FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Toph]

How's the weather?

[Mugsy]

How's the weather?

It's going to be a great day for football.  Sunny and in the mid-40's.  At this point the wind is calm.  Weather should not be a factor. 

Later in the afternoon it is supposed to turn a bit as a cold front starts to move through.

I'm not anticipating a huge crowd, as it is Thanksgiving break.  Given how a large percentage of the Wheaton students come from outside of Illinois, there won't be many on campus as they went home for the week.

[USee]

wheaton 6
JCU 7

Half

Wheaton scores and has xtra pt blocked w under a minute to go.

Wheaton with 188 yds to 177 for JCU

Mark Myers from JCU is 8-16 with an INT at half.

[Naperick]

JCU  14
Wheaton 12
-FINAL

Congrats to the Thunder on a nice season!

[Naperick]

Wheaton might want to consider doubling, maybe tripling, the time they spend on PAT/FG this next week. 2 more blocked PATs today. Such a "taken for granted" play that could have serious consequences if they don't get that fixed. John Carrol presents enough of a challenge as is, they don't need an extra point here and there.

The Wheaton broadcast commentators were saying the same thing during the game on Saturday.  One, two or three points could make a huge difference moving forward.

I think the 1st Wheaton PAT was blocked by JCU today.

[USee]

Wheaton 12
John Carroll 14

Final

Wheaton 345 yards; 102 rushing, 233 Passing
Johnny Peltz 18-33 243 yds 1 TD 1 INT  20 rushes 22 yds

Zach Lindquist 5 catches 80 yds 1 TD
Luke Thorson 3 catches 61 yds
Dandsill 10 tackles

JCU

338 yds; 108 rushing 229 passing
Mark Myers 19-29 229 1 TD 1 INT
Michals 22 rush 81 yds
Howell 5 catches 85  yds
Carrazoni 5 catches 67 yds
Jimmy King 12 tackles


To steal a basketball cliche, you live by the 3 and die by the 3. Wheaton beat NCC this year on a partially blocked FG that still went through as time expired. Wheaton lost to JCU today on a 41 FG miss by Senior Sam Cote. Wheaton's Xtra point after their first TD was blocked (they had 2 blocked last week) and the attempt before the 41 yd attempt was blocked but offsides by JCU gave Cote another chance.

John Carroll came in averaging 53 pts a game and over 500 yds offense. They scored 24 on Mt Union 2 weeks ago and had 50+ on everbody but Ohio Northern. Wheaton held their offense to 14 pts today. It was a tremendous game plan and execution by the Thunder D. JCU's defense was outstanding as well. Wheaton had trouble running the ball up the middle all day and Johhny Peltz didn't seem as comfortable in the pocket, despite not being sacked, as he rushed a number of throws. Peltz lone interception came at the JCU 5 yd line when an incomplete pass bounced off a defenders ankle into the air and was caught by JCU's Jimmy King. The Thunder defense had a 3 man rush all day and seemed to frustrate Mark Myers as he wanted to throw the ball down the field but Wheaton was only giving him short underneath routes. The TD catch by Slippy was a perfect throw and catch while closely guarded. JCU made one more play than the Thunder today. Congratulations to the Blue Streaks. They are a great team.

Hats off to the Thunder, no one expected this kind of season and not many thought they could hang with the OAC elite.

This Thunder team brings back somewhere around 18 starters including everyone on offense except Spencer Clark at Center and Jesse Geary at RB. I would think Wheaton will be the preseason favorite and a top ten team next year.

This was a fun year for the Wheaton community as this team gave us a lot of enjoyment. Good luck to JCU next week in their rematch w UMU.

