FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[79jaybird]

FYI,  the Elmhurst vs. Benedictine game can be heard online or conventional radio at this address:     http://www.wrse.com   or 88.7 FM local radio.

[Pat Coleman]

FYI,  the Elmhurst vs. Benedictine game can be heard online or conventional radio at this address:     http://www.wrse.com   or 88.7 FM local radio.

Are you guys doing all 10 games this year?

[HScoach]

Here's the last reminder to any CCIW folks that want to participate in the OAC Pikc-Em's to have your picks in by noon Saturday.

[79jaybird]

Yes all 10 Bluejays' games will be aired on WRSE 88.7 FM or the net at wrse.com

[Gregory Sager]

NBA Steals from Wheaton   

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-oklahomacity&prov=ap&type=lgns

Maybe they thought Crusaders was taken??   

well besides, Wheaton, there once was: Valparaiso and Muhlenberg, too.

dgp

You mean Susquehanna. Susquehanna is the Crusaders, Muhlenberg is the Mules.

Eastern Nazarene, Maranatha Baptist, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Alvernia, and Capital are the other D3 schools that use the "Crusaders" moniker. Holy Cross and Valpo are the two non-D3 schools that go by that nickname.

Trine and Wheaton are the only four-year institutions of higher learning that call themselves the Thunder.

[matblake]

Around the Region has its first issue. it highlights the NCC/ONU game next weekend as one of the pivotal games in the region this season. I must admit highlighting the Lakeland/mt st joe game on the same weekend over the bethel/wheaton clash is interesting.

What has me uneasy about the Wheaton/Bethel game other than the fact Bethel starts the season #5 in the polls after a semi-finalist season last year, is that Bethel will have one game under it's belt before they face Wheaton.

As sighted here numerous times last year, prior to Carthages victory over Wheaton at home last year, Wheaton had stacked up quite an impressive record at home over the past 5 years - only Augie had reasonable success.  I think the home field advantage will be somewhat negated by the fact Bethel will have their first game behind them already.  Teams typically have better in game conditioning after the first game and often make less mistakes as a result.

I completely agree, on any level getting through the mistakes of a first game is a scary situation, the fact that the first game jitters will be worked out already for the Royals makes me jittery.  In addition, Bethel is a top program in the MIAA.  I have read that many Bethel people have wanted to play Wheaton for a long time.  That chance is now here, so they are sure to be fired up. 

[Titan Q]

The IWU @ Hope game can be heard on WJBC.  Pregame coverage begins at 12:15pm (Central) with kickoff at 12:30...

http://www.wjbc2.com/


This is a nice test for IWU right out of the gate - Hope is the favorite in MIAA.

2007 was a pleasant surprise for the Titans...I think they have the talent to build on that effort and contend for the league title again.  Seems to me the two big question areas to watch for early on are:

1) The defense (obviously).  The Titans lost so much to graduation and are dealing with a key injury right now...I do think they have more young talent ready to step in than people realize though.

2) The RB position.   Sophomore Bo Lanter has a chance to be a really special player...a terrific athlete who is still kind of figuring out how to be a football player at this level.  Senior Christian Winston may actually be the starter today though - Lanter is injured.  For the Titans to able to take advantage of their great passing game, they'll need solid production on the ground.


Good luck to all in '08...go Titans!

[Titan Q]

Halftime from Holland, MI...

IWU 10
Hope 7

The Titans scored on a 97-yard TD drive in the final minutes of the 2nd Quarter to take the lead...Kraig Ladd connected with Martin Ceisel several times on that drive.

IWU's offense struggled to move the ball most of the 1st Half against a Hope defense that returned most of its starters from 2007...the Titans finally got it going on the final drive of the half.

1st half stats for IWU:

216 yards total offense
- 59 yards rushing (51 for senior Christian Winston in his first career start)
- 157 yards passing for junior Kraig Ladd

[AndOne]

Wesleyan should also have a talented receiving corps. In addition to the all-conference Ceisel and fellow senior Almanzo, the Titans have two other receivers, who I'm aware of, in Scalcucci and Sandrik who are good enough athletes that they both could have played DIII basketball.

