FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[palum]

02 Warhawk, I enjoy your WIACfooball blog, some time ago you had a story on WIAC Stadiums.  I think the Perk was the 2nd of 8. Have you done any more? If so is there a link to them?

[emma17]

I agree...those fade routes in the endzone left me scratching my head.

I would agree that we got out coached, which doesn't happen often. They had the perfect play call late in the forth quarter. Oshkosh anticipated that we would blitz, and called a screen that went 40 yards down to our 10 (I think). Of course, a few plays later they scored that put the game out of reach.

That screen was a great call by Cerroni.

That was a fantastic call.  Remember when UWW struggled to run against Buffalo State due to all the "inside run blitzes"?  Do you think a screen pass might have done some damage? A tight end quick pass?

That UWO play was made possible because the UWW D had to play more aggressively to dig us out of a hole.  It was a 33 yard punt from Kindler from the UWW 6 yard line that caused part of the problem.  Did someone say Kindler?  This year, as both the fieldgoal kicker and punter, he is hitting 60% of his kicks and missed critical kicks against Buffalo State and maybe UWO.  Last year, he hit 70% of his kicks- as purely the fieldgoal kicker. 
Lest I be accused of attacking Kindler, the point here is coaching decisions that make you scratch your head.  I totally support Kindler as the fieldgoal kicker, but not both.  On the next UWW possession, UWW punted from their own 20- only this time they brought in the 'back up" that we've heard all season has a tremendous leg but needed "football" experience.  Gardener came in and boomed a 54-yarder to the UWO 26.  For what reason is Kindler punting?     

[wesleydad]

I think a time-out might be in order to clarify some things:
-HS Coach's post lacks context- Burke played in games last year, including a play-off game vs. Wabash- Behrendt did not.  MTU knew a heck of a lot more about Burke than UWW knew about Behrendt.
-I 100% disagree with the suggestion that Behrendt is to blame.  Whether Behrendt lit up the practice field is almost entirely irrelevant to this story.  The story here is the performance of the QB position throughout the season.
-Behrendt was good enough as a feshman, in the eyes of the coaching staff, to travel and dress for last year's Stagg Bowl.  As a sophomore, Behrendt was good enough to win the back-up job on a 3-time defending national team.  If he wasn't "ready" to at least merit meaningful snaps given the performance of the QB position, then the future of UWW football is bleak indeed.     
-This team certainly doesn't have the playmakers of team's past, but IMO, despite the injuries, it is better than a 5-2 team.  Whether they are a 6-1 or 7-0 team is debate for another time. 
-The blame for the 5-2 record is in no way Lee Brekke's fault, nor is it Behrendt's.  The reason this team is 5-2 is entirely based on coaching decisions.  Yes, I heard you all before- this staff has won 4 of 5 championships and who am I to question such success.  I'll say it again, this team is 5-2 due to coaching decisions.  If you'd like to challenge this statement, come heavily armed. 
-Just because I hold the coaching staff responsible doesn't mean I disrespect them or think they aren't good.  Great coaches make mistakes all the time.  In a year where UWW was down on talent a bit, there were too many coaching mistakes to this point.   
-Brekke gave this team what he was capable of giving this team.  As such, there is no way he can be held accountable.  In fact I'd rather remove his name and simply refer to it as the QB Position.  Pointing to the Stout game as some sort of proof that the QB position was ready for Oshkosh would be like Mt Union thinking Otterbein prepared them for the playoffs (I know they don't think that).  Although I've never asked a player what they think of Brekke or Behrendt, I have asked what they think about Stout.  If you want to kid yourself that the QB performance against Stout proved anything, go right ahead.
-This isn't about losing one or two games.  Losing comes with the territory in football or life.  This is about a bunch of kids that were recruited by UWW partly on the basis of National success and the hope for more of it, not being given the best chance to succeed.   
-I don't see the relevance as to whether this is D1 or D3, scholarship or not.  I don't care what the level, players shouldn't be personally attacked.  Conversely though, the level of college football has no bearing as to whether fans should or should not talk about the level of play at any given position.  This isn't park district. 
-As for Behrendt making mistakes- of course he did- do you think he may have made fewer if he had more playing time leading up to this game? 
-The last four passes into the end zone (i don't remember if it was 3 or 4) were fade routes.  In my most sarcastic tone let me say, apparently the news of the discovery of Slant routes and Crossing routes hasn't made it up to UWW yet.

-Lastly, in my world, it is perfectly ok to be critical of the performance of a team or its coaches, and still be a supportive fan.  Sure, my last sarcastic comment might not go over well with the offensive coordinator, but it's true.....

