Quote from: Tailgater on November 11, 2012, 12:04:22 PM
Another interesting and action filled year of CCIW football. Congrats to the Tri-Champs! Good luck to those who are selected to move on and represent the conference in the playoffs. Congrats to the Seniors of all the CCIW schools. Thank you for your time and dedication to your respective football programs. It has been a pleasure to watch you all in action over the years. Best of luck to you all in your future endeavors.

I would also concur with the sentiment above.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the last four years of CCIW football watching.  It is a huge commitment for all of the student athletes and they should be very proud of their accomplishments.  Congratulations to the Co-Champs and CCIW playoff representatives.  I am sure they will do the conference proud. 

While the Big Blue's final 5-5 record was frustrating, the program appears to be moving in the right direction. I believe they earned some respect with their play and they were an exciting team to watch.   Here's hoping they can continue to build the program and consistently compete at a high level. 

Quote from: newcardfan on October 29, 2012, 03:30:59 PM

Quote from: matblake on October 29, 2012, 03:18:05 PM
The Ogdenites have to be considered the clear favorites.  They've proven it on the field time and again.  In this weeks podcast Pat and Keith indicate that it has been since 2009 since SoDup has won by less than a touchdown.  Football can be strange though.

Just one crazy bounce or miscue can turn the momentum. That's why I love this game.There is a lot on the line for both teams. I can't imagine either team not being jacked come kick-off! And it looks like a pretty good day weather wise as well, 53 and no rain. Let's go Cards

Absolutely correct that it only takes one crazy bounce or miscue!  Case in point, on the last play of OT in the MU/EC game, Millikin fumbled on the 1, after a great defensive strip/ball punch as the runner was going in for the winning score.  The ball went forward and landed at the goal line untouched.  A Big Blue lineman was directly over it and falling on top of it.  However, before it was touched, the ball landed at a slight angle with the tip towards the goal line (courtesy of frame by frame hi-def from end zone camera).  The result was a first bounce backwards and under the lineman's arm to where Elmhurst recovered at the two.  That ball falls two inches differently and EC has two losses and would be glad to be ranked 26th. 

The point is games are won and lost on the field and the breaks will go both ways.  It is all a matter of timing and who has the good karma on that given day!  My gut says NCC will prevail based on seeing them both in person against MU.  Good luck to all and a three way tie would not be a bad thing at all.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on October 20, 2012, 04:34:56 PM
It seems that playing NPU gives a lot of opportunities for Offensive Player of the Week. Three weeks ago it was Carthage's Pete Djurickovic who had the game of his life, gaining over 200 receiving yards and two TDs, and garnered the award. This week I'd put my money on Augie's RB Eric Chandler, even though there's two games left to be played today. He ran roughshod over NPU to the tune of 204 yards on 17 carries -- an 11.9 ypc average -- and three TDs. Much of that was due to the Augie O-line, which opened up a lot of big holes on a pretty beat-up NPU front, but a lot of it was Chandler doing a nice job of showing field vision by running to daylight once he was past the line.

A pretty discouraging day for NPU. The two teams that the Park came very close to beating in CCIW play last year, teams that the Vikes thought they'd have a shot at beating this year, have knocked off NPU by 31-6 and 35-14 scores.

Here's hoping the Millikin QB, Matt Holmes, gets the nod this week.  A few strong rushing performances in the CCIW this week for sure.  However, even with strong stats and tough efforts for two years he has never been awarded the CCIW Offensive Player of the Week.  This week he broke a school record with 475 yards of total offense while accounting for four touchdowns. He finished 28-of-40 (70% with no turnovers) 305 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed 27 times for a team-leading 170 yards and a touchdown. Millikin totaled 557 yards of offense and he had a hand in 85% of the output. 

Unfortunately, it came in a losing effort with an RB fumble on the 1 yard line while going in for the winning OT score.  I will say it again, MU still needs to learn how to win, but they keep playing everyone close, NC excluded.  Two plays in OT and showing up to play in Rock Island and they would be right there in the mix.  I know that is shoulda, woulda, coulda, but still quite frustrating.  However, top tier teams win those games and unfortunately, MU is not quite over that hump yet.  They will play Wheaton hard next week and keep pursuing that missing signature win.

