FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[sac]

I took mine from the pre season coaches polls for both leagues. While I have tremendous respect for the work Pat and co. do on D3.com and I think their weekly rankings of the top 40 or so teams is about as reliable as we can get, I am not sure how big their information advantage is when comparing the #147th ranked team to the #115th ranked team. I think there is a huge margin of error there. There aren't 25 voters picking the teams below #40.

The problem I have with using the pre-season rankings to determine if these were even matchups is that the difference between being pre-season #2 and #4 in the MIAA was literally 1 vote.


The MIAA won two games involving the bottom teams from last year, and a game where the winner has now scored 120+ in 2 games and might be pretty darn good against a team that went 5-5 last year.  I don't think there's much here to freak out about with regards to the CCIW.

[USee]

I was intrigued about North Central's move away from Dylan Warden as the QB. He went 0-2 and they brought in the freshman Hunniford who was 13-17. They clearly are going to establish the run with only 19 pass attempts and over 40 rushes for 200+ yds. Hunniford must be pretty special if they moved Warden to WR.

[USee]

I watched the end of the Albion/Augie game when Augie was leading 49-46. Albion scored on a 30+ yd pass with a broken coverage where no one was covering the WR and then they scored on a long run on 3rd and 1 when they had the RB tackled in the backfield and he broke 2-3 tackles for a long TD run. I didn't see the rest of the game but what I watched was a lack of defense more than great offense. I'll be interested to see if these two teams can keep up their scoring pace against good defenses.

[kiko]

I was intrigued about North Central's move away from Dylan Warden as the QB. He went 0-2 and they brought in the freshman Hunniford who was 13-17. They clearly are going to establish the run with only 19 pass attempts and over 40 rushes for 200+ yds. Hunniford must be pretty special if they moved Warden to WR.

Not sure if you mean this as an order of operations (Warden threw two incompletions, then they brought in Hunniford), but for clarity's sake, this wasn't an overt switch from A-to-B.  Both of Warden's pass attempts came in the third quarter.  Warden started at quarterback, Hunniford took snaps as early as midway through the first series, and the two swapped in and out a bit the rest of the half.  Warden again took the initial snaps of the second half, but it became more Hunniford as the game went on.  The freshman obviously got the majority of the snaps but there wasn't a defined moment at which a switch was made.

[USee]

I didn't see the game but that is interesting. As I said, clearly the NCC coaches think Hunniford is the real deal as he took the most attempts and was in there for a majority of the meaningful plays. That's a good sign for NCC fans as Dylan Warden is a pretty good QB.

[Augie6]

I watched the end of the Albion/Augie game when Augie was leading 49-46. Albion scored on a 30+ yd pass with a broken coverage where no one was covering the WR and then they scored on a long run on 3rd and 1 when they had the RB tackled in the backfield and he broke 2-3 tackles for a long TD run. I didn't see the rest of the game but what I watched was a lack of defense more than great offense. I'll be interested to see if these two teams can keep up their scoring pace against good defenses.

Usee,

I watched most of the game online, and I would tend to agree with you.  Although Albion does have several offensive weapons and will score a lot of points in the MIAA this season, Augie's defense was simply non-existent.  The last TD where Albion's RB broke several tackles was repeated throughout the game.  It was a pretty rare for Albion not to gain significant extra yardage after first contact.  I can't remember seeing a game with worse tackling than Augie showed yesterday.  The other disturbing thing is that they didn't seem to make any defensive adjustments as the game went on.  Albion just moved the ball down the field, at will, as their 733 yards of total offense would indicate.  Augie's offense will be fun to watch this season, but for an old defensive player, I'm not sure how much of that D I'll be able to watch.  The 99 points that Augie has given up in two games is 26 more than we gave up in 13 games during my senior year. 

[AndOne]

I was intrigued about North Central's move away from Dylan Warden as the QB. He went 0-2 and they brought in the freshman Hunniford who was 13-17. They clearly are going to establish the run with only 19 pass attempts and over 40 rushes for 200+ yds. Hunniford must be pretty special if they moved Warden to WR.

I didn't see the game but that is interesting. As I said, clearly the NCC coaches think Hunniford is the real deal as he took the most attempts and was in there for a majority of the meaningful plays. That's a good sign for NCC fans as Dylan Warden is a pretty good QB.

Despite the fact that NCC's starting QB, Dylan Warden, led the nation in passing efficiency last season, and is the personification of both superior athletic ability and versatility, Hunniford's extended playing time in his first college game is really not much of a surprise when you consider a little background history.