   

   

emma, well said, plus 1 to you.  i have been known to be critical about the wesley coaches in the past and get the same negative reaction as to how can you question them since they have won so much.  we watch the games and question everything we see, that is why we are fans.  some of it makes sense to us and some of it doesnt.  the fact that we can spend time chatting with each other about it makes it fun.  losing is never easy especially when you are used to winnng as much as some of us are.  as was said somewhere, i feel very lucky to have been able to follow such a strong program in wesley and with that success to have met some of you as you had your success.  thanks goodness for d3 football, if not for it i would be really bored from sept to dec on saturdays. 

[WarhawkDad]

Congrats to the Titans on their win.  They were the better executing team today for sure.  Please make a deep run in the playoffs! 

If someone would have told me when my son decided on UWW that he would go to and play in 3 consecutive Stagg Bowls and come away with rings, I would have said they must be exaggerating, but that is what happened.  I could not be more proud of him and proud to be a.......

WarhawkDad

Other than a slight admonishment to D.O.C., I have not posted since the post above which was right after the game.    I am a parent of an existing player and I can tell you that they, like any performer in any organization or member of any team, athletic or other, can tell if portions of the team are not executiing up to standard.  They expect the coaches to realize the same things and through practice make adjustments that benefit the team.

The coaches obviously saw some issues at a variety of positions.  The starting splitting reps at practice at the QB position 2 games ago.  The insertion of Patterson into the 2 deep after the injury to Givens and the use of different receivers, both due to injury and execution illustrates that the coaches have not been happy with offensive execution.   Blame is not a game I typically play.  Responsibility for not performing at the level they expect is the responsiblity of all the players and all the coaches.  As fans, we come on these boards to have fun, to hopefully in good taste, give each other grief when warranted, celebrate DIII football, celebrate successes and moan and groan when things do not go well.

Well things are not going well as those of us from UWW would prefer and I think everyone is doing their best to deal with not attaining the level of expectation that exists for this program. 

Going forward I expect to see more playing time for younger players.  This is a good thing.   When my son first entered the program when Jeff Donovan was the QB, he played as a freshman more than a quarter in every single regular season game, including starting against Stout when an injury sidelined the starter.  His time dwindled the further UWW moved in the playoffs.   Matt Blanchard was the back-up QB, he got the same amount of time until he had a slight injury.   Same thing my son's Sophmore year, with even more playing time including starting a playoff game against Trine when Weber was down with the flu. He was ready to start fulltime his Junior year given the playing time received prior to that.   That needs to happen for the players stepping in next year.

Someone commented on the O-line all being Seniors.   With the injury to Mike Seefeld, Lucas Skibba #75 has been playing the last two games.  He is a sophmore and is doing a fine job.   There are others in the wings with talent.

Next year will be an interesting year in the WIAC.  UWW's younger players will step up.  Oshkosh will loose Wara and Platteville looks to be in good shape.    02....your thoughts on this?  Or maybe this is a future article in your blog?

Always proud to be a ......

WarhawkDad

[bleedpurple]

