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