FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

If I never see the phrase "game manager" used ever again- especially when used to denigrate a player- I'll be a happy man.

If you have a better phrase, I would be happy to use it.  Putko appears to have a limited upside and has not expanded the capabilities of this team.  I was hoping that next Wabash QB would make the guys around him better.   I don't see anything in him that shows he has the talent to do that.  I am not denigrating him - only describing his play to date.

All of this- every bit of it- is in the same vein as the crap that got hurled on Chase Belton in 2010.  And 2011.  And 2012.  If you've been paying close attention to Wabash football for the last four years, this right here is what quarterbacks do at Wabash now.  They don't sling it all over the yard like Knott and Harbaugh and Huff did.  Those days are gone, man, and they aren't coming back.  This iteration of Wabash football wins by playing great defense, taking care of the ball, and running the ball all day long.  That's the formula. 

I hope that in the Witt game, Putko will show me completely wrong.

This is important.  Let me share something....through six games of his college career (and it's important that we remember that the kid has played exactly six games), this is the average stat line for Putko:

Passing
13.3 completions
20.5 attempts
0.5 INT
1.5 TD
167 yards

Rushing
9.7 attempts
20.8 yards
0.7 TD

Now here's another stat line:
12-17, 218 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD
11 rushes, 29  yards, 1 TD

That second stat line is Chase Belton's stat line from his senior  year game at Witt.  Wabash won 27-24.  That's Chase Belton with somewhere around 30 starts who did basically the same thing that Putko does on average, against Wittenberg, and helped Wabash win the game. 

Putko hasn't been perfect and there is certainly much to improve.  But he's played six freaking games (and lost a grand total of zero).  And probably about 20 quarters in those six games.  Trust the system and have a little patience. 

[The_Bishop]

Oops!  You guys are welcome to berate/blast me too!  Nothing against my friend aueagle at all, but I blindly followed his lead and didn't look at the schedule closely and missed that it was @ Hiram, not @ Selby Stadium .   Hilarious comments you guys, all had me laughing with your great levity and especially at myself for that!!!

Learning not to take yourself too seriously is perhaps the best virtue you can have in life, D3DB!

[BashBacker#16]

Hokie,

There's a side of me that find your comments entertaining but there is another side that just sees them as over the top critical as hell.  I am sure you will play the "just calling it like I see it" card but just remember these are Wabash kids that are 18-22 years old.  I don't know you at all but if you were Huff, Knott, Harbaugh, or one of those guys, maybe I would feel differently.  Just remember technically we are all on the same team man.  Just my 2 cents...

I also wanted to comment on the new Top 25.  (And I know they are only polls and don't have a lot of meaning in the big scheme of things)  I think it's a joke that Illinois Wesleyan beats Wheaton and suddenly JUMPS from #20 to #13.  What if Wheaton wasn't truly a #10?  Yes, I am annoyed that they jumped Wabash at this point in the season.  Wabash didn't have their best game on Saturday, we all know that but they've been a machine all season. 

Since I am commenting on the rankings, it still also "bugs" me that Franklin is all the way up to #11.  They have 2 losses.  I realize they played Mount tough.  It was also week 1.  They lost to Butler.  They have lost twice.  Unfortunately, we won't know how good they are until the playoffs.  I think the AFCA poll is more accurate.  I do know West is a stud!  Maybe we will see this Bash D against him later on...

[sigma one]

formerd3db:  I hear you.  Like you, I am idealistic about how some things should be done.  But to be blunt, schools are not going to change their fall break to accommodate home football games.  They just aren't, at least not most of them.  If Hope is willing to do that, wonderful.  Recall what I've said so many times on this Board, sports are not the center of most institutional decision making.  Academics are, and should be.  I do believe that confferences try in good faith to accommodate schools' needs and to balance rivalry games, special requests, etc.  As I've said, very hard to do.  I respect (deeply) your comments about DIII football and have been reading them for a long time.  But I was reacting in, I hope, a thoughtful way to the idea that schools schedule their own conference games.   
     Wally and others on Putko.  You are, of course, corrrect about his limited experience and the way Wabash is now playing the game.  Coach Raeburn has been clear in his approach; all you have to do is watch.  But that approach can be even more effective when QB is a legitimate threat, and also the team, to be able to do other things when the situation demands.  We really have not seen a stituation where the team has to do that.  The offense has been vanilla so far because nothing more has been demanded of it.  We have not discussed this, so I will mention it.  Wabash's receivers, though experienced (and I admire their ability to stay in the game when the ball is not in the air) are not the kind of receivers Wabash has sent out in the past.  Please, I don't mean this unkindly, and I don't know if they couldn't be those kinds of receivers it Wabash was throwing the ball 40X a game.  I'm not comfortable making these points  Heck, I'm satisfied:  7-0.  With no hint of  the let downs we saw last year. 
     Hiram this week.  I am eager to see the improved Terriers, and welcome the fact that they are improved.  Two weeks to Witt.  So Hiram is a game that Wabash needs to focus on, not look beyond.  And will.     
     

