FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[ExTartanPlayer]

I know we've given Ypsi a hard time over his NPU +40 line (myself included), but I'll make a similar prediction on the NCC vs Elmhurst game (since I'm a fan of neither team, I figured, what the hey?)

I don't think setting big lines in itself merits a hard time.

I think making bold predictions of a blowout against a team that sat at the bottom of the league standings for over a decade (and is just now finding traction) when your own team (which is supposedly a contender and conference blue-blood) is sitting at 1-5 in the conference absolutely merits a hard time.  It's kind of like a bully-wannabe popping his mouth off, getting beat up by a few other kids at recess, then walking over to the smallest kid on the playground and telling him "Well, I can still kick your ass!" 

That's probably not the perfect analogy, but something like that.  If IWU has been reduced to bragging about a blowout win against North Park - in a season where the best they can do with Saturday's results is a tie for fifth with a 2-5 conference record - I, um, whatever.

[79jaybird]

If NC doesn't win this game by 10 pts or more, I'll be shocked. With the cold forecast, If I was NC, I would be worried more about pulling hamstrings and muscle aches for future game(s).  With the talent NC has this year, if they play their game, I think they would have the edge.

[USee]

What happened to Langhorst Ghost? A no-show since before the Wheaton game.

[79jaybird]

REALITY kicked in Usee.  His Kool-Aid pitcher ran out.   

I think Elmhurst is building a solid foundation. I  didn't think (back in August) they were going to be able to jump into the first 3 slots this year.  There have been some positives this year, i.e. winning in B-town for the first time since '85,  but also some downers (i.e. losing at MU).  The choppy nature of this team, tells me they have some voids to fill.  Hopefully Planz and his coaching staff can have a good off season recruiting.

[NCC26]

Well, the NC linebacker and safety play has to get better IMO.  Especially, if we get a playoff bid.  To me the safety play has been suspect and i don't get the whole drop the linebackers so deep on third downs.  Very frustrating to watch sometime.

[D3gridiron]

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.

Thunderdog – Agree, hats off to Wheaton for winning at least a share of the CCIW championship and the outright AQ.  They have out-played expectations and they deserve a championship this year.

Wheaton's stats against IWU were not as good as they have been in recent weeks.  The numbers show some interesting things.

The Wheaton quarterback carousel has finally stopped squarely on J. Peltz – and it looks like Wheaton has thrown away the keys to that carousel and plan to go the distance with J. Peltz. 

After two meteoric weeks of stats at QB, J. Peltz came back to earth a bit this past week.  Must remember that he is only a soph with less than a handful of college starts.  But man when Wheaton finally landed on their QB they went all in – absolutely putting the entire offense on his back (or more accurately his legs).  J. Peltz was required to carry the ball 18 times this week – that's more carries than Wheaton's two running backs COMBINED.  That's asking a lot from their young QB (not to mention the risk of injury)– especially when they appear to have two very capable RB's.  And statistically all the QB runs did not appear to be all that effective this week..  We'll have to see if Wheaton stays with that game plan – teams will be ready for it I'm sure.

Also agree that Wheaton's place kicking game is anemic.  S. Cote is only 47% on field goals with a couple of missed PAT's to boot (pardon the pun) including two missed short FG's and a missed PAT this past week.  Wheaton has a small army of kickers on their roster.  Looks like they have another kicker handling the KO's who has a good leg.  As fast as they have run through QB's, it's very surprising the kicker carousel hasn't started yet.  A top 10 team in the country with the 86th ranked FG kicker who is kicking under 50% just doesn't compute.  I'd fully expect to see a change here.

Also agree Wheaton's receiver core has been impressive with K. Kemp and L. Thorson leading the way.

Wheaton's defense has been very strong.  Some great stats across the board including their LB's putting up some very good numbers.  Don't be surprised to see some all-conf selections coming from this defense.

If Wheaton can win out this week, they could get a pretty good "seed" going into the big dance.

[USee]

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.

