Quote from: Raider 68 on December 13, 2022, 11:19:31 AM
Here's hoping that NCC will take Mount lightly and be somewhat over-confident. Possible?

There's likely not a team in the country the Cardinals want to play more than Mount.  How often do you get an opportunity to play the best on the biggest stage?  North Central is on a mission.  They learned last year that a very good season means nothing if you don't finish.  Be mindful Raider68... this NCC team is very different than what Mount has seen in the three prior matchups. 

Quote from: D3fanboy on December 12, 2022, 03:33:14 PM
Coach Sirianni wearing a Purple Raiders sweatshirt to his press conference today... that's the Mount Union difference

https://twitter.com/Eagles/status/1602389205879246848?s=20&t=3FSxxxM5mJ_2Hk4bXu3dtg

12 mins or so in

since the D3 guys are struggling for Mount Union content lately

Thanks for posting this link D3 fanboy.  Going to have to respectfully disagree with Coach Sirianni on this one.

Quote from: USee on December 12, 2022, 05:24:18 PM
I will be very, very surprised if the National Championship game is a blowout. I am just starting to look closely but my first take is this game is much closer than many people think in my opinion.

It ain't often, but I am in complete agreement with USee on this one.  Mount has a lot of talent on the field outside of Plunk, Ruby, and Manley.  Tale of the tape will be the winner in the trenches.  Can NCC's DL put relentless pressure on AND contain Plunk?  Can Mount's DL stop the continuous onslaught of NCC's running attack over 60 minutes.  North Central still remembers the 12/14/13 game at Alliance... the Raiders will keep coming until the final whistle.  Two of the three contests between NCC and Mount have been decided by 7 pts or less.  Not sure how I see this going yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a dogfight to the end.

Quote from: USee on December 12, 2022, 12:12:47 PM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on December 12, 2022, 11:47:30 AM
I saw Cusumano limping after a couple of plays late in the game as well.

I saw CardinalAlum limping after the game in the parking lot. He will be day to day before Annapolis.

Was CardinalAlum limping or staggering... often a fine line.

Quote from: hazzben on December 03, 2022, 09:48:49 PM
Congrats on a great season Ithaca. We both came up short today, but it sounds like you guys played hard all day.

It may not show up on the scoreboard, but the men from Ithaca challenged the Cardinals on every play.  They represented themselves and IC well.  Congratulations on a fantastic season and deep run in the playoffs.  Respect.

Quote from: robertgoulet on November 26, 2022, 05:41:50 PM

Quote from: USee on November 26, 2022, 05:16:52 PM

Quote from: Next Man Up on November 26, 2022, 05:05:45 PM

Quote from: USee on November 26, 2022, 02:16:57 PM
NCC with their hands full with CMU at the half, leading 14-7. Greenfield with 22 yds on 11 carries. Lehnen has 53 yds rushing. NCC Defense held CMU to just 92 yds in the first half.

Quote from: robertgoulet on November 26, 2022, 03:29:54 PM
NCC finally wore down the CM D and opened it up in the 4th. CM has a really really good defense. Anchor in the middle ate up multiple blockers and kept the linebackers clean. Good tackling from the 2nd and 3rd levels. The seemed to tire in the 4th and NCC gashed them multiple times.

As robertgoulet indicated above, "wore down" is indeed what the Cardinals finally did to C- M.
Greenfield had 113 of his 135 yards in the second half, and Lehnen had 74 of his 127.

It only gets harder from here. Lehnen's inability to drop back and throw in long yardage situations is a handicap if anyone can exploit it. He is really good in play action and on the move, but put NCC in 2nd/3rd and long and it's more challenging.

Have to wonder if it's just the way the offense is run. Risk averse, no deep shots to Hardy. Just pound for 4 quarters and know eventually you'll come out on top. As close as this was NCC still won by 21.

Agree 100% Robert... on the one hand, NCC barely called enough pass plays to keep Carnegie Mellon's LBs honest; on the other hand, did they need to?  I will be intrigued to see if the coaches open the playbook a bit more in the coming week.  Congratulations goes out to Carnegie Mellon on a great season and well-played contest.  The Tartan defense was special and the best we have seen this year.

Quote from: Stagg Again!! on September 10, 2022, 11:36:41 PM

Quote from: wabashcpa on September 10, 2022, 09:11:36 PM

Quote from: Crawford on September 10, 2022, 08:47:28 PM

Quote from: wabashcpa on September 10, 2022, 06:11:18 PM
56-12, not unexpected.  104 pts allowed in 2 games.

