Wow it's been a while, sorry about that everyone. The 2018 UMAC football season is long over and coaches and players are already looking forward to the 2019 season. Congratulations to the Martin Luther College Knights on a great season and a UMAC championship! Just an inspiring story that gives hope to all flailing college football programs across the country, including a few in our own conference. Let's take a look at our 2018 teams, and see what they have to look forward to in 2019. And just for fun, let's throw a GIF in each review that best describes their season.
Crown (0-10) - Aw, man. Two consecutive 0-10 seasons make for a tough season to review. Crown did some things well this year, but overall, they had a rough time staying competitive, only losing three of their games by 15 points or less. The Storm were near the bottom of the conference in both offense (246.8 ypg) and defense (411.4 yards allowed per game), and were outscored by their opponents 392-165 in 2018. While they actually were 3rd in passing in the conference with 193.4 ypg, they were dead last by a mile in rushing (53.4 ypg) and were behind the #8 rushing team (St. Scholastica) by almost 40 yards PER GAME. Yikes. The fact that they were behind for nearly the whole season probably affects this statistic, but man...you gotta get something going on the ground, even if it's only to supplement your passing game (e.g. St. Scholastica). The Storm landed 3 on the UMAC All-Conference teams, with PR Sebastian Alvarado gaining the only 1st-team selection. Crown only graduates 7 seniors, but many of them are starters or earned a significant amount of playing time. Hopefully the coaching staff can recruit their butts off this offseason and start to climb out of this pit that they've been in. Nobody likes a losing streak, not even opposing teams.
Iowa Wesleyan (1-9) - The Tigers end their season in disappointment after only beating a winless team in Crown in 2018, but they did play some close ones, including being defeated in a come-from-behind victory to the conference champion Martin Luther Knights. They also played tough against Cornell, MacMurray, and Minnesota-Morris, but were unable to come away with the victories. Iowa Wesleyan actually played some defense this year, ending the season at #3 in yards allowed with 358.4 per game, but their offense struggled, only putting up 311 yards per game (#6 in UMAC) and 16.2 points per game (#7 in UMAC). The bright side is that they have some young leaders on the offense, with sophomore Demarcus Collins finishing his first full year as the starting QB and freshman RB Stafford Lewis emerging as a force, finishing #4 in the UMAC in rushing (544 yards) and earning 1st-Team All-UMAC honors. The defense also has some bright young players, with junior DL Onius Heard and sophomore DB Craig Wrenn earning 2nd-Team All-UMAC honors. And guess what, the special teams also have some solid young players, with sophomore P Dylan McDonald earning 1st-Team All-UMAC honors. That's quite a few young gents that could make an impact in the future. The Tigers also graduate 7 seniors, including 4 WRs, so they do have some ground to make up in the offseason, but the future is looking positive for Iowa Wesleyan, assuming they still have a team in the future.
Minnesota Morris (3-7) - At the beginning of the season, I was taking bets as to how long the Cougars could go without scoring a point. They were shut out in the first three games of the season, but did reel off two straight wins after that against the aforementioned teams, and were able to scratch out a win against Greenville in the last game of the season. The Cougars again sported an atrocious offense this year, coming in last in the UMAC in scoring (13.9 ppg) and second to last in total yards (262.3 ypg). Their defense also wasn't too much to brag about, as they were dead last in yards allowed (456.2 yapg) and #7 in scoring (31.6 points allowed per game). While their record shows they are better than some teams in the UMAC, the stats show they have a looooong way to go. Morris only graduates four seniors, but one of them is the Cougars' only first-team All-UMAC selection, DL Nate Gehlen, and another is experienced OL Adam Keifer. While their floor isn't quite as low as other UMAC teams, they really aren't losing many this year so they should have quite a few starters back in the same positions for 2019, including second-team All-UMAC LB Marcos Luna and P (and also LB) Drew Shipley, and the offensive leader QB Justin Masloski. The Cougs don't have much to hang on to, but that last win over Greenville can maybe give them a glimmer of hope that they can eventually claw their way out of the bottom tier of the UMAC.
