FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[kiko]

Great game in Naperville today -- Wesley is just an outstanding football team.

Keys to the game IMO were pretty straightforward -- Wesley had 672 yards of offense; North Central never really figured out how to stop Joe Callahan (who, as USee alluded, was fantastic); and the Cards just couldn't get off the field on third and fourth down as Wesley converted 12 of 21.  Wesley gave up a bunch of yards, and their special teams were particularly wobbly, but their d-line sacked Justin Hunniford six times and forced the Cards into long yardage situations on several occasions.

Some of the sacks were on the line and some were on Hunniford.  We'll see some growing pains, I'm sure, but you could see the improvement over the past couple of weeks, and he is going to be fun to watch for the next few years.  It is nice to know that, barring injury, the QB situation looks bright for the near-term.

-----

Random statistic from today's CCIW slate:

Combined number of plays run
Carthage vs Lakeland - 142
Millikin vs Aurora - 134
Elmhurst vs Simpson - 135
Wesley vs North Central - 178

This one took nearly 3-1/2 hours to complete, and that's without the NFL-mandated commercial breaks for DraftKings before and after every kickoff.

[Stagg Again!!]

Wow, great game in Naperville.

Wesley goes for the win and gets it -- 50-49, on the 2 point conversion pass.  94 yard TD drive within the last two minutes by Wesley. 

So much for defence.

NCC starts the season 1-2.  Have to admit I didn't see that one coming.

IWU70

While I am not happy with the outcome, I was thrilled to see our VERY young Cardinal team compete with a Senior-laden Top 5 Wesley team who has a 1st Team All-American QB.  This is an experience they will be able to look back on in two or three years when they are Juniors and Seniors competing for a National Championship.  Let these kids gain more size and experience, and they will be a force to be reckoned with.  Wesley is more than welcome back to Naperville in 2017.

[Captain_Joe08]

Elswhere:

Carthage 29
Lakeland 28

Millikin 20
Aurora 24

Elmhurst 31
Simpson 12

CCIW finishes 14-10 for the non conference slate

More surprised by the Aurora score. I really wasn't expecting much from the Spartans this year. I knew Carthage was going to have their hands full with Lakeland. NACC stands at 8-13 in non-conference play.

[wesleydad]

I was lucky enough to make the trip to see the game yesterday.  My dad and I had a great time with our morning flight, football game, and return evening flight.  It was great and well worth it.  I wanted to thank And One.  You took time to meet us and show us around the campus, and what a campus it is.  The athletic facilities are insane.  We really appreciated the hospitality you showed us.  I also would like to thank the other NCC D3 posters who came up and introduced yourselves to me, sorry I can not remember all of your handles, but it was nice talking to you all before the game.  All in all this was a top notch experience made even greater by the game.  What a crazy game and win for Wesley.  NCC has plenty to be happy about from what I saw today, but needs to improve on defense to contend for the top spots.  Good luck in your league as you have some tough games to play, but if there is any bright light at the end of the tunnel, you will not likely face a QB/offense like the one you saw yesterday.  Again, thanks to all of you who made our experience a first class one.

[AndOne]

Wesleydad,

My pleasure. Glad you had great flights and a great time, and that you liked the NCC campus.
I only wish we had not been quite so hospitable, and had allowed you to score 2 less points!
Good luck to you guys the rest of the way.

[AndOne]

Wow, great game in Naperville.

Wesley goes for the win and gets it -- 50-49, on the 2 point conversion pass.  94 yard TD drive within the last two minutes by Wesley. 

So much for defence.

NCC starts the season 1-2.  Have to admit I didn't see that one coming.

IWU70

While I am not happy with the outcome, I was thrilled to see our VERY young Cardinal team compete with a Senior-laden Top 5 Wesley team who has a 1st Team All-American QB.  This is an experience they will be able to look back on in two or three years when they are Juniors and Seniors competing for a National Championship.  Let these kids gain more size and experience, and they will be a force to be reckoned with.  Wesley is more than welcome back to Naperville in 2017.