Guessing the Hard Hat D chant is in hibernation.

Hampden-Sydney only scored 27 today.  NCAC play is going to very interesting this year.

Gonna be a lot of high scores to be sure.  Offense held in check today, but North Central is a top ranked team for a reason.

I actually like our chances in conference, just need to find a smidge of defense.

I like your chances in conference too cpa.   Wabash has a special kid at QB and a lot of talent on the field.  Expecting to see the Little Giants making some noise in the NCAC.  Thank you to the Giant faithful for the hospitality today.  It was certainly a better day than the last time we visited Crawfordsville!!

We will be watching and rooting for the Little Giants from Naperville this weekend.  Can't say that I'm a bit surprised to see that WC has battled its way back to fight for the NCAC crown (see cpa's and my prior comments from 9/10/22)... after all, doesn't Wabash Always Fight?

Is this the week that all of the three and four loss WIAC teams (UWF, UWP, and UWO) fall out of the Top 25 to make way for a one loss team from the CCIW?  I have all day for the WIAC conference and do believe that UWW and UWL should/will get into the tournament (unless there is another wacky WIAC weekend!).  That being said, WashU should NOT have fallen out of the Top 25 after last week's impressive outing against the #1 team in the country.  I think if you look at their body of work and outcomes against Top 25 common opponents, a case could be made that Wash U should be in the Top 15 at or above Wheaton in the polls.  This will, of course, shake itself out on Saturday in STL... but, if Wash U "upsets" WC, I would suggest that the Bears may well be a Top 12 team with a lock on a second playoff spot for the CCIW.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on October 03, 2022, 10:14:34 AM

Quote from: USee on October 02, 2022, 11:56:21 PM

Quote from: Stagg Again!! on October 02, 2022, 04:13:56 PM
As for the game,  NCC absolutely dominated the first half and could have had at least another seven but for an INT in the end zone in the first drive of 2Q.  NCC definitely took their foot off the gas in the 3Q with VERY conservative play-calling (all QB draws, Greenfield runs up the middle, or swing passes to the TE behind the LOS).  This, coupled with some (ahem) interesting and very timely calls by the officials, allowed Wheaton to gain momentum and continue drives that were clearly over. 

Both teams had some first half miscues that could have affected the score at intermission. You can't be seriously suggesting the Cardinals got some home cooking from their own refs??

I'm not sure where either of you are going with this discussion of the refs, but, for the record here, the officiating crews for all CCIW football games (non-conference as well as conference) are assigned under the aegis of the CCIW's coordinator of football officials, Bill Carollo, who heads up a consortium of football official assignment pools called the Midwest Football Officials' Alliance that includes the Big Ten as well as the CCIW and the WIAC. (Carollo should be a familiar name to anyone who watches football, as he was an NFL referee for twenty years and thus had his name consistently mentioned on air during national telecasts; in fact, he reffed a couple of Super Bowls.) Carollo's assistants who directly handle CCIW, WIAC, MWC, and NACC officiating assignments are Tom Fiedler and Tom Stapleton.

Long story short, there is no such thing as "their own refs" (or either home cooking or anti-home cooking) in CCIW football. I think you probably both know that, but it bears repeating. And I also figured that this is an opportune moment to inform everyone who reads this board exactly how officiating crews are assigned for CCIW games and who is assigning them.

Greg, thank you for providing this information. I knew most already, but you filled in a few details that I did not know RE: the Midwest Football Officials' Alliance.  BTW, my father-in-law was a lifer at IBM and knew Bill Carollo well while they both worked for the company.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on October 02, 2022, 10:45:17 PM

Quote from: Stagg Again!! on October 02, 2022, 10:18:05 PM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on October 02, 2022, 08:45:50 PM

Quote from: Stagg Again!! on October 02, 2022, 08:16:53 PM
See that the new Top 25 poll is out and, not surprisingly, NCC did not pick up any points after defeating a Top 10 opponent by two touchdowns.  Meanwhile, UWW picked up 11 points after their 3 point win over a similarly ranked opponent.  Love to watch how quick the pollsters are to throw points at MIAC and WIAC teams (St. Johns, UWW, etc.), but aren't so quick when Mount, UMHB, or NCC pick up big wins.  Frankly, I am surprised that St. Johns didn't jump over an "outsider" like Trinity!!

Man -- you gotta be kidding me. There are only THIRTEEN points left for North Central to pick up, and you're complaining that they only have 97.9% of the maximum points a team can have?

