- St. Scholastica
- MacMurray
- Northwestern
- Martin Luther
- Greenville
- Westminster
- Minnesota-Morris
- Crown
- Iowa Wesleyan
I think St. Scholastica will take back the reigns on the UMAC, until MacMurray or another team can prove that they are a perennial contender. Here's my reasons why each team is ranked the way they are:
St. Scholastica may have lost a few important pieces, but they return sophomore QB Zach Edwards, who led the UMAC in all passing categories and even was ranked in the top 20 in the nation in passing efficiency for part of the year. While senior WR Hunter Thompson will not return, junior WR Aaron Olson will, who led the UMAC with 22.6 yards per catch and was second in the UMAC in receiving yards with 770 and in TD receptions with 10. I think St. Scholastica will have a good enough returning core to pick up the slack from this year.
MacMurray showed that they are the real deal this year, even though they were bounced out of the title race by Eureka. The real hit they will take next year is the loss of senior RB Chazz Middlebrook, who up until injury struck was the #1 RB in the UMAC and top 3 in the nation. Here's why I put St. Scholastica just slightly above MacMurray: when Chazz was involved in the gameplan, the Highlanders averaged 247.6 rushing yards per game, and without him, they averaged 85.3. Junior RB Marquez Ellison will have to pick up the slack next year, but they do return junior QB Nathan Randall and sophomore WR Demetrius Curry, who will still be effective offensively. Honestly I think MacMurray is right there and I would not be surprised if they duked it out with St. Scholastica for the title next year.
Northwestern graduates a huge class of very experienced seniors. Honestly, the only reason I have them placed so high is I have a hard time seeing any other team supplanting them. If their offense does not improve, they could certainly end up further down the list, especially as they will lose several defensive starters. Their defense may not be as dominant as it was this year due to the level of experience they will lose to graduation.
Martin Luther showed some spunk this year, and it will be interesting to see if they can break into the upper tier in the UMAC. This year was their first non-losing season since 2010, and they haven't been contenders for the UMAC title since 2009. They didn't lose many seniors, and the important ones they did lose were defensive backs. This means that their offense will only be better; their defense needs improvement anyways. I guess we'll find out if the Knights are the real deal in 2018, or if 2017 was just a fluke.
Greenville was a top offensive team in the UMAC this year, but their record wasn't really reflective of that fact. They lose senior RB Johnny Pruiett, who was the #3 RB in the UMAC this year, but will return QB George Harris, who threw for 1700 yards and 17 TDs. I think they will remain a top offensive team, the question will be if they can improve on defense and get those Ws. I see Martin Luther and Greenville as almost interchangeable in these standings.
Westminster will lose a tough trio in seniors Trent White (QB), Latif Adams (RB), and Chase Abbington (WR). Their defense was respectable as well this year, but because of the loss of these three who accounted for 90% of the Blue Jay offense (literally, I did the math), they will have to rebrand for 2018. That is the reason I have them a bit lower on the list; some new faces will have to step up for Westminster to take them places.
Now, these next three I pretty much just randomly chose. They were all pretty bad and had close games with each other this year, and I think it could be pretty similar in 2018. All of these teams are looking to bounce back like Martin Luther did from 2016, but they've got a ways to go.
Minnesota-Morris was pretty icky this year. They had some decent defense at times, but the offense was horrid. Luckily they lose only 4 seniors, so they have the offseason to build the numbers. If sophomore QB Justin Masloski can help improve the offense and sophomore LB Drew Shipley can commandeer the defense, perhaps they can bust out of the funk that was 2017.
Crown had a few promising offensive moments, but their defense wasn't able to keep them in many games. They need to improve that defense, because their offense was right on the cusp of average. They only graduate 6 seniors, but two of them are starting offensive lineman, which may set back the offensive growth. It will probably help to have a dependable QB, which they will hope freshman Luke Lithander will grow into.
