FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[DuffMan]

That Sheck Wes - Mo Bamba is somewhat of an unofficial team anthem. They played it at least 5 times last week, usually either right before or right after a big play.

I have had this song stuck in my head since Saturday.  I actually pulled it up on Spotify--it's pretty terrible, lyrically and otherwise.  It must be pretty big with the college crowd, though, as we were watching the Gopher women's VB team play Ohio State on Friday, and OSU played it quite a bit, too.

[USee]

Have to give Bethel credit for playing mistake free football.  If they play like that against UMHB, who knows.

One thing about this Bethel team is certain, they won't beat themselves. If they are gonna lose, the other team is going to have to beat them. With Roste at the helm, they don't turn it over (6 INT and 4 lost fumbles this season-top ten nationally), they don't give up sacks (8 for the season-top 10 nationally), they don't get penalized (3.5 penalties per game--top 10 nationally). 

Like most teams that are still alive at this point, they win games with physical play at the line of scrimmage. They are committed to running the football (55/45 run vs pass) and have a healthier by the week star at QB and several elite D3 WR's. If MHB wins in Belton, it will be because they are better up front than Bethel and make few if any mistakes.

We have seen that version of MHB for most of this year. They also don't turn it over (5 INT and 5 lost fumbles all season), don't give up sacks ( 9 for the season) and are not penalized much (5.5 penalties per game). They have a Stagg MVP QB and elite WR's. MHB lost to UWW in part because the Warhawks played a near flawless game. Aside from a botched punt, they had no turnovers, ran the ball just enough (109 yds) and converted on 10-15 3rd downs and 2 of 3 4th downs which led to a 36min to 24 min favorable TOP to win by 4. Even that included a heroic goal line stand at their own 1 to keep MHB out of the endzone. Of the 8 scoring drives in that game, aside from the MHB score after the failed UWW punt (4 plasy 33 yds), every drive was 10+ plays for 65+ yds for scores. That's the blueprint for beating MHB and Bethel has the profile to do it. We'll see if they have the horses up front. Fun game to watch!

[DuffMan]

FWIW…I’ve played and or have watched football for 45+ years, and I just don’t understand why teams line up in shotgun or pistol formations on whatever down and goal to go needing a foot AND THEN RUN THE BALL!!

That's interesting.  I remember when Ramler was OC, SJU went almost exclusively shotgun/pistol, and it annoyed the hell out of me.  I guess it hasn't bugged me as much recently, probably partly because SJU's been more successful and partly because it's more commonplace in college football.  I'm definitely not an offensive guru, so I don't know the reasoning behind it.

The thing that killed me about that series was that I thought we should have thrown one up to ALar and/or run some type of jet sweep to the corner.  As mentioned, Wartburg was not going to give up yards (inches?) between the tackles in that scenario, and that has been a pretty weak spot in SJU's offense all year.

[USee]

FWIW…I’ve played and or have watched football for 45+ years, and I just don’t understand why teams line up in shotgun or pistol formations on whatever down and goal to go needing a foot AND THEN RUN THE BALL!!

That's interesting.  I remember when Ramler was OC, SJU went almost exclusively shotgun/pistol, and it annoyed the hell out of me.  I guess it hasn't bugged me as much recently, probably partly because SJU's been more successful and partly because it's more commonplace in college football.  I'm definitely not an offensive guru, so I don't know the reasoning behind it.

The thing that killed me about that series was that I thought we should have thrown one up to ALar and/or run some type of jet sweep to the corner.  As mentioned, Wartburg was not going to give up yards (inches?) between the tackles in that scenario, and that has been a pretty weak spot in SJU's offense all year.

I can't say I know why teams do this. I remember when the spread/shotgun offense started to become popular I never understood shotgun inside the 5 yd line or in short yardage situations. Now, I believe teams probably do it because the only time they wouldn't do it is for a QB sneak in short yardage and it's much easier to defend 1 or 2 plays when the QB is under center vs a wider play set from a normal formation. But who knows.

[oldsju67]

FWIW…I’ve played and or have watched football for 45+ years, and I just don’t understand why teams line up in shotgun or pistol formations on whatever down and goal to go needing a foot AND THEN RUN THE BALL!!

That's interesting.  I remember when Ramler was OC, SJU went almost exclusively shotgun/pistol, and it annoyed the hell out of me.  I guess it hasn't bugged me as much recently, probably partly because SJU's been more successful and partly because it's more commonplace in college football.  I'm definitely not an offensive guru, so I don't know the reasoning behind it.

The thing that killed me about that series was that I thought we should have thrown one up to ALar and/or run some type of jet sweep to the corner.  As mentioned, Wartburg was not going to give up yards (inches?) between the tackles in that scenario, and that has been a pretty weak spot in SJU's offense all year.

Duff, don’t think I wasn’t sitting behind you watching you yell “Just sneak the damn thing!!”, because you know I was!!!

[retagent]

For those of you who buy into this (I don't), Bethel beat SJU 9 (once with Roste). SJU beat UWW. UWW beat UMHB.
That being said, it will take a Grade A effort by Bethel. Good Luck!

