FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[MadRedFan]

From the nitpicking department - - -

We had to leave the Johnnie game early to get to a wedding, and we listened to VOJ and company in the car on the way. Did I hear them calling Blakey "Blake-LEE"? With an L in the second syllable?  If so, sad mistake to such a seasoned crew - this guy is gonna be pretty valuable by the end of October. And SJU communications staff or someone shoulda been on it in short order.  No reason for it.

If I heard it wrong (and Blakey and Blakely can sort of sound the same over the radio I guess) I apologize to VOJ.

[art76]

My wife is now resting comfortably in her own bed after a routine operation. Thanx for all the kind words and prayers for her and I. I am now watching the replay and typing this during the half-time break. Not ripping on the new helmets for BU, but my farming background immediately went to tearing up the ground when I saw "Cultivate" emblazoned on the back neck cushion. My guess is that the coaching staff had other intentions.

I agree with what others have already said, that BU is still working out the kinks and the Blugolds should give a better idea of what's in store for the Royals' new offense. Defense looked to be in better shape this early in the season. Still, with one half under their belts, the new "no huddle" offense makes the game seem to go quicker and definitely is a new look.

[OzJohnnie]

From the nitpicking department - - -

We had to leave the Johnnie game early to get to a wedding, and we listened to VOJ and company in the car on the way. Did I hear them calling Blakey "Blake-LEE"? With an L in the second syllable?  If so, sad mistake to such a seasoned crew - this guy is gonna be pretty valuable by the end of October. And SJU communications staff or someone shoulda been on it in short order.  No reason for it.

If I heard it wrong (and Blakey and Blakely can sort of sound the same over the radio I guess) I apologize to VOJ.

You heard right. I'm certain VOJ has heard plenty about the mispronunciation by now as well.

[sjujohnnie]

Yesterday's outcome between the Johnnies/Knights resulted in the largest movers either direction in the Top 25 poll! St John's jumped from 12 to 6 & Wartburg fell from 5 to 13. Bethel appears at 24.

[Ice Bear]

Congrats to SJU on their big win and I mean a big win IMHO.

Also, I'm very happy to see Bethel coming into the poll at #24 this week. While I liked the O's numbers I really like what the D did, albeit against an inferior opponent. I think there is a lot to look forward to for the Baptist Royals.

[faunch]

Well, it was sure fun to watch the game in the afternoon.  Particularly when the Johnnies played so well.

* Syverson was throwing it on a string.  He keeps this up and AirJohnnie will be very dangerous this season.
* A number of Johnnies were making themselves very available to Syverson, particularly Wheeler.
* Blakey looks like a very interesting running back.  He turns up the field and moves into gaps with intent.  Looks dangerous.
* The defensive line and linebackers look hot.  McMahon popped up a number of times with impressive linebacker plays. Only a sophomore.

The only downside I had was that the secondary was carved up. They seemed to miss a number of assignments.  It's hard to believe that Wartburg threw for over 300 yards but had only one passing touchdown.  I guess ten (10!) sacks does that to you.

And if any of the AV people read these boards: congratulations and thank you!  The video quality was excellent.  We saw the plays, avoided the shakey cam and enjoyed replays.  Nice work.


Lastly, WTF with the dancing rats?  A Johnnie Rat Pack rat, maybe, but actual dancing rats?  Nah.  Get someone from the arts department to do a short dancing Johnnie Rat if that's needed for a filler.  Someone can do a GenAI extra credit project.

Yes they actually had the camera zoomed in a bit more at the start of the plays. There was a couple moments late in the game where there seemed to be some technical difficulties...maybe the dancing rats had something to do with it. The guy that was watching with me thought it was stupid!

[faunch]

1. 10 sacks...last season SJU's total was 29. Even on Wartburg's first drive the Johnnies had a couple opportunities to make tackles for lass. I'm wondering if Novak and Co. use some new schemes and stunts. I'm definitely impressed with the defenses improvement from last season. Wartburg has talented players and it's not a surprise they were able to gain 316 total yards but 9 total rushing yards? Also I thought I heard that Wartburg had most of their offensive line back from last year. Maybe conditioning was a factor in the second half. We has three sacks in a row at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th quarter.
2. I (like Duff) think Blakey could be a beast. When he's in the backfield with Syverson their combined age is about 50. With Wheeler coming back I wonder who will be the odd man out. I'm also happy with 77 rushing and a 3.3 average per carry. I also like the jumbo package in goal line situations. The broadcast crew also seemed happy that our quarterback was under center in those situations.
3. I was watching the game with a buddy and he commented what a great ball the Syverson throws. I said it last year and will say it again he was our offensive MVP last year and might be again this year.
4. Wheeler the receiver is very good and Gendreau might be matchup problem for teams. He seems to be a tight end with some speed and has the ability to find soft spots in coverage.
5. Again...I pleased to admit I was wrong. I really didn't think we would do such a good job shutting down Wartburg. Hoping this team keeps improving and keeps their edge. Even watching online I got the sense that they are out to make a statement this season.

On another note, something that Duff might find of interest. I umpired two 14U softball games Sunday afternoon. The combined record of the teams after the first two weekends of play was 3-13. The coach of one of the teams came up to me before the game and said, "We're the Bad News Bears."
That was an understatement.

Time limit was no new inning after 70 minutes. First game went over 90 minutes and the final after 3 innings was 18-10.
Second game lasted 90 minutes and after 3 innings ended 16-12...even though at the start of the bottom of the 3rd it was 16-1.
So yes I umpired 6 innings and it took 3 hours...that's about 30 minutes per inning!!!!

[SJU13]

Line play on both sides of the ball has seemed to improve for SJU. The 7:30 march down the field to start the second half seemed to be a real inflection point.

