FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[janesvilleflash]

To anyone who thought I would stay sober today.........

http://clickme.50webs.org/

[Klopenhiemer]

My take on the game today in Collegeville (watching only the first half):

1.)  The Weather affected both teams.  The rain was constant, at times heavy, at times light, and toward the second half the wind picked up too.  It certainly would seem to have played into UWRF's historical strength (running the ball), but I don't think UWRF really exploited it.

2.)  SJU's offensive line played very well.  They gave Crees lots of time to throw, and allowed SJU to dominate the line of scrimmage.

3.)  SJU's defense prevented UWRF from really getting into an offensive rhythm.  The d-line was constantly pressuring the QB, and the d-backs were in good position all day.  Some of that may have been the weather, but the defense looked good. 

4.)  I thought UWRF could have run the ball on us on 1st and 2nd  down if they wanted to-- but they went away from it (inexplicably) and didn't go back to it.  Their loss, I guess...literally....

5.)  I thought SJU struggled in the 3rd quarter by going away from the trap in favor of trying to throw the ball a bit.  I understand needing to spread out the field, but the same old things occurred way too frequently for my liking-- option to the short side, naked dives, etc.  When they put 3 backs in the backfield with the motion there was enough deception occurring to prevent UWRF from hanging with the Jays.  Good stuff.

All in all, a quality win under poor conditions.  I think Crees is the guy-- despite his mistakes, he showed a lot of composure and the guys responded to him. 

What happened to Bethel?  Need to practice scoring in Arden Hills? Wait....there is a joke in there somewhere.....

Only after marriage

[usee]

Congrats to Bethel on a hard fought game in wheaton today. The Royals have a very good defense and some excellent skill players on offense. Flannery is a tough runner and knows how to hit the holes. 87 is  great athlete. On defense #2, #91 and #43 stuck out as great players. I thnk Bethel will be hard to beat this year and I would love to see these two teams meet again in better conditions.

[PRF07]

Good opener for Carleton today.  They were able to escape Iowa without any injuries. 

Main points from game:

Offense could be really good if they are all on the same page.  Racked up some pretty impressive offensive stats without ever gettinig into much of a flow on offense. 
Frank and gardner are going to be tough to stop IF the 0-line and running game is able to hold its own from game to game.  Gardner and Frank ended up with 14 receptions for 330 yards and 5 touchdowns total today. 

Defense has some work to do, but looked good at times.(very young up front)  Thought Cornells running offense would give Carletons small front line a tougher time than it did.  All in all the D looked good (but undersized like usual).

Special teams:  4 for 6 on extra points... 0 for 1 on field goals.  Kickoff coverage was also an issue.  Punting game looked good.  The same person, A freshman, is both punting and returning punts for Carleton this year... Not something you see every day.

Will be a tough game next week... I expect Bethel to come back home looking to put down a beat down after today's game.  Hope to escape without any major injuries and keep it close.  Prediction Bethel 31 Carleton 21.   (18 if Carleton doesn't make extra points again)

[DutchHawk]

Congrats to Augsburg on a quality win, hopefully you showed us some good stuff to use on tape for next week!! Good luck to the MIAC teams next weekend!

[TC]

Congrats to the Auggies.  Sounds like they really have Wartburg's number--huge win for them today! 

[TC]

How much is Augsburg using Royce Winford on defense?  MIAC MVP, perhaps?  Sounds like he had some huge plays on both sides of the ball tonight.

[sfury]

You can just keep Reusse.  I am sure even he could find fault with the Packers if they were on his hometown beat.    He is a good baseball and basketball writer, 50-50 at football (the good 50 being on analysis of teams outside of Minnesota) and a terrible hockey writer.  In short, you can have him.

j-esq, how do you really feel about Ruesse? 

The way I see it is that a sportswriter who doesn't understand hockey has no business being a sportswriter in a hockey town.

Plus, his shtick is predictable-- celebrate the underdog and find all faults in the dominant.  Exceptions include gopher football, which is to be hated because they aren't as good as the Vikings; and USTd football because, lord knows, they are really underdogs (despite being WIAC-sized and blessed with the largest endowment in the MIAC).

In other words, carry out personal vendettas against coaches and programs he doesn't like.  But that makes a good sportswriter...

Glad that your show can get him-- but he has already turned into Sid Jr for my tastes....   

I gotta defend Reusse here a bit, and not just because he's a fellow sportswriter and also grew up in Fulda with my folks. Gophers football has been the LA Clippers of the Big Ten for the past, oh, 40 years. There's only so many times you can say a 45-10 loss to Michigan is a great moral victory and that the future looks bright (look out Penn State, they just beat Montana State!!).

The hockey part I can see, though being that I don't like hockey either, I never read his stories on it so can't really judge.

But as for the St. Thomas part...SJU fans can't really complain about coverage in the Strib, considering how many stories appear about the team every football season. Some years it's seemed the paper has a Collegeville bureau. There's usually four or five games that they cover, not to mention Reusse has written dozens of stories - probably 99 percent of them positive - about the Johnnies over the decades. While he's written a handful of stories about the football team, the majority of the Tommie stories concentrate on the basketball team or Fritz, who has obviously earned whatever publicity he does get.

But the best thing about Reusse - and what I think really sets him apart from almost all other big-city columnists - is that he understands that Minnesota's borders actually extend outside of the 612 and 651 area codes. Throughout the year he'll write a couple dozen stories about events, games, and people that usually never get presented to a big-city paper's readership. Whether it's writing about town-team baseball, 9-man football, the Fulda girls basketball team's state championships, his continuing dislike of Slayton (sorry, Bennie), MIAC football, or some legendary hoops player from the 1960s who has died, Reusse's depth and versatility are almost always on display. Not to mention he's just a hell of a writer. All of which basically makes him the anti-Sid.

