FB: American Rivers Conference

[DutchFan2004]

I read with interest the article doolittledog had discovered about Iowa Wesleyan and a possible move to NCAA D3.  Living down here in SE Iowa, it would be great if we could get them back in the IIAC.  It would be a nice short trip for us to take in some IIAC contests. 

I wonder how serious the discussions of moving to NCAA are in Mt. Pleasant.  If they decide that is what they would like to do, what are the possiblities that the IIAC would take them back?

The problem with a ten team league is that inability to schedule more than one non-conference game.  Perhaps D3 football should go with an eleven game schedule.

That is true about the schedule but they could do like the big ten and rotate a schedule and just not play everyone each year.  That way they could keep a two game non con schedule.  That being said if you did not rotate you would only have to fill one game a year for non con which is kind of a blessing to the AD's.  I know that recently some teams have ducked Central from scheduling them.  A successful team has a hard time filling their non con schedule.  Just ask UWW.

[D O.C.]

The victory also assures Central of its 48th winning season since 1960.

I'm not sure, but I think at 50 you can start bragging.

Quite an accomplishment. Program top to bottom.

[DutchFan2004]

Word on the ground in Waverly is that I should be relieved I missed last Saturday's implosion by the Knights.  It was described to me as being the worst display of football by a Wartburg team in over twelve years.  

I would guess there has been a rude awakening for some folks over the past few days.  These guys better realize they don't win just because they put on a black/orange uniform nor do they win because of the success of the teams that came before them.  If they win it will be because they out hustle, they out work and they out think their opponents.   

Central players went through that same realization last year and look what the off-season brought about so far this year.  We weren't able to change the way last year went because it took too long to wake up to reality, but reality bites when you think about it for 9 months.  The only way to fix it is to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I still don't think Central was that bad last year.  The couple of games I saw, it looked like they had a couple of let downs that cost them big but otherwise it looked to me like the teams that beat them played extra-ordinarily well.  And one of those teams was Luther, which has me worrying more than most of you pickem pickers seem to be.  I still remember how disturbed I was by the fact that Luther's quarterback was just a freshman last year when he had such a good game against the Dutch.  What has become of him?  I expected to be hearing a lot more about him this year.

That is the trouble with comparing teams from one year to another.  After last year's Wartburg run who would have thought that they would have two losses half way into this season?  I know that the Knights lost a huge amount of experience on the defensive side of the ball.  The lost some nice skill position players too on the offensive side.  But I think the general thought of the posters here thought that the Knights were the prohibitive favorites for the IIAC crown.  Also I think most of the posters thought that Coe would be middle to bottom (at least I did) based on how they performed last year.  We all thought that Simpson maybe was on an upsurge.  Part of what Warthog says may be true that teams thought they could just show up and win, but I think they find out in a hurry that it just isn't so.  Having certain players graduate or just not come back to play (BV's running back comes to mind) hurt a team and leave voids in leadership.  Teams get used to a player making a play and when they are not there sometimes there is a void that is left behind that can not be filled.  We are only half way into the season (generally I know that the Dutch are passed it) and there is a lot of football left to play.  We may have lots more surprises left.


As far as POY and COY goes, naturally being a Dutch fan I would think that DZ is in the running, the other players that have impressed me would be Hansen from UD but with UD's record I would say is a long shot, Yordi because he is leading in passing, Boyle because he is second in passing, Spaulding because he is second.  The last two are in contention but I don't think they will get it unless they can pass the player in front of them.  Spaulding unless he can get a higher average and get to 100 per game will be out and more likely go to a QB if there is not a 100 yd per game rusher.  As far as COY if Central goes 10-0 I would say that it will go to Coach Mac.  Hard not to vote for a coach that has a perfect season.  If the Dutch lose one or two games I think it is wide open.  BV gets some love as they knocked off the defending champ, Coe gets some love for the big turn around so far.  I don't think at this point there is a lock on any of the picks.  With half the season to go it is anyone's guess.

[DutchFan2004]

The victory also assures Central of its 48th winning season since 1960.

I'm not sure, but I think at 50 you can start bragging.

Quite an accomplishment. Program top to bottom.

Edit that is not entirely true.  It is the 48th non losing season.  They had a 5-5 record in 2003.  Just to clarify. 

