FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gotberg]

NPU 41, Anderson 13.

Conway with 508 passing yards, 3 TDs and 3 Ints.   Freshman receiver K. Daniels from Texas is one to watch - electric when he has the ball in his hands.

[robertgoulet]

Late scores:

North Park 41
Anderson 13

Augustana 21
Mount St. Joseph 10

North Central 35
Robert Morris-Chicago 21

Not counting the exhibition, the CCIW went 7-1 today.

Tightness of the NCC game concerned me until I saw that RMU beat Oshkosh to start the season last year. I guess it is a good win ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Gregory Sager]

T.D. Conway passed for the second-highest yardage total in NPU history, amassing 508 yards through the air, as the Vikings romped to a pretty easy win at Hedstrand Field. He tied the school record for most completions in a game that he set as a freshman against Hope (37), and, in an impressive flurry of three touchdown passes within the space of the first five minutes of the second quarter, he surpassed Shelby Wood as the all-time North Park leader in passing touchdowns. He now has 57 after 31 games, while it took Wood 40 games to record 55 scoring strikes. The plan wasn't for him to throw 62 passes, but the Ravens stuffed the box and never released the safeties wide. T.D. simply took what the defense gave him, and what the defense gave him was a lot of one-on-ones. His completion percentage was a rather ordinary 60%, but he was the victim of a lot of drops this evening -- his first four passes were all dropped, and all three of his interceptions were catchable balls tipped by Vikings receivers.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the passing performance by the Vikings was that they did it without two-time All-CCIW WR Devin Childress, who sat out the game with an injury. Norm Cupicciotti stepped up huge, hauling in seven catches for 162 yards and a touchdown, while freshman Kadarius Daniels put on a phenomenal performance in his college debut with 14 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Enrique Menendez, who has spent the last six years as a sergeant in the Marine Corps, ran back a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown, and Mike Conway had a chance to play his reserve defense (and much of the reserve offense) for pretty much the entire fourth quarter.

It's not a game that tells anyone too much about North Park with regard to the CCIW; Anderson has some good individual players, but the Ravens are by and large a dismal outfit that seems destined this year to add to a long string of 2-8 and 1-9 seasons. I wouldn't put too much stock in this win in terms of calculating where it places NPU in the pecking order. Still, it was good to see the young Vikings take command of this one and pull away in authoritative fashion. They went into the game fairly banged-up for a team that hadn't played a game yet -- Childress was only one of a half-dozen regulars who didn't suit up today -- but everybody else stepped up and did their jobs. And some of the freshmen who were asked to perform immediately (and unexpectedly, for the most part) really impressed.

[formerd3db]

Speaking of Joe Callahan... Dude is tearing it up tonight for Green Bay... Still has a shot at the 53 man roster.

This isn't going to happen unless Hundley is unable to play for any length of time.  They don't keep three QBs on the active roster.  Callahan is lock for the practice squad.  I think last night when he played almost the entire game was an indication that Williams, the fourth QB in camp, is history.  I've spoke with several people who really like Callahan and I have to admit I was surprised by how mobile he looked at times last night.  Now if he just realizes that you can't hold on to the ball for eternity in the NFL.    He took some losses on sacks last night when he should have dumped the ball somewhere.

badgerwh:

With all due respect, initial reports today (at least on one of the other boards) are that Callahan did make the 53 man roster, so I guess you were a little off on your prediction.  Regardless, it is great that another DIII guys makes the grade, wouldn't you agree?  Congrats to him.

[AndOne]

Perhaps a bit of oversimplification, but the NCC win tonight can largely be summarized in one word--Turnovers.
The Cards were out rushed by 29 yards, out gained through the air by 30, and had only 18 first downs compared to RMU's 27.
However, they recovered 2 of the 4 fumbles they forced, and had 3 INTs, the last of which was returned for a TD with only a couple minutes remaining and RMU in search of a game tying TD/PAT.

