Week Five Review

Wow, what a crazy week in the UMAC! While my picks suffered for it, it was certainly exhilarating to see the scores update minute by minute on Saturday. So many questions were born this weekend, like...is St. Scholastica on the downturn? How long can Martin Luther keep this streak up? Can a team really change it's stars like Martin Luther has? (see GIF) How did the Blue Jays lose their new stadium momentum? Does Northwestern have a chance to claw their way back to the top tier in the UMAC? Will Crown ever win a game again? Only time will help us with the answers to these newfound questions. In the meanwhile, let's take a look back at yesterday's games.

Crown 7, Iowa Wesleyan 44 - In my mind, this one was about 50/50 prior to the game. I at least thought it would be a decent game, considering both teams. Boy, was I wrong. Crown tossed 6 interceptions between their two QBs (to six separate defenders, interestingly) and failed to score offensively en route to a drubbing. Tiger QB DeMarcus Collins was the star in this one, throwing for 104 yards and a score and rushing for 120 yards and 3 TDs. The Storm's Joe Duffy tallied ten tackles and two sacks, and Jason Sroufe returned a pick of Collins 45 yards for a score, but Crown's offense struggled to get anything going against a mediocre Iowa Wesleyan defense. If Crown hopes to avoid going 0-10 once again, they need to shore up their offensive line play.

MacMurray 15, Northwestern 13 - I would like to say that I called this one. A defensive battle, from the looks of it; but the Eagles were just not strong enough offensively to take down the Highlanders, and MacMurray outlasts Northwestern. Mac QB Nathan Randall racked up 296 yards passing but threw two interceptions, and RB Marquez Ellison broke the plain twice, along with a safety by Jordan Wilkins and Trenton Harrelson to tack just enough points up on the board. For the Eagles, QB Taylor Lindahl threw for 165 yards and a score (and surprisingly did not throw a pick for the first time this season), but it wasn't enough to jumpstart the weak Northwestern offense. MacMurray should gain some confidence from this one, and return home to take on the Westminster Blue Jays next week. Northwestern is still 2-1 in the UMAC, but faces a stiff test next week with an angry St. Scholastica team, and still will have Martin Luther later in the season. They face an upward battle this year with the rest of their games.


St. Scholastica 21, Martin Luther 49 - I told you weird things happen in the pit. St. Scholastica fell into the pit, and like Andy Dwyer, just could not find their way out of it. The Knights ravaged the St. Scholastica defense for 584 total yards and a school-record 477 yards rushing. Martin Luther had two players rush for over 150 yards; Joshuah Kren for 197 yards and a TD, and Austin DeNoyer for 178 yards and 3 TDs. QB Zach Bloomquist also rushed for 75 yards and a few scores. The Saints had no answers for the Knights rushing attack, particularly in the second half, as Martin Luther ran away with the lead (literally). St. Scholastica QB Zach Edwards did what he could to stay afloat, throwing for 336 yards and 3 TDs, and had some exceptional performances from WRs Aaron Olson (4-145-1) and Eddie Lee (5-127), but the Saints were held to a total of two yards on the ground. I don't know of too many games that end in the win column with two yards rushing. Martin Luther is on the run, and now have the inside track to the conference finish. How many more running puns can I come up with in a paragraph? They still have a couple tough matchups to go, but after this game, it's tough to see them losing ground to any other UMAC team this year.

Greenville 24, Westminster 20 - How come I'm able to pick the tough games, but I get burned on ones that seem like solid choices? Westminster went undefeated at home last year, and were on their way this year with a cool new stadium and all the momentum in the world, especially after a hard-fought game against St. Scholastica in Duluth last week. I'm not gonna say that they laid an egg, but I mean come on, Blue Jays. Props to Greenville, who I viewed as a bit of a weaker team this year, to going in to that environment and not letting it affect them. Panther QB George Harris had a solid performance, passing for 158 yards and 2 TDs and also rushing for a touchdown, but RB Courtney Mitchell exploded onto the scene with 189 yards rushing to spearhead the Greenville offense. Blue Jay QB Trent White took on a big chunk of the offensive production with 167 yards and 2 TDs passing while also rushing for 147 yards and a TD, but he also had help from his RB Kalyn Davis, who ran for 152 yards. WR Alec Fleetwood had an impact as well, catching 3 passes for 95 yards and two scores. This was a tough pill to swallow for Westminster, as Greenville scored the go-ahead touchdown with 38 seconds remaining in the game. The Panthers will head into the bye week feeling pretty good about themselves, whereas the Blue Jays will have to get over the loss quick as they are on the road next week to face MacMurray.

