FB: American Rivers Conference

[du-sz]

Since Central is the only team I follow, I was on the verge of saying they are being graded too harshly.  Except for dropping some passes on offense and giving up a couple of big plays on defense, and having a field goal blocked in both the Wartburg and Luther games, they haven't looked sloppy or like they are playing poorly.  They just didn't play as well as Wartburg and Luther who both played very well.  I think I will give them an incomplete and give them until Saturday night to turn in a complete game.

At this point in the season, I'probably wouldn't be a proper assessor of the conference as a whole either, but its true to say people are pleased with Loras' progress. I'd have to give them an A-. I'd go with the A, but I'm still not convinced they completely turned the corner after close calls and iffy competition.

If I had to throw around any other grades for who I've seen, it would probably be an F for Cornell and no worse than a C for Coe despite the losses.

Also, I heard rumblings that the UD/Loras game is being switched back to a day game...any validity to that? If so, why?

[Wartburg Fan]

Here are my mid term grades.  Short, sweet, and to the point. 

BV:  A
Coe:  B - new coach and touch schedule = rough start
Cornell:  F - enough said
Central: D - last weeks loss to Luther in that fashion droped them down
UD:  D - Jackson was the team not Bellus
Loras:  A - undefeated in conference play
Luther:  B+/A- - big win over the Dutch have them playing well
Simpson: C - thought they would come out the gate better
Wartburg: F - losses to Augsburg and BV set the tone for the season

BV: I will give them a A for beating my knights

Loras   B+

Luther  C

Simpson C-

Central  C with all the loses from the team last year

Dubuque  D

Cornell  F

Wartburg C-   Everyone keeping bring up the Lost to Augsburg. ( I believe that horse has been beat to death).  They are ranked 22nd i believe and undefeated and I will go out on  limb and say they could beat anyone in the IIAC this year. The lost to BV really hurt but give BV credit they played a good game. With all the returning guy, We should be undefeated in the conference that why they get the C.

[DutchFan2004]

I would agree that Augsburg is doing well this year.  The loss was just unexpected and maybe with hindsight it should not have been.  That and maybe we over rated the Knights.  I know that the Dutch have been maybe the Knights are as well.

[sportsknight]

BV:  A.  They seem to be playing the best football in the league right now.  Their defense is tough and doesn't let you take anything for granted (just ask Dubuque), while they've got a balanced offense that can take advantage of any mistakes the other team makes (just ask Wartburg).  If they play equally well against Loras on Saturday, a week from now we could be talking about the Beavers being in the driver's seat.

Central:  C/C+.  I think we all may have been expecting a little much from Central this year.  While its true that not many expected them to stay at the level they've been at the past three seasons, I don't think many expected this much of a drop-off either.  However this is still a young team with plenty of talent, and I think that if they get the mental part of the game squared away they could easily rebound to finish in the league's top 3 or 4.

Coe:  D.  Between the coaching change and some of the losses they suffered from last year, I certainly wasn't expecting much from Coe this year.  But even I wouldn't have guessed that they would have fallen to 1-3 before rebounding this past Saturday against Simpson, where it looks like they may have righted the ship a bit.  Beginning this week, they have a pretty brutal stretch coming up, with 3 of their next 4 against Wartburg, Central, and BV.  I could easily see them going anywhere from 4-1 to 1-4 the rest of the way.

Cornell:  F.  Outside of ShowMe, I don't know that much was expected from Cornell again this year.  And the only thing worse than low expectations is not meeting them.  It sure seems like inconsistency is Cornell's biggest enemy right now.  If they played every week like they did against Wartburg, they could probably win a game if not two before the season is out.  But if continue to give performances like the one against Loras last Saturday the rest of the season, the next five and a half weeks will feel like an eternity.

Dubuque:  D-.  Maybe expectations were a bit too high for the Spartans too.  I will be very interesting to see how they play at Central on Saturday.  If they've made some necessary adjustments and are back on track, then the Spartans probably have just as good a chance as anyone to get back into the conference race.  But if they keep turning the ball over and sputtering in the red zone, then they'll be doomed to the lower half of the standings.

Loras:  A.  Much as I'd like to be able to find something to dock the Duhawks for, I can't.  McGrew is a legit MVP candidate so far, and Loras' passing game has been just good enough to keep defenses honest.  The defense seems to be another strength, but I have to wonder if it will hold up when Loras faces off with teams that have a little more offensive firepower than Coe and Cornell.  I think we'll know a little more about whether or not the Duhawks are for real after Saturday.

