FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Kovo]

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=711&c=3911&f=2052653

Eash Post Game

Verbatim from this for those who don't want to spend five minutes listening to Norm whine discuss the game:

"I don't know if North Central beat us.  I think we didn't make some plays when we had the score at eight points."

...

"Those scores at the very end mean nothing.  I mean, I don't think North Central should have put the last one in, and they did.  It's our situation to stop, but I hope our profession has more professionalism and more ethics than that."

...

(On the "stay off our W" chatter)

"We talked about this in our league, that the opposing team is supposed to go down their sidelines and not come towards the middle.  And that's what North Central did, and our kids are going to respond to that, and I can't control 128 kids, but they're going to respond to that when a visiting team goes out and takes the field.  That's the CCIW rule.  And North Central knows that; I know that.  We never do that when we're on the road; we come down the sidelines and we let the home team have the middle of the field.  So that's what started the whole thing.  And then the other thing is, the official gave everybody a warning, said the next unsportsmanlike, (he) gave everybody a warning, and so the next one, the player is going to get ejected.  And right off the bat, their quarterback is taunting our player.  And I just don't think the officials followed through on what they said they were going to do.  And I think that's disappointing because that's a poor example in front of young men."

(Interviewer: "As I recall, it was a penalty, but it wasn't an unsportsmanlike, which as you said would have been an ejection automatically.")

Norm: "But taunting is taunting, okay?  And to me, that's unsportsmanlike.  So follow through on your rule, and I think the official agreed with me.  That's a tough call to make when that's a quarterback, but you know what?  Make an example.  Let everybody know, the game was going to get out of hand if he didn't."

Are you kidding me?  First, I thought NC would have been justified to kick a FG on the last play of the game to go +32.  The reason that NC had the late opportunities is that Norm stayed aggressive with his play calling which resulted in turnovers and points against him.  He could have packed it in and kept it closer for the three way tie breaker----but he didn't and it may come back to bite him in the shorts.

If Norm doesn't like the system, call the league.  Personally, I don't like it, but they didn't ask me.  So I guess he will be big Cardinal fan Saturday, or he is likely sitting home for the playoffs.   But that's on him and no one else.

And, to complain about the officiating of THAT game?  12 penalties to 4?!  Points taken of the board for NC?  Penalties in the red zone that kept them in?  I said that I would never whine about the officials and with that said it was what it was.  But.....the point I will agree on is that it left a lot to be desired.  I'm going to leave it at that because we could all whine about calls all game every game.  Calling a game is a tough job and the coaches have to respect it and accept it, win or lose.

Now to focus on the Cru----errrrr Thunder.

[CardinalAlum]

Norm calling the kettle black!  I love it.  I've gone on in years past about Norm putting in late TD's in blowout games against NCC years ago.  I guess what goes around, does come around!   On to Wheatie week!!

[Stagg Again!!]

iwu70,  your memory starting to go??!!   You keep talking about midway thru the 3rd Q, but it was 25-17 midway thru the FOURTH quarter.  Then the dam broke, and the offense imploded (including Gallik's only two INTs of the day).

Despite the statements of some, it WAS a close game.  I don't deny that NCC looked somewhat stronger the whole way, but with just 7 minutes remaining, it was still anyone's game to win.  IWU just needed a couple of breaks; instead the breaks went NCC's way and the final score got out of hand.

Since with a -18, IWU is eliminated from any 3-way tie (and the ONLY way to still get the AQ is for Wheaton to beat NCC, then NCC lose at home to Augie; I'd sooner bet on the chances of the proverbial snowball in hell ), the Titans are probably best off if NCC beats Wheaton (which I think is likely).  Even if Wheaton wins by 1-19, forcing a 3-way tie but with NCC the winner of the AQ, IWU should be ahead of Wheaton in the C line, due to h-to-h.  The nightmare scenario for IWU is Wheaton winning by 21+, leaving IWU behind the Cards in the C queue.

BTW, anyone know what happens if Wheaton wins by exactly 20 (in which case IWU is -18, and Wheaton and NCC are both +9)?  My guess would be that IWU is eliminated, then Wheaton wins the h-to-h, but anyone know?

