FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

MEDIA ADVISORY - My media credential has been confirmed for Monday's Chicago Bears training camp. Will be interviewing Matt Blanchard. I'll have a full report for you Monday evening.

This is good news- I look forward to your report Voice. It's hard to find information as to how he is doing.
Hopefully he will receive significant playing time in this Friday's preseason game vs Carolina.  We should be able to see Cecil Shorts in the game as well.

My bad- Cecil is w Jacksonville- not Carolina.

I don't know what it is, but I often get Carolina and Jacksonville (the teams, not the cities) confused. It must be something in the cheeses.

Didn't they come into the league together?

[wartknight]

UW-Platteville favored to win 2013 WIAC football title in preseason poll released today. Five teams earn 1st place votes.

2013 Preseason Predictions--Voted on by WIAC Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors
                                        2012 Record
1.  UW-Platteville (6)     8-2 overall, 5-2 WIAC
2.  UW-Whitewater (4)     7-3, 5-2
3.  UW-Oshkosh (4)      13-1, 7-0
4.  UW-La Crosse (1)     4-6, 3-4
5.  UW-Eau Claire (1)     4-6, 4-3
6.  UW-Stevens Point     2-8, 1-6
7.  UW-Stout                3-7, 1-6
8.  UW-River Falls     2-8, 2-5
(  )--First-place votes
   
http://www.wiacsports.com/news/2013/8/6/FB_0806131133.aspx

Was this edited after the fact? Are there a lot of new SID that feel they need to vote their team @ # 1/2.

[HSCTiger74]

MEDIA ADVISORY - My media credential has been confirmed for Monday's Chicago Bears training camp. Will be interviewing Matt Blanchard. I'll have a full report for you Monday evening.

This is good news- I look forward to your report Voice. It's hard to find information as to how he is doing.
Hopefully he will receive significant playing time in this Friday's preseason game vs Carolina.  We should be able to see Cecil Shorts in the game as well.

My bad- Cecil is w Jacksonville- not Carolina.

I don't know what it is, but I often get Carolina and Jacksonville (the teams, not the cities) confused. It must be something in the cheeses.

Didn't they come into the league together?

Yes, they both entered the league in 1995, and even have somewhat similar logos (if you allow for the different color cats).

[emma17]

According to Bear's coach Mark Trestman, Cutler will see very limited action tomorrow - leaving the majority of the game to be quarterbacked by the two backups. This should be Matt's most significant playing time as a pro. I cannot imagine how he must feel today in prepping for tomorrow.

In the preseason you often hear people temper their accolades for a backup QB that does well in preseason on account of "he was only playing against the other team's backups". 
But the other side of that coin is the backup QB is playing With backups as well. It seems to me if you really want to find out if your backup QB's can play, the best way is to give them a shot to lead the first unit O against the first D.  Brandon Marshall makes QB's look good.
One or two series. Yes you risk injury to starters in preseason, but the reward is greater certainty.

Anyway, best of luck, skill and blessings to Matt tomorrow night. I hope he has a fantastic performance.

[AndOne]

Watched the Bears game tonight and thought Blanchard was pretty darn good. He played the entire 2nd half and finished a very nice 15 of 18 for 194 yards. He did throw an interception that was returned about 60 yards for a TD. Unfortunately, it seemed to be just a plain poor throw rather than the receiver running the wrong route. Possibly a misread of the coverage. Ran for 2 1st downs on the Bears final possession. Overall, I'd give him a grade of B for the night. Besides the INT, his other major transgression was a "bad" completion on the final drive where he completed a pass to the left side where the receiver was right on the line of scrimmage with a defender  only a step away. as soon as the receiver caught the ball, he was dropped before he could take even one step. Wasted a lot of time when only about a minute remained in the game with the Bears having only 1 timeout left. The proper play was to purposely overthrow the receiver, out of bounds, thus stopping the clock.

As everyone knows O line is not the Bears strength, and when Blanchard was in. so were the subs, most of which  most fans have probably not heard of. Due to this he was neither afforded good protection much of the time, nor was he able to target top flight receivers. Given these limitations, Blanchard's 15 of 18 performance was that much more impressive. However, it must also be remembered Carolina also had its subs in at the time. 

I sense that based on pure ability alone, Blanchard might actually be the Bears #2, but that he will occupy the #3 QB slot due mainly to his lack of experience. 

