FB: American Rivers Conference

[hazzben]

However, The O-Line lost 1 guy. If UD didn't have the best RB in the conference, Kyle Acker would have been starting since his freshman year.

Bringing back 4 of your 5 O-lineman and an all conference TE certainly bodes well for them. I still think it's gonna be tough, but that is huge. If you graduate tons of skill position talent, bringing back the guys in the trenches is essential.

I think the biggest hurdle might be the schedule. Huge props for doing it, but the middle 7 games are just a brutal stretch.

Sep 08   at UW-Platteville   
Sep 15   vs UW-Stevens Point
Sep 29   at Central College   
Oct 06   at Luther College   
Oct 13   vs Coe College - Homecoming   
Oct 20   at Wartburg College   
Oct 27   vs Simpson College   

UWP is supposed to be one of the better teams in the WIAC. UWSP, even if they aren't elite, are still a solid WIAC team. Then back to back road games at Central and Luther. 4 of the 7 games in the meat of their season are on the road against legit competition.

I could see them going anywhere from 3-4 to 6-1 during that stretch. But if they win them all, assuming they don't lay eggs against Auggie, Loras and BV, they'll have played a schedule that prepares them incredibly well for the playoffs. And should give them a great seed, assuming their SOS numbers remain as strong as they look like they will be on paper. And a killer SOS with tons of quality in-region games means even a loss probably ensures that they are a very strong Pool C candidate. - I know, I know, way to early to talk about playoffs. But I just couldn't resist 

[Willie University]

I think we all know what players will sorely be missed by the Spartans.

However, The O-Line lost 1 guy. If UD didn't have the best RB in the conference, Kyle Acker would have been starting since his freshman year. He could have started at every other school in my opinion. Not to mention RB2 is quite a talent as well. Miles Hookstead returns as the top TE in the conference and a great pass catcher. Wyatt Hanus has 3 years of being in Coach Z's system. Is deadly accurate and very intelligent.

Given all of those factors, I am not worried in the least. As far as the biggest "concern"....who will replace zweifel and fleming? That is simple for me to answer. No one can REPLACE them but I have confidence that the coaching staff is going to put guys out there that can get the job done. And if you haven't figured out by now after the 1st IIAC championship in 30 years, Coach Z and staff are pretty darn good recruiters.

It's not rebuild anymore, it's reload my friends

Willie U

What you're not taking into account is how Zweifel forced defenses to alter their base defense, philosophy, and game plan which allowed those other players to exploit holes. Without him there teams can go back to what they do best and play it straight up. No longer will players be playing out of position or with different responsibilities from what they learned in camp and every other week of the season.

Also, I don't know how many titles you have to win in x amount of years, but I know its not 1 in 30 before you can start claiming you reload instead of rebuild haha.

Or you can look at it the other way, now the Spartans will be even more unpredictable on offense and tougher to defend. You couldn't stop them when you knew where the ball was going 

[Willie University]

However, The O-Line lost 1 guy. If UD didn't have the best RB in the conference, Kyle Acker would have been starting since his freshman year.

Bringing back 4 of your 5 O-lineman and an all conference TE certainly bodes well for them. I still think it's gonna be tough, but that is huge. If you graduate tons of skill position talent, bringing back the guys in the trenches is essential.

I think the biggest hurdle might be the schedule. Huge props for doing it, but the middle 7 games are just a brutal stretch.

Sep 08   at UW-Platteville   
Sep 15   vs UW-Stevens Point
Sep 29   at Central College   
Oct 06   at Luther College   
Oct 13   vs Coe College - Homecoming   
Oct 20   at Wartburg College   
Oct 27   vs Simpson College   

UWP is supposed to be one of the better teams in the WIAC. UWSP, even if they aren't elite, are still a solid WIAC team. Then back to back road games at Central and Luther. 4 of the 7 games in the meat of their season are on the road against legit competition.

I could see them going anywhere from 3-4 to 6-1 during that stretch. But if they win them all, assuming they don't lay eggs against Auggie, Loras and BV, they'll have played a schedule that prepares them incredibly well for the playoffs. And should give them a great seed, assuming their SOS numbers remain as strong as they look like they will be on paper. And a killer SOS with tons of quality in-region games means even a loss probably ensures that they are a very strong Pool C candidate. - I know, I know, way to early to talk about playoffs. But I just couldn't resist 

The schedule is definitely tough and in reality, the conference is certainly up for grabs to about 4-5 teams in my opinion at this point. I am not saying the Spartans are going to run away with anything but I also don't believe they can be counted "out" because of the talent lost. They have 170 guys reporting to camp that think otherwise.

[notlongago]

I think we all know what players will sorely be missed by the Spartans.

