FB: American Rivers Conference

[Fannosaurus Rex]

Excellent advice, thank you very much.  Just to be sure though, if I have that many clothes on and fall down, someone in Wisconsin will help me get back up right?

Sure, but only after they pick up (and drink) your beer first 

Well that just makes sense.

[Fannosaurus Rex]

I agree with Bleed. The Central/UWW game is about matchups and UWW probably matches up better with Central than Wheaton did. Central did a great job game planning to minimize Wheaton's advantages and I expect them to try to so against UWW. I thought Wheaton had significant advantages over Central in the defensive front as well as their offensive line coming into the game. Similar to Wheaton, UWW stops the run and pounds the rock on offense. Central came into the Wheaton game and said "We won't even try to run the ball, more attempts for Blaine Hawkins" resulting in 65 pass attempts. That minimized the influence of Wheaton's front 7. Dallas McCrae and company still did their thing, sacking Hawkings 4x and hitting him about 15 more times, but more times than not, Hawkins got the ball out before the Dline could do anything. The other thing Central did, which is hard to appreciate on film or even on TV, is play with tremendous pace. They have 4 WR's (often 5) and employ multiple formations the defense has to align to. After every play they are at the LOS before the referees are even ready to put the ball in play to run the next play. Many times the defense is still trying to identify the new formation and Hawkins is snapping the ball. Central ran 82 plays to Wheaton's 70. That's a lot of plays to defend. They ran 13 plays on the last drive, which was just over 2min left. That's really incredible to me: 13 plays in 2 minutes. Not many offenses in the country can do that, even in a 2 min drill. This strategy also neutralizes an aggressive front/defensive team and gives Hawkins a clear advantage if the defense is getting lined up and he has already snapped the ball. Again, UWW plays multiple people and is also pretty simple in their defense. They play a base 4-3 with 2 safeties and, while alignments change slightly, it's a lot easier to adjust to Central's pace when you are only moving a few yards vs switching sides of the defense every snap. Wheaton also had mostly a secondary that was in their first year as starters across the board and UWW has at least 3 DB's who are multi year starters.

On Offense, Wheaton employs a double team/block down and pull running game. Their best stuff had Hibben pulling around the outside to lead a sweep or trapping an interior lineman. Central employs a scheme where they "hide" LB Maddy Hunter and slant him at the snap in the C/G, G/T, or T/TE gap. LB Josh Van Gysel (#10) sits behind all that and has great instincts. Even though Wheaton still had Weeks with over 100 yds rushing, it is confusing for the blocking scheme and resulted in a handful of negative/no gain running plays for the Thunder. UWW runs mostly a zone blocking scheme and they are exceptional at it. That negates most of that defensive scheme that Central runs as they don't care who shows up in which gap, they stay on course and swallow up whoever shows. It also keeps Blaine Hawkins off the field. Oddly enough, Wheaton actually won the time of possession by 6 minutes but Central still ran 12 more plays.  Wheaton also had less experience at WR than years past. UWW has more talent on the offensive perimeter than the Thunder did in my opinion.

That's a lot of detail but it represents some of my thoughts on why this game may play out differently because the matchups are different on both sides. Again, I am very impressed with Central and I thought Wheaton played them pretty well. Anyone who thinks Central can't win this game is fooling themselves. But the Warhawks are also built for this and have the ability to matchup with Central in ways the Thunder didn't.

Excellent analysis and I can't argue with a word of it.  It reminds of when I go to the track and study all of the form sheets, and pedigrees and past performances and then the horse that wins is the one with the most heart.  Central wins Saturday because they have the most heart.

[hazzben]

Excellent analysis and I can't argue with a word of it.  It reminds of when I go to the track and study all of the form sheets, and pedigrees and past performances and then the horse that wins is the one with the most heart.  Central wins Saturday because they have the most heart.

No one can question Central's moxy and heart. Remains to be seen if that's enough to beat UWW, but this team is playing with great belief and confidence. It's not just Hawkins, but a swagger that's evident across the board. I expect another epic playoff game. I lean UWW since it's at home, but a Central W should shock no one.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but say Central makes it all the way to the Stagg... Would that be the toughest path that anyone has ever taken? I'd imagine it has to be up there. Maybe a convo for after Saturday's result.

[bleedpurple]

Excellent analysis and I can't argue with a word of it.  It reminds of when I go to the track and study all of the form sheets, and pedigrees and past performances and then the horse that wins is the one with the most heart.  Central wins Saturday because they have the most heart.

