FB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[WLCALUM83]

NACC Late Game finals:  Lake Forest 27, WLC 10

                                    CUC 30, Beloit 7

[Captain_Joe08]

Conference goes 6-3 in week one of non-con's. Best start that the league has had in some time.

[WLCALUM83]

Conference goes 6-3 in week one of non-con's. Best start that the league has had in some time.

Didn't expect NE Wesleyan's D to be that good yesterday. Prairie Wolves got out of the gate fast and Eureka had too big a mountain to climb.

Rockford may make some big-time noise if its' offense keeps clicking like it did against Grinnell. (Ray-to-Owens combo- 2 TDs)

[Rhythm21]

Aurora v St John's II lived up to all the hype. Great game coming down to a 4th down and goal from the 1. I'm sick for the players that we couldn't punch it in, they played with heart and fought till the end.

The negatives:
*Our trenches on both side struggled with the size/speed combo of St. John's. The Johnnies are #6 in the country for a reason and they showed it.

*We played terribly with the lead. 2 to 3 times throughout the game, our defense would get the ball back to our offense with the lead and a chance to extend it and we would go 3 and out and punt it back. We needed to make way more plays with the lead.

The positives:
*Our offense is as dangerous as ever. Gavin missed a few throws he should have probably completed, but he completed just as many that other QBs wouldn't have been able to.

*Our defense has playmakers. 2 that come to mind are Reyna ( I believe a 5th year Sr.) at safety and Pratt, who gained experience during the shortened spring season. Romious and Martz provide veteran leadership at LB and Peterson is a shut-down #1 CB who should be talked about more nationally imo.

*Special teams was a net negative for us, with the wind playing a huge role in our return game's struggles and us missing an extra point as well as a 2 point attempt.

There are no moral victories in college football, so I dont expect anyone to be happy with the result. But with the defending national champions coming up next, I like where the team is this early in the season. I expect another dog fight from our guys this coming weekend in Naperville.

[Rhythm21]

Conference goes 6-3 in week one of non-con's. Best start that the league has had in some time.

Congrats to St. Norbert, starting their NACC tenure with a W. Also, congrats to Rockford, BU, CUW, CUC and Lakeland for starting the season off on the right foot.

Jaelen Ray and Joey Owens of Rockford are going to be a tandem to watch out for this year.

I only watched the first quarter and and half of the WLC game and was surprised to see the result. I thought WLC's defense was holding their own and Yockey, Parbes, Dupree and company looked to be clicking early

Eureka should just burn the game tape and start from scratch.

BU with a clutch overtime field goal to kick off an exciting 2021 season. Let's see if they can keep riding that high into week 2.

St. Norbert comes from behind to take down Loras with a big time KO return for a touchdown tying the game up at 14 near the end of the 3rd.

CUW has an experienced QB in Linn, a quality back in Montgomery and veteran WRs in Houlihan and Booker. The question for them, as it has been the last few years, is will they get consistent play out of their defense week in and week out.

Concordia Chicago is in rebuild mode with a new coaching staff taking over (3rd new staff in 5 years?) I don't know what to expect from this Cougar squad, especially after them coming out and beating Beloit 30-7 in week 1. Maybe the biggest mystery of the 2021 NACC season.

6-3 start is excellent. Good luck to all teams in week 2.

Edit: Almost forgot about Lakeland, who played on Thursday. Nunnery and Rivers are back and Lakeland's defense is fast. This is a top 2-3 team this season. Circle the Lakeland-Aurora game on November 6th.

[Rhythm21]

Aurora moves up to #21 in the D3football polls. I'm glad they didn't get docked for coming up a yard short against the #6 ranked team in the country. Starting the season 0-2, even against 2 top 10 teams, would not bode well for our playoff seeding (if we can take the NACC title.) With this team's senior leadership and Beebe at the helm, I know we'll come out strong against North Central. Hopefully we can get a W and prove we deserve our spot in the top 25 . . . Is it Saturday yet?

[SpartanHouse]

AU is clearly a top 25 team. I'd even say they are clearly a top 10-15 team.

The positive from Saturday is that in 2019 the program didn't know if they could hang with a St. John's until the season was over. Now, this team knows they can hang with the biggest programs in the country and belong there.

Excited to see how they fare vs NCC.

