FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

Mmmm...delicious rivalry smack.  Good stuff. 

Regarding the 2nd half, I was really surprised NCC never made adjustments in the secondary.  Horn and his out routes were there time and time again.  Obviously Burke delivered the ball but Horn and Chamblee stepped up and made play after play and showed why they are big time/big play receivers.  Did anyone think (before the game) that those two guys would combine for 22 catches, 299 yards, and 3 TD's!!!

No way.  If you'd have told me that Wabash was going to have to throw 50 times in this game, I'd have told you that they were in big, big trouble.  And while there's some truth to that, the passes kept coming and coming because North Central couldn't stop it.  I made a point on the other board yesterday that when you get beyond the first round of the playoffs, you're going to start running into teams that take their five offensive lineman (plus maybe a TE or RB) and block your four defensive linemen no matter how badass those DL's might be (and NCC had some badass DLs...believe that) for long enough to get the ball down the field.  Wabash did that in the second half yesterday...they blocked just long enough to let Horn and Chamblee go to work against the zone and those guys 1) know how to get open and 2) are athletic enough to win jump balls if they aren't open.  Wabash solved the North Central defense and North Central didn't change anything up. 

[bashbrother]

Just a Great Win on Saturday!  One that will be referenced for many years.  Congrats to both teams and to the NCAA for having a tournament in Division III!

Turning the Page.......

How does ER's familiarity with the Mount Union football program help or hurt his game planning for next Saturday's match-up?

[HScoach]

All I know from this side is that LK absolutely hates coaching against his former players (Dean Paul at ONU and Mike Hallett at H'Berg).   Add the family angle of Raeburn to the mix as well, and this is not going to be a fun week for Kehres.

On to the actual game, if Belton is out for this week then we have a battle back-up QB's.

[Ryan Tipps]

On to the actual game, if Belton is out for this week then we have a battle back-up QB's.

Maybe a question in there is, if Belton is not out for this week, which Wabash QB gets the call to start?

Burke has now played against a defense faster/better than any all season and made history; but Belton is Belton, and he's a great signal-caller in his own right and has started and succeeded most all of the season.

[bashbrother]

On to the actual game, if Belton is out for this week then we have a battle back-up QB's.

Maybe a question in there is, if Belton is not out for this week, which Wabash QB gets the call to start?

Tough...very tough.   Maybe you go with a two-headed monster if both are physically able ? ? ?.

[wally_wabash]

On to the actual game, if Belton is out for this week then we have a battle back-up QB's.

Maybe a question in there is, if Belton is not out for this week, which Wabash QB gets the call to start?

Tough...very tough.   Maybe you go with a two-headed monster if both are physically able ? ? ?.

The two of them together might make one healthy quarterback.  Seriously..I was concerned about Burke's well being during that game yesterday.  I don't know how sore he is today, but I'm positive that I've never been that sore in my life.  Not even close. 

[Li'l Giant]

The two of them together might make one healthy quarterback.  Seriously..I was concerned about Burke's well being during that game.  I don't know how sore he is today, but I'm positive that I've never been that sore in my life.  Not even close. 

You know, that's kind of the lost thing in all of Burke's heroics. Right now he has to feel like he got hit by a bus yesterday. He certainly looked like it by the end of the game yesterday. It was like those scenes in Rocky movies where he gets up slower and slower, but keeps getting up nonetheless.

Given the enormous brace that Chase was wearing, and what Joe said during the broadcast that it became evident in practice last week that Chase couldn't run, I would be kind of surprised if he improved enough to start in a week. If that injury is two weeks old already, and he can't run, I'm not liking those odds. But then again, I'm not a doctor. If he's not able to run yesterday, will he be able to practice this week? I can see ER wanting to get all the reps in practice by his starter, whomever that would be. It might be better for Burke to get the reps in practice and just go with him if Chase can't practice at all.

[D3_DPUFan]

Congrats to the LG's...that was one helluva victory.

[bashbrother]

We interrupt the football celebration to announce....

Wabash defeated Depauw  62-47 on the hard court this afternoon.     Do you think Depauw will ever beat us in any sport ever again?

Now, back to your regularly scheduled NCAA Div III Tournament action.....

[smedindy]

I was just about ready to go to the hoops board to post that!

