Week 4 Prediction's Tommy's Picks

Tommy’s Picks (5 of 5 Week 3, 14 of 20 on the Season)

Before I get into my picks, I do owe my faithful following an apology for phoning in my picks last week. I was busy saving a child from a burning building. I still got all 5 right, which makes me 9 of 10 in conference play thus far. Not too shabby. I am sick of picking all of the same teams as Jay, though (believe it or not we don't look at each other's picks before we make ours). So, this week, I am pulling out a few upsets. Please help me out, guys. I cannot lose to Jay for a second straight year. He is insufferable enough as it is.  

Crown @ Northwestern - It is Homecoming for a number of UMAC teams this week, and Northwestern is one of them. Scheduling Crown as your Homecoming opponent is typically a safe bet as the Storm are 2-21 in their last 23 contests. Two week ago I would have said the Eagles cruise to an easy victory – kind of like last season when they only played until halftime before Crown said, “That’s ok. You are ahead 34-0. Let’s just quit before somebody else gets hurt.” After last week, however, I am tempted to pull a Lee Corso and say, “Not so fast my friend!” UNW had to battle with Martin Luther to manage a 15-8 win. Remember that Martin Luther’s defense was, statistically, the second worst in the country through the first two weeks (The distinction of Number 1 belongs to another team in the conference, the Iowa Wesleyan Tigers). The Eagles could only score 15 point against MLC last week? Check that, 13, as the defense scored two. Meanwhile, the Storm played a tough opponent in St. Scholastica and hung with them for most of the game. So, maybe the Storm do have a shot… Nah, I’m going with the Eagles. Their defense is solid, probably third-best in the conference behind Eureka and Scholastica. Their offense is not good but should be able to score at least three touchdowns against Crown’s defense. I predict the Eagles hang on in a close one at home. Happy homecoming Eagle Nation! Northwestern 21 Crown 14

Eureka @ Minnesota Morris - It is a battle of the two teams that hate us the most out of anyone. The Cougars hate us because we ripped on their 2-qb system all of last season, plus their terrible offensive line and the Red Devils hate us because we called them the Fighting Durleys and picked them to only win two conference games this season. I feel like this is a time for new beginnings, though. Eureka is looking good this year and Morris is only using one quarterback and he is looking pretty solid so maybe it is time we reconcile our relationship. I think Eureka is better than Morris. I think their defense is really good. I think their offense is decent and their quarterback is solid. So, naturally, I am picking Morris to win. The Cougars are at home, and after last week’s craziness, I am smelling an upset. The stars align and the Cougars get a special teams touchdown, Brendon Foss has 200 receiving yards, Eureka misses another PAT, and the Red Devils’ bus gets lost in a cornfield on the way to Morris. Morris 28 Eureka 27

Martin Luther @ Greenville – The only way MLC wins this one is if Luke Rothe has over 500 yards of total offense and 6 TDs. Oh wait, that happened once this year and the Knights still lost. Ok, maybe if Rothe plays defense, too, and has an interception. Oh wait… that happened last week and the Knights still lost. Ok, if Rothe has 700 yards of offense, 20 tackles, and 2 defensive interceptions Martin Luther will win. Otherwise, they don’t have much of a chance. Greenville is at home and should realize after last week that they can be beaten by anyone on any given week. They come ready to play and the Knights really struggle to stop the option-attack. Greenville 42 Martin Luther 21

Iowa Wesleyan @ MacMurray – Well, whoever loses this one is probably the worst team in the conference, although if Crown falls to Northwestern they will still have a shot at that title. IWC is decent on offense but really, really bad on defense. MacMurray is… I’m not really sure. They are so up and down from week to week. I wish the Highlanders would at least be consistently bad in one area. One week their offense looks great and their defense lets them down. The next week, they keep Westminster in check allowing only 21 points but can only score 14. I don’t think either team is particularly good but I can never bring myself to pick MacMurray. They just seem to always come up a little short. I hope they get it figured out soon. They are bound for a breakthrough one of these days… but I don’t know that it will be this weekend. As a side note, Iowa Wesleyan is in for a fun surprise in their first ever trip to Freesen field. Hopefully no Tigers are injured in the making of this football game.IWC  31 MacMurray 28

Game of the Week

Westminster @ St. Scholastica The Saints will be put to the test for the first time in UMAC play this Saturday. After dropping their season opener, they rolled over a pair of winless teams in the opening weeks of conference play. After dropping their opener, Westminster has won two in a row, albeit also against two teams still searching for their first win of the season – sound familiar? The Blue Jays look like a reinvented team this season with the rushing attack of Ronnie Seals. This is where the rubber meets the road and we get to see if this new found running game is for real or a byproduct of playing Crown and MacMurray. I think Seals is the real deal, but I also think Scholastica’s defense is the real deal. I anticipate a hard-fought, physical game determined by turnovers. Whichever QB, Harper or Plassmeyer, does a better job of protecting the ball will likely lead his team to victory. To beat the Saints Plassmeyer and the Blue Jays have to be perfect offensively. I don’t see that happening. The Saints defense puts the pressure on early and often and Harper does enough to lead his squad to a W on Homecoming.St. Scholastica 24 Westminster 14

Week 4 Predictions: Jay's Picks

Jay’s Picks (5 of 5 Week 3, 15 of 20 on the Season)

Both Tommy and I were perfect last week although Eureka sure made things interesting. Besides the UMM and IWC game, every game was decided by 10 points or less which again speaks to the parity in the UMAC this year. Through three weeks, we have an idea about each team in the conference, but I don’t think we can have a really good feel for the UMAC until the end of week 4 or 5.  Will Eureka come back to earth? Is Westminster for real? These are just some of the questions I have that will be answered this week.