Wow, what a week. I'm not one to trash talk much, but it was fun to see another team beat St. Scholastica for once. It's like Harvey Dent once said: You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Much like the Patriots in the NFL or the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, many fans tend to start resenting the team that wins the most. Congrats to Martin Luther on taking down "the giant", may many more giants be in your future. Careful though - if you start winning too much, you might become the new villain of the UMAC. I went 2-2 in my picks this week, which makes me 14-4 on the year. Stay tuned this week for the UMAC Player of the Week awards and the Week Six Preview! Good work to all coaches and athletes on the weekend!

Week Four Review and Week Five Preview

We're nearly to the mid-point of the season already, and most UMAC teams are still looking to push over .500, with the only teams breaking that point being St. Scholastica and Martin Luther. Never thought you'd hear me say that, eh? Lets get down to the nitty gritty of week four.

Westminster 20, St. Scholastica 23 - The Saints and their fans all gave out a collective "phew" at the conclusion of this one. Westminster shocked the nation by gaining a 13-3 lead before St. Scholastica got into gear and took control. The Blue Jays still made it close with QB Trent White's 2nd TD run with 3:44 left in the contest to pull within three, but were unable to complete the comeback. In a game with no turnovers and 17 combined punts, somebody had to finally grind out the dub. White led Westminster in the scoring department with a passing TD and two rushing scores, while RB Kalyn Davis ground out 109 yards rushing on 23 attempts. For the Saints, QB Zach Edwards had a solid day with 262 yards and a TD through the air and a rushing TD for good measure. Fun fact of the game: CSS WR Aaron Olson caught a touchdown pass in his 18th consecutive UMAC game. Huh. Not too shabby.

Iowa Wesleyan 7, Minnesota Morris 13 - For a while, I thought the Cougars might be the first UMAC team to go scoreless throughout the season. While I've been pretty harsh on the Cougs, I seriously am happy that they finally got a few monkeys off their back in this one. It's not fun being stomped on. So congrats on the "spoiler" Morris, you've earned a slight lessening of mocking from me. Morris was only able to accumulate 271 total yards of offense in the win, with QB Justin Masloski accounting for 227 yards and 2 TDs passing and WR Nathan Sheridan catching 8 passes for 88 of those yards. Defensively, UMAC player of the week Carter Wattenhofer stood out with 6 tackles, 3 TFL, and 3 sacks. While Iowa Wesleyan was able to out-gain Morris with 282 yards, QB DeMarcus Collins was the only player able to scrounge up more than 50 yards, with 142 yards passing and 55 yards rushing. The Tigers have a long way to go, and now will strive to be the non-0-10 team in the UMAC.

Martin Luther 63, Greenville 28 - The Knights romped over the Panthers, with Martin Luther QB Zach Bloomquist taking over the game and earning UMAC player of the week and was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week to the tune of 289 yards and 2 TDs passing and 79 yards and 3 TDs rushing. Six other Knights also scored touchdowns, including WR Josh Arndt who caught 4 balls for 133 yards receiving. TE Gregoire Franchomme finally got back into the mix for the Panthers, catching 8 passes for 111 yards and 2 TDs, with QB George Harris slinging the rock for 186 yards and 3 TDs, but also tossing 3 picks. Panther returner Myles Kanipes also earned UMAC player of the week honors by returning a kickoff 80 yards for a TD, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the up-and-coming juggernaut that is the Martin Luther offense. It'll be interesting to see if they can keep it up and challenge for the conference crown.

