FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[WahooThunder]

BEAT AUGIE!!!!!!!

[FormerCard]

Just returned from the NC game..
quarters 1-3 were back and forth with the hopes of an exciting finish!!!!
And then the 4th quarter came....Elmhurst scores.
24-20
and then they had nothing.
it felt like the 1st 6 minutes of the 4th quarter was elmhurst letting the air out of their tires...
elmhurst QB throws some errant passes..nc connects on a few long passes...game over. 
41-24 NC
Kudyba finishes with 5 picks along with 341 yds passing
EC has a good squad, but still cant get over the hump against NC.
Maple (elmhurst #8) is a big boy
Hoffman from NC gets picked on for 3 quarters then comes up with 2 picks in the 4th...may earn him POW, but probably not necessarily deserved...still great plays
Wenger has another good game
Fanthorpe looks solid and makes some good decisions with a few poor ones mixed in..  accounts for 4 touchdowns, rushing for 114 and passing for 169  Definitely deserving of POW honors (mike vick type numbers)
sorry grammar sticklers, not many complete sentences here..
GO AUGIE...lets keep this conference race close

[Gregory Sager]

For the better part of two quarters NPU did an epic face-plant that was memorable even by the dismal standards of North Park football. Before the game was a minute old Shelby Wood had thrown an interception and Carthage was in the end zone. NPU fumbled away the ball deep in its own territory, leading to another Carthage TD; the Vikings failed to recover a Carthage fumble on a Red Men first and goal, in spite of the fact that a Viking fell on the football first; Carthage scored a safety when Wood was called for intentional grounding in the end zone; and the Red Men scored yet another TD when a blocked North Park punt rolled into the end zone and was recovered by a host of Red Men.

It was 33-0 with plenty of time left in the first half, and it was looking as though Scott Pethtel was going to have to suffer through yet another one of those crushing humiliations that pop up all too regularly throughout NPU football history.

However, the Vikings snapped out of their zombie-like state at that point. Wood drove them down the field and completed a nifty pass to sophomore WR Chris Durr for a TD. The Vikings then drove the ball down the field again at the end of the half, only to have a Viking bobble away an end-zone pass that found its way into the hands of a Red Men defender for a touchback INT.

The ballgame was basically over at the half, so it was more or less just a test of character for NPU from that point forward. And the Vikings actually did show plenty of character. It's not as though they dominated the second half by any means, but they did outplay the Red Men and outscored them, 12-7, to make the final score a little more palatable. Carthage is by far the superior team -- the Red Men's O-line blew NPU off the line of scrimmage so badly that for most of the afternoon Carthage ballcarriers weren't even touched by a blueshirt until they were five or six yards downfield -- but the Red Men played the second half as though they were all deep in thought about what was going to be served for dinner in the Carthage dining hall this evening. They continually short-circuited their performance with penalties, and the Carthage pass defense turned into Swiss cheese. NPU, meanwhile, didn't show an ounce of quit and the Vikings could at least hold their heads up at the end of what turned into a 40-18 final score.

Durr, who caught a whole pile of passes (two for TDs) turned in a terrific game, and Wood was for the most part pretty good. Kelvyn West never got untracked; the game got out of hand so quickly that NPU had to abandon the run, and on most of his rushes before the game did get out of hand in the first half West was hit behind the line of scrimmage by defenders who swept through the NPU O-line like it was made out of paper.

The NPU defense had some good stops in the second half, but both the defense and the special teams need a lot of improvement when it comes to tackling skills. The first man to touch a Carthage ballcarrier very rarely brought him down, and the Red Men ran through a lot of listless arm tackles. Carthage also proved to be adept at cutting back against the grain and taking advantage of NPU overpursuit, particularly after catches.

Not a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination for NPU, and since Carthage was probably North Park's best shot at a CCIW win this season my guess is that the final scores will not get any better than this one turned out to be. But for a team that's used to packing it in in the second half, the Vikings did show people something with a decent effort after they came out of the locker room.

[Titan Q]

If the Titans can win at home today, I think they become a legitimate CCIW championship contender.

The Titans MUST win this game to keep pace. I don't think it will say much about their ability to contend for the CCIW. The Augie win was the first game that turned heads. There are 3 teams that were expected to compete for the CCIW title (wheaton, augie and NCC). to be considered a CCIW contender you must win 2 of these AND all the other league games handily IMO.

If Wheaton beats Augie tonight, they will be in the driver's seat. NCC and Elmhurst winner will keep pace with a potential 1 loss championship.

My opinion is simply that in a 7-game league where 6 of the 8 teams have at least one loss, a 3-0 team is a "legitimate championship contender."     

[RadioNotes]

21 to 10 Wheaton at half.  Telecast so-so...wow nice score board by the by....
Congrats to NCC for a good 4th qtr....too bad it was a questionable int that
changed the momentum though!!   CCIW is looking good all over this year!!

[RadioNotes]

Now UK and LSU was a great game today....hope you all caught that OT!!

[burly]

21 to 10 Wheaton at half.  Telecast so-so...wow nice score board by the by....
Congrats to NCC for a good 4th qtr....too bad it was a questionable int that
changed the momentum though!!   CCIW is looking good all over this year!!

Great halftime interview at Wheaton with Pat Coleman and Keith McMillian.

[burly]

Augie TD 21-17 early in the 3rd.

[burly]

Redman04 & Tailgater - congrats on the win today.  Much needed victory for the Redman.  The NPU defense is almost non-existent.  And, Carthage exploited them on every opportunity.

IF NPU can find a defense, they will be able to win a came.  Until then, it's going to be a long CCIW season.

[burly]

Inttersagen downs the punt on the Augie 1.  Augie 3 and out.  Toal blocks punt.  WC has the ball on the 24 yardline.

[burly]

Big stop by Augie on 4th and 1 - Turnover on downs.

[CardinalAlum]

As for the best defenses league wide... hands down the Augustana defenses of the mid-80's during their NCAA championship runs.  Those defenses were downright nasty and the stats were sick.

Augie's D those years were the best ever!!!  Nobody else close!!

[burly]

21-17 Wheaton.  Start of the 4th.  Augie have some trouble running the ball.  Wheaton playing the field position game.

[joelmama]

I certainly think the MUC defense of this year as well as a couple other years would certainly make the hands come up a bit.

[burly]

Augie fake punt on their own 25.  1st and goal on the 4 yard line - 71 yard pass completion by the Vikings.