Iowa Wesleyan @ MacMurray- In addition to the “Game of the Week”, I think we need to implement the “Game of the Weak” (see what I did there?) to lowlight the matchup of two bad teams against each other. If you don’t think “Game of the Weak” is clever enough, please I am open to suggestions. I still haven’t gotten it approved by UMAC Central, but I think this idea could definitely take flight just like anyone who doesn’t watch where they are going when they score a TD at Friesen Field. MacMurray 30 Iowa Wesleyan 20

Martin Luther @ Greenville- I don’t see any way that Martin Luther stops Greenville. In fact, if I was really bold, I would predict 0 punts for the Panthers. Even if the Knights put Luke Rothe on defense, there is no way they stop Greenville. Now, Greenville’s defense isn’t exactly the ’85 Bears defense either, but I like their chances to get several turnovers and a few timely stops. They’ll give up some points, but it won’t matter. Greenville 48 Martin Luther 28

Crown @ Northwestern- If Crown could go into Northwestern on their homecoming and win; it would be Crown’s equivalent of winning the Stagg Bowl. Crown’s defense should be able to manage a struggling Eagle offense for the most part, but can the Storm offense score enough points to win the game? The last time Crown beat Northwestern (in 2010, after losing like 20 in a row) they had probably their best team in Crown’s school history and barely beat (a six point victory) a Northwestern team that finished 1-8. Taking that into account, logic says don’t put any money on Crown this week. I just have this sneaky suspicion that the Storm might sneak away with one here. What is wrong with me? Am I crazy? I reserve the right to claim temporary insanity if I am wrong. Crown 21 Northwestern 20

Eureka @ Minnesota Morris- This should be a great game. I think Eureka is the better team, but I am worried that they will suffer a withdrawal from the Greenville loss. It’s tough to lose a heart breaker, focus all week in practice, and then have an 8 hour road trip to boot. Fortunately for the Red Devils, I think that defense is good enough to keep them in the game if the offense has a sluggish start. I really like the battle between the two QBs Blake Robles and Caleb McLaren. Football is becoming all about the QB, and I think Robles gets the better of McLaren this week. Eureka 27 Morris 24

Game of the Week

Westminster @ St. Scholastica- One reader this week thinks we have Westminster too high in the Power Rankings. We’re about to find out this weekend. RB Ronnie Seals Jr. has been one of the biggest surprises this season, but I think he is going to find running against St. Scholastica’s defense is a completely different animal. Westminster’s defense, which has not been tested either, faces the challenge of stopping a very physical offensive line and running game. I think QB Joe Plassmeyer will be the key. So far he has avoided turnovers and has been extremely efficient. However, against the Saints, Plassmeyer will be forced to make big time throws to keep the chains moving. If the Jays can run the football, avoid turning the ball over, and dominate the trenches they will have a chance to win. That’s a lot of ifs though. I think Westminster keeps it close for most of the game, but can’t quite keep up in the fourth quarter. St. Scholastica 35 Westminster 21

The Week that Was: Week 3

Week 3 of UMAC action should not have had any upsets, and it didn’t. But for a week when not a single underdog won, it sure felt like there were a lot of surprises. Eureka looked like they owned Greenville for most of the day, but somehow the Panthers managed to find a way to win, once again. Scholastica had to battle with Crown to come out with a ten point win. Northwestern and Martin Luther were locked into a defensive battle. Wait, what? MLC was in a DEFENSIVE battle? Westminster was knotted up with MacMurray at 14 with 4 minutes left in the game before they finally scored a touchdown with two minutes left that would put them up for good. And Morris was losing to Iowa Wesleyan for a while before the Tigers defense started falling on the ground instead of trying to make tackles again. So, what did we learn from the week that was? Well, let me tell you:

Apparently Eureka really is that good. We were slow to admit it, and, let’s be fair here – there was good reason for that. The most overhyped team in the UMAC the last two seasons was the Eureka Red Devils. We got to hear every week about how good their quarterback was and how they were going to be a threat to win the conference, but they never backed it up on the field. Then they lose their quarterback, who was the best player on their lousy team, so they should be awful, right? Apparently not. The Red Devils are back with a vengeance and a defense that can inspire fear in any UMAC team. Blake Robles is doing a great job at quarterback and their has suddenly expanded their playbook to include more than four plays. Their win over Knox didn’t do much for me, beating Northwestern gave them some credibility, but outplaying Greenville really proved that they is for real. I look forward to watching how this team stacks up against the conference the rest of the season. 

Before we leave the subject of Eureka, we should revisit the importance of the kicking game. Eureka missed an extra point in the very first quarter. No big deal, there was so much time left in the game. But guess how many points they lost by. Of course, you can never point to just one play as the reason for winning or losing. But let me remind you of the final game of last season between Greenville and Northwestern where the Panthers won on Northwestern’s missed extra point in overtime. That is now twice the Panthers have come out on the right end of a missed PAT to win a big game over an evenly matched opponent. Perhaps pure coincidence. All I know is, if I were a UMAC coach, I would be giving my PAT squad a whole lot more practice time than the ten minutes I have a feeling they get per week. It would sure be a bummer to lose a game because of it. Ask Eureka or Northwestern.

