FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mugsy]

Wheaton D played pretty well and bottled up the Augie O for most of the game.  Offense is still shaky although I really enjoy watching Velling at tail.  He's just so elusive.  Not sure what is wrong with Gingg, but Velling is filling in very well.  Line play is really average so far.  Augie nose dominated the interior.  It looks like they aren't getting much drive off the line.  Running between the tackles is non-existant except for counters.  Nice win, but I'm hoping they get a little more consistant on offense.  I haven't seen many sustained drives this season.  The hurry-up, as in 2 minute drill and not the no-huddle, as well as trick plays seem to be working and that's been the deciding factor so far.

Wheaton had 462 yards of offense...not bad for being so called inconsistent

I completely agree.  I'll take 462 against Augie anyday.  I believe what makes it seem like it was inconsistent is that Wheaton has not established an inside running game.  For whatever reason the OL is not quite getting it done at the point of attack, and Gingg is not quite himself due to a nagging injury (which is why you are not seeing him on a consistent basis and when you do he clearly is not 100%).

[Mugsy]

I'm surprised that the Wheaton-Augustana score was so close.

I've said several times over the past 2 days, this doesn't surprise me at all.  Look at the history of the games over the past decade... it doesn't matter what the record is, the game goes down to the wire.

[orsky]

I think Mugsy just confirmed what I said.  They were 5/16 on third down conversions.  Almost 110 yards came on two long passes, one being a gadget play.  I agree netting over 400 yards is very good against a good Augie D.  It's just the flow of the game is not indicative of a team who can sustain possession to put a game away.

[Mugsy]

Here I was concerned about Wheaton's defense and their ability to stop the Augie rushing attack.  Augie had 32 yards rushing on 29 carries.  I think the major factor in Wheaton's win was the defense.  Other than a few big plays I think they played a very solid game.  Augie only had 12 first downs.

Can not say enough about Norris.  2:43 left, 86 yards to go.  He leads Wheaton down the field in 10 plays and makes an incredible pass for a 26 yard TD with 15 seconds left.  That is 2 games this year he has guided the offense for a game winning TD.

A couple of key plays kept it from a more comfortable margin.  With Wheaton up 17-10 and inside the Augie 20, Norris has all day to throw and finds a receiver for an apparent TD.  Problem is Norris had soooo long that someone held (more like tackled) an Augie defender.  Wheaton misses the FG.  

I wasn't overly impressed with the officials and I believe they blew calls that impacted both teams.  Augie's last TD should have been called back.  There was a clear clip, that in fact resulted in a flag that was waved off.  The LB hobbled off as a result.  Not a good call.

I'm not sure what is going on... I don't know if it is the turf or if there was an unusual number of chop blocks, but there were no less than 5 serious ankle/knee injuries.  3 for Wheaton, 2 for Augie.  An ankle injury was so serious to a Wheaton player that he was taken by ambulance.  Huge win for Wheaton but it came at a cost.  Word has it 3 Wheaton starters lost for the year, to go with Tyler Langs from earlier in the season.

On a side note, the Wheaton OL did an outstanding job with pass protection.  Norris typically had all day to throw.  Yes he was sacked 5 times, but it was more due to Norris holding the ball too long (coverage sacks).

Outside of NCC who looks unbeatable since ONU and NPU who is still struggling for the elusive CCIW win, I believe anyone else in the CCIW can beat each other.  Yes it is cliche... but just look at today.  NCC pounds Millikin one week and IWU beats up on Carthage, then Millikin beats IWU in Bloomington.  This could get quite wild for CCIW #2-7.

[The_Swede]

As for questions about Wheaton's offense, they are averaging 439.2 yards per game. A gutsy fourth-down conversion at midfield in the second half with the score tied was immediately followed by a perfect 38-yard TD pass from Jordan Roberts.

[Mugsy]

Can anyone explain to me Augie's last offensive play of the game?  60 yards to get a game tying TD and you call a screen play?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Can anyone explain to me Augie's last offensive play of the game?  60 yards to get a game tying TD and you call a screen play?

They thought the receiver was really, really fast?!

