FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Ice Bear]

+k to Biggie and Media. Thank you very much for the specifics. I was at my daughter's softball game and unable to watch.

[sjujohnnie]

The new poll has been released.

https://d3football.com/top25/2023/week2

[SJU13]

The sky appears to have not completely plummeted with SJU still in the top 10. Bethel drops a couple of spots. UWW gets a big leapfrog, HSU moves up a place with a win over UW-La Crosse, Trinity and Lindfield lose a place despite the wins.

An SJU bye week gives a chance to look at how the MIAC/the region is looking. Will be interesting to see how Bethel looks game 2 after a tough game 1.

[AO]

Tough week for the Johnnies and Royals, but lot of games left to play and possible rematches in December could look very different. If nothing else we'll have the Hawthorn season to look forward to. Thanks for the gear Oz! Will be interesting to see if I come across anyone randomly in Minnesota who recognizes the Hawks logo.

[OzJohnnie]

No worries, AO.  It was the least I could do.  I reckoned you deserved some reward for managing our pick 'ems all these years.

[DuffMan]

I'm generally pretty pessimistic, as anyone who has sat near me at a game will attest to, but I'm not ready to declare that the sky is falling.  Going into the season, we knew that the Johnnies were starting with two top-shelf opponents and that 1-1 or even 0-2 were distinct possibilities.  No, I don't feel good about the final score from Saturday, but sometimes things just snowball.  Give the team and staff an opportunity to respond and see where we're at in a month.

[hazzben]

Well-I have seen both games in person and this D is bad. I hope we have a few new starters for bethel game with what 50-60 players on D to choose from?
What are the teams converting on 3rd down against us /maybe 75%?
There needs to be some serious evaluation during the off week.

Bethel will loan you a D if you loan us a QB ... deal??

[SagatagSam]

#4 St. John's @ #8 UW-Whitewater (+3.5) - A rollercoaster ride of a game. UWW jumps out to a large early lead. Gives it up. Johnnies lead for a few minutes in the third quarter, and even had the spread covered for a while. Then UWW came roaring back, scoring the final 35 points of the game and absolutely running away with this one, 56-28.

Pacific Lutheran (+20.5) @ Concordia - Concordia took control early, leading 13-0 in the second quarter. The Lutes scored with no time on the clock to close out the first half, cutting the Cobber lead to 6. The Cobber offense couldn't really get it going in the second half, scoring only one touchdown, kicking two field goals on stalled drives, committing two turnovers (one fumble, one interception) and punting on their final drive of the game. The Lutes drove from their own 14-yard-line to the Cobber 34-yard-line with 1:28 remaining, but could not score, losing 26-21 but easily beat the spread.

St. Scholastica @ Rockford (+7.5) - St. Scholastica had the game in control for the overwhelming majority of the game, and even had the spread covered at halftime, up 23-14. The Regents did what they had to do, keeping the game in reach for the entire second half and capitalizing on St. Scholastica errors. St. Scholastica scored with 1:49 remaining to lead, 37-30. The Regents came storming back and scored in less than a minute on a 5 play, 69 yard drive to cut the Scholastica lead to one point, pending the PAT. Second year Regents head coach Calvin Toliver elected to go for the win with a successful two-point conversion. The Regents not only beat the spread, but won outright, 38-37, in regulation.

#3 Wartburg @ #16 Bethel (+9.5) - Bethel's defense largely held the Wartburg offense in check, allowing only two touchdowns and one field goal and forcing three turnovers, which generally is a good recipe for beating the spread. But the Wartburg defense was an immovable object, holding the Bethel offense to 203 total yards. The Bethel offense entered Wartburg territory on only three of its 14 drives, the deepest drive ending at the Wartburg 36, and the other two drives ending at the Wartburg 47, and 45, respectively. That defensive effort was just enough to propel Wartburg to a 16-2 victory, covering the spread.

Pomona-Pitzer (+7.5) @ Carleton - The Sagehens kept it very close and had the lead, 17-10 on a quick score to open the second half. Carleton scored touchdowns on three consecutive offensive drives in the third quarter and Henry Detmer had a 99-yard pick-six to rocket Carleton out to an insurmountable 28-point lead. The Sagehens scored with 22 seconds remaining, but the damage was already done and the Knights easily cover the spread in a Monkey Stomp^TM, 45-24.

Macalester @ Martin-Luther (+25.5) - Macalester put up 664 yards of total offense and scored touchdowns on eight of its eleven possessions. Martin Luther kept it close through the start of the second quarter before its offense stopped producing and Macalester ran away with the game. The spread, however was still in doubt late, before Michael Nadeau connected with Michael Poker on a 40-yard touchdown pass with 7:30 to play in the game. Martin Luther would possess the ball twice more, but was unable to truly threaten the spread, gaining only 21 yards on its final ten offensive plays.