This Caleb McLaren kid for Minnesota Morris is pretty good. 293 yards and 5 TDS through the air to go with 49 yards on the ground en route to a 41-24 win over Iowa Wesleyan. IWC’s defense isn’t exactly world-beaters but those numbers are still impressive. The Cougars have replaced the void in their hearts left by the departure of their two four-year starting quarterbacks with this sophomore from Alaska. Maybe the coaching staff has finally heeded our advice and decided to go with just one guy at QB. It can never be proven, but we would like to think that UMAC Central has helped improve the UMM Football program with our wise words. Once again, you are welcome Cougar Nation. Not sure how a guy with 5 TDS didn’t make the UMAC Player of the Week Awards. Those at UMAC headquarters seem pretty enamored with guys who made all four of their PAT attempts. Good thing you have us to give you the award you really want, Caleb, UMAC Central’s Outstanding Athlete of the Week Award.

St. Scholastica had to battle with Crown to come out with a victory on the road. Not sure exactly what this means. The Saints have notoriously played to their competition’s level in years past. Do not worry too much about this, fans of St. Scholastica, I have a feeling your team will rise to the occasion when they face tougher competition. This week should be a good matchup for the Saints as the Blue Jays of Westminster come to Duluth for homecoming. You will have to stay tuned to see what Tommy and Jay predict in that game. Scholastica has had a chance to ease into their conference schedule this season, but they will finish with a bang facing off against Eureka, Morris, and Greenville in their final three games. Should be a fun finish. In other news, St. Scholastica’s athletic website is infuriating. Get that gaudy ticker with scores and links to your social media pages and a homecoming ad off the bottom. It takes up a third of my screen. Someone please take care of this for me. Someone get Josh Miron on that.

No silly social media posts this week since we got all of our predictions correct and no one sent us hate tweets. Just two noteworthy things to finish up with. 1) 30 people liked our status about Caleb McLaren winning our Athlete of the Week Award. That is remarkable. I could post on my personal Facebook that I just rescued a baby from a burning building and I would get 6 likes. What am I doing wrong? 2) I have been seeing a lot of social media comments regarding “The Fox” video. If you haven’t already seen it, there is something wrong with you, and it is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE. I believe it is time UMAC Central release their official stance on this video: It is AWESOME and should be enjoyed as such.

That is all I have for now. I could write for hours, but I have grown weary. Signing off for this week, yours truly, UMAC Central.

Week 3 Power Rankings

Courtesy of Melissa Clements and Shaina Watkins.

Maybe the UMAC is not as straightforward as we at UMAC Central once believed. Eureka gave Greenville everything it could handle, Crown played tough against St. Scholastica, and Northwestern barely escaped New Ulm with a much needed victory. There might be more parity than ever in the UMAC. This could be a good thing and mean that the bad teams are starting to even up the talent gap, or a bad thing that means there is less talent in the conference as a whole. So far, I am leaning towards a mixture of both. I think there are teams such as Crown that are lessening the talent gap, but overall the league is a little bit down from last year. Time will tell. No matter the cause, I think it makes for an exciting UMAC championship race that might have a few surprises by the time it’s all said and done.

      1. Greenville- Whew, that was close. Like a blocked field goal close. They were a 45 yard field goal away from losing to a tough Eureka squad. Just as a frame of reference, in the UMAC, a 45 yard field goal is the equivalent of a 65 yard field goal in the NFL. Championship teams find a way to win these types of games, and Greenville answered the bell. Of course, the other way to look at it is that maybe Greenville is a little overrated. I don’t buy it. They played a much improved and extremely motivated Eureka team on the road, and pulled out a gutsy win. QB Brendan Chambers did not have his best day, but you have to give him credit for a clutch 4^th quarter drive to pull out the win.

      

      2. St. Scholastica- I am a little more inclined to be concerned about the Saints, but I’ll give the Saints a pass much for the same reasons as Greenville. Crown, while not nearly as good as Eureka, is improving and I think they play well at home. QB Tyler Harper is playing much better in conference play, and RBs Jake Jensen and Chris Gassert are the Saint’s version of the NFL’s coveted “thunder and lightning” running back duo. The real strength of this team is the defense, and should keep them in every game they play.

      3. Westminster- I like Westminster’s formula so far—run the football with RB Ronnie Seals Jr. (the most productive RB in the UMAC so far this season) which allows QB Joe Plassmeyer to manage the game, and play good defense. It’s worked so far against Crown and MacMurray. Not exactly world beaters  This upcoming week will be a big test against St. Scholastica. 

      4. Eureka- It’s time to eat some humble pie. That defense is actually really good. I’m not sure there’s a team outside of St. Scholastica that can stop the Panthers as well as the Red Devils did. They made QB Brendan Chambers look human. The offense is not too shabby either. QB Blake Robles had his best game of the season, and had his team in position to win the game with a 45 yard field goal attempt. The only thing that concerns me is that they got up for Greenville, lost a heart breaker  and won’t have the same intensity against Morris. The pieces are there, but it’s time to prove they can take the next step.

      5. Northwestern- It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win. The defense won the game for Northwestern, and the defense will need to carry the Eagles until the offense gels together. QB Jacob Fletcher has been impressive so far and RB Josh Sinnen had some success against a bad Martin Luther defense, but the offense can’t score in the red zone and overall seems disjointed. They strike me as a middle of the road team that could get hot at the end of the year.

      6. Minnesota Morris- QB Caleb McLaren is disproving the age old adage that two is better than one. He has been really good for the Cougars, but the defense has been shaky and the running game has been only average. I think they could make some noise in the conference and definitely finish in the top five, but the defense will have to improve.

      7. Crown- I think the bottom four teams are going to fluctuate throughout the year between positions 7-10. The Storm needs a quality win badly. Beating a team like MacMurray or Iowa Wesleyan is better than going 0-10, but they need a quality win against a solid opponent to gain some confidence. In other news, what happened to RB Amos Schmidt? He is only averaging 3.6 yds/carry and 30 yds/game.