[Willy Wonka]

Before I delve into the writing debate...let me first say congrats to that rigid Gustie pass defense! We held Coe to 362 yards passing! I wonder if they ever got tired of doing playaction at Hoag's old number...or if he can actually defend it this year...

Speaking of Hoag...can we get a standing ovation for Chad Arlt? He went for 101 today to finally bump Hoag out of the all-time leading receiver spot in Gustie history. No word yet on whether Hoag was seen pouting on the sidelines.

As for the writing...I'm with sfury in this Reusse "debate." People fall on both sides of the fence with him, but I tend to think he's the most talented writer north of Red Wing (C'mon, I had to!). As a fellow writer, I can only imagine the demand of writing a daily column at a metro daily. The only worse city (in terms of pure athletic history, past and present) might be Seattle or Philadelphia.

He's also most willing to expand his boundaries outside of the metro area, as evidenced almost every season when he highlights an unlikely state entrant or someone with a great story from some podunk town around the state. Most of the rest, including the legion of AP writers, stick to the bare bones stories within a 60 mile radius of their home office. I appreciate the extra effort that takes.

And, for those of you who have never met him, he's got TONS of great stories...even if he handles a flight of stairs as smoothly as TDT does meeting a perty lady

That said...I also HATE hockey and love the fact that it's relegated to some obscure cable channel these days.

As an aside, I respect that the standard SJU feature disguised as the MIAC preview story was kiboshed this fall to feature Augsburg's studs. I know for a fact that the SJU idea was pitched and rejected, with the writer told to "dig a little deeper." Kudos to the Strib.

[OzJohnnie]

OZ-I don't know about letting you back in the J's fan club-falling back to sleep-isn't that what you say to the boss when you take a holiday?

In my defense, it was 3:50am on a Sunday morning...

Can I play a little snoopdawg?  At the ballet concert this morning I was waiting in the coffee line behind an incredibly hot mom.  I was doing my best not to be noticeably distracted when up walked Shane Warne, the Sandy Koufax of cricket without the arthritis.  Warne is the best spinner ever to play cricket, and arguably the best bowler (pitcher) to ever play the game.

But undoubtedly, his prime accomplishment is getting married to the definition of wow (he's now separated.  A sports star can't keep the women away, I guess).

[footballfan413]

Congrats to the Johnnies and their fans on the win yesterday.  They sure successed in shutting down Zweifel.  So for the benefit of those of us in the WIAC Pick 'ems, (Blue Devil Bob, Flash, myself, etc,) what is everyone's take on River Falls.  Better than last year, worse, what is your overall impression?  Just trying to get a read on them for what to expect this season and any help would be appreciated.

[TC]

So for the benefit of those of us in the WIAC Pick 'ems, (Blue Devil Bob, Flash, myself, etc,) what is everyone's take on River Falls.  Better than last year, worse, what is your overall impression?  Just trying to get a read on them for what to expect this season and any help would be appreciated.

Hey 413, the rain made it pretty tough to get a good read on either team yesterday.  I'm sure neither team was able to execute their gameplan as they wanted.  Still, River Falls didn't impress me in any way.  Outside of the one scoring drive, they didn't move the ball at all.  Zweifel was a total non-factor (which very well could have been due to the quarterback and the conditions). 

Their defense didn't do much to stop the Johnnies early (when they passed at ease) or late (when the offensive line opened gaping holes on the last drive).  Their special teams hit the trifecta: they allowed a long return, botched an extra point, and had a couple horrible punts.  Their coaching staff seemed like they were just happy to be there; a coach literally flipped out and tackled a player after he recovered a fumble.  As esq mentioned below, they didn't do much to take advantage of what should have been an exploitable run defense on first and second down.

So, yeah... I didn't see much I liked about UW-RF on Saturday, and I'd imagine they're in for another also-ran effort in the WIAC.  Still, it would have been interesting to see them on a dry field.  With a talent like Zweifel, I'm sure they would have put some points on the board.  I just don't think they are a complete enough team to compete with the Johnnies (or most of the WIAC) under any conditions.

[retagent]

First - Congrats to Augie Tech. If nothing else, they are adding to the evidence that the MIAC is a better conference than the d3 hierarchy seem  to believe.

Second - I can understand somewhat why some people wouldn't be hockey fans, but to dislike/hate hockey seems a little much. It has speed, requires more skills than other sports, and maybe, except for basketball, is the best at sustained action without stoppage of the major sports. If either WW or sfury would expound on what exactly it is that they HATE about hockey, I would be ever so grateful.

Lastly -  For Oz,    In my younger days we had a different definition for a "spinner" that had nothing to do with cricket, nudge, nudge,... wink, wink,.......... know what I mean, know what I mean?

[Touchdown Tommy]

I am nervous about this week...

[Lone Auggie Backer]

How much is Augsburg using Royce Winford on defense?  MIAC MVP, perhaps?  Sounds like he had some huge plays on both sides of the ball tonight.

Basically every down, plus punt coverage, fg block, & punt return.  He is an amazing athlete, that has hit the weight room hard, and worked his butt off to be in condition to go for nearly 60 minutes. Was double teamed basically all night long last night, and that hurt his receptions number, but he had the quality of receptions over quantity of receptions last night.  Plus, as you said, the huge interception!