FB: American Rivers Conference

[DBQ1965]

I know its not the kind of football usually discussed on here ... but if anyone comes up with any news about tonight's Loras-UD soccer battle for 1st. place in the IIAC ... please post it on here.

Many thanks.

GO SPARTANS!

[footballdaddy]

Anyone know why Dubuque pulled out of their JV game with Wartburg next week? It can't be for lack of numbers.

[youcantseemestill]

Ill tak over 40 on the Dubuqe Wartburg game, not much defense here.

40...is that the over/under on the number of catches Zweifel's kid will have this week?  If so...over.   

I'm curious if anyone has tried to press cover / bump and run Zweifel -  he's got great hands, maybe slightly better than average speed but doesn't appear to be terribly physical.  I can tell from  watching a train wreck you aren't going to sit in Tampa 2 and give 10 yard cushion and do anything but help him set records.  Oh that's right Simpson did help him set 2 records.  I was pretty disappointed we didn't try something / anything different after say his first 10 catches.   Put your best athlete on him, knock the crap out of him coming off the line and then jump in his jock and stay there.

Coe held this unstoppable monster to 6 catches for 40 yards and zero TDs.  Being able to get a pass rush helps too!

[doolittledog]

I know its not the kind of football usually discussed on here ... but if anyone comes up with any news about tonight's Loras-UD soccer battle for 1st. place in the IIAC ... please post it on here.

Many thanks.

GO SPARTANS!

Loras has video on their site.  http://www.duhawks.com/stretch.php

[Storm Chaser]

Ill tak over 40 on the Dubuqe Wartburg game, not much defense here.

40...is that the over/under on the number of catches Zweifel's kid will have this week?  If so...over.   

Nice job by Coe D -  all but one of Z's catches against Simpson as I recall were in the 10 -15 yd out variety so mostly 3 step so rush wasn't much of a factor -  330 yards - one for 46  leaves an average of 14.95 per catch on the other 19 -  The 46 yarder was blown coverage so just a bunch of timing out patterns for the most part and I still think bump and run might blow up the timing.  Just letting him run routes (he runs good routes) won't get it done.

I'm curious if anyone has tried to press cover / bump and run Zweifel -  he's got great hands, maybe slightly better than average speed but doesn't appear to be terribly physical.  I can tell from  watching a train wreck you aren't going to sit in Tampa 2 and give 10 yard cushion and do anything but help him set records.  Oh that's right Simpson did help him set 2 records.  I was pretty disappointed we didn't try something / anything different after say his first 10 catches.   Put your best athlete on him, knock the crap out of him coming off the line and then jump in his jock and stay there.

Coe held this unstoppable monster to 6 catches for 40 yards and zero TDs.  Being able to get a pass rush helps too!

[doolittledog]

I hadn't noticed until this morning that both Central and Wartburg are playing in the Key City on Saturday.  Do U of Dubuque and Loras have home games on the same day very often?

3 weeks this year.  And that's 3 out of a possible 8 really.  Out of the 11 week season they play each other once and then each get a bye week.  

Sept. 12
UW-Platteville @ UD
Millikin @ Loras

Sept. 19
Central @ UD
Simpson @ Loras

Oct. 24
Wartburg @ UD
Central @ Loras

[Purple Heys]

On Zweifel:
I saw the kid play...he's very good.  He runs very good routes, reads the defender very well and he has some quickness.  He is not a speed guy but if you don't get a good bump and knock him off his route he knows how to get by you.  Most D3 DB's aren't up to this physical challenge so they elect to keep him in front...Poppa knows this and exploits it.

One thing is he needs some time to do his work on the comeback routes...That said, the QB is the key...if you put enough heat quickly enough it will limit the type of route he can run and put a severe dent in the DBQ's passing attack.

Doubling him and bracketing him will work provided you can contain the others..the Rams could not and Fleming had a career day, with Zweifel getting a pedestrian 7 catches for 64 yards.  That's with freshman corners doing most of the work.  We also put the wood to him a couple of times and slowed him down.  His 2 TD's were inside the 5 and we single covered him...a mismatch.