Right on, Stagg.

[AndOne]

I had heard some discussion yesterday that NCC & Wesley had signed a "home and home" contract which is very common among schools/teams, and would, of course, have meant that NCC would be making a trip to Delaware next season.
However, in speaking with NCC President Hammond during the game, he indicated that such is not the case, and the Cardinals will not be visiting the Wolverines den next season. Opposite of the impression many people were under, it was his recollection that negotiations on yesterday's contract began back in April or May as opposed to being a last minute occurance just before the start of the season.

[AndOne]

If someone had told me that NCC would score 7 touchdowns and 49 points against the #5 team in the country I would have told them they were nuts. I also would have said that if they did indeed score 49 points that they would win. Wrong on both counts.

The Cardinals are averaging 39.3 PPG, so offense does not seem to be the primary problem. Rather, most of the Cards' misadventures appear to be taking place on the defensive side of the ball. This is particularly true when attempting to defense the pass as they, so far, are allowing the opposition to average almost 300 yards a game. Upcoming opposing offensive coordinators and QBs are drooling!
As my dad used to often say "This has got to stop."

[USee]

I just posted this on the Wesley board but will repost it here for you guys:

So here is a legitimate question for you guys.

Team A plays a top 15 team in the country. Their defense surrenders 402 yds (261 passing and 141 rushing), 5.9 yards per play, 3.1 yard per rush and they recover 1 fumble and have 2 sacks. Their team wins by 3 in the closing seconds.

Team B plays a top 15 team in the country. Their defense surrenders 465 yards (321 passing and 144 rushing) 5.5 yards per play, 3.3 yards per rush and they recover 2 fumbles and has 6 sacks. Their team wins by 1 in the closing seconds.

Team A is considered to have a national championship defense but Team B isn't good enough to win a championship.

Makes no sense to me.

[wally_wabash]

I just posted this on the Wesley board but will repost it here for you guys:

So here is a legitimate question for you guys.

Team A plays a top 15 team in the country. Their defense surrenders 402 yds (261 passing and 141 rushing), 5.9 yards per play, 3.1 yard per rush and they recover 1 fumble and have 2 sacks. Their team wins by 3 in the closing seconds.

Team B plays a top 15 team in the country. Their defense surrenders 465 yards (321 passing and 144 rushing) 5.5 yards per play, 3.3 yards per rush and they recover 2 fumbles and has 6 sacks. Their team wins by 1 in the closing seconds.

Team A is considered to have a national championship defense but Team B isn't good enough to win a championship.

Makes no sense to me.

I think it's because we've seen Wesley give up over 60 two years in a row in the tournament.  Really good teams can and do score on other really good teams.  But not 60+.  That shouldn't be happening. 

[jknezek]

We also know UW-P held NCC to lower offensive numbers than Wesley, so combined with Wesley's history it is a lot easier to make a judgment that Wesley still lacks on that side of the ball to take home the Walnut and Bronze. We don't have a similar comp for Morningside but we do know UWW's history.

[USee]

We also know UW-P held NCC to lower offensive numbers than Wesley, so combined with Wesley's history it is a lot easier to make a judgment that Wesley still lacks on that side of the ball to take home the Walnut and Bronze. We don't have a similar comp for Morningside but we do know UWW's history.

Really?

UWP defense: 364 yds (134 pass, 230 rush), 5.4 yards per play, 5.1 yards per rush, they recover 1 fumble and have 0 sacks. I don't know that UWP was much better than Wesley on defense. Seems to me NCC turned off the gas in the 4th with a lead.

How about Team C: their defense plays a top 10 team, surrenders 471 yds (383 pass, 88 rush), 6.6 yards per play, 2.8 yds per rush, force 3 fumbles and have 5 sacks? Not good enough? That was UWW in their 38-28 win over Mt Union in the Stagg bowl.

