FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[WW]

Curious what you all think. I left last week thinking Steven's Point won't be as bad as a lot of people are predicting and then seeing them go on the road and only lose by 3 to Wabash furthers my thinking.

Unless you watched one or both of those games it is hard to gauge, but once your respectful teams play them, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The Wabash game was played in periods of heavy rain, so difficult to draw any conclusions from that one. But the same UWSP QB who lost the job last year has it this year, and his play so far is no less erratic. Jerry Williams is gone. And the head coach is about 6 weeks new and so is the bulk of his staff. Just noticed that he did a little house cleaning after he took the job. Longtime OC Vlcko is gone, so is the DC. Lots of new faces at Point.

I got em beating UWEC this year, and that might be about it.

[WW]

Two weeks in, it's hard to know what to make of the upcoming WIAC race. If I had to make a call right now, I'd say the for-all-the-marbles game might not be UWO-UWW in week 1, but the UWP-UWW showdown on November 10.

[wally_wabash]

Curious what you all think. I left last week thinking Steven's Point won't be as bad as a lot of people are predicting and then seeing them go on the road and only lose by 3 to Wabash furthers my thinking.

Unless you watched one or both of those games it is hard to gauge, but once your respectful teams play them, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Probably will struggle against UWO, UWW, UWP and UWL. But might compete with the lower half of the WIAC. So most likely a sub .500 team overall. I think D3football only predicted UWSP to win one game this year.

Wabash hasn't really been a top 10 team the past couple of seasons like we're used to seeing. However, I was still kind of shocked they came within 3 points of them.

Logan Hansen and Massey models both had Wabash pegged as field goal-ish underdogs vs. UWSP, so I think the matchup was a bit more even than some might have thought.  It was a crap day for passing offense as well. Both teams really struggled in that phase.  The Pointers are probably not going to win much in league play, but I don't think that necessarily makes them a bad team- the WIAC is just calibrated to a completely different scale than most other conferences in the division. 

[USee]

The Pointers are probably not going to win much in league play, but I don't think that necessarily makes them a bad team- the WIAC is just calibrated to a completely different scale than most other conferences in the division.

Most years this has been true. I don't think we have seen much elite play overall from the WIAC so far this year. In fact, I suspect the opposite, it may be a down year for the conference. It wouldn't surprise me to see UWW or maybe even Platteville run away with the league this year.

[Pat Coleman]

And the head coach is about 6 weeks new and so is the bulk of his staff.

This is the primary reason why we thought they would struggle, for the record.

[wally_wabash]

The Pointers are probably not going to win much in league play, but I don't think that necessarily makes them a bad team- the WIAC is just calibrated to a completely different scale than most other conferences in the division.

Most years this has been true. I don't think we have seen much elite play overall from the WIAC so far this year. In fact, I suspect the opposite, it may be a down year for the conference. It wouldn't surprise me to see UWW or maybe even Platteville run away with the league this year.

Which has to do with UWSP how?  I thought we were talking Pointers. 

The league might not have a national championship level team *this year*, but the quality here top to bottom laps the field.  It just does.  When the site ranks the conferences in a month, WIAC is still going to be #1.  And it isn't close. 

[USee]

The Pointers are probably not going to win much in league play, but I don't think that necessarily makes them a bad team- the WIAC is just calibrated to a completely different scale than most other conferences in the division.

Most years this has been true. I don't think we have seen much elite play overall from the WIAC so far this year. In fact, I suspect the opposite, it may be a down year for the conference. It wouldn't surprise me to see UWW or maybe even Platteville run away with the league this year.

Which has to do with UWSP how?  I thought we were talking Pointers. 

The league might not have a national championship level team *this year*, but the quality here top to bottom laps the field.  It just does.  When the site ranks the conferences in a month, WIAC is still going to be #1.  And it isn't close.

I am saying I don't think the WIAC, top to bottom, is as clear of the field as they have been in the past. They may still be #1, but I don't think they are as far out front as years past. I don't have any idea if that will continue. The OAC is much better this year than years past. The CCIW is stronger than it has been, top to bottom, in my memory. We are only 1 game in and there are a lot of big games coming so this may all change. But based on the UWSP, Platteville, UWO and UWL games I have seen, the quality of players is not nearly as strong as it has been in years past. All of this is subjective and your opinion differs with mine, dramatically it appears.

[wally_wabash]

Kickoff rated UWSP 81.  That's with a predicted record of 1-9, 0-7. 

That 81 ranking would make the Pointers the 5th ranked team in both the NCAC and the CCIW.  Not great, not bad.  But that's the worst team in the WIAC grading out at somewhere in middle of the conferences we follow most closely.  I think UWSP's performances against JCU and Wabash don't do a thing to suggest that ranking is off. 

[02 Warhawk]

It's funny because I think you two knuckleheads are arguing over two totally different points.

Wally: Stevens Point, although bad in the WIAC, is a solid team inserted in pretty much any other conference.

USee: The top of the conference doesn't have a clear cut favorite, so they might be down this year.

You two are both correct (as it appears through two weeks).

[badgerwarhawk]

The WIAC placed two players on this week's DIIIfootball.com Team of the Week.  WARHAWKS Henry Henschler (DE) and UW-Stout's Scott Gustafson (ST)


DE Harry Henschler
Sr., UW-Whitewater
Henschler registered five tackles, including 2.5 for a loss, and forced a fumble to help the Warhawks to a 24-6 triumph over Concordia-Moorhead. On second-and-goal for the Cobbers from the UWW 6, Henschler forced a fumble on a sack and the Warhawks recovered to thwart a comeback attempt.

