Week 9 Power Rankings

Last week was the most competitive week all season with every game being decided by 12 points or less, four games decided by four points or less, and two games being decided in OT. Everything gets decided in two games this weekend. Will Northwestern be able to hold on to the championship, or will somebody else claim the right to represent the UMAC in the Division III NCAA playoffs?

1.  Northwestern College is still in the driver’s seat after a very close call in Eureka. With the exception of St. Scholastica, this is the first time all year that the Eagle’s needed the defense to win a game for them and DB Mitch Swanson and LB Alex Zeller answered the call. Every team is going to play an ugly game, and good teams figure out a way to make the plays to win ugly games. Still, it has to make you wonder if the Eagles aren’t quite as invincible as we thought going into this week’s UMAC championship game against Greenville.

2.  St. Scholastica apparently decided it was going to play nice and a little more Saint-like than anticipated, but seriously do they understand that they can still win the conference if they win and Northwestern loses on Saturday? Ever since they lost to the Eagles, it just doesn't seem like they have the same nasty disposition to dominate teams as before. Going to OT against Presentation could make it onto ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown segment of “C’Mon Man!”

3.  Greenville just keeps plugging away in their quest to win the UMAC championship. It all comes down to Saturday. If the Panthers beat Northwestern and St. Scholastica loses, then Greenville would claim the UMAC conference championship and the honor to get crushed by St. Thomas. A lot of things have to go right for the Panthers, but things somehow always go in their favor in crunch time. They might not be the most prolific passing team, but that run game is as dynamic and explosive as any team in the UMAC and it might be enough to carry them to the upset win against Northwestern.

4.  Minnesota Morris. Usually when your QBs are a combined 30 for 60 with 2 interceptions, it does not bode well for a team. Fortunately, 14 of those completions went to WR Brendon Foss who has been sensational this season.  Fortunately, the Cougars were playing a young inexperienced football team. What is it with UMAC teams throwing the football over 50 times?

5.  Eureka really impressed me on Saturday. They nearly beat a Northwestern team even though QB Sam Durley had a rough day throwing three interceptions. I definitely did not give them a chance. Props to the Red Devils for hanging tough against what I thought would be a team that was clearly superior. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything in the standings about moral victories.

6.  Martin Luther’s QB Luke Rothe came back to earth just a little bit on Saturday. Ok, it’s more like he’s approaching earth’s inner core. Five interceptions? Yikes.

7.  Crown, crown, crown. It’s really never too early to start recruiting kickers. Try raiding the soccer teams.  

8.  MacMurray continues to find a way to lose close games. I know you could argue that they have been competitive in every game except Northwestern, St. Scholastica, and Wartburg but at some point you just have to figure out how to win some of these games.

9.  Westminster is firmly in last place in my book. Here’s why: 1) Plassmeyer threw it 79 times, two more times than last week which results in a grand total of  156 times in two games 2) They are averaging 0.9 yards a carry for the year 3) They have rushed for a total, A TOTAL of 193 yards on the year.  There might not be a more inept run offense in the entire nation and I’m including high school football.

Week 8 Game Recaps

Greenville College Panthers [34-22] Westminster College Blue Jays
The Panthers came into this game needing a win to stay in the race for a share of the UMAC conference championship and they kept that dream alive with a 34-22 victory of the Blue Jays that did not come as easily as was expected. After Greenville scored twice, the teams went back and forth scoring the rest of the game and the Blue Jays pulled within 6 points with just under thirteen minutes remaining in the game. Greenville then drove down the field and scored the final points of the game as RB Manny Gamble crossed the goal line on a 4 yard run to score his second touchdown on the day. Westminster's defense held the Panthers to a season "low" of 198 yards rushing, which ironically is actually 5 yards more than the Blue Jays offense has rushed for all season. Greenville's RB Steven Glover accounted for more than half of those rushing yards as he gained 103 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. The Blue Jays QB, Joe Plassmeyer, completed 53 of his 79 passes for 342 yards and 2 touchdowns completing 15 passes each to WRs James Gladstone and Justin Grahl for 133 and 70 yards, respectively. Westminster has lost their last five games and end conference play at 2-6 as they head into their bye week before hosting MacMurray on November 10th in a non-conference matchup. Greenville moves to 6-1 in UMAC games as they ride their six-game win streak into their matchup against Northwestern this weekend and a chance to win a share of the conference championship.

Northwestern College Eagles [21-17] Eureka College Red Devils
In one of the two surpisingly close games in the UMAC this week, Eureka nearly upset conference-leading Northwestern, but the Eagles snuck away with the victory, 21-17. The game opened with a 3-and-out by Eureka who then punted to Northwestern who quickly converted two 30-yard plays to get into the endzone on a run by RB Chris Simon-Wallace. A 31-yard return by the KR Robert Gilliam set Eureka up with great field position and helped them string together a thirteen-play drive for 59 yards ending on a 1-yard run by RB Zach McCoy. The Eagles looked to be in form as they responded with a 39 yard strike to standout WR Brian Lecheler who accumulated 4 receptions for 70 yards on the day. Unfortunately the next time Lecheler touched the ball was not as profitable for the Eagles as he dropped a punt that was quickly recovered by the Red Devils at the Northwestern 35 yard line and then turned into 3 points on a Travis Huber field goal kick. A few drives later, a pass from NWC's QB Josh Balzer was picked off and returned down to the Eagles 31 yard line, with the Red Devils appearing ready to take the lead. However, two plays later, Eureka's NCAA-record holding QB, Sam Durley, threw a pass that was deflected into the hands of Eagles' DB Mitch Swanson just before halftime.

After a punt by the Eagles to start the second half, Sam Durley's first pass since the interception was thrown again to his most recent receiver, the Eagles DB Mitch Swanson, who returned it down to the 11 yard line to set up a score by Eagles RB Josh Sinnen on the very next play. The score now 21-10, the Red Devil's were not ready to give up as they converted 12 plays on the next drive to go 75 yards down the field to score on a Sam Durley run. A fumble and punt by each team was followed by Eureka blocking a Northwestern field goal kick which was then followed by a Eureka punt, a NWC fumble, a Eureka punt, and a NWC turnover on downs, giving Eureka the ball at their 10 yard line with 2:43 remaining on the clock and a chance to win. Durley got the two-minute offense going and led a drive out close to midfield before with a 31 yard pass to WR Jordan Kindred before NWC's LB Alex Zeller intercepted a throw to the sideline and snuffed out Eureka's hopes for a victory. Northwestern will try to finish undefeated in the UMAC as they host Greenville next week. Eureka falls to 3-4 in conference play, and welcomes MacMurray into town next weekend to close out the season.

