UW-La Crosse football coach Matt Janus joined WIZM’s La Crosse Talk with Ken Cooper on Wednesday to chat a bit about Round 2 of the Division III playoffs Saturday, ahead of Thanksgiving.
Janus and the No. 16 Eagles (7-3) face the third-ranked team in the country, unbeaten St. John’s (10-0).
La Crosse Talk airs weekdays at 6-8 a.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.
That game can be heard on WKTY, beginning at 11:45 a.m. Saturday. Tune in on 96.7 FM / 580 AM.
Last week, the Eagles beat Northwestern (Minn.) 59-14 in the first round.
This is the fourth consecutive season the Eagles have made the playoffs. Last year, they lost in the quarterfinals.
The Johnnie’s have three wins against ranked opponents this season — two of those against No. 21 Bethel and also against No. 11 Wartburg.
St. John’s beat Bethel 41-33 in the MIAC title game last weekend and again 45-20 earlier this season. They also beat Wartburg 35-13 in Week 2.
Meanwhile, the Eagles are 1-3 against ranked teams this season, including the No. 2 team in Division II.
UW-L lost three consecutive games early in the year against:
- No. 2 (DII) Grand Valley State 20-13
- No. 24 UW-Platteville 30-27 (OT)
- No. 20 UW-Oshkosh 34-33
The UW-P loss came as the Pioneers had yet to shoot up the polls. They are currently No. 7 in the nation.
And the UW-O loss came after blowing a 19-point, second-half lead to the Titans, who are no longer ranked.
UW-L and St. John’s have met six times in history, dating back to 1968 and three times in the 1990s. St. John’s won the first five matchups, with UW-L winning 37-30 in 1996.
