Presentation College Saints [28 - 35] University of Minnesota - Morris Cougars
This 35-28 non-conference win against the Saints (formerly of the UMAC), was back and forth all game and the win did not come as easily as was expected for the Cougars. Presentation, still hurting from a 75-6 whooping by the Division II South Dakota School for Mines & Technology, came out ready to play and put together a 14-play drive scoring drive to start the game. UM-Morris quickly responded with a 70 yard dash by RB Leandro Dower to even the score out. After scoring passes from the Cougars' QB1 and QB2, the Saints matched both scores and the teams went into halftime even at 21 each. After the break, the Cougars started the second half out with a solid 63-yard drive that ended with the Foss brothers hooking up for a 1-yard touchdown - the second score of the day for each. After another touchdown by the Saints, Leandro Dower ended the scoring for both teams on a 2-yard run to cap another long drive by the Cougars. Leading UM-Morris to their victory, Dower finished with 153 yards on 14 carries to go along with his 2 scoring runs. Brendan Foss, also with 2 touchdowns, put up another great day receiving for the Cougars, totaling 181 yards on 10 receptions. UM-Morris (5-3 overall, 4-2 in UMAC) will be on the road for the remainder of the year as they head to Crown College next week before finishing the year against the St. Scholastica Saints.
Westminster College Blue Jays [22 - 24] MacMurray College Highlanders
For the Highlanders, this was one of a few games all year where winning was a possibility, and luckily for them, this became a reality as they defeated Westminster by a slim 24-22 margin in a game that was not pretty for either team. Westminster's errors proved to be the biggest difference in this game as QB Joe Plassmeyer threw 4 interceptions and lost 2 fumbles to the Highlanders who turned those 6 turnovers into 12 points. The first of Plassmeyer's fumbles came just two plays into the game and MacMurray QB Cody Hussey quickly connected with WR Deshonta Smallwood on 32-yard scoring strike to put the home team up 6-0. After the kickoff, Plassmeyer fumbled again, this time on the first play of the drive, but MacMurray was unable to advance the ball and was forced to punt it back to the Blue Jays. Each team had several unsuccesful drives before Westminster put together a 6-play 75-yard drive, which ended with a 10-yard scoring reception by WR Mac Findeiss, his first of two on the day. After an interception by each team, a turnover on downs by each team, and another interception by each team, the horn sounded for halftime, both teams hoping to find a way to cut down on mistakes for the second half.
This hope was not fulfilled however, as three plays into the first Westminster drive, Plassmeyer threw his third interception of the game which was returned to the Blue Jays 18-yard line. Hussey took advantage of great field position again and threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to WR DeJohn Randle. The pair hooked up on the next drive for another score to give the Highlanders a 18-6 lead heading into the 4th quarter. The Blue Jays were not finished though as they put together a 16-play 79-yard scoring drive, followed by a 10-play 85-yard drive capped by WR Mac Findeiss catching his second score. Each score was followed by a 2-pt conversion to put Westminster up 22-18. After a drive by each team, MacMurray had the ball back with 3:18 left, hoping to gain their first win of the year. Hussey lead his team down the field and tossed a 40-yard score to DeJohn Randle who gained his third touchdown on the day, and perhaps the most important score of the year for the Highlanders. A quick drive by the Blue Jays had them within range for a possible field goal before MacMurray's John Brockhouse Jr. picked off Plassmeyer to allow the Highlanders to run the clock out for their first victory of the 2012 season. MacMurray will host Martin Luther next week and then head to Eureka to wrap up their UMAC season. Westminster moves to 2-5 in conference play and hosts the Greenville Panthers next week and then has a BYE week before a rematch against MacMurray in a non-conference game to end the year.
Crown College Storm [13 - 45] College of St. Scholastica Saints
After a shaky game last week for the Saints, they looked like they got their act back together this week as they quickly got out to a 28-0 lead just minutes into the second quarter. Crown never really looked to have a chance in this game and struggled against the Saints defense, only gaining 1.8 yards per rush on 40 attempts and going 28% on third down conversions. Saints QB Tyler Harper lead the team to victory with 13/20 passing for 161 yards and 3 touchdowns, two of which went to WR Nick Thiry. The Saints rushing game continue to produce as RBs Thomas Fragle and Chris Gassert gained 106 yards and 64 yards respectively on 9 carries each for an average of 9.4 yards per carry between the two. Crown's offensive line struggled to protect their QB as Wes Safford was sacked 4 times and threw an interception. The Saints improve to 6-1 in conference after this 45-13 victory and have a non-conference contest at Presentation College next week. Crown drops to 1-5 in UMAC play and faces the UM-Morris Cougars next week in St. Bonafacius.
