FB: American Rivers Conference

[Purple Heys]

Cornell can't even play the "at least we're smarter than them" card on Grinnell.

Yeah, but we can still play it on the Kaniggets.   

[Willie University]

I saw there was a link to an article on the main page of D3Football to a story about UD's new field. I have always respected UD's President Jeffrey Bullock. If you have ever had the pleasure of meeting him, you know why. Just one small quote from the article that sums up the feeling I and many others had tonight sitting in the new Chalmers Field watching the game...

President Jeffrey Bullock:

"We think this definitely improves what we're able to deliver for students and their families," Bullock said. "The two words that sum up what we're feeling are: gratitude and pride. When you've been where we were, you understand very clearly to be where we are now is a gift and a privilege. You want to say thank you every day and keep your eye focused on the ball to make sure we improve every day as a program, school and people."

I hope that someday my son says that his dad is one of his heroes. President Bullock and everything he has done for UD and the person he is, is definitely one of mine.

Willie U

[Kohawk Krazy]

Special teams killed the Kohawks today.  Two botched snaps, two fumbled punt returns and a fumbled kickoff return.  Not going to win games when you do that.

The offense looked great for the first 70 yards, but once they hit the 30 yard line, they seemed to stall.  I think that can be corrected.

The front seven on defense looked great.  A couple of big plays put Augie in scoring position and that's what put their points on the board.

[Purple Heys]

After the debacle in Mount Vernon,

I drove to Dubuque and met Doolittledog and the Mrs. at the DBQ-Rockies game   (What a nice couple of folks)     They saved seats for me and Jr. and we returned to the favor by having Jr. catch all the swag they were throwing to the fans. (Kinda sad that he had more receptions at the DBQ game... )  The Doolittles walked away with 2 new seat pads, a water bottle and a T-shirt.

Chipotle Stadium is as good as Willie says...and it was FREEE!!

It is a beautiful facility and is still a work in progress as far as the track and indoor gym is concerned...but the field is all set.

The Spartans are legit.  They will give the UofR a game next week and have plenty to make worry for the rest of the IIAC.

UD coaching staff has done a nice job of tailoring the offense to Hansen's strengths...less running by him, more running by the RB...less flair patterns...more downfield patterns.

Incidentally...a classy touch honoring Jermar Jackson at halftime.

I was very impressed.

[koekrazy87]

Charlie, are you serious? Thats really bush league right there. There has to be some sort of rule about sharing tapes and that both teams must provide the other with some.

Not completly sure about the rules but in Non-conference games the opposing team does not have to exchange tapes with the other team.  I understand Coe tried however Augustana did not want to.  We have some things to iron out before next week rolls around.  But we did show some signs of being able to compete, just not when we stop dead in our own tracks.

[Ash Park]

Seriously is somebody playing a joke on me? We lost to Grinnell? WTF?! Who had the unsportsmanlike penalty??

[Klopenhiemer]

Just got back to the Ponderosa and unloaded the chuckwagon.  

To respond to DutchFan2004: Wartburg won by a 44-20 score and didn't seem that close.  The Knights went in at half time with a 10 point lead that would of - could of - should of been a twenty-eight point lead.  As Dave Devine pointed out earlier the Knights had to settle for three points on drive #1 after having 1st and 10 inside the five.  Then with 32 seconds left before the half the Knights cough up the ball on the SNC 8 yard line and the ball goes back the other direction 92 yards for a TD.  Even with those errors it seemed Wartburg was in control.

I don't think the team St. Norberts had today could beat any of the top four IIAC teams. If SNC played a home and away series with all four, I'm afraid their record would be 0-8.  I don't know if they are extremely inexperienced.  If they are, they probably will show drastic improvement by game ten.  Their offensive line sure seemed to be a step slow and frankly a little out of shape to be playing college football.  Nico and his partners had a field day.

The bottom line is, Wartburg can't brag much about this victory.  There was some sloppy ball handling and some forgettable rushing stats.  A team like Central or Simpson will make the Knights pay, if Wartburg repeats today's  ground game performance against the Dutch or Redmen.  Sorry, I mean Storm.
It gets tougher before it gets easier for the Knights.  I guess we'll see if they are up to it.

Though I agree with what you are saying I think I will disagree with you including Simpson.  They beat GVC today and even though GVC did score in the final 3 seconds, I was looking for much more out of the Storm.  The reports that I got from the game were that GVC is much better than most people anticipated.  I think I would be worried bout UD giving the Knights a run for their money. 