[Titan Q]

Final:

IWU 28
Hope 25


On 4th & 4 with under 2 minutes to play, senior Joe Duffy kicked a 34-yard FG to put the Titans up 9.  (Duffy connected from 38 yards on the opening possession of the game.)  The Dutchmen marched down the field and scored with :50 left but missed their third PAT of the game.  IWU recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

The Titans ended up giving up a lot of points in this game, and a ton of yardage, but in listening to the game, I felt like the defense played OK overall.  The Titans came up with a lot of big stops in key situations.  And a couple of the Hope scores were after IWU turnovers, with a short field to protect.  It also sounded like the defense really contained Hope's running game.  In talking to people close to the program lately, they've said IWU's biggest defensive questions are in the secondary, and it sounded like it today.  Defensive end Ryan Jenkins (a sophomore from Rich South), who did not even travel last year, had a huge game for the Titans - his name was called over and over again.

IWU's offense has so many weapons and they used a bunch of them today.  Martin Ceisel had a huge game, but so did senior RB Christian Winston and many others.  When they get Bo Lanter back from injury they'll have nice depth at RB.  I think it's safe to say this team will score a lot of points in 2008.

This is IWU's first opening game win since 2002 (@ UW-La Crosse).  It sounded like, overall, this was a nice start for the Titans.  Still a lot of significant questions about this team and things to improve on, but a lot of positives today in Holland.
----------
Stats:

Christian Winston: 25 carries for 102 yards, TD (receiving)
Kraid Ladd: 17 -30 passing, 234 yards, 3 TD
Martin Ceisel: 9 catches for 140 yards, TD

IWU: 343 total yards (109 rushing, 234 passing)
Hope: 353 total yards (91 rushing, 262 passing)

Red Zone conversion: IWU 3-3, Hope 4-7

[usee]

That's a good win for IWU on the road. I wouldn't read too much into stats in the first game. Thw bottom line is they went on a long road trip and came out with a win against a decent team. I think after the 2nd game is good time to start looking at trends and stats.

Nice win for the titans on the road.

[AndOne]

I'm sure the Titans played a good game, especially on the road, but they better not count on many teams missing 3 pat's if they want to come out of future close games as the winner.

[79jaybird]

Elmhurst 35 
Benedictine 14  Final

[79jaybird]

Overall, some positives and some negatives but Congrats to Coach Lester on a win in his debut.  Offensively,  the story was Matt D'Angelo who caught 5 TD passes and broke 3 school records in the process.  Running game showed some signs of possibly being great.  Nice to see 2 running backs picking up yardage and not just 1 lone back (ala Eric Luna era).
Kudyba looked sharp from the '06 injury. 
Worries on offense- Kudyba occasionally tipped off his receivers by focusing on only 1 target (D'Angelo).  I would like to see EC use more receivers other than just D'Angelo and Lex Cisler. 

Defensively, the team showed some speed and mobility, but I wasn't too happy with the let down TD with 0:13  in the first half.  BU scores a 30-40 yd pass TD with 0:13 to WR Austin which can't happen if you are to win the big games .

All in all, this was a nice game for a young, inexperienced team to get a win for their new coach.  Obviously there are some things to work on during the practice week, but I think overall Coach Lester would be happy with his team's performance today.

9th straight win over Benedictine
15th straight non conference victory

*Also heard that Benedictine plans on dropping North Central from their schedule once their current contract is up.  That's a credit to NC's program so congrats.

[Mugsy]

That's a good win for IWU on the road. I wouldn't read too much into stats in the first game. Thw bottom line is they went on a long road trip and came out with a win against a decent team. I think after the 2nd game is good time to start looking at trends and stats.

Nice win for the titans on the road.

Yeah... and it sounds like the special teams are way ahead of last year.