FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

Greg, my wife is from Grand Blanc; her dad and mom spent their final years at Fenton Extended Care (nursing home); quite familiar with Lake Fenton (even swam in it ).  Everyone I knew from that area always told people 'south of Flint'.

I hold out hope that Detroit is not 'ruined beyond redemption'.  It will (likely) never make it back to what it was (I wasn't there, but from what I've heard), but I disagree that it can never make it back as a desirable city.  I see no reason they can't come back to what Cleveland and Pittsburgh now are (Cleveland I'm iffy about, despite the rave reviews, but Pittsburgh is now a legitimate destination).

sac, surprised to hear that.  I used to be in Milford often (rare, lately) and never heard that.  Maybe its the Tigers success.

[Gregory Sager]

I don't want to get into a whole thing here, Chuck, because this isn't the forum for it. But Cleveland and Pittsburgh were never as bad off as Detroit is now. Not even close.

[NCF]

FWIW, here's my .02 cents worth

http://www.popscreen.com/v/64QCD/Peter-Griffin-Who-The-Hell-Cares

Enjoy 

[Titan Q]

FWIW, here's my .02 cents worth

http://www.popscreen.com/v/64QCD/Peter-Griffin-Who-The-Hell-Cares

Enjoy 

Amen!!

Thank you!

[iwu70]

Good Pgraph piece today on the IWU football team and how they are a different team, more confident coming off the Wheaton win and with very few injuries, compared to last year's game with NCC.  Should be a great match-up at IWU -- Tucci Stadium @ Wilder Field -- this Saturday. 

Have to agree with Greg that Detroit is so so much worse off than Cleveland or Pittsburgh ever were.  Only thing I've seen close to Detroit's sad situation is parts of Philly.  Both a local and national disgrace.

IWU70

[shepherd]

I thought Austin Langemeier had a couple of great catches last week and two out of bounds ones.  The coaches are giving him more playing time slowly so it may be a while to see what he can do.  I still think he is one of the better receivers on the team. I'm pretty anxious to let some of these younger players show what they can do and get some real experience.  But the coaches know best.

[Pat Coleman]

"Next to Ann Arbor" works, because, unlike Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor is a nationally-known location. But then you have to deal with the loaded perceptions and assumptions that come with identifying yourself as being from a major college town.

I just tell people Ann Arbor also. Unless I know that they lived in Michigan, in which case I say Ypsilanti.

[Langhorst_Ghost]

Bluejays head to the Holmgren Athletic Complex Saturday in what has turned out to be a intriguing test for both teams.

No streaks to talk about, just football this time for the Jays and Vikes - and both squads hope to build on last weeks' respective efforts, string a couple CCIW wins together.

TD Conway has been quite a revelation on Foster Ave, chucking it 292 times (by far the most in the league) for 250 yards/game (2nd in the CCIW) and picking up 84 first downs via the pass so far - but the Jays' veteran secondary has been a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season.  4 seniors on the back end of the EC D will do good job limiting the aerial damage from young TD and his troops.  The Jays' secondary leads a more than respectable group that has only allowed 16 touchdowns so far (compared to NPU's 32).  And watch out for this kid Magwood out of St. Thomas Aquinas - he's the featured back for Coach Conway as a freshman and ranks 3rd in the league in all-purpose yards - EC will need to bottle him up just as the league's leading rusher, Dunning, was a week ago at Langhorst.

On the other side of the ball, if not for Millikin's simply dreadful defense, the Parkers would be last in defending the run in the league (giving up 249 yards a game and 5.4 yards a carry).  While the Jays' offense has struggled to score (last in the conference), EC can pound the rock - to the tune of 200+ yards/game on the season.  Josh Williams will get plenty of opportunities to test that shaky Viking front 7 via the zone running attack Saturday afternoon.

While Saturday's outcome won't determine the league's playoff fate or dent the top of the conference standings, it should be a close contest.  Another win or two in the conference for either team is a big deal come recruiting season and for building momentum into next fall.  Should be fun.

[formerd3db]

I don't want to get into a whole thing here, Chuck, because this isn't the forum for it. But Cleveland and Pittsburgh were never as bad off as Detroit is now. Not even close.

Hey Gregory:

One more if I may   Are you sure about that regarding Cleveland vs. Detroit, even when the Cuyahoga River was on fire?   Just kidding.

Ypsi:

I know Grand Blanc well; dad designed many homes/buildings there, we played them in h.s.,; have several friends living there still, my brother's wife's office is there; brother lives on Silver Lake in Fenton in a house dad designed some years ago, but moving a bit farther towards Clarkston, Milford on another lake!