However, The O-Line lost 1 guy. If UD didn't have the best RB in the conference, Kyle Acker would have been starting since his freshman year. He could have started at every other school in my opinion. Not to mention RB2 is quite a talent as well. Miles Hookstead returns as the top TE in the conference and a great pass catcher. Wyatt Hanus has 3 years of being in Coach Z's system. Is deadly accurate and very intelligent.

Given all of those factors, I am not worried in the least. As far as the biggest "concern"....who will replace zweifel and fleming? That is simple for me to answer. No one can REPLACE them but I have confidence that the coaching staff is going to put guys out there that can get the job done. And if you haven't figured out by now after the 1st IIAC championship in 30 years, Coach Z and staff are pretty darn good recruiters.

It's not rebuild anymore, it's reload my friends

Willie U

What you're not taking into account is how Zweifel forced defenses to alter their base defense, philosophy, and game plan which allowed those other players to exploit holes. Without him there teams can go back to what they do best and play it straight up. No longer will players be playing out of position or with different responsibilities from what they learned in camp and every other week of the season.

Also, I don't know how many titles you have to win in x amount of years, but I know its not 1 in 30 before you can start claiming you reload instead of rebuild haha.

Or you can look at it the other way, now the Spartans will be even more unpredictable on offense and tougher to defend. You couldn't stop them when you knew where the ball was going 

Haha....eternal optimism.

[NewKnightDad]

I think we all know what players will sorely be missed by the Spartans.

However, The O-Line lost 1 guy. If UD didn't have the best RB in the conference, Kyle Acker would have been starting since his freshman year. He could have started at every other school in my opinion. Not to mention RB2 is quite a talent as well. Miles Hookstead returns as the top TE in the conference and a great pass catcher. Wyatt Hanus has 3 years of being in Coach Z's system. Is deadly accurate and very intelligent.

Given all of those factors, I am not worried in the least. As far as the biggest "concern"....who will replace zweifel and fleming? That is simple for me to answer. No one can REPLACE them but I have confidence that the coaching staff is going to put guys out there that can get the job done. And if you haven't figured out by now after the 1st IIAC championship in 30 years, Coach Z and staff are pretty darn good recruiters.

It's not rebuild anymore, it's reload my friends

Willie U

So the best running back in the conference is out rushed by a 3rd string back against Wartburg? Hopefully Thompson will remain healthy for his senior season and return to the ranks of the best backs in the IIAC.  WB has to replace a center and both tackles on their offensive line and a QB but I believe they will do it and challenge for the IIAC title again this year.

[Kohawk Krazy]

Personal opinion on running backs, but I don't think there is a better 1-2 punch than Coe's Brendan Leiran and Carvin Thompson in the IIAC. Leiran was a first team running back and was hampered by injury most of the season.  He sat out the Simpson game, giving Thompson his first start. He only rushed for 107 yards in his first career start.

Add to that, they have Ashton Northern coaching them this year.

[doolittledog]

What you're not taking into account is how Zweifel forced defenses to alter their base defense, philosophy, and game plan which allowed those other players to exploit holes. Without him there teams can go back to what they do best and play it straight up. No longer will players be playing out of position or with different responsibilities from what they learned in camp and every other week of the season.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...wait just a minute.  I think it was decided on here that Zweifel was average at best and every IIAC team had 5 or 6 receivers that were just as good or better, it's just that their coaching staffs didn't want to throw to just 1 receiver so much.  Therefore, how could an average receiver still get all those receptions when other teams were altering their base defenses because of him?  That just don't make no sense

As for this year...Dubuque returns the nucleus of their O-line, an all-conference TE, a RB that ran for almost 500 yards last year in a back up roll, and an all-conference QB.  I think the Spartans will have an O-line that can make holes for a good running game and can protect the QB long enough for him to find an open receiver.  I think the Spartans will be fine...now, that doesn't mean they can't find a way to lose a few games this year.  Central, Coe, Wartburg, UW-Platteville and others will all be great teams that could give UD a loss.  It my opinion it would mean Dubuque lost to another good team, not that Dubuque had taken a step back in talent. 

[doolittledog]

I just got back from a 3 day cruise up the Atlantic coast on the USS Abraham Lincoln as part of a Tiger Cruise.  There was an IIAC connection there.  The Aviation Supply Officer told me her dad went to Central and her uncle went to Coe.  She told me they went to those schools on athletic scholarships.  So, either...

A - She is just unaware of D3 schools not actually offering athletic scholarships

B - Her dad and uncle, like many former D3 athletes, tell people they ran track on an athletic scholarship

C - They were at those schools prior to 1973 or so before D3 was formed and could have been on some form of athletic scholarship

D - The NCAA needs to investigate Central and Coe right friggen now!!!

[DutchFan2004]

This season the Cornell Rams return...wait...never mind.   

Did you mean they return to their old conference?

[DutchFan2004]

I think we all know what players will sorely be missed by the Spartans.

