St. John’s quest and nine other things to know about Minnesota D-II and III football

St. John’s missed the NCAA Division III football playoffs last season for the first time since 2013. The Johnnies, who had won or shared the previous four MIAC titles, were sent home early despite going 8-2 overall and 7-1 in the MIAC.

The Johnnies’ lone conference loss was to Gustavus Adolphus 38-35 in Week 7. The loss kept the Johnnies out of the MIAC championship game. Bethel defeated Gustavus 31-7 in the championship game to earn the MIAC’s automatic berth in the playoffs. Bethel was the lone MIAC team in the 32-team playoff field.

An expansion of the D-III playoff field this season from 32 to 40 teams will add more at-large teams to go with the 28 automatic berths.

“I am in total agreement with the expansion to 40 teams in football,” said St. John’s coach Gary Fasching, whose team was No. 2 in D-III in strength of schedule last season. “I have always thought football was underrepresented when it came to the number of teams in the playoffs. This will give an opportunity for more at-large teams to advance their seasons.”

The Johnnies, who open the season at home on Sept. 7 against Carthage, are ranked No. 14 in the D3football.com preseason Top 25.

Among the returning starters for the Johnnies is quarterback Aaron Syverson, a senior from Minnetonka who returns for his third season as the Johnnies starter. Last season, he completed 270 of 395 passes (68.35%) for 3,436 yards and 45 touchdowns. He was fourth in DIII in completions, passing yards and touchdown passes. He threw just six interceptions.

“I think we have a solid team coming back,” Fasching said. “Having Aaron Syverson back certainly helps, and having four starters back on the offensive line is a big plus. We have seven starters back on defense, and both kickers, so we feel we have a chance to be a very competitive team.”

Here are nine other things to watch this season among Minnesota Division II and III football programs:

• Minnesota Duluth, the top pick in the preseason NSIC poll and ranked No. 17 in the AFCA Division II preseason poll, has 14 returning starters from last year’s 9-2 team. Among the returning starters is QB Kyle Walljasper, who ran for 1,073 yards and an NSIC-leading 16 rushing touchdowns and passed for 1,580 yards and 22 touchdowns.

• Among the returning players for Bemidji State, which has made three consecutive D-II playoff appearances, is defensive end Marcus Hansen, a junior from Waseca, Minn., who was the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year and second team All-America in 2023. The Beavers will have a new starting quarterback after the graduation of three-year starter Brandon Alt, who finished his career with 11,648 passing yards, second-best in NSIC history.

• MSU Moorhead quarterback Jack Strand, the NSIC Offensive Player of the Year last season, returns for his junior season. Last year, Strand set four school records while leading D-II in completions (370). He also was second in passing yards and third in passing touchdowns.

• Quarterback Hayden Ekern returns for his fourth season as a starter for Minnesota State Mankato, which was third in the NSIC preseason poll and No. 13 in the AFCA D-II preseason poll. Ekern passed for 2,654 yards and 23 touchdowns for the Mavericks, who were 9-3 and ranked as high as No. 3 in D-II polls last season.

• In addition to adding eight teams to the D-III playoff field, the Division III Management Council also approved the use of the NCAA Power Index (NPI) for the selection of the at-large berths. NPI is a combination of winning percentage, strength of schedule, home-away multiplier, quality win bonus and overtime results.

• Mike McElroy, who spent the past seven seasons as Bethel defensive coordinator, begins his first season as Royals coach. McElroy replaced Steve Johnson, who retired after 35 seasons on the job. Bethel won the MIAC championship last season, its first conference title since 2013.

• Carleton tight end Ntense Obono was named to D3football.com’s first-team preseason All-America team. The senior from Lawrence, Kan., was named a second-team All-America following the 2023 season after leading tight ends at all levels (FBS, FCS, II and III) with 83 receptions and 784 receiving yards.