FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wrdad]

Big shock is that Linfield is the one traveling to Wesley.

thats actually where most people thought the game was going to be played at.

[smedindy]

I see that now. Still kind of a shock to me, though.

[skunks_sidekick]

If you look at the brackets, it was clear that the committee has Wesley as the #2 seed, even if they didn't publicize it.  Same as it was clear that Wabash is the #2 seed. 

Good luck Bash men.....give 'em hell.

[bashbrother]

We need a HUGE crowd in Crawfordsville next Saturday.   This will be the biggest game that Wabash has played since 2007 (UWW) and they need a true home field advantage.

Make plans to come out and support this special team. 

WAF!

[BashBacker#16]

Looking at North Central's roster...they have 18 transfers!!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously?  What gives?

[BashDad]

They have 3 qbs and 2 of them are great runners with designed runs. They will run with 2 TE's most of the time and formation you to death to find matchups in the running game they like. It's not like they  run the outside and inside zone and a little bit of option. They game plan the run like most teams game plan the pass. They have the ability to attack any gap and isolate almost any player to make a tackle. Probably one of the most sophisticated running games you will see at the D3 level. You may make the tackle 9 times and the 10th their athlete's make you miss and it's a 40 yd run. There is no shame in it.

This is just about the best description of NCC's offense one is likely to find anywhere. Dead on. That offense is as flamboyant and spectacular in its design as any number of top west-coast offenses. On any level. It's a ton of fun to watch when its working. Kudos to you, USee. And you, Mr. Anderson. These boards are the best when there's content like that.

However.

With respect to those NCC and CCIW fans who think this is a game deserving of a triple-touchdown line favoring your Cardinals: excuse me while I slap my shaking head and sigh all-parental like. This is not a game deserving a triple-touchdown line favoring your Cardinals. Are you nuts? I'm calling you nuts. Can Wabash self-destruct, play like they did against Gheny and get blown out? Absolutely. But--emphatically--expecting such a thing is wishing and hoping. It's certainly not an accurate prediction of how the two teams stack up. It's just not. Say "okay." Just say "okay!"

No? Alright, fine. I'll level a more specific defense.

Will Wabash win? I don't know. But here's why they can.

1. Guess when you can start tossing around schedule strength as indicative of a team's weakness? When there's a loss. That's the ONLY time. It's hard to go 10-0, harder still to go 11-0. Seasons are long and slippery and no matter the schedule strength, good and great teams will always have to fight through at least one game against suspect competition to remain undefeated. Baldwin Wallace did it to Mount. Allegheny did it to us. Redlands and Augustana did it to you.

Bash has won every game outside of Gheny with ease. Did they have weeks that were frustrating? Yep. But they didn't lose. And on top of that, on top of winning every game-- when they were asked to be great, they flippin' played great. Bash's three biggest games were against Witt, Depauw, and Illinois College. They were up 21-0 on Witt, 31-0 on Depauw, and 38-6 against IC, a team in a weak-ass conference who's undefeated champion beat your second-place team last week. So. You know. Hooray for weak-ass schedules.

NCC will be, by a long shot, the best team Wabash has faced. But the Cardinals are playing an undefeated team on Saturday. An undefeated team playing their best ball of the season. And guess what?

It's an away game.

2. I know the dirty little secret about NCC. Ready? Here it is: the Cardinals have played only 4 games on the road. One of those games is the loss at Redlands (175 yards rushing and 29 points). That leaves three wins. In two of those wins (IWU and Carthage), they scored only 24 points and ran for 199 and 220 yards. They're not bad on the road (the game I'm not mentioning is a thrashing of 4-6 Millikin), but NCC is certainly not-as-good, at least when they play competive teams. The three road games against teams ranging from "fine" to "good" to "pretty good," saw them scoring 20 pts below their season average and close to 100 yards less than their rushing average.

3. Wes Chamblee.

North Central has 3 of the top 5 skill players that will take the field on Saturday. They might even have 4. Kukuc and Tassio are both threats to take it the distance every time they touch it. Everyone is quiet about Dicken, though I think he's on the short-list for most skilled QBs in the country. Though only a freshman, he usually carries the burden of moving the ball at least once a game. Last week, his couple throws to get them into field goal range before the half was a KILLLER. Anyway, point being: North Central is deep, deep, deep. Their list of blue-chippers is long. Longer than Wabash's. They have a lot of great players. But they don't have Wes Chamblee and here's why it matters:

The best compliment to a stout defense is a good punt returner because, together, they mean field position. Field position means points, points mean you win. Turnovers and Special Teams? That's coach speak for moments in a game that have the most bearing on where the ball is placed. On field position. Wes Chamblee isn't a good punt returner. He's a great punt returner. He's special. He's so good at it that he even transcends "returning punts." He doesn't have to. He's returned enough for scores (4) that teams have started to just give away yards. In big games against competitive teams, that matters. It matters a LOT. 

