Well, no one else seemingly is going to defend McCully Field, so I guess I'll have to break my vow of silence I've been keeping.  cciw claimed a few pages  ago that the field must have bad drainage.  I have a very personal "attachment" lets say to that field and I highly doubt it.  The rainfall that day in the Chicago area was greater than 6.5 inches!  Thats one day.  I'm not sure any field is really designed to handle that.  For what its worth.

Quote from: DII/DIIIFan on September 08, 2007, 08:56:20 PM
The superiority of the OAC relative to a reasonably ranked team from the CCIW was clear.

What exactly did you mean by reasonably ranked?  Preseason DIII rankings:  ONU 17, Millikin 120.  btw, Averett was ranked 101 preseason by DIII.com.  Otherwise, great post, and thank you for the analysis.

I'm sure this fails a power analysis for any statistical significance (or general significance for that matter) but 3, yes count them, 3 of the 4 times Wheaton lost to Mount Union in the playoffs, Mount Union did NOT go on to win the Stagg Bowl (95, 03, 04).  02 was the exception.  So, what conclusions can we draw from this?  Yes, Wheaton spells DOOM for Mount Union  (at least 75% of the time . . . and if you define "doom" as not winning it all . . . while still beating the opponent "delivering" the doom.)

Anyway, all joking aside, I too think it is possible for the Thunder to win this game.  I listened to almost the whole MSJ game.  Usee says the defense went to sleep, while others that its the dicontinuity from bringing in the 2s and 3s.  Just about everyone has commented, though, that its the turnovers  that'l kill.  I agree.  I hope to "hear" a perfect game from Alliance this weekend by Wheaton. 
Go Wheaton!!!
Go Cardinals!!!

J. Chupp 14 yard touchdown run.  Wheaton 42, MSJ 6

MSJ scores on a Dreyer (not Noah) td pass.  Kick failed.  Wheaton 35, MSJ 6

Ittersagen with a 78 yard punt return for a td! 

Imrpessive drive (passing) by MSJ right at the end of the half.  Got down to the Wheaton 14, but came up empty.  Half Wheaton 28, MSJ 0.

Ulrich td pass to fossum.  Now Wheaton 28, MSJ 0.  The Wheaton offense has the MSJ defense pretty much figured out now.  Tim Elingson, the kicker just got the Wheaton single season record for exra points.  A little over a minute left in the half.

Ittersagen with another big punt return, 36 yards, followed by Black rush for 30 yards breaking about 5 tackles.  Black follows up with a touchdown run.  Wheaton 21, MSJ 0.  I think Black just went over 1000 yards for the season with that big run.  

Go Cards!

Wheaton 14, MSJ 0 with 6:26 left in the half.  Zach Ulrich with the qb sneak to get the score.

15 yard monster sack by Studebaker followed by a 38 yard punt return by Ittersagen to the MSJ 13 yard line!  Spectacular high speed sack!

Thanks for the updates robertgoulet.  Wheaton with a big stop on their 19.  MSJ missed the FG.

2 turnovers for Wheaton in the first quarter, but just scored on a fairly long drive.  Wheaton 7-0.

I am obviously not very skilled at this quoting thing.  The first paragraph is 79 Jaybirds excellent quote.  The other paragraph is my nonsense!

Quote from: 79jaybird on October 12, 2006, 03:39:29 PM
GoThunder-- You are correct.  The most skilled linemen at any level are students first-- learning proper techniques.  We called it "Pass Rush Progression"  and was one of the first drills of practice each day.  This is so, because there are times to use the swim, rip, spin moves etc.

Ah, pass rushing.  There are just so many options and the true art is keeping the silly offensive lineman constantly guessing.  A truly effective way to start things out with a team that passes alot is just to bull rush the first time or two.  Just flat out beat the guy in front of you.  Real bad too so he knows he's beat.  Like in the QBs lap bad.  Then the fun begins.  Swim moves, rip moves (oops, sometimes the fist ends up in the tummy . . . don't worry, the o linemen do it all the time too!), hammer throws, spin moves (not one of my favorites because your backs turned that split second) and the often neglected but always popular "head butt and run".  Then of course there's modifications to all the above, like the hammer throw that "accidentally" turns into a forearm to the helmet.  If you start with the bull rush and keep the lineman on his heels, all the rest is just so much more effective.  And of course, all this is moot when playing a team like Augie.  You'd better get ready to get hit in the face that week and get ready to read the block and give it back too cause you ain't spending too much time in the backfield that week.