[UMHB03]

For those of you who buy into this (I don't), Bethel beat SJU 9 (once with Roste). SJU beat UWW. UWW beat UMHB.
That being said, it will take a Grade A effort by Bethel. Good Luck!

UW-Platteville beat Bethel. Hardin-Simmons beat UW-Platteville by 41. UMHB beat Hardin-Simmons by 30. 

[SagatagSam]

That Sheck Wes - Mo Bamba is somewhat of an unofficial team anthem. They played it at least 5 times last week, usually either right before or right after a big play.

I have had this song stuck in my head since Saturday.  I actually pulled it up on Spotify--it's pretty terrible, lyrically and otherwise.  It must be pretty big with the college crowd, though, as we were watching the Gopher women's VB team play Ohio State on Friday, and OSU played it quite a bit, too.

RE: In-game music

There were plenty of questionable music calls, both in terms of timing (music blasting while Timo is announcing the upcoming down and distance) and song selection. I mean, little drummer boy? Really?

RE: Mo Bamba

Yeah. I think it has nearly attained "Harlem Shake" by Baauer status with this crop of college students, just without the viral video component. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV0LHCHf-pE

[hazzben]

For those of you who buy into this (I don't), Bethel beat SJU 9 (once with Roste). SJU beat UWW. UWW beat UMHB.
That being said, it will take a Grade A effort by Bethel. Good Luck!

UW-Platteville beat Bethel (minus Roste). Hardin-Simmons beat UW-Platteville by 41. UMHB beat Hardin-Simmons by 30. 

Fixed it for ya. Pat, myself, and plenty others are on record saying Bethel with Roste and Bethel without/injured Roste are two very different animals. That UWP game the D was on the field the entire game and gave up only 10 pts.

Have to give Bethel credit for playing mistake free football.  If they play like that against UMHB, who knows.

If MHB wins in Belton, it will be because they are better up front than Bethel and make few if any mistakes.

MHB lost to UWW in part because the Warhawks played a near flawless game.

All well said USee. How do we stack up physically, especially late in the game. Bethel has some great skill guys, we'll see against UMHB if they're elite, we know the Cru group is.

[CruFrenzy]

My two cents on this matchup..

As I mentioned in an earlier post this will no doubt be the best opponent either team has faced this season so I'm really looking forward to it.

For UMHB, our offense the last two games has looked like it did on our Stagg Bowl run last season for the most part. Our HC mentioned after the game that we got conservative up 24-7 which was good to hear him address that because with all do respect to Trinity we should've put that game away at that point. So you can expect a great offense to prepare for.

On the other side of the ball is where I have my concerns as a Cru backer. Our secondary and linebackers are playing very close If not matching our standard but our defensive line is not the same as years past. They have improved and we looked good against the run but our pass rush is not elite, it usually is. So given that Bethel is one of the best pass pro Offensive line units in the country and has a Gagliardi caliber QB as well I do expect our defense to have a serious situation on their hands.. we've known that all year and it's only been a matter of time until we played a high level offense so it will be fun..

For that reason I think this game is a shootout... close game where both teams get into the upper 20's and potentially the 30's. Our team will not underestimate you guys but I hope our fans realize the challenge at hand and come out and pack the Cruthedral.

GO CRU

[wally_wabash]

Joey Kidder gets Greg's Game Ball on the Podcast.

He earned it!

[USee]

Looking at MHB v Trinity this past Saturday TU had some trouble running the ball against the Cru and I believe Trinity has a top level QB and WR's so their 26-38 for 282 yds and 0 INTs is telling. UWW QB went 28-35 for 301 yds.

I think the UWW and Trinity games are good comps to look at.

[criswyly]

Can't play scores comparison, but it sure is fun to try.   My money is on Bethel.

[USee]

Can't play scores comparison, but it sure is fun to try.   My money is on Bethel.

Yea, not really comparing scores, just looking at box score data and adding it as a piece of the puzzle when evaluating teams. Watching a team, looking at stats, understanding quality of competition, all are part of the data. What you can't really ever predict is how OLine and DLine's as well as perimeter players match up. I think it's fair to say that Trinity, who has a great QB and WR's and UWW, who had a good QB and good WR's, both has similar success against UMHB. Bethel, with a star QB  and great WR's, might find some success there. And MHB, who has a proven QB and WR's, will likely have some success throwing it against Bethel, who likes to play a lot of Man coverage and bring pressure, though they do play some zone.

[UMHB03]

Looking at MHB v Trinity this past Saturday TU had some trouble running the ball against the Cru and I believe Trinity has a top level QB and WR's so their 26-38 for 282 yds and 0 INTs is telling. UWW QB went 28-35 for 301 yds.

I think the UWW and Trinity games are good comps to look at.

Most of Trinity's passing success came after UMHB got a big lead and started conceding short/mid-range passes the entire second half. When the defense was actually attacking and trying to stop them, Trinity couldn't do much.