FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[emma17]

IMO, NCC's game against ONU was the first real test against a team I thought had somewhat of a chance (although I still picked NCC to win by 14).  I was impressed with the score, allowing only 3 points to the starters- their defense must be the real deal.

If you look at video on their site, you will see a couple things for sure:
1.  Their linebacker, #40- is every bit as good as the press he gets-a true stud.
2.  They can throw the ball pretty well, and they have athletic guys that can catch, along with a giant TE.  

I'd be surprised if Coach Thorne doesn't come out with more emphasis on the passing game to move the chains.  

[bleedpurple]

Ok Bleedpurple.. If you were going to set a line for this game, what would it be?
and an over/under as well. 

I would never attempt to improve on HSCoach's line in D3 football. He's got the line at UW-W -14.5. I'll stick with that.  I'll say an over-under of about 48.

[Mr. Ypsi]

bp, it was last-place NPU (who hasn't won a CCIW game, well, forever ) who beat Benedictine, not first-place NCC.

[Though you could perhaps get mileage out of NCC beating 0-10 Cornell and 0-10 Olivet.  OOPS - there goes my CCIW fan credentials! )

[emma17]

"They don't panic.....even when we do!"

Right on.  I was one of the guys yelling Pound the Rock, panicked as though the staff needed my suggestions for success.  Steady as she goes, the ship is in good hands.

[bleedpurple]

"They don't panic.....even when we do!"

Right on.  I was one of the guys yelling Pound the Rock, panicked as though the staff needed my suggestions for success.  Steady as she goes, the ship is in good hands.

I agree. And it's hard to argue with 54-3.

[usee]

2 things:  on the OAC board apparently Franklin couldn't beat a middle of the pack team from that conference. Even though 2 yrs ago Franklin beat the OAC # 2 in the playoffs. Secondly, I have seen many a d3 linebackers in my 27 yrs of watching d3 fb including some of the best ever (uww and mt union included) and I'd put #40 Matt Wenger from NCC up there with the very best that have played. He is a treat to watch. 

[BoBo]

Thanks for the heads-up on the video. Here's the touchdown you guys were looking for:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9eaBUPwNYU

Nice!!! I was hoping to get a glimpse of what everyone was talking about.

I'm glad someone was able to do this, as the quality of my recording left a lot to be desired.

[GRIZ_BACKER]

2 things:  on the OAC board apparently Franklin couldn't beat a middle of the pack team from that conference. Even though 2 yrs ago Franklin beat the OAC # 2 in the playoffs. Secondly, I have seen many a d3 linebackers in my 27 yrs of watching d3 fb including some of the best ever (uww and mt union included) and I'd put #40 Matt Wenger from NCC up there with the very best that have played. He is a treat to watch. 

Franklin beat Baldwin Wallace in 2008 and 2009 as well as as ringing up 62 on #9 Otterbein in the playoffs in 2008.  FC beat NCC 45-34 (maybe 36) in 2008 and lost on last second play in 2007 to NCC.  That said I think NCC will beat UWW.  NCC brings a much stouter defense, one that I think can keep Coppage honest.  With a couple big plays extracted, FC did a decent job on the guy themselves. FC held their own on the line with UWW and the game wasnt really broken open until the 4th (same for Trine).  NCC is better on both sides of the line IMO and that will be the difference.  Just my opinion.  Game close either way.

[BoBo]

Madison.com has compliled an interesting Tale-of-the-Tape between TCU, Wisconsin, and UW-Whitewater. UW-Whitewater is actually bigger than TCU!! 

[bleedpurple]

2 things:  on the OAC board apparently Franklin couldn't beat a middle of the pack team from that conference. Even though 2 yrs ago Franklin beat the OAC # 2 in the playoffs. Secondly, I have seen many a d3 linebackers in my 27 yrs of watching d3 fb including some of the best ever (uww and mt union included) and I'd put #40 Matt Wenger from NCC up there with the very best that have played. He is a treat to watch. 

Franklin beat Baldwin Wallace in 2008 and 2009 as well as as ringing up 62 on #9 Otterbein in the playoffs in 2008.  FC beat NCC 45-34 (maybe 36) in 2008 and lost on last second play in 2007 to NCC.  That said I think NCC will beat UWW.  NCC brings a much stouter defense, one that I think can keep Coppage honest.  With a couple big plays extracted, FC did a decent job on the guy themselves. FC held their own on the line with UWW and the game wasnt really broken open until the 4th (same for Trine).  NCC is better on both sides of the line IMO and that will be the difference.  Just my opinion.  Game close either way.

Technically, it is true that the game wasn't "broken open" until the fourth quarter. That is probably the case on nearly half of the games in the UW-W winning streak. However, UW-W had the game well in control 45 seconds into the 3rd quarter.  UW-W held a 14 to 17 point lead the entire quarter after that, save a 3 minute stretch where Franklin cut it to 10. 

