FB: American Rivers Conference

[Walston Hoover]

Dbljay-That Runningback from Millikin had almost 1500 yards last year and was an all region player. Can't say much about the Augsburg game other than that the Knights have traditionally struggled against scrambling quarterbacks.

Picks

BV 28
Cornell 12

I'm being pretty generous to Cornell here

Central 15
Loras 0

Duhawks shut out for second week in a row

SImpson 42
UD          12

Simpson struggles for the first 30 seconds before finding their rhythm and rolling the Spartans. My gut tells me upset may be brewing here but it may just be gas

Wartburg 24
Luther      7

The "close" game leads Luther to claim they need more respect. I think War Pig put it best earlier this week when he said this will be Luther's coming out party. This game scared me a lot before the season started, but somethings telling me it shouldn't..... THose darn voices in my head.

[dbljay21]

Walston,
Thanks for info on the Millikin RB...1500 yards is no easy task for any RB.  He must be a talented player and can't blame Wartburg defense for giving up yards to an all-region performer...We will see how they do against Sherden who led the league in rushing last season...Saturday will say alot about both Luther and Wartburg.

[NorseFan]

My first predictions of the season:

Central over Loras in a squeeker

BV over Cornell in a very big day for the Beaver passing game.

UD comes close but Simpson digs deeper and pulls out the win.

Wartburg at Luther.  This one is a tough one.  I really think it will be decided by less than a TD.  I don't care what Sherdens avg. is (and I doubt he does either) or how many yards he has but it will be the two big runs he breaks that give the Norse the win.  I also think Sheetz will have some good returns to set up the O and the Norse D pulls it together.  Great game all around but the W goes to Luther.

[Confused77]

If the Smurfs lose does that mean all of them will no longer post? I think it has been that way for the past few seasons. They breathe fire and then they get beat by the Knights and they quiet down a bit. Don't take it the wrong way Smurf fans. You Smurfs are WAY better this year than they have been in the past, but calm yourselves until you win the big one. I don't want you to waste all your energy here and not have any to spare come Saturday.

Loras- Central- Loras has been a monster on Defense and it appears that Central can put some points on the board. Loras 13 Central 0. <----Shut out Special

BV Rolls the Rams

Simpson beats UD by a lot

Wartburg 31 Luther 24  Defending champs know how to win big games. Willis will have them ready.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Wow, it's shocking that no Wartburg fan has picked the Norse!  I think most Knight fans would pick Wartburg even if Luther were 3-0 against the schedule of Mt. Union, North Dakota, and Nebraska-Omaha just because of recent history since the early 90s.  Much like the Iowa-Iowa State series from 1983-1997, it took that 1998 loss before most Iowa fans would even acknowledge that Iowa had a chance to lose the game.  You never know what will happen in an IIAC game with two talented teams, but I tend to think both teams will wind up with over 21 points.  Turnovers are what could make the game wacky, as Luther was -4 last year in the 16-7 loss.  

The times are a changing from the last ten years that many Luther fans are actually picking the Norse!  What gives most Norse fans hope is not just what Sherdan did the last half of last season, but also how Luther turned around their early season turnover issues and ended up +7 and leading the league with 30 forced turnovers.  

I felt going into the season that Luther had to win at least 7 games this year for this season to be considered a success (unless significant injuries hit the team).  A win over an individual team does not make or break the season, but if Luther wants a legit chance at the title they need to at least win at least one of the next two games against Wartburg and Coe.

[qbdriver]

BV 16
Cornell 0  (Cornell blanked again)  

Central 28
Loras 6     (Central gets back on track)

Simpson 35
UD          7  (Simpson still stinging from the lost to Wartburg rolls on parents day)

Luther      24
Wartburg 21

Norse break the streak and stroll into Coe's Homecoming next week on a roll.....Setting up another big match-up.  Wartburg scratches their head wondering why they can't win on the road......They shut Sheridan down but the passing game and defense comes up big.  Those experienced receivers and QB torch the Knights.

As far as the rankings go, they still mean nothing at this point for the IIAC.  Someone will have to be undefeated into week 7 for them to mean anything.  There's no recent history that the rest of the country should treat us any differently.  Now if Coe and Wartburg would have played any of the top 15 in there early non-conference games there may have been a measuring stick for them to compare us to but unfortunately they did not.  

