FB: American Rivers Conference

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Thanks Floyd for looking that up.  Loras averaging less that 1/2 what the previous low on offense over the past 13 years is really something. 

I think there are a lot of factors in the decline at Loras.  There was a time when Loras had a fairly significant pipeline to the Catholic leagues in the Chicagoland area as well as the heavily Catholic areas in Eastern Iowa.  Those pipelines are drying up.  One factor is I don't think those kids necessarily think they HAVE to play for a Catholic college as much as those kids did in the past.  Also, a decade or so ago, if you were a kid in one of those Catholic leagues in Chicagoland if you wanted to play football within close proximity at a Catholic school your choices were pretty much St. Norbert, Loras, or St. Ambrose.  Now there are a number of Catholic colleges that have added football.  St. Francis and St. Xavier in Illinois.  Marion and St. Frances IN.  in Indiana among others have added football.  Those schools are taking numbers away from Loras.  Also, I think the facilities arms race is passing Loras by, and with the smallest endowment in the IIAC, Loras will likely fall farther behind in their facilities.  Not just athletic facilities but as a campus as a whole.

Now, that said, maybe Loras hires a great coach and they rapidly rise up the ranks of the IIAC.  Who knows.   

A school being solid academically combined with good coaches, good tradition, and really working hard in recruiting (identify recruits and develop relationships) should still be what most of this is about. 

I kind of get tired of seeing kids that might go to Central (as an example) for football but ended up going somewhere else because of a financial aid package or someone else was a little better in the facilities arms race.

I don't think a school like Loras needs to keep up with whoever the current leader in the facility arms race, but I hope all of the IIAC schools have the means to hire and pay coaching staffs and support recruiting budgets to keep the IIAC relevant.

I was a big fan of what Coach Hefty was trying to do at Luther a couple coaching staffs ago, but I always had the sense that he did not have the complete coaching staff and recruiting budgets that he needed to be a top-3 football program in the Iowa Conference.  One of the better assistants left after the 2004 season for a good job and the program never was able to replace the assistant with a similar coach.  Paul Hefty could recruit and had the charisma to find players and assistants, so I always chalked some of the Luther shortcomings at the time to the budget stuff.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Great win for the Dutch. Their defense was phenomenal shutting out the Coe offense (pick 6 for the lone score).

Sadly, this season will haunt the kids and coaches. They wasted one of the best defenses the Dutch have had in many seasons. Even with an average offense they're looking at a conference title and a with a good offense... Who knows.

I agree, today was a fantastic win for the Dutch and it really is sad to see the season come to a close as the defense has really hit its stride.  Even last week, the two WB touchdowns came after turnovers putting the defense in a tough position.  The defense really looked spectacular today and though we were fairly one dimensional on offense, that one dimension, Josh, had a huge day.  Very nice way for 21 seniors to end their career since the playoffs were off the table.  I have really enjoyed watching this team and I wish all the best to the graduating seniors from all the schools.

Congrats to all of the seniors as well as this was a pretty wide open IIAC race this year.  Congrats to Wartburg as they got it done and not only won but won it outright.  Good luck in the playoffs!

The crowd size was not great at the rainy Luther-Simpson game on Saturday, and all of the Iowa starters and other wrestlers at the Luther Open were the big draw in town, but I was entertained by the Norse and Storm.  It was a lot more fun to watch than the whipping that Coe put on Luther last year for the season finale.  I knew there were going to be big changes last year after watching that lifeless performance.

The Simpson QB played well in the rain.  The Norse Offense again went over 300 yards with running offense and even hit a couple big passes.  The Norse Defense played pretty well too (although the rain may have helped the Norse), but Simpson had a huge edge with special teams.  Neither team looked good on field goals, but Simpson punted further and better, downed punts inside the 5 all day, and kicked off further than the Norse.  Luther also missed a field goal and fumbled a kick return that led to a TD in the 28-21 loss.

Luther has had moments in special teams this year that helped in wins against St. Olaf and Loras, but overall they haven't had the strong leg punters and kickers with skill that other schools have.  It would be huge to upgrade this stuff in recruiting.

Other than special teams, the Norse also just need to get the roster back up to 115 and build up quality depth at all positions.

A game breaker on offense would help as well, although I was very happy this year at times with how well the kids on the current roster ran the offense.

[wartknight]

1st - Congrats to the Knights for taking care of business on Sat & earning the outright title!!