      8. Martin Luther- This team just is not talented enough. The offense is explosive at times, but when you have to play your QB on defense (and he nabbed an interception) there is a big problem. Granted QB Luke Rothe could probably start at DB for nearly every UMAC school, but still it just shows a glaring need across the board. They might come along as the year goes on, but it’s going to be a frustrating year for the Knights.

  

      9. MacMurray- This program is still struggling big time. Like Martin Luther, they just don’t have consistent talent coming into the program. Sure, they might get a guy or two that can really play, but at the end of the day I think the school will always struggle without better facilities, coaching, and mentality.

10. Iowa Wesleyan- Before the season, we at UMAC Central took a gamble. We assumed the Tigers would still have enough holdovers from their scholarship days as an NAIA school to be competitive  Nope. We were dead wrong. They do have a couple of WRs that are studs in WR Ridge Hobbs and Limichael Peeples, but after that it’s really bad.  Although they barely have a run game, the offense is not completely horrendous. 17.0 points a game is better than Crown and Northwestern. The defense, however, is probably the worst in D3 football. 47.7 points a game? 602.3 freaking yards a game? Thankfully, the Tigers play MacMurray this week in a battle for last place.

Week 3 Predictions: Tommy's Picks

4 of 5 Last Week/ 9 of 15 on Season

Here are my picks for this week's games:

St. Scholastica 41 Crown 13

Westminster 41 MacMurray 27

Northwestern 34 Martin Luther 24

Minnesota Morris 31 Iowa Wesleyan 28

Greenville 31 Eureka 17

Week 3 Predictions: Jay's Picks

Jay’s Picks- (4 of 5 Week 2, 10 of 15 on the season)

I didn’t do too shabby in Week 2, and I have no problem blaming Northwestern entirely for my lone incorrect prediction last week. I don’t expect any surprises this week, but I am looking forward to seeing how Eureka stacks up to Greenville. It’s one thing to beat a rebuilding Northwestern team, its another to beat Greenville at it’s finest. I’ll also be interested to see if Iowa Wesleyan was just a victim of a tough couple of first games and how they will rebound playing against Morris.  

St. Scholastica @ Crown- St. Scholastica is averaging 250 yds/game on the ground and Crown is allowing 174 rushing yds/game. This week, I foresee the Saints version of ground and pound. Rex Ryan would be proud. Crown is a small, quick team that will get blown off the line of scrimmage by a much bigger, physical St. Scholastica football team. The new stadium and new uniforms can’t substitute for less talent and experience at this point as the Saints are just more talented and experienced at nearly every position. Crown is headed in the right direction, but this Saturday will be all about the Saints. St. Scholastica 38 Crown 13

MacMurray @ Westminster- Guess who is second in the UMAC in rushing? Ronnie Seals Jr. from Westminster is second in rushing averaging over 120 yds/game. This team will do much better on offense with a balanced attack. QB Plassmeyer has not been spectacular, but he has been efficient and taken care of the football. MacMurray suffered a tough loss at the hands of the Martin Luther Knights last week. Although an improving team, I have to wonder if doubt hasn’t started to sink in a little bit. That being said, MacMurray beat Westminster once last year so they do have some recent success against the Blue Jays. I just think the Blue Jays balanced offense and solid defense will be too much to overcome in a close game. Westminster 27 MacMurray 22

Northwestern @ Martin Luther- It’s tough to say what Northwestern is made of at this point in the season. Sure they hung tough with St. Olaf, but St. Olaf is looking less than impressive after two weeks. The lack of a running game is completely hurting this football team. So far, the defense is playing well enough to keep the Eagles in the game. QB Jake Fletcher is better than we originally thought; WR Luke Couwenhoven looks like a nice addition, but the offense looks anemic without a running game. Fortunately, we do have a pretty good handle on Martin Luther. The offense, led by QB Luke Rothe, will be a handful for anyone. The defense is a mess right now but, just like the offense last year, should become respectable by the end of the year. I’m really tempted to pick the Knights in this game because it’s in New Ulm, but I think the Knights defense might be just what the Eagles need to gain some confidence. I’ll take Northwestern in a track meet. Northwestern 46 Martin Luther 42

Minnesota Morris @ Iowa Wesleyan- This game will be a true indicator of where the Tigers fit in the UMAC. So far all we know is that they can’t run the ball, and they apparently don’t have a defense. No worries, the Cougars are playing just about as bad on defense, and that offensive line made Hamline’s defensive line look like all-stars, allowing 7 sacks. Maybe the Cougars need to think about smaller, more agile lineman and splits that aren’t big enough for a semi to get through. In any case, it’s apparent something has got to give. I actually like the Cougars to respond to criticism with their usual gusto. Oh boy, I can’t wait to read the hate mail next week. Minnesota Morris 31 Iowa Wesleyan 21

Game of the Week

Greenville @ Eureka- This is that last game where we will have two teams that are undefeated so savor this week. It’s the UMAC’s best offense against what is statistically speaking the UMAC’s best defense (let’s be honest, the UMAC’s best defense is St. Scholastica). Eureka surprised everyone with a decisive victory over Northwestern whose offense has struggled so far. Unfortunately for Eureka, they aren’t playing Northwestern this week. They are playing Greenville who boasts an offense that averages nearly 580 yds/game with almost 400 yds/game coming on the ground. I just don’t see a scenario where this ends up going well for Eureka. The Panthers haven’t been turning the ball over much (their Achilles heel), and the defense, while not spectacular, has been solid. While Eureka might get a few stops here and there, Greenville is going to score…and a lot. There is no way Eureka can keep up with them for four quarters. Greenville 50 Eureka 28