NCC and St. Johns are good matchups for AU. If they were to play a top team that's a run first offense, I think that would give them some issues.

[Rhythm21]

AU is clearly a top 25 team. I'd even say they are clearly a top 10-15 team.

The positive from Saturday is that in 2019 the program didn't know if they could hang with a St. John's until the season was over. Now, this team knows they can hang with the biggest programs in the country and belong there.

Excited to see how they fare vs NCC.

NCC and St. Johns are good matchups for AU. If they were to play a top team that's a run first offense, I think that would give them some issues.

Very good points. Now the question is can they move up from hanging with the big programs and start to take down the big programs.

And you're right about the matchups. I think AU, for all the skill position strides they've made, still doesn't have the size necessarily to take on a Wisconsin Whitewater, who will just pound the ball between the tackles for 60 minutes straight. I'm expecting a close game this Saturday, hopefully they can pull it off.

[Next Man Up]

Aurora v St John's II lived up to all the hype. Great game coming down to a 4th down and goal from the 1. I'm sick for the players that we couldn't punch it in, they played with heart and fought till the end.

The negatives:
*Our trenches on both side struggled with the size/speed combo of St. John's. The Johnnies are #6 in the country for a reason and they showed it.

*We played terribly with the lead. 2 to 3 times throughout the game, our defense would get the ball back to our offense with the lead and a chance to extend it and we would go 3 and out and punt it back. We needed to make way more plays with the lead.

The positives:
*Our offense is as dangerous as ever. Gavin missed a few throws he should have probably completed, but he completed just as many that other QBs wouldn't have been able to.

*Our defense has playmakers. 2 that come to mind are Reyna ( I believe a 5th year Sr.) at safety and Pratt, who gained experience during the shortened spring season. Romious and Martz provide veteran leadership at LB and Peterson is a shut-down #1 CB who should be talked about more nationally imo.

*Special teams was a net negative for us, with the wind playing a huge role in our return game's struggles and us missing an extra point as well as a 2 point attempt.

There are no moral victories in college football, so I dont expect anyone to be happy with the result. But with the defending national champions coming up next, I like where the team is this early in the season. I expect another dog fight from our guys this coming weekend in Naperville.

With regard to the negatives detailed above;

1. If AU struggled in the trenches vs SJU, expect more of the same vs NCC. The Cardinals have 3 of 4 DL starters back from a Top 20 Defense. Offensively, 3 of 5 O linemen return and I believe one of the second teamers has been a starter in the past. This is no guarantee of victory for the easternmost of the combatants, but it's not likely AU will have any easier of a time time up front vs NCC than they did vs SJU.

2. With regard to playing poorly with the lead, I'd say getting an early lead in Naperville might be one of AU's keys to victory. I say that because NC is going to be led by a rookie QB inexperienced in playing with a lead let alone engineering a comeback. If the Cards fall behind, will their QB, through his inexperience, take unnecessary risks in his attempt to play catch-up? Another thing that AU fans can take encouragement from is that with AU being led by such an experienced and skillful QB, it's not that likely that they'll again suffer the same malady of performing poorly should they gain an appreciable (2 TD minimum) lead. However, even if the Cardinals fall behind, keep in mind that they're a National Championship team full of pride and sporting superior players at all of the skill positions. The inexperienced NCC QB, certainly won't have to do it all himself should a comeback be necessary. Also, regarding this point, a question that comes to mind is did the Spartans really play "poorly" with the lead, or did SJU only begin to play to their capabilities after falling behind?

Concerning the comments under Positives;

1. No doubt the AU defense has playmakers. They didn't get where they are without some. Do they have enough to combat the collective talents of players like, not to see the linemen short, Greenfield, Kamienski, Williams, Hardy, and Hill?

2. Who knows what will happen on Special Teams? Two things that may be noteworthy on the NCC side is that they will be breaking in both a new (freshman) long-snapper, and a new kicker. Hold your breath!

[Next Man Up]

Trench Warfare.......

The weather prediction for Saturday in Naperville is sunny and 88 miserably hot and energy sapping degrees. Might this make victory largely dependent on not only skill, but depth in the trenches? You need not be the sharpest tack in the box to realize that this type of playing environment will be capable of quickly sapping the strength and energy of the lumbering 275-300 pound behemoths constantly pounding the hell out of each other.

