FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[CobberFvr]

Concordia - 24
Bethel - 7       FINAL

[familyguyfaneightyfour]

Augsburg 49, Olaf 21.  Ouch.  John Haberman (QB) was responsible for four turnovers for the Oles.  All of which led to scores.  FYI that isn't good.  Olaf's offense is more one-dimensional than the patriots without brady.  Hats off to Augsburg though.  Damn.  I'm bummed right now.  Really bummed. 

It turns out that Olaf's pass defense has its head up its ass... still.  The front seven is pretty good, but it doesn't matter when augsburg is doing a three step-drop and they can't pressure the QB. 

Whatever.  Let's all get drunk.

[DutchFan2004]

So the W helped the mood here.  How did the QB do or was it by committee again? 

[tmerton]

So the W helped the mood here.  How did the QB do or was it by committee again? 

Boyle started but was not effective.  Hansel played the last 3 quarters and did well.  Crees' name wasn't mentioned so far as I know. 

As it stands now, it looks to be Hansel, but after game 2 it looked to be Crees, so we'll have to wait to see if the coaches think they've settled it or not.

[bcflyguy1]

Concordia - 24
Bethel - 7       FINAL

Less than 100 yards passing and throwing, and the only score coming on a kick-off return.  3 more turnovers, including a fumble on the first play after the D came up with an INT in the first quarter.  Ouch, that is going to be a long bus ride home for the BU crew.  It doesn't get any easier this week, either.

[Lone Auggie Backer]

Thoughts from the Auggie/Ole duel today.  Augsburg came out swinging and connected early, forcing Olaf to play from their heels. Mr. 84 was correct - The Olaf secondary was an area that the Auggie offense was able to exploit.  I was surprised that Olaf rarely brought more than four. On only a very few occasions can I recall them even bringing five. This allowed Jordan Berg quite a bit of time to get off shots down-field.  Again, Mr. 84 is correct - bringing more than 4 might not necessarily have helped as the Auggies were very successful with their 3 step game.

From my perspective, the Olaf team seemed to be really just struggling with youth.  I would assume that the number of seniors in impact positions last year left them with a lot of shoes to fill.  I do not think that they've done a bad job at all at filling those shoes. Only, those shoes have been filled by people without a lot of experience.  I would look for the Oles to get markedly better as the season goes on and those players get more accustomed to the college/varsity game. 

I thought that the Auggie defense played very well.  The Olaf Kickoff return did a very good job against the Auggie team, and that definitely helped the Olaf field position. But, my Auggie defense did a good job at working hard to limit what all could be done with that field position. 

It was a good day for Augsburg. Beating an Olaf team that has had a program that has steadily improved over the last few years is a good win for us.  Hopefully we can keep this momentum going next week and string a few wins together.  Hats off to both the Oles and the Auggies on a game well played.  I'm just glad that I get the bragging rights in the Hagen household (Wife's an Ole... boooo!) for this year!

LAB

[tmerton]

B-b-b-b-but what about all the Florwegians the Oles have?

Congrats on a big win.  I may have to add the Auggie game at the end of the season to my travel schedule.

[familyguyfaneightyfour]

Tmert,
I thought that the Ole's got so much crap b/c of the meidty meidt.  Now that he's gone* why are you still giving them crap? 

*I would also like to note that PF's are down this year too...

LAB,
I think that you are correct.  Olaf has some youth that is still getting used to this whole "starting" thing.  They need to address the position of quarterback though.  Augsburg's offense was very impressive, maybe the best in the MIAC this year (I'm basing that on the fact that no one on this board is talking about how good their offense is, except for the auggies).

So BU is missing Wetzell much more than anticipated or what?  And how did GAC look today?

[Buckman]

Heard from a reliable source that a SJU QB (didn't know who) quit last week, but John demanded that Jim get him back on the team, and therfore said QB is back on the team.  That would explain a certain QB's lack of mentioning in the past week though.

[repete]

Nice win for the Jays.

I apologize if I missed this elsewhere but what was the deal with Reding, who appeared to be MIA? I listened to most of the game but missed the pregame.

[stanbob]

Nice win for the Jays.

I apologize if I missed this elsewhere but what was the deal with Reding, who appeared to be MIA? I listened to most of the game but missed the pregame.

If I remember correctly I think that he was kicked in the ankle early in the game, he left to ice it down but never came back.

[Willy Wonka]

Heard from a reliable source that a SJU QB (didn't know who) quit last week, but John demanded that Jim get him back on the team, and therfore said QB is back on the team.  That would explain a certain QB's lack of mentioning in the past week though.

You won't find an SJU poster willing to substantiate this "rumor"...but my sources tell me said quitter was today's star QB who didn't agree with the decision to start Boyle and made his feelings very well known before quitting for roughly 18 hours. Sounds like a bunch of drama queens to me...but that could just be the bitter Gustie fan in me lashing out

That said, I feel the need to vent. Please give me a few minutes of your time before we return to the usual Johnnie lovefest...

The Gustavus coaching staff has preached for years about how our players can't play scared when we play SJU, particularly at Clemens Stadium. This has been an issue ever since I joined the GAC program in 2000, as literally every game since then we've fallen behind by at least 2-3 touchdowns at halftime before playing better after the break.