Quote from: Mugsy on October 16, 2012, 09:15:10 AM
Lost in all "the noise" is the game last Saturday in Rock Island.  Could someone please shed some light as to what happened?

The Augie team I watched against Wheaton didn't look capable of winning more than 2 conference games at most.  On the flipside Millikin looked to be a surprise team after taking IWU to overtime.

So many questions, so few answers....the Big Blue fandom is still trying to figure out what happened on a rainy day in the Quad Cities.  One thing for sure is that Augie showed up to play on their Homecoming and Millikin did not come close to matching their intensity.  The question is why?  Two years ago Augie drove the length of the field in less than a minute to come from behind and win in Decatur.  Last year the Big Blue did the exact same thing to Augie.  This was a game they both should have been up for, but it sure looked like the near miss at IWU and an a loss where they did some good things against NC might have left them a little over confident.  Only the players know for sure, but you can't do that in the CCIW boys or it will bite you in the back side.  The IWU loss stung, this one just plain hurt.

You could feel it early when on the first three downs Millikin could barely get the ball snapped without being eaten up.  Augie was pumped!  Augie took the punt and proceeded to drive, but hit the upright on on their FG attempt.  For the next five minutes the Big Blue looked like they had their wake up call and proceeded to move the ball at will and put up 14 quick points.  When Augie fumbled the snap on the next three and out series punt attempt, Millikin had the ball just outside the red zone looking to go up 21-0.  The rest as they say is history.  Two plays later Millikin fumbled on a botched handoff and never scored again.  In fact, from that point on their remaining drives produced, in order, 3 Punts, 2 Int, Missed FG, Punt, Downs, Punt, Downs.

Augie tied the game at 14 on a freak play during the heaviest downpour of the day.  The Big Blue punter dropped the snap and still tried to get the kick off.  However, he was moving sideways and the ball actually went backwards 20 yards, was scooped up by a lineman and taken to the house.  Ouch!  From then on, the Augie defense tasted it and kept coming.  For some time the Millikin defense held their own waiting for the offense to resurface, but that never happened with any consistency. 

Down 17-14 at half, Millikin started three 3rd quarter drives near mid-field and came away empty.  They produced two three and outs and a 50 yard, 11 play drive that ended on 4th and 3 inches.  The Big Blue ran a QB draw from the shotgun and lost a yard. Frustrated, but only chasing three with the defense playing well, all was not lost.  What occured next was a stunning 87 yard, 23 play, 13 1/2 minute Augie drive that saw three 4th down conversions with the last one resulting in a TD. Huge momentum swing and props to Augie for getting it done.

There were other opportunites in Q4 like a muffed punt by Augie giving Millikin the ball at the 22 with 6:30 left chasing 10 points.  Time for the comeback like Elmhurst did last week to Augie.  No dice, four and out and then Augie kills the last 5:30 with an 11 play drive.

In summary, Augie outplayed the Big Blue most of the day.  They are better than most thought and Millikin may not be as good as most thought.  Pulling this one out, and being 4-2, would have been a tremendous shot of confidence for Millikin.  The close call victory over Augie clearly got Elmhurst motivated the next week.  Now we will see how good Millikin really is based on how they respond this week against EC.  The talent is there, but as I have stated all year, you have to learn how to win in this league and that is a lesson they still need to learn.  They can do some damage down the stretch or they can fade away as they have in the past decade.  They expected more from themselves, so it will be interesting to see what they are made of the rest of the way.

Sorry for rambling on and congrats to Augie for an extremely well played game, in fact two weeks in a row. 

Quote from: nccfac on October 06, 2012, 09:57:53 PM

Quote from: cardinaldad on October 06, 2012, 05:09:19 PM
      What has happened to Cardinal Nation? For many tears we traveled really, really well. It looked as if there was a sparse crowd there today.   

If you were looking at the visiting stands, you saw about one-half to a little less of Cardinal Nation. We filled up the home stands on south end from the 30 yard line to the goal on that end. The visitor stands are awful because you are so low and it is hard to see over the players on that side. They graciously gave us room in their home stands (even though homecoming).