CooCoo,  regarding Coe's idle week.  Are they fixing the field down there?  I talked with some Platteville guys who said the game field was coming up in chunks and said it was a mess after their scrimmage.  What happened, bugs?  That is usually the case.  Ask the Hawkeyes about there big cover-up regarding the maintenance of their field and how it got grubs because they didn't treat it.  Do they have a place to practice?  We all know you have the worst field conditions in the conference.   They should get some turf!  Also, do they know who the QB is yet?  Looking at the box score I am sure everyone was surprised by the 12 for 30, 117 yard passing performance by Tekippe.  

Walston, dbljay, norsefan, lc65, sportsknight or warthog, is there any significant injuries that we should be aware of regarding the game at Decorah Saturday?   I heard that Wartburg had an o-lineman down........and Luther also had one of their d-lineman or linebackers that was questionable.  

Dutchfan,  did Greiner your inside LB sprain or tear his ACL?  I also heard that he was out by the second quarter of the Coe game!  You must have a good back-up to hold Coe to 204 yards offense.  

[dbljay21]

qbdriver,
I talked to the receivers coach twice this week and he didn't mention any injuries to any of the Norse that would be playing this week...I do know that Scheetz was a little banged up, but he is fine and our 4th wide receiver is back after an injury sidelined him last week.   

[Floyd in Iowa City]

I think Loras does have enough defense to throw a shutout if they had the offense to support the defense by moving the ball, eating some clock, scoring points, etc.  

Even if the Duhawk Offense is legit or average by Iowa Conference standards, I still think Central finds a way to put enough points on the board to at least have a shot at winning.  No one has won more close games over the years than the Dutch!  In fact, if anyone is winning 13-0 I would think that would be Central.

No matter the records or personnel, Loras-Central always sounds good on paper because both teams usually pride themselves on good physical defenses.  It also might for me to be related to the late 80s-early 90s when I started following the IIAC closer and Loras was usually 7-3 while Central was 10-1 or whatever their average record was over the last 40 years.

[lorbec47]

Floyd--you're right. The Loras defense is tough, but we'll see.
Show--#16 is the best athlete Loras has on offense. I sure hope he's playing, but I've heard nothing yet.

[LC65]

Floyd,
Well said about what Luther needs to do in order to have a chance at the title, I totally agree with you there.

Walston,
the Millikin back is amazing, no doubt, but keep in mind that Sheridan led the conf. in rushing last season and he only played 4 games!

qbdriver,
I went down and hung out with some of my buddies who still play for Luther on Tuesday. They said that their could be some adjustments made with positions on their starting D, but that it was not due to injury, simply finding who fits best where, and who can play ball. But nothing significant.

[WartTrainer]

Not that anyone cares but here are my picks:

BV over Cornell 24-0

Loras finds a way to beat the Dutch 23-21

Simpson rolls over UD 49- 13

The Knights win a close one over the Norse.  Sheridan is tough and will have a good day.  The Knights offense will be better against the Norse D this year with Romans and Jaeger gone.   20-17

[NorseFan]

LC65 just to clarify cause I'm a stickler.  Sherden played RB for 5 and one half games. 

The second half of the UD game.  134 yrds
Both ways against BV.  187 yrds
Central.  164 yrds
Loras.  165 yrds
Cornell.  161 yrds
Simpson.  51 CARRIES for 240 YARDS.  I don't care what the average is on that one.  If you can carry that many times you are a HORSE!!!  (4.7 yrds/carry)

Those are some darn good numbers.

[dutchfan1]

My picks for the week:

BV over Cornell -- the Rams don't stand a chance.
Simpson over UD
Luther over Wartburg -- call it a hunch, but I see this as the perceived upset of the week.
Central over Loras -- the Dutch take out their aggressions from the Coe game on the DuHawks.

[The Show]

One thing about Sherdan that I noticed from the BV game last year...he always falls forward.  I admire that.

[DutchFan2004]

I think Griener has to have Knee surgery.  Not sure what he tore but he is done from what I have heard.