[Mugsy]

Wheaton 12
John Carroll 14

Final

Wheaton 345 yards; 102 rushing, 233 Passing
Johnny Peltz 18-33 243 yds 1 TD 1 INT  20 rushes 22 yds

Zach Lindquist 5 catches 80 yds 1 TD
Luke Thorson 3 catches 61 yds
Dandsill 10 tackles

JCU

338 yds; 108 rushing 229 passing
Mark Myers 19-29 229 1 TD 1 INT
Michals 22 rush 81 yds
Howell 5 catches 85  yds
Carrazoni 5 catches 67 yds
Jimmy King 12 tackles


To steal a basketball cliche, you live by the 3 and die by the 3. Wheaton beat NCC this year on a partially blocked FG that still went through as time expired. Wheaton lost to JCU today on a 41 FG miss by Senior Sam Cote. Wheaton's Xtra point after their first TD was blocked (they had 2 blocked last week) and the attempt before the 41 yd attempt was blocked but offsides by JCU gave Cote another chance.

John Carroll came in averaging 53 pts a game and over 500 yds offense. They scored 24 on Mt Union 2 weeks ago and had 50+ on everbody but Ohio Northern. Wheaton held their offense to 14 pts today. It was a tremendous game plan and execution by the Thunder D. JCU's defense was outstanding as well. Wheaton had trouble running the ball up the middle all day and Johhny Peltz didn't seem as comfortable in the pocket, despite not being sacked, as he rushed a number of throws. Peltz lone interception came at the JCU 5 yd line when an incomplete pass bounced off a defenders ankle into the air and was caught by JCU's Jimmy King. The Thunder defense had a 3 man rush all day and seemed to frustrate Mark Myers as he wanted to throw the ball down the field but Wheaton was only giving him short underneath routes. The TD catch by Slippy was a perfect throw and catch while closely guarded. JCU made one more play than the Thunder today. Congratulations to the Blue Streaks. They are a great team.

Hats off to the Thunder, no one expected this kind of season and not many thought they could hang with the OAC elite.

This Thunder team brings back somewhere around 18 starters including everyone on offense except Spencer Clark at Center and Jesse Geary at RB. I would think Wheaton will be the preseason favorite and a top ten team next year.

This was a fun year for the Wheaton community as this team gave us a lot of enjoyment. Good luck to JCU next week in their rematch w UMU.

Can't say it any better than USee, so I won't try.

Congrats to Wheaton on an outstanding season.  So close to another trip to Alliance.  With what they have coming back next year, perhaps a successful 7th trip to Alliance?  One can hope...

[Mr. Ypsi]

I concur that for the first time in many years, NCC will NOT be the preseason favorite.

[D3gridiron]

I think the very first line of the game recap article on the JCU football site sums it up best...
"Special teams play such a big role in football games".

[iwu70]

Congrats to WC on a great season 11-1.  Too bad about the special teams mishaps.   Sounds like a great game, a close 2nd round play-off match-up.

On to basketball . . .

IWU70

[thunderdog]

Congrats to the Wheaton Thunder on a fantastic 2014 season.  11 wins ties for the second most in school history with the 2008 squad.  Knocking off pre-season favorite NCC while stopping their run of 7 consecutive conference championships to claim an outright conference championship was just awesome.  Making the playoffs for the 8th time in school history and first since 2010 is huge for the program.  So excited that this group of talented, tough, young men got to experience playoff football for the first time in their Wheaton careers.

I also want to recognize the Wheaton fans for providing electric atmospheres for the 2 biggest home games of the year, the NCC & JCU games.  We brought the NOISE!  Let's continue to do so...

That being said...

The JCU game is going to sting for a bit.  This is one we let get away.  Here are some of my takeaways (I'll apologize in advance for playing the role of arm-chair football player.  I know the game looks much easier from the stands than is does on the field... just need to get some things off my chest as I'm still reeling from the loss):