[bleedpurple]

Watched the Bears game tonight and thought Blanchard was pretty darn good. He played the entire 2nd half and finished a very nice 15 of 18 for 194 yards. He did throw an interception that was returned about 60 yards for a TD. Unfortunately, it seemed to be just a plain poor throw rather than the receiver running the wrong route. Possibly a misread of the coverage. Ran for 2 1st downs on the Bears final possession. Overall, I'd give him a grade of B for the night. Besides the INT, his other major transgression was a "bad" completion on the final drive where he completed a pass to the left side where the receiver was right on the line of scrimmage with a defender  only a step away. as soon as the receiver caught the ball, he was dropped before he could take even one step. Wasted a lot of time when only about a minute remained in the game with the Bears having only 1 timeout left. The proper play was to purposely overthrow the receiver, out of bounds, thus stopping the clock.

As everyone knows O line is not the Bears strength, and when Blanchard was in. so were the subs, most of which  most fans have probably not heard of. Due to this he was neither afforded good protection much of the time, nor was he able to target top flight receivers. Given these limitations, Blanchard's 15 of 18 performance was that much more impressive. However, it must also be remembered Carolina also had its subs in at the time. 

I sense that based on pure ability alone, Blanchard might actually be the Bears #2, but that he will occupy the #3 QB slot due mainly to his lack of experience.

Sounds like Matt played pretty well all in all. I've seen quite a few inexperienced QB's melt down under the pressure of preseason games.  Regardless of who Carolina had on the field, if they created pressure, it showed the coaches how Matt reacts to adverse circumstances.  While he obviously needs experience, hopefully he showed the coaches enough to hold their attention. As far as the  interception, well...it's not like Chicago isn't used to those...

[HSCTiger74]

Watched the Bears game tonight and thought Blanchard was pretty darn good. He played the entire 2nd half and finished a very nice 15 of 18 for 194 yards. He did throw an interception that was returned about 60 yards for a TD. Unfortunately, it seemed to be just a plain poor throw rather than the receiver running the wrong route. Possibly a misread of the coverage. Ran for 2 1st downs on the Bears final possession. Overall, I'd give him a grade of B for the night. Besides the INT, his other major transgression was a "bad" completion on the final drive where he completed a pass to the left side where the receiver was right on the line of scrimmage with a defender  only a step away. as soon as the receiver caught the ball, he was dropped before he could take even one step. Wasted a lot of time when only about a minute remained in the game with the Bears having only 1 timeout left. The proper play was to purposely overthrow the receiver, out of bounds, thus stopping the clock.

As everyone knows O line is not the Bears strength, and when Blanchard was in. so were the subs, most of which  most fans have probably not heard of. Due to this he was neither afforded good protection much of the time, nor was he able to target top flight receivers. Given these limitations, Blanchard's 15 of 18 performance was that much more impressive. However, it must also be remembered Carolina also had its subs in at the time. 

I sense that based on pure ability alone, Blanchard might actually be the Bears #2, but that he will occupy the #3 QB slot due mainly to his lack of experience.

Sounds like Matt played pretty well all in all. I've seen quite a few inexperienced QB's melt down under the pressure of preseason games.  Regardless of who Carolina had on the field, if they created pressure, it showed the coaches how Matt reacts to adverse circumstances.  While he obviously needs experience, hopefully he showed the coaches enough to hold their attention. As far as the  interception, well...it's not like Chicago isn't used to those...

I was at the game and made a particular point of watching how Blanchard did, and was very impressed with his performance. He stood up well under the pressure the Panthers brought, saving a couple of the plays with his feet, and when he did go down it was only because he really had nowhere to escape. (The fumble he had was a result of one of those plays; somebody threw a look-out block and he had no chance.) Admittedly the pick six was all on him, but since Cutler, Newton, and Derek Anderson all had interceptions too I doubt that it will impact him too much. All in all he did a good job as far as I could tell, and IMO the Bears should definitely keep him around.

[D O.C.]

Lift the rug up and tell us what happened at the July Coppage trial.
I suspect emma17 tried to post a link but I could not get it to work.

[AndOne]

Lift the rug up and tell us what happened at the July Coppage trial.
I suspect emma17 tried to post a link but I could not get it to work.

On July 10th in Elkhorn, WI., Coppage pleaded guilty to three counts of felony delivery of marijuana.
Charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia were dismissed.
I do not believe sentencing has yet taken place.

http://gazettextra.com/article/20130710/ARTICLES/130719986/1073
http://www.withdrawal.net/resources/withdrawal/elkhorn-wi/  (scroll halfway down-on right)

[D O.C.]

