2023 SJU Football Schedule
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Saint John's University football program finalized its 2023 schedule with the addition of Trinity (Texas) as its season opener, head coach
Gary Fasching '81 announced Wednesday, March 1.
SJU will host five regular-season home games and season-ticket renewals open in early April and to the general public in mid-May.
Trinity won its second-straight Southern Athletic Association Championship and finished with an 11-1 record in the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs. The Tigers ended the 2022 season ranked as high as fifth nationally by the American Football Coaches Association, just ahead of SJU in sixth.
SJU follows the season opener with a trip to Wisconsin-Whitewater Sept. 9. The Johnnies topped the fourth-ranked Warhawks 24-10 to open the 2022 season in Collegeville.
"We are excited to announce that we have added Trinity University of Texas to our non-conference schedule for Week 1 next fall," head coach
Gary Fasching '81 said. "Trinity is an excellent football program, perennially in the national playoffs and in the top-10 rankings. Head coach Jerheme Urban runs a first-class program and we expect a fiercely competitive game on Sept. 2.
"This will be the second-straight season that we will start by playing three nationally ranked teams. It will be a very challenging schedule, but one that our players and coaches are looking forward to in the fall."
The 2023 season opener will be the second meeting between the two schools. The first was a 41-34 loss for SJU in the national semifinals on Dec. 14, 2002 in San Antonio. A senior wide receiver in the game, Urban had five catches for 73 yards and a touchdown and returned a kickoff 91 yards for another score. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Seattle Seahawks after the 2003 NFL Draft and went on to a nine-season career in the NFL with three other teams. Urban returned to Trinity as an assistant coach in 2012 and took over as head coach in 2014.
Wisconsin-Whitewater won a share of its 39th WIAC title with a 6-1 record (8-3 overall) and suffered a 33-28 home loss to Aurora (Ill.) in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. Head coach Kevin Bullis announced his retirement after the season and was replaced with Jace Rindahl, who served as an assistant coach for the last eight seasons. Rindahl was a unanimous first-team All-American and the D3football.com Defensive Player of the Year at linebacker for the Warhawks in 2008.
The Johnnies are 33-13 (.717) all-time against current members of the WIAC, including a 27-6 (.818) record during the regular season. SJU is 2-4 vs. UWW, with all four losses occurring in the NCAA Playoffs in Perkins Stadium: first round (2008, 7-37); second round (2005, 7-34); quarterfinal round (2006, 14-17); and semifinal round (2019, 32-35).
Conference play begins for SJU with a rematch of the MIAC Championship game Sept. 23 vs. Bethel. The Johnnies visit Augsburg before a pair of home games Oct. 7 vs. Concordia and Oct. 14 vs. Carleton for Homecoming. The final regular-season home game on Oct. 28 vs. St. Scholastica is sandwiched by road trips south to Gustavus Adolphus Oct. 21 and St. Olaf Nov. 4. SJU ends the regular-season schedule, like the rest of the Northwoods Division, on the road for MIAC Championship Week Nov. 11.
SJU's 2023 Football Schedule
Sept. 2 – vs. Trinity (Texas),
12 p.m.
Sept. 9 – at Wisconsin-Whitewater, 1 p.m.
Sept. 23 – vs. Bethel, 1 p.m. (Family Weekend)
Sept. 30 – at Augsburg, 1 p.m.
Oct. 7 – vs. Concordia, 1 p.m.
Oct. 14 – vs. Carleton, 1 p.m. (Homecoming)
Oct. 21 – at Gustavus Adolphus, 1 p.m.
Oct. 28 – vs. St. Scholastica, 1 p.m.
Nov. 4 – at St. Olaf, 1 p.m.
Nov. 11 – at MIAC Championship Week, 1 p.m.
Collegeville was the place to be for NCAA Division III football in 2022, as Saint John's attracted a division-best 57,715 fans to Clemens Stadium last fall.
The cumulative total was greater than three Football Bowl Subdivision teams (Akron, Northern Illinois and Massachusetts), 114 Football Championship Subdivision teams and all but one of the 165 Division ll programs (Grand Valley State).
SJU finished second nationally in Division III with an average of 7,214 spectators over eight games, including two in the NCAA playoffs. Whitewater hosted five contests last fall and led Division III with an average of 10,934 fans per game. UWW's home game vs. Wisconsin-Oshkosh boasted 18,951 spectators on Oct. 14, the fourth-largest crowd in Division III history and the largest for an on-campus venue.
The Johnnies (10-2, 7-1 MIAC) won their fourth-consecutive conference championship - an MIAC-record 36th title overall - and made their 32nd postseason appearance (28th in Division III) in 2022.
2022 NCAA Division III Football Attendance Leaders
| No. |
School |
Gms. |
Total |
Avg. |
| 1. |
Saint John's |
8 |
57,715 |
7,214 |
| 2. |
Wisconsin-Whitewater |
5 |
54,669 |
10,934 |
| 3. |
Lebanon Valley (Pa.) |
6 |
35,695 |
5,949 |
| 4. |
Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) |
7 |
27,455 |
3,922 |
| 5. |
Hampden-Sydney (Va.) |
5 |
25,932 |
5,186 |
| 6. |
Trine (Ind.) |
5 |
23,046 |
4,609 |
| 7. |
Brockport State (N.Y.) |
5 |
22,560 |
4,512 |
| 8. |
Wartburg (Iowa) |
7 |
22,151 |
3,164 |
| 9. |
Bethel |
5 |
21,451 |
4,290 |
| 10. |
Christopher Newport (Va.) |
6 |
20,951 |
3,492 |
2022 SJU vs. FCS/Division II Schools in Upper Midwest
| No. |
School |
NCAA |
Gms. |
Total |
Avg. |
| 1. |
North Dakota State |
FCS |
9 |
141,179 |
15,687 |
| 2. |
South Dakota State |
FCS |
9 |
113,227 |
12,581 |
| 3. |
Saint John's |
III |
8 |
57,715 |
7,214 |
| 4. |
Northern Iowa |
FCS |
6 |
50,154 |
8,359 |
| 5. |
North Dakota |
FCS |
5 |
48,898 |
9,780 |
| 6. |
South Dakota |
FCS |
5 |
31,772 |
6,354 |
| 7. |
St. Thomas |
FCS |
6 |
31,366 |
5,228 |
| 8. |
Northern State (S.D.) |
II |
6 |
27,688 |
4,615 |
| 9. |
MSU-Mankato |
II |
6 |
22,664 |
3,777 |
| 10. |
Bethel |
III |
5 |
21,451 |
4,290 |
2022 MIAC Football Attendance Leaders
| No. |
School |
Gms. |
Total |
Avg. |
| 1. |
Saint John's |
8 |
57,715 |
7,214 |
| 2. |
Bethel |
5 |
21,451 |
4,290 |
| 3. |
Concordia-Moorhead |
4 |
14,241 |
3,560 |
| 4. |
Carleton |
6 |
9,202 |
1,534 |
| 5. |
Gustavus Adolphus |
5 |
8,915 |
1,783 |
| 6. |
St. Olaf |
5 |
6,591 |
1,318 |
| 7. |
Macalester |
5 |
3,015 |
603 |
| 8. |
Augsburg |
4 |
3,010 |
753 |
| 9. |
Hamline |
5 |
2,554 |
511 |
| 10. |
St. Scholastica |
4 |
1,479 |
370 |
