FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CardinalAlum]

It's not about nerves.  It's about decision making.  And NCC is playing a team that knows their offense pretty well. If IWUs defense is as good as some think it is, it may be the best defense Rutter has seen to date.  Maybe not. But if it is his stats from the last two games aren't going to be relevant. I think NCC is a 14+ pt favorite in this game but there are a lot of unknowns.

I agree with Usee on this one.   Weenie Stadium is not the easiest place in the world to play and the IWU defense is quite good.   Neither of the first two defenses NCC has played against this season were as good as what we will expect to see Saturday.   I have seen Rutter play quite a bit in high school and parts of two games so far and I will say he is impressive.   He's big, has a strong arm and can run.  Hoping he continues to shine as the CCIW season begins.  My .02. 

[thunderdog]

With regard to the Cardinals rookie QB that hasn't played in a big game on the road, I'd venture a guess that both freshman QB Broc Rutter, and the NCC coaches considered his first game as the NCC starting QB was indeed a "big" game.

Yeah, but was it a signature game?

(Sorry. )

As the designated top authority (just ask me, I'll tell you) of what is and what is not a signature win, I hereby declare this was definitely NOT a signature win

[USee]

For the Thunder I really think the coaches need to figure out a way to get both Bowers and Peltz on the field at the same time. I am a big believer in playing your best 11 and I have to think sitting either one of them while the other plays is leaving one of your best 11 on the sideline. Josiah Sears had a plan for that at the end of last year and we started to see it in the first quarter against Lakeland with Bowers playing in the slot when Peltz was at QB. Then JP11 got hurt and the plan was derailed. I'd like to see some of that again.

The Thunder's weakness is question marks at WR (can these guys get open against good competition) and the size of the their DB's (they may struggle against taller WR).

[Gregory Sager]

I wonder if it's becoming more and more common to adopt that "play your best eleven" concept at the D3 level. I just don't know enough about how the rest of D3 operates outside of our own neck of the woods, but the reason why I say this is because of how I saw Mike Conway and his coaching staff use Anthony Burton over the past three years.

He was recruited as a running QB out of Round Lake HS by Scott Pethtel's staff, who figured that he had the speed and toughness to project as the heir apparent to Tyler Krebs in North Park's triple option offense. Naturally, that all went out the window when the firm of Conway & Sons arrived on campus after the conclusion of Burton's freshman season and made it clear from the outset that the triple option would be scrapped. But Burton, like Krebs, was too good of an athlete to keep off of the field, in spite of the fact that he was a running QB on a team that was clearly going to feature T.D. Conway operating a spread offense. So the NPU coaches moved both Burton and Krebs to wide receiver -- but, because the 6'0, 210 Burton had more size and a better arm than the 5'7, 175 Krebs, and because there really weren't any other viable alternatives, Burton was the backup quarterback as a sophomore behind Conway in 2013.

OK, that's easy to understand, because in a coaching-transition situation in which a radical shift in offensive philosophy has been installed and the roster has some obvious limitations, it seems plausible for a starter at WR to also serve as the backup QB. But here's the thing: Burton was also the backup QB in 2014, in spite of the fact that the NPU coaching staff had brought in a couple of new QBs. And he remained the backup QB as a senior last season, even though it was obvious that the staff had found a kid that they clearly viewed as Conway's heir apparent in freshman Jace Bankord (who looked solid in his on-field debut last week at the end of the Midland game). Burton never had to take more that a snap or three in backing up T.D. Conway over the past three years, given Conway's durability. But it always made me a little nervous, knowing that T.D.'s backup was going over the middle and taking hits all day, ten games a year.

Nevertheless, Burton always remained too good of an athlete -- and too good of a football player -- to keep off of the field, even after the personnel situation improved, in spite of the fact that he was the second-string QB. And it's made me wonder how many other D3 schools out there utilize their second-string QBs like that.

[USee]

My two cents for this weekends games:

North Park @Elmhurst: Elmhurst has home field advantage and I am not sure what else. North Park has more talent on the field than any other time in Mike Conway's tenure and a multi year, veteran QB who is playing his best football right now with one of the better LB's in the league  with Maiava making plays on defense I think NPU wins this one but it will be closer than NPU fans would like.

