FB: American Rivers Conference

[warthog]

One of the best parts about early season and especially week one games is you really see which coaches are best when its on the line on Saturdays. Some guys are great at x's and o's and putting together a game plan but not as strong at adjusting when things go off the rails. Week 1 really separates out which coaches can make game time and halftime adjustments. Every team has surprises in store for their opponent if for nothing else than the fact that there are always new faces. Doesn't always mean their team wins, but its fun to watch what happens in the second half during week one.

I agree with hazzben.

From Wartburg web-site:

Willis is 113-27 (.807 percent) leading the program. His 113 wins are the most in program history, while his winning percentage ranks sixth among active NCAA Division III coaches.

The Knights are 7-0 in night home openers and are 11-0 since the opening of Walston-Hoover Stadium in 2001.

[IdahoSoccer1]

DuHawks are going to run the table. 

This is the year. 

Tom Brady's cousin has been KILLING pre-season. Huge recruit for the DuHawks

[D3Dutchman]

talked with a couple of guys who saw the Simpson/Grandview scrimmage - heard Simpson and Nelson looked very good

according to one dad (and I emphasize dad) Simpson out scored GV

saw Grandview/Graceland - if it's true Simpson outplayed GV lookout for the Storm!

GV is very athletic and a very good NAIA team

I found this on the NAIA board...I will stress NAIA fans have the ability to exagerate reality...either way, interesting to see the differences in opinion between a Grand View fan and a Simpson fan.

As a whole in their Simpson scrimmage, the WR's are outstanding, RB's looked alright, QB's played well, OL was average (replace all 5 from last year).
DL was not blocked all day, LB's are fast and fly around crushing people, corners played very well and are fast, safeties were lighting people up and covering like blankets.
They had well over 600yds of offense, 400 passing in probably close to 100 plays. Simpson had less than 100yds total in roughly the same amount of plays.

Defense will be stacked, offense will be pretty good.......hoping sooner than later.

This seems to be an age old argument that will never be definitively won or lost.  If you check out the NAIA board, the consensus seems to be that their "league" is somewhere below DII and above DIII as a whole.  I have no way of knowing how accurate that perception is, but when the head to head match-ups have been tracked on this message board, the W's and L's seem to favor the direction of the good guys...just sayin'.  That said, I've always felt like this is an apples and oranges argument.  You take a division that has the most football programs in college athletics, and compare it to a division that has very few comparatively, and it becomes very problematic "rank" one above the other.  The game comes down to the quality of the players, and they both recruit the same kids.  The truth is...1-60 or so...they are probably very similar.  I find it interesting how much bias there really is when it comes to comparing the two leagues...as is illustrated above with the difference in perspective between Simpson Dad and NAIA Message-boarder.

On a related note, I heard (third hand) that Billy P handled the Dutch in their scrimmage.  I find that somewhat hard to believe, but Central does appear to be very green.  At the very least, it sounds like the Statesmen have come a very along way since their switch to NAIA.  Anyone able to confirm or deny that was actually at the scrimmage in Pella?

[notlongago]

talked with a couple of guys who saw the Simpson/Grandview scrimmage - heard Simpson and Nelson looked very good

according to one dad (and I emphasize dad) Simpson out scored GV

saw Grandview/Graceland - if it's true Simpson outplayed GV lookout for the Storm!

GV is very athletic and a very good NAIA team

I found this on the NAIA board...I will stress NAIA fans have the ability to exagerate reality...either way, interesting to see the differences in opinion between a Grand View fan and a Simpson fan.

As a whole in their Simpson scrimmage, the WR's are outstanding, RB's looked alright, QB's played well, OL was average (replace all 5 from last year).
DL was not blocked all day, LB's are fast and fly around crushing people, corners played very well and are fast, safeties were lighting people up and covering like blankets.
They had well over 600yds of offense, 400 passing in probably close to 100 plays. Simpson had less than 100yds total in roughly the same amount of plays.

Defense will be stacked, offense will be pretty good.......hoping sooner than later.

This seems to be an age old argument that will never be definitively won or lost.  If you check out the NAIA board, the consensus seems to be that their "league" is somewhere below DII and above DIII as a whole.  I have no way of knowing how accurate that perception is, but when the head to head match-ups have been tracked on this message board, the W's and L's seem to favor the direction of the good guys...just sayin'.  That said, I've always felt like this is an apples and oranges argument.  You take a division that has the most football programs in college athletics, and compare it to a division that has very few comparatively, and it becomes very problematic "rank" one above the other.  The game comes down to the quality of the players, and they both recruit the same kids.  The truth is...1-60 or so...they are probably very similar.  I find it interesting how much bias there really is when it comes to comparing the two leagues...as is illustrated above with the difference in perspective between Simpson Dad and NAIA Message-boarder.

On a related note, I heard (third hand) that Billy P handled the Dutch in their scrimmage.  I find that somewhat hard to believe, but Central does appear to be very green.  At the very least, it sounds like the Statesmen have come a very along way since their switch to NAIA.  Anyone able to confirm or deny that was actually at the scrimmage in Pella?

I cant confirm or deny the central scrimmage, but I will say the Dutch typically "lose" to william penn in that scrimmage, so itd be the norm if they did lose.