We can agree to disagree Ypsi.  I, for one, never saw any surge by IWU in the second half (after their first drive of the 3Q).  Meanwhile, NCC seemed to keep threatening and shooting themselves in the foot (and elsewhere).  Just looked at the stats for the game and noted that IWU only had 34 yards of total offense after their first drive of the second half.  Like everyone else, I didn't understand why Eash didn't try to run the ball a bit more.  He put way too much pressure on Gallik and, ultimately, the Titans defense.  As has been noted, the IWU defense looked gassed by the 4Q of what is a four quarter game.

Stagg,

I agree that we kept shooting ourselves in the foot.  But speaking of the foot-----it would have be much worse, and a potential disaster had our kicker not returned to form.  After a very inconsistant year (to this point) he came up huge going 3/3 in FGs and 5/5 on PATs.  We will need that type of performance in the playoffs if we are going to make a deep run.  For me it was very encouraging.

Agree completely Kovo.  The only time I found myself concerned or uncomfortable was when the Cardinals trotted out their kicking unit.  As you noted, Dace has been so unpredictable this year (5/12 overall) that I always assume he is going to miss now.  It was certainly refreshing to see him convert on chip shots.

[New Tradition]

Verbatim from this for those who don't want to spend five minutes listening to Norm whine discuss the game:

"I don't know if North Central beat us.  I think we didn't make some plays when we had the score at 8 points"

Granted, I've not read/heard every norm eash interview, but I have read a good amount of his interviews after NCC games. I have never ever seen or heard him tip his cap to the Cards after a defeat. Ever. He always claims that they beat themselves. And then he wants to whine about being classy? That's a laugh. Hippocrites are the lowest form of life on earth, IMHO.

[NCF]

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=711&c=3911&f=2052653

Eash Post Game

Verbatim from this for those who don't want to spend five minutes listening to Norm whine discuss the game:

"I don't know if North Central beat us.  I think we didn't make some plays when we had the score at eight points."

...

"Those scores at the very end mean nothing.  I mean, I don't think North Central should have put the last one in, and they did.  It's our situation to stop, but I hope our profession has more professionalism and more ethics than that."

...

(On the "stay off our W" chatter)

"We talked about this in our league, that the opposing team is supposed to go down their sidelines and not come towards the middle.  And that's what North Central did, and our kids are going to respond to that, and I can't control 128 kids, but they're going to respond to that when a visiting team goes out and takes the field.  That's the CCIW rule.  And North Central knows that; I know that.  We never do that when we're on the road; we come down the sidelines and we let the home team have the middle of the field.  So that's what started the whole thing.  And then the other thing is, the official gave everybody a warning, said the next unsportsmanlike, (he) gave everybody a warning, and so the next one, the player is going to get ejected.  And right off the bat, their quarterback is taunting our player.  And I just don't think the officials followed through on what they said they were going to do.  And I think that's disappointing because that's a poor example in front of young men."

(Interviewer: "As I recall, it was a penalty, but it wasn't an unsportsmanlike, which as you said would have been an ejection automatically.")

Norm: "But taunting is taunting, okay?  And to me, that's unsportsmanlike.  So follow through on your rule, and I think the official agreed with me.  That's a tough call to make when that's a quarterback, but you know what?  Make an example.  Let everybody know, the game was going to get out of hand if he didn't."

Are you kidding me?  First, I thought NC would have been justified to kick a FG on the last play of the game to go +32.  The reason that NC had the late opportunities is that Norm stayed aggressive with his play calling which resulted in turnovers and points against him.  He could have packed it in and kept it closer for the three way tie breaker----but he didn't and it may come back to bite him in the shorts.

If Norm doesn't like the system, call the league.  Personally, I don't like it, but they didn't ask me.  So I guess he will be big Cardinal fan Saturday, or he is likely sitting home for the playoffs.   But that's on him and no one else.

And, to complain about the officiating of THAT game?  12 penalties to 4?!  Points taken of the board for NC?  Penalties in the red zone that kept them in?  I said that I would never whine about the officials and with that said it was what it was.  But.....the point I will agree on is that it left a lot to be desired.  I'm going to leave it at that because we could all whine about calls all game every game.  Calling a game is a tough job and the coaches have to respect it and accept it, win or lose.

Now to focus on the Cru----errrrr Thunder.

There's no love lost between these coaches. The last points were statement point. As for the Wheatis, they will come out on fire. This one may be closer than anyone thinks.

[Stagg Again!!]

