FB: American Rivers Conference

DutchHawk · October 04, 2007, 03:25:01 PM

I agree with your analysis on Coe and Dubuque...sorry cant remember who said it and I forgot to quote it. Anyway I think you make great points, although I think its fair to say this is Coe's first test of the season so thats why I picked Dubuque. They beat BV by 17, a shut out none the less but I still dont think they have proved themselves as anything that Dubuque cant handle. I think the difference will be conditioning. Can Dubuque stay in shape well enough to out play Coe in the second half. Well see, I think Im out on a limb taking Coe but Im putting my mouth on them glimpsing a head to a match up with the Dutch in Pella. They want revenge for last year and they are the last team to beat the Dutch in Pella during the regular season. Just my thoughts...take them with a heaping spoonful of salt

Floyd in Iowa City · October 04, 2007, 04:15:16 PM

For those that were at the game on Saturday (I may have missed it or forgotten from the Saturday posts), how did the Dubuque Defense play overall?

On one hand defenses are judged by points given up, and Wartburg did score 34.

On the other hand, look at the drive chart below:

Drive Chart (Final)
IIAC Football
Wartburg College vs Dubuque, Univ. of (Sep 29, 2007 at Dubuque, Iowa)

Drive Started Drive Ended Consumed
Team Qtr Spot Time Obtained Spot Time How Lost Pl-Yds TOP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WAR 1st W50 10:38 Kickoff D00 07:47 *TOUCHDOWN 7-50 02:51
WAR 1st W39 04:16 Kickoff D34 01:08 Missed FG 10-27 03:08
WAR 2nd W28 14:10 Downs W39 11:50 Punt 5-11 02:20
WAR 2nd D27 09:48 Punt D10 07:56 *FIELD GOAL 4-17 01:52
WAR 2nd W38 03:33 Kickoff W44 01:55 Punt 3-6 01:38
WAR 2nd D36 01:48 Interception D20 15:00 Interception 4-16 01:48
WAR 3rd W37 14:55 Kickoff D31 11:56 *FIELD GOAL 7-32 02:59
WAR 3rd W46 10:41 Punt D49 09:43 Punt 3-5 00:58
WAR 3rd D40 08:21 Punt D36 07:24 Punt 3-4 00:57
WAR 3rd D41 06:30 Punt W47 04:32 Punt 3--12 01:58
WAR 3rd D25 01:55 Fumble D00 00:31 *TOUCHDOWN 5-25 01:24
WAR 4th W29 12:29 Downs D00 10:49 *TOUCHDOWN 3-71 01:40
WAR 4th D15 03:32 Interception D00 03:27 *TOUCHDOWN 1-15 00:05
WAR 4th W20 01:33 Fumble W15 00:00 End of half 3--5 01:33

DBQ 1st D27 15:00 Kickoff W00 10:47 *TOUCHDOWN 11-73 04:13
DBQ 1st D28 07:40 Kickoff W00 04:23 *TOUCHDOWN 9-72 03:17
DBQ 1st D34 01:08 Missed FG W28 14:10 Downs 7-38 01:58
DBQ 2nd D26 11:50 Punt D15 09:48 Punt 3--11 02:02
DBQ 2nd D50 07:46 Kickoff W22 03:40 *FIELD GOAL 10-28 04:06
DBQ 2nd D30 01:55 Punt D30 01:48 Interception 1-0 00:07
DBQ 2nd D30 00:00 Interception D30 00:00 End of half 1-0 00:00
DBQ 3rd D26 11:49 Kickoff D37 10:41 Punt 5-11 01:08
DBQ 3rd D02 09:43 Punt D10 08:21 Punt 3-8 01:22
DBQ 3rd D20 07:24 Punt D16 06:30 Punt 3--4 00:54
DBQ 3rd D07 04:32 Punt D25 01:55 Fumble 5-18 02:37
DBQ 3rd D22 00:22 Kickoff W29 12:29 Downs 9-49 02:53
DBQ 4th D38 10:40 Kickoff D24 09:07 Punt 3--14 01:33
DBQ 4th D20 09:07 Punt D26 03:32 Interception 15-6 05:35
DBQ 4th W48 03:12 Kickoff W20 01:33 Fumble 7-28 01:39

It appears as if the points Dubuque allowed had a lot more to do with field position and what the Wartburg Defense and Special Teams did to the Spartan Offense and Special Teams as the game went on. I am not trying to water down the Wartburg win but rather just trying to figure out how well the Spartan Defense played.

Last year my impression of Dubuque (one game in person) was that the offense and special teams helped to cover up weaknesses that the defense had. Other than the Suckow TD reception, the Dubuque Defense looks better on paper this year than the final score on Saturday indicated.

doolittledog · October 04, 2007, 04:40:53 PM

Floyd, that could bring on a whole bunch of questions. Everybody has talked about the UD defense looking tired against Wartburg. Where they tired because the Wartburg D kept forcing the Dubuque O into 3 and outs during the second half? How strong is the Dubuque offense if Wartburg kept forcing them into 3 and outs?