I think a time-out might be in order to clarify some things:
-HS Coach's post lacks context- Burke played in games last year, including a play-off game vs. Wabash- Behrendt did not.  MTU knew a heck of a lot more about Burke than UWW knew about Behrendt.
-I 100% disagree with the suggestion that Behrendt is to blame.  Whether Behrendt lit up the practice field is almost entirely irrelevant to this story.  The story here is the performance of the QB position throughout the season.
-Behrendt was good enough as a feshman, in the eyes of the coaching staff, to travel and dress for last year's Stagg Bowl.  As a sophomore, Behrendt was good enough to win the back-up job on a 3-time defending national team.  If he wasn't "ready" to at least merit meaningful snaps given the performance of the QB position, then the future of UWW football is bleak indeed.     
-This team certainly doesn't have the playmakers of team's past, but IMO, despite the injuries, it is better than a 5-2 team.  Whether they are a 6-1 or 7-0 team is debate for another time. 
-The blame for the 5-2 record is in no way Lee Brekke's fault, nor is it Behrendt's.  The reason this team is 5-2 is entirely based on coaching decisions.  Yes, I heard you all before- this staff has won 4 of 5 championships and who am I to question such success.  I'll say it again, this team is 5-2 due to coaching decisions.  If you'd like to challenge this statement, come heavily armed. 
-Just because I hold the coaching staff responsible doesn't mean I disrespect them or think they aren't good.  Great coaches make mistakes all the time.  In a year where UWW was down on talent a bit, there were too many coaching mistakes to this point.   
-Brekke gave this team what he was capable of giving this team.  As such, there is no way he can be held accountable.  In fact I'd rather remove his name and simply refer to it as the QB Position.  Pointing to the Stout game as some sort of proof that the QB position was ready for Oshkosh would be like Mt Union thinking Otterbein prepared them for the playoffs (I know they don't think that).  Although I've never asked a player what they think of Brekke or Behrendt, I have asked what they think about Stout.  If you want to kid yourself that the QB performance against Stout proved anything, go right ahead.
-This isn't about losing one or two games.  Losing comes with the territory in football or life.  This is about a bunch of kids that were recruited by UWW partly on the basis of National success and the hope for more of it, not being given the best chance to succeed.   
-I don't see the relevance as to whether this is D1 or D3, scholarship or not.  I don't care what the level, players shouldn't be personally attacked.  Conversely though, the level of college football has no bearing as to whether fans should or should not talk about the level of play at any given position.  This isn't park district. 
-As for Behrendt making mistakes- of course he did- do you think he may have made fewer if he had more playing time leading up to this game? 
-The last four passes into the end zone (i don't remember if it was 3 or 4) were fade routes.  In my most sarcastic tone let me say, apparently the news of the discovery of Slant routes and Crossing routes hasn't made it up to UWW yet.

-Lastly, in my world, it is perfectly ok to be critical of the performance of a team or its coaches, and still be a supportive fan.  Sure, my last sarcastic comment might not go over well with the offensive coordinator, but it's true.....

Seriously, of course nothing is Behrendt's fault. If you didn't see the tongue in cheek nature of that post, I can't help ya'! Simply a way of making a point! 

For the record, this didn't read like a time out! 

Go Hawks!

[02 Warhawk]

02 Warhawk, I enjoy your WIACfooball blog, some time ago you had a story on WIAC Stadiums.  I think the Perk was the 2nd of 8. Have you done any more? If so is there a link to them?

So far I've covered two stadiums (Oshkosh and whitewater). I plan on doing one a year.

Here's Oshkosh's I did last year. http://www.wiacfootball.blogspot.com/2011/11/wiac-stadiums-1-of-8-oshkosh.html

[bleedpurple]

Wouldn't UWW have a pretty good shot at a Pool C bid if they won out or am I missing something? I guess it would depend on other Pool C teams around the nation that only have 1 loss at the end. Would they take an unranked 1 loss team over a UWW 2 loss ranked team?

It's not that.  We don't do Pool C. We have 100 kids on our team that were sold partially on the expectation that we would be Pool A qualifiers.  Don't be trying to cut through the doom and gloom with possibilities of what could happen the rest of the season!

[bleedpurple]

02 Warhawk, I enjoy your WIACfooball blog, some time ago you had a story on WIAC Stadiums.  I think the Perk was the 2nd of 8. Have you done any more? If so is there a link to them?

So far I've covered two stadiums (Oshkosh and whitewater). I plan on doing one a year.

Here's Oshkosh's I did last year. http://www.wiacfootball.blogspot.com/2011/11/wiac-stadiums-1-of-8-oshkosh.html

My suggestion is you do UW-P next and steal their scoreboard video technology. I heard a rumor you can actually see the replays! 

[emma17]