I've taken a first crack at regional rankings for North Region due out this week.  I have also included the name of other schools in the hunt.  I have done this only to get the conversation started. 

1.  Mt. Union (8-0) OAC (Baldwin Wallace, John Carroll)
2.  North Central (8-0) CCIW (Wheaton, Augustana)
3.  Wabash (8-0) NCAC (Wittenberg, DePauw)
4.  John Carroll (8-0) OAC (Heidelberg, Mt. Union) - Good chance with one more win
5.  Franklin (6-2) HCAC (Bluffton, Hanover)
6 . Heidelberg (7-1) OAC (John Carroll, Baldwin Wallace) - Must win out
7.  Albion (6-2) MIAA (Adrian, Hope)
8.  Concordia, WI (6-2) NACC (Aurora, Wisconsin Lutheran)


Illinois Wesleyan (7-1) CCIW (Augustana, Elmhurst) - Good chance if wins out
Wheaton (7-1) CCIW (North Central, North Park) - Must defeat North Central
Wittenberg (7-1) NCAC (Wabash, Allegheny) - Must defeat Wabash
Hope (7-2) MIAA (Trine, Albion) - Must win out

[USee]

Good work Stagg. Only issue I see is there is no way Albion is ranked ahead of Wheaton with a 66-0 result between those two.  That likely bumps Albion and Concordia out in favor of IWU and Wheaton

[NCF]

I've taken a first crack at regional rankings for North Region due out this week.  I have also included the name of other schools in the hunt.  I have done this only to get the conversation started. 

1.  Mt. Union (8-0) OAC (Baldwin Wallace, John Carroll)
2.  North Central (8-0) CCIW (Wheaton, Augustana)
3.  Wabash (8-0) NCAC (Wittenberg, DePauw)
4.  John Carroll (8-0) OAC (Heidelberg, Mt. Union) - Good chance with one more win
5.  Franklin (6-2) HCAC (Bluffton, Hanover)
6 . Heidelberg (7-1) OAC (John Carroll, Baldwin Wallace) - Must win out
7.  Albion (6-2) MIAA (Adrian, Hope)
8.  Concordia, WI (6-2) NACC (Aurora, Wisconsin Lutheran)


Illinois Wesleyan (7-1) CCIW (Augustana, Elmhurst) - Good chance if wins out
Wheaton (7-1) CCIW (North Central, North Park) - Must defeat North Central
Wittenberg (7-1) NCAC (Wabash, Allegheny) - Must defeat Wabash
Hope (7-2) MIAA (Trine, Albion) - Must win out

I think Franklin should be ranked higher than John Carroll and Wabash. What will be interesting is seeing who stays in the North and who moves East/West.

[Green Jello Shots]

I'd love to know your rationale for ranking Albion two slots higher than IWU?!?! They have one more loss and oh by the way, one of those losses was 66-0 against a team; Wheaton, that IWU beat! I think D3 Boards needs to implement drug testing before allowing posts.

[kiko]

Are you kidding me?  First, I thought NC would have been justified to kick a FG on the last play of the game to go +32.  The reason that NC had the late opportunities is that Norm stayed aggressive with his play calling which resulted in turnovers and points against him.  He could have packed it in and kept it closer for the three way tie breaker----but he didn't and it may come back to bite him in the shorts.

If Norm doesn't like the system, call the league.  Personally, I don't like it, but they didn't ask me.  So I guess he will be big Cardinal fan Saturday, or he is likely sitting home for the playoffs.   But that's on him and no one else.

And, to complain about the officiating of THAT game?  12 penalties to 4?!  Points taken of the board for NC?  Penalties in the red zone that kept them in?  I said that I would never whine about the officials and with that said it was what it was.  But.....the point I will agree on is that it left a lot to be desired.  I'm going to leave it at that because we could all whine about calls all game every game.  Calling a game is a tough job and the coaches have to respect it and accept it, win or lose.

Now to focus on the Cru----errrrr Thunder.

One point of clarification on this -- once the Green Weenies went down by more than 12 points, unless they came back and narrowed that margin, they were not going to win a three-way tiebreaker.  That would leave them with a negative point differential, and mathematically, unless all three teams finish at +/- zero, then somebody's going to have a positive differential.  So there's not much point from a tiebreaker standpoint in keeping it close unless you're on the other side of that marker.