QB play:  I'm a huge JP11 fan and can't wait to see how he develops, but he did not have a very good game.  20 rushes for 28 yards.  My feeling here is that JP11 is such a competitor and wanted so badly to make plays that he kept too many read options that should have been handed off.  JCU often had 8 guys in the box with their FS playing very deep at 20-25 yds at the snap.  I think their #1 defensive goal was to not let JP11 run the ball and they obviously did that.  By the time the second half rolled around, JP11 was handing off the ball and the run game started to come to life.  On Wheaton's 2nd drive of the game, on a 4th-and-1 at the JCU 18, it looked to me as if JP11 went down (dove) without being tackled, figuring he had the 1st down.  Maybe I saw it wrong and he got tripped up, but that was a costly mistake.  As for his passing, JP11 was grossly inaccurate on a few passes (in particular, on downfield passes to Luke Thorson) that if he put close, I like our chances of success given Luke's large target radius.  The INT on the first drive of the 2nd QTR was not his fault as Wheaton just caught a bad break when an incomplete pass hits a falling defenders foot, just before it hits the ground, knocking it into the air to be intercepted by LB Jimmy King.  Take away 3 or 4 throws, and JP11 has a good passing day in addition to all the intangibles he brings of avoiding sacks by being able to throw the ball away with guys draped all over him.

RB play:  Yes, Wheaton did get a 1-yd TD run from Danny Puknaitis on a 4th and goal from the 1 right before halftime, but we just didn't get enough from this group.  Where are the broken tackles? Where is the angry running?  Even on the TD run, DP32 was the pitch man and beat the defenders to the pylon, not having to break any tackles.  I feel for SR Jesse Geary who was clearly playing injured (not hurt).  I've seen his angry running in the past, Wheaton could have used it yesterday.  The RB's only had 11 carries in all (7 for DP32, 1 for JG34, and 3 for freshman #23 Sola Olateji) largely due to JP11 keeping most reads, but maybe JP11 gives more of these balls if the results are better?

WR/TE play:  Once again, Luke Thorson and Keegan Kemp were solid. However, on the final drive of the game, on a 3rd-and-10 from the JCU 29, Peltz hits Kemp right in the chest with a pass over the middle that would have been good for a first down.  It looked to me like Kemp didn't even see it as he didn't raise his hands to catch it until after it hit him.  Maybe he was shielded by the ref? Maybe the sun was at the perfect angle to not see it?  That would have been a big one to keep the drive going.  We may have seen the "Welcome to the Big Time" performance by TE/Superback #89 Zach Lindquist.  He had 5 catches for 80 yards and a great TD catch in which he uses his 6'4" height beautifully.  Kid is only a sophomore... watch out CCIW!  Wheaton also got nice production from #80 Matt Mitchel & #87 Matt Norton

Defense:  First off, what a game plan put together by D-Coordinator Jordan Langs.  Under Coach Langs, the Thunder D held JCU well under their season averages for yards, and more importantly, points.  Holding JCU to just 14 pts gave Wheaton every opportunity to win this game.  I guess my only critique of the D would be on JCU's second drive of the game, on a 3rd-and-goal from the Wheaton 1, Mikey Swider makes a fantastic read and hits RB Tommy Michals a yard deep in the backfield only to see Michals spin away and go in for the TD.  Mikey know he needs to make that play.  If JCU has a 4th-and-goal from the 2, after just stuffing Michals on 2 straight plays, my guess is that JCU attempts a FG from that spot, but who knows...

Special Teams:  What is there to say?  The blocked PAT in the 2nd QTR was obviously huge.  It looked like a breakdown of just everything to me... slow snap, Cote waiting to long to start the kicking process, way too much penetration, and then a low kick by Cote... obviously makes for a bad combination.  (This game had eerie similarities to the last time Wheaton met the OAC runner-up Baldwin Wallace in 2003 when BW had their first PAT blocked, forcing them to go for 2 on their 2nd TD of that game.)  Wheaton was forced to go for 2 after Lindquist's TD catch made the score 12-14.  Then on the final drive of the game, Wheaton lines up for 46 yard FG attempt, only to have it blocked again.  Can't say I say the offsides, but somehow JCU gets called for offsides, giving Wheaton another shot, this time from 41 yards.  Cote gets the kick off, with plenty of leg on it and it sails just barely wide left.  Besides the failures on PAT/FG, our kickoff unit had major problems as well.  After making the score 7-6 late in the 2nd QTR, with just 31 seconds left, JCU returns the kickoff all the way to the Wheaton 44.  Fortunately, a JCU holding penalty combined with a Wheaton offsides, negated the play.  But this play had consequences still.  When Wheaton comes out to kickoff for the 2nd half, they decide to do a pop-up kick that gets fair caught at the 32, instead of driving the ball as far as Haines can kick it.  JCU then goes 4 plays for the TD capped off by a great catch by Zach Strippy... the only drive of the game that JCU really looked like a juggernaut offense.