NPU 21 Elmhurst 17

North Central @IWU: This is the game of the week and the key matchup is Kyle VanHuizen against junior LT Joe Fehrle. NCC is stacked on offense and IWU is playing a mostly rookie secondary but has the best LB group in the league. If IWU has a chance they have to disrupt Broc Rutter and the stable of veteran receivers. VanHuizen has to spend the day in NCC's backfield for IWU to stay with them. Shoemaker Gilmore will see a stacked defensive front and NCC has had trouble the last two years stopping the run. I think the Cardinals have too much horsepower in this one.

North Central 34 IWU 17

Carroll @ Augie: The Pioneers have to travel to Rock Island for their christening back into the CCIW. The Vikings have a very good defense and they stayed with Central last week at Home but in the end they had to defend 91 plays while their rookie QB completed just 46% of his passes and their veteran offensive line could only generate 34 yds on the ground on 33 carries. Yikes! Augie will find a much more favorable matchup against Carroll. The Vikes defense will rule the day and set up Augie for some easy scores.

Augustana 34 Carroll 10

Wheaton at Carthage: Carthage runs the ball about 65% of the time with 3 different backs. Their QB likes to throw it deep via play action. Their go to play is a power running play behind All Conf TE Javier Rhodes at TE, who is one of the better blocking TE's I have seen. Carthage's defense plays a lot of man coverage. I expect them to stack the box and see if the their athletic corners can beat up the Wheaton WR's. I think the Thunder Dline with Ashby, Spielman, Greenlee and Wiggins, will make it difficult to run the ball down their throat. If Wheaton avoids turnovers they can win going away, otherwise this could be an upset in the making.

Wheaton 31 Carthage 21

[USee]

Norm Eash using the transitive theory to explain his chances against North Central this weekend:

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/venhuizen-s-return-to-form-gives-iwu-a-huge-lift/article_d22261a4-5623-5a50-9ecf-3d8e7a3b02d9.html

Common opponent: IWU and North Central have faced the same team although in different settings.

The Titans held a scrimmage last month against Robert Morris-Chicago, an NAIA school that gives out scholarships. North Central opened the season two weeks ago by beating Robert Morris, 35-21.

Robert Morris outgained the Cardinals in total offense yards, 457-398, but was done in by five turnovers.

"Robert Morris was a good football team and had some size. We played well against them," said Eash. "We did not keep score, but they scored four touchdowns and we had three touchdowns. Robert Morris played well against North Central and if you look at the statistics they won, but the only statistic they did not win was the score."

[thunderdog]

Solid analysis as always USee...

I'll be making the trip to Kenosha to see my first (entire) Wheaton game in person. I don't feel I've watched enough of the Thunder D to have a good grasp on where they really are yet defensively, so I'm definitely looking forward to the game. I expect a "spirited" crowd, which I love. Carthage fans have a lot to be excited about, their team is 2-0, just claimed (what some consider) a signature win, and have an opportunity to knock off a team on a 15 game conference winning streak that dates back to 2013. I expect a heavy dose of Frosh #19 Jamel Davis, who looked mighty impressive in the @ BU game. Would love to know who'll be lining up at QB but I guess we'll find out at 1PM tomorrow.

Thunder, Let's Roll!

[thunderdog]

Besides the WC @ CC, NCC @ IWU, and Linfield @ UMHB games, the other game that really intrigues me is the Morningside @ UWW game. Morningside, led by former Crusader Steve Ryan, played UWW very tough last year and actually had a 30-26 lead with 4 min left in the game before UWW engineered a last minute TD drive for the win. The result of this game could serve as a barometer for D3 vs NAIA comparisons.

[Mugsy]

Besides the WC @ CC, NCC @ IWU, and Linfield @ UMHB games, the other game that really intrigues me is the Morningside @ UWW game. Morningside, led by former Crusader Steve Ryan, played UWW very tough last year and actually had a 30-26 lead with 4 min left in the game before UWW engineered a last minute TD drive for the win. The result of this game could serve as a barometer for D3 vs NAIA comparisons.