Good luck to your teams this weekend.  Should be some good games for them as will Hope's (I think )

[Titan Q]

Article from the Sun-Times today on IWU...

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/23439680-419/illinois-wesleyan-eyes-cciw-football-title.html


And from the Pantagraph...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/titans-head-into-north-central-showdown-a-different-team-than/article_b0ea5c4e-41e8-11e3-80dc-0019bb2963f4.html

[markerickson]

I do not know when Massey started making projections, but I would wager that North Park's upcoming contest against Elmhusrt is the first time ever that Massey projected North Park to win a conference game.  Thus, another streak has ended.

Magwood being #3 is deceiving because he leads the CCIW in KO return yardage, which is not necessarily a good thing as it is a function of returning too many kickoffs.

Congratulations to Augie LB Erik Westerberg for being one of sixteen finalists for the William Campbell Trophy that honors top football scholar-athletes.  I think he is the only DIII player on the list.  (Unsure what level Johns Hopkins and Coastal Carolina compete.)  "Swede" Westerberg is now $18,000 richer.

[Pat Coleman]

I do not know when Massey started making projections, but I would wager that North Park's upcoming contest against Elmhusrt is the first time ever that Massey projected North Park to win a conference game.  Thus, another streak has ended.

Magwood being #3 is deceiving because he leads the CCIW in KO return yardage, which is not necessarily a good thing as it is a function of returning too many kickoffs.

Congratulations to Augie LB Erik Westerberg for being one of sixteen finalists for the William Campbell Trophy that honors top football scholar-athletes.  I think he is the only DIII player on the list.  (Unsure what level Johns Hopkins and Coastal Carolina compete.)  "Swede" Westerberg is now $18,000 richer.

One of those schools is in our Top 25.

[Kovo]

I do not know when Massey started making projections, but I would wager that North Park's upcoming contest against Elmhusrt is the first time ever that Massey projected North Park to win a conference game.  Thus, another streak has ended.

Magwood being #3 is deceiving because he leads the CCIW in KO return yardage, which is not necessarily a good thing as it is a function of returning too many kickoffs.

Congratulations to Augie LB Erik Westerberg for being one of sixteen finalists for the William Campbell Trophy that honors top football scholar-athletes.  I think he is the only DIII player on the list.  (Unsure what level Johns Hopkins and Coastal Carolina compete.)  "Swede" Westerberg is now $18,000 richer.

One of those schools is in our Top 25.

Which one? 

[79jaybird]

Another thing to keep in mind is Elmhurst has yet to win a road game this year.  There is a lot of momentum being built up by the Vikings.  Their coaching regime has them heading in the right direction.   As a Jays fan, this is a very tough road ahead on Saturday

[Gregory Sager]

Magwood being #3 is deceiving because he leads the CCIW in KO return yardage, which is not necessarily a good thing as it is a function of returning too many kickoffs.

You and LGhost are looking at two different sets of stats, Mark. He's looking at all-games stats, in which Marquis Magwood ranks third in all-purpose yards behind Devonte Jones of Illinois Wesleyan and Stunning Sean Dunning of Millikin. Jones (483 yds) and fourth-ranked Mike Blakely of Millikin (618 yds) have more kickoff-return yards than does Magwood (327 yds).

In CCIW-only stats, Magwood isn't third in the league in all-purpose yards; he's second, trailing only Jones. As you said, though, he does lead the league in KR yardage in CCIW games, outpacing Blakely by 327 to 321.

Magwood isn't even close to the league lead in terms of the number of kickoffs he's returned. He has 16, which ties him with Pete Djurickovic of Carthage for second place in that category. (Jones has 14.) MU's Blakely has returned a prodigious 31 kickoffs this season, an average of four and a half per game to date. He has tied his own school record set last season, and is within striking distance of setting a new CCIW all-games record in this somewhat dubious category:

team	player	# of KRs	season
Augustana	Joe Thompson	24	1974
Carthage	N/A	N/A	N/A
Elmhurst	John McMillan	39	2002
Illinois Wesleyan	B. Brownlee	24	2005
Millikin	Mike Blakely	31	2012 and 2013
North Central	N/A	N/A	N/A
North Park	Mike Lee	26	2009
Wheaton	Muhammad Weusi	38	2003

I agree with you that NPU is giving up too many scores -- although the Vikings have already played what are by far the three most prolific offenses in the league in terms of both points and total offense, North Central, Illinois Wesleyan, and Augustana. That somewhat distorts NPU's defensive statistics in a downward direction. I wouldn't downplay the job that Magwood has done thus far by turning it into blame on the NPU defense. Magwood has earned his plaudits.