FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Yes, actually. Now that I've seen both play I felt comfortable making the shift.

[BoBo]

Yes, actually. Now that I've seen both play I felt comfortable making the shift.

[WarhawkDad]

He also did it behind backup linemen. 

True, but they as a group are pretty good as well.  The starting line has 4 seniors and one junior.  Next year, that junior, currently playing right guard will be back and 4 of the 5 currently backing up will move up.  There is talent there and they will do well.

[WarhawkDad]

Yes, actually. Now that I've seen both play I felt comfortable making the shift.

[footballfan413]

Yes, actually. Now that I've seen both play I felt comfortable making the shift.

Really?  It took that long?  No disrespect to you, Pat or Mt. Union but I have just been surprised that the fact that UWW has won 2 of the last 3 National Championships and we returned 12 starters to the Raiders 9 wasn't enough to tilt the choice in our direction from the beginning of the season.  We didn't get the nod after the 07 Stagg win because we graduated so many starters.  Makes perfect sense, of course,
but why doesn't it work in reverse.  We win in 09 and return more starters.     Don't want to sound arrogant or to be accused of whining that the Warhawk's don't get enough respect, just curious, I guess. There is still 2 voters out there who have yet to change their minds.   Maybe IF they win it 2 years in a row....................  

[badgerwarhawk]

Old habits are hard to break.

WARHAWK place kicker Eric Kindler is this week's WIAC special teams player of the week.  

http://www.wiacsports.com/sports/2010/9/3/FB_0903101845.aspx?path=football

[Stagg Again!!]

Yes, actually. Now that I've seen both play I felt comfortable making the shift.

Really?  It took that long?  No disrespect to you, Pat or Mt. Union but I have just been surprised that the fact that UWW has won 2 of the last 3 National Championships and we returned 12 starters to the Raiders 9 wasn't enough to tilt the choice in our direction from the beginning of the season.  We didn't get the nod after the 07 Stagg win because we graduated so many starters.  Makes perfect sense, of course,
but why doesn't it work in reverse.  We win in 09 and return more starters.     Don't want to sound arrogant or to be accused of whining that the Warhawk's don't get enough respect, just curious, I guess. There is still 2 voters out there who have yet to change their minds.   Maybe IF they win it 2 years in a row....................  

I completely agree with footballfan413.  I'm just surprised bleedpurple hasn't taken the lead by punting MU out of Level I on his BPD3 Poll.   We will see how the next three weeks play out in the OAC.

[usee]

The next 3 weeks in the OAC are going to play out just like the last 3, or any 3 over the last 10 years. Mt Union is going to win by varying margins of 20-50 points. We won't know if there is a chink in their armor until at least round 2 of the playoffs in my opinion.

I have no problem with Pat taking his time to make his selection. 1st, kudos for him for revealing his vote (he is under no obligation to do so) and 2nd, I agree with the notion of seeing both teams to make a determination when that is possible.  Obviously he weighed what he knew in the first 6 weeks against what he saw from both teams live. Nothing wrong with that. And I really don't see the argument that he is showing ANY disrespect to UWW by voting them #2 in the country!

[Pat Coleman]

Yes, actually. Now that I've seen both play I felt comfortable making the shift.

Really?  It took that long?  No disrespect to you, Pat or Mt. Union but I have just been surprised that the fact that UWW has won 2 of the last 3 National Championships and we returned 12 starters to the Raiders 9 wasn't enough to tilt the choice in our direction from the beginning of the season.  We didn't get the nod after the 07 Stagg win because we graduated so many starters.  Makes perfect sense, of course,
but why doesn't it work in reverse.  We win in 09 and return more starters.     Don't want to sound arrogant or to be accused of whining that the Warhawk's don't get enough respect, just curious, I guess. There is still 2 voters out there who have yet to change their minds.   Maybe IF they win it 2 years in a row....................  

413: 12 starters, 9 starters? It's not like either is a big number. Mount Union didn't have a starting quarterback returning but it had a guy with an extensive amount of experience as the backup in the first half of games, not just garbage time. UWW had a guy who only got garbage time and was hurt most of the season at that, so didn't even get much of that.

Plus UWW lost probably the best kicker in the history of Division III football (certainly the most prolific). And the offensive coordinator under which UWW won the two Stagg Bowls, neither of which factors into your fairly simple 12 > 9 math problem.

Since I don't look at the situation with purple glasses, it seemed very possible to me that Mount Union was the better team, and I voted it that way.

[footballfan413]

The next 3 weeks in the OAC are going to play out just like the last 3, or any 3 over the last 10 years. Mt Union is going to win by varying margins of 20-50 points. We won't know if there is a chink in their armor until at least round 2 of the playoffs in my opinion.

I have no problem with Pat taking his time to make his selection. 1st, kudos for him for revealing his vote (he is under no obligation to do so) and 2nd, I agree with the notion of seeing both teams to make a determination when that is possible.  Obviously he weighed what he knew in the first 6 weeks against what he saw from both teams live. Nothing wrong with that. And I really don't see the argument that he is showing ANY disrespect to UWW by voting them #2 in the country!

Who said that he was showing ANY disrespect to UW-W by voting them #2 in the country???   Certainly, not me! You seemed to have missed my point.  It was that at the beginning of the season, when all anyone has to determine how the top 25 should be ranked is a crystal ball (insert sarcasm smiley here,) a teams past success and how many starters are returning, UW-W's resume on paper should have been enough based on how choices have been made in the past.  Eventually seeing both teams in  person is a great luxury not afforded to too many of the 25 pollster, I would imagine.  Paper is really all most of them have each week. 

[footballfan413]

Yes, actually. Now that I've seen both play I felt comfortable making the shift.