Pat, that is exactly what I thought when I saw UWW pick up 11 pts points after a 3 point win this week on the heels of a 14 pt win over a 2-2 and unranked Berry team (that just got defeated by the same spread by an unranked Birmingham-Southern team).  I don't really care if NCC is ranked 1st or 4th at this point, but I would like to understand how the Cardinals would have a 13 point delta (to 625 pts) on seven ballots.  I question the rationality of those votes!  I also would like to understand how 11 points went to UWW instead of a very good Mount team.  It will all shake out in the end, but it would be worthwhile if there were a bit more transparency in the D3football Top 25 polls.

Well, when you are done with the hyperbole and want to have a serious conversation, let us know. We talk about the poll quite a bit on the podcast and have done some breakdowns of the top teams and we will do so this week, plus we do even more for our Patreon subscribers, but seriously, there's plenty of rational thought being done by pollsters who put UMHB and UWW ahead of North Central considering whom each have played in 2022.

Listen every week, but should become a Patreon subscriber.  As I said, it all shakes out in the end and there are rarely issues with the final polls.  I realize this is an inexact science with lots of moving part, and I appreciate all that you and the D3football team have done for the sport over the years.  Perhaps the Patreon subscription will give me more of the clarity I am seeking.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on October 02, 2022, 08:45:50 PM

Quote from: Stagg Again!! on October 02, 2022, 08:16:53 PM
See that the new Top 25 poll is out and, not surprisingly, NCC did not pick up any points after defeating a Top 10 opponent by two touchdowns.  Meanwhile, UWW picked up 11 points after their 3 point win over a similarly ranked opponent.  Love to watch how quick the pollsters are to throw points at MIAC and WIAC teams (St. Johns, UWW, etc.), but aren't so quick when Mount, UMHB, or NCC pick up big wins.  Frankly, I am surprised that St. Johns didn't jump over an "outsider" like Trinity!!

Man -- you gotta be kidding me. There are only THIRTEEN points left for North Central to pick up, and you're complaining that they only have 97.9% of the maximum points a team can have?

Pat, that is exactly what I thought when I saw UWW pick up 11 pts points after a 3 point win this week on the heels of a 14 pt win over a 2-2 and unranked Berry team (that just got defeated by the same spread by an unranked Birmingham-Southern team).  I don't really care if NCC is ranked 1st or 4th at this point, but I would like to understand how the Cardinals would have a 13 point delta (to 625 pts) on seven ballots.  I question the rationality of those votes!  I also would like to understand how 11 points went to UWW instead of a very good Mount team.  It will all shake out in the end, but it would be worthwhile if there were a bit more transparency in the D3football Top 25 polls.

Quote from: Stagg Again!! on October 02, 2022, 04:13:56 PM

Quote from: Schipper Strong on October 01, 2022, 09:54:53 PM
Congratulations to Norrh Central on your win. I thought early on it might get ugly, but the Thunder never gave up and made a close game of it. Fun to watch. Hope the Wheaton player injured right away is okay. Prayers for him.

Agree with the posts... fantastic atmosphere in Naperville last night.  Official attendance was 6,000, but likely more giving the SRO in the home side of the stadium and overflow crowd in the alumni tent.  Hope to hear that the Wheaton player injured on the first play of the game is back on the field in short order. 

As for the game,  NCC absolutely dominated the first half and could have had at least another seven but for an INT in the end zone in the first drive of 2Q.  NCC definitely took their foot off the gas in the 3Q with VERY conservative play-calling (all QB draws, Greenfield runs up the middle, or swing passes to the TE behind the LOS).  This, coupled with some (ahem) interesting and very timely calls by the officials, allowed Wheaton to gain momentum and continue drives that were clearly over. 

In the end, I thought all of the NCC and WC fans were treated to a fantastic hard-fought game on both sides of the ball.  WC came out fighting in the 3Q to make the contest a bit more exciting and NCC proved their National Championship-caliber mettle by orchestrating two nice long scoring drives in the 4Q that effectively put the game out of reach.  Hope both teams have success the rest of the way and am keeping my fingers crossed that we will see two CCIW teams in the playoffs.

See that the new Top 25 poll is out and, not surprisingly, NCC did not pick up any points after defeating a Top 10 opponent by two touchdowns.  Meanwhile, UWW picked up 11 points after their 3 point win over a similarly ranked opponent.  Love to watch how quick the pollsters are to throw points at MIAC and WIAC teams (St. Johns, UWW, etc.), but aren't so quick when Mount, UMHB, or NCC pick up big wins.  Frankly, I am surprised that St. Johns didn't jump over an "outsider" like Trinity!!