I would like to point out that MU's first team did have a nice drive on their first possession against our first-team defense and number 25 was a beast running the ball. Those of us in the stands were glad they stopped running him for a while. In the first half he average 8.3 yards a carry against us. This is a much improved MU team over previous years, they made a lot of silly fouls and turnovers against an NCC team that doesn't need help, but will gladly take it.

Agree that there was a good contingent of NC fans.  The home stands had the wind at their back and it was significantly warmer on that side of the field.  As for the game, after the first drive it was not pretty.  Giving up a near TD (returned to the 5) on the opening kickoff was not the start MU was looking for.  MU moved the ball at times, but when NC was pressed, their #1 defense showed up and shut it down. 

Certainly, MU is better than previous years, but NC is simply the class of the CCIW.  They pretty much controlled the entire game on both sides of the ball.  Bad penalties in excess of 100 yards surely didn't help, but that wasn't the story.  NC is very good across the board, plain and simple.  Hanging with and almost beating IWU is all well and good, but even playing error free ball against the Cardinals still would not have been enough.  Too much talent for the Big Blue and probably for the rest of the CCIW as well.

Here's hoping they have the mindset to keep working hard and continue to improve and do some damage in the weeks to come.  It is still early, but I fear that MU and the rest of the league are playing for runner up this year.

Quote from: iwu70 on September 29, 2012, 11:35:39 PM
Great game @Tucci @Wilider Field tonight, perhaps one of the top five I've seen there over the years, and that's lots of years, since fall of 1966.  Titans  come out on top, with some lucky breaks, and a few well-timed penalties against the Big Blue, to win in OT 34-33.  MU went for two after scoring a TD in the first OT, and threw an incomplete on the fade route in the deep right-hand, SE end zone.  Defended well, after IWU was caught holding on the previous 2 pt. PAT attempt, giving the Big Blue another shot at it.  Very even and  balanced game, with both teams putting up some O numbers, both running and passing the ball well, both teams making mistakes, committing penalties and providing TOs.  It was back and forth, all evening, with IWU down 27-13 at one point early in the second half.  A great comeback and a great win, dodging a bullet for sure.  I thought the game would be close, having IWU winning by 1 TD, but it was even closer.  Congrats to both teams on a super competitive, exciting D3 football matchup.

I have great respect for the MU offense, with a very mobile, crafty and quick QB, Holmes.  He is much much improved and hard to contain.  Also, very good receivers with very crisp routes.  Gave IWU almost all they could handle and more.  If ECC is not coming out this weekend vs. NCC, surely MU is coming out this weekend, almost taking down my Titans.  MU is a very good team, can score in various ways, and has a decent D too.  I think they will make some noise this year in the CCIW, perhaps even giving NCC and WC all they can handle.  My hat is off to them for playing the Titans very tough and almost coming out with a surprise upset win.  But, this is not horseshoes, and almost doesen't count for much. 

Gallik had a good game, and fortunately TJ Stinde was back and had a very good night, showing off often how he finds creases and also bounces off of seemingly assured tackles.  I think he was over 100 yards, perhaps 140 yards.  WR Joe Musso injured, which would be a pretty big loss for the Titans . . . some kind of shouder injury.  Hopefully, not serious.  Stinde held up well tonight, it would appear. 

A scary game, almost a L for the Titans, but we live to move on undefeated at 4-0, 1-0 and move on to NPU next week, then host Carthage for Homecoming on October 13th. Gotta improve, gotta get better, esp. on special teams, coverages and, esp. as shown tonight, better secondary coverage against an excellent throwing and scrambling QB like Holmes.   I was most impressed with the Big Blue and their overall plan, scheme of attack and improvement on D and O from last year.

IMHO.

Looks like NCC put a pasting on EC.  NCC still the favorites until someone proves to them otherwise.  WC result at AC not surprising at all.  I bet the future Carthage-MU game will be a very good one too.

Have a good weekend all . . . lots of football to be played, but tonight's game under perfect weather conditions, with a very large crowd, under a full moon on family weekend on Tucci's new turf . . . well, that's about as good as it gets in D3 football.  A good and lovely time was had by all . . .save for the Big Blue team and fans.  A long long, short trip back to Decatur.