[AndOne]

I'm off to Foster and Albany to call NPU's season opener against Anderson. I'm not sure what to expect from the Vikings, but it should be an interesting evening under the lights.

Go Vikes!

GO they did. With a capital G!

[AndOne]

Wheaton and IWU fans...........

I know you guys are glad to open with wins, but did anyone expect a larger margin of victory by your team?
I was expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 point wins for both the Orange and the Green.

[kiko]

Maybe not that exact transition, but some of us are old enough to remember North Central make the pivot from perpetual mediocrity (in a good year) to a level of consistent success and recalibrated expectations.  It's not easy to push through that sort of tipping point, which I believe NPU has, and is a nice feeling when you realize the paradigm has shifted from 'I hope Augustana doesn't beat us by 40 this year' to 'we are as good as they are*, and expect to beat them'.

(*) - today this is 'we are a better team than they are', which was a second tipping point to break past.

I understand it. I saw it first hand at Wheaton. They were 2-7 for 4 straight years before JR Bishop took over and began the cultural change that led to where they are now. It wasn't the stretch of futility that the Park fans have endured, but it was a sea change nonetheless. It started with getting better, then getting better players, then expecting to win, and eventually they won and then kept winning. It's no easy task but I see the familiar roots of it on Foster with Coach Conway. He has that ship headed in the right direction. The only question is when, not if. It won't be this year but I would expect NPU to continue to surprise people with what they are doing.

Gotberg- I know where you are coming from.  This was a vision of mine on the air for 10 years covering the Jays. Seeing quality recruits and coaches go to rival schools,  trying to get the school excited about their team, being 7-3 and just not getting over that "hump".   Keep the faith.   I see NPU putting the building blocks in place to start (continue) climbing the ladder.   

I appreciate the positive sentiments, gentlemen, but, with all due respect, you don't understand the magnitude of NPU's change in attitude. No matter how poor North Central, Wheaton, or Elmhurst were in the past, they always had North Park below them to cushion the fall. Lest anybody forget, the Vikings went almost thirteen full seasons without a CCIW win prior to Mike Conway's hire three and a half years ago. They haven't had a break-even season since 1993 or a winning season since 1968. The feeling at NCC, Wheaton, Elmhurst, and other CCIW schools has always been that if the right coach came along, and if he got adequate support from the school's administration, the program could become a winner, and historical evidence bears that out. That was never true at North Park, at least not since the late '60s. You really have to have been around North Park to grasp the perennial sense of futility and despair (which, all too often, eventually led to indifference or dissension) that plagued the program.

It's just not the same thing at all.

Disagree with this.  Your framing is 'they always had North Park below them'.  Looking through the other end of the telescope, the view was 'Augustana will always be six levels above you'.  It is equally hopeless.

I get why you think the Park is a special snowflake in this regard, and the Vikings did have to move mountains just to secure the progress we've seen to date.  But the other transitions referenced were not even close to the slam dunks you suggest they would be if you tick the coach/admin support boxes, particularly when you consider how sustained they've been.  The idea in, say, 1990, that North Central would soon become a perennial Top 20 program was simply not believable.

You're not going to agree with this, and that is fine.  But just as you feel someone had to loiter a bit near Foster and Kedzie to understand the Park's challenges, I'd suggest that you haven't walked in the shoes of those at other schools to fully understand their journey.   North Park has had to overcome more than its share of challenges on the athletic front, particularly in football, but it doesn't have a monopoly on them.

And I disagree with this.

Augie's strangle-hold on the CCIW lasted less than a decade; NPC went THIRTEEN consecutive years without a single conference win - no comparison!

Wheaton does not even belong in this conversation, having been part of the upper group in the decades-long Big Four/Little Four model.  IWU has also had some rough years lately, but I'm sure both the Thunder and Titans were confident that the bad times were short termed.  Since NCC and Elmhurst were both perennial members of the 'Little Four', I can understand their comparisons, but they were still (almost) ALWAYS able to look down and see NPC.