Greenville (3-7) - The Panthers were hoping to break into the upper tier of the UMAC this season, but instead slid a bit and ended up losing to Minnesota-Morris in the last game of the season to be included in the lower tier. In fact, the lower UMAC tier really was expanded this year to include over half the conference. Greenville was again able to put up some offensive numbers this season, but again were lacking on the defensive side; the Panthers were #4 in the UMAC in yards (350.4 ypg) and scoring (19.6 ppg), but #7 in yards allowed (397 yapg) and #8 in points allowed (35.1 papg). Greenville wasn't able to land anyone on the All-UMAC first team, but did manage to put 5 on the second team, including senior TE Gregoire Franchomme, who may not have played up to his expectations from last year, but did end with a pretty solid career. The Panthers graduate 13 seniors this year, including Franchomme, but will return many starters with plenty of experience. The loss of their stud TE may put a damper on the offense, so they will have to find some way to pick up the slack to compete next year.
Westminster (3-6) - Rounding out the bottom tier of the UMAC is the Blue Jays of Westminster, who started the 2018 conference season on a strong note, by opening their brand spanking new stadium, soundly defeating Iowa Wesleyan, then narrowly losing to the St. Scholastica Saints. After that they sputtered slightly, only pulling out victories against Crown and Minnesota Morris, although they were able to keep it competitive throughout the year; 4 of Westminster's 5 conference losses were decided by 5 points or less. As far as numbers go, the Blue Jays were middle of the pack when it came to both offense and defense, but their offense was skewed toward the run quite a bit, ranking #3 in the UMAC in rushing offense (183.4 ypg) at the expense of their passing offense, which was dead last in the conference with 132.9 ypg. Super senior QB Trent White and senior RB Kalyn Davis led that rushing attack, finishing the season with 608 yards rushing (#3 in UMAC) and 645 yards rushing (#2 in UMAC) respectively. Westminster graduates a very experienced class of 12 seniors, including White and Davis (both 2nd team All-UMAC), LB Jackson Ringhausen and DB Anthony Washington (both 1st team All-UMAC), WR Matt Quarles (2nd team All-UMAC), and several other starters. It'll be a tough road ahead for the Blue Jays, who will have to start some new faces in 2019.

Northwestern (5-5) - While it turned out to be a disappointing season by Northwestern standards, they didn't dip below .500 for the 8th consecutive season, and they won the UMAC sportsmanship award (hurray). Northwestern followed their same recent pattern of poor offensive play but solid defense again this year, finishing a underacheiving #7 in the UMAC in scoring (16.2 ppg) and total yards (275.4 ypg), while standing out as the number one defense in the UMAC (17.2 points allowed per game, 303.9 yards allowed per game). The Eagles had a UMAC leading 14 honorees make All-UMAC teams, with 8 making the first team and 6 making the second team. Among the honorees were UMAC Special Teams Player of the Year senior K Josiah Donat, who converted 63.6% with 7 FGs made and a long FG of 46 yards, and senior OL Colton Paskewitz, who both will surely be missed in 2019, along with starting QB Taylor Lindahl and former
D3football.com All-American DB Nick Swore. While the Eagles only graduate 5 seniors, their senior class packed a punch, and will leave some large shoes to fill. Still, the future looks pretty bright for this Northwestern team, with so many impact players returning in 2019.