GO TITANS

IWU70

It was a very exciting game with ebbs and flows both ways.  To me it was very evenly matched.  Both teams missed extra points and field goals....both teams turned it over at when they could not afford to...both put together drives when they really needed them..Props to IWU for the long drive to tie the game...Props to the Big Blue for going for the win in OT...question the fade call, but c'est la vie as hindsight is 20-20....MU really felt they could not only compete, but if they executed they should win.  However, as I stated two weeks ago this team needs to believe and learn how to win...didn't happen tonight, but not for lack of intensity and effort.  Norm and his guys know this could have very easily gone the other way even though IWU played well...I concur that this was as good as a game gets and the fans on both sides were involved, excited and saw an excellent game.  Wish the outcome were different, but proud of the Big Blue.


(Modified by Titan Q for formatting)

Quote from: bluejay4ever on September 28, 2012, 07:58:39 PM

This is great for the board! I don't see NC's defense giving up that many points unless they spend the night on a short field. Me, I'd really like to see the O put up some big numbers and eliminate the turnovers. Go Cards!!!

I would prefer if your O puts up big numbers starting next week!
[/quote]

I would prefer they don't...score at will this week and use them all up before coming to Decatur!

Quote from: iwu70 on September 22, 2012, 04:34:10 PM
MU over Aurora 44-20, so Millikin also 3-0 in pre-CCIW phase of play.  Should be a great match-up next week @IWU @Tucci Stadium @Wilder Field in Bloomington --6 p.m. start time. 

IWU70

Extremely windy in Decatur today and the score doesn't really reflect how MU controlled the game with the first teams, as they should have.  The pre-season is done, so bring on the real deal.  Game on next week and the Big Blue will be ready.

Quote from: iwu70 on September 09, 2012, 04:40:34 PM
Titans have off week now to get fully healthy again.  Not much reporting out on any key injuries, other than the ankle problem of T. J. Stinde, which does not appear to be too too serious.  We'll see.  Titans have Hope @ Hope in two weeks.  Titan defense will be good, improving every week.  Seems new linebacker crew and the new secondary are playing very well so far.  I like the looks of Tyrell Bolton.  Seems the new linebackers have studied well under the strong group from last year, all of whom graduated.  Their time has come. 

Any assessments of Millikin?  Are they as good as their first two game scores would make them appear?  They are putting up some pretty good numbers and stats.
Any comments from those who have seen the Big Blue in action this season?

Good weekend all.  (Bears looked very good today . . . no luck for Luck.  RGIII apparently had a better debut!).

IWU70

Millikin is definitely stronger this year than in the recent past.  They are playing well in all phases.  The offense is balanced so far as they are 1st in total offense, 2nd in rushing offense and 4th in passing offense, but 1st in passing efficiency.  They have two strong RB's, have proven they can run the ball and have not needed to rely as much on the pass.  Statistically the balance shows with the #1 QB in total offense, #1 receiver and #2 rusher.  There are three solid receivers and the ball is being spread around well.   

On the defensive side, they are coming together nicely.  The first half of the Greenville game was a test due to a good option QB, but since then they have been solid and gaining confidence.  While sitting #5 in total defense, most of the damage has occurred after the starters were removed in the 4th quarter of both games.

It is clearly early and they have not played a terribly difficult non-conference schedule, but it has been a solid start.  They need to cut down on the penalties or it will kill them in conference play.  Greenville was not a great test, but Hope was solid.  It will be interesting to see how IWU performs against them.  Next up is Aurora, but they are clearly anticipating the start of conference play at IWU.  As you may recall, they had IWU on the ropes last year and they feel they can compete every week this year.  It is shaping up to be an exciting year in Decatur.  There is a lot of potential, but you have to believe and learn how to win in this league.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on August 29, 2012, 12:29:16 PM
From what I was told by a Millikin employee when I was in Decatur last fall for the NPU @ MU game, Lindsay Field is supposed to have its new Field Turf installed by now. Since these things are dependent upon available financial resources, the turf installation might've been pushed back. But I was told that, as of this fall, the entire CCIW will be playing on ersatz grass.

No such luck on new turf in Decatur...they need the entire campaign funded before they can spend any of the committed funds.  It is too bad as it hurts recruiting when most of the high school fields the recruits play on are better than than Millikin's.  Should be a monsoon Saturday against Greenville as Issac will be hitting hard.  Interestingly enough the game has been moved to a high school with turf due to the expected heavy rain!