FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OzJohnnie]

A large number of upsets this weekend in the top 25. And a few near misses as well. This will be an interesting year, it seems.

Is three a large number? And one of those three is a win by a WIAC team, plus another is a Top 25 beating another Top 25. Didn't seem large in number to me.

Yes, three is a large number and two one-score near missiles on top of that. Five of the 21 ranked teams playing. 24%, or just short of one in four who played.

 

[Pat Coleman]

I guess we disagree on what a large number is.

[TheChucker]

Cobbers looked downright pathetic on offense out of the gates last night. In the past four years, they have stumbled similarly, resulting in come from behind squeaker victories against Valley City State and losses to what should have been a beatable WI-Eau Claire team. Defense is way ahead of the offense. Red zone stalls and a momentum killing turnover in the first half did make the score appear tighter than the game play did, but the first half was truly about as ugly as it gets offensively. For some of the passes, the term incomplete doesn't even capture it...they were throws to nowhere.

Grateful for a second half recovery, where the Cobbers had dominating drives and controlled the game.

I think the Cobbers will show up at St. Olaf in two weeks with those opening nerves settled and return to Moorhead with the troll trophy still safely in Horan's office. Quarterback play still a big question based on last night, so it is really hard to say at this point whether or not this team will be in the mix for top of conference. I would guess at this point they are probably shooting for #3.

Yeah, the double tight-end formation with endless runs up the middle was a throw back to Christopherson with the exception of doing straight zone blocking every play...booooring. That won't work against the better MIAC teams so here's hoping the Cobs get the passing game working. That said, the RB #3 for the Cobs started to show some great patience in the zone running game and kept the ball rolling in the second half. Nice showing for him.

[DuffMan]

MIAC Week 1
Auggie Tech 0, Valley City State 27
Carleton 14, UW Whitewater 45
Concordia 17, Mayville State 6
Gustavus 10, Whitworthless 23
Hamline 28, Crown 21
Macalaster 20, Grinnell 15
St. Olaf 32, Fake Northwestern 7
St. Scholastica 41, Wisconsin Lutheran 27

I guess I'm not too surprised by any of the outcomes.  Carelton got MonkeyStomped, but honestly, it was better than I expected.

[Mister36]

MIAC Week 1
Auggie Tech 0, Valley City State 27
Carleton 14, UW Whitewater 45
Concordia 17, Mayville State 6
Gustavus 10, Whitworthless 23
Hamline 28, Crown 21
Macalaster 20, Grinnell 15
St. Olaf 32, Fake Northwestern 7
St. Scholastica 41, Wisconsin Lutheran 27

I guess I'm not too surprised by any of the outcomes.  Carelton got MonkeyStomped, but honestly, it was better than I expected.

Northwestern actually put up a fight for the first half at least, Olaf's only scores for a while were a fluke bad snap Defensive TD and a safety

[WashedUp]

Carelton got MonkeyStomped, but honestly, it was better than I expected.

I was able to attend the game and it was better than I expected as well.  Carleton defense made the Warhawks work for it in the first half (scoring drives of 10 plays, 14 plays and 15 plays), but just got worn down in the second half.  UWW didn't put much effort into the passing game and were clearly the better team, but Carleton played hard and had some flashes.  Announced attendance was 11,610 and Perkins stadium was really nice, I'm hoping the game next year is back there again rather than a home and home.

I'm expecting Carleton will be able to play with everyone in the MIAC that isn't Bethel or SJU after this game.

[hazzben]

Carelton got MonkeyStomped, but honestly, it was better than I expected.

I was able to attend the game and it was better than I expected as well.  Carleton defense made the Warhawks work for it in the first half (scoring drives of 10 plays, 14 plays and 15 plays), but just got worn down in the second half.  UWW didn't put much effort into the passing game and were clearly the better team, but Carleton played hard and had some flashes.  Announced attendance was 11,610 and Perkins stadium was really nice, I'm hoping the game next year is back there again rather than a home and home.

I'm expecting Carleton will be able to play with everyone in the MIAC that isn't Bethel or SJU after this game.

Yeah I heard it was 10-7 mid Q2 IIRC. Not a bad showing.

Also guess it's good that the bottom quad of the league held serve when playing other weak competition? Hamline, CSS, and Mac getting wins is helpful at some level for the conference SOS right? Not sure how the dials will play out at this point, but it's a new world of only 1 non-con game so I'm glad we picked up some W's.