University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars [30-29] Crown College Storm
Every point really does count as the Cougars took advantage of a missed extra point to gain the victory after overcoming a 14-point deficit with only 7 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Crown started off the scoring in the first quarter as RB Amos Schmidt sprinted into the endzone, gaining 56 of his 153 total rushing yards for the game on that play. QB Wes Safford followed that up one quarter later with a 1-yard scoring run of his own. UM-Morris closed the gap later on in the second with a touchdown pass from Foss1/QB2 to WR Dalton DeGraffenreid followed by a Cameron Adel field goal just before halftime. The third quarter was very uneventful and consisted of eight drives ending in eight punts. The Storm put 3 more points on the board thanks to a 24-yd Kurt Fickle kick and then defensive back Sebastian Alvarado intercepted the Cougars QB1 and returned it 16 yards to give Crown a 23-9 advantage with 7:16 remaining before the clock hit zero. The Cougars had different plans in mind though as they "stormed" (see what I did there) back and scored quickly, courtesy of the Foss brothers, closing the gap to seven with just over 5 minutes left. Crown's next drive ended after three plays and a punt, giving the ball back to UM-Morris after only 1 minute. UM-Morris put together the games longest drive, going 67 yards on 10 plays before RB Leandro Dower powered into the endzone for his first 1-yd touchdown of the game. Crown was unable to move the ball and punted back to the Cougars who were content taking a knee and heading into overtime.

UM-Morris won the coin toss and elected to allow Crown to begin the extra period on offense. The Storm struggled on their first three plays before converting a 20-yard pass on 4th down. RB Amos Schmidt was able to get into the endzone six plays later after a pass interference call on the UMM defense. Unfortunately, the Kurt Fickle extra point was missed, only giving Crown a six point advantage to begin the Cougar's drive. After a loss of 5 yards by Leandro Dower, Crown was called on pass interference the next play to put UMM on the 15 yard line with a first down. Three plays later, the Storm were called for pass interference again, giving Morris the ball on the 2 yard line. Two plays later, Leandro Dower gained his most important yard of the day as he got into the endzone to tie the game at 29. The Cougar's extra point was good and their comeback efforts were completed. This game featured 19 punts and 11 three-and-outs, so you would think there was not much offense, but somehow each team still put up over 350 yards, despite so many unsuccesful drives. WR Brendon Foss had another outstanding game, putting up 150 yards on 14 catches to lead the Cougars offense. UM-Morris now has a 5-2 record in conference games and heads to Duluth, MN next week to face the St. Scholastica Saints. Crown will be facing the up and coming Martin Luther Knights next week on the road in New Ulm, MN.

College of Saint Scholastica Saints [20-17] Presentation College Saints
Our experts here at UMAC Central predicted St. Scholastica would blow Presentation out of the water in this non-conference game, but the second  year Presentation College Saints were ready for this challenge and only narrowly lost to the more-experienced St. Scholastica Saints squad. The CSS Saints looked like the favorites heading into halftime with a 14-3 lead, only having allowed 91 offensive yards to the PC Saints. The CSS Saints' first half scoring came courtesy of a 3 yard run by RB Jake Jensen and a 6 yard reception by receiver Cory Gebhard. The tables were turned in the second half as Presentation's WR Jalanni James caught a 14 yard pass to close the gap before PC QB Stephen Braswell delievered another 5 yard strike to receiver Will Vealy to put Presentation up 17-14. During this same period of time, PC's defense allowed only 38 yards to St. Scholastica's offense. After a punt by each team, CSS QB Tyler Harper was able to lead a drive down to the 13 yard line to set up K Mike Theismann for a field goal attempt. The kick was good and the score was now tied at 17 with 10 minutes remaining. Presentation was forced to punt on their next possession and Scholastica put together a thirteen play drive chewing up 7 minutes of the game clock as they set Theismann up for a 31 yard attempt to win the game. This time though, the attempt was wide right and with only 18 seconds left on the clock, Presentation decided to run the clock out and try their luck in overtime. After three plays. the PC Saints had not gained a first down and elected to kick a 35 yard field goal, but they missed, giving the CSS Saints the ball and the ability to take the lead and win the game. Scholastica handed the ball off to  RB Chris Gassert who with two runs had the ball down to the 8 yard line, before Presentation's defense stifled the CSS offense for three plays, making it now 4th down and Mike Theismann came trotting back out to the field, easily putting in the 25 yard field goal to give St. Scholastica the victory. Neither team was particularly effective on third down as the CSS Saints went 6/15, while the PC Saints only converted on 4 of their 12 third down attempts. The UMAC Saints will head home for their final game of the regular season as they host the UM-Morris Cougars next week.

Martin Luther College Knights [30-27] MacMurray College Highlanders
The first half of our game of the week made us regret our decision to label this game as such, as there were several punts, turnovers on down, other turnovers, and just general ineffectiveness on offense. Just before halftime though, MLC QB Luke Rothe finally updated the scoreboard with a 2 yard run to make the score 6-0 before a 2 point conversion made it 8-0 heading into halftime. To start the second half, Knights RB Matthew Olson had a 38 yard reception from Rothe that he took into the endzone to make the score 14-0. The MacMurray offense was stagnant again, going three-and-out and punting it back to a Knights offense that was starting to heat up. Luke Rothe's got his second consecutive touchdown pass on the next play, but this one was caught by a receiver with the wrong jersey on as MacMurray's John Brockhouse Jr. returned the interception 89 yards to paydirt, breathing some life into the Highlanders.The teams traded touchdowns on the next two possessions with RB Tyler Dorn score for the Knights and Highlanders' WR Deshonta Smallwood catching a 24 yard pass from QB Cody Hussey. MLC's Luke Rothe was picked off on the Knights next two drives, for his 4th and 5th interceptions of the game, with the second one leading to a 91-yard drive for MacMurray which ended with a 1 yard run by Hussey to make the score 22-20 after a failed 2-pt conversion attempt. The next two drives were again ended with Zorn and Smallwood scoring for their respective teams with MLC going for 2 and MAC kicking the PAT to make the score 30-27. MacMurray's next drive was ended with an interception by DB Galen Holzhueter to allow the Knights to run the clock out and escape with the victory. RB Matthew Olson put together an impressive day for the Knights, rushing 39 times for 212 yards as well as catching 4 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown. RB Patrick Hall of the Highlanders, also passed the 100 yard mark, carrying the ball 24 times for 101 yards. Defensively for MacMurray, DB John Brockhouse Jr. intercepted Luke Rothe twice, and DB Samuel Stanton one-upped him by picking off MLC's QB 3 times in this game. The Knights gain their first conference win, and now sit at 1-6 heading into their game against Crown College next weekend. MacMurray will play their final conference game next week at Eureka before ending in a non-conference matchup at Westminster on November 10th.

Week 8 Predictions: Tommy's Picks

Tommy's Picks (5 of 5 Week 7,  25 of 33 on the season) As has been well documented by now, I had a pretty amazing week last week. The only thing more impressive than my prognostication abilities is my humility and therefore I will speak no more about my exploits. I will simply get right down to business. I must make a confession, however. I did take a peak at Jay's predictions before making mine and since I still have some ground to make up, I may have been tempted to take a shot on an underdog.

