A week after playing down to the level on an inferior Carleton team, the Johnnies shouldn’t have any trouble getting up for this week’s matchup with the undefeated St. Olaf Oles. At stake when the #4-ranked Johnnies host the #18-ranked Oles is the inside track at the MIAC championship—and more importantly, the automatic playoff bid and likely home playoff game that accompany it. Here’s a look at how our writers expect this one to play out.
DuffMan: I’ve gotta say that this game has me worried. As I mentioned in my preview, the Oles have a ton of all-conference players returning this year, and they have been putting a lot of points on the board. Granted, they haven’t played the greatest competition, but they are undoubtedly a solid contender. The strength of their team is their offense, which is good, because we’ve got a tough-as-nails defense. We’ll need to keep Penz, Gant, and Schmiesing under control, a task I hope our d-backs are up to. I’ve never been too impressed with Olaf’s defenses, so I think we’ll be able to move the ball just fine. I’d like to see Patnode over 100 yards rushing again.
I guess it’s time for me to nail down what I think is going to happen, then. I’ve got to think that the Johnnies are going to be looking to prove something this week. Last week had to be embarrassing to them. Facing a ranked opponent at home, they will come out fired up and march down the field from the opening kick-off. Olaf’s offense is too potent to completely squash, but if we get them out of their rhythm early, they’ll fold. I hope I am right, but I don’t see it being too close. St. John’s 38, St. Olaf 9.
DustySJU: Horace, Deontae, Andrew, Brian, Chace and Sam! If you’ll be in the bleachers, listening on the radio or monitoring via the World Wide Web, these are the folks that are bound to determine the winner of today’s match between the Johnnies and the Oles. Homecoming at St. John’s is always a festive event and the Clemens capacity crowd will see plenty of celebration on both sides of the field. There’s loads of offense on the Ole side so it’ll be work for the Johnnie D tomorrow. However don’t expect any upset special this week! The worst thing that could have happened to the Oles was the J’s scoring machine taking the weekend off vs. a stoked up Carleton team. Back on the plastic, “AK-11” fires up for the Alumni on the biggest day of the season. St. John’s 34, St. Olaf 20.
Finsleft: Last week I predicted a Johnnie victory by a comfortable margin, and we won by a slim 3. So given my propensity for calling it wrong, this week I will suggest a much closer game, which should guarantee a monkey-stomp over the Oles. The Johnnie Tenacious D will be tested, and will bend but not break. The Johnnie offense will click and find weaknesses in the Ole defense. That should be good enough for a victory: St. John’s 31, St. Olaf 27.
Mr. Shoes: I’ll admit it: I’m nervous. In fact, I’m even more nervous than I was for the Concordia game. I know I shouldn’t be: wide-open offenses don’t typically hurt the Johnnies because that much passing gives our defensive line additional chances to disrupt the QB. Olaf’s defense is ordinary, and our performances in River Falls and Northfield aside, we have shown time and time again that we can shred ordinary defenses. And yet, I can’t shake the feeling that this game could turn out very, very bad for the very large Homecoming crowd. While the game will likely come down to a battle between the SJU defensive line and the STO offensive line, this prediction is coming down to a battle between my emotions and my rational thought. I’m going with rational thought. Johnnies by roughly two TDs: St. John’s 45, St. Olaf 31.
Sjusection105: St. Olaf is a very good football team. After a successful career as the offensive coordinator at Bethel, Chris Meidt took the reigns at St. Olaf and has put his stamp on the football program. To increase the number of quality players on campus, Meidt was truly thinking outside the box as far as recruiting. All the top Division III recruits in Minnesota have been flocking to Collegeville and Arden Hills for years, so Meidt went south looking for players. I’m not talking about Rochester or Albert Lea; I’m referring to Florida. The Oles feature some top-notch players on both sides of the ball from the Sunshine State.
I see some great battles up front in this game. I see whoever controls the line of scrimmage will win this game. That is true for nearly every game played, that’s just Football 101. Jim Mader really has the “Big Uglys” on the offensive line working as a finely tuned Swiss watch as evidence by the 230 yard performance the big boys up front allowed Mike Patnode to produce last week at Carleton on a muddy field. Jerry and Gary have the undersized, yet quick Johnnie defensive line taking turns as Chairmen of the “SJU Sack Exchange”. I just can’t see St. Olaf finding answers for what St. John’s brings to the table with either line. SJU has too much speed and quickness on the defensive line and the offensive line of SJU is too fundamentally solid for St. Olaf to find an answer to. This game may be tight in the early going, but after some adjustments the Johnnies will pull away. St. John’s 27, St. Olaf 10.
TC: To date, the Johnnies’ season has been consistently inconsistent. Looking at the early part of the schedule Concordia was expected to pose the biggest challenge, yet the Johnnies dismantled the Cobbers 52-21. At the same time, UW-River Falls and Carleton were expected to be nothing but early season tune-ups for St. John’s, yet they needed second half comebacks in both games to sneak out victories.
No one will dispute that the Johnnies have the talent to beat St. Olaf handily, but I’ll argue they don’t have the requisite consistency. While they could let their physical advantages dictate the second half play when facing a deficit against lesser teams, they won’t have the same luxury if they find themselves behind against St. Olaf. I hope a close game against Carleton is enough to ensure the proper focus—but I know a close loss to the Oles would do the trick. St. Olaf 32, St. John’s 30.
Touchdown Tommy: I think this game can go two ways. It will either be a huge blowout in favor of the Johnnies or a tight game late into the 4th quarter. I don’t see any in between. The formula to beat the J’s is ball control, keep the game close early, get Touchdowns not FG’s, and force a few turnovers. The Oles have beat the Johnnies twice in the past 6 years (31-28 in 2001 and 21-19 in 2004) which is a feather in their cap. The weakness of the Oles is clearly their defense. St. Olaf has an explosive offense which will be a great battle to watch against the always stout SJU defense. It is Homecoming at Clemens Stadium and there will probably be more than 10 thousand people at the game. It will be an electric clash of unbeatens. The team that makes the most big plays and minimizes turnovers wins the game. St. John’s 34, St. Olaf 30.