Northwestern 38, Crown 18 - All things considered, this game was a tad closer than the score suggests. Crown's defense allowed 465 yards to a poor Eagle's offense, but they didn't receive much support from their offense and weren't able to keep the score close. Here's what I mean by my first observation: Northwestern started 7 drives throughout the game on Crown's side of the 50, and only obtained 17 points out of those drives. This game could have been out of hand even more than it was if not for Crown's defensive resilience/Northwestern's offensive ineptitude. Eagle QB Taylor Lindahl was able to find the end zone through the air for the first time this year, but added another interception to his UMAC leading total of 9 on the year and ended the game with 281 passing yards, while WR Evan Pruitt caught 7 passes for 169 yards and 2 TDs and WR Gavin Welch also caught 3 passes for 111 yards and a TD. Crown showed some fight, but it's tough to be competitive in a game that you rush for -21 yards; the Storm have had a tough time getting any ground game going this year, gaining only 129 total rushing yards through four games. The Storm's offensive bright spot was WR Domonique Guy, who caught 6 balls for 181 yards and 3 TDs. Crown has a uphill battle to climb out of the UMAC cellar, but they do have a few winnable games this year. Not-so-fun fact of the game: Crown's last victory was October 15th, 2016 against Minnesota Morris, which is 714 days ago as of today (9/29/18). The Storm will hope to avoid going two full years without a victory, as two of those winnable games come up in the next few weeks: Iowa Wesleyan today and Minnesota Morris next weekend.

Congrats to the Cougars on screwing up my picks! While I wasn't perfect before this week, I like to think I know the UMAC pretty well, so any incorrect pick hurts my heart a bit. I challenge all you players and coaches reading this to smash my heart to little bits. Prove me wrong. As of right now though, I'll hold my head high with a 12-2 pick record. On that note, lets move on to week five's previews and picks!

MacMurray at Northwestern - This is actually a tough one to pick. MacMurray was thought to be a UMAC crown contender, getting 4 first place votes in the UMAC pre-season coaches poll, but fell to Rockford in a non-conference opening game, whom Martin Luther beat the following week. That little snippet isn't a guaranteed indicator that MacMurray is down this year, but it makes you wonder. Northwestern will have some confidence going into this one, rolling over their rival Crown last week, but their offense isn't much improved from a year ago. I think MacMurray's defense will be able to stifle the Eagles in a low scoring affair, but the Highlanders will claim victory, 14-3.

Crown at Iowa Wesleyan - Another cellar battle as the Storm roll into Iowa to battle the Tigers. Iowa Wesleyan took a tough L last week to Morris, but this week will be at home and will be looking for their first 2018 win. As I mentioned previously, Crown is not only looking for their first win in 2018, but their first win in 714 days dating back to 2016. This game will come down to who is hungrier for it. I think Crown pulls out a close one, 27-24.

Greenville at Westminster - The Blue Jays impressed in Duluth last week, battling back and forth with the powerful Saints. I think they've got some serious momentum going for them with their new stadium, which will make them tough to beat at home this year. I think they'll pick apart the Panthers and win this one easily, 35-14.

St. Scholastica at Martin Luther - This is definitely the UMAC football game of the week. The Saints have been the perennial powerhouse in the UMAC until last year, when they were unseated by the Eureka Red Devils, who rode off into the sunset as champs. They will obviously be searching for redemption this year, but struggled to fend off Westminster at home last week. Strange things happen in the pit in New Ulm, and Martin Luther looks to be legitimate contenders for the UMAC crown. This will be the ultimate test for the Knights, as they look to prove to everyone that they belong in the top tier of the UMAC. I think the Knights will be able to pull this one off, but it won't come easy. Martin Luther takes a hard fought battle, 28-24.

I won't be able to attend any games this weekend, but I'll try to keep updating everyone on scores as best as I can through Twitter. Good luck to everyone this weekend, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Week Four Preview

The temperature has finally dropped here in Minnesota, and we may be in for a chilly, rainy weekend; just the type of weather football was meant to be played in. Martin Luther starts their conference schedule this week, and several teams will look to go over .500 for the first time in the 2018 UMAC season. Let's take a look at the week four matchups.

Westminster at St. Scholastica - The Blue Jays road trip to Minnesota this weekend to take on the Saints in St. Scholastica's first home matchup of the year. Westminster earned a resounding victory over Iowa Wesleyan last week, but that hardly pushes them into the UMAC elite. St. Scholastica made the case last week that they will take back the UMAC reigns by beating up Crown last week. I think Zach Edwards and the Saint's offense will be ready to go in this one, and will roll over the Blue Jays, 42-14.