[wartknight]

Portable bleachers have been set up in the north end of Walston Hoover for this weeks Homecoming game.

While WH is nice, I miss the atmosphere of game day when fans were allowed down on the field close to the action.

[02 Warhawk]

That is true about the schedule but they could do like the big ten and rotate a schedule and just not play everyone each year.  That way they could keep a two game non con schedule.  That being said if you did not rotate you would only have to fill one game a year for non con which is kind of a blessing to the AD's.  I know that recently some teams have ducked Central from scheduling them.  A successful team has a hard time filling their non con schedule.  Just ask UWW.

got that right...just look at our strength of schedule so far this year. It's in the 200's

[DutchHawk]

The victory also assures Central of its 48th winning season since 1960.

I'm not sure, but I think at 50 you can start bragging.

Quite an accomplishment. Program top to bottom.

Edit that is not entirely true.  It is the 48th non losing season.  They had a 5-5 record in 2003.  Just to clarify. 

This is the 49th season since then though, so they took that 5-5 season out, 48 of 49 winning seasons since 1960 if my math serves me correctly. So it would be appropriate to say 48 winning season since 1960. Have to say though, Im a bit jealous that we can't claim Linfield's 54 winning seasons in a row, props to them...although I dont think the NWC is the same caliber. That could start some fights! (Just messing with our Wildcat friends! )

[wartknight]

Word on the ground in Waverly is that I should be relieved I missed last Saturday's implosion by the Knights.  It was described to me as being the worst display of football by a Wartburg team in over twelve years.  

I would guess there has been a rude awakening for some folks over the past few days.  These guys better realize they don't win just because they put on a black/orange uniform nor do they win because of the success of the teams that came before them.  If they win it will be because they out hustle, they out work and they out think their opponents.   

Having been there, I would agree (I haven't even posted on here about the game because of my frustration-could go on in detail regarding the game, but it is in the past). I am confident the team will get back to Wart football. We are in a similar situation as last year; we can't lose another game if we want to win the IIAC. With the conf leaders still to play, the Knights control their own destiny (assuming a BV loss). However, they can not play the way they did last Sat!!! It is simple; make some plays rather than waiting/assuming the guy next to you will do it (especially a tackle on an int!!)

[New Storm]

Word on the ground in Waverly is that I should be relieved I missed last Saturday's implosion by the Knights.  It was described to me as being the worst display of football by a Wartburg team in over twelve years.  

I would guess there has been a rude awakening for some folks over the past few days.  These guys better realize they don't win just because they put on a black/orange uniform nor do they win because of the success of the teams that came before them.  If they win it will be because they out hustle, they out work and they out think their opponents.   

Central players went through that same realization last year and look what the off-season brought about so far this year.  We weren't able to change the way last year went because it took too long to wake up to reality, but reality bites when you think about it for 9 months.  The only way to fix it is to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I still don't think Central was that bad last year.  The couple of games I saw, it looked like they had a couple of let downs that cost them big but otherwise it looked to me like the teams that beat them played extra-ordinarily well.  And one of those teams was Luther, which has me worrying more than most of you pickem pickers seem to be.  I still remember how disturbed I was by the fact that Luther's quarterback was just a freshman last year when he had such a good game against the Dutch.  What has become of him?  I expected to be hearing a lot more about him this year.

That is the trouble with comparing teams from one year to another.  After last year's Wartburg run who would have thought that they would have two losses half way into this season?  I know that the Knights lost a huge amount of experience on the defensive side of the ball.  The lost some nice skill position players too on the offensive side.  But I think the general thought of the posters here thought that the Knights were the prohibitive favorites for the IIAC crown.  Also I think most of the posters thought that Coe would be middle to bottom (at least I did) based on how they performed last year.  We all thought that Simpson maybe was on an upsurge.  Part of what Warthog says may be true that teams thought they could just show up and win, but I think they find out in a hurry that it just isn't so.  Having certain players graduate or just not come back to play (BV's running back comes to mind) hurt a team and leave voids in leadership.  Teams get used to a player making a play and when they are not there sometimes there is a void that is left behind that can not be filled.  We are only half way into the season (generally I know that the Dutch are passed it) and there is a lot of football left to play.  We may have lots more surprises left.