I probably have more I'd like to say, but my wife and kids have made it convincingly clear that I've exhausted my time allowed for game recaps on d3football.com.

I'll finish by saying (and I'm sure I'll take heat for saying so)... but no one can convince me that JCU is/was the better team.  That's why this loss will sting for a bit.

The future looks beyond bright.  We return a ton of guys.  Have yourselves an off-season Wheaton Thunder.  Come back bigger, stronger, faster, and hungry for more...

LET'S ROLL

[USee]

As many know the NCAA uses referees from neutral conferences during the playoffs. For Wheaton's first game against BU, they had a crew from the MIAC, which I thought was outstanding. As good an officiating crew as I can remember seeing in D3.

This weekend against JCU we had a crew from the HCAC and I thought they were pretty awful. They missed a lot of calls, in particular spots that were huge. Wheaton missed a huge first down on 4th and 1 at the end of the game that was a terrible spot by the officials. Both teams had gone back to the their huddles and the JCU sideline (where the play ended) as quiet as everyone watching saw Keegan Kemp had gotten the first down. A JCU player, after the whistle, pulled Keegan by the ankles back 1 yd and the side judge marked it there. The officials measured and to everyone's shock, JCU was given the ball. That was one of the 5 red zone opps the Thunder had in the game.

[thunderdog]

As many know the NCAA uses referees from neutral conferences during the playoffs. For Wheaton's first game against BU, they had a crew from the MIAC, which I thought was outstanding. As good an officiating crew as I can remember seeing in D3.

This weekend against JCU we had a crew from the HCAC and I thought they were pretty awful. They missed a lot of calls, in particular spots that were huge. Wheaton missed a huge first down on 4th and 1 at the end of the game that was a terrible spot by the officials. Both teams had gone back to the their huddles and the JCU sideline (where the play ended) as quiet as everyone watching saw Keegan Kemp had gotten the first down. A JCU player, after the whistle, pulled Keegan by the ankles back 1 yd and the side judge marked it there. The officials measured and to everyone's shock, JCU was given the ball. That was one of the 5 red zone opps the Thunder had in the game.

Yes Usee, that was one of the things I wanted to bring up before I ran out of time.  As Kemp was being tackled, I started celebrating w/ my Thunder brothers as it looked like he had the first down by an easy 1-1.5 yards.  Because I was celebrating, I did not see him get pulled by the ankles by a JCU defender after the tackle.  As the refs pulled the chains for measurement, it looked to me like they were "trying to find space" between the end of the ball and the stick... it was the slimest of margins, basically the width of a piece of paper from what I could tell.

A game of inches... and frustrating to say the least...

[hazzben]

Congrats to Wheaton on a very nice season. I was hoping we might draw you guys if we hadn't dropped the ball versus Augsburg, I love playing you CCIW boys in the playoffs. Great teams, knowledgable fans, active board, and ready to mix it up, but respectful once it's all over. Alas, wasn't meant to be.

Great game against JCU. My brother and I said afterwards (with both that game and SJU/Wart on side by side computers), "the very definition of playoff football." Fun stuff.

[Toph]

Does anyone have an explanation for why Wheaton went for it on 4th and 1, looking at about a 33 yard field goal down 2 with 5:00 and change left?  Whether it was a poor spot or not, the call makes no sense to me. Take the lead. It was little more than a chip shot.