ST Scott Gustafson, Fr.
UW-Stout
Gustafson blocked an extra-point attempt in Gustavus Adolphus' possession of overtime to give UW-Stout a 24-23 win over the Gusties. With a low kick, Gustafson made contact with the ball with his helmet to push the ball back to the ground and give Stout the overtime win.

[bleedpurple]

Like Bleed said, the Davenport defenders are faster than the WIAC defenders.
If UWO has the players, their non-conf schedule will prove to have been extremely beneficial to the conference games.

Switching subjects, the 2nd half UWW and Chicago Bears' offensive performances were very similar. A whole bunch of swing/bubble passes as though they lacked confidence in the full passing game. The Bears play and coaching/player decisions provided a week's worth of discussion. Other than "the Bears still suck", where to begin on that game?
I'll start w a less obvious question. If rookie MLB R Smith is so good at coverage, why wasn't he in the game more in the second half?

One huge difference:  UW-W didn't have Aaron Rodgers lining up against them.  It can be debated as to whether UW-W went "into a shell" with the bubble calls. One thing I can tell you, is that our WR's can flat out block. If I remember right, most of those bubble screens were pretty successful. UW-W has never really worried about style points. Win the game, make the corrections, and move on to the next week.  Personally, I had no issue with the play calling. The penalties and the dropped passes I have an issue with.  If we get those cleaned up, we will begin putting up some big numbers on some teams.

[WW]

It's funny because I think you two knuckleheads are arguing over two totally different points.

Wally: Stevens Point, although bad in the WIAC, is a solid team inserted in pretty much any other conference.

USee: The top of the conference doesn't have a clear cut favorite, so they might be down this year.

You two are both correct (as it appears through two weeks).

4 teams in the top 25, none higher than 10... sounds about right. I think more WIAC teams have regressed than progressed on the D3 landscape so far this season. 11-4 at this point last season, 10-5 now. Nice wins by UWP and UWW but there's no statement win for the conference, ala Stout last year. UWRF loss to Bethel troubles me too as a WIAC Guy... that's basically a MIAC crossover.

I don't have insight into more than 2 or 3 conferences so I'll respect Wally's research and knowledge of history there. UWEC is 2-0, the last one vs a team that expects to contend for its conference championship, but may not win another game. That supports Wally's point.

[fredfalcon]

In the gotta crow while u can category:  Owen Schommer, senior Falcon punter leads Wiac w/48.2 yd. average; had longest punt in Falcon history Saturday, 75 yds, which  was 10th longest in WIAC history; had highest single game punting average in UWRF history Saturday, 51.8 yards.

[emma17]

Like Bleed said, the Davenport defenders are faster than the WIAC defenders.
If UWO has the players, their non-conf schedule will prove to have been extremely beneficial to the conference games.

Switching subjects, the 2nd half UWW and Chicago Bears' offensive performances were very similar. A whole bunch of swing/bubble passes as though they lacked confidence in the full passing game. The Bears play and coaching/player decisions provided a week's worth of discussion. Other than "the Bears still suck", where to begin on that game?
I'll start w a less obvious question. If rookie MLB R Smith is so good at coverage, why wasn't he in the game more in the second half?

One huge difference:  UW-W didn't have Aaron Rodgers lining up against them.  It can be debated as to whether UW-W went "into a shell" with the bubble calls. One thing I can tell you, is that our WR's can flat out block. If I remember right, most of those bubble screens were pretty successful. UW-W has never really worried about style points. Win the game, make the corrections, and move on to the next week.  Personally, I had no issue with the play calling. The penalties and the dropped passes I have an issue with.  If we get those cleaned up, we will begin putting up some big numbers on some teams.

I'm not entirely opposed to the "just win and advance" theory. Winning ugly worked for the White Sox once. My concern is big picture. The formations run and plays called are a reflection of the OC. If what we've seen the first two weeks is mostly in line with what this offense will look like the rest of the season, I'd bet big the season ends similar to 2015 and 2016.

[bleedpurple]

Like Bleed said, the Davenport defenders are faster than the WIAC defenders.
If UWO has the players, their non-conf schedule will prove to have been extremely beneficial to the conference games.

Switching subjects, the 2nd half UWW and Chicago Bears' offensive performances were very similar. A whole bunch of swing/bubble passes as though they lacked confidence in the full passing game. The Bears play and coaching/player decisions provided a week's worth of discussion. Other than "the Bears still suck", where to begin on that game?
I'll start w a less obvious question. If rookie MLB R Smith is so good at coverage, why wasn't he in the game more in the second half?

One huge difference:  UW-W didn't have Aaron Rodgers lining up against them.  It can be debated as to whether UW-W went "into a shell" with the bubble calls. One thing I can tell you, is that our WR's can flat out block. If I remember right, most of those bubble screens were pretty successful. UW-W has never really worried about style points. Win the game, make the corrections, and move on to the next week.  Personally, I had no issue with the play calling. The penalties and the dropped passes I have an issue with.  If we get those cleaned up, we will begin putting up some big numbers on some teams.

I'm not entirely opposed to the "just win and advance" theory. Winning ugly worked for the White Sox once. My concern is big picture. The formations run and plays called are a reflection of the OC. If what we've seen the first two weeks is mostly in line with what this offense will look like the rest of the season, I'd bet big the season ends similar to 2015 and 2016.

I'd bet big this offense is just scratching the surface and it will look quite different as the season rolls on.  Both in terms of personnel and in terms of the play calling.