1. St. Scholastica remains unbeaten in conference play setting up a showdown with Northwestern next week in a battle for the lead in the UMAC. The last two weeks have shown some weak links in the armor for the Saints; nearly losing to Martin Luther two week ago and then allowing MacMurray to stick around for a half last week. QB Tyler Harper has not been as consistent as of late, but the running game and the best defense in the conference has been excellent throughout the season. They need to get consistent play out of Harper if they want to keep up with the offense from Northwestern. If they win this weekend, there is nothing standing between St. Scholastica and another conference championship.
2. Northwestern. When it rains it pours. That’s what it has to feel like for that offense right now: in a good way. Averaging 47.0 points a game, they let Minnesota Morris have it in the first half. The only knock on Northwestern this year is that they haven’t faced a defense anything close to St. Scholastica’s. Its not their fault, after all they just play who’s up next on the schedule, but you have to wonder if Northwestern is that good or if the teams they have played are just really bad. We are going to find out in a big way this week with the conference championship on the line.
3. Greenville. I am not discounting the Panthers from the conference championship discussion, but they had better become Northwestern fans for the week. They took care of business against Crown this week, and now turn their attention to MacMurray. Aside from a bad outing against St. Scholastica, Greenville has been what we expected coming into the season - a very dynamic offense led by QB Brendan Chambers paired with an average defense.
4. Eureka won a close one this week against Westminster. This was a huge game for both teams and it says a lot about Eureka to come away with the win, especially with the type of fourth quarter that they had. They are quietly having a decent season in conference with a 3-1 record. I don’t think they have a good enough defense to be able to beat Greenville or Northwestern, but they are good enough to beat anyone else. Who knows? Maybe Eureka can make some noise as the season progresses.
5. Westminster is just not talented enough this year to overcome turnovers and mistakes. They played well for most of the game, and then unraveled in the fourth quarter. If QB Joe Plassmeyer can cut down on mistakes, he is a very good QB that has a lot of room to grow.
6. Minnesota Morris. Oh how the tables have turned. Its one thing to beat Martin Luther or MacMurray and quite another to beat the likes of Greenville and Northwestern. While the defense has its questions marks, the biggest challenge for the Cougars had been the inconsistency at QB. The two-platoon QB system doesn’t allow for a QB to establish any rhythm or confidence. In other words, it flat out doesn’t work.
7. Martin Luther has to be happy with a win over Presentation on the road. The switch to QB Luke Rothe seems to be a good thing after one week. If the Knights can establish a consistent offense, watch out. This team has a very good defense and its offense can be very difficult to handle when it’s running smoothly. If they can pass the ball, it could become a very tough game for teams down the stretch of the schedule.
8. Crown is probably starting to realize what I thought at the beginning of the year. It’s hard to win when you are so young.
9. MacMurray played well against St. Scholastica in the first half. And then lost 43-6. Shocker.
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