St. Scholastica Season Preview

St. Scholastica, the two-time UMAC representative in the D3 NCAA playoffs and 2012 UMAC co-champion, faces the unique challenges in attempting a three-peat. The 2012 version of the Saints struggled at times throughout the year, especially towards the end of the season with close wins against Presentation and Minnesota Morris. The passing game took an expected dive as CSS transitioned from graduated QB Alex Thiry to QB Tyler Harper in his first year as a starter. However, the defense and the running game excelled once again. St. Scholastica has to feel robbed with the loss to Northwestern. Turnovers, key mistakes, and that crazy screen play had to have given the coaching staff nightmares. It was the first conference loss in two years, and even though they represented the UMAC in the playoffs if certainly feels like they weren't playing their best at the end of the year. The season was still a major success, but with success comes even greater expectations. The Saints are picked in the UMAC coaches poll to win the conference for the third consecutive year. As big as the bull's eye was last year, the target on the Saint's back is even bigger this year. However, the Saints will be motivated to regain sole ownership of the UMAC championship and return to the D3 NCAA playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Big Losses

The Saints lose a few key players on both offense and defense from last year's team. For the second year in a row, the Saints have the bittersweet problem of replacing the UMAC Defensive Player of the Year in DL Zack Dubanoski. They also lose DL Jordan Rasmussen. On offense, the Saints will need to figure out the WR core, as they lose top 2nd team All-Conference WR Nick Thiry and reliable starter WR Don Anderson.  

Key Returners

Besides the WR's, the offense returns a majority of their offense from last year. Junior QB Tyler Harper returns but should be pushed in camp from sophomore QB Ian Papenheim. At RB, Jake Jensen will be one of the best RB's in the conference if he can stay healthy. The last couple of years he has seemed like a breakout candidate, but just hasn't been able to stay healthy for the entire year. RB's Chris Gassert and Thomas Fragale also return to spell Jensen. The strength of this football team might be the running game because the Saints return a lot of beef to the offensive line as well. Four starters return from last year including C Peter Stanley,  a 1st team UMAC selection,  and G Luke Scharrer, one of UMAC Central's Outstanding guards from 2012. The Saints also welcome back LT Chris Lambach from a season ending injury last year. The WR position is a little less settled, but let's not forget that Mr. Utility man himself, WR/KR/PR Cory Gebhard, returns to provide leadership for an inexperienced group.

On defense, both the DL and LB groups will see some new faces this year, and competition should be fierce throughout training camp. However, second year defensive coordinator  Allen Smith can count on several key returners from last year. The DL will be led by 1st team UMAC selection DL Blake Cedarleaf (Leif Ericson would be proud of this guy's last name) and the LBs will be captained by senior Keaton Rush. The strength of the defense lies in quite possibly the best secondary in the UMAC. They ranked second in pass defense, and return four seniors to the 4-2-5 defense. Two of which are UMAC Central's Outstanding DBs in seniors Alec French and Mike LaValley.

On special teams, the Saints will have a very strong unit. The star of the unit is returning UMAC Special Teams Player of the Year Junior K Mike Theismann. Theismann was voted a first team preseason All-American by the Beyond Sports Network. Punter Justin Bosman returns and, if healthy, could be the top punter in the UMAC. Gebhard returns as a UMAC Central Outstanding kick and punt returner from 2012.

Key to 2013

To three-peat as UMAC champions, the QB play needs to be improved from last year. QB Tyler Harper returns as the starter, but he might be better served as a WR/RB ala the UMAC version of Percy Harvin. Last year, Harper completed only 51% of his passes and often had trouble converting on 3rd down in key situations. In 2011, the Saints converted 45% on 3rd down and last year dropped to converting only 36%. Considering the loss of WR Nick Thiry, Harper could help fill a void in the receiving corps and become a dynamic playmaker for a weak WR group. This is pending any of the young QB's stepping up and winning the job. If Harper remains the starter, he needs to be more efficient, become a better passer in the pocket, and improve his foot work. Too often last year he was throwing from compromised positions or scrambling too quickly from the pocket. His athletic ability is a great strength, but if he can become a better passer in the pocket...look out UMAC.  

Prediction

The Saints enter this season favored to win the conference according to the coaches poll. However, ever since the Saints lost to Northwestern last year, they have not played like a convincing UMAC champion. Going to overtime against Presentation? They beat Crown by forty, but Crown was bad all year and especially terrible at end of the year. Nearly losing a share of the UMAC in a close game against Morris? Granted, Morris really picked up their play at the end of the year, but it just kind of felt like the Saints were not playing very inspired football. There is concern this year that the Saints are losing a lot of experience at the DL and WR positions. Realistically though, this team lost more going into last year and won the conference so I don't think that will determine the outcome of their season. St. Scholastica reloads better than any other team in the conference. In fact, with the QB position more settled, I think they will be a better team this year.

The problem is that I think the schedule works against them a little bit. The first game of the year is a mystery game. Nobody is really sure what Iowa Wesleyan will bring to the table except former Saints defensive coordinator Tom Parkevich. That game will be a measuring stick for both the Saints and Tigers. The other problem is that the Saints play both Northwestern and Greenville on the road both later in the season. It would be better to play Northwestern sooner rather than later with a rookie QB, but the Saints don't travel to St. Paul until week 5 of conference play. However, I predict the Saints will handle the conference until the last game against Greenville. That's right folks. The UMAC conference championship will occur November 9th in Greenville, IL. I know everyone points out that the Saints beat Greenville by 40 last year, but if you watched the game Greenville beat themselves by turning the ball over five times. In addition, the Panthers peak at the end of the yea, coinciding with their date with the Saints. Scholastica at Greenville for the UMAC championship sounds too good to be true, but it could very well happen. Three-peat on the line, I don't think the Saints pull this one out and fall just short in heartbreaking fashion. So there it is, UMAC football nation, I have the Saints sitting at home watching the playoffs in second place with an 8-1 record.