Thunderdog – Agree, hats off to Wheaton for winning at least a share of the CCIW championship and the outright AQ.  They have out-played expectations and they deserve a championship this year.

Wheaton's stats against IWU were not as good as they have been in recent weeks.  The numbers show some interesting things.

The Wheaton quarterback carousel has finally stopped squarely on J. Peltz – and it looks like Wheaton has thrown away the keys to that carousel and plan to go the distance with J. Peltz. 

After two meteoric weeks of stats at QB, J. Peltz came back to earth a bit this past week.  Must remember that he is only a soph with less than a handful of college starts.  But man when Wheaton finally landed on their QB they went all in – absolutely putting the entire offense on his back (or more accurately his legs).  J. Peltz was required to carry the ball 18 times this week – that's more carries than Wheaton's two running backs COMBINED.  That's asking a lot from their young QB (not to mention the risk of injury)– especially when they appear to have two very capable RB's.  And statistically all the QB runs did not appear to be all that effective this week..  We'll have to see if Wheaton stays with that game plan – teams will be ready for it I'm sure.

Also agree that Wheaton's place kicking game is anemic.  S. Cote is only 47% on field goals with a couple of missed PAT's to boot (pardon the pun) including two missed short FG's and a missed PAT this past week.  Wheaton has a small army of kickers on their roster.  Looks like they have another kicker handling the KO's who has a good leg.  As fast as they have run through QB's, it's very surprising the kicker carousel hasn't started yet.  A top 10 team in the country with the 86th ranked FG kicker who is kicking under 50% just doesn't compute.  I'd fully expect to see a change here.

Also agree Wheaton's receiver core has been impressive with K. Kemp and L. Thorson leading the way.

Wheaton's defense has been very strong.  Some great stats across the board including their LB's putting up some very good numbers.  Don't be surprised to see some all-conf selections coming from this defense.

If Wheaton can win out this week, they could get a pretty good "seed" going into the big dance.

The kicker again? We haven't heard a word from you, d3gridiron,  since your prophetic posts that North Central would win because Sam Cote was the worst kicer in D3.  We all saw how that played out. I take solace in the fact your predictions are now more measured.  Calling for all conference picks among Wheaton's LBs, part of the #1 scoring defense in the league from the only undefeated team, is certainly less brash than your previous predictions.

[CardinalAlum]

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.

Thunderdog – Agree, hats off to Wheaton for winning at least a share of the CCIW championship and the outright AQ.  They have out-played expectations and they deserve a championship this year.

Wheaton's stats against IWU were not as good as they have been in recent weeks.  The numbers show some interesting things.

The Wheaton quarterback carousel has finally stopped squarely on J. Peltz – and it looks like Wheaton has thrown away the keys to that carousel and plan to go the distance with J. Peltz. 

After two meteoric weeks of stats at QB, J. Peltz came back to earth a bit this past week.  Must remember that he is only a soph with less than a handful of college starts.  But man when Wheaton finally landed on their QB they went all in – absolutely putting the entire offense on his back (or more accurately his legs).  J. Peltz was required to carry the ball 18 times this week – that's more carries than Wheaton's two running backs COMBINED.  That's asking a lot from their young QB (not to mention the risk of injury)– especially when they appear to have two very capable RB's.  And statistically all the QB runs did not appear to be all that effective this week..  We'll have to see if Wheaton stays with that game plan – teams will be ready for it I'm sure.

Also agree that Wheaton's place kicking game is anemic.  S. Cote is only 47% on field goals with a couple of missed PAT's to boot (pardon the pun) including two missed short FG's and a missed PAT this past week.  Wheaton has a small army of kickers on their roster.  Looks like they have another kicker handling the KO's who has a good leg.  As fast as they have run through QB's, it's very surprising the kicker carousel hasn't started yet.  A top 10 team in the country with the 86th ranked FG kicker who is kicking under 50% just doesn't compute.  I'd fully expect to see a change here.

Also agree Wheaton's receiver core has been impressive with K. Kemp and L. Thorson leading the way.