[hazzben]

UST was also in a very competitive game against Idaho. Valpo also fumbled things away against Alma. That league is a little like the MIAC and there's quite a gap between the bottom 3 and the rest of the league. 

[faunch]

UST was also in a very competitive game against Idaho. Valpo also fumbled things away against Alma. That league is a little like the MIAC and there's quite a gap between the bottom 3 and the rest of the league. 

I think they were 20.5 dogs in the game....so we're happy for them...ok not really.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Is pick 'em dead?  AO?

[OzJohnnie]

Well, it was nice to see the Vikings come back and win one. McCarthy played with authority in the second half as he got used to the big leagues. It looks very promising.

I can't wait to see the exciting way that the Vikes break my heart this year.

[Redtooth]

For those SJU football fans (and others too) that haven't seen this news that was shared by the family last night:

It is with profound sadness that the Gagliardi family shares the loss of our wonderful mother, Peggy Gagliardi.

We were greatly blessed to have Peggy as our mother. The greatest gift both of our parents gave us was their love for each other. Our mother and father loved each other so deeply and so well that their love surrounded our entire family. We grew up watching our parents lovingly dance in our house. We heard them compliment each other constantly and witnessed them support each other through a lifetime. Their kindness toward each other is the greatest gift they could have given us. Whenever one of our parents walked through the door, they immediately sought the other out, greeting with a smile and a kiss.

Mom was a selfless giver, always willing to do anything for her family. She was kind, compassionate, and endlessly patient.  No matter what our interests and passions were, mom dove into the passion with us and became as enthusiastic as we were.

We were so lucky to have a mother that always showed up to any event we were in (which was mostly sports.)  She sat through the heat, rain and cold...  to watch us with great pride no matter how well we did. Mom also drove home many of our classmates who would not have been able to participate in activities without her willingness to drive them.
We always knew mom would be proud of us, no matter what we did. This gave us strength and confidence. She gave that same love to her 19 grandchildren.

Mom was always busy doing something. After cooking, cleaning, and caring for us, she would sew clothes, do puzzles, paint or read. She was an artist and painted many beautiful paintings that now hang in her children and grandchildren's homes. Peggy was a voracious reader and encouraged us to become avid readers as well. 
Our father used to say, "There are givers and takers in this world, and Peggy is certainly one of the givers." We saw this every day.

Peggy and John were married 63 years until John's death in 2018. Together they raised their four children— Nancy, John, Gina and Jim— on the St. Johns campus before moving to their home on Watab Lake. Dad voiced his gratitude to Mom every day. He joked that he had "outkicked his coverage."  As children, Dad taught us to appreciate our mother for all she did. As adults, we are able to appreciate our mother for all that she was.

We entrust Peggy to God's loving mercy, confident that she is now reunited with her husband, John, and their infant son, Joseph, who died a few weeks before he would have been born.
Peggy is survived by her four children: Nancy (Tom) Little, John (Barbara) Gagliardi, Gina (Jeff) Benson, and Jim (Anne) Gagliardi. She was blessed with 19 grandchildren and 48 great-grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

[DuffMan]

Rest in peace, Peggy.

[hazzben]

Interesting wrinkle for the Bethel vs UNWSP matchup Saturday night. Their starting RB and UMAC offensive lineman of the year both visited Bethel during Spring ball to explore transferring. RB room is very deep for Bethel right now, with a strong freshman class incoming. He was told he'd likely be in a backup role, looks like he caught on at a smaller D1 school out east. Lineman took the plunge and transferred over.

So Bethel brings back 4 starters on the OLine and adds the UMAC's top lineman. I feel really good about where the offense will be with Drews, Geebli, and Oline. Need WR's to emerge, huge shoes to fill for Niewald and Kidder.

And lots of young guys to step up on D, with Devon Williams at boundary safety (love getting his physicality more in the middle of the field) and a D2 transfer at corner. Cautiously optimistic on D. There were some guys that would have been playing a ton of snaps in any other year, but were behind guys like DeWall, Jung, and co. Looking forward to seeing who emerges from this group.

[sjujohnnie]

As a Johnnie, your outlook has me concerned. I want to see St John's challenged so that they're battle tested if they're able to make it to the postseason, but don't need the balance of power in the MIAC to shift to Arden Hills!