FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[BoBo]

I'm just pissed that Menlo had more than enough chances to win that game making Steath undefeated in week one for the Pick em's.

stealth, I think you're not the only one that missed just one. Quite a few of us had only one blunder, including myself.

Just briefly looking it over, I think I saw at least 4 players with an undefeated weekend.  It may have been a mirage or some kind of smoke and mirror trick, but I thought BDB was one of them.       

[Pat Coleman]

Now get the internet audio figured out and it will be a better next game. Talk about frustrating. The Penn Atlantic feed didn't get going until mid first quarter and no internet audio all game. I'm sending my IT propeller head across country next time to straighten that mess out. Mrs. Stealth had to save the cat from the blender mid Q1, just kidding PETA.    Nice to see the champs at half time even if the camera man needs to stay off the caffine. 

What was the reason Jake Anderson didn't suit up? Had that been planned?  Or was it a last minute, game time decision? Anderson was listed as #1 on the depth chart. 

An injury sustained in practice early in the week.  The staff was aware he would be unavailable.

St Xavier wasn't a really good team but they weren't a bad one either and I think we gained a lot more by playing them than we would have had we played an opponent like Lakeland.  Offensively Donovan did a decent job for his first start.  He was sharp on the short/intermediate routes but had some problems throwing the ball deep.  Their speed at the corners made it difficult for our receivers to get separation on the deeper routes.  They ran a variety of blitz packages and we had some problems picking them up.  On one third down play they lined all 11 players on line of scrimmage, our center panicked and made a bad snap that resulted in a sack for a big loss.  We never did get the running game going though it was better in the second half.   You have to give their defense some credit.  They had good speed, stacked the line of scrimmage and flowed to the ball well.  We'll have to block and run the ball better to be successfull in the WIAC.

Defensively we were solid against the run but had some problems defending the pass, particularly the deep pass where their receivers speed got behind us a few times.  But overall the defense wasn't that bad for as much time as they spent on the field.  The bottom line is points allowed and we're going to win most games in which our opponents are held to 9 points.  

Not a bad start for a young team.  As Pat commented afterward it was a good wake up call.  We've got plenty to work on but you can see signs of young talent that just needs more experience.  

Last year I was somewhat critical of student attendance but last night they were out in droves.  It was really neat to see so many of them and the overall attendance of 7100 without much help from the visitor's side exceeded my expectations significantly.   The enthusiasm is there, the talent is on hand and we just need to keep working to get better.  

WARHAWKS,WARHAWKS,WARHAWKS

The internet audio got itself corrected at halftime.

[footballfan413]

Congrats to the 08 Warhawks!  A great opener for the new look Hawks and Perkins Stadium.  The students section was as big as I have ever seen it!  What a great turnout by all.  Really enjoyed the first tailgate of the season.  Met some great St. Xaiver fans and I believe the Cougars to be a pretty good team overall. To hold that team to 9 points speaks very well of the defense.  Very young Hawks and the game certainly showcased the areas that need work.  My observations were very much the same as BW's.  Will need to get the running game going better than that if we are to compete in the Wacky WIAC and Donovon and his WR's will have to do much better on the deep balls.  Appeared he just threw it up a couple of times and expected his recievers to go up and get it which no one ever did.  But they are very young and it will take some time to get the game experience they need.  Success will depend on how long that learning curve will be but as I said before, many teams are in the same boat with that double whammy graduating two classes of seniors.  If they can get better every week than we will be fine.  Thought the halftime ceremony recognizing the winningest class of seniors in UWW history was special.  Great for the fans to be able applaud and appreciate their accomplishments one last time as the National Championship flag was raised in the Perk for the first time!  A fitting tribute to a group who have given us all many amazing memories over the course of their careers as Warhawks.

Picking LAX was my only mistake this week as well.  I expected them to have fixed that silly little tendency to implode in the second half when they have a 3 TD lead!   

[badgerwarhawk]

How did LaCrosse manage to blow a 3 touchdown lead in 15 minutes?  Any observations from someone who attended. 

[voice]

I was there and if you are a LAX fan it sure gave you the same feeling as when WW stormed back with a big fourth quarter to beat the Eagles last year in LAX.

To answer your question BadgerWarhawk, it boiled down to penalties and turnovers making LAX shoot themself in the foot.

"We talked about turnovers; we've got to create them and we didn't, and we turned the ball over four times. We also talked about not just preserving a lead but taking a game over. Leading 21-0, I never felt like we could start coasting. That's something we've got to learn, is to be able to finish off a game. That's very important," Terry tells the La Crosse Tribune.

The loss wasn't entirely the defense's fault.  Two of the Cowboys' three touchdowns were set up by turnovers inside Eagles territory

Bottom line -  UW-L gave up 24 points in the final 15 minutes, 7 seconds of the game.  Compare Saturday nights loss to the loss the Eagles suffered against WW last year.  WW scored 25 consecutive points, erasing UW-La Crosse's 18-point fourth quarter lead for a 35-28 victory. 

I thought the La Crosse defense actually played really well. Much like Whitewater did last year against Mary Hardin-Baylor, the LAX D did a great job controlling the edge against very quick runners for H-S.

I was impressed with Eagles linebacker Drew Keiffer, and the Eagles defensive line, particulary inside.

