FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[cardinaldad]

....but the O were THE stars today!  What a great day!  CONGRATS!

You are correct, here, radionotes. Especially the offensive line. There were some nice holes to run through and Fanthorpe had so much time to throw.

[cardinaldad]

Just returned from NC/Augie Game



Podulka is one of the shiftiest and most elusive quarterbacks I have seen...very tough to bring down.

     I agree. There were many times that the defense had him bottled up and almost tackled. Then, he would some how escape and make a play ala Fran Tarkenton.
      IMO he was their offense today. If he wasn't in the game, the outcome would have been much worse for Auggie. Other than Podulka's playmaking, Auggie only had a few long runs for big plays. Most of them were on short yardage and the NCC defense got sucked in to stop the dive, only to have Podulka pitch it. Not sure if this was the defense called, or if there were some missed assignments and the outside contain broke down. On those long runs though, the backs looked REAL slow. It appeared that on a couple of those runs, they should have scored, only to be caught from behind. Great coaching with great angles of pursuit, I guess. But, there was NO one in front of them.

[cardinaldad]

     Congrats to the Cardinal football team and coaching staff. Three CCIW conference championships in a row. You all should be very proud as that is quite a feat having to play some GREAT competition week in and week out. You have come very far in a short period of time. Your consistency has definitely made you the elite of the conference.
     No let down now against Elmhurst. They are not going to lay down for you. Let's go for 10 - 0 and take some momentum into the playoffs. 

[cardinaldad]

You know, after looking at the stats, Auggie did have a very good day running the football. While at the game, it didn't appear to me that they were that successful running the ball besides those few long gainers. But, they definitely did a good job running the ball.

[Matilda]

Not going to lie, a little ticked off about the poll question on the front of the page.
The fact that I'm in the 40 hours of no sleep might be a factor ...BUT...

• I realize that UWW got up set
  I realize that UWW beat NCC last year on route to a national title
  I realize that poll questions are supposed to generate conversation, i.e. this
  I also realize that rankings dont mean a whole heck of a lot, maybe they sway post season awards--I don't know

Having said that, I do have some thoughts....

It seems like this poll question is tring to create the same discussion about strength of conference and schedule as the conversation WAS with Penn St.  Is that really the case?  Is UWW's schedule all that more impressive than NCC's?  Sure NCC plays BU and that recently that has been realitively game week that is a little more lax than others, but NCC did have Ohio Northern on the schedule when they were ranked in the top 25 in the nation.  At that time that was a big win, not as great as one might have thought directly after, but a big win nonetheless. 

Not to mention the fact that the Warhawks do have a loss.  I'm not saying that they shouldn't be up there with the top teams in the country.  But isn't it almost always a default that if you are in a "power conference" and undefeated that you belong above another "power conference" team that has one loss?  And I know some of the people who will try to poke holes in my argument here will say well you have a bunch of BIG XII and SEC teams with one loss ahead of Utah and Ball St.  Utah may have a bit of a claim because they proven they can play with the big boys. 

But as far as the polls go, the undefeateds are lining the top of the rankings.  The teams with one loss are there circling like buzzards to get in if one team drops, but they are on the outside looking in no matter if they are playing some of the best ball right now (USC, UF). 

So I guess my argument really boils down to is: Really people, do you really think that UWW deserves to be ahead in the rankings?

[Matilda]

It's okay, order is restored... people are voting the correct way, but at the time of my previous log-in and post they were not

[FormerCard]

You think Thorne will finally earn Coach of the Year now? It's only taken three straight CCIW titles and four consecutive playoff appearances ...

I personally think he should have won it his first year in 2002. He took a program went 3-7 the year before and finished 6-4 (the most wins at the school in 15 YEARS!) with their third string quarterback starting. The Cardinals also had comeback victories in three of the last four games to get that winning record.

Completely agree with you that he should have a Coach of the year award by now, but probably not from the  2002 season.  2007 to me was a huge disappointment as the Cardinals represented the CCIW in the playoffs, won the conference, beat IWU yet still Eash was given Coach of the Year.

I faintly remember the posts of how no one expected anything from IWU and they shared the title but still...no one expected NC to become the Powerhouse they have since the 2001 season going from 3-7 to the playoffs in 4 year time span showing a program that just continues to get better.   That is all Thorne and the staff he brought in that know WHO and how to recruit and the gameplans put in place.

In my mind there is no way Thorne does not win Coach of the Year. 

[Tailgater]

First off...Congrats to NCC's entire football program, families and supporters. You've certainly got a lot to be proud of and a reason for celebration!

On a totally different note. I happened to catch the end of the Clemson/Florida St. game and saw a replay call I've never seen or heard before. A Clemson receiver caught a pass on the Florida St 1 yd line, got obviously speared helmet to helmet from behind causing the Clemson receiver's helmet to fly off, before he spun easily into the endzone for an apparent TD. No Fag for the hit? , but upon further review the TD was nullified and the ball spotted at the 1/2 yd yard because the play, by rule, is automatically dead at the instant the receiver's helmet came off?? .  Apparently a safety issue? When did this rule enter the NCAA books? (CarthageFan seams to have a handle on rules) It certainly isn't in the NFL rules. What happens if a defensive player looses his helmet....is the play stopped at that point for his safety? Why not also stop play when a shoe falls off, you could get your foot mashed? Now I'm all for as much reasonable safety measures in the game, but this is football, people can get unfortunately hurt. If there is a concern for safety maybe playing the game should be against the rules.  When will all these namby-pandy rules stop being instituted in a gladiator style game? Next up will be no more pancake blocks by O-lineman as the humiliation and mashing of defensive players into the turf could leave permanent physical and mental damage

[Carthage Fan]

Tailgater,

Funny you should mention rules as I just was consulting the NCAA rulebook this morning. 

