Because no one at JohnnieFootball.com has ever actually, you know, seen Marietta play a game, we decided to invite a few guests with first-hand knowledge of the Pioneers to add their perspective. We are truly thankful for the input provided by Ric Brienza (OAC guru responsible for mtunionfootball.com, one of the best D3 Football sites on the internet), Jay Cutler (d3football.com Post Patterns’ “raiderguy”, a Mt. Union Purple Raiders fan living vicariously through the Johnnies since moving to Minnesota), and Randy Lowe (PP’s “kcreds”, who will be making the trip to Collegeville to support his Pioneers). One guest even provided the blueprint for a plucky Pioneer upset!
Ric Brienza: I haven’t seen the Johnnies since the 2003 Stagg Bowl so I can only go by the team’s history as a guide for this year. That history tells me St. John’s will be a solid, very well coached team, with a good tackling defense and a balanced offense that makes few mistakes.
Look for Marietta to struggle to move the ball with a young offense. Gone is quarterback Jason Vrable, Marietta’s all-time leading passer, who attempted all but five of the Pioneers passes last season and led the team in rushing. The leading running back managed less than 20 yards a game, meaning this was a one dimensional offense in 2006. This young Marietta offense should struggle early in the season, and with the first test coming against St. John’s, it means it will need to jell quickly and not turn the ball over.
On the other hand, St. John’s should be able to move the football on the ground. The Pioneers were second to last in the Ohio Athletic Conference in 2006 in rush defense, allowing nearly 150 yards per game. Overall Marietta ranked eighth out of nine teams in total defense.
The Pioneers won with an explosive passing offense last season and without Vrable to lead the way, they will need to find themselves in a hurry. I expect that will be hard to do in Collegeville. St. John’s 38, Marietta 13.
Jay Cutler: Marietta has been a team that appears to be moving up in the OAC ladder with three straight non-losing seasons (6-4, 5-5, 6-4). The coach is an Eau Claire grad and I would assume that is how they are familiar with St Johns. Last year they had a pretty good run and beat two of the OAC’s upper level teams, Baldwin Wallace and Ohio Northern.
After graduating an All Conference QB, they will be breaking in a new QB against St Johns…..not a place I would want to be. Their defense appears to be a strength again and will carry whatever early success they may have. SJU has a few issues, too, with the need to find a starting running back and some new receivers. The SJU defense will also be key in the early games of the season until Alex Kofoed finds his “go to guys” on offense. As long as SJU does not play give away with turnovers I think there is too much talent on SJU to allow Marietta to be much of a threat. St. John’s 21, Marietta 7.
Randy Lowe: The Johnnies will be tough on offense and defense, based on their tradition of good teams. If an upset is in the making it will start with the defense. Catching the Johnnies early in the season should help the Pios D because their offensive timing may be off. The Marietta defense needs to play like they did at #20 Ohio Northern last year (a 16-6 Marietta win). The special teams will also have to step up and help with field position. If either of those 2 units fails, it will be a long day.
The Marietta offense cannot put the defense in bad positions such as turnovers or a lot of three-and-outs. The offense has some special athletes such as transfer #4 Ryan Dawson, WVU scholarship wideout, and returning wideout #5 Chad McDaniel. QB Dexter Hughes has a strong arm but he cannot afford to make any mistakes. If the play calling is anything like what I saw last year and so far this year, Coach Wiese will have the Johnnies’ D guessing a lot.
Marietta was a second half team last year so if they can keep it close until the second half, I like their chances. I also like the fact they have won their last 13 out of 14 openers. The Johnnies Avg. Pts. given up a game last year was 11.8 so I am going to predict: Marietta 10, St. John’s 7.
