FB: American Rivers Conference

[doolittledog]

Sick kids means we are staying home today.  Which should bode well for the Spartans as they seem to win homecoming games when I am not in attendance. 

Safe travels to all out there today.  Looks like it will be a beautiful day for football. 

[NewKnightDad]

I hope to be in Waverly by the 1:30pm kick off.

Looking forward to a tough game with a Knight victory.

[notlongago]

Simpson D played outstanding. Central will struggle to finish the year. 500. Can't pinpoint what the issue has been but the talent has been there, execution has not.

At least all pressure to be in the conference race is gone. Sadly it's replaced by the pressure to keep that stupid "were at least average for 50+ yrs" streak alive.

[D3Dutchman]

Simpson D played outstanding. Central will struggle to finish the year. 500. Can't pinpoint what the issue has been but the talent has been there, execution has not.

At least all pressure to be in the conference race is gone. Sadly it's replaced by the pressure to keep that stupid "were at least average for 50+ yrs" streak alive.

Tough loss, I think they have a chance to win out, but they will need to rally the troops to do so.  Certainly will need to execute better.  That hit we got flagged on was a huge momentum changer, and from my vantage point was the wrong call.  That, and the uncatchable PI call hurt, but they had their chances to overcome those tough breaks, and couldn't quite get er' done.  I'm sure they are very frustrated about now. 

[notlongago]

Simpson D played outstanding. Central will struggle to finish the year. 500. Can't pinpoint what the issue has been but the talent has been there, execution has not.

At least all pressure to be in the conference race is gone. Sadly it's replaced by the pressure to keep that stupid "were at least average for 50+ yrs" streak alive.

Tough loss, I think they have a chance to win out, but they will need to rally the troops to do so.  Certainly will need to execute better.  That hit we got flagged on was a huge momentum changer, and from my vantage point was the wrong call.  That, and the uncatchable PI call hurt, but they had their chances to overcome those tough breaks, and couldn't quite get er' done.  I'm sure they are very frustrated about now.

I thought the refs were very poor overall and quite unprofessional. However, I don't think their incompetence affected the outcome of the game.

[D3Dutchman]

Simpson D played outstanding. Central will struggle to finish the year. 500. Can't pinpoint what the issue has been but the talent has been there, execution has not.

At least all pressure to be in the conference race is gone. Sadly it's replaced by the pressure to keep that stupid "were at least average for 50+ yrs" streak alive.

Tough loss, I think they have a chance to win out, but they will need to rally the troops to do so.  Certainly will need to execute better.  That hit we got flagged on was a huge momentum changer, and from my vantage point was the wrong call.  That, and the uncatchable PI call hurt, but they had their chances to overcome those tough breaks, and couldn't quite get er' done.  I'm sure they are very frustrated about now.

I thought the refs were very poor overall and quite unprofessional. However, I don't think their incompetence affected the outcome of the game.

Sure they did...but classy on your part to take the high ground.

[doolittledog]

Central seems to be having a Hawkeye type of year.  The Hawks seem to either win all of their close games (2009) or lose all of their close games (2010 among others).  This year the Dutch have lost by 4, 2, and 4 points.  Their wins have both been by 25 points. 

My prescription for the Dutch...jump out to an early 2 score lead 

The last 2 weeks have been disappointing, but this is a talented Dutch squad that is still very much in the picture as long as they take care of business on the field from here on out. 

[Klompen]

Simpson and Central are not necessarily evenly matched, but really put on a battle yesterday.  Either team could say they deserved the win.  Central really struggled on offense, but the defense once again stepped up to the challenge and kept us in the game.  I have not posted until now because I have been struggling to find a way to take the high road.  I still haven't found it though.     The best I can do is say that Simpson won the key stat of the day, Congratulations.  (Can't you just feel the good sportsmanship shining through!) 

Now that that attempt has failed miserably, I agree that the officiating did highly influence the outcome of the game  Any Dutch fan that believes it didn't surely deserves karma for taking the high ground.  The calls were wrong and back breakers for the Dutch.  I know calls are made in split second decisions and that officials are doing their best, but if that was the best from yesterday's crew, they should be banned from college officiating. 

Both teams played their hearts out and either team could have won the game.  In the end Simpson players aren't to blame for bad officiating and took full advantage of the timely calls that went their way.  I kept hoping the Dutch would get mad enough to get a fire lit under them, and that didn't happen, so maybe the outcome is right, but my opinion of this set of officials still stands.

Central had no turnovers and the defense did a great job against a high powered offense.  There are a lot of positive things about this team.  Somebody needs to step up and get the team playing with some passion and urgency.  This is a team that could have finished the year undefeated if they were more focused.  Now they have to dig deep and figure out what they are made of. 

I agree with Doolittle, this is a good Dutch team just coming out on the wrong end of close games.  I think the Dutch need to jump out to at least a 28 point lead as UWO proved 20 points was not enough.