There's one instance on Saturday where Wabash, outside of getting a stupid penalty, can't be wrong. Every time Bash forces a fourth down, they'll win the next play. Either NCC punts to Wes (I think they will) and risks points or they sacrifice yards and punt away. Turnovers and special teams? Our best player is the best special-teams player in the universe. Why do you think Chase only throws the ball 12 times a game and with single option reads? We've won half that cliche'd battle time and time again because our best player just happens to be a genius when he catches punts. Our offense only has to be average and hold on to the ball. They do both brilliantly.

Say it with me: Turnovers and Special teams.

4.


5.

This will be the biggest game that Wabash has played since 2007 (UWW).

I say false, Bashbro. I say this is the biggest game Wabash has played in a decade. Since October 12, 2002 to be precise. This would be a program win in the same way that beating a 4th ranked Witt in Springfield declared Wabash a part of the mid-level's best, a place where they've remained for most of the past ten years. This would be something else.

Since 2002, we've played in similar games: Capital, UWW, IWU, Wheaton, though of those teams only UWW would be comparable to this NCC team and, say what will, but I think we were all fairly convinced of the discrepancy between the two programs before the ball was kicked off in a snowy Wisconsin. This saturday's game feels different. These two teams are much closer than water-cooler talk might suggest.

I guarantee you that Bash will have the opportunity to win on Saturday. If they lose, it'll be because they got beat; not because they won't be good enough.

[BashBacker#16]

BashDad,

Speechless.

[Duster72]

Wow.  That's the second coming of the "I won't listen to you bad mouth America" speech from Animal House.  LOL.  Great post.

[CardinalAlum]

Great stuff, BashDad!  We are looking forward to a great game Saturday!  I don't think you'll find any North Central fans looking for "triple-touchdown line" in our favor.  It looks like we will see two outstanding defenses and find out which offense will find a crack.  The NCC defense is the best one I have seen in my 25 years around the program.  They are big, fast and physical.  USee is right on with his description of our offense.  Looking forward to finding out more about the Little Giants this week! 

[smedindy]

Amazing analysis. You need to be on TV and Craig James needs to be asking for a job with the SMU backers who got him into that school...

[smedindy]

Looking at North Central's roster...they have 18 transfers!!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously?  What gives?

I'm not surprised. A lot of those transfers look like "I'm not going to play at D-1 so I may as well go close to home and play there..." Plus it looks from their web site they encourage transfers into North Central (not just for athletics). Half of the students live off campus or commute. Just a different place - stuck there amongst the John Hughes movie sets!

[Li'l Giant]

BashDad:

[nike]

Wow!  Wabash rocks this week, no?
Any official word on what is wrong with Chase's knee?
This has to be a bigger game than DePauw this year for you guys, at least this year.  Admit it. You were pretty sure that was not going to be much of a game. I am more excited about this game than any Wooster game this year.  At least right now I am. 
Can't get there this weekend and do not want to look too far ahead, but play Mt. Union in two weeks and you will have NCAC folks there from all over northeast Ohio. 

[USee]

Bashdad,

No one who follows the CCIW or NCC said anything about triple TD favorites.  I put the line at NCC -12, which I think is about right. Hazzbeen called It -20.5 and you'll notice he is a Bethel fan from the MIAC.

Your comments about Wes remind me of 2008 when Pete Ittersagen was the best special teams player in the universe (and he is in the NFL). He absolutely dominated the post season winning games @Wabash, and @Franklin. we played @Mt Union and they kicked to him every time. Their superior speed on special teams negated the obvious advantage. NCC has an outspoken policy of not playing starters on special teams and they have still ranked at the top of the conference in most categories. I agree with you that they will likely kick to Wes. This will be an interesting story line to follow Saturday.

The best point you make is the road vs home stat. I completely agree this is the wildcard. Most teams don't play as well on the road as they do at home. If there is another Redlands type game out there for NCC it will be on the road at a place like Wabash.

[formerd3db]

You guys are great and hilarious!  I love this board!  Well done and +k for all of you! (LG, love the movie clip - just awesome and well deserved for BashDad! smeds - great line too! Duster, BB, etc. right on! ).