SJU O may be death by a thousand paper cuts for defenses if they can find a way to effectively utilize all their options. Wheeler only had 3 catches for 15 yards in the first half. Syverson found 7 others to throw to during the game.

[DuffMan]

So yes I umpired 6 innings and it took 3 hours...that's about 30 minutes per inning!!!!

Ugh.  I feel for you. 

[art76]

We head into week three of the season and the last week of non-conference play in the MIAC. The conference enters this week with an overall record of 8 - 7, which does not bode well for when D3 Football ranks the conferences later in the season. If all 5 teams in play this week run the table, which they could, the overall record could be 13 and 7, but I won't be surprised if the MIAC slips a position or two in the ranking. Even though the NAIA loss will probably be thrown out in the figuring, 13 - 6 still isn't a great look, and that's only if nobody loses this coming weekend. The five teams on bye this week are Concordia, Hamline, Macalester, St. John's, and St. Olaf.

The only night game this week has St. Scholastica traveling down to Crown College. Both teams are looking for their first win of the season. The Saints lost in OT last week, while the Polars have dropped both of their previous games by at least three scores. I suspect it will be more of the same for the Polars as the Saints come marching into Old National Bank Stadium.

Augsburg will have had the longest bye week this year, having played their last game back on Friday night, September 6th. They travel down to New Ulm to take on Martin Luther, and they have had the chance to go see them in action last week at Macalester, if they availed themselves of that opportunity. All that to say, they had better be prepared for the Knights. The Auggies should get their first win of the season on the road.

Carleton hosts Minnesota Morris who is playing their third game in the MIAC, having split the first two games. Carleton did not travel well in their opener on the West coast, taking that one on the chin from the Sagehens. Still, the Knights should win this one against the Cougars by more than one score - which has been the Cougar's score differential in both of the previous MIAC games.

Gustavus travels over to the WIAC to take on Stevens Point. Both Pat and Greg picked the Pointers to finish at the bottom of the WHEEAC in this week's podcast, however that doesn't make them a pushover for the Gusties. The pointers have split their first two games, while the Gusties lost to Whitworth in week one. For the second time, in as many games, we're talking about a game where the combined records for both teams is 1 - 2, and in like manner I suspect the MIAC squad will pull out the win. This could be the game of the week, from a purely points spread perspective.

The last game this week has Bethel hosting Eau Claire. The Blugolds come into the game with a 1 -1 record, having beaten the Cobbers up in Moorhead and then Coe squeaking out a win against them last week. The Royals simply out-soared the Eagles last week, which allowed the second-stringers/backups to get almost a full half of game experience. That won't be happening this coming week, unless I am mistaken about how good the Blugolds are. They are coming into Royal Stadium with something to prove, as Bethel won last year's contest 24-0. Even so, I can foresee the new offensive scheme at BU wearing them out and the Royals winning in convincing fashion.

[hazzben]

So yes I umpired 6 innings and it took 3 hours...that's about 30 minutes per inning!!!!

Ugh.  I feel for you. 

Oofta, as a dad with 14U and 12U softball daughters, my sympathies. There's nothing worse than watching a softball walk-fest and realizing you're going to blow past the 70 minute time limit.

[faunch]

So yes I umpired 6 innings and it took 3 hours...that's about 30 minutes per inning!!!!

Ugh.  I feel for you. 

Oofta, as a dad with 14U and 12U softball daughters, my sympathies. There's nothing worse than watching a softball walk-fest and realizing you're going to blow past the 70 minute time limit.

So yes I umpired 6 innings and it took 3 hours...that's about 30 minutes per inning!!!!

Ugh.  I feel for you. 

Oofta, as a dad with 14U and 12U softball daughters, my sympathies. There's nothing worse than watching a softball walk-fest and realizing you're going to blow past the 70 minute time limit.

If they had been pitch tracking I'm guessing over 80% of pitches were called balls

[DuffMan]

Our daughter is on the older side of 10U.  I'm not saying she's a great softball player, but her fall team has a majority of girls who are either new to softball or new to 10U, and it's been painful.  The saving grace of this league is that they are no walks--if a pitcher throws 4 balls (which happens a lot), a coach comes in to finish off the batter, so they at least get a chance to hit.
On top of that, her coach has next to zero softball/baseball experience--it's tough. 

[Texas Ole]

Art: Glad to hear your wife is doing well.

Youth sports can be painful.  I ref quite a bit in Texas.  So many parents want their kids playing sports their kids just aren't ready to play.  Some of it is the bodies haven't developed yet.  Basketball can be absolutely brutal to ref.  If I called everything the parents call from the stands and bench the ball might move 10ft the entire game.  The main league I umpire we do machine pitch for our 1st through 3rd graders.  Once the kids start hitting it is fun.  It becomes more about fielding.  We had several parents request for the fall league to do machine pitch with the older kids so they could focus on fundamentals rather than trying to hit what can often be bad pitching. 

Good win by St. Olaf.  I know it was a blowout, but it was nice to see the Oles play well.  Luther looked bad.  Mark Gelle mentioned Luther was in a complete rebuild mode.  He also mentioned that for football the MIAC had to replace I believe 13 officials this year.  Wow!  I also really appreciate how the St. Olaf broadcast continues to improve.  The broadcasters are good, but the student workers are awesome!

[jakeMN91]

SJU LB Hayden Sanders was interviewed on the D1 Rejects podcast. The interview starts at 34:51 and lasts about 10 minutes. There isn't much as far as new info, but you might want to listen if you're desperate for SJU content on their bye week.

They also give a recap of the SJU-Wartburg game starting at about the 1 hour mark.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2yHcIRS4XaIG6Yzq4nba5c