FB: American Rivers Conference

[Dsquared]

Warthog... that's what you get on fall break in Wav-town.  You can pretty much bet on 6500 for the conference championship game in 2 weeks though!!

[Wartburg Fan]

 Had to listen to Simpson website today as I couldn't get the Knights,
not complaining as the Simpson guys are very good. What's going on with the   
Knight website

    Congrats to all the winner today and hope no one got hurt.

[Walston Hoover]

I, too had to listen via the Simpson website. Those guys did a very nice job and tried to find positives on an otherwise dreary day for the Storm.
They made it sounds like a lot of very short passes and screens that Yordi threw today. Probably had to the way the wind was blowing.

[DutchFan2004]

Purple,

I think the officials got the call correct on the fumble your coach wanted and got flagged for.  The forward progress was stopped about 5 yards up the field from where the ball was finally pulled out.  IMO the official was very slow in blowing the play dead.  He was signalling all along with his hand in the air where the forward progress was stopped.  I think you can agree when the ball carrier is being pushed back 5 yards from where the forward progress was that the play should have been blown dead. 

[Purple Heys]

Purple,

I think the officials got the call correct on the fumble your coach wanted and got flagged for.  The forward progress was stopped about 5 yards up the field from where the ball was finally pulled out.  IMO the official was very slow in blowing the play dead.  He was signalling all along with his hand in the air where the forward progress was stopped.  I think you can agree when the ball carrier is being pushed back 5 yards from where the forward progress was that the play should have been blown dead. 

You may be right...I wasn't there, I was listening to the Central announcing crew whose opinion differed from yours...they then made the connection back to the DBQ game.

Like I said though that call either way didn't affect the game.

The more important note is, does the IIAC actually rotate or mix officiating crews.  I know from my days of officiating that some guys get familiar with teams and habits and can sometimes get lazy and anticipate a call from a team they see too often.

As I said I saw what looked to be the same crew 3 different weeks at Cornell.

[Purple Heys]

Connell finshes 19-33 4 TD's 326 yards with a pick.

Could have had at least two others picked...really good but maybe not his best, not his worst either.

accuracy wise not so much but 4 td's ties his most and 326 is the most he's passed for.

Not criticizing Connell per se...his numbers today are outstanding...he just seemed a bit off...no doubt the 1-hop snaps didn't help...the way he started on the first series, it looked like he was going to go w/o an incompletion.

But there were balls that very well could have been picked, so possibly the wind also had a hand from keeping him from having a career day.

He's raised the bar so high that expectations are beyond very good... 

[Purple Heys]

Obvious/Not so obvious recap of Central vs. Cornell

Obvious:  Final score 40-13
Not so obvious:  After Central goes opening drive for TD, Cornell holds them scoreless for the remainder of the quarter.  1st half ends tighter than expected.

O:  Connell has a great game 19-33-1 4 TD's 326 yards
NSO:  3 balls could have been picked.  1 in the end zone might have prevented a score in the first half.  Another had Pick 6 written on it but was dropped by the DB

O:  Schuring rushed 25 times for 132 yards
NSO:  Schuring rushed for 65 yards on his last 7 carries after the score was 33-14, including a 43 yard run on an obviously worn out Ram D.  Otherwise the Rams held him relatively in check...compared to years past.

O:  Dallas Bush fumbles inside the Central 5 early in the 3rd quarter.  Central marches it the other way to the put away score.
NSO:  After the Rams made it 19-14 late in the 1st half, Connell drives Central to a TD accounting for 58 of the 67 yards consumed.  Central goes into the locker room at half with a more comfortable 26-14 lead.  If Connell didn't perform up to his MVP quality on this drive and the Dutch go in for the half 19-14...then IF Bush holds on to the ball; Cornell takes the lead early in the 3rd and sphincters in Pella collectively tighten.

O: Central showed why they are on top of this league.  They are a consummate team.  Connell steps up when Schuring has a setback, Schuring is rounding into shape, the receivers do their job run their routes and catch the ball.  When they don't catch it, they block downfield for their mates.  Defense is solid if unspectacular...they don't make many mistakes, and they are there to junp on it when you do.  One weakness...center snaps on the shotgun.
NSO:  Cornell showed well for themselves, all things considered.  This was a game that you can trace back to 10 plays for Cornell to make in order to turn this one into a nailbiter for the Dutch.  Hopefully Cornell's young players look at this instructionally, there was plenty of good to take from today's game against the 6th ranked team in the country.

O:  Several key players graduate from the Dutch.
NSO:  Several key players return next year for the Rams.

[DutchFan2004]

I know for a fact that the IIAC crews are the same week in and week out.  I believe there are 5-6 crews in the IIAC.  The are assigned the games by the IIAC.  If I am not mistaken they try not to have the officials for two games in a row for a team and try to make sure that each crew gets the same amount of looks at each team.  I know that from the program that the crew today was minus the white hat.  Norm Granger (of Iowa Hawkeye fame, a fullback under Hayden Fry) was the white hat today.  He does not normally do this and you could tell he was out of sink with some of the responsibilities of that position.  Over all Norm gets a B in my grade book for his job.  You are correct when you say that the fumble made no difference in the outcome.  