Quote from: Schipper Strong on October 01, 2022, 09:54:53 PM
Congratulations to Norrh Central on your win. I thought early on it might get ugly, but the Thunder never gave up and made a close game of it. Fun to watch. Hope the Wheaton player injured right away is okay. Prayers for him.

Agree with the posts... fantastic atmosphere in Naperville last night.  Official attendance was 6,000, but likely more giving the SRO in the home side of the stadium and overflow crowd in the alumni tent.  Hope to hear that the Wheaton player injured on the first play of the game is back on the field in short order. 

As for the game,  NCC absolutely dominated the first half and could have had at least another seven but for an INT in the end zone in the first drive of 2Q.  NCC definitely took their foot off the gas in the 3Q with VERY conservative play-calling (all QB draws, Greenfield runs up the middle, or swing passes to the TE behind the LOS).  This, coupled with some (ahem) interesting and very timely calls by the officials, allowed Wheaton to gain momentum and continue drives that were clearly over. 

In the end, I thought all of the NCC and WC fans were treated to a fantastic hard-fought game on both sides of the ball.  WC came out fighting in the 3Q to make the contest a bit more exciting and NCC proved their National Championship-caliber mettle by orchestrating two nice long scoring drives in the 4Q that effectively put the game out of reach.  Hope both teams have success the rest of the way and am keeping my fingers crossed that we will see two CCIW teams in the playoffs.

Quote from: CardinalAlum on September 24, 2022, 11:48:17 PM

Quote from: Next Man Up on September 24, 2022, 10:19:24 PM

Quote from: kiko on September 24, 2022, 05:05:41 PM
Today's matinees:

Illinois Wesleyan 26, Carroll 21 in Bloomington
Millikin 23, North Park 21 in Decatur
North Central 76, Elmhurst 6 in Naperville
Wash U 45, Carthage 16 behind the Cheddar Curtain

Tomight:

Wheaton at Augustana

Wheaton 38, Augustana 28 by the River

No surprises. Everything went pretty much as expected in the CCIW today.

I disagree a little bit....

I was surprised:
Augie scored 28 against the Thunder
IWU beat Carroll
North Park almost beat Millikin in Decatur.

This MOV caught my eye too Alum.  You have to go back to 2013 and 2014 to see Wheaton v. Augustana games where the outcome was decided by 10 points or less; you also have to go back to 2006 to find an Augie win over Wheaton.  During those 15 years of dominance, WC has defeated AC by a MOV of 20.7 ppg.  That said, MOVs have ranged from 4 pts in 2007 to 45 pts in 2021.  If you take a close look at the data, a 10 pt win is actually well within 1 standard deviation of the mean MOV during the last 15 years.  Additionally, if you pull in data going back to 1998, you find that WC's mean MOV over AC has been 12.3 ppg over the past quarter century.  I think the 10 point MOV caught our eyes, because WC's MOVs over AC have averaged 33.6 ppg during the past five full seasons (recency bias).  My guess is that last night's game says a bit more about a bit of a resurgence in Rock Island than it does about a huge fall off in Wheaton, but we will see how the season plays out.

Quote from: bleedpurple on September 11, 2022, 02:49:35 PM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on September 11, 2022, 01:10:00 PM
It's early, just 15 of 25 ballots in, but trend suggests that last week's top five teams are all still in the top five,  and same for the top ten.

Unfortunate if UW-W doesn't at least move past Hardin Simmons after beating UMHB. I have to believe nearly every voter that cumulatively landed us at #6 last week, did so expecting us to lose yesterday. I know it's for discussion only, so I'm definitely not mad about it, but when is the last time a team beat a unanimous #1 ranked team and not move up?

Although my personal Top 5 might be a bit different, given last week's poll, to me, this would be a logical result for this week's top 5:

1. NCC
2. Mount Union
3. St. John's
4. UW-W
5. UMHB

Just one admittedly biased opinion.

I agree with bleedpurple on this Top 5, but have learned from many wise UWW and MTU fans over time that these early season polls don't mean much.  Things will shake out by Week #5 or so.  Kudos to UMBH, MC, UWW, SJU, WC, TU, NCC, WC, UWP, and BC for scheduling some fantastic OOC matchups... I found myself watching so many games across the country during the last two weeks.  Now, onto our conference schedules.