Really?  It took that long?  No disrespect to you, Pat or Mt. Union but I have just been surprised that the fact that UWW has won 2 of the last 3 National Championships and we returned 12 starters to the Raiders 9 wasn't enough to tilt the choice in our direction from the beginning of the season.  We didn't get the nod after the 07 Stagg win because we graduated so many starters.  Makes perfect sense, of course,
but why doesn't it work in reverse.  We win in 09 and return more starters.     Don't want to sound arrogant or to be accused of whining that the Warhawk's don't get enough respect, just curious, I guess. There is still 2 voters out there who have yet to change their minds.   Maybe IF they win it 2 years in a row....................  

413: 12 starters, 9 starters? It's not like either is a big number. Mount Union didn't have a starting quarterback returning but it had a guy with an extensive amount of experience as the backup in the first half of games, not just garbage time. UWW had a guy who only got garbage time and was hurt most of the season at that, so didn't even get much of that.

Plus UWW lost probably the best kicker in the history of Division III football (certainly the most prolific). And the offensive coordinator under which UWW won the two Stagg Bowls, neither of which factors into your fairly simple 12 > 9 math problem.

Since I don't look at the situation with purple glasses, it seemed very possible to me that Mount Union was the better team, and I voted it that way.

I understand your point, Pat.  Referring to only the number of starters was way too simplified so I will look deeper.  Both teams graduated their QB and considering the situation last season for Mt Union as described in the D3football kickoff, in my opinion, who get the edge in that one could be considered a wash.  I mean, when Rocco was out with an injury, they didn't even go to a back up but moved over their top receiver.

"Quarterback. Three sophomores, Neal Seaman, Matt Piloto and Shane Pelludat will compete for the job and Cecil Shorts III can also play the position. Seaman got a fair amount of playing time early in the season but was beaten out and played only garbage time until Kurt Rocco was hurt in the national semifinals. He went 3-for-9 before being benched in favor of Shorts."

As for who we returned, if replacing a kicker and an OC is the biggest problem, I'll take it.  Again, from D3football kickoff:

"Start with Coppage, who has 3,568 yards and 56 touchdowns in two seasons and is chasing his predecessor, Justin Beaver, on all the Warhawks' career rushing lists. Worse news for opponents is that four offensive line starters return, led by preseason All-Americans Matt Weber and Robbie Unstruck, plus wideout Aaron Rusch and tight end John Novak."
 
  Look, I appreciate that you publicized your change in vote and don't need to answer to anyone, especially me and right about now, I am pretty sorry I opened up this can of worms, believe me.  But I think you know me well enough by now that chest pounding, (don't laugh now gentlemen,) is not my style and while I will always wear purple colored glasses, I try not to write anything that isn't thought out and backed up.  That being said, I appreciate your answer to my question. Of course there is no right answer here, pros and cons to each choice.  Just enjoying the back and forth.  

[skunks_sidekick]

Whitewater stinks!  Mount should always be #1 until they get beaten!  And then...only until the end of that given year.  At the start of the next year.......Mount should be back to #1.  It just makes everything simpler.

(The previous statements were made in jest, and were in response to anyone thinking the polls mean squat......especially when it's deciding #1 and #2 between these two feuding brothers/roommates/titans?)



That being said, I hope Mount is good enough to see you Wisconsin bullies again in Salem.  In all honesty, I think the jury is still out on that one.

[footballfan413]

Whitewater stinks!  Mount should always be #1 until they get beaten!  And then...only until the end of that given year.  At the start of the next year.......Mount should be back to #1.  It just makes everything simpler.

(The previous statements were made in jest, and were in response to anyone thinking the polls mean squat......especially when it's deciding #1 and #2 between these two feuding brothers/roommates/titans?)



That being said, I hope Mount is good enough to see you Wisconsin bullies again in Salem.  In all honesty, I think the jury is still out on that one.

LOL.  Ok, now I understand.  Makes perfect sense to me.  

[Pat Coleman]

As for who we returned, if replacing a kicker and an OC is the biggest problem, I'll take it.  

Those are your words, not mine. I simply pointed out that those items were not reflected in your 12 > 9 scenario.

[oshfb]

He also did it behind backup linemen. 

Pirtle hits the hole very quickly....not sure if that is a good or bad thing.  Maybe he needs to slow down and let the blocking develop. Clearly he has good quickness and speed. If Booker is still out this week he'll probably see some more time.

Isn't that the idea of the zone blocking technique? Let your o-line create the running lane, identify it and then bust through it? Pirtle's got some real giddy-up to his stride. He probably needs to learn to be a little patient, but he's trying to make a play every time he has a touch. The good thing is he's got three backs with a lot of talent ahead of him to learn from.

I think it would be wise to keep Booker off the field completely this week & rest Coppage as much as possible, too. With UW-RF coming in at #207 in rush defense according to those stats S or B provided, it shouldn't be too difficult to mount a successful rushing afternoon with AA, Pirtle and anybody else they decide to use. No reason to risk further injury to anybody.

As I've said before, Pirtle could be a great running back and was a steal for UWW to land. He runs low, runs fast and he runs hard. He did weigh an extra ~10 lbs in high school (we had him at 5'10" 180 and I think UWW has him around 170). He also had the highest power clean of the skilled positions with 260lbs. Not bad for a 180# high schooler. His 40 wasn't insane...but he gets to top speed in a hury. He also had the tendency to try and do too much.

We ran the Power-I so he is probably still learning the stretch-zone running scheme..i.e. waiting for the blockers more so than ramming it down the heart of a defense. When he becomes more comfortable with the zone blcking he'll be a force for sure.