The struggles of NPC(U) football are truly UNIQUE in CCIW history.  (Though they still pale next to Caltech baseball! )

Okay Ypsi, I'll play along.

In the 14 seasons between 1981 and 1994, Augustana's conference record was 102-7-1.  North Central's was 42-65-2, and that's padded by a weird random 6-1-1 record in 1982.  There was an ocean-sized chasm between the two programs, and to broach the thought that North Central would soon sit above the Vikings in the conference pecking order was a non-starter.

In the last ten years of that span, the Cardinals' record was 28-48-1.  In the most recent ten years, it is 64-6.  That's basically a pivot from a 3-5 program to a 6-1 program.

What North Park has done coming out of the depths of a decade-plus of winless conference seasons is massive.  It has changed expectations, optics, attitudes, etc.  The Vikings are in a different place on a hundred different dimensions both large and small.  But North Central's pivot has involved a change in magnitude of expectations/attitude/etc. that is not so far removed from what the Vikings have done that it should be dismissed out of hand.  North Central's progression has nothing to do with where North Park was or the fact that the Cardinals weren't perennial cellar-dwellers.  It has everything to do with going from evergreen mediocrity to a program that has had sustained excellence.  Those same attributes that have changed for North Park in the past couple of years made similarly seismic moves for the Cardinals when the program evolved to where it is today.

Maybe long-time Cardinal fans doesn't understand going from the basement to where North Park is today, but we certainly understand the excitement and wonder of a program transforming into something that was unthinkable just a few years prior.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Maybe not that exact transition, but some of us are old enough to remember North Central make the pivot from perpetual mediocrity (in a good year) to a level of consistent success and recalibrated expectations.  It's not easy to push through that sort of tipping point, which I believe NPU has, and is a nice feeling when you realize the paradigm has shifted from 'I hope Augustana doesn't beat us by 40 this year' to 'we are as good as they are*, and expect to beat them'.

(*) - today this is 'we are a better team than they are', which was a second tipping point to break past.

I understand it. I saw it first hand at Wheaton. They were 2-7 for 4 straight years before JR Bishop took over and began the cultural change that led to where they are now. It wasn't the stretch of futility that the Park fans have endured, but it was a sea change nonetheless. It started with getting better, then getting better players, then expecting to win, and eventually they won and then kept winning. It's no easy task but I see the familiar roots of it on Foster with Coach Conway. He has that ship headed in the right direction. The only question is when, not if. It won't be this year but I would expect NPU to continue to surprise people with what they are doing.

Gotberg- I know where you are coming from.  This was a vision of mine on the air for 10 years covering the Jays. Seeing quality recruits and coaches go to rival schools,  trying to get the school excited about their team, being 7-3 and just not getting over that "hump".   Keep the faith.   I see NPU putting the building blocks in place to start (continue) climbing the ladder.   

I appreciate the positive sentiments, gentlemen, but, with all due respect, you don't understand the magnitude of NPU's change in attitude. No matter how poor North Central, Wheaton, or Elmhurst were in the past, they always had North Park below them to cushion the fall. Lest anybody forget, the Vikings went almost thirteen full seasons without a CCIW win prior to Mike Conway's hire three and a half years ago. They haven't had a break-even season since 1993 or a winning season since 1968. The feeling at NCC, Wheaton, Elmhurst, and other CCIW schools has always been that if the right coach came along, and if he got adequate support from the school's administration, the program could become a winner, and historical evidence bears that out. That was never true at North Park, at least not since the late '60s. You really have to have been around North Park to grasp the perennial sense of futility and despair (which, all too often, eventually led to indifference or dissension) that plagued the program.

It's just not the same thing at all.

Disagree with this.  Your framing is 'they always had North Park below them'.  Looking through the other end of the telescope, the view was 'Augustana will always be six levels above you'.  It is equally hopeless.