Iowa Wesleyan at Minnesota Morris - In a matchup of some bottom-dwelling UMAC teams, we may be in for a scrapper. Morris finally has a home game, and plays a potentially beatable opponent in the Tigers. While I believe this is going to be a competitive game and I think the Cougars will get on the board for the first time in 2018, I don't think they'll have enough in the tank to outlast Iowa Wesleyan. The Tigers will win this one, 27-12.

Martin Luther at Greenville - We finally get a chance to see if the Knights are legitimate UMAC contenders this year. While they have a long road trip, they should be able to handle the Panthers, who couldn't stop a poor Northwestern offense at home last week. I don't think this one will be too close. Martin Luther will chalk one up in the win column, 35-14.

Northwestern at Crown - On paper, this looks like an intriguing matchup. Two bad offenses square off, and while the Eagle's defense is clearly better than the Storm's, maybe Crown can get something going and make it a game on their homecoming weekend. I'm optimistic, but that doesn't mean I'm not realistic; I still think Northwestern will win this one, 24-14.

Once again, can't wait for some football this weekend! To all players, coaches, and fans, I issue this challenge: prove me wrong. I'd love to see some upsets and screw up my picks a little bit. Good luck to everyone!

Week Three Review

The first week of UMAC play is in the books, and guess who has two thumbs and went 4-0 in his picks? You guessed it, this guy. While the win-loss results of week three weren't too surprising, we did have a few interesting tidbits this week. Let's go over the results, shall we?

Minnesota Morris 0, MacMurray 41 - Another game, another shutout on the Cougars. Through three games, Morris has averaged 169 total offensive yards per game and allowed 537.7 yards per game, and scored 0 points. Woof. Cougar QB Justin Masloski seems to be the only thing keeping the Morris offense afloat, with 118 passing yards and 64 rushing yards including a 61-yarder in the 4th quarter that didn't end up leading to any points as the Cougars turned the ball over on downs. Highlander force (and UMAC player of the week) Javon Muhammad was in Masloski's face all day, wreaking havoc to the tune of 13 tackles, 5.5 TFL, a sack, a forced fumble, and a pass breakup. Offensively for MacMurray, QB Nathan Randall led the Highlanders with 325 yards and 3 TDs passing while spreading the ball out to 10 different receivers. Quite a resounding statement by the Highlanders, that they are not to be toyed with; however, the blowout could be both due to MacMurray's power, or Morris' futility. I guess we will see as the season plays out.

Northwestern 24, Greenville 7 - The Eagles have struggled in 2018 to scrape together a decent offensive look, but this weekend they were able to muster a little bit on their long Illinois road trip to Greenville. While it still wasn't pretty, QB Taylor Lindahl threw for 191 yards en route to the victory along with two interceptions (to make it eight on the year for him). But a win is a win, and Northwestern didn't have a miserable trip home as they were able to hold the usually explosive Panther offense to 152 total yards. I was a bit surprised to see that Greenville wasn't able to put up more yards and points on the board, so a tip of my hat to the Northwestern defense. A bit of an uneventful game, but the Eagles are thankful to come away with a dub.

Iowa Wesleyan 10, Westminster 35 - The Blue Jays christened their new field with a commanding victory over the visiting Tigers. Actually, if you look at the box score, this game was a bit closer than the score suggests; what really distanced Westminster was the six turnovers that they forced, including two interceptions and four fumbles recovered. Blue Jay QB Trent White proved his dual threat ability, passing for 86 yards and a score and also rushing for 106 yards and 3 TDs. RB Kalyn Davis got in on the fun as well, rushing for 104 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Westminster's Anthony Washington accounted for three of the teams six turnovers, intercepting two passes and forcing a fumble, and Dakota Jakoubek had a big day with 7 tackles, 1 TFL, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. I'm sure it feels good to open up conference play in a brand new stadium with a win, and the Blue Jays will take that and their momentum into next week's game in Duluth.

