2019 SJU Football Schedule

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Head coach Gary Fasching '81 announced the 2019 Saint John's University football schedule on Tuesday, Feb. 5.

SJU will host five regular-season home games for the first time since 2016 after its hosted six each of the past two seasons.  

The Johnnies open the 2019 season with a 1 p.m. kickoff Sept. 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wis. SJU will then have a bye Sept. 14 and play nine straight weeks to close the regular season for the second consecutive year.  

SJU filled its MIAC bye, which was again slated for the final week of the regular season, with a non-conference game against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ind.) Nov. 16 in Collegeville.

"I am pleased to announce that we have added a 10th game to our 2019 schedule with the addition of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology," Fasching said. "The Fighting Engineers will be a quality opponent and will provide our fans with the opportunity to see a new team at Clemens Stadium."

Stout ended the 2018 season with a 5-5 record, including a 3-4 mark to finish fifth in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). SJU defeated the Blue Devils 27-0 in the 2018 season opener on Sept. 1.  

The meeting will be the first between SJU and Rose-Hulman, which went 5-5 with a 5-3 record in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) last fall. The Fightin' Engineers won eight games each season from 2015-17 and earned an NCAA Division III playoff berth in 2017.

Conference play begins with a home game Sept. 21 against Gustavus Adolphus during Family Weekend and the Johnnies close September with a trip to Carleton on the 28th. SJU hosts back-to-back games, Augsburg Oct. 5 for Homecoming and Bethel Oct. 12, before the Oct. 19 game against St. Thomas at Allianz Field in St. Paul, followed by another trip to Northfield Oct. 26 to face St. Olaf. Concordia-Moorhead visits Clemens Stadium Nov. 2 and SJU closes the MIAC schedule Nov. 9 at Hamline. 

SJU (12-1, 8-0 MIAC) won its MIAC-record 33rd conference title and made its 29th postseason appearance (25th in Division III) in 2018 and ended the season ranked as high as No. 3 nationally by D3football.com. The Johnnies advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, where they fell by a 21-18 score to the eventual national champion, Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas).

The Johnnies expect to return seven starters on each side of the ball, including the 2018 Gagliardi Trophy recipient and D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year, quarterback Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.), and two-time All-American guard Dan Greenheck (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) in 2019.