FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Barber Greene]

Bobo, I think it must be a mental thing with Mr. Guelff at this point. Kind of like when the catcher has a hard time throwing the ball back to the pitcher.  It wasn't that windy.  I bet he'll get his chance again next week and do just fine.

[retagent]

Maybe the wind wasn't too bad at the Perk, only 30 miles from here, but here, trying to play golf was a chore. I sometimes had to adjust 3 clubs to offset the wind problem.

[bleedpurple]

Thanks Bobo!  

To me, two important things came out of this game. First, as far as I know, UW-W came out of it healthy. Secondly, I think Blanchard answered any questions we should have regarding the Warhawks QB position.  I was very impressed with him. He throws a great deep ball. He is very athletic and will gash a defense trying to play man to man by pulling it down and running.  He was under some pretty good pressure today and for the most part handled it well. I'm sure he'd like the 4th down throw to Leaf back, but other than that, he was pretty sharp.  

Other observations:

OFFENSIVE LINE: I don't think they will grade out all that well today. However, that's not a group I'm at all concerned about. They will be good.

RUNNING BACKS: I thought all three backs ran hard. Only three running back carries were 10 yards or longer and none longer than 20 yards. Again. No worries. The long ones will come.

WIDE RECEIVERS: Seemed to run really precise routes today. Lots of crossing routes broke wide open.

DEFENSIVE LINE: Once it became obvious Hemm was the only threat, they settled in and played really well.  

LINEBACKERS: I thought they were pretty active and played well. Adrian used quite a bit of misdirection, but I thought the linebackers held their position really well.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: They could have provided stronger run support early in the game, but got much better after the first drive. They were not tested at all by the Adrian passing game. They would have gotten a much better test had McGee started.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The applied good pressure all day on the punter. i'm glad they got a block. Not much on the punt return because the punter rarely punted it deep enough to return. Coverage units were fine.

ADRIAN: Pretty good defense. Pretty bad offense.  I wish McGee would have started so the defensive backfield could have gotten tested. I think they would be better if McGee were the QB and Hemm the tailback.

OVERALL: A sloppy first game in some ways (turnovers, missed extra points), but there's a whole lot to be optimistic about given Blanchard's performance and the defense pitching a shutout.

[bleedpurple]

Love this picture posted on the Adrian College website. No holding at all on this play!

http://adrian.prestosports.com/sports/m-footbl/2010-11/releases/201009049xeuc0

[BoBo]

bleed -- a lot of DB's played; they didn't seem to have a real good flow as no one really settled in;  it seemed like a continuation of training camp in that the coaches are trying to find the eventual starters. The two Mc's (McCollum & McCulloch) look to be the two leaders of the DB's. McCollum looks like a take charge kind of guy - a quarterback of sorts for the defense. I think we'll begin to see more defined roles starting next week.

Speaking of the Adrian offense (or lack thereof), it was really obvious Hemm could not run the option -- pitched too late, pitched too early, ran when he should've pitched, made terrible pitches to the RB -- but yet they continued to run it. I think he'd be better off as a RB with Mc Gee (another Mc  ) as the qb (hear that Adrian coaches?) The Warhawk D was strong at the point of attack and had great back side pursuit; Adrian got a good taste of what kind of team speed it takes to win at another level. Their offense will probably be much more successful when they start playing against the schools they usually play.

THIS PHOTO on warhawkfootball.com looked like a safety. Looked like it at full speed the first time I saw it, too.

[02 Warhawk]

I came on to give my two cents, but I basically agree with Bobo's and Bleedpurple's assessment.

Blanchard impressment me the most from the game. He connected on a handful of deep balls with a stiff wind swirling around the perk.  He kind of has an awkward delivery, but as long as he connects...who cares. Hopefully he can keep this up from week to week.

Looked like Adrian game planned to stop the run (which they did for the most part). they played with 4 lineman and 4 LBs...UWW's three horses had a tough time finding consistant running lanes with 8 in the box most of the game.  With that being said, the Warhawk wideouts had a bunch of one-on-one coverage which they exploited, and blanchard did a very good job finding the open receiver.

Like most of the games last season, the defense bended a little but didn't break. Seems like first downs were only given up adrians side of the field....once they crossed midfield Borland and company tightened up big time. Their QB was very nimble, and made a handfull of plays out of nothing by running with the ball...other than that the warhawks D shut them down. Great way to start the season with a shutout!

on a side note, i don't think i saw three consecuative missed extra points before      Hopefully the kid shakes off the openning day gitters  

[BoBo]

From the accounts I heard listening to the game and on the NWC update board, the roof caved in on Stevens Point. Leading 14-0 early, they fell flat and lost 33-14 to Williamette. In the process, their freshman QB Barnes from Homestead, by way of Northern Michigan injuried his ankle or leg in the fourth and never returned. Don't know how bad it was. That would be a big blow to the Pointers if he doesn't return next week.

So, Northern Michigan transfer QB had a 1 and 1 weekend. 

[Barber Greene]

Love this picture posted on the Adrian College website. No holding at all on this play!

http://adrian.prestosports.com/sports/m-footbl/2010-11/releases/201009049xeuc0

I think that is a good example of Warhawk93's "getting laid upon by a 400 pound man"

[Barber Greene]

Eau Claire game vs Bethel (Tenn), free right here: mms://media.uwec.edu/athletics

[DutchFan2004]

Congrats to UWO on a great effort today.  They played well and gave a great effort.  I was impressed by their offense.  They mixed their play calling very well.  Kept the Dutch D off balance a lot.  Now I can say I have seen 3 WIAC teams play the Dutch and I can see why they rate the WIAC as a whole the best conference in the nation.  There have not been any easy games for the Dutch yet.  I don't think there or would be any easy games.  Good Luck to UWO the rest of the season. 

[BoBo]

Eau Claire game vs Bethel (Tenn), free right here: mms://media.uwec.edu/athletics

From the looks of the uniforms, it almost looks like an inter-squad srimmage!! 

Is there no sound? Can't tell who's who!!

[02 Warhawk]

From the accounts I heard listening to the game and on the NWC update board, the roof caved in on Stevens Point. Leading 14-0 early, they fell flat and lost 33-14 to Williamette. In the process, their freshman QB Barnes from Homestead, by way of Northern Michigan injuried his ankle or leg in the fourth and never returned. Don't know how bad it was. That would be a big blow to the Pointers if he doesn't return next week.

I hate to see that....i would of liked to see UWW and UWSP in the top 25 through out the season. hopefully they can turn it around.

[BoBo]

Someone just scorec in that EC game -- anybody know who it was and the game score?

[BoBo]

EC beats Bethel (TN) 35-31, scoring a TD with 4:26 remaining to win it.

La X has pulled within 6 of ETBU 26-20   4:41 left in 4th.

From watching games from around the country, seems placekickers are not in mid-season form --  so many missed PAT's today, not just at the PERK...wierd!!

[MasterJedi]

Thoughts from the game: My friends and I when the team came out flat at the start of the game but we all relaxed once they seemed to get into a groove and shake off the rust though they still do have some work to do. What made us all cringe was the three missed XPs in a row. I'm all willing to give the kicker another chance next week since it seem like it'll be a cakewalk. What I am worried about is what would happen when conference play starts and those misses could be very costly.

Good attendence as well though watch the student attendence start to crash as the season continues, minus homecoming of course. But at least my two roomates and I will be at every game so there will at least be 3 students at the games. 

As for Steven's Point I have a feeling that they were and are overrated last year and also this year so Willamette winning by how much they did wasn't a surprise. I also have a feeling, based on nothing, that Platteville is very underrated this year and could make some noise.