Gary Fasching starts his 10th season as St. John's football coach with what he's calling "the toughest schedule we've had in my 27 years here at St. John's."
Fasching, who spent 17 years as an assistant under former coach John Gagliardi, will see his Johnnies tested immediately with three games against nationally ranked opponents.
The Johnnies, coming off an 11-victory season that was highlighted by their MIAC-record 35th conference title and seventh consecutive Division III playoff appearance, open their season Saturday by playing host to Wisconsin-Whitewater, which is ranked No. 4 in the d3football.com preseason poll. (The Johnnies are No. 5.)
The Johnnies follow up by playing host to Wisconsin-River Falls and by opening MIAC play with a game at Bethel. Both River Falls and Bethel were ranked in preseason Top 25 polls.
"UW-Whitewater has been a national power for years, and they return a very, very good team," said Fasching. "UW-River Falls is an excellent team for us in Week Two coming off an 8-2 season last year and ranked as high as 18th nationally. No. 13 Bethel is a tremendous program. Steve Johnson is one of the great coaches in all of college football. This might be their best team in the last 10 years. Right now our whole focus is on UW-Whitewater."
Wisconsin-Whitewater, which was 13-1 last season, has won 13 of the past 16 WIAC titles.
The Johnnies welcome back quarterback Aaron Syverson, who passed for 1,768 yards and 17 touchdowns before being injured late in the regular season.
"Aaron was having a great year in 2021 and suffered a broken ankle in Week 7," said Fasching. "Chris Backes came in and performed admirably for us in his absence. Syverson is 100 percent healthy and ready to go and has looked very good in camp. As with every starting QB at every level, we need to keep Aaron healthy."
Johnnies defensive lineman Michael Wozniak was named first-team and tight end Alex Larson was named second-team on d3football.com's preseason All-America team.
Bethel returns 20 starters
Bethel, ranked No. 13, returns 20 starters from last year's squad which went 8-3 and went 4-0 to finish first in the MIAC's Skyline Division. The Royals lost to Central (Iowa) in the first round of the NCAA playoffs — their 10th postseason appearance in the past 20 seasons.
Johnson is in his 33rd season as the Royals coach. He has coached the Royals to 234 victories.
Gustavus, 8-2 last season and the runner-up to the Johnnies in the Northwoods Division, received votes in the preseason Top 25 poll.
New coach for Scots
Phil Nicolaides, 31, is in his first season as the Macalester coach after spending six seasons as the defensive coordinator for Randolph-Macon College. The Scots open Saturday at Minnesota Morris.
KiJuan Ware, who was the Scots' interim head coach last season, has joined the Augsburg staff as a defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator. The Auggies play at the University of Northwestern on Saturday.
Greenville favored in UMAC
Greenville, which went 6-0 in conference play last season to earn its first Division III playoff appearance, was the favorite in the coaches' preseason poll. UMAC Offensive Player of the Year (Paul Garrett) and UMAC Defensive Player of the Year (Turjon McLaurin) return for the Panthers.
Martin Luther, whose only conference loss last season was to Greenville in overtime, was second in the preseason poll. The Knights went unbeaten in the UMAC en route to league titles in 2018 and 2019. Paul Huebner has taken over as the Knights' coach, replacing Mark Stein, who stepped down after 11 seasons.
Minnesota Morris, which was 4-2 in conference play last season, was third in the poll and Northwestern, 3-3 in conference play last season, was fourth. Minnesota Morris returns 18 starters.
2021 MIAC standings
Northwoods
St. John's 4-0 11-1
Gustavus 3-1 8-2
St. Olaf 2-2 5-5
Carleton 1-3 7-3
St. Scholastica 0-4 0-8
Skyline
Bethel 4-0 8-3
Concordia (Moor.) 3-1 4-6
Augsburg 2-2 4-6
Macalester 1-3 3-7
Hamline 0-4 4-6
UMAC Coaches preseason poll
1. Greenville
2. Martin Luther
3. Minn.-Morris
4. Northwestern
5. Westminster
6. Crown
7. Finlandia
2021 UMAC standings
Greenville 6-0 8-3
Martin Luther 5-1 5-4
Minn.-Morris 4-2 5-5
Northwestern 3-3 3-7
Westminster 2-4 3-5
Crown 1-5 1-9
Finlandia 0-6 0-9