Agreed that Morningside/UWW game is intriguing, but isn't it next week?  According to the Morningside schedule, they plan Doane tomorrow and then UWW on the 24th.

[thunderdog]

Yep, my bad, good catch Mugsy. I was looking at UWW's schedule and saw it was their 3rd game, not noticing they have a bye in between...

[CardinalAlum]

Norm Eash using the transitive theory to explain his chances against North Central this weekend:

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/venhuizen-s-return-to-form-gives-iwu-a-huge-lift/article_d22261a4-5623-5a50-9ecf-3d8e7a3b02d9.html

Common opponent: IWU and North Central have faced the same team although in different settings.

The Titans held a scrimmage last month against Robert Morris-Chicago, an NAIA school that gives out scholarships. North Central opened the season two weeks ago by beating Robert Morris, 35-21.

Robert Morris outgained the Cardinals in total offense yards, 457-398, but was done in by five turnovers.

"Robert Morris was a good football team and had some size. We played well against them," said Eash. "We did not keep score, but they scored four touchdowns and we had three touchdowns. Robert Morris played well against North Central and if you look at the statistics they won, but the only statistic they did not win was the score."

Great argument, Norm!   .  He can win all of the statistics tomorrow too as long as NCC "wins the score."

[USee]

Article from Kenosha news on the game including an interesting distraction the Redmen had to deal with this week.

http://www.kenoshanews.com/sports/20_red_men_host_no_7_wheaton_in_cciw_opener_489751391.php

[Titan Q]

My question is: Who is the flashy big play guy on this offense? Last year it was Checchin. Shoemaker-Gilmore has some of that in him but I think this offense needs Jack Warner and his ability to make plays with his feet. I really don't know how to evaluate IWU based on their first two opponents but we will get a strong idea after this weekend. For the Titans, on offense I know they have a great running back. I don't know what else they have and if their OL is good enough to compete with NCC. On defense, I know KVH is a player and those three LB's are all conference quality. I have concerns about the defensive backfield, only because they are unknown quantities. Norm might have recruited well and these guys are ready. They also have a new OC (but I assume the same system) so we go into this weekend with the most unknowns about IWU in recent memory.

My guess is that NCC has too much firepower for the Titans to stay in this one til the end. The Cardinals are loaded but they do have a rookie QB that hasn't played in a big game on the road.

Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore is clearly IWU's top offensive threat.  He's a powerful runner who is good at grinding out 3-4 yards in short-yardage situations, but he's also a guy who can break a biggie at any time. In his 11 games played for IWU, Shoemaker-Gilmore has carried it 148 times for 988 yards (6.7 per) with 10 TDs.  For the Titans to win today, they'll have to run the offense through their talented senior RB.

Austin Harrell is probably IWU's second most dangerous offensive weapon - big 6-4 kid who has great speed.  The problem is that he plays the same position as Shoemaker-Gilmore.  Last week the Titans gave every carry to Shoemaker-Gilmore, but found nice ways to involve Harrell as a receiver -- had 3 catches for 49 yards and a TD.  I think IWU has to get Harrell involved in creative ways - he's got big play potential every time he touches the ball. I'd love to see IWU make him a full-time WR.

IWU's WRs are better than I thought heading into the season.  There is not a Artie Checchin/Eric White/Chris Bisaillon type guy out there this year, but the collective group of Austin Wager, Adam Muellers, and Dom Comfort is good.  The Titans will clearly need to throw the ball today in the right moments and will need a couple of these guys to make big plays.

With Jack Wagner out, there is not a lot of flashy outside of Shoemaker-Gilmore...but I do think IWU's offense has nice balance and a number of guys who can make big plays. Now, how that translates against North Central's defensive talent...who knows.

IWU's defense will have to play extremely well tonight for the Titans to have a chance.  The Titans aren't going to win a shootout.

[Gregory Sager]

Elmhurst 42
North Park 10

An all-around stinkfest by the Vikings. It was by light-years the worst game that T.D. Conway's ever played, but he was not alone in messing up. The Vikings made a pretty average Elmhurst team look like it was wearing purple today.

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton 19
Carthage 14

The Red Men had their shot at this, but couldn't get it done.