FB: American Rivers Conference

[Ash Park]

Almost forgot that it is Cornell vs Coe week.....this is actually a huge game for both teams needing a win for the season and to start off conference play.

[Klopenhiemer]

Well lets look forward to the start of the conference season and let the games begin as well as the debates!!!

There are some outstanding match ups and some games that will tell how the season goes. 

Warburg vs. Central:  This game looks to be a great one.  How will the Knights respond to the loss and how will Centrals new QB fair in the first big test.  Is Snead going to play?  I heard he was out for a while with a lower leg injury.  If that is true then Bandow will be leading the charge.  I hate to say it, but I like Wartburg's experience, but I will not count out the Dutch. 

BV vs. Simpson:  This game is very interesting.  Simpson comes into this game with two wins but a lot of question marks.  They did not beat either team by the margin I thought they would.  They look to have a solid run game.  BV is coming off the bye week I hope the guys have the taste of the opening season loss to UP-W.  They have to beat ready to go and this is when the leaders need to step up.  I hope to see the Beavers ready to go. 

Coe vs. Cornell:  Both teams have a lot to prove and need a win to get back on track.  If Cornell does not win here, I see it being another very long season, as if the writing is not already on the wall.  Coe needs to rebound after two tough losses and solidify their position in the conference, or else someone else will be taking their place. 

UD vs. Luther:  Luther has a new QB and struggled in week 1.  UD is coming off a blow out out west.  How each team responds will tell the tale in this one.  I would like to think the Spartians have the upper hand, but one never knows. 

I picked Loras as the sleeper of the conference after there was some doubt regarding Cornell's QB.  They are off this week, but I am looking forward to next week and seeing how they open the conference season. 

This should be a fun week!!!

[TC]

A few obsevations on the Wartburg game. I've had a chance to sleep on it after getting home from Minneapolis at 2:15am.

Augsberg is for real. Their QB/WR combo will test teams all year with their short passing game. They use them like runs throwing quick slants and outs for 3-5 yards an attempt. Their long game suffers a bit with protection.

That said,WB left opportunities on the field again. We took a bit to shake off the bus trip and late start. The running game was much improved, but the passing game was not as sharp.We need to turn the rocket screen upfield instead of taking the ball straight out of bounds for little gain. The defense hit hard (ask the Auggie WR's). Our tackling was better but still needs some improvement.

And the officials were some of the worst homies I've ever seen. We seemingly wre flagged evey time somone spit on the turf, but they couldnt find their flags when obvious holding, interefence, etc. happend in plain sight ten feet in front of them. At least three times game-changing plays in the Knight's favor were offset by questionable penalties.

Nvertheless, a game we should have won against a team we should have beat. Let's hope we have that out of out system for the rest of the season.

Sir-

I'll agree that the officials were very bad.  However, I highly dispute the fact that they were bad in one teams favor.  The "fumble" attributed to Berg was blatantly an incomplete pass.  The referee's own description of the play (head ref, mind you) was that he saw his arm go up, didn't see what happened, but then saw the ball on the ground. The only problem is that the ball ended up 6 yards in front of where he was hit at.  So, for his arm to go up, end up 6 yards further up-field, I struggle to see that that was anything but an incomplete pass.  I will immediately agree, he should have been flagged for intentional grounding at that spot.  However, the turnover of the ball was a terrible call.  Secondly, the block in the back on our punt team that was a punishment call for our coach arguing with the umpire, further illustrates that I think that the officials were bad, but were far from bad in one direction.  Please explain the egregious imbalance of calls that were un-warranted before simply saying that we won because of the zebras!

ON another note.  I thought that both teams were impressive last night.  WB's safeties are legit.  They are into the run game immediately, and do a good job of getting over to help with the outside third when they go cover one.   And, WOW do they hit!  I thought that the safeties hit significantly harder than the corners, but that could also be attributed to the "20" scheme that they seemed to run a fair amount (2 over the top, 0 under)  I don't know why WB went away from the running game.  They seemed to have some success with it at times, and would put two or three good running plays together, but then would go to a pass play, which confused me.   I was surprised how much pressure we were able to get on your QB.  I watched film of your game with Norbert's and your QB seemed to have HOURS to survey the field.  However, last night, he seemed to get a bit more pressure. 

I was impressed the way the WB defense was able to limit Royce's reception numbers.  However, he showed why he is such an amazing player, catching two HUGE TD's for us as well as the key reception.  I know he got frustrated a bit with the lack of catches, but he made up in quality what he lacked in quantity. 

#99 for WB is also great.  A true man-child-beast on that D-line.  I don't know what year he is, but he will be a great player to give some good pressure allowing WB's DB's to tee off!

