FB: American Rivers Conference

[BLynn]

Are the GPAC (NAIA conference) teams like Morningside & Northwestern better than any of the teams in Iowa representing Division III? Last season Wartburg was the strongest in Division III, but Northwestern won the NAIA national championship & Morningside had been largely uncontested for years until Northwestern improved. I would love to see the top NAIA teams join Division III so we could see the matchups. Opinions on outcomes of those hypothetical matchups?

It is hard to say how those schools compare as none of the ARC schools tend to schedule NAIA non conference opponents. For the top teams it hurts playoff chances and I don't think the lower tier teams schedule them either. Decades ago Central and Northwestern played each other the first game of the season for several years. We are RCA sister schools. I am not sure if we have played them since 1974. Northwestern won the NAIA championship in 1973 and we beat them 27-0 at home in the 1974 opener. We went on to win the NCAA title that year. We quit playing each other after that as it would knock one or the other of us out of contention for the playoffs.
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I found that Northwestern leads the series with Central by 8-5-1, the last game played was 1983, won by NWC 45-27 as the Red Raiders went undefeated and won their 2nd NAIA (division II) title. They beat St Thomas (now FCS), William Jewell (now D2) and then Pacific Lutheran for the Championship. NAIA was something back then.

[Schipper Strong]

Thanks for the update BLynn. I didn't go back to look, I just remembered that game from 1974 as it was not what I expected. I remembered the games were usually tough. I should have stated that.

[Fannosaurus Rex]

I call that a good opening game for Central.  They got the win and it probably showed the coaches a lot of things to work on this week.  I don't know anything about Illinois Wesleyan, but I hope Central makes fewer mistakes against them they did at St. Olaf.

[doolittledog]

Dubuque loses 28-27 after a misses extra point from a bad snap.  Argh.  On to next week.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

The Duhawks were able to come back and beat Benedictine for this same reason ^^. Benedictine scored with 5 minutes left but missed the PAT going up 41-35. Too much time for the Duhawk offense. Not sure how the defense will round out (did not look stellar on Saturday night) but the QB combo of England and Brown is going to be a lot of fun to watch this year.

[HansenRatings]

Regarding the Iowa NAIAs vs the Iowa DIIIs, I would say in any given year, the best of each would probably be a pretty good matchup. Having a general idea of the types of recruits that each place is landing, I think the NAIA schools might have a slight edge in that regard, but I'll stack Wartburg's developmental program up with any school in the country. I think most years, the second/third/fourth best NAIA is better than the second/third/fourth best DIII, and on down the line. Best non-playoff team from either division probably favors the DIIIs, just because more Iowa NAIA schools can get in to their playoffs.

[DBQ1965]

Dubuque loses 28-27 after a misses extra point from a bad snap.  Argh.  On to next week.

Damn ... that happens too often.   

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Shaping up to be a big week for the conference! Coe and UD will try to go up against some WIAC teams, Wartburg taking on ranked Bethel, Loras going on the road to take on Hope in Michigan which is normally towards the top of the MIAA, and Central going on the road to take on CCIW Illinois Wesleyan. Lots of opportunity for the conference to show its strength. My focus will most likely be on what is happening in Holland but what result would be the best outcome for the conference as a sign of strength? 

[DBQ1965]

Shaping up to be a big week for the conference! Coe and UD will try to go up against some WIAC teams, Wartburg taking on ranked Bethel, Loras going on the road to take on Hope in Michigan which is normally towards the top of the MIAA, and Central going on the road to take on CCIW Illinois Wesleyan. Lots of opportunity for the conference to show its strength. My focus will most likely be on what is happening in Holland but what result would be the best outcome for the conference as a sign of strength?

I plan on making the 40 minute drive down to Holland for the Hope - Loras game.  The Flying Dutchmen usually play very well at home and will be looking to bounce back from last week's road loss to #20 Aurora.  I'll be wearing my UD Spartans cap which might get the attention of some Chicago area Loras alums who make the drive over. As far as UD is concerned ... Go Blue!