Martin Luther College Knights [26-47] Northwestern College Eagles
This could have been a close game had the Knights defense not made mistakes and if they would have been less error-prone on offense and exploited the holes in the Eagles defense earlier in the game as they should have. But Martin Luther came out undisciplined in the first half and let the Eagles throw over the top of them as Northwestern needed just 5 completed passes to gain 225 yards, with 4 of them going for touchdowns of 39 yards or more. The Knights couldn't stop the running game all day either and allowed the Eagles to average 6.5 yards a carry for a total of 280 yards on the ground. RB Josh Sinnen led the ground attack for the Eagles with 136 yards and a touchdown while WR Brian Lecheler led the receiving corps with 128 yards and 2 scores. Northwestern was able to limit last week's Outstanding Athlete of the Week, QB Luke Rothe to only 12/29 completions with 143 yards and 2 touchdowns and only 28 yards on the ground. There seemed to be several miscommunications between Rothe and his receivers as spasses sailed out to unoccupied areas of the field as he was scrambling from Northwestern's dominating pass rush. The Knights look to tighten things up this week before they make the trip to Jacksonville, Illinois to face the MacMurray Highlanders, fresh off of their first conference win. Northwestern will need to stay disciplined through the rest of the year if they hope to be crowned UMAC champs as they face Eureka College next week before they wrap the regular season up at home versus the Greenville Panthers and their explosive offense.
Eureka College Red Devils [38-45] Greenville College Panthers
These two offenses could not be any different as Eureka lives and dies through their passing game led by QB Sam Durley while the Panthers run nearly 80% of their plays on the ground. On the other side of the ball though, the teams are very similar as they both allow an average of over 380 yards and 32 points to opposing offenses. Greenville came out with the offensive line blazing the trail to open up a 35-7 lead by halftime with 5 rushing touchdowns, 3 from QB Brendan Chambers alone. After a few unsuccessful drives by each team, a touchdown reception by Eureka's RB Zach McCoy was followed by Greenville's RB Manny Gamble sprinting for a 54-yard score to bring the Red Devils' deficit back up to 28 points. The Red Devils facing a seemingly insurmountable deficit, were not giving up the fight though as they put together a valiant comeback attempt led by Sam Durley who led three unanswered scoring drives completing touchdowns to WRs Jordan Jefferson, Jake Bane and Cody Followell. But by the time Followell crossed the goal line, there was only 2:28 left on the gameclock and Eureka was out of time outs so Greenville's offense was able to run the clock out and prevent a comeback. Durley finished 32 of 57 with 416 yards and 4 touchdowns and had three receivers (Jordan Kindred, Bane, and Followell) pass the 100 yard mark. On Greenville's side, their offensive line led the way for three 100-yard rushers as Gamble and Chambers each had 14 carries for 138 and 103 yards, respectively, and Justin Honeycutt received 26 handoffs for 133 yards and 2 scores. Defensively for Greenville, LB Jacob Bronars tallied 3 sacks on Sam Durley for a loss of 22 yards. Eureka drops to .500 in the conference and plays host to Northwestern and MacMurray Colleges to close out their season. Greenville is now 5-1 in UMAC play ends the season on roadtrips to Westminster and then to Northwestern the following week.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
Week 7 Predictions- Jay
Jay’s Picks (3 of 4 Week 6, 22 of 28 on the Season
3 out of 4 isn’t bad, but it’s definitely not where I want to be. Furthermore, I really need to put distance in between me and Tommy. By the way, his article is just another piece of journalism brilliance that he has been delivering all year. I hope everyone enjoys loving it, hating it, laughing at it, crying over it, or sending some hate mail our way. You have to love the UMAC. By the way, I haven’t conferred with anyone at UMAC Central, but my vote for most passionate fans/players has to go to Minnesota Morris. They have been carrying a chip on their shoulder all year, and we have been happy to keep adding to it. I think what I am trying to say is…You’re welcome! Now down to the picks.
