FB: American Rivers Conference

[dbljay21]

And look at that...I am almost back to zero on my karma   

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Despite my earlier rants, Luther WILL be a challenge.  Sherden is the real deal and McGrew looked like an All-American against us.  McGrew is good and plays hard, but Sherden is a stud.  He will be tough.  Sorry to hear McGrew got banged up, hopefully he heals quick.

Hopefully Central and Wartburg tenderized Sherden a bit...

Sherden will probably get the ball a ton as he is the best playmaker (and he should), but I would love as the season progresses to see the Norse keep some people a little more honest by feeding the big guys a little more between the tackles.  RB/FB Lamos (5.5 ypc) and FB Lower (6.0 ypc) have carried the ball only 18 combined times so far while Sherden has carries it 93 times.  Wartburg, Central, and St. Olaf were all keying on Tyler (and rightly so) so the big guys have been effective when given a chance.

Some of the effectiveness is the element of surprise obviously, but that element could still be there if Sherden is carrying the ball 30 times and Lamos and Lower combined for 12-15 carries a game.  Maybe Norse fans will see more of this as the season goes on and defenses continue to focus in on stopping the talented Norse tailback.  It's not like the Norse are the only team giving the carries mostly to the speedy tailback, but I miss the days seeing lots of stud fullbacks deeply involved in all aspects of the run game.

Wartburg has usually done a nice job of spreading the ball among a couple of RBs.  When was the last true fullback that got 400-600 yards rushing the ball to complement what the tailback was doing?  At Iowa it was probably Sedrick Shaw and Kent Kahl in 1994.

RB/FB Adam Davis (600-plus yards and RB Mike Jefferson (around a 1,000 yards) played in the backfield together at Luther in 2003, but Davis was more of tough tailback who also could split backfield duties.  If I remember correctly, the Norse also used other blocking fullbacks.

[sportsknight]

SportsKnight...did you get a chance to order tickets for playoffs?  Maybe head to Chi-town and stand outside Wrigley on game day?  Go Cubs Go!

No, I didn't.  Actually I had no idea they were going on sale this weekend, or I might have given it a shot.  Checked eBay this morning, and it looks like SRO tickets are going for 130 a pop or so - and that's for the Game 4 that probably won't happen after the Cubs sweep whoever they see first.  Depending on how things go the next couple weeks, I may try to sneak into Chi-town on one of the gamedays.  Just have to wait and see.

Interesting note for Cubs/Wartburg fans:  If there is a Game 7 in the NLCS, it will be played the day of Wartburg's Homecoming.  How sweet a double-dip would that be?  Knights over Coe on the HC and then off to the KnightHawk or the Goat to watch the Cubs clinch their first World Series berth in 62 years!

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Did Jon Pettlon transfer from Iowa to Luther?

He was a great athlete in high school at East Buchanon.  Didn't he play fullback at first for the Norse before switching to DL before his senior year?

Jon was at Iowa during at least one rebuilding year, but I do remember him playing well in a game or two on the Hawk kickoff team and kickoff return team.

[Walston Hoover]

dbljay-
My karma has taken a severe hit over the last 2 weeks as well. Who is the "karma bandit" around here.

Question for the board-If there were such a thing as a "hot seat" at an IIAC school, who would be on it right now?
Niemann? Hefty with the 2-8 season last year and winless to start this year? BV coach after to straight 0-fer the game to start the conference.?
I have to imagine after last year and the beginning of this year that Brautigham seat has cooled considerably.

[dbljay21]

I couldn't agree with you more Floyd...Lamos and Lower should get some more carries to keep defenses honest.  They are both very effective with high YPC.  And I wouldn't be opposed to the Norse pounding the rock behind that offensive line.  Eat up some clock and punish the opposing defense between the tackles.

When I was there, Pettlon was already playing SLB, and in the Norse defense he would line up as LB in some formations and as a DE in others.  He was strong, smart and versatile enough to play both positions.

[Thunderbolt]

  Heys- Luther will not be the last team to struggle with the Wartburg tight end. The Rams would be silly not to try to expose the Norse down field. They should get plenty of opportunities, as third and long could be the flavor of the day. The game should hinge on, if the Norse D. can get off the field. ( Not loosing 15 yards on every exchange of punts might help also.)   Here's to another entertaining Saturday.

