Week 7 Power Rankings

(Photo credit to Avery Marie Photography)

And then there were three. With Greenville's victory this week, Northwestern is officially eliminated from championship contention. We saw two rising teams take down their opponents this week as Crown and Iowa Wesleyan both claimed their second victories of the year, with Crown going into overtime versus Minnesota-Morris for the second time in as many years. After losing to the Highlanders last year, Eureka fought back any urge to repeat and won by a slim 8 point margin to keep their championship hopes alive. There was a lot of movement in the rankings this week, with four teams changing rank since last week.

1. Greenville- One of the hallmarks of successful teams is their ability to never give up and win even when facing a big deficit. Greenville demonstrated this ability this week as they trailed Northwestern 20-0 with just over 5 minutes remaining in the first half. They fought back and took the lead for good just seconds into the fourth quarter. Even though their nationally third-ranked rushing offense was limited by Northwestern to a season-low 252 yards on the ground, Greenville was able to move the ball through the air and find ways to get into the end zone. So far undefeated this season, the Panthers should continue their reign uncontested until the final game of the year when they match up against the St. Scholastica Saints who has been nipping at their heels all season.

2. St. Scholastica- The Saints continue their unbeaten streak in the UMAC with an easy victory over Martin Luther. The team rushed for 343 yards on just 25 rushes – an average of 13.7 yards per carry – including 5 touchdowns. St. Scholastica only faced three third-downs in this game, and did not have an offensive drive of more than 8 plays. While averaging over 37 points per game in UMAC play, the Saints have been dominant in most of their contests. Their two biggest tests are yet to come in Eureka, whom they face this week, and Greenville, where they finish off the regular season.

3. Eureka- Not a surprise here as Eureka defeats MacMurray to push their UMAC record to 5-1. It was a little surprising, however, that the Red Devils only won by a margin of 8 points over a team whose average margin of defeat leading up to this week was 25.3 points. While Eureka’s defense continued their performance, the offense seemed to struggle at times against a MacMurray defense who has allowed 443.3 yards and 42.8 points per game to opposing offenses. Eureka had several short drives, showing the struggles their offense has had at times moving the ball up the field and averaged only 4.6 yards per play. In this coming game against the St. Scholastica Saints, the Eureka offense will need to increase its offensive production if they hope to win a game they must have if they hope to compete for a conference championship.

4. Northwestern- If the Eagles could play a complete game, they could be the best team in the UMAC. But their performance continues to drop in every game as soon as the second half starts. Through seven games, Northwestern has been outscored by opponents in the second half 115 to 59 while outscoring their opponents 97 to 77 in the first half of those games. In fact, the Eagles have led every conference game at halftime, save for the Eureka game where it was tied up until 7 seconds before the halftime horn. I don’t know if it is youth, lack of focus, poor coaching adjustments, endurance, or a combination of all of the above, but the Eagles must solve this issue if they hope to be contenders in the future. I am sure their fans would appreciate fewer broken hearts as well.

5. Minnesota-Morris- Although they lost to Crown this past week, I still have seen more consistent performance out of the Cougars this season than Crown, especially offensively. But one slip up and they could easily swap places with the Storm. Caleb McLaren has been very consistent all season, throwing for at least 270 yards and a pair of touchdowns in every game except the loss to Greenville. However, he also has a conference leading 11 interceptions, likely a result of inexperience at the college level. Defensively, I would like to see the Cougars lock down the run more effectively as they are currently allowing 242.4 yards per game. Unless they improve upon that, they will have a tough time retaining this position as they face Martin Luther and St. Scholastica over the next two weeks - two team who favor the run.

6. Crown- The Storms defense has been one of the biggest surprises of the season as they are ranked 4th in points allowed and passing yards allowed - a big improvement from their 8th place finish in both categories last season. They still are only average against the run, but that has not been their biggest issue this season. Crown's biggest struggle has come on the offensive side of the ball, where the seem to have struggled to find their identity. They started the season pass-heavy, became somewhat balanced, and the last two weeks have become a run-oriented offense, averaging 338 rushing yards and 59 carries in those games. As with any team, defense always comes together faster than offense, and that looks to be the case with Crown, who brought in close to 50 new players this offseason. Look for their offense to get markedly better over these last few weeks as they continue to develop their identity and combine their talent with their will to win

7. Martin Luther- With another big loss to a good team, the Knights continue their trend of low-scoring performances against the better teams. Despite having the ball for 42 of the 60 minutes on the game clock, the Knights were able to muster only 14 points. But I do not fault the offense for this loss as much as I fault the defense (even though half the players might play both ways). The defense gave up several long plays and did not really stand a chance against an expereinced Saints rushing offense. With an enrollment of under 800 students who are mostly preachers and teachers to-be, it is understandable how it can be hard to field enough athletes to put together a complete team. But at least they are trying.

8. Iowa Wesleyan- With their second win of their short Division III history, the Tigers move up in our rankings! As the season goes on, the Tigers continue to show some promise of becoming a team that will make some noise in the UMAC in the future. Right now, I think the team is missing several pieces due to the loss of several players in the offseason, but I believe if they can bring in enough recruits, they will be able to compete with the better teams in the UMAC. QB Zandro Diaz has quietly been one of the best quarterbacks in the conference, averaging 246.6 yards with a conference best 61.6% completion percentage. He will need to reduce his TD/INT ratio however as he is currently 13/8 in that category. His main two targets, Ridge Hobbs and LiMichael Peeples, are currently 1st and 3rd in the UMAC for receiving yards per game with 105.1 and 80.1 yards per game, respectively. Defensively, this team struggles with getting to the quarterback and forcing turnovers, but they lack experience after losing all of last season's starters so it is not unexpected. Senior OLB Jamarco Clark is a bright spot on this defense as he is second in the conference in tackles with 81 total. Unfortunately, the Tigers have a rough stretch ahead to finish the year as they will face Greenville, Eureka, and Northwestern in their final three games.

9. Westminster- Apparently we really overestimated the Blue Jays potential this season. after starting 2-0 in the UMAC, they have lost four straight and they haven't played well in those losses either. Perhaps their biggest loss, however, is the loss of star RB Ronnie Seals Jr. a week ago to an apparent season-ending ankle injury. Seals had accounted for over 39% of the team's total offensive yardage up until his injury. While it appears the Blue Jays may have found another "Junior" to replace him in converted WR Sam Lantz Jr., the main issue all season has been Joe Plassmeyer's ineffectiveness. Hopefully he can get back in the groove before the season is over so there is hope for the Blue Jays next season as he likely returns for another year as their quarterback.

10. MacMurray- Actually not a bad showing for the Highlanders this week as they held Eureka to 23 points and only lost by 8. QB Coy Dorothy seems to be the new leader for MacMurray's offense after throwing for 233 yards and 2 TDs against a very good Eureka defense. The Highlanders offensive line may be a place the coaching staff can focus on for improvement as they gave up 5 sacks and their blocking led to only 40 yards on 30 carries. After facing Eureka, Greenville, and St. Scholastica in the last three weeks, the Highlanders face the up and coming Crown Storm this week, still in search of their first win of the 2013 season