I am glad my boys played well when they needed to.  The WB/Auggie wrestling rivalry has passed on well to the gridiron.  You are right, we always play very well against you guys, and I'm sad that in my two games with you guys we were on the short end of the stick, but glad to see that Coach Haege has started to get some much better players into camp, and now have put us in the position to come up with wins vs. the vaunted Knights.

Best of luck to your club in the upcoming conference season.  Heck, WB winning the IIAC will only make our victory last night look that much more important!

LAB

LAB....Where do you see your squad finishing this season.  Other MIAC poster came to the board this morning (all of whom I like) and stated that Auggie was a middle of the road team in the IIAC who gives up big time points to the upper echelon of the conference.  Is this a year that Auggie could make a run at the top?  Its seems as though SJU trying to find its QB and Bethel might not be as tough as last year either.  I like changing of the guard, and I hope you guys have a great reast of the season.  I am not Knight backer, I just like seeing things skaken up a bit. 

As a former player, and current big time Auggie fan, I would love to think that they could make a run at the big guys this year.  In an objective view, I think that they have one of the better offenses in the conference, with Berg, Winford, Nourie (when he comes back), Al-Hameed, Potts, et al. This is a group that has been together for a couple of years now, has some great athletes, and because of the number of very talented weapons, make a formidable group to cover.

The Achilles heel since I've been an Auggie has been the other side of the ball.  I did see TC's reference to our defense, and agree that in the past it has been our weakness.  I'm in no way saying that even when I was playing that our offense was good enough to compete, but our defense has traditionally been very young and very undersized. 

This is what makes this year's team a bit different than past years.  My final season with the crew (2006) brought to the field a defense that started 8-9 freshmen, depending on the game.  Those freshmen have grown up now, and have a couple of year's worth of experience behind them.  I do not think that we have gained much in terms of size, but we are much better off in terms of experience.  So, this will be the key to our success.

So, where do we finish up?  I don't really know.  After our game last night, I had a conversation with a former Olaf player.  He saw two games yesterday, Olaf vs. Pac Luth., and then the Auggie v. Knight tilt that night.  His belief was that this years Olaf team is in rebuilding/reloading mode, and might not be as strong this year as their loaded teams of the past couple of years.  So, could we get another win two weeks from now during our Homecoming game?  Maybe this year we can.  So, that would move us to 3-0 with a lot of confidence.  Our next game is against Hamline, a team that we've traditionally had success against.  Based on that history alone, I'm giving us a win there. (4-0). Next is Carleton. Carleton is much improved under Coach Ramler, and I think will get back to the success that they had under Sullivan in the late 80's-early 90's, but I also think that they are dealing with youth this year.  So, giving us a win vs. the Knights moves us to 5-0.  Our next game is vs. Concordia.  They've always had our number. But, fortunately this years game is in "the cage." Will it help, I hope, but don't know.  They are always very big, and run their offense extremely well.  An optimist for the Auggies, I'm claiming a victory here.  No reasons for it, but still claiming it!  (6-0).  We owe GAC (Gustavus) a couple for the games I painfully lost to them.  I'm excited to see the new stadium at their house, as I've heard it's awesome and has dramatically helped their recruiting.  I'm going to claim a victory here as well, as I think our offense can score some points against them.  (7-0).  I like the fact that we get to play UST (Thomas) in our yard, and am very afraid of their D1 M-LB transfer.  His quickness and size will be tough to fight against.  But, after last year's disappointment vs. them, I think our guys will be pretty geeked up and our defense will come up huge again like they did last night vs. a very good WB team.  (8-0).  I don't think we'll have the horses to run with Bethel, nor will we have them to take down the Johnnies.  Still, an 8-2 final record for my Auggies will go a long way in terms of building a program, giving us confidence and helping on the recruiting front. 

There's a lot of optimism in my predictions. There are good chances that things won't go this way.  I'm seeing the world through VERY maroon colored glasses today.  I do agree with TC in that I don't think that we will challenge the two big horses to win the conference.  I think their history and extra experience (Bethel playing all of those playoff games last year against top competition I think adds dramatically to this year's team's success,) will make them too formidable a task to overcome.  However, I do think that my boys might be the best of the also-rans.  I think that they will have to continue to work their tails off and get lucky in a couple of games.  But, I think that they now have the talent on offense and the experience on defense to at least be in the games when it is time for the chips to fall.  Are they better than sliced bread. Oh, heck no!  But, they are markedly improved on both sides of the ball since even last year.

my two cents!