From what the Dubuque radio guys have said and by looking at stats. Dubuque has a pretty tough D this year. They have an Iowa St. transfer that has been 2nd string. Now with some of the injuries to the Dubuque D they might be a bit thin now and maybe a bit more suspect than earlier in the season.

TheOne89.1 · October 04, 2007, 05:03:27 PM

Lots of chatter on here about UD and Coe, just wanted to throw my two cents in there. I think UD has a good chance of "upsetting" Coe. The Spartans played a tough game against the Knights...I even think Dubuque could have beaten Wartburg if they would have had better conditioning. I wasn't at the game, but everyone keeps talking about how the UD Def. had their hands on their hips and looked tired. There isn't one Offensive unit out there who likes going 3 and out, especially multiple times in a row. They know their Defense is getting tired having to spend so much time on the field. The Offense gets to control the pace of the game more than the Defense. If UD's Off. can stay on the field and put up some big numbers like the have been all season, I think the Kohawks Defense will get tired quickly and result in a Coe loss.

Purple Heys · October 04, 2007, 06:16:03 PM

Weighing in on Coe v. the DBQ...

Just what, precisely has Coe done on offense, to a credible defensive unit, that would lead one to expect Coe's offense to be the determining factor. Correspondingly, Coe's Defensive Unit has been very productive, albeit against relatively light competition. The DBQ offense represents the first real test for this Coe Defense.

The DBQ maybe weren't so much exposed against Wartburg as they were weighed and measured and found wanting against the Black Kanigits. Last week was the Spartans' chance to prove they were worthy...perhaps their weaker schedule leading up to the showdown left them a bit unprepared to handle a high quality opponent, though for a half they looked good enough.

I think it's clear that Coe is not the team that Wartburg is. Coe record seems to be a product of a good team doing what it needs to do against inferior opponents. The mark of a well-prepared team to be sure. Coe's offense, if they are the team as proclaimed by their loyal following, really should have demonstrated more dominance by now. The Coe defense seems to be carrying this club.

With this game against the DBQ it will be Coe's strength against the Spartan's strength. I went with the DBQ because of the senior leadership, experience and expertise demonstrated by "Leonidas" Jackson. I am looking for a rebound game by the Spartans. Coe's offense is the factor that prevented me from picking the Kohawks. (That and my abject dislike for anything Coe as a loyal Cornell fan)

This is a game that Coe has to win to prove they really are contenders.

Though I can't call it an upset if Coe wins, this being a home game, Homecoming, and all...

Ash Park · October 04, 2007, 10:02:59 PM

The Special Teams play by Wartburg in the second half was a huge factor in their win over Dubuque. They had multiple punt returns that put them in spartan territory. A friend of mine who was at the game told me that in the 3rd quarter UD never got past the their own 40 and Coe's average start of their drives for that same quarter was on UD's 45. I think offensively UD turned the ball over twice in the 3rd quarter.

As far as the UD vs Coe game goes I picked UD but I wouldn't be surprised if Coe beats them. This will be a huge game for UD to really tell where they stand as a program. I know many thought last week might have been that game, but I really think this week it will really show. They are dealing with a lot of adversity right now. I personally would like to see them come out with a good solid win.

alfredenuemann · October 04, 2007, 10:21:20 PM

Walston
Sorry to say Mrs. Hoover didn't make the "Legends of Knights gym" volleyball team.
http://www.go-knights.net/news/Article.aspx?ID=2188

Oh well at least they won't change the name of the stadium for a while.

Also the second of the two brothers (Wilbur Schield) WC football stadium Schield Stadium passed away last week.
http://wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/09/28/news/top_story/doc46fdb47a8ca56062253693.txt

davedevine · October 04, 2007, 11:05:24 PM

with all the talk about kids on the last few pages, I thought this would be a good time to introduce my little girl.

Brooklyn Jo Devine born on Oct 3rd she was 8lbs, 11 oz..
Luckily she was a week early or she would have been really close to the 10lb baby I was and mom wouldn't have thought that was cool

I saw a few pages ago about "TheOne's" comment/comparisons on Yordi to Wheeler.
I haven't seen him play and i'm a little bias on wheels but i just checked out Yordi's stats and they're pretty darn good so far. I hope he keeps up those numbers because they will be really tough to beat with that play and their defense/special teams.

he's averaging 254/game and has 11 TD vs 4 picks with a 132 rating. His % is a little low @ 51 but he's obviously doing a heck of a job. I want to say Wheels sr yr he had something like 2800 yds and a 28:5 TD-Int ratio which is pretty sick...Wheeler did have one distinct advantage however; his name was Rausch and it really wasn't fair for a majority of the db's if it was man coverage.

I sure hope we can try to debate this again at the end of the year and the Knights are sitting @ 10-0

Pat Coleman · October 05, 2007, 12:41:22 AM

Must mean I'm old when our All-Americans are having kids.

