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Sorry, I'm a day late on the blog. Between preparing for two football broadcasts a week, attending other events such as the Norse Volleyball team Tuesday night, officiating two or three under varsity football games a week, my schedule is usually pretty cramed. This week cheering for my beloved Chicago Cubs in the playoffs pushed the blog back a day. (WHY PINELLA TOOK BIG Z OUT IS BEYOND ME)

Anyway it's community day on the Luther campus this Saturday. And it definately took a community to get a victory last Saturday against Cornell. With the amount of injuries the Norse suffered last Saturday they had to call on new players to get the job done and that happend. Without getting too specific, the only thing I share for sure about the health of the team is Tyler Sherden will be all right. A couple of more are questionable and a couple are out. Tune in Saturday at twelve-30 for more information.

Kicker Tyler Pease was named the Iowa conference male athlete of the week. Pease set the conference record with six field goals last Saturday. I could not find it officially, but I believe he became the first Norse football player to be named conference athlete of the week since Tyler Sherden after the Wartburg game in 2005.

It will be interesting to see how Loras responds. Last week it led a lot of the game before losing to Simpson in double overtime 33-26. The Duhawks dropped to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play. That means Saturday's winner could boost themselves towards the upper division of the conference. The loser could go south.

Looking at the statistics coming into Saturday it seems to be an even matchup.
For example

Scoring offense-Loras 22.4 Luther 22.0
Scoring defense-Loras 26.2 Luther 28.8
Pass offense-Loras 171.4 Luther 154.2
Pass defense-Loras 225.8 Luther 242.5
Rush offense-Luther 190 Loras 162.6
Total offense-Luther 344.3 Loras 334
Total defense-Luther 351.8 Loras 384.6

So the little things will likely make a big difference Saturday. Turnovers, Special teams, field position and big plays. All four of those battles went to the Norse against Cornell last week. If that trend continues, so will Norse success. If it doesn't things could get a little hairy.

Related to the statistics, Luther improved to a -2 turnover ratio, Loras so far is plus two. The Duhawks have been ballhawks thus far, intercepting seven passes in the first five games. Last week, quarterback Darin Schneider was very efficient and took care of the ball very well. Whoever starts at quarterback this week, it's still up in the air as of Thursday, the turnover bug is something they must avoid, unlike the Central and Wartburg games.

The Norse punt pressure team had a good day last Saturday, partially deflecting one punt and altering another in the Cornell game, leading to great field position. In the statistics, Loras has had two punt blocks this season. Last time Loras was at Carlson Stadium, a blocked punt led to a momentum change and a Norse victory. Could it happen again Saturday? We'll wait and see.

Check back in Sunday for another update. Tune in Saturday. 12:30 pregame. 1:00 kickoff. kwlc.luther.edu or AM 1240 KWLC in the Decorah area.

Published Thursday, October 4, 2007 at 6:51 AM by Darin Svenson

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