The Week that Was: Week 2

Oh, what a wild and crazy week we got to witness in Week 1 of UMAC play. You just never know what you will get week to week in the UMAC. Oh wait... that's not true at all. Greenville and Scholastica win again. Crown and MacMurray lose again. And everytime Eureka wins a game their fans send out 8 million tweets at UMAC Central. Deja vu all over again... Here's a brief recap of the Week that Was:

Much to the delight of Red Devil Nation and fans of underdogs everywhere, the Eureka Red Devils marched up to Minnesota and beat the Eagles of Northwestern quite handily. In doing so, they got off to their first 2-0 start in 15 years (Yikes! Don’t think I would be bragging about that if I were the school's SID) and most importantly got the satisfaction of proving the writers of UMAC Central wrong while shoving our faces in it all week. We may be opinionated here at UMAC Central, but we have never been ones to be sore losers so we will graciously endure all criticism thrown our way from the players and fans of Eureka. Congratulations, you have earned it. We definitely underestimated your team coming into the season and you should enjoy a big road win. Now it is time to get back to work. You have got Greenville coming to town this week and I have a sneaky suspicion the writers of UMAC Central may pick against you yet again (You will have to stay tuned tomorrow to find out for sure, though).

Iowa Wesleyan got bum rushed by St. Scholastica while allowing the Saints to rack up a program record 427 rushing yards. Welcome to the UMAC IWC. I did some research and figured out what the Tigers problem on defense was. If you look at this picture found on the CSS athletic website, you can

clearly see that the defender is making a classic error in tackling. He is taking the kneel-on-the-ground while crawling after the runner approach. In my experience, it is far more effective to stand up when attempting a tackle. I chalk this up as a simple rookie mistake. Once IWC adjusts their defensive scheme to have fewer players lying on the ground … watch out UMAC!

I think Northwestern may have fooled us all into believing they would be good again. Not only did they lose to Eureka at home, but even their week 1 loss to St. Olaf is looking worse. Last week St. Olaf lost to Luther College by a score of 20-13. In week 1, Luther College lost to…. wait for it… Presentation College (that’s the school that got kicked out of the UMAC because they couldn’t put 11 players on the soccer field at one time). Suddenly UNW sticking with Olaf for 3 quarters doesn’t look too impressive.

After reading a comment left on our Week 1 Power Rankings I realized that there is a lack of understanding as to what power rankings actually are amongst some of our readership. It’s ok, we understand this stuff is probably over the head of the Phy Ed majors so we figured we would help out. Power Rankings are a reflection of what has already happened – when you lose you drop lower and when you win you move up higher, kind of like the AP Top 25 in Division 1 Football. Have you ever noticed that sometimes teams with worse records can beat teams with better records? How can that be?? Sometimes, and try to stay with me here, teams play bad one week and good the next. Our predictions are what we expect to happen in the future. Do you remember how both of our writers predicted 4 out of the 5 games last week correctly? So, please at least think about what you are saying before you write asinine comments on our blog.You can hate on us for not picking Eureka but not for correctly predicting the other 4 games.

This week’s silly social media post comes from a Eureka fan yet again.

I have no problem with the tweet about us sucking and Eureka proving us wrong. But I did have a problem with a few other things. 1) Durleys should not have an apostrophe. It is simply plural, not a possessive (The Durleys don’t own anything) 2) I’m not sure what ‘prove the UMAC boys’ means. Seems like somebody had boys on the brain and had a Freudian slip 3) Don’t ever hashtag #eurekafetish. When  you click on that hashtag you can see that no one in the history of twitter has ever hashtagged that phrase before. There is a reason for that…. 4) Finally, don’t end anything with a colon-parentheses smiley face unless it is 2003. At least use an emotji. Come on, bro.  

That about does it for me. Stay tuned for more exciting UMAC action this Saturday. 

Q & A with Cory Gebhard

Cory Gebhard, senior wide receiver of the College of Saint Scholastica Saints, 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 Cory, you earned it, keep up all the hard work and we wish you a great season.

The Numbers:



(Photo Credit to CSS Athletics)

 In the Saints 47-10 victory last week over the Iowa Wesleyan Tigers, Gebhard put up 127 yards on 7 receptions for an average of 18.1 per catch, including touchdown catches of 29 yards, 14 yards, and 19 yards as the Saints defeated the Tigers 47-10. This gives him a total of 12 receptions and 4 receiving touchdowns through two games this season. Last year he totaled 36 receptions for 571 yards and 8 touchdowns and he is easily on pace to break each of those marks this year. Cory currently leads the UMAC in receiving TDs and is 6th for receiving yardage.

Q&A:

What is your first football memory?

My first memory would be when I moved to a new town in 7th grade and I started playing football because it was a great way to meet some great guys.

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

My teammates would be the biggest key because the D played a solid game to give the O tons of opportunities, O line and running backs did great blocking and establishing the running game, wide outs did good at running routes, and Harper did great at finding the open man.

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

It definitely ranks high up there, especially because we got the W

What did you eat for breakfast on game day?

Ate on campus with the team

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

I just want to get better in every aspect whether it's blocking, running routes, etc. every week for my teammates

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

The team just needs to have a great week of practice and focus on the game plan for the week, and then we will be ready for Saturday

What is on your pregame music playlist?

I actually don't listen to music before the game, so what ever is on in the locker room or the loud speakers

Who is your favorite NFL athlete?

I can't pick one player, but my favorite team is the Packers

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Well I'm planning on going to graduate school for Physical Therapy so hopefully as a Physical Therapist

What, if any, are your gameday rituals?