LAB

Is this the longest quote post ever?  Isn't it great that it's on the IIAC board regarding an MIAC team?

For the record, while I don't think Augsburg is anywhere near the Bethel/St. John's level, I would love to see them knock off the Royals and join the Johnnies in representing the MIAC in the playoffs.  This week's win is a huge step in that direction and, as you point out, there is a reason for hope pretty much every week for the Auggies.  Even if they don't win the MIAC, that's a huge change for the program.

And Winford is an f'ing beast.  They should keep him in a cage between games.  In fact, he can borrow Nick Gunderson's--Gundy won't be needing it this season.

[DutchHawk]

2 wins this weekend for IIAC  (Reds 36-DBQ3 in third)  Simpson and Loras.  Congrats to you two.  I believe we're 0-3 vs bottom half of the MIAC.  Augsburg may very well be a contender in the MIAC,highly underrated in their preseason poll (6th), Gusties 7th and Carlton 8th, all beat IIAC teams.  IIAC =  the Big Ten Conference of D3.

Augsburg contend in the MIAC? I think they're still a long, longshot,

Last year Wartburg lost but because they could only muster 13 points against the Aug defense.  In league play, meanwhile,  Augsburg gave up 62 to SJU, 70 to St. Olaf, 51 to Concordia, 50 to St. Thomas, 42 to Bethel and 38 to Gustavus ... finishing at 43 PPG in league play.

But the MIAC is wider open this year and who knows? If you're right, I'll certainly come back here and eat crow ....

The thing that I still don't understand is the Johnnies getting the ol' baby seal treatment in Pella last fall.  In the grand scheme of recent MIAC/IIAC matchups, that's the one that really sticks out (especially after Augsburg hung with Wartburg again tonight). 

Regardless of tonight's win and the surprising support they got in the preseason poll, the Auggies are not a contender in the MIAC.  They've made huge strides towards relevance and have a really nifty QB/WR combo, but they have no defense or running game to speak of.  I was beyond shocked when they beat Wartburg last year.  This year, too?  Wow.

That was just a good old butt whooping, not muhch to understand about it. I think the point some IIAC'ers are making is that our teams aren't beating the "bottom tier" MIAC teams as they should. I.e Wartburg vs Augsburg. Our #2 should beat Augie regularly...follow? Central has perennially competed with and beaten all levels of MIAC competition and others. Everyone in the IIAC needs to step up and win the games we should, while pulling a few upsets along the way!

Ugh.  No one is disputing that.  St. John's got 6 different kinds of dog crap kicked out of them last year by Central.  If you'd stop and look at what I'm saying objectively for a moment (rather than assume that I'm taking a shot at your team and acting all condescending...follow?) you'll realize I'm making the exact same point that you are.

Consider these scores from last season:

St. John's 62, Augsburg 7
Bethel 44, Augsburg 35
Augsburg 14, Wartburg 13
Central 17, Wartburg 14
Bethel 17, St. John's 14

Bethel 27, Central 14 in the playoffs

I think it is pretty widely accepted that St. John's and Bethel were relative equals and the class of the MIAC in 2007.  The same can be said of Central and Wartburg in the IIAC.  Augsburg was a non-contender in the MIAC and was able to beat one of the top two teams in the IIAC (and did it again this year).  That suggests that the IIAC might struggle against the MIAC, like you suggest.

The two scores that don't make any sense in the chain listed above are Buena Vista 21, Bethel 16 and (as I mentioned earlier) Central 37, St. John's 7. 

It will be interesting to see how this develops come playoff times this season.

One thing you do have to take into account, and I dont usually say this but the weather definitely favored Bethel in that game. The speed of the WR and QB as well as the passing game was taken out of effect by the snow/sleet/ice. So moral of the story is every comparative score has to be taken with a grain of salt.

On the other hand I think the Dutch take it this weekend even with a very young inexperienced team. They have had phenomenal recruiting classes the last few years and although there isnt a lot of experience these kids know how to play and are IMHO the best coached team in the conference hands down.

[Fannosaurus Rex]

Trying to figure out how Central will beat Wartburg is like trying to guess how George Bush will embarrass himself next.  Some things are more likely than others but the possibilities are infinite and you know it is bound to happen.

[Klompen]

One thing you do have to take into account, and I dont usually say this but the weather definitely favored Bethel in that game. The speed of the WR and QB as well as the passing game was taken out of effect by the snow/sleet/ice. So moral of the story is every comparative score has to be taken with a grain of salt.

On the other hand I think the Dutch take it this weekend even with a very young inexperienced team. They have had phenomenal recruiting classes the last few years and although there isnt a lot of experience these kids know how to play and are IMHO the best coached team in the conference hands down.

