Congratulations Wartburg on an incredible season, and a heck of a fight put up against Mount Union. Congratulations MU, and best of luck next weekend in the Stagg Bowl!

Great win, Knights! Reports from the game were that McLaughlin felt good enough to play 90 minutes before kickoff - but had not practiced at all leading up to the game. That said, hats off to Nile for a gutsy performance. Hopefully another week of getting that injury feeling better and practice will bode well for the Knights against Mt. Union. No doubt will be a tough game, but all games are tough when you're in the playoffs! Keep the train rollin!

All great points. Wartburg OC Matt Wheeler has a really creative offensive mind, and having a week to develop and refine a plan should help no doubt. Markham was really successful in high school, so it will be exciting to see how he performs this week - obviously this is a bigger stage than high school, but he's no stranger to big games.

One of the areas I was most impressed with Wartburg last week was red zone defense. SJU started to find a few things that worked and moved the ball well at various times throughout the game, but the Knights held up in a big way near the end zone. Hopefully that's the case this weekend! Although you have to respect the passing game, look for the Knights to try to apply a lot of pressure through various blitzes, and put themselves into a lot of 1 on 1 situations on the outside.

Expecting a big game out of Claasen. He runs hard, breaks tackles, and seems to find cutback lanes very well. As mentioned before, expect a lot of the quick pass game - Wartburg had it going to start against SJU. If they can get the ball out quick and get the run game going, hopefully that opens a few opportunities to push the ball down field.

I expect a tight battle. Potentially another special teams score, or blocked punt to setup a short field and scoring opportunity to be the difference. Hopefully the Knights can keep the game clean from a penalty standpoint (no roughing the punter this week, boys!) 28-21 Knights.

Hey everyone, great to see the post activity on the board. It's been a long time since I've posted but have continued to follow the board and the Knights closely over the years, and hoping to make the game in Waverly this weekend.

I'm shifting the conversation a bit as I don't have much input in regards to the WIAC discussion, but curious to get the opinion of those who maybe have seen Aurora play this year, and watched last weekend's game between Wartburg and SJU.

Wartburg no doubt has a special defense this season, and they seem to be able to come up with stops and turnovers all over the field. My concern watching last weeks game was when McLaughlin (QB) went down for Wartburg, they struggled on offense mightily. Now, generally speaking a bit of a drop off can be expected, but it seemed that Wartburg had no contingency plan available for what the backup was capable of running successfully out of the playbook. From what I understand, the injury to Nile is one that will not make him available this week, or the following games should the Knights advance, so Markham will be the guy.

Does anyone have any input or thoughts on what Wartburg may try to do offensively this week vs Aurora with Markham? Although significantly smaller than Nile, he showed good speed. It was tough to really see how well he threw the ball through the livestream (he did complete one deeper ball that comes to mind, albeit on the livestream that seemed like he chucked it and prayed, followed by a very nice catch by the WR along the sideline).

Back to my main point: Wartburg looked incredibly limited when Nile went down last week. From the scores I've seen, Aurora looks like they can put a lot of points up, and in a hurry. A shootout does not seem to be something that Wartburg would be successful in winning this week given the QB situation. The Knights seemed to deploy the Iowa football strategy of take some time off the clock, punt, and hope the defense could continue to hold (thankfully, they did!) It doesn't seem like that is a strategy that is going to win games this deep into the playoffs.

I understand that the backups do not regularly get the reps that the starters will get throughout the week, but certainly have concern about Wartburg's ability to control the clock and score points this week with the backup starting. I would expect heavy doses of Claasen and the running back crew, and a lot of short, quick passes and RPO game to help Markham move the ball this week.

Halftime: UD 21, Warburg 20. UD finding success with their deep passing game today, lots of wide open looks for the QB.

As for the live stream, beggars cant be choosers I suppose. At least they've switched to the majority of views being from an aerial angle. The zoomed in sideline shot, sometimes consisting of the referee or ball boy, and 4 players  in view wasn't getting it done.

Didn't get back over to Dubuque today for the game due to some travel/flight delay issues...but wishing I would have...UD's live stream is absolutely brutal.

Work trip timed perfectly. Back Friday evening, in the car Saturday morning to Dubuque. No love lose between these two schools (coaches) the past decade or so. Two of my favorite games were against UD in '11 and '12. Here's to another good show down!


Go Knights!

Halftime: Wartburg 29, Luther 0

Could be an interesting day, at least in the Cedar Valley area. Chilly, and looking like there is a good chance of rain for most of the afternoon - Knights should have the upper hand versus Luther, but this is a game Luther always plays tough in, no matter the records.

Simpson/UD will be an interesting game to watch - as much as I really don't want to...pulling for UD to win this afternoon.

Hope everyone has a great Saturday watching some football!

Go Knights!

One of the plays that took the wind out of the sails of Central, IMO, was the 4th and 1. Wartburg brings out their heavy two TE/FB goal line set, TO is called...they come back out in it and PA towards the 2 tight ends and throwback to the tight end who snuck across the middle. Great call for a TD.

Also, Jojo McNair is the real deal. Fantastic player who has done an amazing job learning the offense, and stepping up for the Knights, who were really missing a playmaker like him on the offensive side of the ball.

Wow. Wartburg 47, Central 6 at the end of the 3rd. Lots of injuries on both sides today.

26-6 Wartburg at half. This has been all Wartburg. Wind a huge factor for the team driving to the north end zone. Wartburg is still very questionable on the PAT unit.

Just watching the Iowa game, wind will absolutely be a factor. Kicking game could be very interesting, maybe some more thought going into 4th and short situations today.

Going to stir the pot a bit this morning...this was easily my favorite game to play in during college - tough, physical styles of football clashing is always fun. Whoever can make a play or execute on special teams in these gusty conditions today has a great chance of winning. (And, as long as there are no phantom holding calls as a receiver walks into the end zone, ala 2012 4th quarter at Central...sorry, still salty).

IF Wartburg executes on special teams (see loss to Simpson)...Knights can win handily. Top scoring O, top scoring D in the conference. (And JoJo McNair is now out at receiver, potentially one of the best athletes in the conference (3 TD's in first game at WR against Coe last weekend). Throw in the fact Matt Sacia is by far, the top QB in the conference (statistically Central QB has a few more yards, but Matt is having a phenomenal year with all new skill players on offense), and to top it all off, a home game for the Knights, love the chances.

One thing that will likely be a factor is that it is really windy in the area today...FG kicking/punting could be dicey, and downfield throws could be tricky. Thinking it through, it feels like this is going to be a Wartburg victory, although a close game somewhere in the 31-21/35-28, in a gusty slugfest at Walston-Hoover Stadium.


Go Knights!

Really sad to hear about John Gagliardi passing away - had a couple of friends from the Dubuque area that played at St. John's and have never heard a back word spoken about him. He had a really cool way of coaching - probably different than anyone you will ever see.

On a different note, what a weekend in the conference...sounds as if there were a couple of upsets narrowly escaped!