Thank-you.
No big deal at all if Sanjay Gupta ran the country.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/cnn-s-sanjay-gupta-changes-his-view-on-medical-marijuana-1.5867664

[emma17]

Watched the Bears game tonight and thought Blanchard was pretty darn good. He played the entire 2nd half and finished a very nice 15 of 18 for 194 yards. He did throw an interception that was returned about 60 yards for a TD. Unfortunately, it seemed to be just a plain poor throw rather than the receiver running the wrong route. Possibly a misread of the coverage. Ran for 2 1st downs on the Bears final possession. Overall, I'd give him a grade of B for the night. Besides the INT, his other major transgression was a "bad" completion on the final drive where he completed a pass to the left side where the receiver was right on the line of scrimmage with a defender  only a step away. as soon as the receiver caught the ball, he was dropped before he could take even one step. Wasted a lot of time when only about a minute remained in the game with the Bears having only 1 timeout left. The proper play was to purposely overthrow the receiver, out of bounds, thus stopping the clock.

As everyone knows O line is not the Bears strength, and when Blanchard was in. so were the subs, most of which  most fans have probably not heard of. Due to this he was neither afforded good protection much of the time, nor was he able to target top flight receivers. Given these limitations, Blanchard's 15 of 18 performance was that much more impressive. However, it must also be remembered Carolina also had its subs in at the time. 

I sense that based on pure ability alone, Blanchard might actually be the Bears #2, but that he will occupy the #3 QB slot due mainly to his lack of experience.

Sounds like Matt played pretty well all in all. I've seen quite a few inexperienced QB's melt down under the pressure of preseason games.  Regardless of who Carolina had on the field, if they created pressure, it showed the coaches how Matt reacts to adverse circumstances.  While he obviously needs experience, hopefully he showed the coaches enough to hold their attention. As far as the  interception, well...it's not like Chicago isn't used to those...

I was at the game and made a particular point of watching how Blanchard did, and was very impressed with his performance. He stood up well under the pressure the Panthers brought, saving a couple of the plays with his feet, and when he did go down it was only because he really had nowhere to escape. (The fumble he had was a result of one of those plays; somebody threw a look-out block and he had no chance.) Admittedly the pick six was all on him, but since Cutler, Newton, and Derek Anderson all had interceptions too I doubt that it will impact him too much. All in all he did a good job as far as I could tell, and IMO the Bears should definitely keep him around.

Yes I'm biased and a big Matt Blanchard fan.  The bolded statement, and one made in a previous post, are inaccurate.  I'm in no way saying Matt is without fault on the interception.  There were all kinds of things wrong with the play.  Two receivers in same area.  The tight end not only stopped his out route, he pulled his arms back making no attempt for the ball. 
The last play of the game was unfortunate for Matt, as it was 4th down he really needed to get rid of it.  Of course the tv screen doesn't show the downfield routes so I've no idea what was going on with the receivers.  FYI, Matt ran the ball on 4th and 8 or 9 with 14 seconds left.  He obviously didn't think he could get the ball to a receiver, unfortunately he didn't pick up the first down- game over. 
If you want to see the interception, it's about 1:30 seconds into the below video.  Watch the tight end too. 
http://www.nfl.com/videos/chicago-bears

[footballfan413]

Watched the Bears game tonight and thought Blanchard was pretty darn good. He played the entire 2nd half and finished a very nice 15 of 18 for 194 yards. He did throw an interception that was returned about 60 yards for a TD. Unfortunately, it seemed to be just a plain poor throw rather than the receiver running the wrong route. Possibly a misread of the coverage. Ran for 2 1st downs on the Bears final possession. Overall, I'd give him a grade of B for the night. Besides the INT, his other major transgression was a "bad" completion on the final drive where he completed a pass to the left side where the receiver was right on the line of scrimmage with a defender  only a step away. as soon as the receiver caught the ball, he was dropped before he could take even one step. Wasted a lot of time when only about a minute remained in the game with the Bears having only 1 timeout left. The proper play was to purposely overthrow the receiver, out of bounds, thus stopping the clock.

As everyone knows O line is not the Bears strength, and when Blanchard was in. so were the subs, most of which  most fans have probably not heard of. Due to this he was neither afforded good protection much of the time, nor was he able to target top flight receivers. Given these limitations, Blanchard's 15 of 18 performance was that much more impressive. However, it must also be remembered Carolina also had its subs in at the time. 

I sense that based on pure ability alone, Blanchard might actually be the Bears #2, but that he will occupy the #3 QB slot due mainly to his lack of experience.

Sounds like Matt played pretty well all in all. I've seen quite a few inexperienced QB's melt down under the pressure of preseason games.  Regardless of who Carolina had on the field, if they created pressure, it showed the coaches how Matt reacts to adverse circumstances.  While he obviously needs experience, hopefully he showed the coaches enough to hold their attention. As far as the  interception, well...it's not like Chicago isn't used to those...