St. Scholastica 46, Crown 20 - I finally was able to make it to my first college football action this year, and it was a scorcher. Several MIAC football games were rescheduled to later times due to the extreme heat advisory and I (and probably moreso the players) wish this one would have been as well, as the temperature reached a muggy 95 (or so) degrees. The game was played out without too many stoppages for player injuries though, so thankfully everyone survived. The Saints proved that their passing attack is not to be meddled with, as UMAC player of the week QB Zach Edwards lit up the field with 371 yards and 4 TDs passing, and four St. Scholastica players ended the game with over 70 yards receiving. Oddly enough, star receiver Aaron Olson was not one of those receivers, but he did catch a touchdown pass. Storm WR David MacIntosh caught 2 TD passes as well, but Crown was unable to get much going and couldn't keep the Saint offense off the field. One highlight for the Storm was an amusing play, though; punter Isaiah Zepeda (who also won UMAC player of the week) boomed a magnificent punt that went over PR Will Halloran's head and was downed at the CSS 4-yard line, good for a 77-yard punt. The kicker was that the referees determined that Halloran touched the punt, therefore it was ruled a fumble recovered by Crown, which led to a Storm TD. It was something you don't see every day, but it wasn't able to lift Crown over St. Scholastica.

The first week of conference play is over, and next week Martin Luther will open their conference season with a road trip to Greenville, Illinois. I'm interested to see if the Knights can continue their success into conference play after a bye week. Side note: I'm 9-1 in my picks so far this year, since I missed out on picking for week two. Stay tuned for the Week Four Preview up later this week!

Week Three Preview

Week Three is upon us, and the UMAC conference season is set to begin! The UMAC teams haven’t had much success yet this year, so I’m sure all teams are ready to chalk a few up in the win column. Without further adieu, here are this week’s matchups:

Northwestern at Greenville - The Panthers and the Eagles have both had a rough start to the season, so both will be hungry for that first 2018 win. My gut tells me that Northwestern has the edge, but they will face a long road trip and will need to get their offense going if they hope to outscore Greenville. I think Northwestern wins a close one, 17-14.

Minnesota Morris at MacMurray - Well there’s probably a better way to say it, but...Morris looks really bad. Two shutouts to start the year, and they face a tough conference opponent in MacMurray, not to mention a long road trip. The odds are stacked against the Cougars. MacMurray wins this one outright, 35-6.

Iowa Wesleyan at Westminster - This could turn out to be an interesting matchup. Iowa Wesleyan looks to be improved from last year and had a nice game against Cornell in week one. Westminster is still looking to get on the board in 2018, but they will be at home in their brand spankin’ new stadium, and I think the momentum will be in their favor. Westminster will take this one, 28-20.

St. Scholastica at Crown - The Saints are looking for their first win in 2018, and Crown is looking for their first win in over a year. While Crown has the home field advantage, St. Scholastica has the advantage in numbers and chemistry, and I think they’re still the UMAC team to beat. The Saints will weather the Storm, 49-14.

Stay tuned to the Twitter page (@UM_fb_central) for score updates tomorrow, and good luck to all players and teams!

Week One & Two Review

Well, the non-conference season has mostly come and gone for the UMAC, with the exception of St. Scholastica's game against Thomas More in October, and the UMAC has gone a whopping 1-14 in the first two weeks of the season, with Martin Luther's exciting down-to-the-wire win against Rockford (who beat MacMurray the week before by the way). It's not surprising that the UMAC hasn't done well to start the year, as non-conference opponents just tend to be better than the UMAC teams, but I was surprised by a few of the results. There are a lot of interesting things to point out about these opening weeks, but since I've been slacking on the posts, I'll just dive in to my reviews and get to it.

Week One

St. Olaf 49, Crown 14 - I don't think anyone expected Crown to win this one, as games against MIAC opponents have not gone historically well for UMAC teams; even if they are lower-tier MIAC teams. Crown has a relatively small team this year, so what they lack in numbers they will have to make up for it in talent and work ethic. Unfortunately, this game wasn't a great start to that philosophy, as Crown fell behind 35-0 by halftime. Crown was only able to manage 107 total yards, and ended the game with -15 rushing yards. Yikes. The only positive note was that freshman QB Jared Gilmore was able to move the ball in garbage time and put up a few points to avoid the shutout, but overall, a tough start to the year after a tough season last year. Hopefully Crown can get out of the gutter at some point this year and win a game. I didn't get to pick this game as it had already happened, so I won't credit my premonitions with a mark in the win column.