Presentation @ St. Scholastica - Jay already took all of the Saints vs. Saints jokes - I mean he really rode that horse into the ground - so I am forced to be a little more creative in my analysis. I have dubbed this one "Saints vs. Aints". See what I did there? I used rhyming to poke fun at one team. I don't really see much point in offering any sort of actual analysis on this one as St. Scholastica is clearly light years ahead of Presentation. Instead, I will pose the rhetorical question, What exactly is Presentation's plan for their athletic program moving forward? As I am sure everyone knows by now, the Aints... I mean Saints are no longer with us in the UMAC. They have moved on to bigger and better things. They are now an Independent School freeing them up from having to waste their time with the lowly schools of the UMAC and putting them alongside other elite programs including Notre Dame, BYU, and Macalester. I am not entirely sure why Presentation is no longer with us. I have heard rumors that they were kicked out and others that they left by their own accord. I do not want to speculate as we hold ourselves to the highest standard of reporting excellence here at UMAC Central - maybe UMAC commissioner Corey Borchardt could answer that one for us. Someone tweet at Corey and see what he has to say. Regardless, I can't imagine that being removed from a conference is going to bode well for the Aints - dog gone it, I keep doing it - Saints. If I were a high school recruit I do not believe that I would be enticed by the Independent Presentation College Saints. But, then again, what do I know? Anyway, back to the game. Scholastica wins big at home. St. Scholastica 38 Presentation 7
 
Greenville at Westminster - Did Plassmeyer really throw 77 times last week? Is that an accurate stat or is Jay trying to pull a fast one on us? I guess when you throw 77 times it doesn't make it as bad when you throw 4 interceptions. I mean, I don't think I could do anything 77 times without making four mistakes. I bet you have found four mistakes in this post already. Greenville should not have any trouble with this team. They are significantly better than Westminster and should compile about 600 rushing yards against that defense. Not so fast my friend! Greenville is notorious for playing down to competition. Last week they took their foot of the throttle and almost blew a huge lead to Eureka. They barely snuck out with a win over MacMurray earlier this season. Part of me thinks that Greenville comes out flat and lays an egg in this one. A bigger part of me thinks that Westminster is lousy and Greenville will learn from last week's second half. Greenville 45 Westminster 20

Northwestern @ Eureka - I don't really know why Jay didn't make this our game of the week. Either he is really down at Eureka or really high on MacMurray. I can't blame him for being down on Eureka, though, as they have continued to fall just barely short game after game. In fact, ever since their SID tweeted at us about how focused on winning the Red Devils are they are a combined 0-1. (That's a joke. We appreciate all angry tweets from loyal but biased fans.) If there is one team that is built to beat Northwestern it might be Eureka. I have been saying all season that you have to pass on the Eagles and if there is one thing I know for sure it is that the Fighting Durleys will come out passing. The key to this game will be two-fold 1) Can Eureka force NWC to get into a four-man front to get pressure on Durely? Northwestern will want to come out in their base 3-4. If they can get pressure with 3 and drop 8 into coverage the Red Devils do not have a prayer of winning. (Ironic, Devils praying.) If Eureka can force Northwestern into their 4-4 defense and still give Durley a little bit of time they just might have a shot 2) Eureka has to stop the Eagle's offense. Bottom line, this is not going to happen. Eureka's best bet is to force a few turnovers and not give up big plays to Brian Lecheler. Northwestern will win this game because they are better on both sides of the ball. They will run the ball at will and their defense will obliterate Eureka's offensive line. I'm predicting at least 7 sacks. Northwestern 41 Eureka 17

Minnesota Morris @ Crown - Crown started out the season on a high and has slowly come back to reality after getting blown out back to back weeks by the two best teams in the conference. Morris started out a little shaky but has hit their stride as of late. While conventional wisdom would say to pick the Cougars, I am going to go with Crown in this one. Hopefully, their confidence has not been too shaken after getting rocked the last two weeks. I think UMM comes into this one a little over confident and Crown puts it all together for a big win at home. Give me Wes Safford and Amos Schmidt to each have the game of their career. (Always happy to provide Cougar Nation with a bit of bulletin board material.) Crown 31 Minnesota Morris 28
 
GAME OF THE WEEK

Martin Luther @ MacMurray - Jay thinks this will be a good matchup. I do not. I think Martin Luther, despite their record is actually a middle of the road team in the conference. I like them to get hot at the end of the year. Luke Rothe is a good athlete and the one thing that their offense does is give you a lot of crazy looks. Doesn't work so well against teams that are prepared for it. But, if there is one team in the conference that I can see getting very, very confused by MLC's crazy formations it is the Highlanders. The Knights are feeling good after putting up some points in the second half against NWC last week, albeit against what I would assume was mostly second-teamers. Still, Martin Luther keeps getting better week after week and I actually do like what their coaching staff is doing with those kids. Luke Rothe does it all on offense and Martin Luther's defense shuts down the Highlanders. I will actually have to go find a logo for Martin Luther to pick them for the first time this year. Martin Luther 24 MacMurray 14

Week 8 Predictions- Jay's Picks

Jay’s Picks (4 of 5 Week 7, 26 of 33 on the Season

Only two full weeks of UMAC football left this season. It sure has gone by quickly. Tommy is applying for Adam Schefter’s job at ESPN after last week desperation pick of MacMurray, but I still have a slight lead going into week 8. There are a lot of intruiging games this weekend, and the race to see who gets to get smashed by St. Thomas in the playoffs is alive and well...for now.

Presentation @ St. Scholastica- I’m calling this the “Battle of the Saints”, but it’s really like the battle of one group of Saints castrating the other group of Saints. St. Scholastica nuns…cover your eyes for this one. The only team that the soon to be castrated Saints have won against is the Haskell Indian Nations. Huh? Is this the collection of the finest Native American football players the country has to offer? Isn’t Manti Te’o, LB from Notre Dame, native Somoan? Honestly, why isn’t he playing for the Indian Nations? Someone tell me what nations are involved here. Indian Nations or not, this game will most definitely not be very Saint-like.

St. Scholastica 47 Presentation 14

Greenville @ Westminster- Westminster’s QB Joe Plassmeyer has thrown 13 interceptions in conference play. Last Saturday against MacMurray, he threw it 77 times, completed 45, and was picked off 4 times. 77 times? That about 30 short of what Greenville’s Brendan Chambers has thrown on the year. It’s like they think that Plassmeyer is Drew Brees and the Blue Jays are the New Orleans Saints. Well, how’d that work for you last week? Greenville won’t be able to stop the passing game, but it won’t matter if Westminster turns the ball over as much as they did. Statistically, it looks like it should be a close game because Westminster is actually pretty solid against the run, but I think Westminster will turn the ball over too much and Greenville wins relatively easily. Greenville 42 Westminster 27

Northwestern @ Eureka-  At the beginning of the season, this would have been an instant game of the week, but Northwestern is playing a dominant brand of football and Eureka has struggled against good teams. Two years ago, Eureka handed the Eagles a 40-14 loss and the Eagles returned the favor last year with a 53-14 shellacking of their own. If I had to put money on which of the two would be a repeat, I’m going with last year. However, I would really like to see one team attack the Eagles’ defense where it is weakest. Northwestern plays a pretty conservative defense that tries to eliminate big plays and does not blitz very often. The weak point of the defense is the passing game in the middle of the field in between the LB’s and the S’s and seam routes along the hashes. If you can get enough time to run the routes, there should be openings for QB Sam Durley to throw the football. That’s a very big IF. Northwestern counts on DE’s Josh Swore and Nathan Van Zee to get to the passer and they are very good at it. If Eureka stands a chance in this game, they are going to have to find a way to keep Durley upright; who by the way has been sacked 32 times. Northwestern 38 Eureka 17

