FB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[Mr. Ypsi]

Hi Usee, Thanks for weighing in.  I was pretty impressed with the way BU played against St. Norbert and am very impressed with Coach Sears thus far.  I truly feel he will turn BU into a consistent winner and hopefully be able to make them nationally relevant!

Nationally relevant might be hoping for too much, but I believe they are already regionally relevant - they are #9 on my North Region Fan Poll ballot this week.  I've been a voter for several years now, and I can't recall ever having an NACC team on my ballot before.

[Zeus51]

I don't think d3dan1515 meant that BU would be nationally relevant this year, but in the years to come under Coach Sears!

[Ryan Stoppable]

Hi Usee, Thanks for weighing in.  I was pretty impressed with the way BU played against St. Norbert and am very impressed with Coach Sears thus far.  I truly feel he will turn BU into a consistent winner and hopefully be able to make them nationally relevant!

Nationally relevant might be hoping for too much, but I believe they are already regionally relevant - they are #9 on my North Region Fan Poll ballot this week.  I've been a voter for several years now, and I can't recall ever having an NACC team on my ballot before.

Unfortunately, before our conference can become nationally relevant, one of us has to first win a playoff game (which the NACC, and the IBFC before it, have never done). And even once that milestone is accomplished, there's still the fact that the NACC will be competing against two of Division III's most powerful conferences within its own footprint in recruiting.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I don't think d3dan1515 meant that BU would be nationally relevant this year, but in the years to come under Coach Sears!

Oh, I fully understood that.  But to become nationally relevant at ANY time in the foreseeable future is probably beyond the ability of ANY coach.  To me, at least, being nationally relevant means fairly consistently reaching at least the third round of the playoffs, and making teams like Mount Union, UWW, Linfield, etc., at least somewhat nervous.  While BU may have already reached the point of making regional semi-powers sit up and take notice, taking the step to 'national relevance' is a whole 'nother problem.

[d3fan1515]

I agree with all of your points. What I meant by national relevance is maybe slipping into the others receiving votes category or, even cracking the top 25, but ultimately winning a playoff game. Maybe national relevance was a poor choice of words on my end, but that's my hope for the program over the next few years. What I would really like to see is a W this weekend over Adrian!

[d3fan1515]

BU up 21-14 at Half...

[Ryan Stoppable]

Lakeland stuns Albion, driving 86 yards in the final 31 seconds with no timeouts to score the winning TD in a 40-38 contest!

[d3fan1515]

BU wins 35-28! They also Win in comeback fashion scoring the go ahead TD with a little over a minute left in the ball game. Great game by both teams, very entertaining.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Week Three
Alma 31
Concordia Wisconsin 28

Albion 38
Lakeland 40

Hope 57
Concordia Chicago 28

Olivet 30
Wisconsin Lutheran 7

Kalamazoo 55
Rockford 19

Trine 55
Aurora 27

Adrian 28
Benedictine 35

On one hand, good to see the NACC's two favorites scoring wins over quality MIAA opposition. And Concordia Wisconsin came within one stop of entering conference play at 3-0. On the other hand, that's 294 points allowed between the 7 teams when they were all playing at home (averaging 42).

Only three games on the schedule for this weekend, but it's going to be real interesting to see how the Muskies measure up against Platteville. Wisconsin Lutheran hosts Eau Claire, while Concordia Chicago travels to Maranatha and everyone else rests up for the start of NACC play next weekend.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Week Four
Concordia Chicago 42
Maranatha 10

#10 UW-Platteville 56
Lakeland 0

UW-Eau Claire 40
Wisconsin Lutheran 14

Hoo boy, that did not go well. Platteville was on point on both sides of the ball, but the Muskies hung in there for about a quarter, until the Pioneers just broke them and the game fell off a cliff at that point. At least it was non-conference.

But there's no time to lick any wounds anymore - it's time for conference play! To start us off, Lakeland hosts the Cheese Bowl, Rockford pays Benedictine a visit, and Wisconsin Lutheran will look for their first win of the season at home against Aurora.

[d3fan1515]

BU beats Rockford 67-15...

[Ryan Stoppable]

Other Week Five scores:

Concordia Wisconsin 7
Lakeland 16

The Cheese Bowl stays up here for the 3rd year in a row! It wasn't pretty, but the Muskies defense neutralized CUW's run game, and on a wet, sloppy afternoon, that wasn't going to cut it for the Falcons. (And last I checked, the NACC doesn't award style points in the standings.)

Aurora 48
Wisconsin Lutheran 13

Concordia Chicago 19
Trine 62

Both Benedictine and Aurora recorded over 500 yards of total offense in their wins, while CUC gave up well over 600 in their defeat.

[d3fan1515]

BU Wins 51-49 @ CUW.  Crazy back and forth game.  BU Overcame 5 of their own Turnovers to win the game with 30 second left to play.

[Ryan Stoppable]

BU Wins 51-49 @ CUW.  Crazy back and forth game.  BU Overcame 5 of their own Turnovers to win the game with 30 second left to play.

Ryan Sample and Aaron Nixon combined for exactly 1,000 (!) passing yards in the game, along with 11 touchdowns.

Other scores from Week Six:

Concordia Chicago 26
Aurora 28

Wisconsin Lutheran 45
Rockford 21

Aurora is tied for the conference lead with Benedictine at 2-0, albeit not exactly against the projected top teams. They'll have CUW, @ LU and BU in a row in their final three games.

Lakeland 21
Adrian 28

The Muskies had a hard time getting things going on offense, but some big plays including a missed field goal return kept them in it right until the end. The bigger concern, though, is that Michael Whitley had to leave in the 2nd quarter with an injury; with Benedictine coming up next week, this is not the time to have to go to a backup QB.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Benedictine leads Lakeland 15-6 at halftime