FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[sjujohnnie]

What does St John's need to work on between now & next season to be contenders like UMHB, Mount Union, North Central, & UWW regularly seem to be?

[DuffMan]

Offense, defense, and special teams.  And recruiting.

[sjujohnnie]

Haha!! Thanks, Captain!

[GoldandBlueBU]

Based on the always flawless comparative results game, it would seem that SJU is right there, as they were a cleaner game away from beating Wart, who nearly toppled Mount.  North Central seems to be in a class all by themselves this year based on the hurting they put on MHB. 

In a little way, it takes the sting out of the BU loss to MHB, as it wouldn't appear that they would've had much of a chance today either.

[SJU13]

What does St John's need to work on between now & next season to be contenders like UMHB, Mount Union, North Central, & UWW regularly seem to be?

Long Answer
On offense SJU had 3 OL, 3 WR, 2 TE, and 1 RB seniors who were starters/saw minutes/cut short due to injury from what I recall. Larson is the only one who has said they were coming back. Feddema and Underwood look like they'll be the guys to start but I imagine RB Wheeler will push them for non-kickoff plays. Gonna need to find someone to replace the WR part of the human Swiss Army knife, NVE as well as Washington. I could see WR Wheeler slotting into the mix more. Jungels' role will likely be filled by Gendrau and Steinbach. Gendrau caught a few TDs. Those are all big bodies out there catching passes. OL seems to be the big question mark as we have a couple of starters returning plus a few who saw minutes with each reshuffle. Improving our 9th in conference ranked run game seems like it'd benefit our solid passing game. That, along with continuing to reduce dropped passes/suspect throws into coverage could see a scary SJU offense take the field next year.

Defense will see quite a few fresh faces as seniors made up 3/4 of the DL, 1/3 of the LBs, and 3/4 of the DBs for starters along with quite a few rotation guys, primarily in LB. Spine of the team next season looks like it'll include Akoh, Yaggie, Sanders, and Arneson. Cisneros is also a DB who has seen a decent amount of action. Got a lot of sacks, tackles, and interceptions to replace for the next guys up. The occasional blown assignment over the top, missed tackles, and getting as many dumb unsportsmanlike / roughing penalties were definitely frustrating to see a bit more than usual this season.

Special teams will see our kicker and punter return. Seems likely that Wheeler will remain the kickoff returner and we'll see who takes over punt returning. Going to also need a new holder. Perhaps the Wartburg game is a sign of things to come and it'll be Ell handling it. I think one of the snappers was a senior. Speeding up the timing of kicks and punts seems like something to improve as we've had quite a few near misses for getting blocked.

Short Answer
The only thing that matters. TOP, obviously  .

[OzJohnnie]

Resolved: Navy dressing up as astronauts instead of sailors cost them the game yesterday.  Don't mess with tradition.

[sjujohnnie]

Thanks a ton, Oz! I appreciate your insights! It always feels like such a long time between when St John's season ends & the next one begins! No doubt the entire team (coaches/players) will be doing everything they can to improve & make a deeper run next season!

[art76]

Passing along a tweet: https://twitter.com/BethelRoyalsFB/status/1602441615104147457

I don't know if this announcement will hold water after the Stagg Bowl, in part because I don't know if either team has two receivers close enough to make it untrue. If it holds up, it's a pretty cool stat for the season.

[Pat Coleman]

If Jaden Manley goes for 178 yards then Mount Union will have two. There's no way North Central will have two.

[Ice Bear]

Ice's first thought is that NCC pastes UMUC come Saturday...the Ice keeps thinking of that short passing game of Mount's that just doesn't seem to quit. Ice is looking forward to the ****ing Stagg!

[DuffMan]

NCC seems to be playing on another level this year.  I expect a comfortable win for them.

[carletonknights]

Ice's first thought is that NCC pastes UMUC come Saturday...the Ice keeps thinking of that short passing game of Mount's that just doesn't seem to quit. Ice is looking forward to the ****ing Stagg!

Heads up, the game is Friday evening

[Ice Bear]

Ice's first thought is that NCC pastes UMUC come Saturday...the Ice keeps thinking of that short passing game of Mount's that just doesn't seem to quit. Ice is looking forward to the ****ing Stagg!

Heads up, the game is Friday evening

Ice Bear says thank you carleton +k. Ice says sometimes around the holidays he drinks to much Puffin Eggnog, stumbles around, and stuffs his head in his own ass. Ice says hopefully he can remove it in time for Friday night's game.

[retagent]

Note to NCC. Unless you're Tiger Woods, Red over Black is not a pleasant look.

[New Tradition]

Note to NCC. Unless you're Tiger Woods, Red over Black is not a pleasant look.

Not a combo they go with too often, but I dig it with the black helmet.  Certainly better than those black jerseys.  Numbers are impossible to see--makes the broadcast difficult.