Iowa Wesleyan had another "Iowa Wesleyan-ish" year; the offense was okay, and the defense was bad. The offense takes a hit by losing senior WRs Rodolfo Amezcua and Joshua Broadway, but the Tigers also don't graduate many seniors, so hopefully they will be able to bolster their numbers in the offseason. They will look to freshman QB Demarco Collins to take the reins next year, as he showed some flash in his first season.
Congratulations to all seniors and other players who finished up their eligibility on your final season, I hope it was enjoyable and you were able to make the most of it! I write this mostly for the players, because I remember being one and enjoying reading about my own team. I hope everyone has enjoyed my posts this year, I look forward to returning in 2018 to follow the UMAC once again! Keep following on Twitter and Facebook for updates regarding 2018 schedule and anything UMAC football related. Happy Thanksgiving!
Northwestern graduates a huge class of very experienced seniors. Honestly, the only reason I have them placed so high is I have a hard time seeing any other team supplanting them. If their offense does not improve, they could certainly end up further down the list, especially as they will lose several defensive starters. Their defense may not be as dominant as it was this year due to the level of experience they will lose to graduation.
Martin Luther showed some spunk this year, and it will be interesting to see if they can break into the upper tier in the UMAC. This year was their first non-losing season since 2010, and they haven't been contenders for the UMAC title since 2009. They didn't lose many seniors, and the important ones they did lose were defensive backs. This means that their offense will only be better; their defense needs improvement anyways. I guess we'll find out if the Knights are the real deal in 2018, or if 2017 was just a fluke.
Greenville was a top offensive team in the UMAC this year, but their record wasn't really reflective of that fact. They lose senior RB Johnny Pruiett, who was the #3 RB in the UMAC this year, but will return QB George Harris, who threw for 1700 yards and 17 TDs. I think they will remain a top offensive team, the question will be if they can improve on defense and get those Ws. I see Martin Luther and Greenville as almost interchangeable in these standings.
Westminster will lose a tough trio in seniors Trent White (QB), Latif Adams (RB), and Chase Abbington (WR). Their defense was respectable as well this year, but because of the loss of these three who accounted for 90% of the Blue Jay offense (literally, I did the math), they will have to rebrand for 2018. That is the reason I have them a bit lower on the list; some new faces will have to step up for Westminster to take them places.
Now, these next three I pretty much just randomly chose. They were all pretty bad and had close games with each other this year, and I think it could be pretty similar in 2018. All of these teams are looking to bounce back like Martin Luther did from 2016, but they've got a ways to go.
Minnesota-Morris was pretty icky this year. They had some decent defense at times, but the offense was horrid. Luckily they lose only 4 seniors, so they have the offseason to build the numbers. If sophomore QB Justin Masloski can help improve the offense and sophomore LB Drew Shipley can commandeer the defense, perhaps they can bust out of the funk that was 2017.
Crown had a few promising offensive moments, but their defense wasn't able to keep them in many games. They need to improve that defense, because their offense was right on the cusp of average. They only graduate 6 seniors, but two of them are starting offensive lineman, which may set back the offensive growth. It will probably help to have a dependable QB, which they will hope freshman Luke Lithander will grow into.
Iowa Wesleyan had another "Iowa Wesleyan-ish" year; the offense was okay, and the defense was bad. The offense takes a hit by losing senior WRs Rodolfo Amezcua and Joshua Broadway, but the Tigers also don't graduate many seniors, so hopefully they will be able to bolster their numbers in the offseason. They will look to freshman QB Demarco Collins to take the reins next year, as he showed some flash in his first season.
Congratulations to all seniors and other players who finished up their eligibility on your final season, I hope it was enjoyable and you were able to make the most of it! I write this mostly for the players, because I remember being one and enjoying reading about my own team. I hope everyone has enjoyed my posts this year, I look forward to returning in 2018 to follow the UMAC once again! Keep following on Twitter and Facebook for updates regarding 2018 schedule and anything UMAC football related. Happy Thanksgiving!
No comments:
Post a Comment