FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mugsy]

Buy Mugsy, Wheaton is playing with their 3rd string QB who they had to convert from WR just to play there.  They also lost their best Defensive back to an ACL and didn't play today with one of their best defensive linemen.  Poor Thunder.

Indeed, a very disappointing season for Wheaton fans in SO MANY ways. By preseason prognostications, your team should be either 7-2, or 8-1, not ... uh ....

I predict a beatdown in Kenosha to take out our frustrations!

LOL... just about woke the kids with those two posts.  Thanks guys.

[thunderdog]

Congrats to the Wheaton Thunder for securing a share of the CCIW conference championship and the AQ bid for the playoffs!  Really enjoyed hearing Coach Swider's postgame thoughts... hearing that Ed McCully's son (first name?) was on hand (both at yesterday's chapel and then for today's game) to watch his first ever Wheaton football game being played on the field named after his Dad.  That's just awesome stuff.  It's been a great season so far.

That said, here are my takeaways from today's IWU @ Wheaton:

First, a win is a win.  It's hard to be too critical when the team is 9-0 and will definitely be playing on Saturday November 22nd.  However, if Wheaton plays anywhere near like they did today, it will be 1-and-done for the Thunder in the playoffs.

Outside of a standout individual performance from #56 junior LB Logan Mcrae, there aren't many positives. 

1) You can't come up empty-handed on a 1st-and-goal from the 2 in the 1st qtr (fumbling on 4th down). 

2)You can't miss extra points!  Don't know if Sam Cote kicked it low or it was just bad blocking up front?... either way, that's gotta get fixed.   2 missed FG's besides the extra point block.  Wheaton needs Sam Cote to find his mojo. 

3) QB Johnny Peltz wasn't nearly as accurate as he's been the past 2 weeks, going 22 of 34.  He had a few throws that came in low, including a Tim Tebow-like, fake-the-run, then jump-pop-pass at the goal line.  Obviously, it's a bit expected to see JP's completion % come down a bit from it's lofty perch, but what I didn't like to see was the visible (excessive?) frustration JP expressed after errant throws.  It's gonna happen, move on, don't let it affect the next play.  That said, couldn't be happier to see JP leading the orange-and-blue.  The kid's got immense talent and is only gonna get better.

4)  Wheaton needs more from their RB's.  #34 Jesse Geary doesn't seem to be running with much authority at all, maybe there's a lingering injury?  #32 Danny Puknaitis is the more explosive, tougher-to-tackle runner right now.  I don't think it's realistic to keep expecting Peltz to lead the team in rushing yards.  Wheaton needs Jesse and Danny to refuse to go down on contact.

5)  #6 Keegan Kemp and #18 Luke Thorson continue to be very impressive.  I've seen Kemp make some incredible catches the last 3 weeks.  In fact, his performance vs NCC went largely unrecognized on the boards here, but Wheaton doesn't win that game without Keegan Kemp aggressively fighting for catches on balls that could have easily been intercepted.  I'd like to see Wheaton use Luke's height more.  The kid is 6'4" with hops.  Let's see the Mark Loeffler-like fade to the corner when we get down to the goal-line... I don't see many CB's being able to stop that.

6)  Loved seeing #2 Andrew Bowers on the field (with JP @ QB).  The kid's got some obvious jukes, elusiveness, and quicks to him.  Plus his ability to pull up and throw the ball (on reverses or maybe even some type of wildcat formation?) adds another element that opposing DC's need to prepare for.  OC Josiah Sears has to be licking his chops over the possibilities.

That's all for the details.  My overall takeaway was that if Wheaton were playing NCC today, they lose by 17.

[USee]

and don't forget Wheaton had 29 seniors last year!

[thunderdog]

I have no idea what you guys are whining about.  I've been saying for weeks that this has been a very disappointing season in SO MANY ways.  By preseason prognostications, we should be either 7-2, or 8-1, not 3-6.  Mono to the 1st string qb was the worst, but there are so many other problems.

Again, based on what they did to Wheaton, I have a gut hunch that they will take out a season-long frustration against NPU, to the tune of a 40-50 point beat-down.