I was at the game and made a particular point of watching how Blanchard did, and was very impressed with his performance. He stood up well under the pressure the Panthers brought, saving a couple of the plays with his feet, and when he did go down it was only because he really had nowhere to escape. (The fumble he had was a result of one of those plays; somebody threw a look-out block and he had no chance.) Admittedly the pick six was all on him, but since Cutler, Newton, and Derek Anderson all had interceptions too I doubt that it will impact him too much. All in all he did a good job as far as I could tell, and IMO the Bears should definitely keep him around.

Yes I'm biased and a big Matt Blanchard fan.  The bolded statement, and one made in a previous post, are inaccurate.  I'm in no way saying Matt is without fault on the interception.  There were all kinds of things wrong with the play.  Two receivers in same area.  The tight end not only stopped his out route, he pulled his arms back making no attempt for the ball. 
The last play of the game was unfortunate for Matt, as it was 4th down he really needed to get rid of it.  Of course the tv screen doesn't show the downfield routes so I've no idea what was going on with the receivers.  FYI, Matt ran the ball on 4th and 8 or 9 with 14 seconds left.  He obviously didn't think he could get the ball to a receiver, unfortunately he didn't pick up the first down- game over. 
If you want to see the interception, it's about 1:30 seconds into the below video.  Watch the tight end too. 
http://www.nfl.com/videos/chicago-bears

Exactly how we saw it.  Looked to us like the TE did not finish his route properly.   I felt like he did well enough overall with some very sharp, quick passes and showed his poise and scrambling ability.  The last play was his biggest mistake in my mind, needed to throw it down field.  Above all, no matter who was on the field for either team, that is one hell of a stat line for any QB in an NFL game.   Given that the Bears did not draft or sign any pedigree QB's this off season, they sure seem to have confidence and belief in his abilities, and I saw nothing Friday night that would cause them to reevaluate their opinion of him!  Bravo, Matt! 

[voice]

Blanchard's stat line playing the entire second half at Carolina.

15 9f 18 for 194 yards.  1 interception that was returned for a TD. Was sacked five times as Chicago's O-line struggled much of the night.  Blanchard's 194 passing yards was 4th most in the NFL so far this weekend.

Chicago Bears beat writer Brad Biggs wrote a story on Matt that was published in today's Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-0811-bits-bears-chicago-20130811,0,5396778.story

BTW after last week's weather snafu, I am credentialed to be at tomorrow morning's Bears training camp where I'll be talking to Matt following pactice

[footballfan413]

Blanchard's stat line playing the entire second half at Carolina.

15 9f 18 for 194 yards.  1 interception that was returned for a TD. Was sacked five times as Chicago's O-line struggled much of the night.  Blanchard's 194 passing yards was 4th most in the NFL so far this weekend.

Chicago Bears beat writer Brad Biggs wrote a story on Matt that was published in today's Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-0811-bits-bears-chicago-20130811,0,5396778.story

BTW after last week's weather snafu, I am credentialed to be at tomorrow morning's Bears training camp where I'll be talking to Matt following pactice

Brad Biggs said, "But Blanchard was very accurate and showed poise and scrambling ability"

Believe it or not, I did not read this until after I made my last post.  Maybe I should be a sportswriter.........


"Exactly how we saw it.  Looked to us like the TE did not finish his route properly.  I felt like he did well enough overall with some very sharp, quick passes and showed his poise and scrambling ability.  The last play was his biggest mistake in my mind, needed to throw it down field.  Above all, no matter who was on the field for either team, that is one hell of a stat line for any QB in an NFL game.   Given that the Bears did not draft or sign any pedigree QB's this off season, they sure seem to have confidence and belief in his abilities, and I saw nothing Friday night that would cause them to reevaluate their opinion of him!  Bravo, Matt!" 

[emma17]

Good point 413 on their confidence in Matt.
If you changed the names on the jerseys, or if nobody knew Cutler from McCown to Blanchard and you had to make decision based solely on what each QB showed Friday night, I can't see how anybody wouldn't strongly consider Blanchard as the top QB.  Now I'm not claiming he should be the #1, my simple point is that he was not out-performed physically by any QB on the roster.  Cutler threw a pick on the first play of the game.  We really need to stop acting like Cutler is so great and that the starting spot should be his automatically.   
As stated in a previous post, people can say all they want about the stats being put up against 2nd and 3rd teamers, the fact is Blanchard is also playing with 2nd and 3rd teamers.  His O-Line has guys that can't beat out Jamarcus Web for cyring out loud.  I was beyond impressed that he stayed in the pocket and delivered a couple beautiful downfield passes despite all the pressure.  He did not get shell shocked. 

BTW, he was also the leading rusher for the Bears with 26 yards.