FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bennie]

This must be Bennie?

I'm not that tan.

[57Johnnie]

I suspect bennie is as giddy as a school girl today 

[bennie]

I suspect bennie is as giddy as a school girl today 

I am! I will be testing my skills at watching multiple games at one time. They are a little rusty.

[FightingCoBB]

The Tommies suck no more and have the ship steered in the right direction.

This may be overstating things a bit (I'm not exactly overwhelmed by wins over GAC, Mac, and Hamline and an admittedly very close loss to a pretty ordinary St. Olaf), but I'm afraid you are right about the program heading in the right direction.

Between a supposedly star-studded recruiting class and replacing Roney with Caruso it's not impossible to think UST will be relevant again in the next few years.  Which goes back to my earlier point: there's reason for optimism with pretty much every team in the MIAC (except for, relatively speaking, St. John's).  Gustavus and Hamline just got facilities upgrades, St. Thomas just had a regime change, Carleton has the Eagle pointed in the right direction for the first time in forever, Augsburg has MIAC title hopes, Concordia has a helmet color scheme that doesn't automatically induce vomiting, and Bethel has beaten St. John's three years in a row and has a Western Region championship to show for it.  I'd say that's a pretty strong conference.







Also, plans are in the works to rebrand www.JohnnieFootball.com.  Coming soon, from the makers of JF.com: www.JohnnieGolf.com!

Jery well put, I think you said just about everything that I was just thinking.

[janesvilleflash]

Well, BDB, somebody, it's almost Friday, and I'm feeling a little low. How about some cheering up?

[janesvilleflash]

Never mind. I'll try it myself.

[Lone Auggie Backer]

That said, I'm disappointed more Hot Carl and Auggie Tech posters haven't come out of the woodworks to pimp their teams before the showdown that could very well decide the conference title. I'd love to be at this game...but I'll be up north with some Cobber alums instead.

You should know how I operate, all! I'm not a sensationalist. I prefer to call it as I see it, not prognosticate, NOT GIVE BULLETIN BOARD MATERIAL, and not over hype my squad!

I think that this will be a great game. Two squads that are coming from the cellars of this league, trying to score one while the premiere clubs in the league are a bit down. Trying to exercise the last decade or so of woeful play and establish themselves as the team that's going to get to play more than the regular season games.

I think that the Carleton squad definitely has a very strong coach on the sideline that has had success taking his teams to post season play while quarterbacking for one of the better programs in the nation. His ability to draw from that experience is invaluable.

Coach Haege has had the great fortune of coaching at the professional level and though some may scoff at the fact that it was the Arena league that he was coaching, it was professional, fast paced play none the less. So, his ability to get guys up for this game is a great benefit for my Augsburg squad.

I see Augsburg losing the time of possession battle. Augsburg runs the ball through their short passing attack while Carleton will actually run the ball. In both "running" games, some plays will not be big plays. The Augsburg version of a stop in the running game will be tackling the ball carrier for a 0 to 2 yard gain. The Carleton version of a stop will be knocking a pass down, or somehow forcing an incomplete pass. The Augsburg stop keeps the clock running. The Carleton stop stops the clock. So, simply by that point I see Carleton winning the time of possession battle. Will that mean anything in the outcome? Only time will tell.

I do see injuries as a significant issue this game. I truly wish both sides were 100%. Won't happen. Ever. That's how the game of football works. Which team is able to better overcome those injuries? I hope it's my boys, but you never know.

I do think that playing on your home field is an advantage in this conference. Familiarity breeds calmness, and that ability to be a bit calmer than the other team in a big conference game will definitely help the Knights.  It will be on my squad completely to have total mental focus on this game. A single mis-step vs. the Knights could spell disaster. 

I am backing my boys completely. Do I hope the win. Hell yes! Do I hope they manage a Monkey-Stomp? Of course! However, I think that this Carleton squad this year (and, probably in the next few years to come) is much to good to even consider that to be a possibility.  I'll settle for winning 3 to 2! I see this game as a shoot-out.  I'll make my prediction with my Maroon and Gray glasses on...  Augsburg 31 Carleton 28.

Go Auggies! Stay safe all!

LAB

[OzJohnnie]

I think that this will be a great game. Two squads that are coming from the cellars of this league, trying to score one while the premiere clubs in the league are a bit down. Trying to exercise the last decade or so of woeful play and establish themselves as the team that's going to get to play more than the regular season games.

Nice job, LAB.  Auggie is my cellar favorite, although I won't be unhappy with a Carleton victory either.

[Lone Auggie Backer]

Unfortunately, that is about the extent of what I appreciate about the majority of your posts... You expect Johnnie fans to post about the other teams when the only post you make about the Johnnies are negative comments. Unlike you, I don't feel the need to continually bash any other team. While I wish I had the opportunity to go to more MIAC games, I don't. I have gone and supported every MIAC team to venture into the NWC (with the exception of the Concordia game earlier this season), but one game every season or so does not really give me much insight into a team.  I can only listen to one football game at a time on Saturdays and surprise, surprise, that is going to be the Johnnie game. I don't really know a lot about the other teams, and while that doesn't stop some from commenting, it does stop me. I think that baseball is the most boring sport ever (except for possibly golf) but, if the other Post Patterns faithful want to post about it, I don't mind. They can choose what they post just like I can choose what I read. I think you probably have a lot of interesting things to share here, but unfortunately the tinge of bitterness that underlies your posts make them hard to appreciate.

1)  I hope that I'm not considered one of the lurkers and the outsiders that only supports my team and is completely negative on the other squads!

2) I wish you'd learn to multi-task a bit more!   !!!

[repete]

LAB,
Your posts are always solid, coherent and spot on.

In other words, you're one Hamm's reference away from being mistaken for a typical Johnnie poster ....

[sju56321]

Flash:

Does this help

[snoop dawg]

Flash:

How did you get a photo of my office staff?

[DuffMan]

Where are FPM and PiperInsider??? 

[snoop dawg]

The tall blonde in the middle is my.....personal ass..istant!

[CCKnight]

LAB, I think you are pretty dead on in your assesment of the matchup this weekend.  I really have no idea who will win, which is part of the reason I'm so excited to see the game on Saturday.  I think it will come down to who a) overcomes their injuries the best, and b) who gets the good breaks/bounces, i.e. turnovers, etc.  If one team can capitalize on opportunities early and get up in the game it could be a pretty big advantage, but at the same time both teams have the offensive weapons to mount comebacks so who knows. 

I'll be interested to see how the knights D does defending the short passing attack of Auggie as it is tough to get pressure on a three step drop if the QB gets the ball out in time.  Hopefully we get a lot of batted down passes at the line.  It's always so frustrating to watch a team nickel and dime their way down the field with short passes on your defense.  The knights DBs will have to work extra hard on getting off of blocks this week.

I haven't really heard alot about the Auggie Defense as their offense has received most of the pub so far, so it will be interesting to see how they stack up with what the knights have seen so far.  Winford at DB could nullify some of Carleton's ability to just throw a jump ball type pass to Frank, but at the same time he might get pretty worn out by the end of the day.  I couldn't imagine trying to play both ways in college, it was tough enough in H.S. and I was exhausted after games just playing offense in college.  It is truly impressive.

That being said, I'm expecting a good crowd (it's amazing how winning / being competative helps that) and a barn-burner of a game.  It should be fun.

Go Knights!