[matblake]

I believe what makes it seem like it was inconsistent is that Wheaton has not established an inside running game. 

I agree that Wheaton has not established an inside running game.  I just think that the type of offense installed right now is a big play offense.  It has seemed to me so far that just when the running game is getting on track in the first half, the play called will be a shot down the field.  That seems to be leading to a lot of 2nd & 3rd and longs.  Granted, it could be Norris that is always going for the big play.  It could be that I am just used to the previous offense which seemed to be much more ball control, wear out the defense and pull away in the second half.  So far, it has not come back to bite them, but I fear at some point it will. 

[matblake]

On the defensive side of the ball, I was very pleased at the improved play of the linebackers.  You could tell that Augie had seen the screen plays that Hope abused the linebackers with because they were being too aggressive (see at Part II Item K http://www.cciw.org/pdf/sports_guides/FootballSportsGuide.doc).  2 or 3 times in critical situations (not including the attempt on their final possession), Augie went with the screen and the linebackers blew the play up. 

[hyrooster]

Congrats to my 2 favorite teams! MU stayed focused and beat the weenies! I read the post of how IWU beat Millikin in every way but the final score but last time I checked that's all that matters. Good job Big Blue!
Good News - NCC didn't have the typical slow start against NPU and what do you say about a game where the only good thing that happened was every player, looked like on both sides, played in the game.
Bad News - I absolutely love D-III football because all the players are there for the love of the game. I look on the sidelines and see some young men who aren't even shaving yet but willing to sacrifice their body everyday in practice knowing they'll never be on TV Saturday afternoon except the big Bowl game yet how do you honestly say anything negative about these players or teams but NPU just isn't putting a competitve program on the field and I hope their Athletic department and coaching staff figure out how to do so.
I think next weeks game on the road is going to be a big test for the Cards. Carthage is another one of those "who's going to show up this week teams" and I hope the real one shows up because they'll need it to beat NCC. 
I haven't seen a schedule for next week's games. Are there any real good ones coming other than NCC/CC?       

[Son of Tailgater]

Hello to all!!  Obviously new poster here but long time follower.  I have decided to start posting for I want to be able to express some opinions I have on the D3 level of a football that is played in the CCIW.  First I believe the CCIW is one of the elite conferences in the nation, although we just can't ever seem to get passed UWW or MU in playoffs  I don't know whether it is the level of athletes they are getting or just experience in the big games that we are lacking.  I know as a past player we almost got MU in 2004...we will leave it at that cause I almost puked after that game!!  Second, I respect everyone's comments on here for they are very well thought out and very insightful in trying to get "scoop" on each team in the conference.  Third I want to throw a shout out to Son Of Tailgator and Mr Tailgator himself for I have much respect for both of the two gentlemen (not only that they are Redmen!!).  Enought about that into my thoughts on tomorrow vs EC.
   I think Carthage has a very good chance at beating EC tomorrow, but has to have a couple things go their way.  I think for the Carthage offense they need to keep our very suspect defense off the field, but we have a very rugged run game that at times is extinct, for one and two I hope the Koeneman brothers are back for Jeff is a danger across the middle and has very good hands, which can help us with the TOP.  I don't know much about the Jays offense or defense, but I know that the matchup every year is a good one and is always up in the air.  If Carthage's defense can keep the Jays one dimensional they will have a better chance at pulling this off, and IMO one way to do that is either control the LOS, which could be tough considering we an average weight of about 230 lbs on the d-line or use our speed in the secondary to our advantage.  Only bad thing about the secondary is they are young so a few mistakes could cause a very bad game for that group of young men.  Couple questions I have about EC, is what is their strength on offense and defense?  Also who are their playmakers this year and how will they contribute to the game tomorrow?
   Base on my little knowledge about EC I can't put my prediction out here for it would be biased to Carthage, but I can suspect a very close game (some would say "barn burner").  I will be in training all day long so where can I get updates of the games on here? 
   Other than that I'm going to take Florida over LSU with Tebow questionable, I have a firm beleive that their back up QB was National Player of the Year in 2006 and is a very good pocket passer, prediction for that Florida wins 27 17.   