Presentation @ Minnesota Morris- This is a game where the Cougars should be able to establish a good running game and whoever is playing QB should be able to find open WR’s anywhere on the field. The Saints defense has been allowing close to 448 yards a game to opposing offenses that are not as good as Minnesota Morris. Look for WR Brandon Foss to have another big game going up against smaller DB’s from Presentation. Morris won’t really be challenged until they play St. Scholastica to end the season. Minnesota Morris 38 Presentation 17
Westminster @ MacMurray- For all the grief I have given MacMurray all year, they have been surprisingly competitive against everyone except Wartburg and the top two teams in the conference. Westminster is like one of those NFL teams that seem like they are playing for the number one pick in the draft. They just kind of seem like they have mailed in the season and are already on to next year. While Westminster seems ripe for the upset, I just don’t have any faith that MacMurray can finish a game even though it is at home. Westminster might not be an offensive juggernaut but they won’t have a hard time scoring against MacMurray’s defense that allows a UMAC worst 38 points a game in conference play (43.8 points on the season if you count Wartburg as well). I have no clue where they stand in the country for points allowed, but that defense ranks 213th in the country for yards allowed. What I am trying to get at is that this game will be very close, but I’m just not sure that MacMurray is mature enough to withstand Westminster’s attack for four quarters. Westminster 38 MacMurray 31
Crown @ St. Scholastica- The Saints seemed a little off their game in the win against Westminster probably due to both the weather and possibly residual shock from their loss to Northwestern. The thing is St. Scholastica isn’t out of this race. Not by a long shot. Northwestern faces 3 tough games to finish out the year, and St. Scholastica has to position itself to win the championship. I am not sure what the tie breakers are but even if it comes down to a coin flip, the Saints better take care of business. For Crown, its tough playing back to back games against Northwestern and St. Scholastica. No amount of tweeting will get them through that mess. Although they played their worst “half of a game” of the season last week, they have had a pretty solid season all things considering. This week, tackling should be the focus against the Saints because I truly believe whoever put together the box score last week just threw in a tackle amount to save the Storm from embarrassment. Who really believes Crown got Northwestern players down more than 15 times the entire game? For the Storm, it’s not about winning this game but getting better and building for next year. St. Scholastica 42 Crown 16
Martin Luther @ Northwestern- QB Luke Rothe reminds me of poor man’s version mix of two Division 1 players: Northwestern’s All-purpose WR/RB/QB Kain Colter and Kansas State’s QB Collin Klein. Rothe has been spectacular doing pretty much anything you can imagine; stopping just short of throwing the ball to himself (he did have one catch for 4 yards last Saturday). It’s like in high school, when a team just lets their best player run around with the ball until he scores. Not always the best route to go in college football, but hats off to the Martin Luther coaching staff that figured out a way to get some offensive production by switching around some positions. Northwestern figures to score a lot of points, but that Knights defense is underrated and finally has an offense that can score some points. I really like the Knights in this game especially because the non-traditional offense neutralizes Northwestern’s potent pass rush. I think the Eagles better buckle up for a wild game where Rothe and the Knights come up just short in an overtime loss in St. Paul, MN. Northwestern 35 Martin Luther 28 OT
GAME OF THE WEEK
Eureka @ Greenville- This game is going to be a shootout. Last year Greenville won 36 to 33, and its going to be a higher scoring game than that one. The offense will come completely through the air for Eureka riding the arm of QB Sam Durley and Greenville will run the ball all day with QB Brendan Chambers and RB Manny Gamble. If I had to nail down the preseason goals for Greenville’s defense there would only be one—allow one less point than the offense scores. Most of the time it works because they have the conference’s best offense statistically (overall, not just in conference play). The real question surrounding Eureka all year is whether or not their offensive line will be able to keep Durley upright. Durley has been sacked 27 times which is more than double the number any other QB has been sacked. If they can give Durley time, he should find open WR’s all day. On paper this should be a close game.
