D3football.com Poll 

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's University stayed at No. 6 in D3football.com's first Top 25 poll of the 2021 regular season released Sunday night, Sept. 5.

Nine teams in NCAA Region 6 were ranked in the top 25, including four in the top 10: Mary Hardin-Baylor (No. 1), Wisconsin-Whitewater (No. 3), SJU (No. 6), Hardin-Simmons (No. 7), Wisconsin-Oshkosh (No. 11), Linfield (No. 12), Bethel (No. 17), Chapman (No. 18) and Whitworth (No. 24). Four others (Wisconsin-La Crosse, Redlands, East Texas Baptist, Wisconsin-Stevens Point) received votes.

SJU opened the 2021 season with a nerve-racking 39-33 win over then-No. 23 Aurora (Ill.) Sept. 4. The Johnnies totaled 520 yards of offense and sealed the victory with a defensive stop from the 1-yard line with 17 seconds remaining. Senior defensive lineman Collin Franz (Otsego, Minn./Rogers) stripped the ball from the Spartans' All-American quarterback Gavin Zimbelman on 4th-and-goal and senior defensive lineman Seth Morem (Red Wing, Minn.) recovered the loose ball. Aurora moved up two spots to No. 21 in this evening's poll.

The Johnnies return following their bye week with a 1 p.m. kickoff against Martin Luther on Saturday, Sept. 18, in Clemens Stadium.