FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[desertcat1]

so see   02, 

as the lady on tv says  " purple OR PURPLE"

[criswyly]

Gotta hand it to the Warhawks.  You all had a great run....It will be interesting to see how well you all bounce back.  Losing big games takes much more character than winning the big ones, IMO.

[D O.C.]

In other words, "Boy, Mount Union is happy they don't have to play you any more!"

Class? Naw, trash. Class is when the WW stands yell "You guys suck" at the opponent and this board covers it by explaining they must have been yelling "YU DUB DUB."

[bleedpurple]

i can speak to the parent of a senior being replaced.  my son was the qb as a junior and started the season as the qb.  in the 3rd quarter of the first game after leading 16 - 0 at the half the first 2 possessions ended with a fumble by a receiver and a fumble by a running back.  for some reason my son gets removed and never starts again.  the explanation i got from the coach was that it had to do with how he was practicing, not sure what that had to do with the situation at the time but it sounded like an excuse.  as his parent i was angry as would be expected.  he wanted to quit, but i told him that if he quit he would regret it for the rest of his life and that they would have won.  he stuck out the season, played mop when asked and did whatever he needed to deal with it.  what didnt make sense was that they didnt make him a receiver again since he led the conference in receptions as a soph and caught the only TD against you guys in the playoffs.  in the end it is a game and changes get made and all you can do as a parent is to be there for support.  anger and disappointment are normal, but they cant get in the way of keeping it all in perspective.

you guys seem down right now, but the playoffs are not out of the question just yet.  looks like a long shot, but stranger things have happened before.  have met many of you at the stagg and enjoy the conversation with you.  if i dont see you this year i am sure i will see you down the road, keep your chins up, much to be proud of.

Thanks for the classy post wesleydad and for sharing about your son.  I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you to bite your tongue and you gave him great advice.  Both your advice and his following it showed great character and I have no doubt sticking it out has and will continue to serve him well. Good luck to the Wolverines the rest of the way.

[bleedpurple]

In other words, "Boy, Mount Union is happy they don't have to play you any more!"

Class? Naw, trash. Class is when the WW stands yell "You guys suck" at the opponent and this board covers it by explaining they must have been yelling "YU DUB DUB."

I read the WIAC boards regularly, post often, and check in with other regions and conferences pretty often too.  I am totally serious when I say this: Of all the posters in nation, you are the only one that I rarely have any idea what you are talking about.

[oshfb]

Mighty Oshkosh comes to town on Saturday, and La Crosse has played them well in 2 games under coach Dettwiler. Might the Titans be liable to a letdown after an emotional win ?

I would suspect the win will do nothing but continue to build confidence and ensure continued focus each and every week here out. I'm sure the Titans remember it wasn't too long ago that they were trying to stop a 30+ yr losing streak to the Eagles. They'll be focused, hungry and energized. Should be a great game!

[emma17]

413 I agree entirely with you that yesterday's loss was not the fault of any single player and I'm glad you pointed that out.  As the wound is still fresh I'm sure there will be more discussion as to what went wrong.

I do want to add this though-(as a separate post and not in response to yours).  As much as it is appropriate to recongize how hard it must be for Lee Brekke and for Lee's family, I think we are remiss if we don't also recognize that there are 99 other kids on the team, all of whom came to UWW to win playoff games.  I imagine all of them expect that the best players will play.  And all of them have seen many subsititions this year at basically every position, partly because the coaching staff wants to find out who can play.  The one position that wasn't changed was QB- until it was too late.  All of the players had their hopes crushed yesterday, not just Lee Brekke.  This isn't a knock on Lee, he did the best he could- but his pain in losing a starting job should pale in comparison to the pain the players feel if they weren't put in the best position to succeed.   

Maybe...but losing ur job while being team captain. That can't be easy. How often do u see that in any sport?

You don't see it very often at all, but I imagined it's happened. No matter what the title though, what's best for the team should rule the day.  I still think the pain of 99 other players trumps those of one. 

[emma17]

I see the new rankings have UWW at #13.  I'm curious, if UWW wins out and maintains the ranking, how many teams ranked that high in D3 haven't made the playoffs?

[HScoach]

Unfortunate for the player in question, but a good coach must make those tough decisions.  Regardless of whether it hurts someone's feelings or not.  And the QB spot is the hardest of all to do it with.  All the other positions are easy to rotate players thru to get a comparison of their productivity in live game action and to let it play out over a course of weeks.  And it's easy to "start" a senior at any other position for a few series and then switch to the real playmaker later in the game and/or during crunch time, but it's almost impossible to do that with a QB.  It's often and all or nothing proposition at QB.