Justin was the 2014 Chicago Tribune State of Illinois high school football Player of the Year. Prior to his senior year, he was one of the final cuts from a high profile national program that trains and promotes potential Division 1 players. Two or three weeks into the season, the same program sent him a text advising they regretted not keeping him. Following this, his HS offensive coordinator "made it his mission to expose Hunniford's abilities to as many colleges as possible." One of the first teams, among many, to then contact him was perennial national power Mt. Union. NCC ultimately won a very intense recruiting war to secure Hunniford's services. Consensus seems to be that his biggest "negative" is that he is listed as being 5'10" and that he would be playing at the D1 level if he was 2-3 inches taller.

I believe we will continue seeing a lot of Dylan Warden. It wouldn't even be surprising if he was at the QB position a good deal of the time. The vast majority of teams would be exceptionally happy to have him line up under center. He is simply too good an athlete who can do too many things, for him not to see meaningful PT, evidence of such being his leading the Cards in receiving yesterday. The timing of Hunniford's insertion into the lineup suggests that the NCC brain trust may well be looking to him being the primary signal caller in passing situations with Warden being The Man to lead the rushing attack.

[Stagg Again!!]

I was intrigued about North Central's move away from Dylan Warden as the QB. He went 0-2 and they brought in the freshman Hunniford who was 13-17. They clearly are going to establish the run with only 19 pass attempts and over 40 rushes for 200+ yds. Hunniford must be pretty special if they moved Warden to WR.

I didn't see the game but that is interesting. As I said, clearly the NCC coaches think Hunniford is the real deal as he took the most attempts and was in there for a majority of the meaningful plays. That's a good sign for NCC fans as Dylan Warden is a pretty good QB.

Despite the fact that NCC's starting QB, Dylan Warden, led the nation in passing efficiency last season, and is the personification of both superior athletic ability and versatility, Hunniford's extended playing time in his first college game is really not much of a surprise when you consider a little background history.

Justin was the 2014 Chicago Tribune State of Illinois high school football Player of the Year. Prior to his senior year, he was one of the final cuts from a high profile national program that trains and promotes potential Division 1 players. Two or three weeks into the season, the same program sent him a text advising they regretted not keeping him. Following this, his HS offensive coordinator "made it his mission to expose Hunniford's abilities to as many colleges as possible." One of the first teams, among many, to then contact him was perennial national power Mt. Union. NCC ultimately won a very intense recruiting war to secure Hunniford's services. Consensus seems to be that his biggest "negative" is that he is listed as being 5'10" and that he would be playing at the D1 level if he was 2-3 inches taller.

I believe we will continue seeing a lot of Dylan Warden. It wouldn't even be surprising if he was at the QB position a good deal of the time. The vast majority of teams would be exceptionally happy to have him line up under center. He is simply too good an athlete who can do too many things, for him not to see meaningful PT, evidence of such being his leading the Cards in receiving yesterday. The timing of Hunniford's insertion into the lineup suggests that the NCC brain trust may well be looking to him being the primary signal caller in passing situations with Warden being The Man to lead the rushing attack.

Great synopsis AO.  Hunniford had a very nice first college game 13-17 with 162 yards, 2TDs, and no turnovers.  His style, maturity, footwork, reads, etc. reminded me a LOT of another well-regarded NCC QB, but I hesitate to make any real comparisons until I see him a few more times.  I will say that, beyond Hunniford, the thing I noticed the most was the overall team speed.  It was was the best I think I've seen in Naperville (excluding Matt Wenger, of course!).  This very young team will be fun to watch as they mature over the next two-three years.

[izzy stradlin]

I was intrigued about North Central's move away from Dylan Warden as the QB. He went 0-2 and they brought in the freshman Hunniford who was 13-17. They clearly are going to establish the run with only 19 pass attempts and over 40 rushes for 200+ yds. Hunniford must be pretty special if they moved Warden to WR.

I didn't see the game but that is interesting. As I said, clearly the NCC coaches think Hunniford is the real deal as he took the most attempts and was in there for a majority of the meaningful plays. That's a good sign for NCC fans as Dylan Warden is a pretty good QB.

Despite the fact that NCC's starting QB, Dylan Warden, led the nation in passing efficiency last season, and is the personification of both superior athletic ability and versatility, Hunniford's extended playing time in his first college game is really not much of a surprise when you consider a little background history.

Justin was the 2014 Chicago Tribune State of Illinois high school football Player of the Year. Prior to his senior year, he was one of the final cuts from a high profile national program that trains and promotes potential Division 1 players. Two or three weeks into the season, the same program sent him a text advising they regretted not keeping him. Following this, his HS offensive coordinator "made it his mission to expose Hunniford's abilities to as many colleges as possible." One of the first teams, among many, to then contact him was perennial national power Mt. Union. NCC ultimately won a very intense recruiting war to secure Hunniford's services. Consensus seems to be that his biggest "negative" is that he is listed as being 5'10" and that he would be playing at the D1 level if he was 2-3 inches taller.