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Shaping up to be a big week for the conference! Coe and UD will try to go up against some WIAC teams, Wartburg taking on ranked Bethel, Loras going on the road to take on Hope in Michigan which is normally towards the top of the MIAA, and Central going on the road to take on CCIW Illinois Wesleyan. Lots of opportunity for the conference to show its strength. My focus will most likely be on what is happening in Holland but what result would be the best outcome for the conference as a sign of strength?

I plan on making the 40 minute drive down to Holland for the Hope - Loras game.  The Flying Dutchmen usually play very well at home and will be looking to bounce back from last week's road loss to #20 Aurora.  I'll be wearing my UD Spartans cap which might get the attention of some Chicago area Loras alums who make the drive over. As far as UD is concerned ... Go Blue!

In a just world this would be a jailable offense 

[HansenRatings]

Shaping up to be a big week for the conference! Coe and UD will try to go up against some WIAC teams, Wartburg taking on ranked Bethel, Loras going on the road to take on Hope in Michigan which is normally towards the top of the MIAA, and Central going on the road to take on CCIW Illinois Wesleyan. Lots of opportunity for the conference to show its strength. My focus will most likely be on what is happening in Holland but what result would be the best outcome for the conference as a sign of strength?

I plan on making the 40 minute drive down to Holland for the Hope - Loras game.  The Flying Dutchmen usually play very well at home and will be looking to bounce back from last week's road loss to #20 Aurora.  I'll be wearing my UD Spartans cap which might get the attention of some Chicago area Loras alums who make the drive over. As far as UD is concerned ... Go Blue!

In a just world this would be a jailable offense 

When I lived in Madison, I would wear a Marion Barber Gophers jersey tailgating for UW-Madison games, no matter who they played. So you could say I support this in spirit, but I do not support anyone ever actually wearing UD gear.

[Schipper Strong]

Dubuque loses 28-27 after a misses extra point from a bad snap.  Argh.  On to next week.

Those are the ones that haunt you. Central had 3 of those last year.

[Schipper Strong]

Shaping up to be a big week for the conference! Coe and UD will try to go up against some WIAC teams, Wartburg taking on ranked Bethel, Loras going on the road to take on Hope in Michigan which is normally towards the top of the MIAA, and Central going on the road to take on CCIW Illinois Wesleyan. Lots of opportunity for the conference to show its strength. My focus will most likely be on what is happening in Holland but what result would be the best outcome for the conference as a sign of strength?

All wins! Bethel's QB graduated, but a WB win would be good. Any win against the WIAC is good. All Central wins are great, but that is always my opinion. It would matter more against North Central or Wheaton. Coach Mac used to be an assistant coach at Illinois Wesleyan under their current head coach. A lot of respect there, both ways I believe. Loras vs Hope probably lower on the meaningful win bar, but so is Central's game for that matter. Except for in my mind. Wins across the board would show strength to to bottom.

So go ARC and Central in particular. Keep fighting for the top spot QBs.

[Schipper Strong]

Wartburg 6 - Bethel 2? Seriously?

Central 10 - Illinois Wesleyan 0.

Hope leading Loras, forgot the score. Same with Crown vs Simpson, but Simpson is down last I heard.

[Schipper Strong]

Central wins 38-13 on the road against Illinois Wesleyan. We got 5 turnovers and I don't think the players on the field had a penalty against them. One on the sidelines for not staying behind the line when they thought we were running a missed PAT back for 2. Huge improvement over last year when we were penalty heavy.

Wartburg won 16-2. I thought with their defense and Bethel's QB graduated they might have won bigger. Guess Bethel rivaled WB defense for a good portion of the game. Haven't seen stats though. Simpson up 48-40 in a high scoring game. Hope beat Loras 42-28. NWU also leading at 33-30. Coe beat win Wisconsin Eau Claire 44-14. Good day for ARC over all. UD plays tonight.