[GRIZ_BACKER]

Hokie,

There's a side of me that find your comments entertaining but there is another side that just sees them as over the top critical as hell.  I am sure you will play the "just calling it like I see it" card but just remember these are Wabash kids that are 18-22 years old.  I don't know you at all but if you were Huff, Knott, Harbaugh, or one of those guys, maybe I would feel differently.  Just remember technically we are all on the same team man.  Just my 2 cents...

I also wanted to comment on the new Top 25.  (And I know they are only polls and don't have a lot of meaning in the big scheme of things)  I think it's a joke that Illinois Wesleyan beats Wheaton and suddenly JUMPS from #20 to #13.  What if Wheaton wasn't truly a #10?  Yes, I am annoyed that they jumped Wabash at this point in the season.  Wabash didn't have their best game on Saturday, we all know that but they've been a machine all season. 

Since I am commenting on the rankings, it still also "bugs" me that Franklin is all the way up to #11.  They have 2 losses.  I realize they played Mount tough.  It was also week 1.  They lost to Butler.  They have lost twice.  Unfortunately, we won't know how good they are until the playoffs.  I think the AFCA poll is more accurate.  I do know West is a stud!  Maybe we will see this Bash D against him later on...
[/

So where should Bash be ranked in relation to Franklin?  So how good is the "machine" over in Crawfordsville?

[wally_wabash]

I also wanted to comment on the new Top 25.  (And I know they are only polls and don't have a lot of meaning in the big scheme of things)  I think it's a joke that Illinois Wesleyan beats Wheaton and suddenly JUMPS from #20 to #13.  What if Wheaton wasn't truly a #10?  Yes, I am annoyed that they jumped Wabash at this point in the season.  Wabash didn't have their best game on Saturday, we all know that but they've been a machine all season. 

Since I am commenting on the rankings, it still also "bugs" me that Franklin is all the way up to #11.  They have 2 losses.  I realize they played Mount tough.  It was also week 1.  They lost to Butler.  They have lost twice.  Unfortunately, we won't know how good they are until the playoffs.  I think the AFCA poll is more accurate.  I do know West is a stud!  Maybe we will see this Bash D against him later on...

I'm not too shocked that IWU jumped so high.  It seems that some (many? most?) of the voters have a mindset that somewhere around #10 is where the second best CCIW team belongs.  It just feels right.  That's what conference reputation gets you.  In the NRFP, I've been kind of down on Wheaton and IWU (have consistently had them lower than most) because I don't think they that are great.  Wheaton has been fairly pedestrian offensively since they hung 66 on Albion (MIAA leader Albion, btw).  That team misses Mark Hiben in a bad, bad way.  Illinois Wesleyan has been ok-to-good but not great against a pretty poor set of teams through their sixth game.  They showed pretty well on Saturday, but I'm of the opinion that the CCIW up and down is not as good as they have been in recent years.  North Central looks really, really good, but the bottom of that league stinks out loud and Wheaton and IWU haven't looked particularly special.  Just my opinion.  Got away from the point...anyway, basically, voters like their CCIW runners up lingering around 10-12 until they lose a second game.  That's just the way that goes. 

As for Franklin, we'll have to disagree there.  I think Franklin should be up in the top 10.  This poll likes to reward teams losing close games to great teams and if that's the case, then Franklin should be anchored to Mount Union.  I think you can squeeze Linfield and UMHB inbetween.  Maybe Bethel.  Maybe Whitewater.  But then after that, who has played a better game, even in defeat, than Franklin did at Mount Union? North Central and Hobart certainly haven't done anything as good as what Franklin has done.  Definitely not Heidelberg.  I'd probably have Franklin sitting somewhere around 7 or 8. 

[wabco]

Wally

I disagree with your Franklin rating.  Two losses.  After that, little sisters of the poor.  I would rank Wabash in relation to Franklin the same as the SAT does.  Wabash is better as a football team and academically. Probably grinds Griz ... but ... live with it.

[GrizFan]

Franklin always seems to have a home game over Fall Break.  Usually designated as Community Day with free admission.  It was against the last place Anderson Ravens and we had our smallest crowd this season (2850).  Not bad considering that is 3X enrollment. 