I think a time-out might be in order to clarify some things:
-HS Coach's post lacks context- Burke played in games last year, including a play-off game vs. Wabash- Behrendt did not.  MTU knew a heck of a lot more about Burke than UWW knew about Behrendt.
-I 100% disagree with the suggestion that Behrendt is to blame.  Whether Behrendt lit up the practice field is almost entirely irrelevant to this story.  The story here is the performance of the QB position throughout the season.
-Behrendt was good enough as a feshman, in the eyes of the coaching staff, to travel and dress for last year's Stagg Bowl.  As a sophomore, Behrendt was good enough to win the back-up job on a 3-time defending national team.  If he wasn't "ready" to at least merit meaningful snaps given the performance of the QB position, then the future of UWW football is bleak indeed.     
-This team certainly doesn't have the playmakers of team's past, but IMO, despite the injuries, it is better than a 5-2 team.  Whether they are a 6-1 or 7-0 team is debate for another time. 
-The blame for the 5-2 record is in no way Lee Brekke's fault, nor is it Behrendt's.  The reason this team is 5-2 is entirely based on coaching decisions.  Yes, I heard you all before- this staff has won 4 of 5 championships and who am I to question such success.  I'll say it again, this team is 5-2 due to coaching decisions.  If you'd like to challenge this statement, come heavily armed. 
-Just because I hold the coaching staff responsible doesn't mean I disrespect them or think they aren't good.  Great coaches make mistakes all the time.  In a year where UWW was down on talent a bit, there were too many coaching mistakes to this point.   
-Brekke gave this team what he was capable of giving this team.  As such, there is no way he can be held accountable.  In fact I'd rather remove his name and simply refer to it as the QB Position.  Pointing to the Stout game as some sort of proof that the QB position was ready for Oshkosh would be like Mt Union thinking Otterbein prepared them for the playoffs (I know they don't think that).  Although I've never asked a player what they think of Brekke or Behrendt, I have asked what they think about Stout.  If you want to kid yourself that the QB performance against Stout proved anything, go right ahead.
-This isn't about losing one or two games.  Losing comes with the territory in football or life.  This is about a bunch of kids that were recruited by UWW partly on the basis of National success and the hope for more of it, not being given the best chance to succeed.   
-I don't see the relevance as to whether this is D1 or D3, scholarship or not.  I don't care what the level, players shouldn't be personally attacked.  Conversely though, the level of college football has no bearing as to whether fans should or should not talk about the level of play at any given position.  This isn't park district. 
-As for Behrendt making mistakes- of course he did- do you think he may have made fewer if he had more playing time leading up to this game? 
-The last four passes into the end zone (i don't remember if it was 3 or 4) were fade routes.  In my most sarcastic tone let me say, apparently the news of the discovery of Slant routes and Crossing routes hasn't made it up to UWW yet.

-Lastly, in my world, it is perfectly ok to be critical of the performance of a team or its coaches, and still be a supportive fan.  Sure, my last sarcastic comment might not go over well with the offensive coordinator, but it's true.....

Seriously, of course nothing is Behrendt's fault. If you didn't see the tongue in cheek nature of that post, I can't help ya'! Simply a way of making a point! 

For the record, this didn't read like a time out! 

Go Hawks!

Sorry for missing the obvious, as you can tell I wasn't interpreting from a light-hearted mood.  I will admit the thought crossed my mind that you weren't serious, but as you can tell, I was pretty set on getting my message out. 
Ok, not a time-out, it was a halftime speech. 

[WarhawkDad]

Wouldn't UWW have a pretty good shot at a Pool C bid if they won out or am I missing something? I guess it would depend on other Pool C teams around the nation that only have 1 loss at the end. Would they take an unranked 1 loss team over a UWW 2 loss ranked team?

It's not that.  We don't do Pool C. We have 100 kids on our team that were sold partially on the expectation that we would be Pool A qualifiers.  Don't be trying to cut through the doom and gloom with possibilities of what could happen the rest of the season!

There we go.....some humor....time to start smiling again 

[bleedpurple]

Wouldn't UWW have a pretty good shot at a Pool C bid if they won out or am I missing something? I guess it would depend on other Pool C teams around the nation that only have 1 loss at the end. Would they take an unranked 1 loss team over a UWW 2 loss ranked team?

It's not that.  We don't do Pool C. We have 100 kids on our team that were sold partially on the expectation that we would be Pool A qualifiers.  Don't be trying to cut through the doom and gloom with possibilities of what could happen the rest of the season!

There we go.....some humor....time to start smiling again 

It's Monday night, time to begin to enjoy the week ahead and look forward to Saturday! 

[CruFrenzy]

So i have a question for any Whitewater or Oshkosh fan, or anyone who has seen these two teams play this year. I'm just wondering how this Oshkosh team compares to the Whitewater teams of the past few years that have been so dominant. I know Oshkosh is a good team, but are they the type of team that will keep the WIAC in the stagg bowl? Are they good, or elite?

[bleedpurple]

They are good.

[thrunt01]

So i have a question for any Whitewater or Oshkosh fan, or anyone who has seen these two teams play this year. I'm just wondering how this Oshkosh team compares to the Whitewater teams of the past few years that have been so dominant. I know Oshkosh is a good team, but are they the type of team that will keep the WIAC in the stagg bowl? Are they good, or elite?

Not sure about past years but I do believe this UWO team is top 4 in the country this year.

[badgerwarhawk]

I'll go as far as to say that this year's team is very good.  You're not an elite team winning a conference championship once every 30 years or so.  That's not to say that they aren't on the verge of an extended run and perhaps is a few years we will think of them as elite.  But I can't see them in that light at this time.