[Rhythm21]

Aurora v St John's II lived up to all the hype. Great game coming down to a 4th down and goal from the 1. I'm sick for the players that we couldn't punch it in, they played with heart and fought till the end.

The negatives:
*Our trenches on both side struggled with the size/speed combo of St. John's. The Johnnies are #6 in the country for a reason and they showed it.

*We played terribly with the lead. 2 to 3 times throughout the game, our defense would get the ball back to our offense with the lead and a chance to extend it and we would go 3 and out and punt it back. We needed to make way more plays with the lead.

The positives:
*Our offense is as dangerous as ever. Gavin missed a few throws he should have probably completed, but he completed just as many that other QBs wouldn't have been able to.

*Our defense has playmakers. 2 that come to mind are Reyna ( I believe a 5th year Sr.) at safety and Pratt, who gained experience during the shortened spring season. Romious and Martz provide veteran leadership at LB and Peterson is a shut-down #1 CB who should be talked about more nationally imo.

*Special teams was a net negative for us, with the wind playing a huge role in our return game's struggles and us missing an extra point as well as a 2 point attempt.

There are no moral victories in college football, so I dont expect anyone to be happy with the result. But with the defending national champions coming up next, I like where the team is this early in the season. I expect another dog fight from our guys this coming weekend in Naperville.

With regard to the negatives detailed above;

1. If AU struggled in the trenches vs SJU, expect more of the same vs NCC. The Cardinals have 3 of 4 DL starters back from a Top 20 Defense. Offensively, 3 of 5 O linemen return and I believe one of the second teamers has been a starter in the past. This is no guarantee of victory for the easternmost of the combatants, but it's not likely AU will have any easier of a time time up front vs NCC than they did vs SJU.

2. With regard to playing poorly with the lead, I'd say getting an early lead in Naperville might be one of AU's keys to victory. I say that because NC is going to be led by a rookie QB inexperienced in playing with a lead let alone engineering a comeback. If the Cards fall behind, will their QB, through his inexperience, take unnecessary risks in his attempt to play catch-up? Another thing that AU fans can take encouragement from is that with AU being led by such an experienced and skillful QB, it's not that likely that they'll again suffer the same malady of performing poorly should they gain an appreciable (2 TD minimum) lead. However, even if the Cardinals fall behind, keep in mind that they're a National Championship team full of pride and sporting superior players at all of the skill positions. The inexperienced NCC QB, certainly won't have to do it all himself should a comeback be necessary. Also, regarding this point, a question that comes to mind is did the Spartans really play "poorly" with the lead, or did SJU only begin to play to their capabilities after falling behind?

Concerning the comments under Positives;

1. No doubt the AU defense has playmakers. They didn't get where they are without some. Do they have enough to combat the collective talents of players like, not to see the linemen short, Greenfield, Kamienski, Williams, Hardy, and Hill?

2. Who knows what will happen on Special Teams? Two things that may be noteworthy on the NCC side is that they will be breaking in both a new (freshman) long-snapper, and a new kicker. Hold your breath!

Very true on all counts. AU cannot play NCC from behind. When it comes to the trenches, at least where the NCC Offensive line is concerned, I think the sizes are a little more equal to our defensive line than St. John's was, at least based on the depth charts NCC released. I know Central has a super talented RB and if I'm not mistaken a couple All Americans on the offensive line (Guard Sharmore Clark has been an All American since he was a freshman), do no doubt we will have to come up with some takeaways to slow that offenses roll.

New kicker and new quarterback could come into play if it's close going into the 4th. But I did hear NCC's freshman QB has more scrambling capability than Rutter, so maybe we're gonna have Martz spy him on most plays. We'll see, should be a good one.

[Next Man Up]

With utmost respect to the overall brilliance that was Broc Rutter, much more. 

[WLCALUM83]

Early NACC Update:  Concordia-Chicago 7, Finlandia 0  1st Quarter

[RFMichigan]

Early NACC Update:  Concordia-Chicago 7, Finlandia 0  1st Quarter

WLCALUM83 - You must be actually watching the stream of this game because you could only know the score if you are watching it because there is no livestats, no audio, and no score (0-0) given on the bottom of the screen. Impressed.

[WLCALUM83]

The one camera pans over to the scoreboard when the teams move to the right end zone.

Cougars have scored again, it's 13-0 with less than 12 minutes left in the 1st half.