To answer your question, yes it is a dead ball when the ball carrier's helmet comes completely off:

Ball Declared Dead
ARTICLE 3. A live ball becomes dead and an official shall sound his whistle
or declare it dead:
q. When a ball carrier's helmet comes completely off. The ball belongs to
the ball carrier's team at that spot.

I think this is a good rule and protects the ball carrier.  But I am still not a fan of the horse collar rule.  If it were Jim Schwartz who was hurt being tackled that way vs. Terrell Owens, we never would have the rule.  In fact if you can tackle a player by their hair which you can do, why wouldn't that be more dangerous than a horse collar?   

[usee]

Wheaton got back on the wagon yesterday with a win that says more about IWU woes than it does for the Thunder's state of mind. IWU has a lot of injuries and did not play well yesterday. Ladd looked really bad and there was no running game until Rooney picked up some late yards. IWU's defense was a shadow of their league leading D last year. Nickolich didn't play much and was visibly hobbling. One of their best D linemen, Alex Holmberg, played sparingly and wasn't a factor, Dan Souder made a lot of tackles but couldn't stop Rocky Gingg in the backfield, letting Ginng bounce off of him for Wheaton's first TD. There were still plenty of hits on the qb and the game was 10-3 late in the second quarter when IWU gave up 2 long pass plays to let Wheaton take a 20-3 lead into the break.

Wheaton showed what they can do when they don't turn the ball over. Ittersagen was on Ceisel a majority of the game and broke up a few passes as well as 1 int. He also had a long punt return that was overshadowed by a fumble at the end of it. The Thunder were in control most of the way and I was really surprised at how lifeless the Titan's looked on both sides of the ball. The wind was a big factor. it was very difficult to throw the ball down the field into the wind.

A good win for the Thunder and I am sure it makes them all the more sick for losing last week in Elmhurst. They would have been 8-1 and in the drivers seat for a pool C bid. Now they need to get ready for what I am sure will be a blitzfest up in kenosha. If the Thunder can keep from turning it over, they should have a chance vs the Redmen.

[usee]

I think NCC has the inside track for a clean sweep of the postseason CCIW awards.

DPOY Wenger
OPOY Fanthorpe
COY Thorne

The only question in my mind is around Fanthorpe. Since he will have only played in 8 games there is an argument for Podulka--and Podulka may well be very deserving--but I think Fanthorpes numbers are just too good to ignore for his second OPOY award. There is an outside chance for Randy Wright to share the award if he has a monster game saturday and the Bluejays upset the Cardinals. Short of that I think its a clean sweep.

[79jaybird]

Congratulations to North Central on a historic CCIW clinching victory. I'm sure if I ask the Cards fans it was all the more special to clinch 3 straight against Augie. 

Also congratulations to Elmhurst on clinching win #7 for the first time since 1985.  Millikin gave EC all they could handle and really should have beat EC.  Elmhurst trailed for 90% of the game.  There were two reasons why Elmhurst was able to win a game where they had 3 turnovers and 5 sacks?  against.  A) The defense stepped up in the second half controlling Wilson and putting some pressure (which was non existent in the first half) on MU's QB.   B) Kudyba won this game on offense.  He took the team on his shoulders and refused to lose this game.  He knew next week vs. NC would be much tougher than MU this week, and just gutted out a second half comeback.  I especially like him diving head long to pick up the first down on 3rd and 4 from the doorstep with 30 some seconds left.

I know Thorne will get COY  however I DO think Lester should get some votes for COY.  In his first year he takes a team to 7-2 possibly 8-2.  I think he's resurrected this program and now has the team believing they can compete against anybody. 

[79jaybird]

more on the Millikin/EC game.
Talked with Bryan Marshall (SID) and there are plans in the works to renovate Lindsay Field so perhaps in the near future we will see turf and less crowning of the field.  There is a noticeable crown on the field.

CardinalAlum-  I know NC is going to be gunning for Elmhurst, one of their close rivals.  Do you think Thorne plays his starters the entire game?  I think there are two schools of thought here.  A) Go for it all and try to get a perfect 10-0 season.  Or B) Play your starters for a half, and then rest them for the playoffs next week.  What are your thoughts?

Without looking at my notes I think the last time Elmhurst picked up 8 wins was 1981  8-1 second place to Augie.  I will check on that one.

[usee]

more on the Millikin/EC game.
Talked with Bryan Marshall (SID) and there are plans in the works to renovate Lindsay Field so perhaps in the near future we will see turf and less crowning of the field.  There is a noticeable crown on the field.

CardinalAlum-  I know NC is going to be gunning for Elmhurst, one of their close rivals.  Do you think Thorne plays his starters the entire game?  I think there are two schools of thought here.  A) Go for it all and try to get a perfect 10-0 season.  Or B) Play your starters for a half, and then rest them for the playoffs next week.  What are your thoughts?

Without looking at my notes I think the last time Elmhurst picked up 8 wins was 1981  8-1 second place to Augie.  I will check on that one.

JBird,

I am pretty sure there will be no resting of any starters next week. NCC is playing for a possible #1 seed and being as far away from Mt Union as possible. They will be treating this game as their first playoff game. Now, if they are up by 40 pts at halftime you may some starters resting. 

[HScoach]

Congrats to NCC. A terrific playoff rep for the CCIW. Let's just hope the Cards are not seeded in the Mt. Union bracket.

As a MUC guy, I agree 100%.  I'd love to see what a good CCIW team could do in the playoffs separated from MUC.  Over the last 15 years, very few teams (Augie, Wheaton, Carthage) have played Mount consistently tougher than the CCIW. 

Good luck come Selection Sunday.