Minnesota Morris @ Crown­- Things are clicking right now for the Cougars albeit against the bottom half of the conference. WR Brendon Foss went off last week, and there is the potential that he could have another big game. The biggest problem for Crown’s defense the last couple of games has been tackling. Morris is a big football team and it won’t get any easier to tackle these kids. RB Amos Schmidt should find room to run this weekend because Morris has the third worst run defense in the conference, but QB Wes Safford is going to have to start making some big plays when teams stack up against the run. Crown has been taking baby steps all season and in the beginning of the season it was impressive the way they played with a lot of toughness. As the season wears on, it’s starting to look like this team might have run out of gas.   Minnesota Morris 27 Crown 14

GAME OF THE WEEK

Martin Luther @ MacMurray- Yep, this is the game of the week because we think it will be the most competetive game of the week.  This is the battle for last place in the conference, and I don’t think this should be taken lightly. These two teams will be fighting for their dignity and…ahh it’s a struggle to try and build this one up. Thankfully, we have Northwestern and Greenville to look forward to next week.  This game will tell us a lot about what direction both teams are headed. MacMurray snatched its first win of the season last week. Martin Luther has yet to win a conference game, but the offense is sneaky good now that QB Luke Rothe has taken the reigns and the defense has played well at times. These teams have been competetive in some games and blown out, and I mean blown out, by some of the top teams in the conference. On that note, I think it’s just time to pick a winner. Martin Luther 30 MacMurray 27

The Week that Was: Week 7

I have officially switched the name of my mid-week soap box to The Week that Was. I feel like it went over well last week and now I can really open up my horizons. Before, I was limited to factual statements about what we learned. Now I can simply rant about whatever strikes my fancy - which was really the goal of this article to begin with. Week 7 lacked some of the big-time matchups we had seen in prior weeks, but it still provided me with plenty of material for my weekly post.

1. MacMurray won a game! It has been a long time coming for the boys in blue but a well-deserved congratulations to the Highlanders on their first victory of the season. It has been said that when you have to wait for something for a long time you appreciate it that much more when you finally do get it. I can guarantee you that MacMurray enjoyed their win on Saturday more than any other team in the conference has enjoyed any win this year. Maybe a victory on homecoming is exactly what this program needed to get back on track. Sometimes all it takes is one victory and the confidence to know that you, in fact, can win a game to get the ball rolling and start building some momentum. In fact, if you look at the class of the conference, Northwestern won only 1 game in 2010 and St. Scholastica only won 1 game in 2008. Turning a program around is certainly possible. Now let's not get carried away. Momentum can only carry you so far, and I do not expect MacMurray to be competing for a conference title anytime soon. But I am happy to see them win a game and hope they can continue to improve.

2. Greenville's offense is as explosive as ever -  35 points in the first half made it appear as though the Panthers would roll to an easy victory at home. However, they slowed considerably in the second half only putting up 10 points and sneaking out with a 7 point victory in a game that should not have even been close. A 45 point performance is always impressive though, even if all 45 came in one half. Greenville has what I would consider to be the most dynamic offense in the conference. While they may not be as balanced as Northwestern, I still love what the Panthers do. Their triple option threat is about as crisp and quick-hitting as any DIII team in the country. In a sense, what they do is so very simple. And yet that is what makes it so beautiful. Greenville is going to run the ball 80% of the game and they are going to do it out of maybe three different formations. But Chambers can read the defense and knows when to keep it and when to pitch it and good luck stopping them. Fortunately for opponents, with that defense, you may only need to stop the Panthers three times a game to win.

3. Morris has solidified itself as the 4th best team in the conference - If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that the Cougars would finish the season with a 6-4 record and in 4th place I would have said that would be a successful season for them. I would expect that their coaches would have said the same thing. The truth is that they are not ready to beat any of the top three programs. They aren't even in the same universe as Northwestern. But, they have pulled off some big wins so far. Match-ups with Martin Luther, Westminster, and Eureka were all games that could have gone either way and the Cougars found a way to win all three - proving that two quarterbacks really are better than one. That's a saying, right?

4. Can someone explain to me why Scott Rodgers is not Westminster's quaterback? Who am I to question the coaching staff? But really, what is going on down there? I know I do not watch these players in practice everyday but I do know that last year with Rodgers at the helm the Blue Jays went 8-2 and this year with Joe Plassmeyer they can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. It seemed odd to me that Plassmeyer walked in the door and instantly took over the starting spot. Now Rodgers is not even a quarterback? Did the coaches instantly move him so as to avoid any sort of controversy when this big new star came in? Yes, I understand that Rodgers had Carl Givens to throw to last season and Westminster is weaker at other spots as well. Certainly all of the blame for their poor performance does not fall on the QB, but I can tell you something that Rodgers did not do last year. He did not turn the ball over. Plassmeyer had 4 interceptions and 2 fumbles last week - against MacMurray, not Scholastica or Northwestern. That is not attributed to his lack of weapons. That much falls on him. My issue is more with the coaching staff than Plassmeyer or Rodgers or any of the players. I simply do not understand how with a lot of the same players this team has fallen so monumentally short of expectations. My guess is that the switch at quarterback is just the beginning of a long list of poor decisions made by this staff.

5. I am awesome at picking games - Not to toot my own horn here or anything but let's just rewind to last Friday and see what my predictions were and compare them to the actual results.

My pick: Scholastica over Crown by 31             Reality: Scholastica over Crown by 32
My pick:  Northwestern over MLC by 21            Reality: Northwestern over MLC by 21
My pick: Morris over Presentation by 10            Reality: Morris over Presentation by 7*

*Even though our intern incorrectly posted that Presentation won 35-28 - He's currently running laps to make up for his blunder. Jay's and my apologies go out to Cougar Nation.

My pick: MacMurray over Westminster by 1     Reality: MacMurray over Westminster by 2
My pick: Greenville over Eureka by 10              Reality: Greenville over Eureka by 7

And if you look at the scores, I was even very close on those as well with the exception of the NWC-MLC game. I guess what I am trying to say is, "You are welcome fans of UMAC Central for telling you what is going to happen a day early."

Q&A with Brendon Foss

Brendon Foss, star wide receiver of the University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars, recently answered a few questions for us about his football experience and his recent performance this past weekend which earned our Outstanding Player of the Week award. Congratulations again Brendon, you earned it, keep up all the hard work and we wish you a great finish to your junior year.

The Numbers:

In last week's non-conference game against the Presentation College Saints, Foss put up 181 yards on 10 receptions for an average of 18.1 per catch, including touchdown catches of 44 yards and 1 yard as the Cougars defeated the Saints 35-28. This was his second 180+ yard game in the last 3 weeks as he also passed the mark against Westminster College on October 6th going for 182 yards on 12 catches. Brendon's effort this last week was part of the Cougars' season-high 506 yards of offensive production led by QBs Daniel Garrigan and Derrick Foss, Brendon's brother. Foss's 115.2 yard receiving average per game is 2nd in the UMAC, although he has only played in 5 games this season.

Q&A:

What is your first football memory?

Playing one on one tackle football against my brother in the front yard with my mom being all time quarterback.

What was the biggest key to your individual success in last week’s performance?

Both our quarterbacks made good reads and were able to get me the ball. Our O-Line had great pass protection and blocking all game, along with the running-backs picking up the blitz. The other receivers ran crisp routes allowing me to get open.

Where does your recent performance rank for you on your list of individual best games?