Just the team's normal ritual before the game

Week 2 Power Rankings

Thanks to a commenter, we need to go over Power Rankings and last weeks results. Last week’s power rankings were fairly accurate; however, in the most shocking development in college football since the North Dakota State Bison beat the Kansas State Wildcats, the #6 ranked Crown lost to #7 Westminster. I know. Unbelievable. How could UMAC Central’s power rankings have been wrong THAT much? A 7 beating a 6 (which by the way I predicted)? It’s an outrage! Oh, that’s not even the half of it. The 244^th (where is my satirical font when I need it?) ranked team beating the 8^th team? Oh no! It’s not like both UMAC Central’s predictions picked Martin Luther to win…wait, actually UMAC Central unanimously picked Martin Luther to win. Ok, ok, I’ll admit I definitely did not see Eureka beating Northwestern. But seriously folks, last week’s Power Rankings were based off of a non-conference week which is about as useful to predict UMAC final standings as picking teams out of a hat (sorry, I couldn’t resist making that joke again). Shoot, how was I supposed to know Hendrix was a decent ball club? As for Martin Luther, of course I don’t think they are the 244^th ranked team, but it’s the principle of the thing. When you lose to Maranatha, you get a spot at the bottom of my Power Rankings.

Enough housekeeping. On to the stuff that matters. This week actually contained useful information, and these Power Rankings will start reflecting where teams actually line up in the conference. The tough thing about this year is that I believe there is much more parity in the league. Aside from Greenville and St. Scholastica, who I think will be undefeated in UMAC play and will meet in a “conference championship game” the last week of the season, I think anyone can beat anyone on any given Saturday. It’s still early, and teams often improve dramatically as the season goes on so take Power Rankings with a grain of salt.

      1.      Greenville- Another week, another 500+ yards of offense. It just seems like the Panthers have an endless supply of playmakers. We had the usual suspects led by QB Brendan Chambers, who had another fine day, but players like TEs Nathan Butler and Nicholas Newton make it impossible for anyone to shut down the Panthers. The Greenville offense sliced and diced through a very experienced (although maybe not very talented) Morris defense. As always, the defense gives up some points as well but if this team takes care of the football then I can’t see anyone outside of St. Scholastica having any chance against the Panthers.

      2.      St. Scholastica- That’s more like it. The Saints first game in UMAC play looks like what we are accustomed to seeing from the reigning UMAC champions. QB Tyler Harper reminded everyone of what he is capable of doing throwing for 4 TDs. 682 yards of total offense will get anyone pretty excited, but let’s not forget the defense only allowed 214 yards of offense and held WR Ridge Hobbs to 2 catches and 14 yards.  This is the only team that can pose a challenge to Greenville, and even then they will need Greenville to turn the ball over.

      3.      Westminster-It looks like the Blue Jays have completely switched their offensive philosophy. I like to think that they finally listened to me. RB Ronnie Seals Jr. is a breakout player this year in the UMAC rushing for 143 yards and 3 tds. That’s like a third of their entire rushing total from last year. QB Plassmeyer is efficiently leading the passing attack, and the defense looks solid. Losing a close one to a solid Hendrix squad, and soundly beating Crown in week 2? Looks like a good start for the Blue Jays.

      4.      Eureka- I still don’t think that Eureka will finish in the top three in the conference, but they are a lot better than I gave them credit for. The score of the game is a little deceiving as the game was a one possession game till the very end of the third quarter, but 2-0 is 2-0. Eureka’s defense, statistically speaking, has performed the best through two games allowing only 13 points and 302 yards a game. That’s right, the Red Devils and the Panthers are the only undefeated teams in the UMAC. Ok, now you can shove the whole 50% in our face.

      5.      Northwestern- Apparently there is some confusion about game length at UNW. If you have even been to a game at Northwestern, you know about the famed “5^th quarter.”However, the actual game is only four quarters long and it appears as if Head Coach Kirk Talley forgot to mention that to his team because this team quits playing in the fourth quarter. Through two weeks, they have been close through three quarters and then laid a duck in the fourth quarter. We expected QB Jake Fletcher to take some lumps, but what happened to the running game? Only 15 rushing yards? Wow. The good news? They play Martin Luther’s defense. The bad news? They play Martin Luther’s offense in New Ulm. Tip for the week: don’t plan on starting the comeback in the “5^th quarter.”  

      6.       Minnesota Morris- The Cougars are on the rise, and could end up being one of the better teams in the conference by the end of the season. They turned the ball over too many times and could not withstand the Panther’s offensive onslaught for 4 quarters. But who can? QB Caleb McLaren looks like a promising young QB if he can avoid costly interceptions.

      7.      Martin Luther- Well it wasn’t the race to 50, but it did take 40 points for the Knights to fend off MacMurray. The defense was not quite as bad this week, granted against MacMurray, which could be a good sign for the Knights. If the defense can be respectable, QB Luke Rothe and the Knights will be a tough out especially at home.

      8.      Iowa Wesleyan- I’m just not sure where to put the Tigers just yet. St. Scholastica will manhandle several teams in the UMAC, but the Tigers look one dimensional on offense and the defense has been horrendous. They have played two very good opponents, but they are allowing an average of 51 points and 645 yards a game which is last in all of D3 football (Discaimer: Maranatha is actually listed as last with 622 yards because the NCAA has not included Iowa Wesleyan in their statistics yet). I expect the Tigers to improve, but they sure don’t look the part of a top 5 team in the UMAC.

      9.    MacMurray- It’s still early in the season, but MacMurray definitely looks like an improving football team. They are competetive, but still don’t quite have the winner’s attitude yet. They just need to win a couple of the close games, and this team’s confidence would really build.