St. Scholastica (6-4) - It wasn't a failure of a season by any means for the Saints, but it was a bit of a let down, as they had their worst season since 2009. They were still in the conference championship running throughout the season, but got steamrolled by the eventual champions Martin Luther which took a little bit of wind out of their sails. Statistically speaking, they did just fine, breaking all sorts of school passing records behind the arm of first team All-UMAC junior QB Zach Edwards and leading the UMAC in passing (324.8 ypg) and coming in #2 in total offense (29.1 ppg, 414.8 ypg). The defense was adequate, coming in #4 and #6 respectively in points allowed (24.7 per game) and yards allowed (390 per game). Their well-respected senior class of 12 will be missed dearly next year, as it includes the likes of Saints receiving legend Aaron Olson (Career: 130 receptions for 2,374 yards and 40 TDs, all program records) and first team All-UMAC selections OL Blake Hartmann, OL Kyle Porter, DB/P/K Donovan Blatz, and LB Jonathan Senger. Yikes. With this impressive class, next year might actually be a challenge for
new head coach Mike Heffernan. I expect the Saints to bounce back, but it seems their program might be in a bit of a crisis with the annual coaching changes. I'd still take a "crisis" like St. Scholastica's over the performances of many UMAC teams though, so there's that.
MacMurray (7-2) - MacMurray's recent success carried over into 2018, as they competed once again for the UMAC title, but were defeated soundly by the conference champion Martin Luther Knights to begrudgingly accept second place in the UMAC. The Highlanders were led by 2-time UMAC Defensive Player of the Year senior DL Javon Muhammad, who dominated in 2018, leading the nation in sacks per game (1.83) and tackles for loss per game (3.6), which granted are weird stats (what the heck NCAA), but dang impressive. The guy had double the amount of sacks as the next UMAC sack leader, with 16.5 on the year, and
was nominated for the Cliff Harris award, which honors the top defensive player in DII/DIII/NAIA football. MacMurray's keys to success this year included an efficient offense and an effective defense, as they came in third in the UMAC in total offense (22.3 ppg, 368.6 ypg), second in the UMAC in yards allowed (323.8 per game), and third in the UMAC in points allowed (19.6 per game). The Highlanders also take a hit this offseason, as 14 seniors will graduate including Muhammad and first team All-UMAC selections OL Anthony Fowler (UMAC Offensive Lineman of the Year) and DB Chris Blanchard, and second team selections QB Nathan Randall and WR Devonta Preston. This program seems to be headed in the right direction, so I'm pretty confident that they will be able to stay afloat in the UMAC despite their offseason losses.
Martin Luther (9-2) - Yes, the playoff loss was embarrassing, but that shouldn't detract from what the Knights did this year. Who of us (meaning the UMAC) could have competed with St. John's? Could any UMAC team have done better? We'll never know, but the fact remains that Martin Luther had an impressive season. They went from 0-10 in 2016 to going 9-2 and winning a conference title in just two years, setting up a blueprint for any struggling small-school team to follow. They rolled this year by establishing a dominating run game, led by UMAC Offensive Player of the Year sophomore RB Austin DeNoyer, who was the only UMAC player to gain 1,000 yards rushing this season, ending the year with 1,086 yards and 14 TDs, both leading the UMAC. Martin Luther ended the year #1 in the conference in scoring (33.7 ppg) and total offense (429.5 ypg). Sophomore QB Zach Bloomquist also contributed as a dual threat, rushing for 323 yards and 11 TDs while passing for 1,704 yards and 16 TDs. Both earned first-team All-UMAC honors, along with WR Josh Arndt, TE Mike Radue, OL Carlington Cunningham and Josh Frailing, DL Keith Brassow and Dan Gensmer, LB Tristan Pankow, and DB Ben Arndt. The crazy thing is, out of those 10 first-team All-UMAC selections, only two of them (Josh Arndt and Josh Frailing) are seniors. Coach of the Year Mark Stein has created a winning team, and they are young, with only 4 seniors graduating this offseason. The Knights will hope to culture a winning tradition by taking this success into 2019.
Once again, congratulations to the Martin Luther College Knights on an amazing turnaround and a UMAC title! It was a fun year of ups and downs and changes in the UMAC, and it'll be fun to see what's in store for 2019! I can't promise that I'll be back next year, but if the situation arises, I'll guide you to the next best UMAC blog. Thanks for reading throughout the year, and Merry Christmas!