FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[royalachilles]

MR, I was at the game, and at the beginning of the game, the student section was about half empty, but by the middle of the 1st quarter, it was pretty full.  The rest of the stands were packed, but I did not look at the attendance numbers.  What I did notice was for a game of this magnitude, the endzones were not as full as usual.  And if the Royal faithful think saturday was cold, wait until Collegeville in November.  Probably about 0 degrees...  

[johnnie_esq]

The thing is when you look at the overall picture and that would be 8-0 with the inside track to the MIAC title and a postseason berth...the season is going well.   I see a 35-14 win over the Tommies and then a 31-14 win over Bethel followed by a number two seed in the West

Sure.  And I understand that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  But I'm one to look for parts that are wearing and likely to break, so that we can be prepared when it does.  And given some of our competition this year (UWEC and UWRF are down this year; C-M who played us tough is down, and we haven't played the other one-loss teams in the conference yet), we may not find that it's broke until it is too late.

You can't argue with success-- I just don't claim success until the fat lady sings. 

[AnotherJohnnie]

I thought he should have taken it himself on that boot.  Why risk a pass on 4th and 1 when they are giving him that one yard, so I didn't think it was all that smart.  I also didn't like that we took a timeout with 11 seconds left before that play.  Everyone knew it should be the last play of the half, why call it with 11 seconds left?  We had to kick off then!

Esq,

I have my concerns about Alex also.  I especially echo your concerns about the fact that Alex has kept the ball on the option roughly two times this year.  One of these times someone is going to step in and intercept that pitch, as has almost been the case multiple times already.

I am not sure if you are trying to say that Alex shouldn't have called that timeout or not, but if so, he didn't call it.  I am almost certain it was the guy on the cover of program who frantically called timeout too early.

[DuffMan]

Hey Johnnie Esquire and Duff...did you guys get tanked at halftime and miss the pinpoint long throws to Gearman?  His bootleg TD pass to Geisen on 4th down in the first half?  In listening to the broadcast and watching the game I think he only had one bad throw on a bubble screen to Lofboom.  I don't know which Johnnies legendary QB you are comparing him to, but I think he holds up well against most.

VOJ, I agree that he threw some nice passes, but he also threw some incredibly bad passes.  He's good, has been struggling with consistency lately. 

I think it's easy to forget those lackluster throws from the first half when he throws a few beautiful TD passes.  A COMPLETE GAME is what wins championships, and that's what I want to see from an SJU QB.

[DuffMan]

Hey Johnnie Esquire and Duff...did you guys get tanked at halftime and miss the pinpoint long throws to Gearman?  His bootleg TD pass to Geisen on 4th down in the first half?  In listening to the broadcast and watching the game I think he only had one bad throw on a bubble screen to Lofboom.  I don't know which Johnnies legendary QB you are comparing him to, but I think he holds up well against most.

As for Crees only playing a little bit...keep in mind he was in on two drives, one play each his TD pass to Gearman and a solid run by Blackmore I think after a good punt return...and Hansel is the future of the position after Alex leaves. 

Jimmy G on the postgame show said they wanted to get Crees more time but he had short drives and they wanted to play as many guys as they could

One bad throw?  In the first quarter he was 3 for 7 for 25 yards and 1 INT.  Those"pinpoint" passes to Gearman were there all game but he certainly didn't have the touch to do it early on.  He missed guys across the middle and had happy feet, even with adequate time to throw the ball.  I distinctly remember Mayew, Seiler, Ramler, Linneman et al., and I wouldn't put Kofoed's passing ability up against any of them.

I thought he should have taken it himself on that boot.  Why risk a pass on 4th and 1 when they are giving him that one yard, so I didn't think it was all that smart.  I also didn't like that we took a timeout with 11 seconds left before that play.  Everyone knew it should be the last play of the half, why call it with 11 seconds left?  We had to kick off then!

Crees throws the best ball on the team, bar none.  He may not have the speed that Hansel does (give Hansel credit-- he took the ball on the option, faked a pitch, and turned upfield-- haven't seen Kofoed do that much this year).  But Hansel was 2 of 6 in his short stint, and he was pretty inaccurate.

I concur!

[Touchdown Tommy]

Mr. Esq, can we get an early look at what the spread will be this week in the SJU/UST game?

[johnnie_esq]

Mr. Esq, can we get an early look at what the spread will be this week in the SJU/UST game?

Still not nailed down quite yet, but running between 9.5 points and 19.5 points for the Tommies.

[Touchdown Tommy]

I am getting a little nervous about Frank and Mongo.  We haven't heard from them since they took on the city of Fargo this weekend.  I hope they aren't slumbering away in the Fargo County Jail this morning...

