The Johnnies open the 2010 football season with a non-conference matchup with the Northwestern Eagles of Roseville, MN in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC). Here is a brief breakdown of what to look forward to on this holiday weekend in Collegeville…
Northwestern Offense: The Eagles had 6 1st All-UMAC players last season and return just one, Cody Crum K/WR. They lose QB Zack Tarter to graduation as well as star WR Kyle Thomforde. Tarter was the UMAC Offensive Player of the Year the last three seasons. Northwestern has numerous holes to fill on offense and appear to be very inexperienced at nearly every position.
St. John’s Offense: QB Joe Boyle returns at QB for his senior season. At RB, the Johnnies will come at the Eagles in waves with Jakob Reding, Steve Johnson, Harry Awe, Bryan Virnig, and Nick Schneider. Holes on the offensive line and in the receiving corps will need to be addressed in this opening game.
Northwestern Defense: The Eagles return the UMAC leading tackler in safety Luke Delain (not a good sign when your safety is making lots of tackles…). They also return linebacker Noah Hadro who has switched to running back to help aid the Northwestern offense (maybe playing both ways?). Defensive lineman David Discher, who was 2nd team All-UMAC, returns to anchor the defensive unit.
St. John’s Defense: The Johnnies will need to replace All-American Nick Gunderson on the defensive line as well as find able replacements in the secondary. This opening game has traditionally allowed the Johnnies to rotate guys into roles and provide opportunities to excel. The cream will always rise to the top. All-American Kyle Schroeder and big hitting linebacker John Stanton will need to provide leadership during the early September games.
Northwestern Special Teams: The Eagles return 1st team All-UMAC kicker, Cody Crum, this season. He was 36-38 in PATs, 6-8 on FGs, and had a season long of 44 yards. The starting PR/KR Kyle Thomforde has graduated and will need to be replaced.
St. John’s Special Teams: Russell Gliadon held the Johnnies kicking duties for several years and did an excellent job. He leaves to graduation and Jimmie Mattson transfers into SJU from Moorhead State to take over. Kevin Wenner returns bring back punts while Harry Awe & Jimmy Loonan will return kickoffs. They could be challenged for playing time by transfer WR Brayde Lipp.
Prediction: The Eagles are clearly overmatched from a talent and depth standpoint. However, this is the opening game of the year where players are trying to earn playing time (claim starting roles). This usually leads to sloppier/lower scoring games than you might see if these teams met in November.
St. John’s 34- Northwestern 14