[dbljay21]

dbljay-
My karma has taken a severe hit over the last 2 weeks as well. Who is the "karma bandit" around here.

Question for the board-If there were such a thing as a "hot seat" at an IIAC school, who would be on it right now?
Niemann? Hefty with the 2-8 season last year and winless to start this year? BV coach after to straight 0-fer the game to start the conference.?
I have to imagine after last year and the beginning of this year that Brautigham seat has cooled considerably.

I don't know who the "karma bandit" is but I am glad to be back at 0.  No karma is better than bad karma  

I think Hefty gets a pass this year because the Norse have lost 3 games to 3 ranked opponents, and the Norse were competitive in all of the games.  Better execution by the Norse and we could be talking about the 3-0 Norse instead of the 0-3 Norse.  But I can't stand the "woulda, shoulda, couldas" so we will move on.  

IIAC Hot Seats:
1. BV
2. Simpson
3. Cornell
4. Loras
5. Luther
6. Dubuque
7. Coe
8. Central
9. Wartburg

that is how I would rank the schools in the IIAC from hottest to coolest

[doolittledog]

Maybe it's just me but this board seems to dish out a lot more negative karma than others on here.  I always thought you shouldn't get negative karma unless you made it personal like calling someone a pillow biter.  I'm all for positive karma and dish that out pretty liberally but sometimes I think anybody I give positive karma to soon has lower karma than when I bumped them up, especially DutchFan2004.  On a side note, I have lost karma when the only post I had made in days was my pick-ems.  So apparently if you pick a team to lose that someone on here likes they might just give you neg-karma. 

[Walston Hoover]

I think you have the temperature of Dillon's seat too high. As an alum at a school that has done nothing on the gridiron in the last 6 years, I am sure he will have ample time to try and turn that thing around.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Question for the board-If there were such a thing as a "hot seat" at an IIAC school, who would be on it right now?
Niemann? Hefty with the 2-8 season last year and winless to start this year? BV coach after to straight 0-fer the game to start the conference.?
I have to imagine after last year and the beginning of this year that Brautigham seat has cooled considerably.

B.V., Loras, and Cornell have coaches that haven't been there very long, so I would think that helps the three head men.  I always thought 3-5 years was the normal time given to coaches, but sometimes the signs are very apparent before that.  Loras also has that RB injury situation I guess (how long are they supposed to out for?) as well.

B.V. and Luther knew that they had tough schedules to start the season.  However, if the programs continue to struggle as the season goes on then perhaps the heat will be raised.  

Coach Hefty had good karma built up during his first four years with his attitude/personality and the three straight upper division finishes.  Last year put a big dent in that karma, but a strong finish this year could make last year look like an unusual season.

The Simpson situation looks the hottest even though the Storm knew that this might not be their season in 2007.  That program was too strong in the late 1980s and 1990s to revert back to Simpson of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

[dutchfan1]

Coco -- always wonderful to see you on the board again. You know you can visit Iowa anytime! We loved having you here!

Airborne -- good to see you on the board! From your email address, it doesn't look as though you will see many games this season....

As far as coaches/coaching staffs in the hot seat around the IIAC, I would imagine that Simpson's coaches would lead the list. Success is typically measured by "W's" and this coaches can't boast many at the D3 level...Niemann should have made a much greater impact at Simpson by now, in my opinion.

[ramfan27]

I agree with W-H, many people thought that Dillon should've been the hire after Miller retired.  Since Reasland got 4 years to try and turn it around, I would expect Dillon to get at least that much time, if not more if the Rams start to show improvement.  We never had a year that our W-L record was better than it was the previous year under Reasland.  So I think any improvement would give Dillon some cushion.

[admin]

To the IIAC fan who is attempting to register for a second username from the same IP address -- why? You are already registered.

[WartTrainer]

I have seen Simpson play twice this season and both times I thought the defense looked pretty good. The offense is what I was unimpressed with and I am pretty sure Niemann doesnt call that.  Granted as a head coach he is responsible for the entire team but I dont think he should be on the hot seat..and if he were to get the boot I think they should bring in someone who is not currently on staff.