Congrats!

warthog · October 05, 2007, 01:18:20 AM

I'm not quite ready to declare UD the newest IIAC team of destiny. With losses looming in games against Coe, Central and Luther, I see them limping home with a mediocre 4-4 conference record. Luther on the other hand has had a meat grinder schedule with three respectable losses to highly rated teams. As they begin to get everyone healthy the Norse may well run the board from here on out.

dbljay21 · October 05, 2007, 07:50:02 AM

Quote from: warthog on October 05, 2007, 01:18:20 AM
I'm not quite ready to declare UD the newest IIAC team of destiny. With losses looming in games against Coe, Central and Luther, I see them limping home with a mediocre 4-4 conference record. Luther on the other hand has had a meat grinder schedule with three respectable losses to highly rated teams. As they begin to get everyone healthy the Norse may well run the board from here on out.

I would love to see the Norse "run the board" from here on out and I think they will have a good chance of doing it because of the level of competition they have played early in the season. They played well against three highly ranked teams and the mistakes they made in the games can be corrected.

So much for the Cubs being the "team of destiny"

...down 0-2 and no team has ever comeback from 0-2 in the NLDS

youcantseeme · October 05, 2007, 09:38:48 AM

Actually Cubs fans have hope. There have been several occasions where teams have come back from 0-2 holes in the Divisional Round. Coming home gives them a chance to win two at home and then go back to the dessert for the rubber game. Unlikely, yes, but not impossible or improbably.

However, the Fightin Phils are in much more trouble. Teams starting 0-2 with both losses coming at home have only come back to win one time. That was the 1996 (

) Yankees against the Indians.

Personally, as a Braves and Cardinals fan, I am elated to see the Cubs and Phils fall on their collective faces. The managerial decisions that I have seen make me happy to no end to have Bobby Cox running the team of my choice.

Finally, as the weekend draws ever nearer, and as this post is terribly off subject, I have one final baseball question to ask Cubs fans out there on this board:

Is it bad that your starting pitcher last night - Ted Lilly - throws harder while spiking his glove into the mound than he does with his fastballs to Diamondback hitters?

dbljay21 · October 05, 2007, 09:47:49 AM

I am a Braves fan as well, invisible one, and I am glad that the Mets didn't make it into the playoffs. That collapse was AWESOME

No team in the National League has comeback from 0-2 in the Divisional Series...so we will see what happens.

For the record, the Ted Lilly Glove Throw was great...straight out of little league

youcantseeme · October 05, 2007, 09:51:52 AM

Nice to have another bravo on the board dbljay.

Picks:
Well, I'm the first of the leaders to make their picks so here goes:

Wartburg over Augsburg. Not seeing a lot of chance of a Wartburg let-down here which is bad news for their non-conference opponent. A wrestling duel would be a lot more interesting I am afraid. 38-10

Central over Simpson. The Dutch have a big one looming next week and Simpson has been playing better over the last couple of weeks, but that will only make the game interesting for longer than it probably should be. Connell continues to carry this offense and the Storm tire late as they watch the Dutch pull away. 31-14

Cornell over BV - BV is not good and this is, in my opinion, is Cornell's best shot at a win this season. Cornell should have won (man I sound like Heys right there) 2 of their three games so far and I see them getting over the hump in this one. Pierce will have a million tackles again, but Kobler makes enough plays to pull it out. 26-21

Luther over Loras. Luther, while winning, was less that impressive last weekend. Pease made kicks all day long, but there is a reason that people everywhere say you better score TDs when you are inside of the 10 yard line. I look for Lamos to have a big day with Sherdan being dinged again although he will probably play. Pease makes anoth 3 FGs and the Loras team can't compete with all of the injuries.
23-14

Coe over Dubuque. I have said it all week that I think Coe's defense will dominate this game much the way that the Knights did last week. Rough draw for the Spartans to face the two top D's in back-to-back weeks. The Spartans are banged up and the Kohawks are rested. I look for Coe's O to play their best game of the season and UD to wear down late once again. Homecoming win for Coe College. 27-17

Floyd in Iowa City · October 05, 2007, 10:58:45 AM

Quote from: warthog on October 05, 2007, 01:18:20 AM
I'm not quite ready to declare UD the newest IIAC team of destiny. With losses looming in games against Coe, Central and Luther, I see them limping home with a mediocre 4-4 conference record. Luther on the other hand has had a meat grinder schedule with three respectable losses to highly rated teams. As they begin to get everyone healthy the Norse may well run the board from here on out.

As much as I would love to jump on board with this line of thought Warthog, I feel like I will know a lot more after Saturday and next Saturday. The Loras game is always tough between the two teams and Luther hasn't beaten B.V. since Jimmy Carter was in the White House (or so it seems

). There are a lot of teams in the conference capable of beating teams on any given weekend, but how many are actually capable of going on a consistent run? A healthy, productive Sherden and a healthy, productive QB will help a lot this weekend and going forward.

I keep hearing how Loras is so banged up. Who isn't playing for the Duhawks? The box score from the Simpson game showed the usual RBs having played and having played very well, at least from what one can tell from a box score. The Duhawk LBs are also sounding like they are playing well as usual.

FB: American Rivers Conference

doolittledog