Luther:  B-.  Give these Norse credit, they have found a way to get it done in their two IIAC wins.  Granted, they didn't do anything to strike fear in the hearts of their opponents in the losses to Simpson and the Oles.  I think that "Jekyll and Hyde" aspect of this team is what keeps them from more wins and a higher grade.  Note to opponents:  Luther has won the two times they've scored more than 20 points and lost when they didn't.  Keep the Norse to 19 or fewer and you'll probably have a chance.

Simpson:  B.  If they could have beaten Coe this'd probably be an A-.  Simpson is another team that you don't really know what to expect from week in and week out.  Are they going to be the team that limited Northwestern to just 18 rushing yards and a lone score?  Or are they going to be the team that roughed Luther up to the tune of 427 total yards?  They get Cornell this week and then are off before Wartburg comes to town.  If the Knights can get rolling with wins over Coe and Loras the next two weeks, it will be very interesting to see which Simpson team shows up on the 25th.

Wartburg:  D+/C-.  Where is that Knight swagger we're used to seeing?  I saw it during the St. Norbert game, but there wasn't much of it on display in Pella and I doubt that it was seen the past two weeks.  I'll admit that I'm not the best judge of these Knights, having only seen them play twice, but this seems to be a team going through a crisis of confidence.  The best thing for Wartburg right now would be to put a real licking on Coe this Saturday and use that win to build momentum for the rest of the season.  

[Klompen]

Wartburg C-   Everyone keeping bring up the Lost to Augsburg. ( I believe that horse has been beat to death).  They are ranked 22nd i believe and undefeated and I will go out on  limb and say they could beat anyone in the IIAC this year. The lost to BV really hurt but give BV credit they played a good game. With all the returning guy, We should be undefeated in the conference that why they get the C.

I agree with your assessment, though I did not mention Augsburg in my grading.  I gave you Karma anyway, because you are right, it isn't fair to continue to bring up Augsburg as they are proving themselves a worthy opponent. 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Here are my mid term grades.  Short, sweet, and to the point. 

BV:  A
Coe:  B - new coach and touch schedule = rough start
Cornell:  F - enough said
Central: D - last weeks loss to Luther in that fashion droped them down
UD:  D - Jackson was the team not Bellus
Loras:  A - undefeated in conference play
Luther:  B+/A- - big win over the Dutch have them playing well
Simpson: C - thought they would come out the gate better
Wartburg: F - losses to Augsburg and BV set the tone for the season

BV: I will give them a A for beating my knights

Loras   B+

Luther  C

Simpson C-

Central  C with all the loses from the team last year

Dubuque  D

Cornell  F

Wartburg C-   Everyone keeping bring up the Lost to Augsburg. ( I believe that horse has been beat to death).  They are ranked 22nd i believe and undefeated and I will go out on  limb and say they could beat anyone in the IIAC this year. The lost to BV really hurt but give BV credit they played a good game. With all the returning guy, We should be undefeated in the conference that why they get the C.

Wartburg is not running the ball like in past seasons (the opposition is averaging more ypg and ypc on the ground), but I assume the Knights will round into shape very soon.

It is good to see the Loras veterans at the skill positions having good seasons.  It seemed like the Duhawk WR from Columbus was a huge name the minute he showed up on that campus.  He is really performing this year.

B.V. to me has clearly shown the most in the IIAC games so far.  They also had almost no expectations going into the season according to the coaches' poll.  I like what the RB and the Simpson RB have done so far this year.  

I can't remember the league this up in the air since at least 2004.

Central has been good enough over most of the last 45 years that I always assume that they are going to be strong.  I expect them to be tough as the season goes on as well.  The Dutch may "struggle" like Michigan is going to "struggle" this year (compared to tradition), but I really think they will have a better year than Michigan.  If the Dutch can win the Coe game on the 18th and get on a roll this month, the opposition in November might find a more balanced Dutch team than what we saw on Saturday.  I am not going to downplay the Dutch too much as that takes away from the Norse win.

[Klompen]

Good assessment SK.  But I think you and I were both a little hard on our own teams.  I guess we both expected a little much too.  Central did graduate a ton of players, and the expectations were probably too high given the talent that we graduated.  I guess the WB game just gave me higher expectations for us. 

On the other hand, I expected a lot out of WB and thought that Willis was such a strong coach that even taking over late would not be a problem, but only the seniors knew what to expect and they probably didn't get that much attention from him when they were freshmen. 

Maybe we should cut them a little slack, but they both better get back to work.