10. Crown- I consider MacMurray and Crown to be 9a and 9b. Both are young teams that are improving. In Crown’s case, I think their program is headed in a much better direction. New stadium, uniforms, bigger recruiting class, and dedication to football excellence will really help Crown in the future. Until then, they need to pick up some quality wins against UMAC opponents. Unfortunately, that won’t happen against St. Scholastica.

Week 2 Predictions: Jay's Picks

Jay’s Picks- (6 of 10 Week 1, 6 of 10 on the Season)

The non-conference weekend is always challenging to predict, but I managed to squeak out six correct predictions. To be fair, who in their right mind would have picked Maranatha Baptist to beat Martin Luther? In truth, the non-conference weekend is more like a tune-up game for teams in the UMAC. Usually, if a UMAC team gets a win it’s because they scheduled a cupcake, and if they lose it’s because they got paid money to get smoked by a much better football team. Not Greenville though, who gained a very impressive victory over a solid non-conference opponent. That wasn't the only impressive performance. Northwestern played a MIAC team tough for 3 ½ quarters. I don’t know if St. Olaf will be good this year or not, but that’s not the point. The point is that a UMAC team took it to a MIAC team, something we haven’t seen in a long time. Let’s not get too carried away though… the UMAC was 2-8 in non-conference games—not exactly going to move up the conference rankings with that kind of performance. Here are some other fun facts about week 1:

•       Eureka was the only team to allow less than 30 points with 17. Six teams allowed over 40 points, and 3 teams allowed over 55 points. How bout that defense? Just wait it gets better. 5 teams allowed over 500 yards of offense. Iowa Wesleyan allowed a whopping 609 yards to the Simpson offense. See what I mean? 
•          7 teams had less than 100 yards rushing. Surprisingly, Westminster was not one of them.
•            The UMAC as a whole went 1 for 5 on field goal attempts. Northwester went 0 for 3 on PATs. Ever heard of a 2 pt. conversion?
•            Both Martin Luther and Greenville topped 600 yards on offense. If only Martin Luther had gotten 700, they might have won.

This week is where the rubber hits the road as they say. Week 2 brings the beginning of UMAC play, and where we really start seeing what teams are made of.

MacMurray @ Martin Luther- This week is full of tough games to predict, and I think I am going dub this game "The Race to 50." Whoever gets to 50 points first, wins. Martin Luther has zero defense, and I mean ZERO defense. Sure you could say that Maranatha’s offense looked a lot better, but I’m willing to bet the Knights defense had a lot to do with that. MacMurray will have every opportunity in the world to score points. On the other side of the ball, the Knights have some serious firepower led by QB Luke Rothe. The question I am facing is whether or not MacMurray can score enough points to beat Martin Luther. I have to pick the home team in this one, but the Knights will have to score over 50 points to win. Martin Luther 52 MacMurray 48

Crown @ Westminster- Another game that could go either way in my opinion. The tough thing is that I have no idea how good the Blue Jays are after losing to Hendrix. I have some idea about Crown because they played a fairly familiar team in Macalester. Both passers played well last week, so this game might come down to the running game. Wesminster had a 100 yard rusher in RB Ronnie Seals Jr. while Crown’s Amos Schmidt had 17 yards on the ground. Crown, fresh off the excitement of a new stadium, might be due a setback. Westminster 27 Crown 23

Eureka @ Northwestern- 

After winning a close game against a bad Knox team, Eureka faces a true test in a road trip to Northwestern. The Eagles appear to have weathered the storm of losing star QB Josh Balzer.  However, while QB Jacob Fletcher performed well against St. Olaf only turning the ball over once, he only averaged 4.8 yards per attempt. Mysteriously, the Eagles uncharacteristically threw the ball 44 times last week, but I expect to see a heavy dose of RB Josh Sinnen this week. Eureka, on the other hand, still reveling in winning the Abraham Lincoln Bowl will face a dose of reality. I think the Red Devils will have success in the air especially against a secondary that got torched against St. Olaf, but in the past, the Eagles pass rush has completely owned Eureka's offensive line.  I like Northwestern to win big in their home opener (which means Eureka will remain at 0% of UMAC Central's prediction for those keeping track at home). Northwestern 38 Eureka 20

Minnesota Morris @ Greenville- If you would have asked me last week, I would have said that this would have been the game of the week. Instead, while Greenville was ensuring a chance to go 10-0 on the season, Morris laid a massive egg on opening week. The Cougars can only hope that Hamline wins another game or two. How embarrassing would it be to be the only win for a team two years in a row? I'm sure QB Brendan Chambers was grinning from ear to ear as he watched film of the Morris defense giving up 520 yards to an unspectacular Hamline team. That being said, Morris did only play one QB for the majority of the game so there's your silver lining. I don’t think the question is who will win; rather how much will Greenville win by? Greenville 52 Morris 21

Game of the Week

Iowa Wesleyan @ St. Scholastica- The big story is IWC HC Tom Parkevich returning to Duluth to lead the Tigers against the Saints. This game will serve as a litmus test for the Tigers, and give us an idea of where they stand in the UMAC. QB Zandro Diaz and WR Ridge Hobbs should pose a challenge to the Saints, but the Saints have the best secondary in the UMAC. The Saints offense, and quite frankly the success of the season, will be riding on the shoulders of QB Tyler Harper. After a three interception performance, he may even be fighting to keep the starting QB job. Some of his throws remind me of Mark Sanchez throws. If he did lose the job, I think Harper could plug in at WR and make a big impact. However,  I don't see that happening anytime soon. It's one thing to play Whitworth and another thing completely to play UMAC teams. The Saints will be able to beat most teams with a tough defense and a good ground game, but against the better teams in the UMAC, Harper will have to throw the football efficiently. Against the Tigers, I think the defense and the ground game will be enough.  Saint Scholastica 27 Iowa Wesleyan 14

Week 2 Predictions: Tommy's Picks

5 of 10 Last Week / 5 of 10 on Season

There’s no hiding the fact that last week was a tough one for me. I will not make excuses and blame my poor performance on not having enough seniors on my roster – instead I will own up to it like a man and blame it on your team’s awful performances. Congratulations to Eureka and Greenville for proving me wrong and winning. Morris, Martin Luther, and Westminster – shame on you. The first week of the season is always a learning experience, though, and I feel that this week I have a much better handle on what the UMAC teams will truly look like. I’m expecting nothing but perfection from myself in this week’s predictions. 