St. Olaf @ Luther (+21.5) - St. Olaf scored four touchdowns and a field goal on its first six offensive possessions, cruising to a 38-14 Monkey Stomp^TM halftime lead and never looked back at the spread. The Oles would put up 560 yards of total offense.

Hamline @ Minnesota-Morris (+12.5) - UM-Morris kept it within the spread for the better part of three quarters. But, Hamline scored four touchdowns on its five substantive fourth quarter possessions (not including the victory formation).

St. Thomas (+30.5) @ South Dakota - It was all Yotes all day in Vermillion, South Dakota on Saturday as USD prevailed, 24-0. But, the Tommies were able to act as just enough of an obstacle to prevent the Coyotes from covering the spread. The Tommie offense got past the Coyote 40-yard-line once on Saturday, but that and winning the time-of-possession battle was enough to beat the spread.

#19 UW-Oshkosh (+7.5) @ #13 Wheaton - This battle of up-tempo no huddle offenses stayed close on the spread as Doug Burnson scored on a 13-yard run to put UWO within two with 9:28 to play in the fourth quarter. Wheaton scored on a grinding 12 play, 64 yard drive to push the lead back out to 9 (30-21) with four minutes to play. UWO was unable to get much going despite fantastic field position thanks to Londyn Little's 51-yard return from his own goal line into Wheaton territory. The UWO offense completely stalled and Wheaton was able to run out the final 2:42 and cover the spread, 30-21.

#6 Hardin-Simmons @ #11 UW-La Crosse (+3.5) -UWL controlled the first half, going into the break with a 21-14 lead. But, Hardin-Simmons held UWL scoreless in the second half, and scored its final touchdown with 4:19 to play in the third quarter on a 16 play, 97 yard drive. UWL threatened the spread on an 11 play, 73 yard drive, but that drive ended with a lost fumble at the Hardin-Simmons 5-yard-line. HSU was able to burn just enough clock on offense and the defense forced another turnover with a Cade Michna interception to close out the game and cover the spread, 28-21.

#12 Mary Hardin-Baylor (+6.5) @ #5 Trinity - The Trinity defense was lights-out in the second half, allowing the UMHB offense to 84 total yards, forcing five punts and a turnover, while the offense scored twice in the second half to salt away the game and cover the spread, 35-16.

[DuffMan]

I don't dislike the StompOut^TM of the Tommies.

[jamtod]

Great teams cover Duff.

[DuffMan]

Just wanted to see if you were still lurking. 

[SagatagSam]

Great teams cover Duff.

I say this with all the love in the world for my law school alma mater:

USD is not a great team.

They've had three winning seasons since 2011. They aren't even good most years--in fact, they've been downright terrible lately (3-8 in 2022). Every now and again they make it a fight for the middle of the MVFC, perhaps upset SDSU or NDSU in a shocker, but that's about it.

[hazzben]

@ao ... please keep UST games in the pickems. It's fun to keep them on the MIAC radar.

Reusse article on Bethel v. Wartburg.

[AO]

MIAC PICK-EMS
WEEK 2 STANDINGS


WEEK 3
Non-Conference: 2pts
Gustavus (+3.5) @ UW-Stout
#18 Bethel @ UW-Eau Claire (+28.5)
Martin Luther (+50.5) @ Augsburg
Crown (+35.5) @ St. Scholastica
Carleton @ Minnesota-Morris (+35.5)

Other games: 1pt
St. Thomas (+21.5) @ Harvard
#22 Susquehanna (+14.5) @ #10 Cortland

@ao ... please keep UST games in the pickems. It's fun to keep them on the MIAC radar.

Until they move to to the Missouri Valley in 20 years they're still a D3 team to me.

[Ice Bear]

The sky appears to have not completely plummeted with SJU still in the top 10. Bethel drops a couple of spots. UWW gets a big leapfrog, HSU moves up a place with a win over UW-La Crosse, Trinity and Lindfield lose a place despite the wins.

An SJU bye week gives a chance to look at how the MIAC/the region is looking. Will be interesting to see how Bethel looks game 2 after a tough game 1.

Who would ever think that a team who defeats UMHB would drop a spot in the poll Every season is a new season.

Will Bolt be the guy for the Royals next week? Sometimes when you have a senior and an underclassman who are playing at a similar level it can be a tough call on who to play. Do you give the nod to the Senior for time put in and commitment with the hope that some team/game experience will lead the way? Or do you give the nod to the younger player in hopes of growth through game experience, a spark maybe, or the future? Thoughts?