[coocooforcoekohawk]

Way to dominate this week.
Next three games are the big ones.
Take care of business Kohawks!
Beat the Spartans, Storm, and the Wartburg Burger Burglars!

[D3Dutchman]

Simpson and Central are not necessarily evenly matched, but really put on a battle yesterday.  Either team could say they deserved the win.  Central really struggled on offense, but the defense once again stepped up to the challenge and kept us in the game.  I have not posted until now because I have been struggling to find a way to take the high road.  I still haven't found it though.     The best I can do is say that Simpson won the key stat of the day, Congratulations.  (Can't you just feel the good sportsmanship shining through!) 

Now that that attempt has failed miserably, I agree that the officiating did highly influence the outcome of the game  Any Dutch fan that believes it didn't surely deserves karma for taking the high ground.  The calls were wrong and back breakers for the Dutch.  I know calls are made in split second decisions and that officials are doing their best, but if that was the best from yesterday's crew, they should be banned from college officiating. 

Both teams played their hearts out and either team could have won the game.  In the end Simpson players aren't to blame for bad officiating and took full advantage of the timely calls that went their way.  I kept hoping the Dutch would get mad enough to get a fire lit under them, and that didn't happen, so maybe the outcome is right, but my opinion of this set of officials still stands.

Central had no turnovers and the defense did a great job against a high powered offense.  There are a lot of positive things about this team.  Somebody needs to step up and get the team playing with some passion and urgency.  This is a team that could have finished the year undefeated if they were more focused.  Now they have to dig deep and figure out what they are made of. 

I agree with Doolittle, this is a good Dutch team just coming out on the wrong end of close games.  I think the Dutch need to jump out to at least a 28 point lead as UWO proved 20 points was not enough.

Yeah, all the credit to the storm for taking advantage of the breaks...they are a good team.  The one that I thought was particularly funny and sad was when three different officials threw a flag, and they all waived it off (I have no idea what the call was, or who it would have went against).  I could see one ref getting it wrong, but three?  That wasn't the only call that was waived off either.  That crew was certainly a disgrace to their profession. 

Here's to hoping all hell breaks loose in the IIAC, the Dutch win out, and maybe they can sneak back into the mix.     I really do think they are a playoff caliber team (IF execution becomes more consistent), and it would be nice to see the kids get a shot.

[doolittledog]

Coe beats Loras 56-0 and drops from 19th to 21st in the polls.  Wartburg "receiving votes"  or vote to be accurate.

http://www.d3football.com/top25/2013/week6

Something tells me the IIAC playoff representative will be a road team in the 1st round this year. 

[coocooforcoekohawk]

Coe beats Loras 56-0 and drops from 19th to 21st in the polls.  Wartburg "receiving votes"  or vote to be accurate.

http://www.d3football.com/top25/2013/week6

Something tells me the IIAC playoff representative will be a road team in the 1st round this year.

WHAT AN OUTRAGE!

Not really, it just shows the voters pay attention to the big picture. Look at what  John Carroll did to St. Norberts and  what Coe did to Monmouth, and what they did to each other and Coe should be behind John Carroll. John Carroll and St John Fisher beat Otterbein by the same score, 28-0, so it is just a correction of the ranking due to more games being played, more comparisons to look at, and more information to analyze.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Congrats to Dubuque for taking it to the Norse once again in the annual "Zweifel Bowl!"  It really is the gift that just keeps on giving when the Luther Athletic Department and Administration went in a different direction in the winter of 2007-08.

The Luther Offense was at least decent to watch for some time, but the Spartans did whatever they wanted with the Norse Defense and it looked like it started up front in the trenches.  Good luck the rest of the way and I thought the video production was solid as well.

I still need to see these games in person to see coverages and allignments, but I do enjoy that the Iowa Conference has taken computer coverage somewhat seriously.

Luther has played good defense against Presentation, St. Olaf, and Loras.  They were lit up by Dubuque and Wheaton.  How well will the defense do against Wartburg, Central, Simpson, B.V., and Coe?  There is cause for concern.

Congrats to the other winners on Saturday as Loras might be in for a long season and that was a big win for Simpson.

[Willie University]

Thanks for the well wishes! I was impressed with the triple threat offense that Luther ran. Difficult to defend and they seemed to run it well. The only issue I see is it is not an offense to score points quickly so it makes playing catch up difficult as well as late in the game when a quick score is needed. But, if Luther is able to build a lead, can certainly eat the clock.

On a side note, it is boring to watch. I am so used to passing that run run run just seems so boring anymore 

I thought the Spartans played very well. HUGE game this week in smelly CR. Let's hope the Spartans can help clean that town up a little this Saturday! I am looking forward to a great battle!

Willie U

[doolittledog]

Luther ran that triple option very well.  That said, their 3 TD drives all took about 7.5 - 8.5 minutes off the clock.  28 points looks like about the tops the Norse can expect to score in a game.  To win some games they are going to need a stout defense.