FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

cardinaldad,

EIGHT sacks!  Unfortunately not enough!

Thanks for the well-wishes for next Saturday (though hardly unexpected from NCC ).  I'm sure you'll understand that I can't return the same.  While winning a share of the title after being picked 7th would be mighty sweet, I'm hoping that beating the Thunder will not be just so the Cardinals can make the playoffs!   Go RedMen!

[cardinaldad]

cardinaldad,

EIGHT sacks!  Unfortunately not enough!

Thanks for the well-wishes for next Saturday (though hardly unexpected from NCC ).  I'm sure you'll understand that I can't return the same.  While winning a share of the title after being picked 7th would be mighty sweet, I'm hoping that beating the Thunder will not be just so the Cardinals can make the playoffs!   Go RedMen!

Mr Yipsi - Understood!! You guys take care of your business and hopefully, we will take care of ours. After today, it looks like we will have our hands full!!!!

[AndOne]

I'd love to make the Titans out to be a huge underdog next week vs Wheaton, but I don't think they are.  I think in Bloomington, that game is a "pick 'em." There will be two good teams playing with absolutely everything on the line and it should make for a great atmosphere.   From IWU's perspective, it's all about the offense -- will they be able to move the football?  We'll see.

Titan---

I don't believe the Titans are HUGE underdogs either. Underdogs yes, but huge ones, no. Wesleyan should derive some benefit from having the home field advantage.

When looking at Wesleyan and Wheaton against common opponent North Central. and seeing both teams play NCC, I would have to say that the biggest difference is the fact that Wheaton was able to do what it had to in the end, to pull out a victory against NCC. Whereas, IWU did not seem able to do what they needed/wanted to do to defeat NCC, and frankly, didn't come very close to being able to do so.

[AndOne]

IMHO, it seems that the outcome may hinge on the ever important issues of turnovers and penalties. NCC should derive a small edge from having home field advantage. However, one thing is for certain. If NCC comes anywhere close to committing 12 penalties for 135 yards as they did last week, the result will surely be that Wesleyan will be the team going home with the W.
In addition to playing a strong physical game, the Cardinals must also bring the mental aspect of the game with them when they take the field Saturday. In a contest of such evenly matched teams, the one that plays the smartest when the pressure is on is the one who will emerge victorious. 

Not sure how big of a factor it was today, but North Central was able to effect a decrease in penalties from 12 for 135 last week to 7 for 66 today vs Wesleyan. They "gave back" 69 less yards than last week. In perhaps an over simplification of the statistics, they were able to "keep" almost 7 of the 1st downs they earned during the game.      

[matblake]

Congrats to Coach Rucks and Carthage.  They simply outplayed Wheaton today.  They had more heart, and although they made it closer than they needed to at the end, they got the job done.  Carthage is very lucky to have Donovan Moore.  He did an excellent job punting and on defense.  That runback for the TD made me want to puke as a Wheaton fan, but was also a really great football play.  Personally, I thought his best play was the pass interference penalty in the 4th.  He knew he was beat, but 15 yards was better than a TD.

Is it just me is or is Wheaton too aggressive when the other team is punting?  Twice this year they have been burned big time with the fake punt which turned into a turning point of the game.

I also think Wheaton should get rid of that toss sweep.  Gingg fumbles, Jackson fumbles, loss of yardage.  The play takes too long to develop IMO.

[ncc58]

The game got out to a wild start. IWU opened with a reverse-pass from Almanzo to Ceisel for 35 yards. On NCC's second play, Mastrino was way behind the IWU secondary only to drop a certain TD pass.

Fanthorpe has exceeded expectations this season. Offensive Player of the Week twice, and he was the biggest weapon NCC had on the field, even if his stats aren't as impressive this week. Take out his sacks and he had 86 yards rushing.

But, the IWU defense was impressive. They shut down the NCC rushing game, except for Fanthorpe. Given the problems Wheaton has had this season running the ball, I'd expect a lot of pass attempts next weekend.

The NCC defense has shut down the run every week. This week was no different, allowing only 25 yards. IWU had 222 yards passing - almost half went to Ceisel. A certain matchup should be fun to watch next week.