Thanks to DPU fan for the good wishes. We need everyone's support to beat Mount!

[wabashcpa]

On to the actual game, if Belton is out for this week then we have a battle back-up QB's.

Maybe a question in there is, if Belton is not out for this week, which Wabash QB gets the call to start?

Burke has now played against a defense faster/better than any all season and made history; but Belton is Belton, and he's a great signal-caller in his own right and has started and succeeded most all of the season.

My question is which QB/offense does UMU game-plan for?  If you look at film of games vs. DePauw and North Central you would get two very different looks.  Very impressed with the depth and ability to go multiple directions on offense. 

[BashBacker#16]

I have to admit, when I read this about NCC, I thought, OH CRAP...but...

USEE's write up this year's NCC team:

as an anti-NCC fan (and a general fan of Wabash over the years) I can offer a little insight. NCC beat every CCIW team by 20+ pts this year. That has NEVER happened in the CCIW, including the 4 years Augie won the title in the 80's. I have seen UMU play over a dozen times (6x in alliance) and UWW close to 10. NCC's defense and special teams are every bit as good as any national championship teams I have seen. Their achilles heel is against a team that can stop them from running the ball. they have great athletes all over the field. If you can stop the run you can keep it close but I think they will be 2 TD favorites against any team other than UMU and UWW. Vs Dubuque I think the line is NCC -20. If I was setting the line v Wabash it would be about NCC -14. It's not a slap in anyone's face. I just think NCC is that good this year (I may be wrong as Redlands fans will point out). As far as Redlands, I have no explanation and that is the game that should give every playoff team confidence. In the games I have seen this year I haven't seen whatever happened in LA at the start of the season. Wheaton and IWU are top 20 teams and NCC just destroyed them both (one on the road and one at home). Bash is undefeated and beat a couple good teams handily. They won conference road games (which are always hard) and have some great players so there is no discredit to them. I have no doubt they will play their best in the post season. I think IWU and Wabash are pretty similar. I think Wheaton and Bash know each other pretty well.

I hope I'm wrong (as a CCIW guy) but I think there is a new sheriff in town.

[smedindy]

I didn't want to leave the weekend without touching on the fact that Earlham 86'd their football coach.

After finishing mid-pack in the NCAC in 2009 (3-4, 5-5) they fled to the 'easier' HCAC and promptly put up goose-eggs both years. Though I doubt they would have done much better in the NCAC since they got shellacked 44-7 by Denison this past year and Denison was one team they bet in-conference in 2009.

Since leaving the NCAC, the football team is 0-20, the men's hoops team went 2-23 and are 0-5 this year, and the women's hoops team went 0-25 and are 0-3 this year. All of the coaches that entered the NCAC with Earlham got ziggied.

Methinks it wasn't a competition in the NCAC problem.

[smedindy]

I do wish North Central luck - I think they're going to be around for a while as the team to beat before you play the Purples.

It's a very smart institutional strategy to focus on transfer students (not athletics, guys, but in general) because of their market. Plenty of college competition in that area of Illinois and kids returning homesick (which does happen) or unhappy with their first choice (ditto). Of course that helps athletics (not just football) but it also makes North Central very attractive. Face it, it's tough for transfer students to fit into most of the NCAC schools because so much happens your first year in the college community.

I do hope that when the NCAC goes full-round robin that the one non-conference game is a series of home-and-home contracts with the CCIW heavyweights and Franklin.

[NCF]

I do wish North Central luck - I think they're going to be around for a while as the team to beat before you play the Purples.

It's a very smart institutional strategy to focus on transfer students (not athletics, guys, but in general) because of their market. Plenty of college competition in that area of Illinois and kids returning homesick (which does happen) or unhappy with their first choice (ditto). Of course that helps athletics (not just football) but it also makes North Central very attractive. Face it, it's tough for transfer students to fit into most of the NCAC schools because so much happens your first year in the college community.

I do hope that when the NCAC goes full-round robin that the one non-conference game is a series of home-and-home contracts with the CCIW heavyweights and Franklin.

Or you can do what nc is doing next year-playing redlands and oshkosh to start the season. that should get them ready for the conference schedule. i wish i could go to the game next week-beat mount-somebody's gotta do it.