Wheaton's defense has been very strong.  Some great stats across the board including their LB's putting up some very good numbers.  Don't be surprised to see some all-conf selections coming from this defense.

If Wheaton can win out this week, they could get a pretty good "seed" going into the big dance.

The backup kicker at Wheaton is back!!   

[D3gridiron]

"Without data you're just another person with an opinion."
W. Edwards Deming

[Gregory Sager]

"There are three types of lies -- lies, damned lies, and statistics."
   -- unknown, attributed to both Mark Twain and Benjamin Disraeli

"I can prove anything by statistics except the truth."
   -- George Canning

"Statistics are no substitute for judgment."
   -- Henry Clay

"Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable."
   -- Mark Twain

"Statistics are used much like a drunk uses a lamppost: for support, not illumination."
   -- Vin Scully

"Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive."
   -- George Bernard Shaw

[AndOne]

Statistics are the veil often worn by the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 
   -- AndOne

[thunderdog]

Statistics are the veil often worn by the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 
   -- AndOne

Statistics went from being a "mask" to a "veil"... nice upgrade 

It's a beautiful day for football.  Wish I could be up in Kenosha, but I'm stuck at work today.  Let's go Thunder! Put the finishing touches on a undeafeated regular season!

[thunder38]

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.

Thunderdog – Agree, hats off to Wheaton for winning at least a share of the CCIW championship and the outright AQ.  They have out-played expectations and they deserve a championship this year.

Wheaton's stats against IWU were not as good as they have been in recent weeks.  The numbers show some interesting things.

The Wheaton quarterback carousel has finally stopped squarely on J. Peltz – and it looks like Wheaton has thrown away the keys to that carousel and plan to go the distance with J. Peltz. 

After two meteoric weeks of stats at QB, J. Peltz came back to earth a bit this past week.  Must remember that he is only a soph with less than a handful of college starts.  But man when Wheaton finally landed on their QB they went all in – absolutely putting the entire offense on his back (or more accurately his legs).  J. Peltz was required to carry the ball 18 times this week – that's more carries than Wheaton's two running backs COMBINED.  That's asking a lot from their young QB (not to mention the risk of injury)– especially when they appear to have two very capable RB's.  And statistically all the QB runs did not appear to be all that effective this week..  We'll have to see if Wheaton stays with that game plan – teams will be ready for it I'm sure.

Also agree that Wheaton's place kicking game is anemic.  S. Cote is only 47% on field goals with a couple of missed PAT's to boot (pardon the pun) including two missed short FG's and a missed PAT this past week.  Wheaton has a small army of kickers on their roster.  Looks like they have another kicker handling the KO's who has a good leg.  As fast as they have run through QB's, it's very surprising the kicker carousel hasn't started yet.  A top 10 team in the country with the 86th ranked FG kicker who is kicking under 50% just doesn't compute.  I'd fully expect to see a change here.

Also agree Wheaton's receiver core has been impressive with K. Kemp and L. Thorson leading the way.

Wheaton's defense has been very strong.  Some great stats across the board including their LB's putting up some very good numbers.  Don't be surprised to see some all-conf selections coming from this defense.

If Wheaton can win out this week, they could get a pretty good "seed" going into the big dance.

Yes Wheaton has used Peltz a lot since he's become the starter but he really does a nice job of knowing how to protect himself against hits. He cushions himself nicely and knows how to go down moving forward but with minimal contact. Despite all those carries, I think I can count on one hand the number of times that he's actually gotten squared up on a hit.

[Langhorst_Ghost]

REALITY kicked in Usee.  His Kool-Aid pitcher ran out.   

No. Life happens.

Watching EC live right now - playing with more urgency and more passion than NCC deep into the 2Q. Jays controlling the pace - far cry from last weeks effort - Planz has got these young men prepared and focused today.

Could be a special senior day building at Langhorst...

[Langhorst_Ghost]

...and now a 2 TD lead.

Great Day to be a Jay!