ExperiencesofaRedmen - Welcome to the board as well. I know that we have lost touch since our playing days but I also wanted to know that I have the utmost respect for you as a player but more importantly as a person (and as a roommate)  The way that you approached every practice, game, lifting session and game with the opportunities that you had truly says something about your character. So hearing that from you means a lot to me.

I did end up going to the Carthage vs Elmhurst game and sat in the stands, walked along the track and roamed the sidelines for a stint on a chilly game day. My initial thoughts on both of these teams were "the offenses sure can score points but neither defense can stop anyone." When I saw the box score of the NPU/ NCC game I am thinking that Carthage might need to score 65 to win that one. While the offensive line gave up one touchdown on a sack Elmhurst had 2-3 RB's that were peeling off 10-20 yards a carry. At one point Elmhurst was at their own 15 and in 4 plays they were inside the red zone (all running plays). Then the proceeded to throw the ball 4 times and turn it over on downs. Very confusing from my perspective. Overall, it was a very exciting game up and down the field. It also looks like homecoming games are all figuring to be losses for CCIW teams this year.

[Stagg Again!!]

Don't know if you caught Keith McMillan's "Around the Nation" comments from October 8th, but this is what he had to say:

"COLLEGE CONFERENCE of ILLINOIS and WISCONSIN (CCIW)
Kickoff '09 ranking: 4th
Playoff prospects: AQ; Pool C bid likely
Intensity of title race: Two-minute drill. What looks like potentially a seven-team race (Illinois Wesleyan and No. 4 Wheaton are 4-0, and five others are 3-1) won't be quite that crowded, but it could be a tight finish. The difficult part is figuring out, based on what we've seen so far, who it's going to involve. Augustana, Illinois Wesleyan and North Central dominated Elmhurst, Carthage and Millikin in the first week of conference play, but that still leaves us a potential four-team race. Augustana goes to Wheaton on Saturday, and hosts Illinois Wesleyan in Week 7. The Little Brass Bell game between North Central and Wheaton in Week 8 could produce a clear-cut CCIW leader, but even then games between the current top four will make every week worth watching. There's two-bid possibility here, big time,"

Do you think that Keith McMillan has enough information to figure out the CCIW after yesterday's results?  I don't think it feels like a seven-team race anymore,  but do believe that there are a few teams in the conference that could beat other Top 25 ranked teams.  Speaking of that, I also wonder if the pollsters will give the top teams in the conference any more love this week, especially after the strong early-season showing by all of the CCIW teams in out of conference play (#4Wheaton defeated Bethel by the same margin that #6 St. Johns did; unranked Augie defeated UW-Platteville by virtually the same score that #2 UW-Whitewater did; all of the CCIW teams did what was expected and put a smack-down on the MIAA and NATHC teams; and even North Park defeated Carroll 17-10 (remember, #12 Monmouth could only put up 43 points on Carroll -- I bet #14 North Central could put up a few more than 43 points on Carroll!!!)).  Or, will we all have to hear more about how great the top three teams are in the country???

[Mugsy]

It also looks like homecoming games are all figuring to be losses for CCIW teams this year.

Except for Wheaton yesterday.   

[lakeshore]

is NCC that good to throw up 83 on the Vikes?  Maybe they were trying to avenge the 100+ points NPU put on them in the late '60's!  LOL 

The decline in production from '08 is staggering when Park put up over 700 yards in the first 2 CCIW games vs WC and NCC as compared to half that this year.  Tough to see the light!

[Stagg Again!!]

is NCC that good to throw up 83 on the Vikes?  Maybe they were trying to avenge the 100+ points NPU put on them in the late '60's!  LOL 

The decline in production from '08 is staggering when Park put up over 700 yards in the first 2 CCIW games vs WC and NCC as compared to half that this year.  Tough to see the light!

If you look at the stats, NCC's starters were out of the game before halftime, and they were playing their second and third string for more than half the game.  It would be interesting to get some perspective from some NPU folks on how NCC and WC compare since they are the only team that has seen both.