FB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[RFMichigan]

This poster had the radio feed going--on the last drive, Copeland was pulled after 2 good runs, the Cougars lost yardage on the ensuing 2 plays,  the last shot they had was a 4th down pass, which fell incomplete. Maybe they didn't want to put that kind of pressure on their freshman kicker--

The CUC-BU game was one of the most tense games I have ever sat through, and as a CUC alum and fan, probably the most gut-wrenching. A few thoughts and maybe some answers to some questions:

1) BU stuck to what they do and did it well. They controlled the clock by running the ball and threw some timely, short sprintout passes that CUC had a hard time defending. I think they converted something like 9 of 19 3rd and 4th down situations.

2) BU's defense was tough as they just did not allow CUC to get into much rhythm. Copeland got yards but couldn't break the "big" play. I would also love to look at the film to see how they defended the CUC receivers. I think they often dropped a ton of guys into coverage and got enough pressure with their front four because it seemed Marotta rarely just quickly winged the ball to a primary receiver but had to hold on to the ball for a long time before scrambling around and having to get rid of the ball "out of rhythm". (He's not really a threat to run upfield.) In fact when he was sacked and then fumbled in the endzone which BU fell on for their first TD, he seemed to hold on to the ball quite a long time (although BU did blitz on the play). BU's LB Dewey was all over the field.

3) CUC had chances, and I'm sure they are shaking their heads about it now. Four times they had the ball inside the BU 40 and came away with nothing including right before and right after the half when they had a 14-9 lead and got the ball inside the BU 30 on turnovers.

What happened at the end of the CUC game? Do they not have a kicker good enough to try a game winning FG?

Interestingly enough, after the turnover just into the 2nd half, CUC had a 4th down at the BU 15 and went for it then also instead of trying a field goal. I guess that in this situation and at the end of the game the coach figured that their chances of converting the 4th down were better than makng a 32 or 35 yard field goal. ("Make 4 yards - 50% chance; make a 35 yard field goal - 35% chance" or something to that effect.) 

4) I'm not exactly sure why Copeland was not in the game for the two plays referred to above, but on the 4th down play right after half he grabbed a desperation pass and got down to the 8 but was tackled one yard short of the first down. He stayed on the ground for quite a while, finally having to be helped off the field, and although he came back in to play during the next series, he was often flexing his knee thereafter. However, BU had those two plays so well defended I'm not sure whether Copeland could have done much better.

5) I still think that CUC's defense is so much improved over past years that it is not even comparable. (Lots of hard hitting on both sides.) They did allow four fairly long drives, but BU only came up with 9 points from their offense. It's just that these drives kept CUC's offense off the field.

Although it is probably not much consolation to them, I want to congratulate Coach Pries and the Cougars for an inspirational and entertaining record-breaking season.

[RFMichigan]

And before I forget, GOOD LUCK TO LAKELAND!! I know it's a tall order, but I wish them the best of luck in the playoffs and to represent the conference well.

[02 Warhawk]

Any Lakeland fans planning on making the trip down to Whitewater next weekend?

[old 40]

Congrats to LC on winning the NAC and getting the berth in the playoffs. You did what you had to do. I see that on your schedule you played 2 playoff teams this year. This helps jgetting ready to play one of the top teams in D3 (#2 in polls). Play hard and play your best.

Any thoughts on all conference selections? I think th OPOY is the QB from CUC (Great Stats). DPOY in my opinion is #40 from WLC or Budzinski from AU.

[baseman201]

Yeah, good luck to Lakeland this week, congrats on getting into the playoffs.

As a CUC alumnus and fan it was hard to see a team that CUC beat get a shot at the playoffs.  Although I guess if CUC won on Saturday WLC would be thinking the same thing.

Either way, good luck to you guys,

What about conference player of the year, it has to be Marotta (QB from CUC) don't you think?  What about everone elses thoughts?

Haha, Old 40, we posted this at the same time.

[old 40]

I made my 8th AU game this year and was dissaponted to say the least. Mike Budzinski looked really good. IMHO AU looked flat and not emotional at all. I have enjoyed watching the Seniors, good luck in your future. I hope we can rebuild next year and get back into the hunt.

The refs were bad in my opinion. Alot of flags.

The worst part of the game was the LC facility. What a field? Every AU player I talked to said the field was horrible. It is the worst in the NAC, maybe MBBC is also poor. It looks like the school poured all their money to the indoor place which was very nice. Too bad they didn't spend 2 cents on the field and their stands. I was impressed with their team and we were all talking about it must be tough to get kids to play there. None of our kids would go there with those facilities. Good team Bad field, too bad. Hopefully they will look at AU, CUC, CUW, BU, WLC and move in that direction. Did anyone else visit LC and what were your thoughts on their field?

Spartans, lets get ready for next year. Back in the hunt.

