ST. PAUL, Minn. --
The MIAC football season is nearing the end and several key
questions still remain. Can someone knock off St. Thomas, or will
the Tommies capture their third-straight MIAC title? Will the
league get more than one team into the Division III Playoffs after
only sending UST a year ago? How will the muddled middle of the
standings shake out? Which up-and-coming team can pull of a big
upset or generate momentum heading into the offseason?
A year ago, Augsburg proved the toughest test for St. Thomas en
route to a 10-0 regular season, as the Tommies needed some
fourth-quarter heroics to pull out a tight road win on the Auggies'
home field. Saturday, Augsburg will take its explosive offense
across town to face UST in a highly-anticipated rematch. For
third-ranked St. Thomas, Saturday's game is one of many late-season
hurdles between the Tommies and another title. For Augsburg, it
serves as a great measuring stick, as it has played step-for-step
with the league's other elite teams and another convincing
performance against UST will definitely prove the Auggies are
establishing themselves in the upper echelon of the league.
Though much attention will rightly focus on two of the MIAC's
brightest young quarterbacks - St. Thomas' Matt
O'Connell and Augsburg's Ayrton
Scott are both among the league's top six in both
passing and rushing - this game could likely come down to which
defense makes the most key stops. The two teams lead the league in
points per game (39.4 for St. Thomas, 37.0 for Augsburg) and are
also 1-2 in total offense, so whichever defense can slow the other
team's momentum more often - or generate some timely turnovers -
could be the real key to victory in what could be a shootout in St.
Paul.
The Tommie-Auggie showdown highlights a full slate of four MIAC
games, with St. Olaf enjoying its bye week. Now ranked No. 19,
Concordia looks to continue its great season when it hosts Carleton
Saturday, while the Knights nearly pulled off an upset against the
Oles Saturday and will continue trying to play spoiler. Saint
John's and Gustavus meet in a good matchup of teams both looking
for their second MIAC win of the season, and the Collegeville crowd
will be a factor as SJU tries to generate some momentum to close
the season.
Meanwhile, Bethel hosts Hamline in Arden Hills a week after the
Pipers put a first-half scare into St. Thomas, and while both teams
have a reputation of running the ball, it was the Royals passing
game that did the heavy lifting a week ago. QB Erik
Peterson was a remarkable 27-of-29 for 315 yards
and three scores, so it will be interesting to see if Bethel airs
it out again this weekend.
The rest of the MIAC Football Week 9 Preview contains the complete
schedule and links to follow along with this weekend's action, as
well as a look at the MIAC in the various national polls, the
Athlete-of-the-Week award winners, the top performances in the
trenches and some of the top numbers from around the
league.
MIAC
FOOTBALL WEEK 9 - SCHEDULE AND LINKS
| Scoreboard &
Statistics | Standings
| Composite
Schedule |
(RV)
AUGSBURG (5-2, 4-2) AT NO. 3 ST. THOMAS (7-0, 5-0)
- St. Paul, Minn. - 1:10 p.m.
On the
web: UST Radio: WCCO 830 AM (Listen
Live) | Web cast
| Live Stats |
AUG Audio Web
cast |
CARLETON
(3-4, 1-4) AT NO. 19 CONCORDIA (6-1, 4-1) -
Moorhead, Minn. - 1 p.m.
On the
web: Concordia Live
Broadcasts/Stats/Blogs | Carleton Radio: KQCL 95.9 FM |
HAMLINE
(1-6, 0-6) AT NO. 14 BETHEL (6-1, 4-1) - Arden
Hills, Minn. - 1 p.m.
On the
web: Bethel Live
Broadcast/Stats |
GUSTAVUS
(2-5, 1-4) AT SAINT JOHN'S (3-4, 1-4) -
Collegeville, Minn. - 1 p.m.