Franklin battled hard on the line of scrimmage for sure. In looking at the numbers, I guess it depends on what you mean by "held their own".  They did lose by 31, their QB was sacked 6 times, and they gained -11 yards rushing. Brekke had enough time to go 23-30 for 292 in his first start and Coppage gained 6.7 yards per rush.

[bleedpurple]

Madison.com has compliled an interesting Tale-of-the-Tape between TCU, Wisconsin, and UW-Whitewater. UW-Whitewater is actually bigger than TCU!! 

TCU Sucks! What have they done on the National Stage! We've won 27 in a row! Who have they beaten, Benedictine? Really?   

[HScoach]

IMO, NCC's game against ONU was the first real test against a team I thought had somewhat of a chance (although I still picked NCC to win by 14).  I was impressed with the score, allowing only 3 points to the starters- their defense must be the real deal.

If you look at video on their site, you will see a couple things for sure:
1.  Their linebacker, #40- is every bit as good as the press he gets-a true stud.
2.  They can throw the ball pretty well, and they have athletic guys that can catch, along with a giant TE.  

I'd be surprised if Coach Thorne doesn't come out with more emphasis on the passing game to move the chains.  

Hmmm, I wonder who it was that shut ONU out?  Wonder if their defense is any good? 

[HScoach]

Ok Bleedpurple.. If you were going to set a line for this game, what would it be?
and an over/under as well. 

I would never attempt to improve on HSCoach's line in D3 football. He's got the line at UW-W -14.5. I'll stick with that.  I'll say an over-under of about 48.

Thanks for the kudos on the spread.  I agree with your over & under.  I could easily see the final score falling somewhere between 31-17 to 35-14.   

[footballfan413]

The game gear is washed and ready, I think I'll wear it around the house for a while just to take the anticipation edge off.

413- glad you posted your second comment on football 101.  You're absolutely correct that a good/great passing game is essential for going all the way.  As you pointed out in post #2, football 201 teaches that you can use a strong offensive run game as great defense- Trine can't score when UWW has the ball.  And the run game didn't just get strong in the 4th.  I looked at the play by play stats, there was NO point in the game that the run game wasn't clicking on all cylinders.  I still think the staff wanted to get Brekke more total game experience.  They saw the same effective run game as we did, but they have bigger plans in mind.  

Thanks, 17.  Then I guess they agree with me also when I said that:
"We need to be balanced and if Brekke is under center, he needs to get comfortable doing more than just handing off to Coppage for us to move on."

Hey Griz Backer, don't be bringing up Franklin's healthy play-off resume on here with all those facts and figures of recent wins against some top talent, beating the OAC #2, NCC as recently as 08 and the close loss in 07.  Don't you know?  You guys suck.................and so does Trine.  

Seriously, though, BP kinda blew away your premise, however, about Franklin holding their own against UWW on the LOS, with his own facts and figures. If NCC is able to hold their own and we still end up with the same stat line, I'll take it.  
"They did lose by 31, their QB was sacked 6 times, and they gained -11 yards rushing. Brekke had enough time to go 23-30 for 292 in his first start and Coppage gained 6.7 yards per rush."

BP,
St.Norberts/Benedictine??? How could you mess that up?  One is a cupcake .............and well, one is a cupcake with sprinkles on top!   You need to do what I do. Check your facts first...........and then still get it wrong sometimes.......   
 

[BoBo]

2 things:  on the OAC board apparently Franklin couldn't beat a middle of the pack team from that conference. Even though 2 yrs ago Franklin beat the OAC # 2 in the playoffs. Secondly, I have seen many a d3 linebackers in my 27 yrs of watching d3 fb including some of the best ever (uww and mt union included) and I'd put #40 Matt Wenger from NCC up there with the very best that have played. He is a treat to watch.  

Franklin beat Baldwin Wallace in 2008 and 2009 as well as as ringing up 62 on #9 Otterbein in the playoffs in 2008.  FC beat NCC 45-34 (maybe 36) in 2008 and lost on last second play in 2007 to NCC.  That said I think NCC will beat UWW.  NCC brings a much stouter defense, one that I think can keep Coppage honest.  With a couple big plays extracted, FC did a decent job on the guy themselves. FC held their own on the line with UWW and the game wasnt really broken open until the 4th (same for Trine).  NCC is better on both sides of the line IMO and that will be the difference.  Just my opinion.  Game close either way.

Technically, it is true that the game wasn't "broken open" until the fourth quarter. That is probably the case on nearly half of the games in the UW-W winning streak. However, UW-W had the game well in control 45 seconds into the 3rd quarter.  UW-W held a 14 to 17 point lead the entire quarter after that, save a 3 minute stretch where Franklin cut it to 10.  

Franklin battled hard on the line of scrimmage for sure. In looking at the numbers, I guess it depends on what you mean by "held their own".  They did lose by 31, their QB was sacked 6 times, and they gained -11 yards rushing. Brekke had enough time to go 23-30 for 292 in his first start and Coppage gained 6.7 yards per rush.

Must've "held their own" Ding-A-Ling!!  

courtesy Cuck Berry - WTF?