Greenville 42 Eureka 38
Week 7 Predictions - Tommy
Tommy's Picks - (3 of 4 Week 6, 20 of 28 on season)
Another decent week for me in Week 6 going 3 for 4. I should have known better than to pick all of the same teams as Jay - talk about the blind leading the blind. Apparently I riled up all of the Cougars from Morris spurring them on to their biggest win of the year over Eureka. You're welcome UMM fans. I still stand by my previous claim that beating Eureka does not impress me - but, I will give credit where credit is due. Congratulations to the Cougars on a solid road victory. If you do something against Scholastica maybe I will finally stop hating on your two-quarterback system and guards constantly in two-point stances. A glance at this week's line-up shows no marquee match-ups, but I still expect to see some good UMAC competition.
Crown @ St. Scholastica - Hopefully after last week's debacle, all Storm players have decided to refrain from providing the Saints with any bulletin board material. Two weeks ago I would have said CSS would win this game by 40. I would have said the same thing going into last week as well. But, after a poor showing against Westminster in which the Saints hobbled to a 20-6 victory, I am not so sure anymore. It seems like St. Scholastica is a squad that plays to competition at times. However, Crown did even less to impress me last week getting steamrolled in what was their biggest game of the year. The Storm still have too many holes to fill to think about beating a team like CSS. St. Scholatica's talent overmatches Crown in this one. The Saints score early and often and Crown wishes that they could only play the first half in this one too. St. Scholastica 38 Crown 7
Martin Luther @ Northwestern - I'm going to do all the UMAC teams a solid and give out some free advice on how to beat the Eagles. 1) Stop trying to run the football. "But wait," you say, "we are a running team." I understand that you are who you are, but NWC is just too tough on the run. Their front seven will outmatch any offensive line out there. 2) Pass the ball. You can throw on this team. If you protect your quarterback for 3 seconds you can complete 8 yard passes to the flats and 15 yard passes up the seam all day against the Eagle's defense. Even Crown had some success doing this. 3) Stop the run. I can almost guarantee you that of the Eagles' first 8 plays at least 6 will be runs. They are not trying to fool anyone. They are going to line up with 2 backs and 1 tight end and hand the ball to Chris Simon-Wallace and Josh Sinnen. Put 10 people in the box if you need to. 4) Make them pass. NWC hasn't had to pass the ball effectively to win in any of their games this season. Make them do something they don't want to do. I'm not saying they can't pass, but I haven't seen it yet. What I have seen is them dominate game after game on the ground.
To recap, 1) Give up on the run 2) Pass instead 3) Stop the run 4) Force them to pass to beat you
Easier said than done... but if it were me, I would much rather get beaten through the air than allow the Eagles to run the ball down my throat like they have done all season. Is Martin Luther the team to do any of these things? Probably not. But, who knows? Maybe they will throw off Northwestern with their 8 yard splits between each lineman. Outside of that, I don't see the Eagles dropping this one. Northwestern 28 Martin Luther 7
Presentation @ Minnesota Morris - Morris is flying high fresh off of their big win over the Red Devils. I saw some tweets of the vindicated Cougars and I am glad to see they are enjoying themselves. The good news is that they should have two more weeks to enjoy themselves before St. Scholastica brings them back to reality. Other good news is that thanks to the UMAC's Sports Information Director, Greg Johnson, we now know the name of the Morris announcer - Paul McDonald. Someone tell Paul to get on here because he is now famous. I thought Presentation would be much improved this season, but after they lost 41-20 to Crown I lost all faith. At least their school is in South Dakota so there is a lot to do outside of football. Minnesota Morris 31 Presentation 21
Westminster @ MacMurray - Where do I even begin with this one? Both of these teams have proven themselves to be undisciplined and sloppy throughout the course of this season. On a brighter note, a Westminster corner/travel agent did post on our wall something about having his own island and we are all invited. Personally, I am pretty excited. It sounds like a nice place to visit. Brendon Foss visited there a couple weeks ago and enjoyed 12 catches for 182 yards and 3 TDs. I bet even Jay could take a nice, relaxing vacation to this island and have a cool two catches for 40 yards.
