pics) is a Rich Man's version of Roste. Runs a bit more though. I've watched some you tube videos of the highlights. Very entertaining team.

[D O.C.]

Safe Bethel passage to the Great Northwest.

[OzJohnnie]

d3football.com has a nice feature on BU.  A feel-good story about a couple of freshmen who dish out pain.

https://d3football.com/playoffs/2022/breaking-into-bethel-lineup

Steve Johnson used the word "exacerbated" which demanded I link to the opening scene of Shaun Of The Dead but I couldn't find a SFW (with a tolerance for very colourful British humour) cut so you cinemaphiles will just need to search youtube yourselves.