Gustavus 32, Martin Luther 20 - Woah. This is the week one game that grabbed people's attention. Gustavus, a mid/lower-tier MIAC team, has beat up on some UMAC teams in the past few years, including Crown and Westminster, so to be honest I didn't expect much difference. I thought the Knights were a bit of a fluke last year, but hey, I like being proved wrong. Martin Luther went pound for pound with Gustavus and had the lead for almost the entire first half, but weren't able to close out the game. Still though, pretty impressive, I must say. While I did pick Gustavus to win, I’m intriuged to see how Martin Luther matches up against the rest of the UMAC, especially in light of their week 2 game.

MacMurray 12, Rockford 35 - While I expected a slight dropoff in offensive production due to the departure of RB Chazz Middlebrook, I guess I still thought that MacMurray would be solid both offenstively and defensively and be able to compete in and ultimatly win this game. Instead, Rockford controlled the whole game and maybe MacMurray isn’t who I thought they were. They didn’t play another non-conference game in week two, so it’s hard to say if they just weren’t prepared, or their team isn’t as staunch as previous years. We will see how they bounce back in their next conference game, but I’m hoping they can still compete as a top-level UMAC team.

Central 49, Northwestern 3 - What is it with UMAC teams scheduling non-conference games with clearly out-of-their-league opponents? I get that you want to challenge your team and see how you stack up to other conferences, but can’t you do that against teams that you at least have a chance at competing with? Northwestern isn’t a bad team by UMAC standards, but I think they bit off a bit more than they could chew with this matchup. Northwestern’s offense was pretty dang bad last year, so this year they will need to show they can score to take some pressure off a defense that has a lot to live up to. If MacMurray isn’t the team I thought they were, Northwestern may have a chance to sneak into the championship running with a solid conference season.

Minnesota Morris 0, Wisconsin-River Falls 41 - Getting shut out is never fun. I was interested when I saw this matchup, as the UMAC has had limited interaction with the WIAC, even though they are clearly a much better conference. Morris was a bad team last year, and it’s tough to see improvement when your offense only puts up 130 total yards and your defense gets rolled over for 481. The lone bright spot for Morris was their defensive stalwart Drew Shipley, who took home UMAC player of the week honors for his 15 tackles and punting average of 39.7 over 6 punts, with one inside the 20. It’s gonna be another loooong season for the Cougars.

Cornell 27, Iowa Wesleyan 21 - This game was another interesting one in honestly a kind of a downer of a week for the UMAC. While Cornell wiped the floor with Iowa Wesleyan last year by a score of 62-25, Iowa Wesleyan made it interesting with a bit of a comeback that fell just short in the fourth quarter. They didn’t leave enough time on the clock for the last score that they needed, but the offense led by UMAC player of the week QB DeMarcus Collins showed some spark. Collins ended with game with 320 yards and a score passing, and also added 55 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. Three Tigers had over 80 yards receiving, and Akenyon Bagley ended the night with 93 yards rushing. Not too shabby for a game that I expected to be a blowout.

Greenville 13, Wartburg 73 - Why? The only reason I can think that this matchup was even conceived was. That they both needed another game, and just so happened to be the most convenient opponents possible. Wartburg was ranked number 13 on d3football.com’s top 25 to start the year, so obviously that’s not gonna bode well for a UMAC team. It was completely out of hand early, as Wartburg built up a 47-3 lead by halftime. Panther QB Dalton Mitchell threw for 241 yards and a pick, and 146 of those yards went to WR Myles Kanipes (on 3 receptions, impressively) but nothing else really went well for Greenville in this game. Why, Greenville...why?

Week Two

Crown 14, Presentation 42 - I was hopeful that Crown would be able to be a bit more competitive in this one. It’s not too often that UMAC teams schedule NAIA teams, but we have quite a few games this year which may turn out to be a more consistent happening in the future due to two non-conference games on their schedules. Crown played better than week one, but were unable to keep up with Presentation. They were at least able to get something going on the ground this week, with RB Derek Chilcoate able to grind out 91 yards. There seems to be quite a bit of inexperience on the Crown offense, with young linemen and only freshmen QBs on the roster, so it may take a few games to build some chemistry.