Benching a senior QB is tough to do, but LK did the same thing this preseason.  Benched his senior 2 year starting QB Neal Seaman that has yet to lose a game (27-0) in favor of a more talented sophomore that played lights out in camp.   Seaman has had both of the previous seasons end early due to knee injuries, and wasn't the most dynamic player, but still he was a veteran senior starter that worked hard and simply won.  Much like it sounds with Brekke.   Not the easiest decision to make, but Mount is a much better team now with sophomore Burke at QB than we'd have been with another year of Neal Seaman.  And it sounds like Whitewater will be that going forward too as they have found their young playmaking QB too. 

[HScoach]

I see the new rankings have UWW at #13.  I'm curious, if UWW wins out and maintains the ranking, how many teams ranked that high in D3 haven't made the playoffs?

IMHO, I personally don't put much stock into the D3 poll because it's more about name recognition, history and expectations than it is about true performance.

I'm very curious to see what the NCAA does with the selections this year.  Do they go straight by the numbers or do they go by their gut?   Unless there are very few 9-1 teams nationally, the numbers are likely to say that UWW stays home.  But it's going to be awfully tough to leave the 3 time defending champs at home over a team from a lesser conference with magically better strength of schedule numbers.   

It all comes down to how the Buff St loss is handled.  Technically it's not supposed to count for much as it's out-of-region, but it's a bad loss.  Pool C teams shouldn't lose at home to .500 teams from average conferences.  If the non-conference loss would have been to someone with the resume of a MTU, MHB or Linfield then I'd feel differently.   But to me a loss to Buff State is about the same losing to Otterbein.  Just shouldn't happen.

[ncc58]

You don't see it very often at all, but I imagined it's happened. No matter what the title though, what's best for the team should rule the day.  I still think the pain of 99 other players trumps those of one.

I think your'e being overly harsh on Brekke. He is just one player. There are 99 other players, and a coaching staff.

What happened to Pound the Rock? 4 yards rushing in the first half. For the game - 55 yards on 30 attempts. 1.8 yards per carry. Brekke wasn't blocking or carrying the ball. If UWW can't run the ball, the defense is free to be aggressive. Behrendt has skills that are more suited to a passing style if you can't run the ball but he made his share of mistakes. There was the lateral off of Ward that cost a scoring chance and four incomplete passes from a 1st and goal. And Kindler struggled in the second half - missed extra point, badly missed FG, and a shanked punt.

It could be an interesting year where UWW has no All-confernence players at the skilled offensive positions.

[retagent]

It's interesting to see the reactions here. UWW is now to that point where having a 2 loss season (I'm projecting here) is viewed as failure. There are about 180 teams that wish they could have a two loss season. I've said that they are still probably better than all but about 15 - 20 teams (could be even fewer) but, if form holds true, will probably not make the playoffs. I'm not the first to say it, but staying on top may be more difficult than getting there. We best not write the obituary yet though. The performance of UWW over the past 7 years has put them into category where they sre now an elite program. They have a "Mystique" and it will take a while for that to rub off, and who knows how long they stay at that level. When you're in that run, it seems as though it will never end, but it always does sooner or later. It will be interesting to watch over the next 10 years to see what happens.

[thrunt01]

Andy Sires completed 23 of 33 passes as UWL defeated UWS on a picture perfect fall day in La Crosse. Turnovers gave Stout an early 10-0 lead, but the Eagles unleashed a more balanced attack than they had shown to date. Having averaged just over 12 pts a game, the 10 pt deficit seemed a tall hill to climb, but the offense responded with 5 td's and more than 400 yds of offense. Kudos to the team and coaches for weathering the storm and responding. Senior wideout Jake Welch played especially well, and took an endzone pass out of a defender's hands to give the Eagles their first lead at the half. In the second half, the Eagles' blitzing defense largely took the Blue Devils' offense out of the game. Mighty Oshkosh comes to town on Saturday, and La Crosse has played them well in 2 games under coach Dettwiler. Might the Titans be liable to a letdown after an emotional win ?

LaCrosse is either the best or worst team for UWO to play next. Either the years of futility against the Eagles keeps UWO grounded and motivated or the LaCurse strikes again.

[kestrel]

"Staying on top may be more difficult than getting there" is one of those urban myths that simply does not stand up to any kind of close scrutiny.  How else does one account for the long-term supremacy of Linfield, St. John's, Mount Union, or Whitewater?  What really deserves discussion is how one-team dominance destroys competitive balance within a conference over time.  With the exception of Oshkosh and Platteville (saved by the Tri State initiative), every WIAC football program today is clearly inferior to the team it put on the field in, say, 2005. The fall of La Crosse and Stevens Point has been particularly dramatic. The ineptitude of the River Falls offense hasn't been seen in the WIAC/WSUC since Superior dropped football.  Meanwhile in the Ohio Conference, Mt. Union essentially plays an exhibition schedule until the playoffs begin. Down there, a few doubters have whispered, "Staying on top FOREVER may be more difficult than getting there."

[02 Warhawk]

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