Jr. has seen double teams and brackets with a backer and a safety over the top all season long...Grinnell even  tripled teamed him a few times...it would be an interesting package to have a Zweifel and a speed guy on either side of him...fun to see which poison a team picks.

For us teams have been electing to follow Jr. and that leaves it open for our WR's as he clears out an area.  He's been a very big decoy.

[Purple Heys]

...sit in Tampa 2 and give a 10 yard cushion...

Can you please advise the Storm DC that this a perfectly acceptable way of dealing with Heys Jr. on Oct. 31.

8)

[TheOne89.1]

I know its not the kind of football usually discussed on here ... but if anyone comes up with any news about tonight's Loras-UD soccer battle for 1st. place in the IIAC ... please post it on here.

Many thanks.

GO SPARTANS!

DBQ1965 -

See my quote from Coach Ditka below...soccer really?

[TheOne89.1]

Just kidding DBQ1965.  We actually were just talking about soccer and football at work last night.  During our last regular season high school game on air of the year our graphics operator knew NOTHING about football.  It was her job to mark put the points on the screen when a team scored and do the down and distance thing.  She was not even aware of flags and the whole 4 downs to go 10 yards thing.   On the flip side though, I would be lost at a soccer game.

[Storm Chaser]

...sit in Tampa 2 and give a 10 yard cushion...

Can you please advise the Storm DC that this a perfectly acceptable way of dealing with Heys Jr. on Oct. 31.

8)

PH - actually we're looking into a cameo appearance by Ndamukong Suh to handle Heys Jr

[warthog]

Thought for the day:

He who loves not wine, women and song remains a fool his whole life long.

– Martin Luther

[the_mayne_event]

Ill tak over 40 on the Dubuqe Wartburg game, not much defense here.

40...is that the over/under on the number of catches Zweifel's kid will have this week?  If so...over.   

I'm curious if anyone has tried to press cover / bump and run Zweifel -  he's got great hands, maybe slightly better than average speed but doesn't appear to be terribly physical.  I can tell from  watching a train wreck you aren't going to sit in Tampa 2 and give 10 yard cushion and do anything but help him set records.  Oh that's right Simpson did help him set 2 records.  I was pretty disappointed we didn't try something / anything different after say his first 10 catches.   Put your best athlete on him, knock the crap out of him coming off the line and then jump in his jock and stay there.

you shoudn't have a cushion in a tampa 2 - the corners are run support (shouldn't be off the line 10 yards), not the safeties, so either they weren't running the cover 2 or they weren't running it correctly...

[hazzben]

I would be happy to jump on that Central-Coe bandwagon.  I want to see my Dutch finish strong, take one game at a time, and head to the playoffs undefeated. 

As a fan who doesn't have to concentrate on the game ahead and can dream a little, it would be icing on the cake to have Coe in the playoffs with them, definitely not IN PLACE of them.     As with most years, the west is stacked with a bunch of highly ranked teams.  4 of the top 8 being in the West makes it hard to even count on a home game if the Dutch finish undefeated, hopefully they will move another team to a different region.  But IF, and it is still a big IF, Central and Coe both win out, does Coe get a pool C with the region as strong as it is?  In DutchHawk's scenario, it would sure make sense, but there are still a lot of rated teams in the West.

If Central wins out they will play at least one home game in the playoffs, I would see Monmouth having to travel as a 10-0 team before the Dutch. If UWW, Linfield, SJU, Central all win out, I see MUC getting moved East, UWW North and then SJU or Central would vie for 1 2 seeds due to Linfield being put in the "Extreme West" sub-bracket and having to play whoever emerges from the SCIAC (Redlands/Occidental) However unfair that would be thats the travel issue with the NCAA and DIII expenses. With UMHB losing last week it puts the Pool C teams in a tougher spot as UMHB winning out will all but guarantee them one of those coveted spots, which definitely hurts a 9-1 Coe's teams shot at getting a C bid.

Of course I am no expert, and regional rankings will tell us a lot next week, but if anyone feels the need to point out and discrepancies/mistakes in my mini analysis please feel free.

Not sure I agree.  You're forgetting about Wheaton in the North.