Offensively, Eric Donoval's 166 rushing yards (245 all-purpose) and three touchdowns was a great "coming out" party for the very fast running back. The man can fly.

La Crosse never recovered after suffering its loss to Whitewater last year.  Now, following a similar loss, they have to travel to Grand Forks to face NCAA Division I FCS North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux have outscored Texas A&M-Kingsville and St. Cloud State (Minn.) by a combined score of 71-31 so far this season.

.

[fredfalcon]

In the interest of broadening the scope of sports results/analysis on this board, it is imperative that you know that the Falcon Women's Golf Team competed in the Platteville Invitational (8 teams) this past weekend.  Though the squad finished 8th, 147 strokes behind UW-SP, they were only 25 shots out of 7th.

I am confident the the UWRF Sports publicity people will find a way to put a positive spin on this result.  I suggest they merely say the team traveled to Platteville for the meet, thoroughly enjoyed the scenery on the drive down, and arrived home safely after the competition. Sometimes less is more.

[Sakman 1111]

Wow, 25 shots out of 7th....terrific and a chance to get out in the fresh air. Good luck against the Johnnies this week....Flush the Johns!......

[retagent]

Sack - you might want to get a bit more original, but along those lines, it will be interesting to see what happens in that game. Hopefully, at least from my standpoint, the Johnies got some things worked out. For those who haven't taken the time to delve into it, SJU used three QB's in the game. All have had some experience in previous years, but as one might expect, after having the same signal caller for 4 years, the job was open to the three who have shown some talent in those years. The defense, which returned some stalwarts was not as rock solid as one might expect. The secondary, which lost three, and was suspect, played quite well. Anyhow, they struggled against an ETBU team that, at least from our standpoint, was much better than anticipated.

[raiderfan1983]

Meant to get over here before the season started but didn't have a chance.  I enjoyed the discussion with all the UWW posters on this board and the OAC board leading up to and after the title game last year.  Just wanted to wish you the best of luck and hopefully we'll be talking about another rematch this winter.

[BoBo]

Anyhow, they struggled against an ETBU team that, at least from our standpoint, was much better than anticipated.

Allow me to translate this opinion for the benefit of the non-SJU people in the WIAC audience (which is like...everybody), retagent - - -

ETBU was not the cupcake we thought they were when we scheduled them for the first game of the year.   

[retagent]

You're not far off the mark BoBO. In reality, SJU does seem to try to schedule cupcakes for their first game. I remember in the game that brought Alex Kofoed into the light was against UW Eau Claire five years ago.
The "No" contact employed by Gagliardi does have some drawbacks and the Johnnies like to see what happens in a real game where they might be able to see a good number of players - almost like an early pre-season NFL game. It is advantageous for them to schedule a team of, shall we say, lesser talent in order to do this. Call it what you will (I call it smart) but it does seem to work in most cases. The Johnnies did lose that game against UWEC that fall day in 2004.

[BoBo]

You're not far off the mark BoBO. In reality, SJU does seem to try to schedule cupcakes for their first game. I remember in the game that brought Alex Kofoed into the light was against UW Eau Claire five years ago.
The "No" contact employed by Gagliardi does have some drawbacks and the Johnnies like to see what happens in a real game where they might be able to see a good number of players - almost like an early pre-season NFL game. It is advantageous for them to schedule a team of, shall we say, lesser talent in order to do this. Call it what you will (I call it smart) but it does seem to work in most cases. The Johnnies did lose that game against UWEC that fall day in 2004.

Just curious, retagent, do you know how much SJU paid ETBU to come to Minnesota? Is SJU opening in Texas next year?

[footballfan413]

Anyhow, they struggled against an ETBU team that, at least from our standpoint, was much better than anticipated.

Allow me to translate this opinion for the benefit of the non-SJU people in the WIAC audience (which is like...everybody), retagent - - -

ETBU was not the cupcake we thought they were when we scheduled them for the first game of the year.   

Nothing wrong with a cupcake or two.  The Hawks have enjoyed chomping on a Lakeland/St.Norberts cupcake over the last few years.  Atleast, the Johnnies are one of the few teams left that are still willing to play a WIAC team even if it does tend to be from the lower tier of the conference.

Well, Packer fans are breathing a collective sigh of relief this morning as Rodgers was very impressive in their win against the Vikes last night. They sure did me a huge favor.  Was leading my fantasy football match up by 20 points going into last night's game but only had GB WR Jennings going.  My opponent had A. Peterson, Berrian and the Vikings D.  Won by 9 points!   

[footballfan413]

Meant to get over here before the season started but didn't have a chance.  I enjoyed the discussion with all the UWW posters on this board and the OAC board leading up to and after the title game last year.  Just wanted to wish you the best of luck and hopefully we'll be talking about another rematch this winter.

Welcome back to the board and thanks for the well wishes. Good luck to LK and the Raiders this season.  Will be watching and rooting for Kmic to only rush for 2551 yards this season! Can't beat the Beav's record!  Refreshing to read a post from a MUC fan that doesn't end with, "we are going to kick your a$$,"  isn't it, boys?     

[retagent]

Sorry BoBO, not a clue on that one, although if my aged, addled brain isn't deceiving me, I think that this was a one time shot with ETBU.