Central:  They still have a lot of question marks and the report that I heard echoed the other Central supporters.  Snead looked great and Bandow settled in as the game went along. 

Warburg:  44-20 over SNC is a good win in my book.  This is a playoff team over the past few seasons and who cares what they might have lost or what experience they are lacking.  Going up there is a long bus ride and it sounds as though Yordi was outstanding. 

Cornell:  Tough break and I was really pulling for you today.  Lets hope you get the wheels back on the bus next week and get a win, if not it could make for a long season in Mt. Vernon. 

The rest of the IIAC including my Beavers:  We just did not seal the deal.  As SK would say "we folded like a cheap card table".  The Beavers did fold today and it was a crying shame.  But guess what, the conference is still wide open and we have 9 more weeks of fun and games. 

As always I hope no teams faced major injuries and I look forward to next week!

[Kohawk Krazy]

When was the last time the IIAC had a losing record on opening weekend?

[DBQ1965]

Just got home from the UD vs Rockford game...... Final Score 49-7 Spartans Win 1st Game in New Stadium!
I am not sure where to begin....

Game: I know it is Rockford College and not a IIAC school and their 7-3 record wouldn't translate into the same record in the IIAC. But, I was very impressed all the way around with their performance this evening. I was a little worried with graduating so many impact seniors but I am not anymore. Colton Hansen is no Jermar Jackson. He will make a name for himself. That kid has a rocket arm and threaded the needle on a few occasions that showed me right there his potential. Offensively, the spartans had over 500 yards and defensively held rockford to under 150 total yards. Rockfords only score off a fumble by Hansen getting blindsided on a blitz. It was a fun game to watch. Some very exciting ATHLETES including a exciting kick return TD. If I was being particular, the only thing i would say needed some work was the kicking game--not punting.

Atmosphere & New Stadium: Better then I could ever have imagined. The new stadium has got to be hands down one of the top 5 in all of D3. If you are planning a road trip to UD this fall, you will get to see for yourself. Make sure you come over to the home side and walk through the rec and wellness center as well......and then go back to the visitors bleachers please  I DO like having visitors bleachers across the field though

The home side seats 4000 and visitor side 1000. They said that their was record attendance at the game tonight with approx 7800 in attendance. The bleachers were jam packed with people standing everywhere. And the fireworks after the game---I have NEVER seen a fireworks display this amazing even on the 4th of July.

The best part of the entire evening was hearing my 1 1/2 year old son say "Go Spartans" and get excited when people cheered and say the word "football". It was over an hour past his bed time but he sat in amazement at the fireworks. I had more fun watching his face then anything.

Now, I have to call all my old football buddies to tell them about the night. It was a memorable one at Chalmers Field!

Willie U

Thanks for the summary.  I got up at 2:30 a.m. where we are staying and got on the computer just to check the cam ... all I saw was the scoreboard, but at least it was something.    I just now checked the Iowa Conference web-page summary of the game and things looked pretty good for UD.  At 8,000 miles away, its nice to start off with a win!

GO SPARTANS!

[Wartburg Fan]

Just got back to the Ponderosa and unloaded the chuckwagon.  

To respond to DutchFan2004: Wartburg won by a 44-20 score and didn't seem that close.  The Knights went in at half time with a 10 point lead that would of - could of - should of been a twenty-eight point lead.  As Dave Devine pointed out earlier the Knights had to settle for three points on drive #1 after having 1st and 10 inside the five.  Then with 32 seconds left before the half the Knights cough up the ball on the SNC 8 yard line and the ball goes back the other direction 92 yards for a TD.  Even with those errors it seemed Wartburg was in control.

I don't think the team St. Norberts had today could beat any of the top four IIAC teams. If SNC played a home and away series with all four, I'm afraid their record would be 0-8.  I don't know if they are extremely inexperienced.  If they are, they probably will show drastic improvement by game ten.  Their offensive line sure seemed to be a step slow and frankly a little out of shape to be playing college football.  Nico and his partners had a field day.

The bottom line is, Wartburg can't brag much about this victory.  There was some sloppy ball handling and some forgettable rushing stats.  A team like Central or Simpson will make the Knights pay, if Wartburg repeats today's  ground game performance against the Dutch or Redmen.  Sorry, I mean Storm.

It gets tougher before it gets easier for the Knights.  I guess we'll see if they are up to it.