Evidence please.

[bleedpurple]

Excellent analysis and I can't argue with a word of it.  It reminds of when I go to the track and study all of the form sheets, and pedigrees and past performances and then the horse that wins is the one with the most heart.  Central wins Saturday because they have the most heart.

No one can question Central's moxy and heart. Remains to be seen if that's enough to beat UWW, but this team is playing with great belief and confidence. It's not just Hawkins, but a swagger that's evident across the board. I expect another epic playoff game. I lean UWW since it's at home, but a Central W should shock no one.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but say Central makes it all the way to the Stagg... Would that be the toughest path that anyone has ever taken? I'd imagine it has to be up there. Maybe a convo for after Saturday's result.

If you want to talk about it when it's relevant, you probably ought to talk about it today. 

[Ice Bear]

Ice Bear says after watching the end of the Wheaton game he would LOVE to see Central ****ing bitch slap U Dub Dub back to the tub. Ice has a tremendous amount of respect for both programs and is hoping for a very well played injury free game on Saturday. UWW and Central are just amazing marquee programs at the D3 level.

Ice says sometimes he just sits back and marvels at these what, maybe 5 - 10 teams tops, that sit high atop the D3 football world out of over 230 mother****ing teams... Just amazing and admirable no matter how Ice looks at it. Man he would love for his Dutchmen to play at this level year in and year out. Don't get Ice wrong, he bleeds his ****ing beloved garnet through and through, but knows they are just not on this elite level. Hence, Ice really enjoys the D3 playoffs and watching the great programs and players that continually rise to the top.

Ice says, much respect to both teams come Saturday but Ice is hoping for a Central win as he tummy slides down a glacier with his ****ing tongue out catching snowflakes.

[Fannosaurus Rex]

Excellent analysis and I can't argue with a word of it.  It reminds of when I go to the track and study all of the form sheets, and pedigrees and past performances and then the horse that wins is the one with the most heart.  Central wins Saturday because they have the most heart.

Evidence please.

I know it when I see it.

[Schipper Strong]

Excellent analysis and I can't argue with a word of it.  It reminds of when I go to the track and study all of the form sheets, and pedigrees and past performances and then the horse that wins is the one with the most heart.  Central wins Saturday because they have the most heart.

Evidence please.

I know it when I see it.

I agree Central has played all year with determination, focus and tremendous heart. It may not be visible to the people who have not followed Central faithfully, but those of us who have see it clearly.

[bleedpurple]

Excellent analysis and I can't argue with a word of it.  It reminds of when I go to the track and study all of the form sheets, and pedigrees and past performances and then the horse that wins is the one with the most heart.  Central wins Saturday because they have the most heart.

Evidence please.

I know it when I see it.

To say Central has heart seems accurate.  To say they have more heart than UW-W seems silly. You don't know us.  But you will in 24 hours, so it's all good. 

[Fannosaurus Rex]

I will cop to being silly.

[bleedpurple]

I will cop to being silly.

lol.  The good news is there should be no ice at Perkins Stadium tomorrow, so your beer should be safe. 

[USee]

I will cop to being silly.

lol.  The good news is there should be no ice at Perkins Stadium tomorrow, so your beer should be safe. 

Ice Beer says the Perk will be crackin tomorrow and good luck to both teams. Ice Beer wishes he could attend but it will be too warm.

[bleedpurple]

I will cop to being silly.

lol.  The good news is there should be no ice at Perkins Stadium tomorrow, so your beer should be safe. 

Ice Beer says the Perk will be crackin tomorrow and good luck to both teams. Ice Beer wishes he could attend but it will be too warm.

I hope Ice Beer finds a nice cold place to drink his favorite beverage and watch the games!

[02 Warhawk]

I will cop to being silly.

lol.  The good news is there should be no ice at Perkins Stadium tomorrow, so your beer should be safe. 

Ice Beer says the Perk will be crackin tomorrow and good luck to both teams. Ice Beer wishes he could attend but it will be too warm.

You must be pretty close to this guy then

[Schipper Strong]

Bleed Purple, playoffs are so common to UWW it is just part of a typical 15 week season with some different competition. They may play with heart, but they aren't picked to lose every round, they don't have people saying your O/D lines won't measure up/be up to the task. Nobody assumes that you don't have the depth to replace injured players and still play at a high level. Count me as silly too. I believe we do play with more heart.