As far as POY and COY goes, naturally being a Dutch fan I would think that DZ is in the running, the other players that have impressed me would be Hansen from UD but with UD's record I would say is a long shot, Yordi because he is leading in passing, Boyle because he is second in passing, Spaulding because he is second.  The last two are in contention but I don't think they will get it unless they can pass the player in front of them.  Spaulding unless he can get a higher average and get to 100 per game will be out and more likely go to a QB if there is not a 100 yd per game rusher.  As far as COY if Central goes 10-0 I would say that it will go to Coach Mac.  Hard not to vote for a coach that has a perfect season.  If the Dutch lose one or two games I think it is wide open.  BV gets some love as they knocked off the defending champ, Coe gets some love for the big turn around so far.  I don't think at this point there is a lock on any of the picks.  With half the season to go it is anyone's guess.

Yes it is called chemistry alot of years that is all that has changed some teams believe in each other others doubt each other . 

[steelhawk]

Strength of schedule info for the IIAC. 

Team              Opponents win %     O-O win %
27 Coe                       0.68                      0.608
50 Simpson              0.606                  0.47
57 Central              0.583                    0.591
72 Loras               0.564             0.518
103 Cornell              0.517                    0.444
134 Buena Vista       0.462                0.582
139 Luther              0.45                    0.593
142 Wartburg           0.447                0.483
144 Dubuque          0.442                0.581

[Thunderbolt]

  I still remember how disturbed I was by the fact that Luther's quarterback was just a freshman last year when he had such a good game against the Dutch.  What has become of him?  I expected to be hearing a lot more about him this year.

Injuries and youth are poor excuses, because everyone has to deal with them too. The Norse O-Line has improved a lot from the start of the season which is making life a little easier for him. They also now have back two recievers and a running back that missed significant time earlier in the season. He has put together two nice games in a row and I think you will hear more about him as the season moves along.

[coocooforcoekohawk]

COY POY talk is premature.  Coe could still end up with a losing record.  This is the IIAC where anyone can beat anyone on any given day. Cornell is going to be very hungry by the time the rivalry game comes along if they don't get to dine at the IIAC win table by then.  Macy is going to look at Clark Field like one big plate of Carne Asada at that point.  It's Wartburg's homecoming.  B.V. showed some bite last weekend as did Loras, and Simpson could live up to their potential.  We are only half way through the season people!

[DutchHawk]

COY POY talk is premature.  Coe could still end up with a losing record.  This is the IIAC where anyone can beat anyone on any given day. Cornell is going to be very hungry by the time the rivalry game comes along if they don't get to dine at the IIAC win table by then.  Macy is going to look at Clark Field like one big plate of Carne Asada at that point.  It's Wartburg's homecoming.  B.V. showed some bite last weekend as did Loras, and Simpson could live up to their potential.  We are only half way through the season people!

Thats the fun in talking about it at this point! Everything can change, we are just fans, we know its premature, but still, why not?

[footballdaddy]

COY POY talk is premature.  Coe could still end up with a losing record.  This is the IIAC where anyone can beat anyone on any given day. Cornell is going to be very hungry by the time the rivalry game comes along if they don't get to dine at the IIAC win table by then.  Macy is going to look at Clark Field like one big plate of Carne Asada at that point.  It's Wartburg's homecoming.  B.V. showed some bite last weekend as did Loras, and Simpson could live up to their potential.  We are only half way through the season people!

Holy Crap! I agree with CooCoo! Another sign of the Apocalypse!

[Old Dutch]

I figure Coach Z is saying something like:  "Its a lot harder to get a win in the IIAC than I thought it would be.

Not meaning to be argumentive but you would be mistaken.

Not meaning to be argumentative either, but what do you think Coach Z thinks or thought...regarding how easy or hard it might be relative to his initial opinion prior to league play.

He had a lot of respect for the programs in the league and thought Dubuque would struggle with such a young team.  He recognized that it would take time to build the Dubuque program into a contender and he welcomed the challenge and was excited about the opportunity.

I can't speak for the other WIAC posters but I've said all along that it would take time for him to get things going in Dubuque.  Personally I didn't have an expectation of how many games they would win this year.

Why do I get negative karma every time I post something here?     

I believe the folks argumentatively thinking the IIAC would be a piece of cake for Coach Z's crew were on the Wiscy board promoting some Spartan TE as Newcomer of the Year.  I'm sure Coach new what he was getting into but some of his fans had a little trouble with reality.