FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[robertgoulet]

Sitrep: feeling better about today than I felt when I initially saw the possibility on bracket release day (a feeling which carries on through mid-week this week). Still not feeling the greatest though!

[ncaafootballdad]

CardinalAlum: You are quite the intuitive one. The Swiders and Peltzs did not spend Thanksgiving together. They are not communicating.
A competitive lineup of games today. Will watch as much as possible of all the games  Should be compelling football.

[USee]

Random musings about today's game and what I will be watching for:

For North Central:

-Billy Douds and Josh Leonhard can rush the passer. Wheaton is possibly playing 2 different tackles than last time when Bowers was running for his life much of the game (5 sacks). Can NCC get pressure without blitzing?

-Special Teams: the PR TD before half was huge but overall Wheaton had 14 offensive possessions and started 10 of them inside their own 30 (NCC started just 5 drives inside their own 30). NCC special teams changed the game in round 1.

-North Central scored 6 times in the first game. They only drove more than 50 yds for 2 of those scores, both in the 4th quarter (11 plays, 65 yds,TD and 12 plays, 67 yds, FG). Can they put together longer drives against this D?

-What will NCC do against the Wheaton dime defense (3 man DL). They had their worst offensive output of the season against Wheaton in game 1, they will have a plan.

-NCC rushed the ball 33 times for 52 yds in the first game. Can they manufacture some rush yards?

-Those may come from Broc Rutter. The QB ran for 55 net yards the entire season and 32 of them came against Wheaton, 23 in the 4th quarter during those two huge scoring drives. Premonition of things to come?

-Will North Central use the "Wildcat" against the Thunder? They can easily put former QB Dylan Warden at QB and split Rutter out wide to try and take advantage of the Wheaton dime defense.

For Wheaton:

-Can the Thunder run the ball effectively? In game 1 they were pretty much 50/50 run v pass. Since then they have been decidedly 60/40. Can they do it today?

-Will Bowers be accurate down the field? He completed 63% of his passes for the year but just 50% against NCC in the first stanza. He will need to be at least 60% to win.

-Johnny Peltz has been working his way onto the field as a WR. His size and athleticism is a quality the Thunder need opposite Lindquist. He could be the X factor.

-Tyler Sigler moved to Corner from safety the week of the first game. He now is comfortable there. Will Wheaton add complexity to their scheme to try and disrupt Rutter and the Cardinal offense?

-Chase Greenlee was upstaged by his 1st team counterpart, Billy Douds (3 sacks in game 1). Can the Wheaton Dline get to Rutter this time?

-Bowers is a factor when he runs. Will the Thunder use more planned runs and more importantly, when Bowers scrambles, will he keep his eyes downfield and extend plays or just try and do it himself? North Central certainly expected the latter in the first game and contained him as a result.

-The Thunder are one of the most penalized teams in the country. North Central is better but still not good. The seniors playing this game are 2-2 vs each other. This is the 5th time for them against each other. There will be some emotion on the field today. Can both teams keep their composure and avoid key penalties?

-Who wins the Turnover battle. In game 1 Wheaton had 2 and NCC 0. That and special teams were the difference. Can both teams play a clean game?

[CardinalAlum]

7-7 at half.  What a half.  Lots of penalties, some turnovers and sacks both ways.  Should be a great 2nd half.

[shepherd]

Tied 7-7 at half, second half adjustments should slightly favor the Thunder. 

[HScoach]

Nice performance by Wheaton today. 

[kiko]

Not much to say about this one... Wheaton outplayed, out-executed, and out-coached the Cardinals.  This was a well-deserved win.

[robertgoulet]

My initial trepidation turned out to be warranted. Congrats to Wheaton.

[NCF]

Unbelievable game by Wheaton. I thought this one was going down to the wire, but the Thunder game plan was outstanding. After watching Wheaton playing on several occasions throughout the season, I didn't think they could do it, but they did and very convincingly. Good luck the rest of the way.

[USee]

Wow. What a game. These are two top ten teams.

Wheaton was brilliant. They ran the ball (193 yds--160 by Olateju) controlled the clock (33min to 25) and won the turnover battle (+1).

To hold that offense to 14 points is unreal. 6 sacks, 5 hurries and only gave up 1 sack to NCC.

Just a tremendous effort by the Thunder on the road.  Congratulations to Mike Swider, the staff, and the players, especially these Seniors for making it to the Quarterfinals in impressive fashion.

[USee]

As the Wheaton offensive coaches have been criticized I thought the game plan today was genius. Their personnel groupings and play calling were exceptional. And the two young Tackles were very good in their biggest game. Great blocking and execution. Congrats to Jesse Scott and the staff for a great game.

[Kelly Boggs]

Congratulations to Wheaton on your second round win over North Central. UMHB fans look forward to your visit to Crusader Stadium next week. The Thunder vs The CRU, should be a good one.

[umhb2001]

Congrats to Wheaton, and welcome, presumably, to Belton next week.

Looks like a good run game vs our stout run D. I haven't done much research on your team yet, but I'll go back and look at the box scores over the year.

Safe travels and if you need any advice on the area, give us a shout out.

[CardinalAlum]

Congrats to Wheaton.  The offensive and defensive lines of Wheaton were the difference.   NC couldn't block the ends for Wheaton and Rutter didn't have the time to throw.  Wheaton's run game really wore NCC down in the 2nd half.   Good luck, Thunder.   

[augiefan]

Congrats to Wheaton. I am somewhat stunned by the margin of victory in this one. Two excellent teams. Sorry they had to meet up in the 2nd round, but the CCIW does not get as much respect in the FB playoffs seedlings as they do in MBB. I long for the days when Augie used be a playoff contender, but that is becoming a distant memory in the QC.