Top 5

What did you eat for breakfast on game day?

Spaghetti and fruit

What is the biggest area you want to improve upon moving forward?

Keeping defenders hands off me as well as increase my speed

What is going to be the key to your team succeeding this week?

Offensively everybody doing their assignments and making plays while our Defense continues to create turnovers and give us the ball back to put points up.

What is on your pregame music playlist?Whatever the guys got playing in the locker room, get a good mix.

Who is your favorite NFL athlete?

Tough to single one out, anyone on the MN Vikings being a die- hard fan.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?Most likely having a job within my business management major.

What, if any, are your gameday rituals?Eat breakfast with the team, lay in bed watching CMT country music videos, get to the field early to get dressed and focused, then thank God for another opportunity to play the game and perform.

Week 8 Power Rankings

1.  Northwestern’s offensive formula is pretty simple. Run the football and then use play action to get big plays from the passing game. RB’s Josh Sinnen and Chris Simon-Wallace are both averaging over 6 yards a carry. The only team capable of stopping Northwestern’s run game on the schedule was St. John’s who made it tough on the Eagles’ run game and forced QB Josh Balzer into mistakes. Greenville and Eureka both allow over 175 yards a game on the ground so it doesn’t look like there are any teams that can stop Northwestern. The only hope teams like Greenville and St. Scholastica have to win the conference is if Greenville or Eureka can outscore Northwestern. Good luck.

2.  St. Scholastica. Those are the Saints that we all know and love. After a sloppy win last week against a bad Westminster team, the Saints never let Crown have any breathing room. QB Tyler Harper played well, granted against an average Crown secondary, and shows promise for next year. There isn’t much else to say about this team. They are hands down the second best team in the conference and if they played Northwestern again 9 other times they’d probably win 4 to 5 times. Unfortunately, that won’t cut it this year. The Saints are living on a prayer.

3.  Greenville was up 35 to 7 at halftime. All of the perennial Panther benchwarmers started doing some high knees/ butt kicks during the half to get warmed up. And then they allowed 35 points in the second half. I’m convinced that if Eureka would have had one more legitimate possession, they would have tied it up. At this point of the season there are no secrets; they Panthers defense couldn’t stop a powderpuff team, but it won’t matter until they play Northwestern. They had better figure out how to play defense in that game because if they haven’t noticed, Northwestern’s offense is not too shabby. Greenville has figured out how to win these types of games, but I’m not sure winning shootouts week in and week out is a recipe for long term success.   

4.  Minnesota Morris is better than any of the teams below them in the power rankings, but they can’t beat anyone ahead of them in the rankings. That is to say there is not much of a middle class in the UMAC this year. As predicted, WR Brandon Foss had a big impact on the game on Saturday. (Hint: if Morris wants to beat St. Scholastica, I would figure out a way to get Foss the ball). Both QB’s are playing well lately so no controversy there. After much deliberation, the only reason that I see that Morris plays two QB’s is that both are seniors and neither QB separates himself from the other so the coaches decided to play them almost equal amounts. Morris should finish the season 6-4 after a win at Crown and a loss to St. Scholastica. Not a bad season for the Cougars.

5.  Eureka almost pulled off the upset against Greenville, but they were not able to overcome their mistakes made in the first half. That could be the story of the season for Eureka. So close…but not close enough. The Red Devils welcome Northwestern to town this week.

6.  Martin Luther. Oh boy, I’ve done it now. Martin Luther doesn’t even have a conference win and I have them at 6? Here’s the deal, my power rankings aren’t based on conference standings. Instead, it’s based on the fact that I think that if Martin Luther played any of the teams below them at a neutral site they would win the game. They put up 26 points against Northwestern. That’s more than anyone else in the conference, and I’d venture to bet that defense is still pretty solid even though they have been giving up a lot of points lately.

7.  Crown. You haven’t done anything to deserve this spot or done anything to lose it. You are beating the teams that I expected you to beat and losing to teams I knew you would lose to. I believe that could be a definition of mediocrity.

8.  MacMurray. I didn’t go back to check, but I do believe this is your first week out of the cellar. Congratulations! Tommy was just plain giddy about your victory. It’s like he actually played the game with you or something. Unfortunately for the staff at UMAC Central, your victory has created something of a monster. We’ll never hear the end of it. No matter, hopefully this can give MacMurray something to build on in the future.

9.  Westminster. The bad news: There is no such thing as a UMAC draft where the worse you play the better draft pick you get. The good news: it’s been reported that none of your players fell out of the endzone (although that probably would have been a good thing because that might have meant that you scored a little more often) and your fans are safe even though one leg of the visitor’s bleachers hangs off of the hill. There’s always a silver lining.

Week 7 Game Recaps

Presentation College Saints [28 - 35] University of Minnesota - Morris Cougars
This 35-28 non-conference win against the Saints (formerly of the UMAC), was back and forth all game and the win did not come as easily as was expected for the Cougars. Presentation, still hurting from a 75-6 whooping by the Division II South Dakota School for Mines & Technology, came out ready to play and put together a 14-play drive scoring drive to start the game. UM-Morris quickly responded with a 70 yard dash by RB Leandro Dower to even the score out. After scoring passes from the Cougars' QB1 and QB2, the Saints matched both scores and the teams went into halftime even at 21 each. After the break, the Cougars started the second half out with a solid 63-yard drive that ended with the Foss brothers hooking up for a 1-yard touchdown - the second score of the day for each. After another touchdown by the Saints, Leandro Dower ended the scoring for both teams on a 2-yard run to cap another long drive by the Cougars. Leading UM-Morris to their victory, Dower finished with 153 yards on 14 carries to go along with his 2 scoring runs. Brendan Foss, also with 2 touchdowns, put up another great day receiving for the Cougars, totaling 181 yards on 10 receptions. UM-Morris (5-3 overall, 4-2 in UMAC) will be on the road for the remainder of the year as they head to Crown College next week before finishing the year against the St. Scholastica Saints.

Westminster College Blue Jays [22 - 24] MacMurray College Highlanders
For the Highlanders, this was one of a few games all year where winning was a possibility, and luckily for them, this became a reality as they defeated Westminster by a slim 24-22 margin in a game that was not pretty for either team. Westminster's errors proved to be the biggest difference in this game as QB Joe Plassmeyer threw 4 interceptions and lost 2 fumbles to the Highlanders who turned those 6 turnovers into 12 points. The first of Plassmeyer's fumbles came just two plays into the game and MacMurray QB Cody Hussey quickly connected with WR Deshonta Smallwood on 32-yard scoring strike to put the home team up 6-0. After the kickoff, Plassmeyer fumbled again, this time on the first play of the drive, but MacMurray was unable to advance the ball and was forced to punt it back to the Blue Jays. Each team had several unsuccesful drives before Westminster put together a 6-play 75-yard drive, which ended with a 10-yard scoring reception by WR Mac Findeiss, his first of two on the day. After an interception by each team, a turnover on downs by each team, and another interception by each team, the horn sounded for halftime, both teams hoping to find a way to cut down on mistakes for the second half.