I wouldn't get to excited from today's result.  Today's game was much more Wheaton playing down to IWU's level rather than IWU playing up to Wheaton's level.  IMO of course...   

[Gregory Sager]

Buy Mugsy, Wheaton is playing with their 3rd string QB who they had to convert from WR just to play there.  They also lost their best Defensive back to an ACL and didn't play today with one of their best defensive linemen.  Poor Thunder.

Indeed, a very disappointing season for Wheaton fans in SO MANY ways. By preseason prognostications, your team should be either 7-2, or 8-1, not ... uh ....

I predict a beatdown in Kenosha to take out our frustrations!

Straight past the monkeys to the triple orangutan stomp!

[USee]

Wheaton 13
IWU 7

Wheaton 74 plays 400 yds; 158 yds rushing; 242 passing;
Peltz: 22-34 65%  228 yds 1 TD 0 INT; 18 rush 69 yds, 0 sacks
Luke Thorson 10 catches 85 yds
3rd downs 7-15 (47%)

IWU 64 plays 349 yds; 167 yds rushing; 182 passing
Warner: 13-30 43% 182 yds 1 TD 0 INT, 2 fumbles (1 lost); 19 rush 44 yds
Austin Harrell 13 rush 115 yds, 8.8 yds per carry
Checchin 7 catches 115 yds

Congratulations to Mike Swider, his coaches and his team for winning a CCIW Championship today and clinching the AQ for the NCAAA playoffs. To have the largest senior class in history last year, change defensive coordinators, try 3 different quarterbacks and come out and go 9-0 to this point is one of the programs best results. Wheaton has won games this year with great offense, they have won games this year with great special teams. Today they won with great defense. The Thunder D was outstanding most of the day as the offense struggled. Wheaton missed 2 short field goals and had an extra point blocked. They also fumbled the snap on the 1 yd line on 4th and goal. But the Wheaton defense sacked Freshman QB Warner 5 times and held him to 47% completions. They also kept the IWU offense to 1-4 in the redzone and just 25% on 3rd down (25%). The lone IWU TD came on a broken play on 4th down and 9 when Warner broke free from Logan McRae and lobbed the ball to Javorka in the far corner of the endzone. Johnny Peltz looked downright human today completing just 65% of his passes and missing a few throws to open receivers.

IWU played a great game. Their defense was impressive. I knew Worley and Venhuizen were good but the IWU LB's didn't miss many tackles. Klein, Roth and Garvey were outstanding today in limiting a potent Wheaton attack to just 13 points. But the story of the game in my view was the Wheaton defense limiting the IWU offense (which is the offense that put 45 on Franklin and 24 on NCC last week) to just 7 points. IWU was as good as I thought they were but today the Thunder were just better.

[USee]

some crazy results today in other parts of the country that will affect the playoff picture. NCC still has a heartbeat but Bethel and Wabash losing isn't good for them. They were in good shape if they got to the table as a 2 loss team against against UWPlatteville. But Bethel will almost certainly be ranked ahead of UWP and block them and NCC won't get picked ahead of Bethel. Lots of analysis on the pool C board when rankings come out Wednesday so stay tuned. Also lots of critical games played next weekend that will affect the picture so there is still hope. NCC will have a hard time getting ranked ahead of Wabash in the region as well so they will likely be the 3rd pool C team in the North, which isn't a great spot to be in since you can't be considered until the two above you get picked (likely to be John Carroll and Wabash). 

I know Wally Wabash isn't happy but secretly I am glad his team lost as he will be even more dialed in for his Pool C analysis!! (that's a joke Wally).

