Week 1 Predictions- Jay and Tommy

In our first installment of our weekly prognostications, founders Tommy and I will go head to head in a Battle of the Psychics. Want to know what will happen this Saturday? Take a look below. Want to know what won't happen? Read Tommy's picks.

Week 1 Predictions- Jay

Crown @ MacMurray

Battle of the worst two teams from last year, and both teams will desperately want to win this one as it might be the only winnable game for a while. Crown’s youth versus MacMurray’s lack of discipline. I’ll take Crown in a close one. Crown 27 MacMurray 20

Eureka @ St. Scholastica

What will Sam Durley do next? It won’t be throwing for 736 yards against St. Scholastica. But it will be interesting to see how these two teams duke it out in what could be an early season barn burner. St. Scholastica 40 Eureka 38  
 

 

Martin Luther @ Minnesota Morris

Home field advantage and more experience give Minnesota Morris the edge in a close one. Morris 27 Martin Luther 26

Northwestern @ Westminster

This game could dictate the way the season goes for both teams. The keys to the game are how will Northwestern deal with with the short, intermediate passing game of Westminster and will Westminster be able to stop Northwestern’s running attack? This game might come down to the final drive. Westminster 34 Northwestern 27

BYE Greenville

Week 1 Predictions- Tommy

 

I looked through Jay's picks and while his heart is in the right place, his head is only 50% accurate. I'm going out on a limb a bit with Eureka over Scholastica but I will look like a genius come Saturday.
 

Crown @ MacMurray

I find it nearly impossible to bring myself to pick either one of these teams to actually win a game but I have been told that one of them will have to win. Therefore, I am going with MacMurray. Although, they did lose in Week 1 by a score of 73-0 (an almost incomprehensible score) the Highlanders finished last season on a strong note beating both Crown and Eureka. Crown, on the other hand, was 0-10 in 2011 and since they have to travel down to Jacksonville for this one I am reluctantly picking MacMurray. MacMurray 34 Crown 20

Eureka @ St. Scholastica

 

This is my upset watch of the week. And no, it is not because I fell in love with Eureka because Durley threw for 736 yards last week. I recognize that Knox's defense is a joke. Regardless, compiling over 800 yards of offense is impressive even if you are playing against traffic cones for a defense.  I think that a St. Scholastica team with lots of new faces with not be playing their best football this early in the season and with a big game coming up next week against Greenville the Saints might look past the Red Devils just a bit. Call me crazy but I'm taking The Fighting Durleys in this one. Eureka 42 Scholastica 37

 

Martin Luther @ Minnesota Morris

I really liked Minnesota Morris to be improved and potentially upset a team or two coming into the season. Then, they went and lost to Hamline in Week 1. Still, Martin Luther has too many question marks for me and I think Morris at home is able to sneak out with a hard-fought victory. Morris 31 Martin Luther 23

Northwestern @ Westminster

This is really the game of the week in the UMAC. If College GameDay made a habit of visiting DIII UMAC games, they would definitely be set up in Fulton for this week. These two teams battled in a close one up in St. Paul last year with the Blue Jays pulling out an important win. This game will tell us a lot about who will be the big players in the conference this season. In a game like this that is really a coin flip, you always have to give a slight advantage to the home team. In addition, Westminster's strong defensive front might be too much for Northwestern's offensive attack to handle. I think that a Northwestern team that typically starts the season out slower and improves as the year goes on gets edged out by a Westminster team that is traditionally a fast starter. Westminster 31 Northwestern 28

 

 

BYE Greenville