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