Martin Luther 28, Rockford 24 - This is the game that has convinced me that the Knights are legit. In week one, Rockford was in control most of the game and won handedly against UMAC foe MacMurray. This week, Martin Luther showed guts by going into Rockford’s home stadium and tossing a last minute TD pass from QB Zach Bloomquist to UMAC player of the week Josh Arndt to secure the dub and UMAC play of the week honors. To me, it’s tough to deny that Martin Luther is a better team than they have been in the past, but we will have to see continued success against UMAC opponents to officially crown them a top-tier UMAC team. For now, the Knights can hold their heads high and be proud of their solid non-conference start to 2018.

Westminster 0, Millsaps 35 - Rough start to the season for Westminster. While their offense wasn’t completely dead, they relied much too heavily on QB Trent White (81 yards passing, 70 yards rushing) to make plays, and were unable to avoid the shutout in their season opener. More playmakers need to emerge for the Blue Jays to take some pressure off of their experienced senior QB, and they need to score some points to win games (I know, it’s obvious, but it’s the truth. Thanks, John Madden). Westminster will put this one behind them and look forward to the start of the conference season.

St. Scholastica 29, Mayville State 33 - While St. Scholastica was unable to complete their comeback and secure a win in their season opener, I give them props for scheduling a team that they can beat, and I hope a UMAC team never schedules St. John’s or St. Thomas ever again. The Saints showed again that they are the elite passing attack in the UMAC, as Zach Edwards slung the rock for 308 yards and 2 TDs while Aaron Olson grabbed 7 catches for 102 yards. Defensively, Quinten McGregor tallied 15 tackles and a pick to grab defensive UMAC player of the week honors, and Teddy Gildersleeve returned a kick 83 yards for a score to earn special teams UMAC player of the week. St. Scholastica looked solid, and may still be the team to bead in the UMAC.

Greenville 7, Kalamazoo 42 - Yikes. Two road blowouts to start the year for the Panthers. Hopefully this doesn’t lower the resolve of the team, as the offense again performed poorly, although they were able to get a bit of a running game going and ended the game with 168 total rushing yards. If you’re going to schedule Wartburg week one, you should at least schedule a team that you know you can beat to give yourself some confidence in week two. I don’t have much else to say about this game, and I’m sure Greenville doesn’t either; they’re too busy looking forward to being more competitive against their usual UMAC foes.

 Iowa Wesleyan 6, Eureka 38 - The Tigers came back down to earth in a tough matchup against former UMAC opponent Eureka, in which the Red Devils held Iowa Wesleyan to just 98 total yards. When you’re an offensive team that can’t get anything going offensively, suffice to say that things probably won’t go well for you. Eureka RB LeAnthony Reasnover continued to assert his dominance over UMAC defenses even outside the conference, rushing for 159 yards and 2 scores. Iowa Wesleyan played well last week, so at least they can look back at that, shrug their shoulders and say “Hey, there’s always next week”.

Minnesota Morris 0, Valley City State 48 - Double yikes. Two road shutout blowouts to start the year for the Cougars. If they can’t dig themselves out of this hole they’re in right now, they might be in danger of stealing Crown’s title of worst UMAC team. QB Justin Masloski continues to be the Cougars “bright spot” (if you can even call it that), leading the team with a paltry 85 yards passing and 37 yards rushing. LB Drew Shipley shockingly didn’t lead the team in tackles this week, so something is going down in Morris town. They need to right the “ship” (see what I did there?) if they hope to be anything but last in the UMAC this year.

Northwestern 3, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 14 - I had no clue what to think about this game, as I had never even heard of the team they scheduled to fly to the West Coast to challenge. Turns out it wasn’t too bad of a game for the Eagles, but the same story rang true as their offense had a tough time lifting off the ground. Northwestern tallied 163 yards of total offense and failed to put enough points on the board to challenge the Stags (kinda cool mascot). Eagle safety Nick Swore failed to register a defensive statistic, which can’t be positive for Northwestern. While they didn’t get blown out in this one, they look forward to getting back into some old-fashioned UMAC competition this weekend as well.   

The non-conference games are in the books (save for St. Scholastica’s matchup against Thomas More), and UMAC teams are looking forward to scratching some marks in the win column this weekend against familiar opponents. Stay tuned for the week three preview, hopefully out tonight!