[Li'l Giant]

I also wanted to comment on the new Top 25.  (And I know they are only polls and don't have a lot of meaning in the big scheme of things)  I think it's a joke that Illinois Wesleyan beats Wheaton and suddenly JUMPS from #20 to #13.  What if Wheaton wasn't truly a #10?  Yes, I am annoyed that they jumped Wabash at this point in the season.  Wabash didn't have their best game on Saturday, we all know that but they've been a machine all season. 

Since I am commenting on the rankings, it still also "bugs" me that Franklin is all the way up to #11.  They have 2 losses.  I realize they played Mount tough.  It was also week 1.  They lost to Butler.  They have lost twice.  Unfortunately, we won't know how good they are until the playoffs.  I think the AFCA poll is more accurate.  I do know West is a stud!  Maybe we will see this Bash D against him later on...

No shade, BB16, but this is the first time I can ever recall anyone saying the AFCA poll is more accurate than this site's.

My analysis is similar to Wally's. On my NRFP ballot I've had Wheaton and IWU on the bottom half of the ballot below Wabash/Heidelberg/Witt all year long. But I've had Franklin #2 and I don't think that's even a question (on my ballot) as long as they keep winning.

[wally_wabash]

Franklin always seems to have a home game over Fall Break.  Usually designated as Community Day with free admission.  It was against the last place Anderson Ravens and we had our smallest crowd this season (2850).  Not bad considering that is 3X enrollment.

As sigma one noted, Wabash pretty routinely plays home games over fall break.  Seems to happen about every other year.  It happened just two weeks ago for the Kenyon/Wabash game.  I also recall a fall break home game with Wittenberg of all teams...Wabash fans turned out big for that one though.  I think we got somewhere around 4000 in for a fall break game, which was crazy.  I want to say it was 2005 or 2007. 

[GrizFan]

Franklin and Wabash are both great teams.  I hope that both teams are around for Round 2 of the playoffs where they could meet.  Franklin has been rewarded for having leads in the 4th quarter against both Mt. Union (on the road) and Butler.  They really should have won the Butler game.   Butler blew out Wittenberg the week before playing Franklin and only played their starters for 2 quarters.  I know the HCAC is weak, but the NCAC is no better.  Besides Wabash, Witt is the only decent team in the league. 

[skunks_sidekick]

Wally

I disagree with your Franklin rating.  Two losses.  After that, little sisters of the poor.  I would rank Wabash in relation to Franklin the same as the SAT does.  Wabash is better as a football team and academically. Probably grinds Griz ... but ... live with it.

Wow.....I thought the times of playing the "academic card" were over on this board.  That is just sad.......next thing you know we will hear the "you will work for us" chant.

Sigh........

[Li'l Giant]

Wow.....I thought the times of playing the "academic card" were over on this board. 

A lot of us thought that. At least hoped so.

[formerd3db]

Seeing I've been drinking beer and surfing
Lousy waves at Folly Beach all weekend,
I don't care where the game was played..
639 is 639

Oops!  You guys are welcome to berate/blast me too!  Nothing against my friend aueagle at all, but I blindly followed his lead and didn't look at the schedule closely and missed that it was @ Hiram, not @ Selby Stadium .   Hilarious comments you guys, all had me laughing with your great levity and especially at myself for that!!!

Learning not to take yourself too seriously is perhaps the best virtue you can have in life, D3DB!

aueagle and The_Bishop:

Agreed, 100%!!!!

[smedindy]

Wow, the AFCA poll...sigh.

I've got Franklin 3 and Wabash 4 on my North poll behind Mt. Union and North Central. I moved IWU up to sixth behind John Carroll.

Nationally, I've got Franklin 7th and Wabash 9th. Whitewater is in between. Franklin's performances against Mt. Union and Butler speak more loudly and clearly than anything. I voted IWU 13th between Oshkosh and Wittenberg.

As for two losses, say Oshkosh loses a very close game against Platteville. That's two losses. But are they still going to be in the Top 15 or 20? Hell, yeah. Being undefeated is great and you should get some respect for it - but you need to recognize great teams. If 'Berg or John Carroll loses two close ones in the OAC, they'll still be a Top 25 team.

But frankly, angsting over polls does no one any good. It certainly doesn't affect anything in the post-season. I thought Keith's article last week was spot on.

And you certainly can't say Wabash is disrespected nationally. I think the voters may have Johns Hopkins too high, though they dominated a pretty good Randy Mac team in their non-conference game. I moved 'Berg down in my recent reshuffling and boosted up John Carroll. Yet, of all the teams ahead of Wabash, you can make a case for them. But while we've dominated we certainly can't say we've really played 'anyone' except, um, OWU? No. The way the season is the last couple of weeks will definitely tell the tale.

Plus, I don't think the voters had the full info on the illness bug hitting Wabash. No doubt they saw the score, saw the IWU score and made their choice. C'est la vie. Again, it's the regional rankings and the playoffs that matter.