Warhog I couldn't agree with you more, if we don't get a running game going we will be in trouble this year. I think the turnovers will be corrected.

[coocooforcoekohawk]

Sounds like Tyler Staker called a great game, the Kohawks just didn't execute.
The defense looks great as far as the stat sheet shows.  Even though it was a loss I am happy with the Staker's debut.

Go Kohawks!

[DutchFan2004]

Just got back to the Ponderosa and unloaded the chuckwagon.  

To respond to DutchFan2004: Wartburg won by a 44-20 score and didn't seem that close.  The Knights went in at half time with a 10 point lead that would of - could of - should of been a twenty-eight point lead.  As Dave Devine pointed out earlier the Knights had to settle for three points on drive #1 after having 1st and 10 inside the five.  Then with 32 seconds left before the half the Knights cough up the ball on the SNC 8 yard line and the ball goes back the other direction 92 yards for a TD.  Even with those errors it seemed Wartburg was in control.

I don't think the team St. Norberts had today could beat any of the top four IIAC teams. If SNC played a home and away series with all four, I'm afraid their record would be 0-8.  I don't know if they are extremely inexperienced.  If they are, they probably will show drastic improvement by game ten.  Their offensive line sure seemed to be a step slow and frankly a little out of shape to be playing college football.  Nico and his partners had a field day.

The bottom line is, Wartburg can't brag much about this victory.  There was some sloppy ball handling and some forgettable rushing stats.  A team like Central or Simpson will make the Knights pay, if Wartburg repeats today's  ground game performance against the Dutch or Redmen.  Sorry, I mean Storm.

It gets tougher before it gets easier for the Knights.  I guess we'll see if they are up to it.

Just curious how is this post responding to me?  I didn't say a thing about Wartburg.

[DutchFan2004]

Wow, Coe, Cornell, Luther, Loras, and BV all lose.  Not the tough IIAC win percent we are accustomed to.  There's always next week.  Sounds like heartbreakers at the end for Cornell and BV.  Simpson and Wartburg also closer than I had expected.  Don't be too impressed with the Dutch win, the Muskie offense looked more like a carp floppin' in the bottom of the boat, pretty ugly.

Fixed it for you. 


I was more impressed by the offense Old Dutch.  They looked much better this week.  Having said that it was Lakeland and not Auggie but we did a lot better this week than we did last week.  I think that Lakeland's offensive whoas we caused by the Dutch D playing well.  I thought our D looked better today than last week. 

Thanks DF2K4, must have been  unconsciously connecting Grinnell and lose in that sentence.  I would agree the offense was clicking most of the time.  I especially liked the success of the running game in the 2nd half, the O-line seemed to answer the call pretty well.  I thought both backs ran well, Zachery showed some flashes of greatness late against a tired D.  Both QBs did well, in his short appearance Snead was more exciting, but Bandow got comfortable as the half went on.  For a stretch I thought Snead looked like ol' #10 out there again.

The Dutch rush D did look good, but Lakeland had 3 Frosh in the o-line and the big receiver got open a few times when the QB just missed him.  Lakeland is not a playoff team this year IMHO.

I agree that Snead ran the ball well.  He sort of gave them a lift and got the ball rolling as it were.  Bandow showed some guts as well as he took some shots and bounced right back up just like #10 used to.  I was impressed with both of their play as well. 

[DutchFan2004]

Does Central have a quarterback by committee this year?

Bandow
Snead
Estabrook
Mudd

I think you might see both Snead and Bandow play a lot this year.  It may be something like that as both of these kids bring different things to the game right now.  Now they may settle on one guy down the road but I would say both have played equally well and there is no clear front runner.  Estabrook got mop up time with only one series that he played.  I believe he went in with like 4 minutes to play or something like that.  He went in with the two's and three's to finish the game.  I liked what coach Mc did then up 34-0 why get the number one's hurt?

[warthog]

Klopenhiemer:
 
You may have a point that I should have used U of Dubuque instead of Simpson in my previous post.  I'd have no problems with that change.  I used Simpson because I wanted to use the crossed out Redmen and because they have a couple of our local kids on the defensive side of the ball.  

Central, Simpson, Dubuque or any other IIAC team could give Wartburg fits if the Knights have a repeat ground game performance like the one St. Norbert saw.

By the way the game was in Waverly.  By your post, I assumed you thought it was played in Wisconsin