FB: American Rivers Conference

[hazzben]

And Walner Belleus had a bigger impact than stats show.  In an early season game against Luther he had a kickoff return for a TD, a punt return for a TD, on defense he had an INT and forced a fumble, on offense he had 6 receptions for over 100 yards and 1 TD.  After that game no one would kickoff or punt to him and no one would throw towards him.  Defensively that freed up the D to load up the box and stop the run.  Special teams gained a field position advantage.  While Belleus may not have been all-world, he was 1st team all-conference special teams, 2nd team all-conference receiver (on a team that featured the run) and honorable mention DB (no one would throw the ball near him).  And Belleus came into UD with nowhere near the credentials the VA Tech transfer has. 

I'd agree with doolittle here. Belleus was the a super hyped athlete who in a weird way was almost underappreciated on the field when he played in the IIAC. He was a remarkable athlete that teams went out of there way to avoid at all costs.

But I have no idea how the VA Tech kid will stack up. The HS rating system is really limited. They project an omniscient ability to rate all these players. IMO, they tend to do best on rating the elite level talent on the best teams playing in the most talent rich areas (which may be just what this VA Tech kid was). So if you're a stud RB on a good team in TX, they are going to invest resources and manpower to dissect just how good you are. If you're a stud RB on an average IA of SD team, the accuracy of the rating is greatly diminished. And the less stat heavy your position, the more extreme the swing of precision. A great DT on a below average team off the beaten path will get nary a look on those websites. They'll maybe just throw 2 stars at the kid to make it look like he was actually scouted.

Bottom line, some kids are legit, some don't pan out and there are tons of diamonds in the rough. Fred Jackson or Pierre Garcon anyone? But if I was UD, I'd be excited to have gotten a transfer that looks to have the makings of a good player.

[putmeincoach]

I would say Dubuque just jumped from probable favorite to clear favorite to win the IIAC

[notlongago]

I would say Dubuque just jumped from probable favorite to clear favorite to win the IIAC

Like I said earlier, dubq jumped from a contender and a probable 2nd or 3rd place finish to being the far and away favorite.

Let's look at it like this: when was the last D1 transfer that didn't pan out? Central had a couple in '05 or '06 that tore it up, Walner belleus was obviously very good despite some comments here, Nate Snead actually played at Drake before Central, who else

[footballdaddy]

Obviously, we should all just save everyone a lot of time and just award Dubuque the conference title and a semi-final spot in the playoffs. I'm sure the 85+ freshmen they have in camp could finish second. Then we could all go and watch soccer.

[doolittledog]

Obviously, we should all just save everyone a lot of time and just award Dubuque the conference title and a semi-final spot in the playoffs. I'm sure the 85+ freshmen they have in camp could finish second. Then we could all go and watch soccer.

we have to play the games ...we wouldn't have tailgating otherwise 

[doolittledog]

When i showed my wife the list of games we were planning to go to this season, she looked at the Wartburg game and said  "they don't really have a stripper bus ...do they??"

[putmeincoach]

How many teams had a scrimmage this past Saturday?  Did anyone attend?  How did teams look with just over a week of practice?

[wartknight]

Was driving through Dubuque on Saturday, had some extra time so I ventured over to see if I could get a look @ the Spartans. As fate has it, I was fortunate enough to catch a scrimmage. The VA Tech guy is truly amazing!! With his ability they were able to use only 10 defensive players, allowing them to use twelve on offense because of the new college rule. In talking with another spectator, he said I just missed the transfer on the offensive side of the ball; evidently he was just as amazing there. They lined him up in the wildcat, but rather than having him run the ball, he through a pass to himself for a big gainer! I hope the rest of the league is ready!!

[wartknight]

When i showed my wife the list of games we were planning to go to this season, she looked at the Wartburg game and said  "they don't really have a stripper bus ...do they??"

NKD, FBD
Which one of you has the keys?

[footballdaddy]

When i showed my wife the list of games we were planning to go to this season, she looked at the Wartburg game and said  "they don't really have a stripper bus ...do they??"

NKD, FBD
Which one of you has the keys?

I would hesitate to use the word "strippers". They are more like "entertainment consultants". That's is what Wartburg's business department told us so we can write off the tips.

[NewKnightDad]

Wow there is alot of Dubuque kool-aid going around.

I must be from Missouri!!

I have one set of keys but I will be passing them on to another deserving Dad soon.

Wartburg won and lost their scrimmage last night, it was intra squad.  They scrimmage someone this friday and it has been Wisc. Platteville the last 4 years.

[notlongago]

I heard that Jack Flaherty looked good at QB for the Dutch in their scrimmage...Evidently the Iowa transfer will be playing receiver.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

And Walner Belleus had a bigger impact than stats show.  In an early season game against Luther he had a kickoff return for a TD, a punt return for a TD, on defense he had an INT and forced a fumble, on offense he had 6 receptions for over 100 yards and 1 TD.  After that game no one would kickoff or punt to him and no one would throw towards him.  Defensively that freed up the D to load up the box and stop the run.  Special teams gained a field position advantage.  While Belleus may not have been all-world, he was 1st team all-conference special teams, 2nd team all-conference receiver (on a team that featured the run) and honorable mention DB (no one would throw the ball near him).  And Belleus came into UD with nowhere near the credentials the VA Tech transfer has. 

Walner dominated the Luther-Dubuque game in 2006.  In fact, it might have been the best overall performance I have seen from any player in person.  The Norse did not intend to give him that many chances as the crowd was groaning even before he started running on some of those plays, but the rest of the league saw that tape and some of the returns he had at Iowa.

If I remember right, the Spartans were 5-3 in the league in 2006.  They were in last place at least the 5 years before that.  Walner made a big impact when you think about where that program was before that season.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Anyone have a sense of how large the Norse roster is?

Luther's 2012 roster <here>

Another season of having a roster in the 80s?  The overall roster size and depth of talent felt better during the Hefty era.  Recruiting classes used to be around 40 freshmen, but the last few years seem to be more like 25.

This coaching staff has done a solid job of winning games considering the overall depth of the roster (2008-present), but the depth of talent just does not appear to be there and the schedule is getting tougher (on paper at least).

I guess that is why they are fighting it out with B.V. and Loras (on paper at least).  I hope they prove me and the preseason polls wrong!

[Floyd in Iowa City]

The Iowa Conference waited until friday afternoon, but here is their football season preview and coaches poll.

http://www.iowaconference.com/news/2012/8/17/FB_0817122634.aspx

Rank    School (1st place votes)    Points    2011 Record
1    Dubuque (6)    52    9-2, 7-1 IIAC
2    Wartburg            48    8-2, 6-2 IIAC
3    Simpson (1)    41    5-5, 5-3 IIAC
4    Central (1)            40    7-3, 6-2 IIAC
5    Coe                    39    6-4, 6-2 IIAC
6    Buena Vista    23    2-8, 2-6 IIAC
7    Luther            22    3-7, 3-5 IIAC
8    Loras            15    1-9, 0-8 IIAC

Let the outrage, the what the hecks, and what were they thinkings commence...

It was a close vote, but when was the last time Coe was 5th in the preseason poll? 

The bottom three clearly finished behind the top five.