I get why you think the Park is a special snowflake in this regard, and the Vikings did have to move mountains just to secure the progress we've seen to date.  But the other transitions referenced were not even close to the slam dunks you suggest they would be if you tick the coach/admin support boxes, particularly when you consider how sustained they've been.  The idea in, say, 1990, that North Central would soon become a perennial Top 20 program was simply not believable.

You're not going to agree with this, and that is fine.  But just as you feel someone had to loiter a bit near Foster and Kedzie to understand the Park's challenges, I'd suggest that you haven't walked in the shoes of those at other schools to fully understand their journey.   North Park has had to overcome more than its share of challenges on the athletic front, particularly in football, but it doesn't have a monopoly on them.

And I disagree with this.

Augie's strangle-hold on the CCIW lasted less than a decade; NPC went THIRTEEN consecutive years without a single conference win - no comparison!

Wheaton does not even belong in this conversation, having been part of the upper group in the decades-long Big Four/Little Four model.  IWU has also had some rough years lately, but I'm sure both the Thunder and Titans were confident that the bad times were short termed.  Since NCC and Elmhurst were both perennial members of the 'Little Four', I can understand their comparisons, but they were still (almost) ALWAYS able to look down and see NPC.

The struggles of NPC(U) football are truly UNIQUE in CCIW history.  (Though they still pale next to Caltech baseball! )

Okay Ypsi, I'll play along.

In the 14 seasons between 1981 and 1994, Augustana's conference record was 102-7-1.  North Central's was 42-65-2, and that's padded by a weird random 6-1-1 record in 1982.  There was an ocean-sized chasm between the two programs, and to broach the thought that North Central would soon sit above the Vikings in the conference pecking order was a non-starter.

In the last ten years of that span, the Cardinals' record was 28-48-1.  In the most recent ten years, it is 64-6.  That's basically a pivot from a 3-5 program to a 6-1 program.

What North Park has done coming out of the depths of a decade-plus of winless conference seasons is massive.  It has changed expectations, optics, attitudes, etc.  The Vikings are in a different place on a hundred different dimensions both large and small.  But North Central's pivot has involved a change in magnitude of expectations/attitude/etc. that is not so far removed from what the Vikings have done that it should be dismissed out of hand.  North Central's progression has nothing to do with where North Park was or the fact that the Cardinals weren't perennial cellar-dwellers.  It has everything to do with going from evergreen mediocrity to a program that has had sustained excellence.  Those same attributes that have changed for North Park in the past couple of years made similarly seismic moves for the Cardinals when the program evolved to where it is today.

Maybe long-time Cardinal fans doesn't understand going from the basement to where North Park is today, but we certainly understand the excitement and wonder of a program transforming into something that was unthinkable just a few years prior.

We're not as far apart as you may think.  The climb of NCC from below average to perennial contender is the OTHER big story of the last few decades.  (Story #3 would be the fall of Millikin from one of the 'Big Four' to threatening to become the NPC of the 21st century. )

To me, NPU's rise from the totally dead is more impressive, but it may well be that NCC's rise to the top echelon is actually harder - I don't know.

[Titan Q]

IWU 33
Monterrey Tech 16

* Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore (RB): 11 carries, 115 yards, 3 TDs
* Sean Garvey (LB): 18 tackles

* IWU: 2 defensive TDs

http://www.iwusports.com/documents/2016/9/3//Monterreygame.pdf?id=158

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/defense-defense-sets-early-tone-as-iwu-turns-back-monterrey/article_78bdf187-3d8f-590c-8aa0-377a7d134cd4.html


The Titans played OK overall yesterday - not great but certainly a lot of positives.  Monterrey Tech was a good opponent - really big on both lines (much bigger than IWU) and very athletic all across the field.  From what I saw yesterday, they'd finish 4th in the CCIW behind Wheaton, NCC, and whoever is 3rd best.

The Titans had trouble moving the ball against the Wild Sheep on a consistent basis.  Early on, IWU couldn't get anything going on the ground due to Monterrey Tech's size upfront and, at the same time, the passing game was not crisp. IWU QB Jack Donegan, making his first start, settled in as the game went on and ended up having a pretty nice day.