This hope was not fulfilled however, as three plays into the first Westminster drive, Plassmeyer threw his third interception of the game which was returned to the Blue Jays 18-yard line. Hussey took advantage of great field position again and threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to WR DeJohn Randle. The pair hooked up on the next drive for another score to give the Highlanders a 18-6 lead heading into the 4th quarter. The Blue Jays were not finished though as they put together a 16-play 79-yard scoring drive, followed by a 10-play 85-yard drive capped by WR Mac Findeiss catching his second score. Each score was followed by a 2-pt conversion to put Westminster up 22-18. After a drive by each team, MacMurray had the ball back with 3:18 left, hoping to gain their first win of the year. Hussey lead his team down the field and tossed a 40-yard score to DeJohn Randle who gained his third touchdown on the day, and perhaps the most important score of the year for the Highlanders. A quick drive by the Blue Jays had them within range for a possible field goal before MacMurray's John Brockhouse Jr. picked off Plassmeyer to allow the Highlanders to run the clock out for their first victory of the 2012 season. MacMurray will host Martin Luther next week and then head to Eureka to wrap up their UMAC season. Westminster moves to 2-5 in conference play and hosts the Greenville Panthers next week and then has a BYE week before a rematch against MacMurray in a non-conference game to end the year.

Crown College Storm [13 - 45] College of St. Scholastica Saints
After a shaky game last week for the Saints, they looked like they got their act back together this week as they quickly got out to a 28-0 lead just minutes into the second quarter. Crown never really looked to have a chance in this game and struggled against the Saints defense, only gaining 1.8 yards per rush on 40 attempts and going 28% on third down conversions. Saints QB Tyler Harper lead the team to victory with 13/20 passing for 161 yards and 3 touchdowns, two of which went to WR Nick Thiry. The Saints rushing game continue to produce as RBs Thomas Fragle and Chris Gassert gained 106 yards and 64 yards respectively on 9 carries each for an average of 9.4 yards per carry between the two. Crown's offensive line struggled to protect their QB as Wes Safford was sacked 4 times and threw an interception. The Saints improve to 6-1 in conference after this 45-13 victory and have a non-conference contest at Presentation College next week. Crown drops to 1-5 in UMAC play and faces the UM-Morris Cougars next week in St. Bonafacius.

Martin Luther College Knights [26-47] Northwestern College Eagles
This could have been a close game had the Knights defense not made mistakes and if they would have been less error-prone on offense and exploited the holes in the Eagles defense earlier in the game as they should have. But Martin Luther came out undisciplined in the first half and let the Eagles throw over the top of them as Northwestern needed just 5 completed passes to gain 225 yards, with 4 of them going for touchdowns of 39 yards or more. The Knights couldn't stop the running game all day either and allowed the Eagles to average 6.5 yards a carry for a total of 280 yards on the ground. RB Josh Sinnen led the ground attack for the Eagles with 136 yards and a touchdown while WR Brian Lecheler led the receiving corps with 128 yards and 2 scores. Northwestern was able to limit last week's Outstanding Athlete of the Week, QB Luke Rothe to only 12/29 completions with 143 yards and 2 touchdowns and only 28 yards on the ground. There seemed to be several miscommunications between Rothe and his receivers as spasses sailed out to unoccupied areas of the field as he was scrambling from Northwestern's dominating pass rush. The Knights look to tighten things up this week before they make the trip to Jacksonville, Illinois to face the MacMurray Highlanders, fresh off of their first conference win. Northwestern will need to stay disciplined through the rest of the year if they hope to be crowned UMAC champs as they face Eureka College next week before they wrap the regular season up at home versus the Greenville Panthers and their explosive offense.

Eureka College Red Devils [38-45] Greenville College Panthers
These two offenses could not be any different as Eureka lives and dies through their passing game led by QB Sam Durley while the Panthers run nearly 80% of their plays on the ground. On the other side of the ball though, the teams are very similar as they both allow an average of over 380 yards and 32 points to opposing offenses. Greenville came out with the offensive line blazing the trail to open up a 35-7 lead by halftime with 5 rushing touchdowns, 3 from QB Brendan Chambers alone. After a few unsuccessful drives by each team, a touchdown reception by Eureka's RB Zach McCoy was followed by Greenville's RB Manny Gamble sprinting for a 54-yard score to bring the Red Devils' deficit back up to 28 points. The Red Devils facing a seemingly insurmountable deficit, were not giving up the fight though as they put together a valiant comeback attempt led by Sam Durley who led three unanswered scoring drives completing touchdowns to WRs Jordan Jefferson, Jake Bane and Cody Followell. But by the time Followell crossed the goal line, there was only 2:28 left on the gameclock and Eureka was out of time outs so Greenville's offense was able to run the clock out and prevent a comeback. Durley finished 32 of 57 with 416 yards and 4 touchdowns and had three receivers (Jordan Kindred, Bane, and Followell) pass the 100 yard mark. On Greenville's side, their offensive line led the way for three 100-yard rushers as Gamble and Chambers each had 14 carries for 138 and 103 yards, respectively, and Justin Honeycutt received 26 handoffs for 133 yards and 2 scores. Defensively for Greenville, LB Jacob Bronars tallied 3 sacks on Sam Durley for a loss of 22 yards. Eureka drops to .500 in the conference and plays host to Northwestern and MacMurray Colleges to close out their season. Greenville is now 5-1 in UMAC play ends the season on roadtrips to Westminster and then to Northwestern the following week.

Week 7 Predictions- Jay

Jay’s Picks (3 of 4 Week 6, 22 of 28 on the Season

3 out of 4 isn’t bad, but it’s definitely not where I want to be. Furthermore, I really need to put distance in between me and Tommy. By the way, his article is just another piece of journalism brilliance that he has been delivering all year. I hope everyone enjoys loving it, hating it, laughing at it, crying over it, or sending some hate mail our way. You have to love the UMAC. By the way, I haven’t conferred with anyone at UMAC Central, but my vote for most passionate fans/players has to go to Minnesota Morris. They have been carrying a chip on their shoulder all year, and we have been happy to keep adding to it. I think what I am trying to say is…You’re welcome! Now down to the picks.

Presentation @ Minnesota Morris-  This is a game where the Cougars should be able to establish a good running game and whoever is playing QB should be able to find open WR’s anywhere on the field. The Saints defense has been allowing close to 448 yards a game to opposing offenses that are not as good as Minnesota Morris. Look for WR Brandon Foss to have another big game going up against smaller DB’s from Presentation. Morris won’t really be challenged until they play St. Scholastica to end the season. Minnesota Morris 38 Presentation 17

Westminster @ MacMurray- For all the grief I have given MacMurray all year, they have been surprisingly competitive against everyone except Wartburg and the top two teams in the conference. Westminster is like one of those NFL teams that seem like they are playing for the number one pick in the draft. They just kind of seem like they have mailed in the season and are already on to next year.  While Westminster seems ripe for the upset, I just don’t have any faith that MacMurray can finish a game even though it is at home. Westminster might not be an offensive juggernaut but they won’t have a hard time scoring against MacMurray’s defense that allows a UMAC worst 38 points a game in conference play (43.8 points on the season if you count Wartburg as well). I have no clue where they stand in the country for points allowed, but that defense ranks 213^th in the country for yards allowed. What I am trying to get at is that this game will be very close, but I’m just not sure that MacMurray is mature enough to withstand Westminster’s attack for four quarters. Westminster 38 MacMurray 31