[footballdaddy]

If i were to grade the conference, I don't think I would vary from the norm presented here. i can only comment on the teams I've seen in person.

If Cornell plays with the effort they did against Wartburg, and Heys jr is healthy, they will win a game or two. There is no margin for error. anything but maximum effort will not get it done.

I could write a book about Wartburg, but I feel their problems fall into two areas.

1) Poor football fundamentals. The run blocking is poor, along with momentary lapses in the passing game. Probably the biggest shortcoming is tackling. Experienced players are making high school mistakes.

2) A lack of emotion. I just don't see any fire in the bellies of those out on the field, and the sidelines look like they are watching a golf match. I haven't seen anyone get pissed off all year. I don't care how veteran or talented you are, you have to want to win. I haven't seen that yet.

[Klopenhiemer]

Good assessment SK.  But I think you and I were both a little hard on our own teams.  I guess we both expected a little much too.  Central did graduate a ton of players, and the expectations were probably too high given the talent that we graduated.  I guess the WB game just gave me higher expectations for us. 

On the other hand, I expected a lot out of WB and thought that Willis was such a strong coach that even taking over late would not be a problem, but only the seniors knew what to expect and they probably didn't get that much attention from him when they were freshmen. 

Maybe we should cut them a little slack, but they both better get back to work.

Klompen...Who isnt hard on their teams except doolittle on this board.  He is always cheering   In all honesty I think all poster on this board, including doolittle have hammered their teams when needed. 

Heck look at Heys...Serria Nevada is now delivering to his house on Saturdays

[Purple Heys]

Heck look at Heys...Serria Nevada is now delivering to his house on Saturdays

Actually, I began taking it intervenously after the 2nd turnover in the Loras game.   

[5 Words or Less]

Be an Orange

[Purple Heys]

My own rating...not trying to rip off 5WOL.

Alphabetically,

Buena Vista:  Surprised

Central:  Curious

Coe:  Underwhelmed

Cornell:  Alarmed  (but undaunted)

Dubuque:  Confused

Loras:  Shocked

Luther:  Overwhelmed

Simpson:  Expected

Wartburg:  Unexpected

[Purple Heys]

With 5 games left (at least)...there is a lot to be decided.

I just tried to look at tiebreakers and such, but there is too much football and things are still wide open for teams with 1 conference loss.

My big hope is that the Rams disrupts somebody's plans.

Both Wartburg and Coe, after beating the Rams, turned around and lost their next game.  Trend?   8)

[Walston Hoover]

My thoughts on Wartburg's issues right now-
The Augsburg loss still doesn't look too bad at this point.
We flat out don't know about BV, but maybe they are pretty good.
However with the wins, I thought after the first one against Norby that the year could be pretty good.
I thought after struggling against Cornell that a win was a win. Maybe Cornell was still Cornell and Wartburg isn't that good this year.
That Win against Central isn't looking so hot right now either.
Look for other teams to smell the blood in the water with the young Dutch again this year and a possoble 6-4/5-5 type season for them.

[DBQ1965]

Here is the list with the new names added this week.

Teams are listed in the order of IIAC standings for this week.

IIAC FAN BASE

BV:  The Show, Klopenheimer, BeaverOfYore, BeaverFan3208, MNbeev

Loras:  du-sz, Confused77, duhawkdanran, steelhawk

Wartburg:  Walston Hoover, sportsknight, Wartburg Fan, footballdaddy, TheOne89.1, warthog, davedevine, Alfredeneumann, wartknight, pressbox, OutsideTheCrate

Luther:  Ram2, LCNorse, FloydinIowaCity, Thunderbolt, oldNorse

Coe:  Charlie Kohawk, coocooforcokohawks, Kohawk Krazy, the_mayne_event, Kohawk Remedy, koecrazy87, DougiePetersFan, youcantseemestill, Cochuck

Simpson:  Storm-what?, sc-stormchaser, New Storm, storm_tracker65

Central:  dutchFan2004, Dutchfan1, Klompen, KCDutch, Dutchlb, oldbeake, Airborne Dutch, D1HawkD3CUI, Old Dutch, DutchHawk, fannosaurus rex, Dutchclone, Mav45, Tydebol Man

UD:  doolittledog, DBQ1965, Spurrier, WillieU, Keith45

Cornell:  Purple Heys, Ash Park, ShowMe, ramfan27, 5 Words or Less, corkballrules, tinman08, TrainsEqualCrowdNoise, SpeedKills84

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Wartburg/Cornell:  PE_Teacher13