I agree that the weather for the Bethel game took us out of our game plan, at the same time, I give credit to Bethel.  They adapted to the weather better and faster than we did.  Central still had a good running game and Vance was healthy at that point in the year, but we just seemed to let the weather psych us out whereas Bethel just came to play and let it all hang out. 

Central-Wartburg, wow, not sure what to say on this. 

I always have faith in Central.  They have had great recruiting classes and I completely agree that they are the best coached team in the conference.  I don't even blame my red blinders for that one.  Mac has a way of keeping the team focused.  Stats don't matter for the Dutch, they just stay focused for the entire 60 minutes of play and usually come out on top. 

Wartburg on paper should be the winner.  Willis knows how to fire up a Wartburg squad like no coach I've seen.  His teams are always sky high for Central.  I expect Wartburg to come out firing on all cylinders with their more experienced team, the fact that they have had two games, and being pissed off should easily lead them to scoring first.  Then again, we all know that I thought they would be SNC by more than 24, solid though the win was and I picked them to be Augsburg.  No way did I see them losing that one again this year. 

First half goes to WB, second to Central.  WB wins stats, Central wins the game.  Again.

[Klompen]

Central moves back to #9 this week.  WB drops out, but gets some votes. 

Do your talking on the field, Dutch.  Go Big Red!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[footballdaddy]

A few obsevations on the Wartburg game. I've had a chance to sleep on it after getting home from Minneapolis at 2:15am.

Augsberg is for real. Their QB/WR combo will test teams all year with their short passing game. They use them like runs throwing quick slants and outs for 3-5 yards an attempt. Their long game suffers a bit with protection.

That said,WB left opportunities on the field again. We took a bit to shake off the bus trip and late start. The running game was much improved, but the passing game was not as sharp.We need to turn the rocket screen upfield instead of taking the ball straight out of bounds for little gain. The defense hit hard (ask the Auggie WR's). Our tackling was better but still needs some improvement.

And the officials were some of the worst homies I've ever seen. We seemingly wre flagged evey time somone spit on the turf, but they couldnt find their flags when obvious holding, interefence, etc. happend in plain sight ten feet in front of them. At least three times game-changing plays in the Knight's favor were offset by questionable penalties.

Nvertheless, a game we should have won against a team we should have beat. Let's hope we have that out of out system for the rest of the season.

Sir-

I'll agree that the officials were very bad.  However, I highly dispute the fact that they were bad in one teams favor.  The "fumble" attributed to Berg was blatantly an incomplete pass.  The referee's own description of the play (head ref, mind you) was that he saw his arm go up, didn't see what happened, but then saw the ball on the ground. The only problem is that the ball ended up 6 yards in front of where he was hit at.  So, for his arm to go up, end up 6 yards further up-field, I struggle to see that that was anything but an incomplete pass.  I will immediately agree, he should have been flagged for intentional grounding at that spot.  However, the turnover of the ball was a terrible call.  Secondly, the block in the back on our punt team that was a punishment call for our coach arguing with the umpire, further illustrates that I think that the officials were bad, but were far from bad in one direction.  Please explain the egregious imbalance of calls that were un-warranted before simply saying that we won because of the zebras!

ON another note.  I thought that both teams were impressive last night.  WB's safeties are legit.  They are into the run game immediately, and do a good job of getting over to help with the outside third when they go cover one.   And, WOW do they hit!  I thought that the safeties hit significantly harder than the corners, but that could also be attributed to the "20" scheme that they seemed to run a fair amount (2 over the top, 0 under)  I don't know why WB went away from the running game.  They seemed to have some success with it at times, and would put two or three good running plays together, but then would go to a pass play, which confused me.   I was surprised how much pressure we were able to get on your QB.  I watched film of your game with Norbert's and your QB seemed to have HOURS to survey the field.  However, last night, he seemed to get a bit more pressure.  

I was impressed the way the WB defense was able to limit Royce's reception numbers.  However, he showed why he is such an amazing player, catching two HUGE TD's for us as well as the key reception.  I know he got frustrated a bit with the lack of catches, but he made up in quality what he lacked in quantity.  

#99 for WB is also great.  A true man-child-beast on that D-line.  I don't know what year he is, but he will be a great player to give some good pressure allowing WB's DB's to tee off!

I am glad my boys played well when they needed to.  The WB/Auggie wrestling rivalry has passed on well to the gridiron.  You are right, we always play very well against you guys, and I'm sad that in my two games with you guys we were on the short end of the stick, but glad to see that Coach Haege has started to get some much better players into camp, and now have put us in the position to come up with wins vs. the vaunted Knights.

