FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[NCF]

3 interesting stats for the upcoming game
1.  Illinois Wesleyan leads the conference in sacks with 20 while Wheaton only has 5 on the year.  Will IWU's defensive front force Roberts into a bad decision?  Or does the 5th year Senior show his poise?

2.  Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan are 6th and 7th in the league in penalties.  Will there be a major penalty by either squad which modifies the game?  Both teams seem to commit penalties.

3.  Wheaton is first in the league in Red Zone Offense.  Of their 23 trips to the red zone, they have scored 22 times with 20 TD and 2 field goals.  IWU has been the red zone more often with 33 trips and have scored 24 times with 21 TD and 3 field goals.  Pretty comparable.

I used season total stats instead of conference only stats as I wanted a larger sample size.

This should be a great game.  Hopefully the first of three. I think the loser of this game will be all over North Central, with a trip to the play-offs on the line.

[Kovo]

Under the current coaching staff, when was the last time the pass-happy NCC of Naperville rush for over 300 yards?

To answer you question, that's the third time THIS YEAR they've rushed for over 300 yards.

And for the record NC has thrown 170 passes for the year, and ran the ball 292 times.

The past two years are as follows:  2012: Pass attempts  308   Rushing attempts  481

                                                         2011: Pass attempts  258    Rushing attempts 499


I do recognize that the number of blow outs that NC has been involved in tends to result in a greater number of running plays than you would see in a close game.  But, I don't think that I would characterize the offense as "pass happy" as opposed to balanced.
       

[iwu70]

Over the past few seasons, NCC has seemed very "run-oriented" to me.  IWU was pass-oriented but has far better balance, better running game this season.  Stinde and Devonte Jones are having a pretty good season so far.  IWU has an excellent corps of receivers, with some new guys really playing well.

IWU70

[markerickson]

Guys:  Thanks for the NCC info.  Obviously, I did not realize the balance.

[Kovo]

Guys:  Thanks for the NCC info.  Obviously, I did not realize the balance.

Always glad to be of service! 

[iwu70]

Wonder when the last time was when the CCIW had four 1-5 teams at this point in the season?  Not a good thing for the overall reputation and competitiveness of the CCIW. 

Looking forward to the next two weeks @Tucci -- hosting Wheaton and North Central.  Hope there's a huge crowd of Titan fans . . . and pretty sure Wheaton travels well, too, and will have a big contingent in Bloomington this weekend. 

A lot is on the line. 

GO TITANS!!!

IWU70

[iwu70]

New polls out.  Titans break into the top 20.  NCC still top five and WC top ten or so.  It all sorts out in the next three Saturdays.

IWU70

[Son of Tailgater]

iwu70 -

2013 Football Standings
School   Conf   Overall
Illinois Wesleyan    3-0   6-0
North Central            3-0   6-0
Wheaton             3-0   6-0
Augustana            2-1   4-2
North Park            1-2   1-5
Carthage                    0-3   1-5
Elmhurst                    0-3   1-5
Millikin                    0-3   1-5

I don't like saying it but with the decline of Carthage, Elmhurst and Millikin in recent year's the CCIW cannot be considered the "top 3" conference it once was.

[ExTartanPlayer]

I don't like saying it but with the decline of Carthage, Elmhurst and Millikin in recent year's the CCIW cannot be considered the "top 3" conference it once was.

I can appreciate some humility, and you guys keep bemoaning this decline of the CCIW, but the truth is that no conference in Division III is free of bottom-dwellers; every one has a couple of teams at the bottom that are struggling.  The OAC has Wilmington, Marietta and Muskingum, all three of them every bit as bad the bottom of the CCIW.  The NWC has Lewis & Clark and Puget Sound lagging way behind.  The ASC has Sul Ross State and Howard Payne.  The MIAC is one of the only conferences that I can look at and say that even the 2-3 bottom teams might still be "good" elsewhere.  Maybe the WIAC, where you can point to UW-Eau Claire's close losses to St. John's and Pacific Lutheran and UW-River Falls' close loss to St. John's as evidence they'd be competitive in every conference.

Carthage lost a competitive game to likely MIAA champion Adrian (led 14-7, trailed 21-14 at start of fourth quarter).  Millikin lost by a touchdown to likely UMAC champion Greenville (tied 41-41 with a minute to go).  While I know that seems like small potatoes to you fans of the good teams...since you say it's not a "top 3" conference - name me three other conferences whose bottom three teams would be close to or beating other lesser-conference champions?  Seriously, I'm just curious which three conferences you think have better quality at both the top and the bottom; I think you guys have kind of unrealistic expectations.

[iwu70]

ExTart, (and Son of . . .), I have no expectations, realistic or otherwise.  I was just pointing out the fact that our bottom four haven't done very well this year.  I take your points and feel that CCIW is generally a pretty good, even tough conference overall.  Surely that is true in basketball and some other areas.  But, four teams at 1-5 at this point does seem a bit unusual, a bit embarrassing at this point in the season.  Perhaps I'm wrong and just don't remember similar situations in the past 3 or 4 decades of my following CCIW football.  Sure seems the top three CCIW teams (IWU, NCC and WC) are pretty widely separated from the rest of the league this year -- in conference and in non-conference performance. 

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

greg was our punter trying to kick the ball out of bounds to keep away from their receivers or trying to do directional punting?  i seem to remember like a couple years ago we had a decent directional punter, just wondering if that is what they are trying to get him to do

No, unfortunately he shanked three punts in the first half off of the side of his foot, as they traveled only 25, 9, and 15 yards. Despite the 53-yarder he punted in the fourth quarter, it was easily John Gieseking's worst day ever as a punter, as he averaged only 29 ypp. This may sound odd, but if he had to have a day this bad in his NPU career, I'm glad that it was this past Saturday. Good punts or bad weren't really going to mean anything on a day that the Vikings were so completely outmatched from the get-go.

[Gregory Sager]

A few weeks ago I described the CCIW as being "extra soggy on the bottom," a description that I'll stand by. I've watched every team in the league several times now, either whole games or large parts of them, and I can testify that the CCIW seems weaker at the bottom than I can remember seeing it in a long time. And, yes, that's good news for NPU.

[79jaybird]

I don't know if I would say Elmhurst is in decline?  This year obviously has been a rough one with key losses to graduation, however 4-3 for many seasons and last year's co-championship for the first time since 1980 and many of the current posters births,  along with advancing in the playoffs. I would not say EC's program is on the decline just yet. 

[NCF]

iwu70 -

2013 Football Standings
School   Conf   Overall
Illinois Wesleyan    3-0   6-0
North Central            3-0   6-0
Wheaton             3-0   6-0
Augustana            2-1   4-2
North Park            1-2   1-5
Carthage                    0-3   1-5
Elmhurst                    0-3   1-5
Millikin                    0-3   1-5

I don't like saying it but with the decline of Carthage, Elmhurst and Millikin in recent year's the CCIW cannot be considered the "top 3" conference it once was.

http://www.d3football.com/columns/around-the-nation/2013/2013-conference-rankings

[iwu70]

1-5 at this point is a pretty big decline for the EC program, at least year on year.  Share Greg's description of pretty "soggy on the bottom."  We'll see soon if the top three are really at the same level or not.  Let's hope the games are good, even, and injury free.  The CCIW conference race, and positioning for the post-season, is about to really begin.

IWU70