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.