I didn't think the Knights would get a home game, but after seeing the D3 projection, was still optimistic. Knew it was too good to be true! It will be a tough one on the road Sat. for the good guys; I do think Ricky will have them ready to compete. Throwing around the idea of making the road trip - will take a look at forecast (especially after yesterday!!) & any prior commitments that my wife hasn't told me about. 

Years past, there was sure a lot more activity on the IIAC board, especially fellow Wart fans ( I myself am guilty). Next year, we may need to recruit some of the old posters to "waste" time here rather than somewhere else> 

[doolittledog]

If Wartburg had somehow scored a 1st round home game we would have been there.  I don't see us making this trip though.  I would recommend for those of you out there that do think you can make this trip to head on over, the Wartburg fans do put on a fun tailgate.  A bit wilder that your typical college tailgate, but fun none the less. 

[NewKnightDad]

I was thinking about going as well but my son is running in the Living History Farms 7 mile cross country race Saturday.  From Offensive lineman to distance runner, it goes with out saying he is much leaner than his playing days just a few years ago.

Will be following the Knights on-line. 

[coocooforcoekohawk]

The IIAC has two teams in the national sweet sixteen in futbol.

Loras is very good at futbol.

[Mrs.Doolittle]

I have updated the pick-ems results...  I posted earlier that Luther won instead of Simpson. SORRY!!

[wartknight]

The IIAC has two teams in the national sweet sixteen in futbol.

Loras is very good at futbol.

I wonder who the other team is?

[Floyd in Iowa City]

The IIAC has two teams in the national sweet sixteen in futbol.

Loras is very good at futbol.

I wonder who the other team is?

I think it is the team that Luther beat to win a share of the conference title.

Loras did just end the Luther season to get to the national sweet sixteen.  Who says the Duhawks have recruiting issues?

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther Football season recap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVMfiOFA1Ss&list=TLGgw8v2FX-W3ncACknR67wKiJ7Ezwb1nN

Solid show as I also think the returning guys had another solid year on defense, the offense was MUCH better in many of the games in 2013, and special teams had some good moments this year but many struggles as well.

It will be interesting to see how much of a jump the Norse can take between now and the end of the 2014 season.  Can they get back to being 5-5?

I would love to see a the following added:

An overall recruiting class of 40-50 kids with some quality (recruiting numbers more like the some years in Hefty era)
Retention of the current eligible players on the roster (something that Luther is usually good at)
A top K/P prospect
The current QBs show promise, but a elite athlete or two who could play QB or RB to scare opposing defenses would always be good.

[NewKnightDad]

I have updated the pick-ems results...  I posted earlier that Luther won instead of Simpson. SORRY!!

So your saying I didn't win?   

Do I have to give the trophy back?

[wartknight]

I have updated the pick-ems results...  I posted earlier that Luther won instead of Simpson. SORRY!!

So your saying I didn't win?   

Do I have to give the trophy back?

You can keep the trophy, but you will have to give the cash back.!

[doolittledog]

I have updated the pick-ems results...  I posted earlier that Luther won instead of Simpson. SORRY!!

So your saying I didn't win?   

Do I have to give the trophy back?

You can keep the trophy, but you will have to give the cash back.!

You can keep all your winnings if you let us crash your tailgate again next fall 

[NewKnightDad]

I have updated the pick-ems results...  I posted earlier that Luther won instead of Simpson. SORRY!!

So your saying I didn't win?   

Do I have to give the trophy back?

You can keep the trophy, but you will have to give the cash back.!

You can keep all your winnings if you let us crash your tailgate again next fall 

Let's make sure we touch base next year before Dubuque comes to Waverly, we can get together at the tailgate.

[doolittledog]

Looking over the season stats I think I have figured out what could help UD.  Games need to become 59 minutes...not 60.

Dubuque gave up a TD to Wartburg with 35 seconds left in a 7 point loss.
Dubuque gave up a TD to Simpson with 33 seconds left in a 4 point loss.
Dubuque gave up a TD to Buena Vista with 58 seconds left in a 1 point loss.

Not to mention...
Dubuque gave up a TD to UW-Lacrosse with 14 seconds left in an 11 point win.
Dubuque gave up a TD to Central with 55 seconds left in a 2 point win. 

Just think, if games were 59 minutes, instead of 60, there would the potential for fewer injuries over the course of a season.  And that's what I'm really after, not the potential for more victories for my favorite team