You've chronicled the problems with IWU's special teams all year. Saturday was just another variation. I did notice that an adjustment was made after the second punt fake - there wasn't going to be a 3rd.

I enjoyed the trip to Naperville today, despite the outcome for my Titans.  Both teams really played with a ton of intensity and this was a close game most of the way.  A few thoughts...

1) Aaron Fanthorpe is a terrific playmaker.  The IWU defense was good today, as usual, but Fanthorpe made big play after big play in key situations (several 3rd & longs, and a couple 4th downs NCC converted). 

2) IWU's offense, which has been pretty good this year, is just not quite ready for this type of game. 

3) The two successful fake punts by NCC were killers.  The first led to a Cardinal score.  The second did not, but it allowed North Central to eat up a bunch of clock. 

[Titan Q]

When looking at Wesleyan and Wheaton against common opponent North Central. and seeing both teams play NCC, I would have to say that the biggest difference is the fact that Wheaton was able to do what it had to in the end, to pull out a victory against NCC. Whereas, IWU did not seem able to do what they needed/wanted to do to defeat NCC, and frankly, didn't come very close to being able to do so.

On that 4th Q drive that resulted in the INT, IWU got the ball (down just 6) on their own 27 with 12:00 to play and in 3 minutes moved it to the NCC 32, where it was 1st & 10.  I felt pretty good about things at that point.  Unfortunately a young QB just made a bad decision -- the pass Kraig Ladd tried to throw had no chance to be completed.

As IWU WR Martin Ceisel told the Pantagraph, "We had a couple of opportunities to go up there in the fourth quarter and we just didn't take care of business," said IWU junior wide receiver Martin Ceisel. "We proved we can drive the ball on their defense and make plays, but we didn't make it happen when it counted."

I also agree 100% with what Norm Eash said -- NCC just made more plays:

"We said it was going to be a championship-type of game and it was," said IWU coach Norm Eash. "The team that plays the best wins, and North Central played better than we did today and made more plays than we did.

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/11/04/sports/doc472d441a1cd7b009444172.txt

[matblake]

Fanthorpe has been excellent this year running the ball, but part of the credit has to be given to Sulo.  Most teams are willing to give up a long run now and again as long as they are not being beaten regularly by Sulo.  Kudos for Thorne and Fanthorpe for exploiting this.

[Titan Q]

You've chronicled the problems with IWU's special teams all year.

Actually, the only special teams problems IWU had early was on the punt team -- specifically, they could not snap it cleanly into the punter's hands and get off a clean punt.   Fortunately after their second league game (@ Carthage), the Titans solved their problems.  Since then (the last 4 CCIW games), IWU has attempted 21 punts...all 21 have been successful, with an average of 37.5 yards per punt.

As far as I know, there was never really another special teams issue this season.  Those 2 fake punts they gave up yesterday where huge though.

[Tailgater]

Don't take anything away from your team on field by saying the refs were bad.

Simmer down bgbully and take another read. Red99 never said the refs were bad, just that there may have been calls he questioned. Judging from the reaction, at times, from your sideline your fans and coaches disagreed loudly with several calls they obviously thought were bad. In my life I've never been to a football game were fans from either team didn't bark at or question officials over a call they didn't like. I'm not questioning the officiating in my earlier comment, just playfully curious as to why, out of all the players on the field, the head official consistently rushed to aid the Wheaton QB to his feet for what seemed like a dozen times. Aiding a player once or twice I wouldn't have noticed, but virtually every time he was knocked down after a throw seemed a little curious to me particularly since he aided no other players.

[79jaybird]

The Elmhurst/Millikin game was a thriller with a photo finish.  Whew!  Sounds like 3 of the 4 games were also thrillers.  Elmhurst held Millikin who had 4th down from our 7 yd line (TD would give Big Blue a win) and the ball was overthrown to an open receiver in the back of the endzone.  Very exciting game.
HOWEVER, this was a very sloppy, turnover plagued, ugly game from an offensive standpoint.  Both teams had pretty strong defense.  I think I saw one stat in the first half Elmhurst had 105 yds in penalties!  Millikin also had trouble taking care of the football (which led to Elmhurst comeback) with 3-4 turnovers.
Congrats to Elmhurst who have now won 2 straight in Decatur for the first time ever.
Wow, what a week next week is shaping up to be.  1 team is going to be S.O.L.
Carthage is a great inspirational story this year.  I still find it hard to believe they lost to Elmhurst in week 1, but kudos to them for responding nicely and still in the playoffs radar.
My gut feeling however is that the CCIW is only going to get 1 team in this year (AQ), just because the 3-horse race have lost some key non-conference games in region.

