FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[USee]

If he does, he must feel pretty good about his chances the next two weeks!

[kiko]

Congrats to the Cardinals on breaking through to new ground!

Next up is a game I've been waiting about six years for.  Very curious to see how North Central stacks up against D3's gold standard.

[USee]

NCC 41
Bethel 17

Stanek 15-27 249 yds 2 TD's, 0 INT. 137 yds rushing for NCC. 386 total yds
Bethel had 392 yds offense. 239 yds rushing and 153 passing (Keefe was 17-32 153 yds and 2 INT).
Bethel had 5 turnovers to NCC's 0.

I have said all season if NCC plays and doesn't turn it over they will be very hard to beat. this game looked a lot like the NCC vs Wheaton game to me. NCC just didn't turn it over. The field conditions were beyond reasonable in this game. Horrible footing and really not fair to either team. NCC dominated most of this game. Stanek made some really great throws in the bad conditions. Lots of dropped balls on both sides. Linemen slipping coming out of their stance. It's really unfortunate Bethel's starting QB couldn't play. I still think NCC was the better team.

Congrats to the Cardinals on a great win. Now we get to see them in Alliance against the Raiders. I hope the NCAA intervenes and puts this game on video feed (In case no one was paying attention, Mt Union does NOT provide online video of their games).

[GoldandBlueBU]

Hearty congrats to NCC!

I sincerely hope that you guys are able to take down the Mount next week!  Would love to see a non-purple team win it all, and NCC, particularly the offense, looks capable of doing just that.

Pulling for the Cardinals the rest of the way!

[GoldandBlueBU]

NCC 41
Bethel 17

Stanek 15-27 249 yds 2 TD's, 0 INT. 137 yds rushing for NCC. 386 total yds
Bethel had 392 yds offense. 239 yds rushing and 153 passing (Keefe was 17-32 153 yds and 2 INT).
Bethel had 5 turnovers to NCC's 0.

I have said all season if NCC plays and doesn't turn it over they will be very hard to beat. The field conditions were beyond reasonable in this game. Horrible footing and really not fair to either team. NCC dominated most of this game. Stanek made some really great throws in the bad conditions. Lots of dropped balls on both sides. Linemen slipping coming out of their stance. It's really unfortunate Bethel's starting QB couldn't play. I still think NCC was the beter team.

Congrats to the Cardinals on a great win. Now we get to see them in Alliance against the Raiders. I hope the NCAA intervenes and puts this game on video feed (In case no one was paying attention, Mt Union does NOT provide online video of their games).

Yeah, I tend to agree with that.

W/ Peterson, I would project the score more like 35-21 or maybe 35-28.  The hurry up offense with the downfield passing game for NCC is going to be tough to beat for anyone, but they would have simply been kept off the field a bit more if Peterson was playing, as they likely would have moved the ball a bit more consistently.

As the the Mount video feed, we've been curious as to what SJU would do in the same event, as they won't do video, but don't get the make the choice in the playoffs since the NCAA is in charge.

[D3MAFAN]

NCC 41
Bethel 17

Stanek 15-27 249 yds 2 TD's, 0 INT. 137 yds rushing for NCC. 386 total yds
Bethel had 392 yds offense. 239 yds rushing and 153 passing (Keefe was 17-32 153 yds and 2 INT).
Bethel had 5 turnovers to NCC's 0.

I have said all season if NCC plays and doesn't turn it over they will be very hard to beat. The field conditions were beyond reasonable in this game. Horrible footing and really not fair to either team. NCC dominated most of this game. Stanek made some really great throws in the bad conditions. Lots of dropped balls on both sides. Linemen slipping coming out of their stance. It's really unfortunate Bethel's starting QB couldn't play. I still think NCC was the beter team.

Congrats to the Cardinals on a great win. Now we get to see them in Alliance against the Raiders. I hope the NCAA intervenes and puts this game on video feed (In case no one was paying attention, Mt Union does NOT provide online video of their games).

Yeah, I tend to agree with that.

W/ Peterson, I would project the score more like 35-21 or maybe 35-28.  The hurry up offense with the downfield passing game for NCC is going to be tough to beat for anyone, but they would have simply been kept off the field a bit more if Peterson was playing, as they likely would have moved the ball a bit more consistently.

As the the Mount video feed, we've been curious as to what SJU would do in the same event, as they won't do video, but don't get the make the choice in the playoffs since the NCAA is in charge.

At least it is live video, instead of making someone watch it late and say it benefits the players, so they can watch themselves...The players are going to watch themselves in film Sunday and Monday.

[robertgoulet]

NCC 41
Bethel 17

Stanek 15-27 249 yds 2 TD's, 0 INT. 137 yds rushing for NCC. 386 total yds
Bethel had 392 yds offense. 239 yds rushing and 153 passing (Keefe was 17-32 153 yds and 2 INT).
Bethel had 5 turnovers to NCC's 0.