Best of luck to your club in the upcoming conference season.  Heck, WB winning the IIAC will only make our victory last night look that much more important!

LAB

I don't want to seem like a whiner, but the refs were bad to us. When my wife sees penalties happening if front of an official, it's bad. I also didn't say they cost us the game. If we played like we can for the whole game, the officiating wouldn't have mattered.

Still, good luck for the rest of the season. If you compete for the conference championship, a double overtime road loss to you won't look so bad on our record.

[LCNorse]

Any thoughts on how UD will rebound this week?...will the long road trip affect them at all? When did they fly back Sat night or Sunday?...Norse should be fresh off their bye week... hopefully that helps. This could be a turning point in both teams season. If Norse win it gives them confidence and probably gives them a chance to finish in the middle of the conference. It would also hurt UD in that they may seem like the old UD in which they always had the best athletes but that didn't necessarly mean they had the best team. It could also go the other way and start a downward spiral till the Cornell game for the Norse and give UD the confidence they needed to stay in the upper half of the conference...should be fun to watch!

[Klompen]

http://www.central.edu/athletics/story.cfm?StoryID=1889 is the pregame story for Central vs. Wartburg.  They are going to webcast the game, so I guess the younger Heys can plan on a winning career at Central now.   

[doolittledog]

Any thoughts on how UD will rebound this week?...will the long road trip affect them at all? When did they fly back Sat night or Sunday?...Norse should be fresh off their bye week... hopefully that helps. This could be a turning point in both teams season. If Norse win it gives them confidence and probably gives them a chance to finish in the middle of the conference. It would also hurt UD in that they may seem like the old UD in which they always had the best athletes but that didn't necessarly mean they had the best team. It could also go the other way and start a downward spiral till the Cornell game for the Norse and give UD the confidence they needed to stay in the upper half of the conference...should be fun to watch!

UD flew home 6am Sunday morning.  Good bunch of questions.  I have no idea about any of them other than we will see on Saturday.  I wouldn't bee surprised with any of those scenarios. 

[DutchFan2004]

Any thoughts on how UD will rebound this week?...will the long road trip affect them at all? When did they fly back Sat night or Sunday?...Norse should be fresh off their bye week... hopefully that helps. This could be a turning point in both teams season. If Norse win it gives them confidence and probably gives them a chance to finish in the middle of the conference. It would also hurt UD in that they may seem like the old UD in which they always had the best athletes but that didn't necessarly mean they had the best team. It could also go the other way and start a downward spiral till the Cornell game for the Norse and give UD the confidence they needed to stay in the upper half of the conference...should be fun to watch!

I think that if I were the UD coaches I would tell the boys that it was an old fashioned whoopin and move on.  It does not affect the conference race and it does not affect their goal of being conference champs or getting UD to the playoffs.  Their two goals are still achievable.  Redlands played a near perfect game and were prepared for us.  We need to learn from this and work harder at improving and not make the mistakes that lead to this defeat. 

That is what I would do if I were the coach.  Now I don't know how they will respond.  They took some big hits and Berken was limping some when the game was over.  He is a great part of that offense.  I hope he is ok and can play.  It UD is to win they will have to improve the line play and give the QB more time to throw.  They will also have to open some holes to run through.  Them being one demensional hurt them. 


Having said that I do not believe that Luther is close to Redlands in talent (not that I have seen Luther play this year) and can right the ship this week if they play together and correct the line play. 

[coocooforcoekohawk]

Haven't been to Ash in a long time, can't wait till Saturday.  

Go Kohawks!!

[DutchFan2004]

coocoo,

You have been quiet lately.  How come?  Have you seen this years Kohawks?

[oldNorse]

I feel like I should travel to the Old Norse and Old Dutch houses and spend an entire day listening to what they have to say about football and life in general.   Wise men they are.  

46-9 Redlands...deep in the 4th.  Benches cleared by both teams at this point.  

Hey Dolittle,
Yes, come to Luther land to see the Rockettes.  How about meeting at the "hot dog stand" on the north end of the game field (near the Regents Center) either before the game at 12:30 or at half time.

Predictions of the game:  In '06 Bellarus (sp?) left the Norse laying all over the field on several runs.  We looked silly.  Last year Jamar ran wild...much too fast for the Rockettes.  This year, since I have not seem UD play, if they are fast UD wins as the Norse wouldn't keep up.  If not, Luther might win.  Should be an interesting game if Norse cann establish a rush.

Hope to meet you.  I will be wearing a blue shirt.....along with 1500 other people. 

LC, Floyd or Thunderbolt if you want to join us please do.