FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[KC]

I held on to my hat.

[usee]

i have watched neibhur's teams going back to the wittenberg 95 loss to wheaton in the playoffs (he took over millikin the next year i think). he has always been an I-backfield, play action offensive guy. he uses multiple formations to try and get an advantage in the run game or the passing game. over the last few years i have seen him try to use the pass more to gain an advantage. the problem is he hasn't had any good qb's to do so.

I have seen wallick play 4x over the past 3 yrs. he isn't the best back i have ever seen in the cciw but he is really good. big and fast he runs downhill and hits the hole hard. the millikin offensive line are usually very big and strong and come off the ball well. in the games i have seen wallick run i have often wondered why millikin doesn't give it to him every time. (i think they did v wheaton last year). they get too fancy for their own good w a guy like him. that said they will run him and then play action and go deep w a couple big fast recievers (i think both starters are back). i agree w mugsy, if they could ever find a passing game they would be really dangerous.

I don't think wabash will have a lot of problems with the millikin rush game provided millikin has the usual suspects at qb. i do think millikins defense will be pretty good this year (last year they were young and average) and will be interested to see how an excellent group of wabash recievers does against the big blue secondary and lbs.

this is a good measuring stick type game for both schools and conferences. quite glad its on the schedule.

[formerd3db]

usee:

This may be a little early, however, hopefully we'll have a chance to visit this fall since your Wheaton plays at our place on Sept. 23rd, if you are able to make the game.  Keep me posted as the date approaches.  Hope your summer is going well so far.

[lancer98]

Here is some info on the Huffman kid heading to Wittenberg.  It looks like he is hoping to play right away but then again many freshman do.  I will be interested to see how well he does.  He was a great three-sport athlete and anybody selected to play in the Ohio North-south game is no slouch.

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060612/SPORTS/606120322/1006

Also, Wally...my comment regarding the new Woo coach was made in jest since the guy was one of my best friends in school.  I thought anybody reading would be able to tell that.  So much for that Wabash education.... 

[wally_wabash]

I missed the sarcasm, lancer....no harm, no foul.   

[seinfeld]

A quarterback who thought they were a Div. I/IAA player is going to be disappointed at Wittenberg. They now have Jaren Collins, who is tranferring from Tennesse-Martin, and Huffman, who was getting a lot of looks from scholarship programs. Both have four years of eligibility. Does anyone want to take the bet that both players don't stay all four years?

[Superfoot Wallace]

Thats a terrible problem to have.  Coach Fincham will have to use a scout team linebacker to hand the ball off to avoid a quarterback controversy. 

Witts seen this dilemma before, and the quarterback competition has proven fruitful.  Didnt work out so well for Tennessee this past season with two or three supposed wunderkinds, but there might have been too much hype.

Not too much hype for the Thundercats, considering the grinder to start the season and last years beginning and end, but the cupboard is not bare on offense for whichever quarterback should seize the reigns.

Quarterback duos that have competed at Witt that come to mind:  Runkel and Furlong, Magoteaux and Donnelly, Crane and Damico...

A successful team is always able to perpetuate revolution, and so long as there is some polity with the quarterbacks or some streak of difference in their passions or demeanor, competition is welcome...

Each of the aforementioned duos helped their teams change gears, from Damico throwing a huge block in a game to Furlongs fiery attitude to Magoteaux playing linebacker after breaking his throwing hand....

What all these qarterbacks had in common, that hasnt shown through as much recently as in years past was a rock solid defense that gave no quarter....  Expect the defense to improve with some seasoning, but there is one goal should most like to see exhumed....

'The other team does not score in the third quarter'

signed,
Bobby Fishers redheaded stepchild

p.s. - big fan of that +1.5 turnover goal as well

[raiderguy]

Just a note from lancer 98 link.

When did Wittenberg come back into the OAC? The reporter needs to do a little extra research I think.

[BashBacker#16]

Witt already has their 2006 preview posted...

http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/football/preview06.html

How many years in a row will we read the "After a ______ season that did not meet the lofty standards of the football program with the most wins in NCAA Division III history" - isn't that something like 3 straight?  Wally should have a field day with that one...

[DarkSide-D]

I shared this info one or two weeks ago, but now it is official.  Tony Sutton is heading to Europe to play ball, http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/14814053.htm

[BashBacker#16]

Darkside 51,

How good is that league?  Has he had any other sniffs here in the states...AFL?

[wally_wabash]

Witt's record has worsened for four straight seasons.  In four years Witt has gone from conference champs and national quarterfinalist to 5-5.  This isn't a one or two year blip, people...it's a four-year slide.  

Witt can keep force feeding the world "winningest" this and "most" that in their press releases, but they're only fooling themselves at this point...desperately clinging to a reality that is quickly slipping away into ancient history.  Nobody cares how good Wittenberg was in 1999 and nobody is intimidated by how good Wittenberg was in 1999 anymore.  Every year Witt parades this crap around as if simply by spewing forth these records they are somehow entitled to a championship season.  We're not buying it anymore, fellas.  It's high time Witt starts putting up, because every year we read these press releases telling us how great Wittenberg football is in the months following a truly pedestrian season Wittenberg football comes off as just that much more desperate than they were the year before.  At some point claiming to be the best football program in the history of the universe is just going to be downright laughable on the heels of .500 seasons.  

In any case, I'm sure that press release will nab Witt at least a handful of media votes in the preseason poll coming in August.  It usually does.  

[evacuee]

I disagree, Wally.  I think that Wittenberg is still clearly the top program in the NCAC.  In fact it couldn't be clearer.  They do, afterall, have more wins than anyone in the history of Division III.  Were you aware of that?  If that doesn't say it all about how much better they are than Wabash, I don't know what does. 

If Wabash ever hopes to get to the level of Wittenberg, the Little Giants have do to two things:
1.  Catch up to Wittenberg in all-time wins
2.  Stop whining about how Wittenberg is overrated

Any real football guy knows that programs should be judged by what they did in the past so that the lesser generations can get free rides on the legacy of those who came before them. 

[fijidoc]

That is one of the most absurd arguments that I have heard.  Because someone was the class of the league for 20 years it doesn't mean crap if they haven't done anything in the last five years.  That is like saying IU is the class of the Big Ten in basketball because 10-15 years ago when Bobby was there they were.  MSU, Illinois, OSU, and Wisc. have all passed IU in the last five years.  Can IU get back up there? yes.  Can Wittenberg get back up there? yes.  But plain and simple Wittenberg is no longer the class of the NCAC until they win back the conference title they are just another team trying to get back to the top.  That is not to take anything away from their tradition.  If you want to say Wittenberg's football tradition is the class of the NCAC or better than Wabash then I can give you that because the numbers don't lie.  But right now Wabash is the class of the NCAC and the other schools are trying to catch up to them.  Also by your argument Wittenberg is a better program than Mount Union because they have more all-time wins.  Do you really want to try and make that argument?

[wittman78]

TU I agree. Wally and all the rest of the Wabash followers I don't know why year in and year out(at least the last couple of years) you guys cry about the fact that we mention we are a good program, get over it because we will continue to do it. If you have read the outlook it really doesn't come out and say that witt will be amazing this year, to tell you the truth after I read it I felt that we will have a rough time winning the NCAC. And basically your post saying that we are a laughable team, did we not almost beat Wabash this past year with that team? GET OVER THE FACT THAT WITTENBERG IS A GOOD PROGRAM, Wabash is a very good program too and you don't see us crying about them saying they are going to be good next year.