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!
If you think the offensive line is the problem with Crown's offense, you know very little about football.
ReplyDeleteIt's a problem, definitely not the only problem. Sure, they've got other problems, like bad snapping, inexperienced quarterbacks, and just not enough playmakers, but when you throw 21 interceptions and average 1.4 rushing yards per carry, there's an offensive line problem. That's just looking at the stats. I've been to two of their games, and if they gave their quarterbacks time to throw the ball, that interception number would be halved. Just curious...what do you think their problem is?
ReplyDeleteThe inexperienced QBs is certainly an issue. I've always believed that the two biggest things you need to be a successful QB in the Crown offense is 1) know the playbook (which I think the current qb's have done well with this, and 2) be able to throw a semi accurate ball, which has been something they have struggled with.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue is that, as you said, there are few playmakers right now on the team, though players like Dom Guy and David McIntosh have showed sparks of it. The receivers in general have failed to get good separation and are often unable to come down with the ball when it does come there way.
Now for sure the offensive line needs to improve, there can never be too good of blocking, and there have been some negative plays that they are responsible for, (which should improve with the return of their starting left guard who was injured against Northwestern and Iowa Wesleyan, which forced the starting Center to fill on the position and bring in the 2nd string shakiercenter to start) but it should also be remembered that due to the ineffective passing and catching the opposing defenses are able to crowd the box and send numerous blitzes and leave the secondary in man coverage. Thus the offensive line is forced to deal with alot more pressure than they would hope to. This could also account for the lack of time given to the qb to throw the ball. It's a bit of a viscous cycle that they're stuck in. If more success could be had with passing and catching, then the ground game would be much more opened up, and the offense as a whole could become much more successful.
Okay, I hear you and generally agree with you there. On occasion, I have seen the Crown QBs throw a decent ball, but those tend to be few and far between. I'd say maybe about half of the bad throws I've seen are on a play that the QB is hurried, which I would account to the offensive line. Would they eliminate 21 interceptions if the offensive line play was pristine? No, but they would have more success both passing and running the ball. You're right about the vicious cycle, and I hope Crown can break it and snap their losing streak.
ReplyDelete