[old 40]

Baseman201

CUC just did not take care of business. I was shocked that they lost. I thought that your QB would rain passes all day on the BU defense. I agree with you I never thought LC would win the NAC. I did not think they would be a .500 team, maybe 4th or 5th.

[maidenslayer77]

What happened to the "almighty" CUC? They seemed to celebrate a little too much at Vago Field two weeks ago. I wasn't sold on them when I saw them play AU two weeks ago and I proved to be right.

Congratulations to Lakeland though. Good luck in the playoffs.

[baseman201]

Maiden-

Your comments kind of bothered me.

Wasn't sold on them when they played AU?  You mean when they racked up 565 yards of total offense (228 on the ground 337 through the air) when they played them.....

If anything a dominating 44-27 win would sell me on any team.  They lead the NAC in every offensive category as well.  I thought they would absolutely whoop BU.  They just have to look to next year, Marotta and Copeland will be back again and they have some underclassmen WR's with some ridiculious talent.

Just didn't have it in their last game, BU must have done some crazy film studying to prepare.

I am going to try to get up to Whitewater this weekend.

[WLCALUM83]

baseman:

Had CUC won, sure, I would have felt the same way, just to a lesser degree. WLC just so happened to get the Cougars when they were really having an off day. Given that Benedictine had beaten the Warriors the week before last anyway, WLC was out of contention going into last week. WLC's earlier loss to Lakeland hurts more, because a potential go-ahead TD on the Warriors' last drive was called back because of a holding penalty.

I'll still be happy with WLC's 5-5 record, however.

[rusty shackleford]

to everyone... if ifs and buts were candies and nuts we would all have a merry Christmas.

good luck to Lakeland and Congratulations for doing what they had to do the whole season to earn it.

[WLCALUM83]

I agree -Rusty- I was just making observations-didn't mean it if you thought I was venting.

[old 40]

WLCALUM83

Good points. I think WLC will be loaded next year and will be tough to beat. They have improved in the last 3 years a bunch, 3 years ago was the first time I had seen them play, they played AU. They have the best young (Frosh) QB in the league, at least what I have seen. Their RB's and MLB(really good) are back along with a fair part of the line.

I would think CUC, LC, CUW, WLC and BU will be in the hunt. However BU loses alot of Seniors. Their fate lies in how well they reload. I don't know if AU can recover in 1 year or not, Alot of key Seniors gone, 20 of them. Next year could go down to the last week. Lots of parity in the league. Its great for fans like me.

Some interesting stats to support the above. 2 year NAC W-L records.

MBBC (0-14) improved their depth
RC (3-11) Their QB left and slipped
WLC (7-7) Up and coming quickly. Good D and skill kids coming back
CUC (7-7) The leader till the end, 1010 might be their year. All the high powered tools are back except for the receiver
AU (9-5) loses alot of Seniors. Can they reload?
BU (9-5) loses alot of Seniors. Can they reload?
CUW (10-4) Loses a good QB and ket linemen. Loaded with young high quality players. Will be tough to beat.
LC (11-3) They return alot of key players, should be in the mix.

[maidenslayer77]

Baseman201.......

You can talk all you want about 565 of total yards on offense. DEFENSE wins championships. I am curious to know just how many points they did give up this year. I will give them credit, they are explosive on offense, but the reactions after the win I saw two weekends by the players bothered me against Aurora. They celebrated a little too much, and had a hangover from it. They could have proven themselves the last game of the year and didn't.

[Look It Up]

OK Maiden, let's talk about defense...Concordia's D gave up nine points on Saturday (BU's other TD coming on a fumble recovery in the end zone). Nothing really wrong with Concordia's D on Saturday, Benedictine's was just better.
Are you even aware of how much better CUC's defense was this year from last? In 2008, CUC's rushing defense was among the worst in all of Division III - 281 yards per game. That's bad! 419 yards total offense per game by Cougar opponents. This year, rushing defense was 120 yards per game,opponents' total offense per game was 310. Oh yes, Cougars were also a plus 13 in the all-important turnover differential - CUC coming up with 36 takeaways on 19 fumbles and 17 picks.

As for celebrating too much, how do you figure? Considering that the Cougars had 1) just beaten Aurora for the first time in 16 games and the first time since 1952 ("hardly a man is now alive..."), 2) just saw Khyree Copeland play a once-in-a-lifetime game in setting single-game, season and career records all on the same day, and 3) just won their eighth game of the season. something no Cougar team had ever done - well, how were they supposed to act? I believe that Coach Pries kept the team on a very even keel all season, and Saturday's loss to BU was a case of either feeling the pressure or maybe BU playing the better game on Saturday.

I think the feeling around the Cougars is that this was an amazing year, one that surpassed everyone's expectations, but in the end, the team did not reach the ultimate goal. This season has instilled a new confidence in the team, and it will be very interesting to watch what happens in the off-season and what kind of recruiting class CUC brings in for next year. But this was a huge year for the program, one which the team has the right to look back on with pride and the fans remember for a long, long time.