[FormerCard]

The Elmhurst/Millikin game was a thriller with a photo finish.  Whew!  Sounds like 3 of the 4 games were also thrillers.  Elmhurst held Millikin who had 4th down from our 7 yd line (TD would give Big Blue a win) and the ball was overthrown to an open receiver in the back of the endzone.  Very exciting game.
HOWEVER, this was a very sloppy, turnover plagued, ugly game from an offensive standpoint.  Both teams had pretty strong defense.  I think I saw one stat in the first half Elmhurst had 105 yds in penalties!  Millikin also had trouble taking care of the football (which led to Elmhurst comeback) with 3-4 turnovers.
Congrats to Elmhurst who have now won 2 straight in Decatur for the first time ever.
Wow, what a week next week is shaping up to be.  1 team is going to be S.O.L.
Carthage is a great inspirational story this year.  I still find it hard to believe they lost to Elmhurst in week 1, but kudos to them for responding nicely and still in the playoffs radar.
My gut feeling however is that the CCIW is only going to get 1 team in this year (AQ), just because the 3-horse race have lost some key non-conference games in region.

How is Carthage still in the playoffs radar? Are you referring to them getting in as an 8-2 Pool C? 

[usee]

The Elmhurst/Millikin game was a thriller with a photo finish.  Whew!  Sounds like 3 of the 4 games were also thrillers.  Elmhurst held Millikin who had 4th down from our 7 yd line (TD would give Big Blue a win) and the ball was overthrown to an open receiver in the back of the endzone.  Very exciting game.
HOWEVER, this was a very sloppy, turnover plagued, ugly game from an offensive standpoint.  Both teams had pretty strong defense.  I think I saw one stat in the first half Elmhurst had 105 yds in penalties!  Millikin also had trouble taking care of the football (which led to Elmhurst comeback) with 3-4 turnovers.
Congrats to Elmhurst who have now won 2 straight in Decatur for the first time ever.
Wow, what a week next week is shaping up to be.  1 team is going to be S.O.L.
Carthage is a great inspirational story this year.  I still find it hard to believe they lost to Elmhurst in week 1, but kudos to them for responding nicely and still in the playoffs radar.
My gut feeling however is that the CCIW is only going to get 1 team in this year (AQ), just because the 3-horse race have lost some key non-conference games in region.

How is Carthage still in the playoffs radar? Are you referring to them getting in as an 8-2 Pool C? 

As I mentioned I think they have a pulse as an 8-2 pool C team. but its not likely w all the 1 loss teams still out there. they need msj to lose and capital this weekend I would think.

[redman04]

red99
you obviously were not at the game or on Thunder side.  I had my 3 kids there and heard nothing like you described as far as poor sports or profanity just a poor winners post by you.   Don't take anything away from your team on field by saying the refs were bad.  There were plenty of seats on carthage side so don't give line that there was no place to sit. 
good to know you won't be posting much past next week when the team you cheer for will be  truley out of the play off picture soon enough.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but yes he was there, I was with him.

There were plenty of seats on carthage side so don't give line that there was no place to sit. 
good to know you won't be posting much past next week when the team you cheer for will be  truley out of the play off picture soon enough.

But great job on showing what a great sport you are!!!!

[redman04]

4) The Wheaton/Carthage and Augie/NPU games would have been clean sweeps -  minus redman04's complete break with reality and utter despairation picks. 

Mugsy, do you like salt when you eat crow?

MMMMMM.......Crow!!! 

Can we throw it on Tailgater's grill?

The reference to "utter despairation picks" was not necessarily related to the Wheaton/Carthage game.  Rather the perceived going "oppo" on every single game...

You know I was only kidding! 
+K for the Tailgaters grill!