What are my thoughts on the game? Don't know. Still don't know what I think about Westminster. They played Scholastica close last week so maybe they played with some pride as I requested. Or maybe the Saints just didn't play great in the rainy conditions. I know I should pick the Blue Jays in this one, but what the heck? Give me the Highlanders! Someone give me their mascot head to put on. Do they even have a mascot? I cannot justify my pick except to say that a Westminster player will fall out of the back of the end zone into the abyss of Freesen Field and the Blue Jays will be so thrown off that Mac pulls out the W. MacMurray 28 Westminster 27
Game of the Week:
Eureka @ Greenville - This was a game I circled on my calendar at the beginning on the year. I thought Greenville would be the class of the conference and Eureka would be just below the top teams and even pull off an upset or two. After 6 weeks of conference play, it would appear that things have turned out a little differently. I'm not completely ready to give up on Greenville yet, but their defense is about as intimidating as Alex Rodriguez in the postseason. (That's not very intimidating for those of you who did not understand the analogy). However, I'm beginning to think that Eureka is more interested in creating publicity for Sam Durley than winning games. It is great that Durley is able to get all of these accolades and invitations to All-Star games and NFL scouts looking at him and whatever else. But what does it matter if you cannot finish higher than fifth in the UMAC? I will take a winner over someone who puts up stats any day.
I expect this one to be an absolute shootout. Both of these high-powered offenses will be facing defenses that leave much to be desired. In completely different fashions, I expect both offenses to rack up big yards and lots of points. I will take Greenville in this one for two reasons. First, they have been there before. I always trust a team that has proven they know how to win in previous seasons. Second, I like a team that can run the ball effectively over a team that can pass the ball effectively. Too many things have to go right on a passing play (good protection, good throw, good catch) for a DIII team to build its offense around the aerial attack. I am much more confident in a team that snaps the ball and runs it right at you play after play. I like Greenville to literally run all over the Red Devils. Greenville 48 Eureka 38
Another decent week for me in Week 6 going 3 for 4. I should have known better than to pick all of the same teams as Jay - talk about the blind leading the blind. Apparently I riled up all of the Cougars from Morris spurring them on to their biggest win of the year over Eureka. You're welcome UMM fans. I still stand by my previous claim that beating Eureka does not impress me - but, I will give credit where credit is due. Congratulations to the Cougars on a solid road victory. If you do something against Scholastica maybe I will finally stop hating on your two-quarterback system and guards constantly in two-point stances. A glance at this week's line-up shows no marquee match-ups, but I still expect to see some good UMAC competition.
Martin Luther @ Northwestern - I'm going to do all the UMAC teams a solid and give out some free advice on how to beat the Eagles. 1) Stop trying to run the football. "But wait," you say, "we are a running team." I understand that you are who you are, but NWC is just too tough on the run. Their front seven will outmatch any offensive line out there. 2) Pass the ball. You can throw on this team. If you protect your quarterback for 3 seconds you can complete 8 yard passes to the flats and 15 yard passes up the seam all day against the Eagle's defense. Even Crown had some success doing this. 3) Stop the run. I can almost guarantee you that of the Eagles' first 8 plays at least 6 will be runs. They are not trying to fool anyone. They are going to line up with 2 backs and 1 tight end and hand the ball to Chris Simon-Wallace and Josh Sinnen. Put 10 people in the box if you need to. 4) Make them pass. NWC hasn't had to pass the ball effectively to win in any of their games this season. Make them do something they don't want to do. I'm not saying they can't pass, but I haven't seen it yet. What I have seen is them dominate game after game on the ground.
To recap, 1) Give up on the run 2) Pass instead 3) Stop the run 4) Force them to pass to beat you
Easier said than done... but if it were me, I would much rather get beaten through the air than allow the Eagles to run the ball down my throat like they have done all season. Is Martin Luther the team to do any of these things? Probably not. But, who knows? Maybe they will throw off Northwestern with their 8 yard splits between each lineman. Outside of that, I don't see the Eagles dropping this one. Northwestern 28 Martin Luther 7 Presentation @ Minnesota Morris - Morris is flying high fresh off of their big win over the Red Devils. I saw some tweets of the vindicated Cougars and I am glad to see they are enjoying themselves. The good news is that they should have two more weeks to enjoy themselves before St. Scholastica brings them back to reality. Other good news is that thanks to the UMAC's Sports Information Director, Greg Johnson, we now know the name of the Morris announcer - Paul McDonald. Someone tell Paul to get on here because he is now famous. I thought Presentation would be much improved this season, but after they lost 41-20 to Crown I lost all faith. At least their school is in South Dakota so there is a lot to do outside of football. Minnesota Morris 31 Presentation 21
Westminster @ MacMurray - Where do I even begin with this one? Both of these teams have proven themselves to be undisciplined and sloppy throughout the course of this season. On a brighter note, a Westminster corner/travel agent did post on our wall something about having his own island and we are all invited. Personally, I am pretty excited. It sounds like a nice place to visit. Brendon Foss visited there a couple weeks ago and enjoyed 12 catches for 182 yards and 3 TDs. I bet even Jay could take a nice, relaxing vacation to this island and have a cool two catches for 40 yards.
