FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[HScoach]

Go find the decent teams who played four games in a row on the road to open the season, three vs. Top 25 teams. We'll wait.

Sigh.....How many times do we have to reiterate that facts shouldn't get in the way of a good story?

[WRMUalum13]

Go find the decent teams who played four games in a row on the road to open the season, three vs. Top 25 teams. We'll wait.

Lol good point Pat. . I actually do think UWW is  better than their record. I'm mostly just giving Emma a hard time because I don't think  the warhawks should be viewed as much better than a "decent d3 team." Is UWW better than 1-3? Sure. Are they "dangerous to any opponent" No. and clearly the voters of the d3fb poll would agree with that assessment or uww would have a lot more than 1 vote in the top 25 poll.

[Bombers798891]

I think any notion that Whitewater isn't decent is hard to swallow. Almost every team in the country would be 1-3 against that schedule. I do think, in general, there's something to be said for putting a little too much stock in the quality of the opponent and the score. I'm not saying that applies to Whitewater. But I think that at some point, you either win the games or you don't.

[UWO Titan 78]

The 2014 UWO team started out 0-3 against two ranked NAIA teams and an FCS team. We went 6-1 in the best conference in the country and finished ranked #20 that year. Who you play has a lot to do with the record. UWW is a dangerous team. I don't anticipate them imploding and finishing under .500. If they lose to Stout, I may change my mind. We are a legitimate top 10 team, in my opinion, and I was nervous when UWW cut the lead to 23-20. They are plenty dangerous.

[HansenRatings]

Go find the decent teams who played four games in a row on the road to open the season, three vs. Top 25 teams. We'll wait.

Lol good point Pat. . I actually do think UWW is  better than their record. I'm mostly just giving Emma a hard time because I don't think  the warhawks should be viewed as much better than a "decent d3 team." Is UWW better than 1-3? Sure. Are they "dangerous to any opponent" No. and clearly the voters of the d3fb poll would agree with that assessment or uww would have a lot more than 1 vote in the top 25 poll.

Uhh.... they're still dangerous to any opponent. While the Warhawk faithful can be overly critical of their team, here's where they rank nationally in some key statistics after adjusting for quality of opponent and home/away:

Offense
Rushing Yards/Play: 12
Rushing 1st Down Rate: 18
Passing Yards/Play: 2
Passing First Down Rate: 11
Overall Yards/Play: 4
Overall First Down Rate: 34
Points Per Drive: 22

Defense
Rushing Yards/Play: 10
Rushing 1st Down Rate: 34
Passing Yards/Play: 11
Passing First Down Rate: 20
Overall Yards/Play: 10
Overall First Down Rate: 67
Points Per Drive: 16

Their only glaring flaw right now is their defensive first down rate, but they're forcing teams to convert a lot of 3rd downs, which will inevitably regress to the mean as the season goes on.

[merlecanlas]

My opinion has been swayed.  A middle of the pack (middling?) WIAC team is better than decent. 

[WRMUalum13]

My opinion has been swayed.  A middle of the pack (middling?) WIAC team is better than decent.

Yeah I guess I agree as well, after looking at the bigger context I guess even if uww falls to 5-5 they are probably competitive with the top teams in most divisions. Sometimes just remembering the sheer scope of d3 and disparity of talent from the top divisions to the bottom is tough.

[palum]

Been kind of slow on this board lately. Some interesting match ups this weekend starting with Oshkosh at P-ville two top ten teams. Last year Oshkosh took away the Kelly to Arnold combination and held P-ville to just 84 yards passing and allowed Platteville to try and beat Oshkosh by running the ball. This year Platteville has the WIAC's leading receiver in Johnson but the also have bolstered their running game with Studer and Thompson. It will be kind of strength against strength Oshkosh's offense with Kasper leading the way vs Platteville's defense which is returning numerous starters from last year and has come up with big stops in every game this year. Years ago the WW LaX match-up would be the premier game in the conference. Is LaX for real or has WW turned the corner from their Muderers Row of a non-conference schedule and Oshkosh to open the WIAC? Also why is the game on Friday night? RF and Stout 2 teams that got off to good starts but have stumbled to open the conference season.       

[emma17]

Thanks for getting the discussion started palum.
I've not seen any games in person this season, but in the online version, the UWO I saw vs UWW is better than last year. IMO UWP will really have to play better than well to have a shot at the Titans. UWO has shown a willingness and strength on D to drop more players into coverage and rush w 3 or 4. On O, UWO is versatile and powerful.

I hope to get up to the UWW game Friday. I'm not certain, but the Friday game may be due to the marching band competition that UWW hosts annually.
If UWW can get similar pass rush pressure on UWL as they did UWS, it should be a good game. Otherwise, I worry UWL will be the other undefeated WIAC team after this weekend.

[WW]

The state band competition is indeed all-day Saturday at Whitewater. It's been there, on this weekend, for many years. First time I remember a scheduling conflict.

I like WW by a good margin in that matchup. Figures to be not only a better pass rush than UWL and Yaeggi's seen, but better containment. That's key. He broke Point with his feet as much as his arm.

[emma17]

ww,
I will be pleasantly surprised if you're right about a good margin. I know UWL hasn't played the most difficult schedule, but they've done exactly what they should have done against those teams. UWSP was likely their toughest opponent and UWL dominated them on both sides of the ball.

I like your point about containment and I can see UWW doing a much better job keeping him in the pocket.

[cubs]

I like WW by a good margin in that matchup. Figures to be not only a better pass rush than UWL and Yaeggi's seen, but better containment. That's key. He broke Point with his feet as much as his arm.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Yaeggi throw for over 400 yards against the Whitewater defense last year and actually take a lead going into the 4th quarter?

Now not having seen them play this year, which defense would the Whitewater supporters say is better, the 2016 or 2017 version?

[badgerwarhawk]

2016

Just a reminder for all WIAC Pickem participants that there is a Friday night game this week.  Please be sure to have at least that game picked before the kickoff.  The others can wait till before Saturday's kickoffs but Friday's game must be picked before 7pm Friday to count.

[WW]

cubs -- You're right, he did. 4 seniors graduated from that O line, though. IMO he'll experience a level of harassment Friday that he hasn't seen yet this season. 2016 WW D was better but they have some athletes out there. Should be fun... sure wish it was playing on Saturday.

emma -- Point is beat up. Swigart (QB) is out and it's a significant drop to QB2, QB3 and QB4, none of whom are making much of a case to take the job yet. 2 OL are out, top 2 RBs are out. Until they can figure out some other ways to get the ball to Jerry Williams, they'll have trouble scoring in the WIAC all season.

[emma17]

Cubs- tough question on which UWW defense is better. The 2016 D line had Tamsett in the middle, and he was great. Flood was an end, although he was great too, he had some injuries. I think the 2016 D line was likely better but from what coach says, the 2017 D line is very fast. You'll see that with Henschler coming off the end, he is fast and non-stop. So maybe the 2017 line is better against a passing team?
As for the D in general, unfortunately neither are of the standard that was set in prior years. Too many yards, too many 3rd down conversions, too many points allowed and not enough take-aways.

ww- Thanks for the insight on UWSP. Your positive nature reminds me of a guy that used to post regularly not long ago. I hope your positive opinions prove true. It is ingrained in me to think of UWL as a strong team. I watched what they did to UWW last year and I see they are soundly beating everyone they play this year. I see UWW, with the exception of two quarters out of 20 played so far, struggle mightily on offense and worry the Hawks will be chasing a deficit.