Crown @ St. Scholastica- The Saints seemed a little off their game in the win against Westminster probably due to both the weather and possibly residual shock from their loss to Northwestern. The thing is St. Scholastica isn’t out of this race. Not by a long shot. Northwestern faces 3 tough games to finish out the year, and St. Scholastica has to position itself to win the championship. I am not sure what the tie breakers are but even if it comes down to a coin flip, the Saints better take care of business. For Crown, its tough playing back to back games against Northwestern and St. Scholastica. No amount of tweeting will get them through that mess. Although they played their worst “half of a game” of the season last week, they have had a pretty solid season all things considering. This week, tackling should be the focus against the Saints because I truly believe whoever put together the box score last week just threw in a tackle amount to save the Storm from embarrassment. Who really believes Crown got Northwestern players down more than 15 times the entire game? For the Storm, it’s not about winning this game but getting better and building for next year. St. Scholastica 42 Crown 16

Martin Luther @ Northwestern­- QB Luke Rothe reminds me of poor man’s version mix of two Division 1 players: Northwestern’s All-purpose WR/RB/QB Kain Colter and Kansas State’s QB Collin Klein. Rothe has been spectacular doing pretty much anything you can imagine; stopping just short of throwing the ball to himself (he did have one catch for 4 yards last Saturday).  It’s like in high school, when a team just lets their best player run around with the ball until he scores. Not always the best route to go in college football, but hats off to the Martin Luther coaching staff that figured out a way to get some offensive production by switching around some positions. Northwestern figures to score a lot of points, but that Knights defense is underrated and finally has an offense that can score some points. I really like the Knights in this game especially because the non-traditional offense neutralizes Northwestern’s potent pass rush. I think the Eagles better buckle up for a wild game where Rothe and the Knights come up just short in an overtime loss in St. Paul, MN.  Northwestern 35 Martin Luther 28 OT

GAME OF THE WEEK

Eureka @ Greenville- This game is going to be a shootout. Last year Greenville won 36 to 33, and its going to be a higher scoring game than that one. The offense will come completely through the air for Eureka riding the arm of QB Sam Durley and Greenville will run the ball all day with QB Brendan Chambers and RB Manny Gamble. If I had to nail down the preseason goals for Greenville’s defense there would only be one—allow one less point than the offense scores. Most of the time it works because they have the conference’s best offense statistically (overall, not just in conference play). The real question surrounding Eureka all year is whether or not their offensive line will be able to keep Durley upright. Durley has been sacked 27 times which is more than double the number any other QB has been sacked. If they can give Durley time, he should find open WR’s all day.  On paper this should be a close game.

Greenville 42 Eureka 38

Week 7 Predictions - Tommy

Tommy's Picks - (3 of 4 Week 6, 20 of 28 on season)

Another decent week for me in Week 6 going 3 for 4. I should have known better than to pick all of the same teams as Jay - talk about the blind leading the blind. Apparently I riled up all of the Cougars from Morris spurring them on to their biggest win of the year over Eureka. You're welcome UMM fans. I still stand by my previous claim that beating Eureka does not impress me - but, I will give credit where credit is due. Congratulations to the Cougars on a solid road victory. If you do something against Scholastica maybe I will finally stop hating on your two-quarterback system and guards constantly in two-point stances. A glance at this week's line-up shows no marquee match-ups, but I still expect to see some good UMAC competition.

Crown @ St. Scholastica - Hopefully after last week's debacle, all Storm players have decided to refrain from providing the Saints with any bulletin board material. Two weeks ago I would have said CSS would win this game by 40. I would have said the same thing going into last week as well. But, after a poor showing against Westminster in which the Saints hobbled to a 20-6 victory, I am not so sure anymore. It seems like St. Scholastica is a squad that plays to competition at times. However, Crown did even less to impress me last week getting steamrolled in what was their biggest game of the year. The Storm still have too many holes to fill to think about beating a team like CSS. St. Scholatica's talent overmatches Crown in this one. The Saints score early and often and Crown wishes that they could only play the first half in this one too. St. Scholastica 38 Crown 7

Martin Luther @ Northwestern - I'm going to do all the UMAC teams a solid and give out some free advice on how to beat the Eagles. 1) Stop trying to run the football. "But wait," you say, "we are a running team." I understand that you are who you are, but NWC is just too tough on the run. Their front seven will outmatch any offensive line out there. 2) Pass the ball. You can throw on this team. If you protect your quarterback for 3 seconds you can complete 8 yard passes to the flats and 15 yard passes up the seam all day against the Eagle's defense. Even Crown had some success doing this. 3) Stop the run. I can almost guarantee you that of the Eagles' first 8 plays at least 6 will be runs. They are not trying to fool anyone. They are going to line up with 2 backs and 1 tight end and hand the ball to Chris Simon-Wallace and Josh Sinnen. Put 10 people in the box if you need to. 4) Make them pass. NWC hasn't had to pass the ball effectively to win in any of their games this season. Make them do something they don't want to do. I'm not saying they can't pass, but I haven't seen it yet. What I have seen is them dominate game after game on the ground.

To recap, 1) Give up on the run 2) Pass instead 3) Stop the run 4) Force them to pass to beat you
Easier said than done... but if it were me, I would much rather get beaten through the air than allow the Eagles to run the ball down my throat like they have done all season. Is Martin Luther the team to do any of these things? Probably not. But, who knows? Maybe they will throw off Northwestern with their 8 yard splits between each lineman. Outside of that, I don't see the Eagles dropping this one. Northwestern 28 Martin Luther 7



Presentation @ Minnesota Morris - Morris is flying high fresh off of their big win over the Red Devils. I saw some tweets of the vindicated Cougars and I am glad to see they are enjoying themselves. The good news is that they should have two more weeks to enjoy themselves before St. Scholastica brings them back to reality. Other good news is that thanks to the UMAC's Sports Information Director, Greg Johnson, we now know the name of the Morris announcer - Paul McDonald. Someone tell Paul to get on here because he is now famous. I thought Presentation would be much improved this season, but after they lost 41-20 to Crown I lost all faith. At least their school is in South Dakota so there is a lot to do outside of football. Minnesota Morris 31 Presentation 21


Westminster @ MacMurray - Where do I even begin with this one? Both of these teams have proven themselves to be undisciplined and sloppy throughout the course of this season. On a brighter note, a Westminster corner/travel agent did post on our wall something about having his own island and we are all invited. Personally, I am pretty excited. It sounds like a nice place to visit. Brendon Foss visited there a couple weeks ago and enjoyed 12 catches for 182 yards and 3 TDs. I bet even Jay could take a nice, relaxing vacation to this island and have a cool two catches for 40 yards.