What are my thoughts on the game? Don't know. Still don't know what I think about Westminster. They played Scholastica close last week so maybe they played with some pride as I requested. Or maybe the Saints just didn't play great in the rainy conditions. I know I should pick the Blue Jays in this one, but what the heck? Give me the Highlanders! Someone give me their mascot head to put on. Do they even have a mascot? I cannot justify my pick except to say that a Westminster player will fall out of the back of the end zone into the abyss of Freesen Field and the Blue Jays will be so thrown off that Mac pulls out the W. MacMurray 28 Westminster 27 Game of the Week:
Eureka @ Greenville - This was a game I circled on my calendar at the beginning on the year. I thought Greenville would be the class of the conference and Eureka would be just below the top teams and even pull off an upset or two. After 6 weeks of conference play, it would appear that things have turned out a little differently. I'm not completely ready to give up on Greenville yet, but their defense is about as intimidating as Alex Rodriguez in the postseason. (That's not very intimidating for those of you who did not understand the analogy). However, I'm beginning to think that Eureka is more interested in creating publicity for Sam Durley than winning games. It is great that Durley is able to get all of these accolades and invitations to All-Star games and NFL scouts looking at him and whatever else. But what does it matter if you cannot finish higher than fifth in the UMAC? I will take a winner over someone who puts up stats any day.
I expect this one to be an absolute shootout. Both of these high-powered offenses will be facing defenses that leave much to be desired. In completely different fashions, I expect both offenses to rack up big yards and lots of points. I will take Greenville in this one for two reasons. First, they have been there before. I always trust a team that has proven they know how to win in previous seasons. Second, I like a team that can run the ball effectively over a team that can pass the ball effectively. Too many things have to go right on a passing play (good protection, good throw, good catch) for a DIII team to build its offense around the aerial attack. I am much more confident in a team that snaps the ball and runs it right at you play after play. I like Greenville to literally run all over the Red Devils. Greenville 48 Eureka 38
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Q&A with Luke Rothe
Our Week 6 Outstanding Athlete of the Week, the Martin Luther College Knights freshman QB/DB/KR/All-Around-Athlete Luke Rothe, recently answered a few questions for us about his football experience and his recent performance this past weekend which earned our recognition. Congratulations again Luke, keep playing hard and we wish you the best of luck through the rest of the season.
What is your first football memory?
What was the biggest key to your individual success in last week’s performance?
The Numbers:
In last week's game versus the Greenville College Panthers, Rothe led the Knights to their highest offensive production of the year with 402 yards of total offense and 6 touchdowns. The freshman QB passed for 223 yards with 13 completions on 25 attempts for 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He also had 13 rushing attempts for 78 yards and a score, 1 reception for 4 yards, and returned 5 kickoffs for 143 yards with an average of 28.6 yards per return. Through his various positions, Rothe contributed to 455 of the Knights 609 total yards in their 46-39 loss to the Greenville Panthers. With the help of Rothe's performance in this game, the Knights nearly matched their entire total of 43 points scored from the previous five UMAC games. In the three weeks since Rothe has taken over at quarterback, MLC's passing yardage and completion percentage have nearly doubled and the Knights have gained 1,041 yards and scored 68 points compared to just 543 yards and 14 points in their first three UMAC games. While the offense still has a few issues to overcome, the Knights look to have found a solid leader for the next few years. As Rothe develops he will be a major threat to teams around the UMAC through his many roles on the field.
 |
| (Photo credit to Lori Rathje) |
In last week's game versus the Greenville College Panthers, Rothe led the Knights to their highest offensive production of the year with 402 yards of total offense and 6 touchdowns. The freshman QB passed for 223 yards with 13 completions on 25 attempts for 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He also had 13 rushing attempts for 78 yards and a score, 1 reception for 4 yards, and returned 5 kickoffs for 143 yards with an average of 28.6 yards per return. Through his various positions, Rothe contributed to 455 of the Knights 609 total yards in their 46-39 loss to the Greenville Panthers. With the help of Rothe's performance in this game, the Knights nearly matched their entire total of 43 points scored from the previous five UMAC games. In the three weeks since Rothe has taken over at quarterback, MLC's passing yardage and completion percentage have nearly doubled and the Knights have gained 1,041 yards and scored 68 points compared to just 543 yards and 14 points in their first three UMAC games. While the offense still has a few issues to overcome, the Knights look to have found a solid leader for the next few years. As Rothe develops he will be a major threat to teams around the UMAC through his many roles on the field.