However, The O-Line lost 1 guy. If UD didn't have the best RB in the conference, Kyle Acker would have been starting since his freshman year. He could have started at every other school in my opinion. Not to mention RB2 is quite a talent as well. Miles Hookstead returns as the top TE in the conference and a great pass catcher. Wyatt Hanus has 3 years of being in Coach Z's system. Is deadly accurate and very intelligent.

Given all of those factors, I am not worried in the least. As far as the biggest "concern"....who will replace zweifel and fleming? That is simple for me to answer. No one can REPLACE them but I have confidence that the coaching staff is going to put guys out there that can get the job done. And if you haven't figured out by now after the 1st IIAC championship in 30 years, Coach Z and staff are pretty darn good recruiters.

It's not rebuild anymore, it's reload my friends

Willie U

What you're not taking into account is how Zweifel forced defenses to alter their base defense, philosophy, and game plan which allowed those other players to exploit holes. Without him there teams can go back to what they do best and play it straight up. No longer will players be playing out of position or with different responsibilities from what they learned in camp and every other week of the season.

Also, I don't know how many titles you have to win in x amount of years, but I know its not 1 in 30 before you can start claiming you reload instead of rebuild haha.

Well I agree with your premise about reloading vs rebuilding but if UD keeps winning the IIAC you could make the case that they reloaded vs rebuilt but at this time I think the proper term is rebuild. 

[DutchFan2004]

I just got back from a 3 day cruise up the Atlantic coast on the USS Abraham Lincoln as part of a Tiger Cruise.  There was an IIAC connection there.  The Aviation Supply Officer told me her dad went to Central and her uncle went to Coe.  She told me they went to those schools on athletic scholarships.  So, either...

A - She is just unaware of D3 schools not actually offering athletic scholarships

B - Her dad and uncle, like many former D3 athletes, tell people they ran track on an athletic scholarship

C - They were at those schools prior to 1973 or so before D3 was formed and could have been on some form of athletic scholarship

D - The NCAA needs to investigate Central and Coe right friggen now!!!

Now now I think you are jumping the gun just a little bit.   

[Willie University]

I know I should be careful about the conclusions I draw based on stats from the 4th quarter in Dubuque's 2011 blow out of Central, a game I have only read about and saw none of.  But there seemed to be more to the Spartans than Zweifel.  In the whole fourth quarter, Dubuque ran 20 offensive plays.  I don't know how many of them Zweifel was on the field for, but 18 of the 20 fourth quarter plays were, "Kyle Acker rush for X yards."  In 18 carries he averaged 6.1 yards per, including a touchdown.  At some point, I like to think Central must have figured out who was going to get the ball and they still couldn't stop him.  And he was only a sophomore.  I know the game was pretty much over at that point, but it is enough for me to think that Dubuque could be a contender without Zweifel.

Don't draw any conclusions from that fourth quarter. I did watch it, and aside from not having some starters out there, Central was a broken team by that point having been thoroughly decimated by dubuque (specifically Zweifel and Hanus)...not to mention roughly 30 of ackers yards came off a long run where central had him wrapped up at the line, but another would be tackler hit his own defender off the ball carrier thus springing him for the majority of those yards and TD

Kyle Acker is #20; Judge for yourself what kind of running back he is as you will see at least 5 "highlights" of him and not just a 30 yard run. AND if I remember correctly, the one scoring run by him was called back due to holding and he did it again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfYGOFZbaZ8

[warthog]

I just got back from a 3 day cruise up the Atlantic coast on the USS Abraham Lincoln as part of a Tiger Cruise.  There was an IIAC connection there.  The Aviation Supply Officer told me her dad went to Central and her uncle went to Coe.  She told me they went to those schools on athletic scholarships.  So, either...

A - She is just unaware of D3 schools not actually offering athletic scholarships

B - Her dad and uncle, like many former D3 athletes, tell people they ran track on an athletic scholarship

C - They were at those schools prior to 1973 or so before D3 was formed and could have been on some form of athletic scholarship

D - The NCAA needs to investigate Central and Coe right friggen now!!!

I don't know about Coe and the MWC back in the day, but it is likely the Aviation Supply Officer's dad was at Central when it was an NAIA school.  I'm not sure what year all IIAC schools made the switch to NCAA.  Back in the dark ages when I was at Wartburg, we were NAIA.  It is very likely he did receive some sort of athletic scholarship if he is of a certain age.

[warthog]

I hope the Hanus freshman quarterback at Wartburg turns out to be as good as the Hanus senior quarterback at Dubuque.  Keeping my fingers crossed,

[Fannosaurus Rex]

Central lost to Whitewater in an NAIA play-off game at the end of the 1966 season.  I think 1967 was some kind of transition year because Central went undefeated but didn't do post season.  I don't know what happened in 1968 but I'm pretty sure in 1969 they wore NCAA 100 year anniversary patches on their uniform sleeves.  Now if I could just remember where I put my keys five minutes ago...