[thunder38]

Coming off the last two weeks, this game played out about like I thought it would. Wheaton played with such emotional highs the last two weeks it's only natural they came back down a little in this game and IWU was going to fight hard to get to the .500 mark. I give IWU's defense a ton of credit. They did a great job limiting the Thunder on the read option plays. It's not a secret that Worley and VenHuizen are the two best players on that side of the ball and they did a great job attacking the mesh point and forcing a quick read or allowing themselves to cover both ends of the option. That ability kept the Thunder behind schedule on offense a couple of times and pushed Wheaton into third-and-longer than what we've seen the last two weeks. The gang-green linebacker corp was as solid as I've seen from any group not wearing orange and blue this season. They leveraged the ball well, timed their blitzes perfectly and flat out didn't miss tackles. Wesleyan had a solid game plan but at times couldn't get out of their own way.

Kudos to the play of Adam Dansdill this week, fighting through a bout with the flu to play in this game and help a defense that was without David Suominen this week and lost Timmy Lovett the week before. Sorry for insinuating that Wheaton had struggles to overcome. I'll stop complaining now.

[FishHack76]

NCC really needs Linfield to beat Pacific next weekend to avoid potentially getting another at-large berth sucked up. I think the Mount Union/John Carroll loser, Wabash and the Delaware Valley/Widener loser are probably all get Pool C berths. Wesley and Centre/Texas Lutheran are probably your Pool B teams. That likely leaves three spots for some intriguing two-loss teams (Bethel, NCC and UW-Platteville) and other one-loss squads.

[Titan Q]

Greg, unless I am way off in my prediction, I want to apologize in advance for what IWU will do to NPU next Saturday.  I suspect that a season of frustration will result in a double (or even triple) monkey stomp.

After one of the most frustrating seasons in decades, I can't really blame them too much.  Going into the season, at this point we expected to be either 7-2 or 8-1, not 3-6.

Just a gut hunch, but yes, I think a season of intense frustration will result in a multiple TD win over NPU, possibly to embarassing proportions.

Again, based on what they did to Wheaton, I have a gut hunch that they will take out a season-long frustration against NPU, to the tune of a 40-50 point beat-down.

Chuck, I will never understand why you decide to post some of the things you do on these boards - that's your deal.  But at least realize that this kind of stuff is a huge embarrassment to many other IWU other fans.  I'll concede to being one of those, and I regularly hear from a bunch of the others.

I mean, seriously...IWU is sitting at 1 and freakin' 5 in the league, and this is the kind of stupid sh#$ you decide to post?!  Come on, man...WTF.

[Titan Q]

I have watched most of IWU's games this year -- or at least, parts of most games.  I am still very confused about the 1-5 record because I think this team has a lot more talent than that.  I feel like both players and coaches have underperformed this year.

That said, as the season has played out, it's become obvious that this team has big holes and was overrated in the preseason and early on.  I felt the Titans had the talent to compete for 2nd place, but:

1) The offense lacks playmakers -- there is really just WR Artie Checchin and QB Jack Warner.  (I would have liked to have seen more of RB Austin Harrell this season...he looked good yesterday vs Wheaton.)  The Titans just don't have enough players to get the ball to and hope for a big play.

2) The defense can't get off the field in big moments.  Opponents have converted big 3rd and 4th downs vs IWU all season long.  I feel like this IWU defense is way more talented than their results, but the bottom line is that defense has been pretty bad over the course of the entire season.  The Titans give up too many 10 yard passes in the middle of the field.

Some of the injuries have hurt, but in watching these games I don't think the injuries have made more than 1 win difference for the Titans.  With a completely healthy roster (which no one ever has anyway), IWU fans would still be staring at the bottom of the standings unfortunately.

IWU will need to bring in talent in this recruiting class or it could be a rough stretch of seasons for the Titans.  There is a lot of talent returning - good pieces to build around - but not enough to compete for a CCIW title in the next couple years.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Greg, unless I am way off in my prediction, I want to apologize in advance for what IWU will do to NPU next Saturday.  I suspect that a season of frustration will result in a double (or even triple) monkey stomp.

After one of the most frustrating seasons in decades, I can't really blame them too much.  Going into the season, at this point we expected to be either 7-2 or 8-1, not 3-6.

Just a gut hunch, but yes, I think a season of intense frustration will result in a multiple TD win over NPU, possibly to embarassing proportions.