I have said all season if NCC plays and doesn't turn it over they will be very hard to beat. The field conditions were beyond reasonable in this game. Horrible footing and really not fair to either team. NCC dominated most of this game. Stanek made some really great throws in the bad conditions. Lots of dropped balls on both sides. Linemen slipping coming out of their stance. It's really unfortunate Bethel's starting QB couldn't play. I still think NCC was the beter team.

Congrats to the Cardinals on a great win. Now we get to see them in Alliance against the Raiders. I hope the NCAA intervenes and puts this game on video feed (In case no one was paying attention, Mt Union does NOT provide online video of their games).

Yeah, I tend to agree with that.

W/ Peterson, I would project the score more like 35-21 or maybe 35-28.  The hurry up offense with the downfield passing game for NCC is going to be tough to beat for anyone, but they would have simply been kept off the field a bit more if Peterson was playing, as they likely would have moved the ball a bit more consistently.

As the the Mount video feed, we've been curious as to what SJU would do in the same event, as they won't do video, but don't get the make the choice in the playoffs since the NCAA is in charge.

At least it is live video, instead of making someone watch it late and say it benefits the players, so they can watch themselves...The players are going to watch themselves in film Sunday and Monday.

Found it odd on the NCC radio feed that Pat Coleman said that game times for next week have yet to be decided, as ESPN is the one setting the times. Possible the games are on ESPNU or ESPN3?

[FishHack76]

Probably ESPN3 but I would LOVE to see NCC on TV for the national title game. Wow that would be a thrill but got to take down Goliath first.

[skunks_sidekick]

It's finally here!  NCC vs. Mount.  I have been waiting for this game the last few years.

Congrats on your win against Bethel, and here's hoping a bunch of you can make it to Alliance next week.

The two semi-final games are broadcast on ESPN3 I believe, and they control game times.  I would guess the NCC/Mount game would be the earlier game, but I guess we will find out tomorrow.

With Mount's "stellar" defense, I expect this game to be a low-scoring, ball control type of game.   

[iwu70]

Congrats to NCC on their win at Bethel in the freezer.  Keep it rolling -- another huge challenge next week.

IWU'70

[hazzben]

First, congrats to North Central. Very good team, great QB, excellent WR, very solid RB, very good offensive play calling. Good luck next week in Alliance!

North Central looks way way faster and played way way faster than Bethel has been playing. There was no question that North Central is the better team. I was expecting a more competitive game. I guess this game was switch with the Wesley vs. Mount Union game.

I'm gonna disagree with this. Our backup QB accounted for 4 of 5 TO's and some were inexplicable. Statistically, this game is very even. I'm sorry, but let's flip the script. We get to take away Stanzek and get a healthy Peterson, and then we win by a wide margin because the NCC backup turns it over 4 times in some very critical spots (several times in scoring position). I don't think you can draw the conclusion Bethel is without question better.

Case in point, early in the game, Bethel was running at will while NCC felt they still had to respect the pass. Once they realized Keefe wasn't going to beat them through the air they adjusted. Which is exactly what a good coaching staff does. If Peterson is back there, they have to respect the pass in a way they simply didn't need to today. Bottom line, North Central may be the better team, but I'm not sure today is the definitive answer to that question.

All that said, North Central won the only stat that matters today and they won another stat that is really important (turnovers). They took care of the ball, made plays and limited mistakes. You need to do all 3 to win in December. Kudos to you! As much as I wish we could have seen the Peterson v. Stanzek matchup, you play with who you've got.

Again, congrats to North Central and good luck next week.

[USee]

CCIW/MIAA scheduling agreement...

http://www.cciw.org/news/2013/12/4/fb_1204132555.aspx

I am only slightly disappointed with this. I suppose it's inevitable. But Wheaton vs Kalamazoo? KZoo hasn't had a winning season in 10 years. Why don't they match up Wheaton with Hope or Adrian? Put Augie with KZoo. That is worse scheduling than Wheaton would have done themselves, which I generally don't like.

[USee]

HB,

Your backup QB didn't give up 41 pts. Your defense did. Your offense got 162 of their yds after the score was 35-10. You can't look at the stats. Bethel couldn't stop NCC offense and wouldn't have if they kept the pedal on the gas. Peterson would have made a difference but there was a bigger difference than 1 guy out there (even an MVP guy) in my opinion.

Great year for Bethel, but NCC was better. I didn't like saying it when they beat Wheaton by a similar score 35-16 (and Wheaton held NCC to less yards than Bethel did).

[USee]

I would add that on 5 of the NCC TD's they went an average of 61 yds to get the score. On the 6th, they went 8 yds after an 80+ yd kick return. Your QB wouldn't have changed any of that. He would have added considerable more offense when it mattered (only 230 yds for Bethel when score was 35-10) but I don't think he was THE difference in this game.

[USee]

I reccommend all NCC fans try and make the trip to Alliance. It's a really cool place to see a game live. I went 6 times and besides the final score, enjoyed the venue and the UMU fans (except High School Coach) immensely. Pro football HOF is only a 30 minute car ride away in Canton. Hopefully you guys all saved up knowing this was coming.