I think Wesley's defense if fine. That was a really, really good offense they faced in NCC.

I think NCC has a really, really good offense and so does Wesley.

[Teamski]

NCC starts the season 1-2.  Have to admit I didn't see that one coming.

And when was the last time you saw a 1-2 team not just stay in the top 25 but actually gain a spot (to #21)?    I didn't see that one coming.  It shows you that NCC is a far better team than what their record reflects and the voters agree. 

-Ski

[wesleydad]

We also know UW-P held NCC to lower offensive numbers than Wesley, so combined with Wesley's history it is a lot easier to make a judgment that Wesley still lacks on that side of the ball to take home the Walnut and Bronze. We don't have a similar comp for Morningside but we do know UWW's history.

Really?

UWP defense: 364 yds (134 pass, 230 rush), 5.4 yards per play, 5.1 yards per rush, they recover 1 fumble and have 0 sacks. I don't know that UWP was much better than Wesley on defense. Seems to me NCC turned off the gas in the 4th with a lead.

How about Team C: their defense plays a top 10 team, surrenders 471 yds (383 pass, 88 rush), 6.6 yards per play, 2.8 yds per rush, force 3 fumbles and have 5 sacks? Not good enough? That was UWW in their 38-28 win over Mt Union in the Stagg bowl.

I think Wesley's defense if fine. That was a really, really good offense they faced in NCC.

I think NCC has a really, really good offense and so does Wesley.

USee, I am not a stat person per se, I am an eye test person and what I see on the defensive side of the ball is not going to win a national championship.  I do know how good the offense is going to be as the year progresses and that will be good enough to win one.  If you see the game live the stats don't mean much.  But I will say that when you put them up against other game stats they are not that bad.  I am also stunned that the NCC offense that I saw yesterday only scored 28 on UWP.  Maybe you are on to something and I and others are just being too hard on the Wesley defense instead of giving credit to the other teams offense.  We shall see.

[izzy stradlin]

We also know UW-P held NCC to lower offensive numbers than Wesley, so combined with Wesley's history it is a lot easier to make a judgment that Wesley still lacks on that side of the ball to take home the Walnut and Bronze. We don't have a similar comp for Morningside but we do know UWW's history.

Really?

UWP defense: 364 yds (134 pass, 230 rush), 5.4 yards per play, 5.1 yards per rush, they recover 1 fumble and have 0 sacks. I don't know that UWP was much better than Wesley on defense. Seems to me NCC turned off the gas in the 4th with a lead.

How about Team C: their defense plays a top 10 team, surrenders 471 yds (383 pass, 88 rush), 6.6 yards per play, 2.8 yds per rush, force 3 fumbles and have 5 sacks? Not good enough? That was UWW in their 38-28 win over Mt Union in the Stagg bowl.

I think Wesley's defense if fine. That was a really, really good offense they faced in NCC.

I think NCC has a really, really good offense and so does Wesley.

USee, I am not a stat person per se, I am an eye test person and what I see on the defensive side of the ball is not going to win a national championship.  I do know how good the offense is going to be as the year progresses and that will be good enough to win one.  If you see the game live the stats don't mean much.  But I will say that when you put them up against other game stats they are not that bad.  I am also stunned that the NCC offense that I saw yesterday only scored 28 on UWP.  Maybe you are on to something and I and others are just being too hard on the Wesley defense instead of giving credit to the other teams offense.  We shall see.

I am going to put that on the rotating QB system that pretty much stopped prior to Saturday.  Especially with a freshman signal caller, getting all of the playing time for the sake of figuring out the defense and what you teammates can do in a game situation is going make a big difference, IMO.  I thought the one series Warden got early in the 4th that consisted of 2 plays (a delay of game and a fumble on a hand-off), and led to 7 quick points for Wesley 4 plays later was a real head-scratcher.  That was a huge possession the coaches gave away. 

I think NCC is good, and with the more experience Hunniford gets, will continue to get better as the season progresses.