1-  Wheaton is ranked above SJU and Central.  It would make more sense for the Committee to move MUC East in order to give Wheaton the #1 ranking in the North.
2-  Wheaton is a natural North team, UWW is a natural West team.
3-  Wheaton's only losses in the playoffs have been to MUC.  That is a bold statement and I think the committee may like the prospect of giving the 3rd ranked team in the country a bracket where they don't have MUC until the semi's or later.
4-  As it stands right now, the committee can move only MUC north and will end up with the top 4 ranked teams in the country each with a number one seed. 
5-  Unfortunately, this means the West would be a meat-grinder, 5 of the top 9 teams nationally is just insane.  However, they could easily move a team like Monmouth North to give some more balance.
6- Regional rankings will be a key to getting clarity on how things will shake out.  Keep in mind, Pool C looks to be very strong this year, with UMHB at the top along with some potentially very strong 2 loss teams.
7- All this is assuming SJU, Central, UWW, MUC, Wheaton, Linfield, Monmouth, Wesley etc. all win out.  I'm guessing at least one of these teams stumbles over the final 4 weeks, along with some other teams who are on the bubble.  But this is what makes it all so exciting.

[DutchHawk]

I would be happy to jump on that Central-Coe bandwagon.  I want to see my Dutch finish strong, take one game at a time, and head to the playoffs undefeated. 

As a fan who doesn't have to concentrate on the game ahead and can dream a little, it would be icing on the cake to have Coe in the playoffs with them, definitely not IN PLACE of them.     As with most years, the west is stacked with a bunch of highly ranked teams.  4 of the top 8 being in the West makes it hard to even count on a home game if the Dutch finish undefeated, hopefully they will move another team to a different region.  But IF, and it is still a big IF, Central and Coe both win out, does Coe get a pool C with the region as strong as it is?  In DutchHawk's scenario, it would sure make sense, but there are still a lot of rated teams in the West.

If Central wins out they will play at least one home game in the playoffs, I would see Monmouth having to travel as a 10-0 team before the Dutch. If UWW, Linfield, SJU, Central all win out, I see MUC getting moved East, UWW North and then SJU or Central would vie for 1 2 seeds due to Linfield being put in the "Extreme West" sub-bracket and having to play whoever emerges from the SCIAC (Redlands/Occidental) However unfair that would be thats the travel issue with the NCAA and DIII expenses. With UMHB losing last week it puts the Pool C teams in a tougher spot as UMHB winning out will all but guarantee them one of those coveted spots, which definitely hurts a 9-1 Coe's teams shot at getting a C bid.

Of course I am no expert, and regional rankings will tell us a lot next week, but if anyone feels the need to point out and discrepancies/mistakes in my mini analysis please feel free.

Not sure I agree.  You're forgetting about Wheaton in the North.

1-  Wheaton is ranked above SJU and Central.  It would make more sense for the Committee to move MUC East in order to give Wheaton the #1 ranking in the North.
2-  Wheaton is a natural North team, UWW is a natural West team.
3-  Wheaton's only losses in the playoffs have been to MUC.  That is a bold statement and I think the committee may like the prospect of giving the 3rd ranked team in the country a bracket where they don't have MUC until the semi's or later.
4-  As it stands right now, the committee can move only MUC north and will end up with the top 4 ranked teams in the country each with a number one seed. 
5-  Unfortunately, this means the West would be a meat-grinder, 5 of the top 9 teams nationally is just insane.  However, they could easily move a team like Monmouth North to give some more balance.
6- Regional rankings will be a key to getting clarity on how things will shake out.  Keep in mind, Pool C looks to be very strong this year, with UMHB at the top along with some potentially very strong 2 loss teams.
7- All this is assuming SJU, Central, UWW, MUC, Wheaton, Linfield, Monmouth, Wesley etc. all win out.  I'm guessing at least one of these teams stumbles over the final 4 weeks, along with some other teams who are on the bubble.  But this is what makes it all so exciting.

Good points, but the fact of the matter is the North just isnt as deep as the West. Thats all there is too it. So moving one of our possible top seeds, SJU, UWW, Central, Linfield (all saying they go undefeated), to the North only makes sense when the North has nowhere near that amount of depth.