This was NOT the problem today. Instead, the GAC coaching staff called the game like it was scared IMO. We ran on first and second down with embarrassing consistency and absolutely zero success. We used a playaction pass just once that I can recall, and it went for a touchdown. We routinely tried to beat a fast Johnnie defense to the corner by optioning a fairly non-mobile QB. That was the game plan? Really?

We attempted a FG that would have pulled us within 24-13 when going for it from inside the 10 was clearly the best option given the time, score and situation. We dominated the first half...but then tried to run the clock out trailing 14-10 with under 3 minutes to play in the first half. The conservative approach resulted in an SJU FG to further its momentum. Then, with 35 seconds to go and the ball at GAC's 40 with three timeouts left...we run the ball, content to regroup at halftime instead of going for points. We are who they thought we were (or something)!

The third quarter was exactly the same, as we used the spread offense to try and run the ball. Strangely, it still didn't work. We finally started getting some movement going in the fourth quarter by passing the ball. Weird. Please let the record show that I'm not making this up. Check out the stats for today.

• 39 stubborn carries at 1.5 a pop
• 16-23 passing for 190 with 2 TDs, 1 INT and 2 sacks allowed

I understand not wanting to put the game entirely on untested QB Jordan Becker's shoulders...but that's what was working! Go with it! Attack! Instead of giving him that opportunity, we seemed content to run, run, run and punt to keep the clock going and keep the score "respectable" in another loss. Frustrating.

AND PASS THE BALL TO ARLT! The dude abides in ridiculous fashion. While I wasn't specifically keeping track, I can recall 9 passes going his way. He finished with 7 catches for 141 and a TD. He also drew a (questionable?) pass interference call and had the other pass sail just out of his reach in the end zone before the botched FG attempt (and after a stupid option call). SJU had no answer for the all-american, but our strange game plan made it a relatively moot point.

SJU was the better team today, no question, but make no mistake MIAC — these aren't your daddy's Johnnies. The are extremely beatable. But the much-maligned Lil Gags had a field day with his calls against a stout Gustie D while the exact opposite was true for Brownie. That — more than anything else — was the difference today...along with SJU's uncanny ability to get away with obvious pick routes inside the red zone. I hope someone sends game film to the MIAC office so refs are better prepared for that call in the future.

[justadad]

SJU was the better team today, no question, but make no mistake MIAC — these aren't your daddy's Johnnies. The are extremely beatable. But the much-maligned Lil Gags had a field day with his calls against a stout Gustie D while the exact opposite was true for Brownie. That — more than anything else — was the difference today...along with SJU's uncanny ability to get away with obvious pick routes inside the red zone. I hope someone sends game film to the MIAC office so refs are better prepared for that call in the future.

We obviously saw the same game.  The Johnnie D is still strong but appears, at times, to be vulnerable to the pass.  To think the Auggies and Knights might match up well is concerning.  The rushing offense lacks (fill in the blanks).  The apparent pick routes are nothing but standard clearing patterns.  They look more impressive up on the hill.  They are Johnney bread and butter plays and are used everywhere on the field.  I can't believe the Johnnie coaching staff doesn't seem to be concerned about special teams.  Lot's of issues, why not let Russell get some FG's?  We need to get the snaps corrected, and game situations is where confidence is built.  

[CC Backer]

Well here is a few thoughts from the CC vs BU game yesterday.....
The Cobbers D looked pretty good again for the second straight week.  Had only one or two break downs all day and none of them really hurt the team.  Offensively...not impressed with CC.  Not sure why or when it happened but apparently the O coordinators don't think that the Cobbers are a RUNNING team anymore.  Guess what guys thats your bread and butter!!  Pound the ball to wear down defenses and use some play action to burn the D occationally.  We could've run the ball a lot more in the game, in my eyes at least.  Still not sure if the Cobbers can run the table, but if the defense can hold teams to as low of scoring like the past two games, then we've got a chance.

As for the Bethel Royals.....they really miss Wetzel (sp).  They weren't able to get much going offensively all day.  Their defense played pretty well in the first half, but gave up some points in the second.   

As usual, I was not impressed with the BU players over all demeanor.  At one point during the second half I wittnessed a BU starter relieve himself on the field!!  Thats right, he took a piss on the sideline in plain view of everyone.  I don't know if this player has some sort of medical issues or not, but taking a leak on the playing surface from the sideline is absolutely ridiculous!!! Especially when you are the visiting team.  Pissing on someone else's field is immature and pathetic.  I can't believe that a player would even think of doing something like that.  Way to go BU, once again you are the class of the MIAC!!!  WOW

[Willy Wonka]

justadad — I realize it's a "common" Johnnie play. It's also supposed to be a point of emphasis this year in the MIAC, calling a penalty when receivers make contact with a defender before/while the ball is in the air. It's been illegal for years, but *should* be cracked down on this year. I'm guessing SJU's success with bending the rules like this in the past had something to do with this new emphasis.

Schoeny went nuts on a play I didn't see prior to SJU's first touchdown and a receiver straight laid out a Gustie defender while the ball was in the air a few possessions later. Neither drew a flag. That's sick.

(Sidenote: Gotta love Linneman dropping F-bombs on the radio when SJU is struggling. Stay classy. DustySJU, please ignore that jab for reasons that don't need to be discussed.)

Speaking of sick...was this what the Bethel guy looked like, CC Backer?? Or did he just whip it out for all to see?

http://deadspin.com/sports/towel-peeing/when-ya-gotta-go--328458.php