I am mostly amused by the juxtaposition between "they didn't really beat us" and "waaaah, they ran up the score".

[ncc58]

Verbatim from this for those who don't want to spend five minutes listening to Norm whine discuss the game:

"I don't know if North Central beat us.  I think we didn't make some plays when we had the score at eight points."

...

"Those scores at the very end mean nothing.  I mean, I don't think North Central should have put the last one in, and they did.  It's our situation to stop, but I hope our profession has more professionalism and more ethics than that."

After the game, my thoughts were that the NCC-Wheaton rivalry is fierce but respectful. The NCC-IWU rivalry is just nasty.

When NCC moved inside the 10, I wondered if they would make an effort to score. From my perspective, there was too much time left on the clock. They would have to try to score or turn the ball back over to IWU (on downs). Eash is right in that IWU has a responsibility to stop NCC, and they didn't. If Norm wants his team to believe that NCC didn't beat IWU, go right ahead. The scorebook still shows NCC 46 IWU 17.

Although IWU played well, NCC made more plays. Period. The penalties may have been 12-4, but all of those were obvious calls. NCC had several false starts and obvious holding calls. IWU had key penalties on back to back plays - holding and a chop block.

[Stagg Again!!]

Good work Stagg. Only issue I see is there is no way Albion is ranked ahead of Wheaton with a 66-0 result between those two.  That likely bumps Albion and Concordia out in favor of IWU and Wheaton

I certainly agree, but was trying to keep in mind the automatic qualifiers for the MIAA and NACC.  If I had ten slot, I would have ranked Albion and Concordia at #9 and #10.  In that case, I would have inserted IWU and WC or Witt ahead of both.

[Stagg Again!!]

I've taken a first crack at regional rankings for North Region due out this week.  I have also included the name of other schools in the hunt.  I have done this only to get the conversation started. 

1.  Mt. Union (8-0) OAC (Baldwin Wallace, John Carroll)
2.  North Central (8-0) CCIW (Wheaton, Augustana)
3.  Wabash (8-0) NCAC (Wittenberg, DePauw)
4.  John Carroll (8-0) OAC (Heidelberg, Mt. Union) - Good chance with one more win
5.  Franklin (6-2) HCAC (Bluffton, Hanover)
6 . Heidelberg (7-1) OAC (John Carroll, Baldwin Wallace) - Must win out
7.  Albion (6-2) MIAA (Adrian, Hope)
8.  Concordia, WI (6-2) NACC (Aurora, Wisconsin Lutheran)


Illinois Wesleyan (7-1) CCIW (Augustana, Elmhurst) - Good chance if wins out
Wheaton (7-1) CCIW (North Central, North Park) - Must defeat North Central
Wittenberg (7-1) NCAC (Wabash, Allegheny) - Must defeat Wabash
Hope (7-2) MIAA (Trine, Albion) - Must win out

I think Franklin should be ranked higher than John Carroll and Wabash. What will be interesting is seeing who stays in the North and who moves East/West.

I think this will shake out over the next two weeks.  I fully expect Franklin to win out while John Carroll has two very tough games.  If John Carroll wins one of the final two, I would expect them at #4 or #5 with Franklin.  In the end, I suspect that JC would have a higher SOS.

[TitanPride]

Good work Stagg. Only issue I see is there is no way Albion is ranked ahead of Wheaton with a 66-0 result between those two.  That likely bumps Albion and Concordia out in favor of IWU and Wheaton

I certainly agree, but was trying to keep in mind the automatic qualifiers for the MIAA and NACC.  If I had ten slot, I would have ranked Albion and Concordia at #9 and #10.  In that case, I would have inserted IWU and WC or Witt ahead of both.

The NCAA does rank 10 teams per region.  (http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/category/regional-rankings/)

[Stagg Again!!]

I'd love to know your rationale for ranking Albion two slots higher than IWU?!?! They have one more loss and oh by the way, one of those losses was 66-0 against a team; Wheaton, that IWU beat! I think D3 Boards needs to implement drug testing before allowing posts.

I only ranked eight in the North Region as that is how many teams will eventually be selected.  The key here is that the MIAA and NACC will get automatic qualifiers.  If there are ten ranked, IWU slots in somewhere between #6 and #8 out of the gate.  When IWU wins out, they make a good case for an at-large bid.