IWU RB Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore (a transfer last year from D1 Central Michigan) has potential to have a huge season. He is a special talent and a real difference maker.  I hope the Titans make him the focal point of the offense this year. 

Things I'm excited about:
  1) The defense - IWU has a lot of talent across the defense, led by Garvey, Roth, Fahey at LB.
  2) Running back talent - with Shoemaker-Gilmore, Austin Harrell, and Matese Scott, the Titans are in great shape.
  3) QB Jack Warner - didn't play yesterday but should be back next weekend; I believe will have a big junior season.

Things I'm concerned about:
  1) Playmakers at WR - for 20 years it seems IWU has always had one difference-making, stud WR...I'm not sure yet if this team does. Several good ones but are any great?
  2) Kicking game - the Titans had Michael Kelley for 4 years and I'm not quite sure what they have in Adam Muellers.


Based on talent and schedule (having Wheaton and NCC in Bloomington), the Titans have every reason to feel like a CCIW contender at this point. 

I'm interested to see how IWU performs vs a Division III opponent next weekend at Nebraska Wesleyan.  We lived in Lincoln, Nebraska 2011-2014 and I waited for Titan hoops or football to come play NWU...it never happened.  Now that we're in Dallas, the football team is heading to Lincoln.  Oh well.

[Titan Q]

Wheaton and IWU fans...........

I know you guys are glad to open with wins, but did anyone expect a larger margin of victory by your team?
I was expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 point wins for both the Orange and the Green.

Monterrey Tech was certainly a completely unknown opponent to CCIW fans, and an absolute wildcard game, but I don't think there was any reason to expect IWU to beat Monterrey Tech by 40. 

I remembered the post below from right after the game was announced.  As I posted above, my impression from what I saw yesterday is that Monterrey Tech is as talented as a 4th place CCIW team.  Their size and athleticism would have caused problems for many good Division III teams.

IWU was fortunate to score defensive touchdowns on back-to-back Monterrey Tech possessions in the 1st Q - an incomplete, backwards pass that was scooped up by the Titans and run in, and a pick 6. That gift 14-0 IWU lead was essentially the difference in the game - otherwise this was basically a straight-up game vs pretty even teams.

It'll be interesting to see how IWU plays against the Mexican team. They provided a significant portion of the team that just crushed the American team at the World University Championship of American Football. Yeah, the American team was a bunch of college guys paying $5K to get a few more games and a neat experience, but the Mexican team pretty much buried us in the finals. I wonder how the Monterrey team will do against a real DIII school.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/16235034/us-teaches-international-brethren-learns-lesson-world-university-championship-american-football

[matblake]

Wheaton and IWU fans...........

I know you guys are glad to open with wins, but did anyone expect a larger margin of victory by your team?
I was expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 point wins for both the Orange and the Green.

-Wheaton opens play at home against Benedictine in what will be a bit of a 'trap' game. Ex-OC Josiah Sears will be eager to take it to his old colleagues and he has some talent on offense.

And One, I think USee's prediction hit it on the head.  I actually thought it was a solid win for the Thunder, outside of the turnovers.  Losing all 4 fumbles, including a snap snafu, isn't going to help you.  Benedictine had a strategic advantage of knowing much about Wheaton.  Benedictine had a good offensive strategy, they didn't execute when needed.  In addition, Benedictine not being able to run the ball really hurt them as the game wore on.   Penalties continue to be a problem with the Thunder, as several drives stalled.  9 penalties for 79 yards doesn't help you at all.  I was also impressed with Benedictine's Danny Drummond.  2 times he made shoestring tackles to prevent the escape of the runner. 

For me, it was one of those games that didn't seem as close as the score was, but was troubling because their mistakes allowed the other team to hang around.  That's not going to cut it in CCIW play.