Q&A:
What is your first football memory?
Playing pickup football in the back yard with my two older brothers and dad.
What was the biggest key to your individual success in last week’s performance?
My WR's got themselves open and were very aggressive at going up high and getting the ball.
Where does your recent performance rank for you on your list of individual best games?
Where does your recent performance rank for you on your list of individual best games?
Top 2
What did you eat for breakfast on game day?
What did you eat for breakfast on game day?
Scrambled eggs, sausage, and waffles
What is the biggest area you want to improve upon moving forward?
What is the biggest area you want to improve upon moving forward?
Ball security, keeping the turnovers to a minimum, ultimately 0
What is going to be the key to your team succeeding this week?
What is going to be the key to your team succeeding this week?
Sustaining long drives, and once again limiting turnovers.
What is on your pregame music playlist?
What is on your pregame music playlist?
B.o.B , as well as some country music to calm me down
Who is your favorite NFL athlete?
Who is your favorite NFL athlete?
Aaron Rodgers
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Being a teacher, and a coach.
What, if any, are your gameday rituals?
Laying in the weight room with my teammates watching football.What, if any, are your gameday rituals?
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
What We Learned in Week 6
6 weeks into the season and I realized that my title for this weekly post is pretty lame: What we Learned? Come one Tommy, you're better than that. I spent a good five minutes trying to think of a better title but the best I could come up with was: The Week that Was. Since that is also pretty lame and since we are more than halfway though the season I figured I might as well leave it as is. But, I would like to apologize to all of my loyal readers for mailing it in on this one. You really do deserve better. Hopefully I make up for it with some clever lessons from 'The Week that Was"... (See that? Nice segue. Things are already looking up.)
1. Northwestern is still Crown's daddy. As I predicted, Northwestern quickly put the Storm in a headlock and made it clear that this is about as much of a rivalry as there is a rivalry between St. Thomas and Hamline. The good news for the Storm is that they didn't make any bold predictions before the game... oh wait... Northwestern scored the first five times they touched the ball while Crown scored a total of zero times they touched the ball. This provides us with yet another example of why turning around a football program is so difficult. In basketball, you can get one or two good players and quickly become a contender. You need a lot more than that to transform a football program with a culture of losing. Crown is making progress and is headed in the right direction, but it is going to be a long process before they are ready to start playing with the big boys.
2. Luke Rothe does it all for Martin Luther. We haven't given the Knights much love this year but I am going to make it up to them it with not one, but two lessons that we learned from them in Week 6. The first focuses on Luke Rothe who apparently plays every position for Martin Luther. They have changed their entire offense so that he can play quarterback without actually having to take a snap under center. He passes, he rushes, he returns kicks, he blocks for himself, he kicks field goals, sometimes he even throws it up as high as he can and runs downfield to catch it himself. The last time I saw something like this was when I was watching the state championships of 1A high school football where the best player plays quarterback and linebacker and just runs around with the ball because the other team can't stop him. Unfortunately for the Knights, this isn't 1A high school football and other teams can stop him. Still, Rothe is an impressive athlete and is almost single-handedly making Martin Luther competitive.
3. Martin Luther's coaches have a giant wheel they spin to determine what offense to run each week. MLC's offense has changed drastically from week to week, ranging from the 1950s veer/triple option to the swinging gate to the pistol to shotgun four wide to linemen spread out as wideouts to who knows what. The only logical explanation for this is that every Monday the Knight's coaches get together for their weekly gameshow called "Wheel of Offense". Some of the options this week include: 1) 10 linemen, snap the ball to Luke Rothe and let him run wherever he wants 2) 1 center, 9 receivers and they run quadruple reverses back and forth until someone gets tackled 3) Everyone starts on their head and front rolls to start the play 4) Punt every 3rd down and even on 1st down a few times just to throw the other team off. I can't wait to see where the wheel lands this week!