What are my thoughts on the game? Don't know. Still don't know what I think about Westminster. They played Scholastica close last week so maybe they played with some pride as I requested. Or maybe the Saints just didn't play great in the rainy conditions. I know I should pick the Blue Jays in this one, but what the heck? Give me the Highlanders! Someone give me their mascot head to put on. Do they even have a mascot? I cannot justify my pick except to say that a Westminster player will fall out of the back of the end zone into the abyss of Freesen Field and the Blue Jays will be so thrown off that Mac pulls out the W. MacMurray 28 Westminster 27

Game of the Week:

Eureka @ Greenville - This was a game I circled on my calendar at the beginning on the year. I thought Greenville would be the class of the conference and Eureka would be just below the top teams and even pull off an upset or two. After 6 weeks of conference play, it would appear that things have turned out a little differently. I'm not completely ready to give up on Greenville yet, but their defense is about as intimidating as Alex Rodriguez in the postseason. (That's not very intimidating for those of you who did not understand the analogy). However, I'm beginning to think that Eureka is more interested in creating publicity for Sam Durley than winning games. It is great that Durley is able to get all of these accolades and invitations to All-Star games and NFL scouts looking at him and whatever else. But what does it matter if you cannot finish higher than fifth in the UMAC? I will take a winner over someone who puts up stats any day.

I expect this one to be an absolute shootout. Both of these high-powered offenses will be facing defenses that leave much to be desired. In completely different fashions, I expect both offenses to rack up big yards and lots of points. I will take Greenville in this one for two reasons. First, they have been there before. I always trust a team that has proven they know how to win in previous seasons. Second, I like a team that can run the ball effectively over a team that can pass the ball effectively. Too many things have to go right on a passing play (good protection, good throw, good catch) for a DIII team to build its offense around the aerial attack. I am much more confident in a team that snaps the ball and runs it right at you play after play. I like Greenville to literally run all over the Red Devils. Greenville 48 Eureka 38

Q&A with Luke Rothe

Our Week 6 Outstanding Athlete of the Week, the Martin Luther College Knights freshman QB/DB/KR/All-Around-Athlete Luke Rothe, recently answered a few questions for us about his football experience and his recent performance this past weekend which earned our recognition. Congratulations again Luke, keep playing hard and we wish you the best of luck through the rest of the season.


The Numbers:

 

(Photo credit to Lori Rathje)


In last week's game versus the Greenville College Panthers, Rothe led the Knights to their highest offensive production of the year with 402 yards of total offense and 6 touchdowns. The freshman QB passed for 223 yards with 13 completions on 25 attempts for 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He also had 13 rushing attempts for 78 yards and a score, 1 reception for 4 yards, and returned 5 kickoffs for 143 yards with an average of 28.6 yards per return. Through his various positions, Rothe contributed to 455 of the Knights 609 total yards in their 46-39 loss to the Greenville Panthers. With the help of Rothe's performance in this game, the Knights nearly matched their entire total of 43 points scored from the previous five UMAC games. In the three weeks since Rothe has taken over at quarterback, MLC's passing yardage and completion percentage have nearly doubled and the Knights have gained 1,041 yards and scored 68 points compared to just 543 yards and 14 points in their first three UMAC games. While the offense still has a few issues to overcome, the Knights look to have found a solid leader for the next few years. As Rothe develops he will be a major threat to teams around the UMAC through his many roles on the field.

 

Q&A:

 

What is your first football memory?

Playing pickup football in the back yard with my two older brothers and dad.

What was the biggest key to your individual success in last week’s performance?

My WR's got themselves open and were very aggressive at going up high and getting the ball.

Where does your recent performance rank for you on your list of individual best games?

Top 2

What did you eat for breakfast on game day?

Scrambled eggs, sausage, and waffles

What is the biggest area you want to improve upon moving forward?

Ball security, keeping the turnovers to a minimum, ultimately 0

What is going to be the key to your team succeeding this week?

Sustaining long drives, and once again limiting turnovers.

What is on your pregame music playlist?

B.o.B , as well as some country music to calm me down

Who is your favorite NFL athlete?

Aaron Rodgers

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Being a teacher, and a coach.

What, if any, are your gameday rituals?

Laying in the weight room with my teammates watching football.

What We Learned in Week 6

6 weeks into the season and I realized that my title for this weekly post is pretty lame: What we Learned? Come one Tommy, you're better than that. I spent a good five minutes trying to think of a better title but the best I could come up with was: The Week that Was. Since that is also pretty lame and since we are more than halfway though the season I figured I might as well leave it as is. But, I would like to apologize to all of my loyal readers for mailing it in on this one. You really do deserve better. Hopefully I make up for it with some clever lessons from 'The Week that Was"... (See that? Nice segue. Things are already looking up.)

1. Northwestern is still Crown's daddy. As I predicted, Northwestern quickly put the Storm in a headlock and made it clear that this is about as much of a rivalry as there is a rivalry between St. Thomas and Hamline. The good news for the Storm is that they didn't make any bold predictions before the game... oh wait... Northwestern scored the first five times they touched the ball while Crown scored a total of zero times they touched the ball. This provides us with yet another example of why turning around a football program is so difficult. In basketball, you can get one or two good players and quickly become a contender. You need a lot more than that to transform a football program with a culture of losing. Crown is making progress and is headed in the right direction, but it is going to be a long process before they are ready to start playing with the big boys.

2. Luke Rothe does it all for Martin Luther. We haven't given the Knights much love this year but I am going to make it up to them it with not one, but two lessons that we learned from them in Week 6. The first focuses on Luke Rothe who apparently plays every position for Martin Luther. They have changed their entire offense so that he can play quarterback without actually having to take a snap under center. He passes, he rushes, he returns kicks, he blocks for himself, he kicks field goals, sometimes he even throws it up as high as he can and runs downfield to catch it himself. The last time I saw something like this was when I was watching the state championships of 1A high school football where the best player plays quarterback and linebacker and just runs around with the ball because the other team can't stop him. Unfortunately for the Knights, this isn't 1A high school football and other teams can stop him. Still, Rothe is an impressive athlete and is almost single-handedly making Martin Luther competitive.

3. Martin Luther's coaches have a giant wheel they spin to determine what offense to run each week. MLC's offense has changed drastically from week to week, ranging from the 1950s veer/triple option to the swinging gate to the pistol to shotgun four wide to linemen spread out as wideouts to who knows what. The only logical explanation for this is that every Monday the Knight's coaches get together for their weekly gameshow called "Wheel of Offense". Some of the options this week include: 1) 10 linemen, snap the ball to Luke Rothe and let him run wherever he wants 2) 1 center, 9 receivers and they run quadruple reverses back and forth until someone gets tackled 3) Everyone starts on their head and front rolls to start the play 4) Punt every 3rd down and even on 1st down a few times just to throw the other team off. I can't wait to see where the wheel lands this week!

4. Greenville is headed in the wrong direction. After being a top team in the conference for the past 3 seasons, the Panthers were expected to again be among the conference's elite. On paper, they should have been the best team in the conference. They had a strong season last year and returned players at key positions. But this year their defense is an absolute sieve. Where is the team that was clearly the most athletic squad in the UMAC a few years ago? Greenville used to be bigger, faster, and stronger than everyone they played against. Now they look small, undisciplined, and slow - especially on defense. I hope that this is a one year aberration and not the beginnings of a program going downhill. I still love watching their explosive offense, but at this point their defense is going to get them run over by any good teams.

5. Minnesota Morris has the best announcer in the UMAC. I was listening to the broadcast this week and whoever does the radio broadcast for the Cougars is a boss. Someone tell me that guy's name so I can give him a proper shout-out. Whatever you are paying him, pay him more. And please, Mr. Announcer - lead a workshop for the other announcers in the conference. I will organize it and even provide scones. I cannot handle any more poor announcing and this is my last ditch effort outside of watching every game on mute.