[sju56321]

Yea, I would have UST giving 9.5 to SJU-

Kofoed has had me worried since the UWW game last year-I told TDT then that he better imporve a great deal this year or it will be one and done in the playoffs, or maybe not even the playoffs.

As for the Bethel game on Nov. 11th, the only thing I am sure about is that Porta will gain over a hundred yards, although those yards will probably not mean much as they will come between the 35s.

[BUdefense]

MR, I was at the game, and at the beginning of the game, the student section was about half empty, but by the middle of the 1st quarter, it was pretty full.

Maybe I need to start going to the games in the 2nd quarter or something (I was watching NU/UT before then). When I got there, the right 1/4th of the Bethel stands were near empty, and the Bethel student section (usually easily identified by their standing the whole game and the jumping DEFENSE chant) was a very small group of about thirty or forty. Obviously there were more students than that, but not many were active in the game. I have to say that I would hardly classify the stands as "pretty full", and yes, the standers in the endzones were sparse at best. Apparently the BU faithful are counting the days till hockey starts or something. Apparently 6-1 conference contenders arent worth watching, even in the middle of a tight game.

Bad news for the Royal football team: The Bethel Hockey team has a game on 11/11. Wonder which one the fans will go to: the conference championship game, or the hockey game. There are more puck sluts at bethel than football supporters, which is sad.

[WAHOO3]

Finally had a second to give a couple comments about the BU/STO game, so I apologize if these comments are redundant:

1. The final drive of the game for Bethel was very impressive. Needing a score, they ate up the clock and ran all over the Oles. I think the only players to touch the ball were the center, QB, and Porta. Only 1 pass play, which was a bubble to porta. I think I've seen Porta play once each of his 5 seasons and I've always been impressed no one ever seems to hit him hard and he always makes the first man miss.

2. Bethel was very effective running 'Zone Read' out of the gun, alla the spread offenses you see at the D1 level. The QB seemed to always make the right decision to keep or give. He was a lot more effective running too than I thought he would be. Overall, with all of the zone and stretch that Bethel ran, I was suprised the Oles didn't bring more pressure off the edge. Instead, we let the running game eat us up.  

3. With Bethel coming off a Bye, they looked a little more refreshed at the end of the game too. Also, I haven't seen Bethel play at all this year but the Offense looked a little different to me. With teams now getting Bye weeks in the middle of the season in the MIAC, I think it allows teams to mix it up a little.

Wish the Bison would have won.

[Collegeville Magic]

Another curious fan with a question here:

Not only did Weber not get a ball at WR (yes, nitpicking in a HUGE stomp of a victory), but Royce-Diop is only on the field for kick and punt returns now.  Last year, he was often starting along with Gearman, and he's certainly a lot more dangerous than tiny, slow Casey H.

In fact, other than Gearman's first TD, I would say R-D's punt return to the Hamline 10 was the most impressive offensive play of the day.  Why is our second most exciting (and possibly most athletic) offensive player stuck on the sidelines and not running patterns?  

Enough of the Bethel game obsession, the J's still have the dreaded purple to deal with.  I see a 10 point win, but a larger margin wouldn't shock me.

[TC]

TOMMIES SUCK.

[VOJ]

Another curious fan with a question here:

Not only did Weber not get a ball at WR (yes, nitpicking in a HUGE stomp of a victory), but Royce-Diop is only on the field for kick and punt returns now.  Last year, he was often starting along with Gearman, and he's certainly a lot more dangerous than tiny, slow Casey H.

The offensive coaches like the way Casey blocks and runs his pass patterns, he may not be the biggest or fastest but he has good hands and does his job.  As for Weber, the Johnnies offense is predicated on running plays that work...not for players themselves(other than Blake when he was there)

In fact, other than Gearman's first TD, I would say R-D's punt return to the Hamline 10 was the most impressive offensive play of the day.  Why is our second most exciting (and possibly most athletic) offensive player stuck on the sidelines and not running patterns?  

As for R-D...well lets just say that he gets as much time as he puts in with the Johnnies football program, yes and amazing talent, but maybe not the most dedicated.

Enough of the Bethel game obsession, the J's still have the dreaded purple to deal with.  I see a 10 point win, but a larger margin wouldn't shock me.

Johnnies 35 Tommies 14

[realistic]

MR, I was at the game, and at the beginning of the game, the student section was about half empty, but by the middle of the 1st quarter, it was pretty full.  The rest of the stands were packed, but I did not look at the attendance numbers.  What I did notice was for a game of this magnitude, the endzones were not as full as usual.  And if the Royal faithful think saturday was cold, wait until Collegeville in November.  Probably about 0 degrees...  

No kidding!  My senior year, it was about 5 degrees w/o the wind chill!

Mighty Royal

thats not good.....2002 SJU v Coe the weekend after thanksgiving saw -2 before windchill at the noon kickoff.  At least the sun was out.