[DutchFan2004]

Purple,

I agree that the things look bright for the Rams future.  Your QB looked like he has a good arm and runs the offense well.  The one thing that maybe be trouble for the Rams is how many O lineman do you graduate?  I think you have most of the skill people back but if you have to build the line again that might present problems.  I know you were predicting 2 wins in the IIAC for your team.  With two games left now is the time to do it.  I know that is a tall order with the last two teams being Wartburg and Coe but like you said turn a few plays around and things could happen for the Rams. 


With the one that you said could have been a pick 6 the d back needed a step or two more. The reason he didn't pick it was the receiver also got his hands on it.  So if he had one more step or so he could have done it.  The ball wasn't just dropped maybe you got that impression from the radio. 


The ball in the endzone could have and maybe should have been picked too you are correct on that.  That ball was thrown into the wind and hung up there awhile.  I thought both QB's threw the ball into the wind pretty well considering the wind was pretty strong. 

[DutchFan2004]

doolittle,

Did you have to get the lucky mower out to get them to get 21 first quarter points?

[doolittledog]

doolittle,

Did you have to get the lucky mower out to get them to get 21 first quarter points?

I went out at 10am this morning and got the back yard done.  So I think that good mojo worked for their 21 point 1st quarter.  Then it wore off and they coasted to their 28-14 win.  I was able to hold out and watch Iowa and listen to UD without resorting to going back out to mow untill after their games were over.  I then went out and finished the ditches and most of the front yard before coming back in.  What happends but I get to watch the 4th quarter of the UNI game.  UNI was down 13-0 and then comes back to win 14-13.  I am beginning to think there is something to this lucky lawn mower thing!!!

[Charlie Kohawk]

Some observations from today's Kohawk victory:

FINALLY!

I was concerned when Coe fumbled it's first possession and Luther drove in for a TD, converting a 4th and 11 along the way. But the Kohawks answered the bell and put together a fairly solid game.

The offense finally seemed to click. Hammes gets better by the week and Ratchford was impressive. Brietbach continues to dazzle in all phases of the game (although they should consider putting him in to block on field goals -- two blocked kicks is unacceptable). Calvin and Tate are more fun to watch than the comic strip.

The guy who amazes me most is Jordan Wilkens. He gets held every single play, yet still leads the league in tackles for loss.

[Ash Park]

Purple,

I agree that the things look bright for the Rams future.  Your QB looked like he has a good arm and runs the offense well.  The one thing that maybe be trouble for the Rams is how many O lineman do you graduate?  I think you have most of the skill people back but if you have to build the line again that might present problems.  I know you were predicting 2 wins in the IIAC for your team.  With two games left now is the time to do it.  I know that is a tall order with the last two teams being Wartburg and Coe but like you said turn a few plays around and things could happen for the Rams. 


With the one that you said could have been a pick 6 the d back needed a step or two more. The reason he didn't pick it was the receiver also got his hands on it.  So if he had one more step or so he could have done it.  The ball wasn't just dropped maybe you got that impression from the radio. 


The ball in the endzone could have and maybe should have been picked too you are correct on that.  That ball was thrown into the wind and hung up there awhile.  I thought both QB's threw the ball into the wind pretty well considering the wind was pretty strong. 

Unfortunately yes they will have to rebuild their o-line. As you said Dutchfan2004 most of the skill guys will be back. I also had the rams picked for 2-3 IIAC wins and still think anything is possible with two games left.

As far as the game today goes I thought the Rams fought hard, but were just simply outmanned and worn down by the end of the 3rd quarter/start of the 4th. Don't get me wrong they had their opportunities, but they did not capitalize.They have to start taking care of the football as well. I love how Central plays football. They have that blue collar attitude and are very disciplined. They are all business and don't get too caught up in all the pregame yelling and chanting. I also thought they seemed to be very good sports on the field and after the game. This goes for the coaching staff as well as I saw that Mcmartin looked to have some good things to say to Coach Dillon afterwards. Connell has my vote for MVP. I know he has showed it in other games as well, but I hadn't had a chance to watch him. I really believe that without him this year Central is sitting with a couple of losses. Good luck to the Dutch the rest of the year.

[Ash Park]

Kind of curious and want another opinion from someone who was at the Central/Cornell game today. Would you say that was an easy 40-14 win for the Dutch? I was just wondering because I was reading some of the posts on the pickems board and many of the predictions were dutch 30-13 easy win, but in all honesty I would say that was a hard fought 40-14 win today. Sounds kind of dumb because hell the score was 40-14 but I guess if you were there you would know what I mean. I do think however that with about 10 minutes to go in the 4th Central had completely worn down the Ram defense and probably could have scored more but who knows. Anyway just curious as to what some of you other people that were at the game thought.

[Purple Heys]

...I know you were predicting 2 wins in the IIAC for your team.  With two games left now is the time to do it.  I know that is a tall order with the last two teams being Wartburg and Coe but like you said turn a few plays around and things could happen for the Rams. 

My feeling at the outset of the season that within Loras, Luther, BV and Simpson; winning two games of those games was realistically doable.  Based on the inconsistant play of those teams and the potential that the Rams showed on many fronts.  I still feel now that the Rams could have won any or all of those games but, at the same time, they have not shown the consistency of effort and execution to win any.

Beating Wartburg and/or Coe is possible.  Augsburg proved that it is possible.  The Rams will need to raise their level of play to make a go of it.