I believe we will continue seeing a lot of Dylan Warden. It wouldn't even be surprising if he was at the QB position a good deal of the time. The vast majority of teams would be exceptionally happy to have him line up under center. He is simply too good an athlete who can do too many things, for him not to see meaningful PT, evidence of such being his leading the Cards in receiving yesterday. The timing of Hunniford's insertion into the lineup suggests that the NCC brain trust may well be looking to him being the primary signal caller in passing situations with Warden being The Man to lead the rushing attack.

Great synopsis AO.  Hunniford had a very nice first college game 13-17 with 162 yards, 2TDs, and no turnovers.  His style, maturity, footwork, reads, etc. reminded me a LOT of another well-regarded NCC QB, but I hesitate to make any real comparisons until I see him a few more times.  I will say that, beyond Hunniford, the thing I noticed the most was the overall team speed.  It was was the best I think I've seen in Naperville (excluding Matt Wenger, of course!).  This very young team will be fun to watch as they mature over the next two-three years.

It seems like NCC has made of good habit of finding the most prolific passers who are passed on for scholarships because they don't hit (or even approach) 6 feet.  Kniss, Fanthorpe and Stanek all come to mind.  Those guys worked out alright. 

[robertgoulet]

I didn't see the game but that is interesting. As I said, clearly the NCC coaches think Hunniford is the real deal as he took the most attempts and was in there for a majority of the meaningful plays. That's a good sign for NCC fans as Dylan Warden is a pretty good QB.

Also wouldn't be the first time that NCC rotated QBs if that's what they continue to do (though I don't like the practice). Would not be surprised if they used Warden much like Ohio State is using Braxton Miller this year, sooner than later.

[AndOne]

Thanks, Stagg.
Izzy, I think you are on the money concerning the 3 previous NCC QBs that you mentioned.
Goulet, I agree about the possibility of rotation, and I don't much care for the idea either. However, the coaches surely know what they are doing. Whatever works. 😊

[Titan Q]

IWU's new president...

https://www.iwu.edu/news/2015/jensen-named-illinois-wesleyans-19th-president.html

[Gregory Sager]

I watched the end of the Albion/Augie game when Augie was leading 49-46. Albion scored on a 30+ yd pass with a broken coverage where no one was covering the WR and then they scored on a long run on 3rd and 1 when they had the RB tackled in the backfield and he broke 2-3 tackles for a long TD run. I didn't see the rest of the game but what I watched was a lack of defense more than great offense. I'll be interested to see if these two teams can keep up their scoring pace against good defenses.

Usee,

I watched most of the game online, and I would tend to agree with you.  Although Albion does have several offensive weapons and will score a lot of points in the MIAA this season, Augie's defense was simply non-existent.  The last TD where Albion's RB broke several tackles was repeated throughout the game.  It was a pretty rare for Albion not to gain significant extra yardage after first contact.  I can't remember seeing a game with worse tackling than Augie showed yesterday.  The other disturbing thing is that they didn't seem to make any defensive adjustments as the game went on.  Albion just moved the ball down the field, at will, as their 733 yards of total offense would indicate.  Augie's offense will be fun to watch this season, but for an old defensive player, I'm not sure how much of that D I'll be able to watch.  The 99 points that Augie has given up in two games is 26 more than we gave up in 13 games during my senior year.

I think that the Britons deserve more credit for their performance than you seem willing to give them. Last week Albion's offense put up 59 of the team's 65 points and 687 yards of total offense against UWSP. And, while we have no idea yet of where the Pointers sit in terms of their league, putting up those kinds of numbers against a WIAC team -- any WIAC team -- is a testament to a team's ability to really get after it on offense.

Augie did give up a fair amount of points and yardage to Mt. St. Joe, so there's that. But the Lions didn't have eye-popping offensive stats. I'll take your word (and USee's) for it that Augie's defense looks terrible, and I'm sure that it played a large part in those massive numbers put up by Albion. But the offense of the Britons deserves its due as well.

[markerickson]

After watching Aaron Rogers slide for another first down, I remembered another horrible call that went against North Park.  Conway scrambled up the middle to about SNC's 30 yd line, slid feet first, was half-way upright, and got hit in the back.  Clearly, a penalty.  Repeat ref offender may need cataract surgery.  North Park did not score on that possession.

[CardinalAlum]

Huge get for the Cardinals!  Welcome to NCC the Illinois Player of the Year!


https://edgytim.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=1597&tid=209437232&mid=209437232&sid=913&style=2

We can correct him on Jeff's name soon enough!   


http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/ct-spt-1214-prep-football-poy-justin-hunniford-providence-20141213-story.html%23page=1

Back in January, I was pretty excited about Hunniford choosing NCC.   It's one game, but it was a good start.  I agree that NCC team speed is outstanding.   Should be an interesting next couple of weeks to see how we make it through two big games before conference play.