Minnesota Morris @ Greenville – While Greenville was busy pulling off a huge upset over Millikin, Morris was losing to Hamline for the second consecutive year. Apparently the Morris players were correct in saying that we don’t know anything about this conference – we gave Morris more credit than they really deserved. This is a new week though and, needless to say, these teams come into these games with very different attitudes. Greenville will be riding high and confident – potentially even overconfident. Morris should be shaken after last week’s loss and hungry for retribution. Even though Morris lost to Hamline in Week 1, they looked better than a number of other UMAC teams on Saturday. At least Hamline is a legitimate (and I use that word loosely) college team… sort of. The key for Greenville defensively will be keeping the ball out of Foss’ hands. The key for Morris will be shutting down the Panthers’ option attack. After

watching both squads last week I have a lot more faith in Greenville slowing down Foss than I do in Morris slowing down Chambers. Greenville looks like they might be the best they have been in three years and Morris looks like a middle-of-the-road UMAC team. Greenville jumps on the Cougars early before letting them back in it somewhat in the end. The final score will be closer than the game truly ever was. Greenville 38 Morris 21

Eureka @ Northwestern - The Red Devils are soaring after their 3 point win over Knox last week in what is apparently their biggest game of the year. They retain the Abraham Lincoln trophy which is their equivalent of Michigan beating Ohio State. As long as Eureka beats Knox, it doesn’t matter how they do the rest of the year – which is good because it won’t be all that well. Traditionally a running team, Northwestern went to much more of an aerial attack last week against the Oles. Their offensive line struggled early and often, but the Eagles still managed to take control in the 3^rd quarter and pull to within 3 points before falling off in the fourth. Expect the Eagles to run the ball much more effectively against the Red Devils this week. Eureka’s best chance of winning is in exploiting UNW’s secondary which was their weak spot last season and once again looked quite vulnerable on Saturday. Eureka will score but struggle to defend and lose a high scoring affair. If the game is close, however, Eureka holds a huge advantage with a kicker who can actually make extra points and field goals. Northwestern can only score 6 at a time with their abysmal kicking game. They still have more than enough to win. Northwestern 33 Eureka 17

MacMurray @ Martin Luther- Who do you pick in a game that pits a team that lost 58-7 against a team that lost to the worst-ranked team in college football? I will tell you who – the home team. I can’t believe I am saying this but… I have to give the edge to Martin Luther. MacMurray is coming up on a long bus ride to a place that is traditionally a difficult venue for UMAC road teams to play at. Martin Luther will be hungry after last week’s loss. I am sure MacMurray will be hungry as well, but they are a program that has unfortunately not seen a lot of winning in their history. At least Martin Luther saw some good things happen offensively last week. I have faith in their coaching staff to make the adjustments and I fear that a team like MacMurray will quickly begin saying to

themselves, “Here we go again” when Luke Rothe inevitably puts up points. I got burned by you once Martin Luther. If you lose again this week I am never picking you again. And suggesting that you be demoted to high school football.  Martin Luther 42 MacMurray 35

Crown @ Westminster  – Westminster lost last week to a Hendrix team that looked good, but we can probably assume that was only because they were playing a terrible Westminster squad, as Hendrix is essentially a new program, and those are never good. Crown looked ok and had a few bright spots, namely the play of senior quarterback Wes Safford, but ultimately lost to a team that got kicked out of the MIAC for an inability to field a competitive team. This is the game I have gone back and forth on the most this week. I know what I am going to get week to week with Crown College. It may not be the most talented team but they will consistently put forth a good effort. Who knows with Westminster? I wouldn’t be surprised if they have games where they have players not show up because they overslept. Despite all that, there was a reason we had Westminster ranked ahead of Crown to start the year. I expect Crown to struggle to stop Westminster’s offense as the Blue Jays win a barn-burner. Westminster 41 Crown 35

Game of the Week

Iowa Wesleyan @ St. Scholastica – In the much-anticipated return of former Saints’ Defensive Coordinator Tom Parkevich to Duluth, the Tigers of Iowa Wesleyan play their first conference game as a member of the UMAC against the 2-time defending champs. Playing Scholastica right off the bat is a tough draw, but might actually play to the Tigers’ favor as Scholastica will know virtually nothing about the Tigers while Parkevich will be very familiar with his former team. I am especially looking forward to this game as a measuring stick of who Iowa Wesleyan is. We know that Scholastica will always be a good team. Will the Tigers match up against them? The Saints are a powerful defensive squad I expect to overmatch the Tigers on that side of the ball. The key matchup to watch will be stud wideout Ridge Hobbs against the Saints strong secondary – particularly French and LaValley. Hobbs is a baller and will get his catches, but the Saints front 7 will stifle the running game and be in the backfield all game long. Offensively, the Saints will do just enough to win as long as Tyler Harper can refrain from turning the ball over. Scholastica rudely welcomes Iowa Wesleyan to UMAC play. St. Scholastica 28 Iowa Wesleyan 7