Again, based on what they did to Wheaton, I have a gut hunch that they will take out a season-long frustration against NPU, to the tune of a 40-50 point beat-down.

Chuck, I will never understand why you decide to post some of the things you do on these boards - that's your deal.  But at least realize that this kind of stuff is a huge embarrassment to many other IWU other fans.  I'll concede to being one of those, and I regularly hear from a bunch of the others.

I mean, seriously...IWU is sitting at 1 and freakin' 5 in the league, and this is the kind of stupid sh#$ you decide to post?!  Come on, man...WTF.

Bob,

I have never purported to speak for anyone but myself.  If people get bent out of shape just because we happened to attend the same school, I would say that is their problem, not mine.

[USee]

Q,

Don't worry.  The rest of us know the difference between rational and irrational. Ypsi likes to straddle the fence between the two. 

[Mugsy]

Congrats to the Wheaton Thunder for securing a share of the CCIW conference championship and the AQ bid for the playoffs!  Really enjoyed hearing Coach Swider's postgame thoughts... hearing that Ed McCully's son (first name?) was on hand (both at yesterday's chapel and then for today's game) to watch his first ever Wheaton football game being played on the field named after his Dad.  That's just awesome stuff.  It's been a great season so far.

That said, here are my takeaways from today's IWU @ Wheaton:

First, a win is a win.  It's hard to be too critical when the team is 9-0 and will definitely be playing on Saturday November 22nd.  However, if Wheaton plays anywhere near like they did today, it will be 1-and-done for the Thunder in the playoffs.

Outside of a standout individual performance from #56 junior LB Logan Mcrae, there aren't many positives. 

1) You can't come up empty-handed on a 1st-and-goal from the 2 in the 1st qtr (fumbling on 4th down). 

2)You can't miss extra points!  Don't know if Sam Cote kicked it low or it was just bad blocking up front?... either way, that's gotta get fixed.   2 missed FG's besides the extra point block.  Wheaton needs Sam Cote to find his mojo. 

3) QB Johnny Peltz wasn't nearly as accurate as he's been the past 2 weeks, going 22 of 34.  He had a few throws that came in low, including a Tim Tebow-like, fake-the-run, then jump-pop-pass at the goal line.  Obviously, it's a bit expected to see JP's completion % come down a bit from it's lofty perch, but what I didn't like to see was the visible (excessive?) frustration JP expressed after errant throws.  It's gonna happen, move on, don't let it affect the next play.  That said, couldn't be happier to see JP leading the orange-and-blue.  The kid's got immense talent and is only gonna get better.

4)  Wheaton needs more from their RB's.  #34 Jesse Geary doesn't seem to be running with much authority at all, maybe there's a lingering injury?  #32 Danny Puknaitis is the more explosive, tougher-to-tackle runner right now.  I don't think it's realistic to keep expecting Peltz to lead the team in rushing yards.  Wheaton needs Jesse and Danny to refuse to go down on contact.

5)  #6 Keegan Kemp and #18 Luke Thorson continue to be very impressive.  I've seen Kemp make some incredible catches the last 3 weeks.  In fact, his performance vs NCC went largely unrecognized on the boards here, but Wheaton doesn't win that game without Keegan Kemp aggressively fighting for catches on balls that could have easily been intercepted.  I'd like to see Wheaton use Luke's height more.  The kid is 6'4" with hops.  Let's see the Mark Loeffler-like fade to the corner when we get down to the goal-line... I don't see many CB's being able to stop that.

6)  Loved seeing #2 Andrew Bowers on the field (with JP @ QB).  The kid's got some obvious jukes, elusiveness, and quicks to him.  Plus his ability to pull up and throw the ball (on reverses or maybe even some type of wildcat formation?) adds another element that opposing DC's need to prepare for.  OC Josiah Sears has to be licking his chops over the possibilities.

That's all for the details.  My overall takeaway was that if Wheaton were playing NCC today, they lose by 17.

Very reasonable assessment IMO.

[Mugsy]

Q,

Don't worry.  The rest of us know the difference between rational and irrational. Ypsi likes to straddle the fence between the two.

Agreed