[wartknight]

On a related note, I heard (third hand) that Billy P handled the Dutch in their scrimmage.  I find that somewhat hard to believe, but Central does appear to be very green.  At the very least, it sounds like the Statesmen have come a very along way since their switch to NAIA.  Anyone able to confirm or deny that was actually at the scrimmage in Pella?

Even if that is true, it may not mean a thing. The Dutch approach to the scrimmage may be totally different than the Billy Jo Penn staff. Some coaches may want to "win" the scrimmage, while the focus could be different for others.

[notlongago]

Sitting here and Im extremely disappointed by the effort put forth by the posters only 2 days away from the kickoff.  We need more action on this board....So what are going to be some of the biggest stories of the weekend?

I think its going to be interesting to see how 3 of top teams break in their new QBs and it will also be insteresting to see DBQs life w/o zweifel against a solid opponent. Seems to be the perfect test for them...A team that's decent enough that if they win it, it will be not be because of an "inferior" opponent...like Wartburg is playing. (way to test yourselves on that one  )

[putmeincoach]

I think the chatter regarding the games is down just because of the question marks on so many teams

Here are the games I will be keepin' a close eye on this Saturday

Dubuque vs. Augustana
Central at Oshkosh
Simpson at River Falls
Coe vs. Monmouth

I think these games can give us a lot of insight about how this conference race will shape up

I'll peek in at the Wartburg game from time to time but the Knight's first "measuring stick" game will have to wait until next week

It will be interesting to see how everyone feels about the top tier teams next week and hopefully the board gets real busy

[wartknight]

Sitting here and Im extremely disappointed by the effort put forth by the posters only 2 days away from the kickoff.  We need more action on this board....So what are going to be some of the biggest stories of the weekend?

I think its going to be interesting to see how 3 of top teams break in their new QBs and it will also be insteresting to see DBQs life w/o zweifel against a solid opponent. Seems to be the perfect test for them...A team that's decent enough that if they win it, it will be not be because of an "inferior" opponent...like Wartburg is playing. (way to test yourselves on that one  )

We get what we can get

[Fannosaurus Rex]

I just finished reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu.  He would approve of Coach McMartin's tactics.  In Chapter XI Verse 45, speaking of what makes a good general, the book says, "He changes his methods and alters his plans so that people have no knowledge of what he is doing."  I predict Central will either win or have their concubines and silk stores taken from them.

[doolittledog]

With the start of fall camp and the excitement of reading through newly posted rosters the chatter on here goes up.  As the season approaches maybe we start getting a little nervous and wonder just how well our favorite team will do and the talk subsides a bit.

Or...maybe some of us (me, in this case) are out of the office on business and can't spend our afternoon like we usually do by hanging out on here instead of actually doing our jobs.  Because it's usually more fun to talk football than actually do our jobs

DF2K4 and Heys usually have a decent eye for talent and they aren't too high on my Spartans...which has be chewing my nails in anticipation for this weekend...hoping that they are wrong.  Us long suffering UD fans want to see a bit of a run at the high end of the conference. 

Like has been said, this weekend will start to answer a lot of the questions we have about the teams in the IIAC.  Next week will go even further towards telling us how the season may play out.  I can't wait. 

[doolittledog]

I think its going to be interesting to see how 3 of top teams break in their new QBs and it will also be insteresting to see DBQs life w/o zweifel against a solid opponent. Seems to be the perfect test for them...A team that's decent enough that if they win it, it will be not be because of an "inferior" opponent...like Wartburg is playing. (way to test yourselves on that one  )

Hey, you can't win 7 straight night time home openers if you're scheduling the likes of Bethel or Auggie 

[NewKnightDad]

I think its going to be interesting to see how 3 of top teams break in their new QBs and it will also be insteresting to see DBQs life w/o zweifel against a solid opponent. Seems to be the perfect test for them...A team that's decent enough that if they win it, it will be not be because of an "inferior" opponent...like Wartburg is playing. (way to test yourselves on that one  )

Hey, you can't win 7 straight night time home openers if you're scheduling the likes of Bethel or Auggie 

Now DLD that wasn't very nice.  Just a short two years ago it was the highly rated Mr. Tanney and his crew from Monmouth.  Speaking him has anyone heard if he was able to get a shot with an NFL team?

[doolittledog]

Wartburg made Monmouth and Tanney look like MacMurray that night if I remember correctly

[NewKnightDad]

Yes they did!!   

[hazzben]

I think its going to be interesting to see how 3 of top teams break in their new QBs and it will also be insteresting to see DBQs life w/o zweifel against a solid opponent. Seems to be the perfect test for them...A team that's decent enough that if they win it, it will be not be because of an "inferior" opponent...like Wartburg is playing. (way to test yourselves on that one  )

Hey, you can't win 7 straight night time home openers if you're scheduling the likes of Bethel or Auggie 

Now DLD that wasn't very nice.  Just a short two years ago it was the highly rated Mr. Tanney and his crew from Monmouth.  Speaking him has anyone heard if he was able to get a shot with an NFL team?

He survived the first couple of cuts for the Chiefs. Last I heard, as of Aug 27 he was still on the roster and listed as the 4th string qb. Possible to make the practice squad