4. Greenville is headed in the wrong direction. After being a top team in the conference for the past 3 seasons, the Panthers were expected to again be among the conference's elite. On paper, they should have been the best team in the conference. They had a strong season last year and returned players at key positions. But this year their defense is an absolute sieve. Where is the team that was clearly the most athletic squad in the UMAC a few years ago? Greenville used to be bigger, faster, and stronger than everyone they played against. Now they look small, undisciplined, and slow - especially on defense. I hope that this is a one year aberration and not the beginnings of a program going downhill. I still love watching their explosive offense, but at this point their defense is going to get them run over by any good teams.
5. Minnesota Morris has the best announcer in the UMAC. I was listening to the broadcast this week and whoever does the radio broadcast for the Cougars is a boss. Someone tell me that guy's name so I can give him a proper shout-out. Whatever you are paying him, pay him more. And please, Mr. Announcer - lead a workshop for the other announcers in the conference. I will organize it and even provide scones. I cannot handle any more poor announcing and this is my last ditch effort outside of watching every game on mute.
1. Northwestern is still Crown's daddy. As I predicted, Northwestern quickly put the Storm in a headlock and made it clear that this is about as much of a rivalry as there is a rivalry between St. Thomas and Hamline. The good news for the Storm is that they didn't make any bold predictions before the game... oh wait... Northwestern scored the first five times they touched the ball while Crown scored a total of zero times they touched the ball. This provides us with yet another example of why turning around a football program is so difficult. In basketball, you can get one or two good players and quickly become a contender. You need a lot more than that to transform a football program with a culture of losing. Crown is making progress and is headed in the right direction, but it is going to be a long process before they are ready to start playing with the big boys.
2. Luke Rothe does it all for Martin Luther. We haven't given the Knights much love this year but I am going to make it up to them it with not one, but two lessons that we learned from them in Week 6. The first focuses on Luke Rothe who apparently plays every position for Martin Luther. They have changed their entire offense so that he can play quarterback without actually having to take a snap under center. He passes, he rushes, he returns kicks, he blocks for himself, he kicks field goals, sometimes he even throws it up as high as he can and runs downfield to catch it himself. The last time I saw something like this was when I was watching the state championships of 1A high school football where the best player plays quarterback and linebacker and just runs around with the ball because the other team can't stop him. Unfortunately for the Knights, this isn't 1A high school football and other teams can stop him. Still, Rothe is an impressive athlete and is almost single-handedly making Martin Luther competitive.
3. Martin Luther's coaches have a giant wheel they spin to determine what offense to run each week. MLC's offense has changed drastically from week to week, ranging from the 1950s veer/triple option to the swinging gate to the pistol to shotgun four wide to linemen spread out as wideouts to who knows what. The only logical explanation for this is that every Monday the Knight's coaches get together for their weekly gameshow called "Wheel of Offense". Some of the options this week include: 1) 10 linemen, snap the ball to Luke Rothe and let him run wherever he wants 2) 1 center, 9 receivers and they run quadruple reverses back and forth until someone gets tackled 3) Everyone starts on their head and front rolls to start the play 4) Punt every 3rd down and even on 1st down a few times just to throw the other team off. I can't wait to see where the wheel lands this week!
4. Greenville is headed in the wrong direction. After being a top team in the conference for the past 3 seasons, the Panthers were expected to again be among the conference's elite. On paper, they should have been the best team in the conference. They had a strong season last year and returned players at key positions. But this year their defense is an absolute sieve. Where is the team that was clearly the most athletic squad in the UMAC a few years ago? Greenville used to be bigger, faster, and stronger than everyone they played against. Now they look small, undisciplined, and slow - especially on defense. I hope that this is a one year aberration and not the beginnings of a program going downhill. I still love watching their explosive offense, but at this point their defense is going to get them run over by any good teams.
5. Minnesota Morris has the best announcer in the UMAC. I was listening to the broadcast this week and whoever does the radio broadcast for the Cougars is a boss. Someone tell me that guy's name so I can give him a proper shout-out. Whatever you are paying him, pay him more. And please, Mr. Announcer - lead a workshop for the other announcers in the conference. I will organize it and even provide scones. I cannot handle any more poor announcing and this is my last ditch effort outside of watching every game on mute.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)