On the
web: SJU Radio: WBHR 660 AM (St. Cloud); KOWZ 1170 AM
(Owatonna); WLOL 1330 AM (Twin Cities) | Audio Web
cast | Live
stats | Gustavus Radio: KNUJ 860 AM (New Ulm); KRDS 95.5 FM
(New Prague) |
IDLE:
ST. OLAF (6-2, 4-2)
MIAC
IN THE POLLS
Now the MIAC has three teams among the top 19 in the nation in the
AFCA Division III Coaches' Poll. St. Thomas held strong at No. 3,
while Bethel moved up a pair of spots from No. 17 to No. 15, and
Concordia also jumped two places to No. 19 this week. Augsburg
remained in the "Others receiving votes" section with 14 points in
this week's poll.
The MIAC also put three teams into the Top 25 in the D3football.com
Top 25 after just missing in recent weeks. St. Thomas is still No.
4 in that poll, while Bethel slid up a spot to No. 14. Meanwhile,
Concordia had been knocking on the door of the rankings for weeks,
and jumped from unranked to No. 22 with its win over Augsburg
Saturday to give the MIAC a trio of ranked teams in both polls.
| AFCA
Division III Coaches' Poll | D3Football.com Top 25 |
ATHLETES-OF-THE-WEEK
Bethel QB Erik
Peterson was named MIAC Offensive
Player-of-the-Week after his historic passing day, as he completed
a school record 93.1 percent of his passes (27-of-29) for 315 yards
and three TDs in a win over Gustavus. Hamline LB Patrick
Page earned the defensive award for his incredible
stat line of 17 tackles, two INTs, three TFLs and a forced fumble
against No. 3-ranked St. Thomas. Special Teams honors went to St.
Olaf's Lucas
Wainman, who was 3-for-3 on PATs, 2-for-2 on field
goals and used his punts and kickoffs to pin rival Carleton inside
the 32-yard-line on each kick. Also, Augsburg QB Ayrton Scott was
named to the D3football.com Team-of-the-Week for his 500-yard
performance and breaking the Auggie single-season rushing record
Saturday.
| MIAC
Football Athletes-of-the-Week | D3football.com
Team-of-the-Week |
IN
THE TRENCHES
Though Gustavus didn't come out on top, its offensive line and
ground game had a great day against a formidable foe Saturday. The
Gusties racked up 184 yards on the ground on 39 carries - a solid
4.7 average - against Bethel's vaunted defense in a 41-21 loss. The
Gustavus starters along the line were center David
Gschneidener, guards Marcus
Kelly and Lyle
Opdahl and tackles Wyatt
Adams and Brian
Grundmeyer.
Though Carleton came up a little short in Saturday's rivalry game
against St. Olaf, 27-20, the Knights defense had some serious
bright spots in the win. The defensive line did a good job against
the run, holding the Oles under 100 yards (92) and allowing just
3.0 yards per carry. The pressure up front also helped Carleton
rack up three sacks and six tackles-for-a-loss against its rival.
The Knights' starters along the defensive line were tackles
Andrew
Wolter and Caleb
Hyde and ends Jonathan
Rowe and Keenan
Hartert.
BY
THE NUMBERS
19
- The MIAC has three teams ranked 19th
or higher in the AFCA Top 25 this week, proving the conference's
strength in 2012. St. Thomas is No. 3, Bethel is No. 15 and
Concordia is No. 19.
1,034
- Rushing yards this season by Auggie freshman QB Ayrton
Scott, which the most in a single season in school
history after just seven games.
93.1
- Bethel QB Erik
Peterson's completion percentage in Saturday's win,
which is a new Royal single-game record. Peterson was 27-of-29 for
315 yards and three TDs.
9
- Receiving TDs by St. Olaf's Stephen
Asp, the most in the league and more than one per
game.
5
- Hamline LB Patrick
Page ranks in the top five in the MIAC in three key
defensive categories, total tackles (73), tackles-for-a-loss (7.5)
and interceptions (three).