If you look at the stats, it's an indicator of how turnovers kill you.  Here's the box score for reference: http://athletics.wheaton.edu/boxscore.aspx?path=football&id=4624

[USee]

Wheaton 26
Benedictine 7

Wheaton 62 plays, 471 yds (210 rushing, 261 passing), 7.6 yds per play
Benedictine 73 plays, 298 yds (22 rushing, 276 passing), 4.1 yds per play

Turnovers:
Wheaton 4 (4 fumbles)
Benedictine 3 (2 Int, 4 fumbles-1 lost)

Andrew Bowers 19-29 (66%), 261 yds 3 TD's
Stone Watson 10 rush, 124 yds 1 TD
Luke Sahly 2 sacks, Chase Greenlee 2 sacks

Despite playing without 5 of their regular starters (all of whom are back next week) Wheaton dominated this game and the outcome was really never in doubt against a Benedictine team that I expect will win the NACC conference and make it to the NCAA playoffs. The Eagles have 3 D1 transfers on their team and are quite talented. Wheaton's defense was much better than I anticipated and their offense moved the ball the way I would have expected. Benedictine had 88 yards of offense at halftime and entered the redzone just once the entire game. Benedictine got 200 yds of their 298 total yards at the end of the 3rd and during the 4th quarter after Wheaton put in their subs and played a vanilla defense. On offense Wheaton had 4 fumbles going in to score that kept the score from being a much larger margin.

I was most excited about Wheaton's young players that are in the mix with a great group of veterans. They started a freshman WR Phillip Nichols, who will be a difference maker in this league. He had 4 catchs for 105 yds and 1 TD and 3 kick returns for 66 yds. Their is a strong talent of sophomores that had great performances yesterday inclduding Stone Watson, Luke Van Dyke, Jaelin Goldsmith, Mason Ohendalski, Eric Stevenson, Stone Watson, Dmarte Arifiles, and Christian Bolhuis, and Zach Feddeler in what Swider had previously called his best recruiting class ever and it's easy to see why.

This Wheaton deep is very deep and really talented. I am more optimistic about this team at this stage than I was for either of the last two years after week 1.

[USee]

Wheaton and IWU fans...........

I know you guys are glad to open with wins, but did anyone expect a larger margin of victory by your team?
I was expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 point wins for both the Orange and the Green.

Zero concerns for me as I mentioned in my comments, I am more confident about this team after week 1 than either of the last two years' teams. Benedictine had Josia Sears as their head coach and last years Captain, Danny Puknaitis, on their staff. There isn't a team we will play that knows more about Wheaton's players and schemes than Benedictine. Combine that with Sears, who is an offensive genius in my mind, who had 8 starters back on offense and they could only muster 7 pts and less than 100 yds offense when it mattered. Wheaton's defense is supposed to be the weakest part of their team and that was not the case yesterday. Despite the loss of Dandsdill, McCrae, and Swider I don't see much drop off from this unit on defense. Offensively the Thunder are loaded with talent. Olateju tweeked his ankle so they held him out much of the game, Jackson Fain is the #2 and he was out ill so Stone Watson and Jaelin Goldsmith stepped in and produced 19 rushes for 176 yds.

I really don't have any concerns about Wheaton's talent level this year.  You just can't turn it over 4 times (one of which was forced, the other 3 were Wheaton mistakes) and win against the best teams.

[USee]

For those that are following the Wheaton QB competition, Andrew Bowers started yesterday and took every snap. He had a great day and looked every bit as good as last year completing 66% of his passes for 261 yds and 3 TD's. His scrambling ability confounded Benedictine and his own receivers at time as he pulled some serious magic tricks in the pocket to extend plays.

On the post game interview Mike Swider said Johhny Peltz would be the starter this week against Kalamazoo and reiterated he thinks Wheaton has 2 QB's that would start on any team in the league so he would continue to play them both but his preferred avenue is to rotate games and not series, quarters, halves. Stay tuned  this week as we see what JP11 can do.....