Playoffs: Minnesota-Duluth (10-1) at Emporia State (10-1), 1pm

[Matt Witwicki]

*This week's column is a collaborative effort between the MIAA and NSIC writers Ian Carlson and Matt Witwicki. You will see feedback from both columnists on the preview below.

Players to Watch:
Minnesota-Duluth BulldogsEmporia State HornetsESU Offense vs UMD Defense
Ian: ^thMatt: ^nd half alone, in the Bulldogs narrow 54-48 victory. This is what has UMD fans concerned entering the postseason.

Duluth finished with a soft schedule the last 3 weeks but the season finale has to be encouraging. The Bulldogs held the SCSU passing game to an 11 for 31 day, and only 175 yards.

ESU Defense vs UMD Offense
Ian: Emporia State is one of only two teams in the MIAA that improved on the defensive side of the ball in terms of total yardage allowed from a year ago, allowing 376 yards per game. They have especially improved against the run, allowing 119 yards per game (ranking 36^th in the country), compared to the 176 yards per game from a season ago. The front seven plays aggressively, and it has largely paid off, with the defense recovering 10 fumbles on the year.



The Hornet pass defense is actually giving up about 25 yards a game more than last year, yet they have also intercepted 19 passes on the year (t-10^th in D2), which has helped them to keep their opponents to 22.3 points per game. The whole back seven gets in the act, too, and the leader of the team in interceptions is Second-Team All-MIAA LB Kole Schankie, who has picked off six passes. The opportunistic defense has helped the offense, as the Hornets have scored 92 points off turnovers this year, or roughly one quarter of their points.

Matt: The UMD offense is 2^ndOutlook
Ian: Matt:

[Matt Witwicki]

Great performance by ESU....but I'm not sure I'd label a QB dynamic based on lighting up UMD. A large portion of NSIC quarterbacks did this year as well..which is why it was talked about here.

[NW Normal]

What are you and Arno of the GAC cooking up this week? While I understand you picking Duluth to win last week, I'm still having issues with Ian not supporting the MIAA team. Geez!

[Ian Carlson]

NWN-

I don't intentionally support any MIAA team on this site. Sure, I have personal biases based upon my alma mater (although I try to suppress them as much as possible), but I'm not going to pick an MIAA team simply because I write the MIAA column. After all, I correctly picked Harding to beat UCM. That said, I'll give kudos where they are due, and the Hornets have done a great job in surpassing my expectations so often this year.