FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Ralph Turner]

Hmm..
The CRUsaders vs the former Crusaders.

I am looking forwarded to this very infrequent matchup of the ASC and the CCIW.

[D O.C.]

Wheaton game plan for the #1 team:
Gain 40 lb a piece on the offensive and defensive lines.
Speed work for everyone.
Get 12th man on field somehow to shadow Blake Jackson.
Perhaps the ncaa will give you the game at home.

Nice job today, Wheaton. Enjoy Sunday.

[USee]

I am gonna have to do some work to come up to speed on MHB but I was shocked to see on my first look that they are more penalized than Wheaton (217th v 205th).  I did not think that was possible. 

Quite certain Wheaton will again be a double digit underdog.

[Augie6]

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.

I still remember!!      Agree with the sentiment, augiefan.  I hope Wheaton can pull off the upset at MHB.  Congrats to NCC on a very good season. 

[lmitzel]

I think at this point we should just send the Bell back up north until next fall. A buddy of mine from NCC texted me late in the game and said it doesn't feel right to hang onto it.

This one hurts, but I tip my hat to the Thunder. They earned it. Good luck in Texas next weekend!

[robertgoulet]

The only thing dulling the sting is the amount of starters that NCC will return next year. They should be even better.

[thunderdog]

Some highlights/thoughts on the Thunder's 31-14 win over NCC on Saturday:

1) Phenomenal defense by WC all game long really, but particularly in the 1st quarter. NCC took the opening drive from their own 22 to WC's 33 before facing 4th & 7. DPOY #52 Caleb Ashby then fought thru a hold to sack Rutter. That's stop #1. NCC would then get the ball 3 more times with starting positions of WC 44 (after the INT by S Pat Cravens), then the NCC 45, then the WC 48. WC did not run a single play on offense in NCC territory. For the D to hold THAT offense scoreless during the 1st quarter, with their backs against the wall the whole time, is just tremendous. I think D3Football's Keith McMillan hit it right on the head when he gave the WC Defense the award for best overall play for week 2 of the playoffs. Kudos to DC Jordan Langs for a fantastic game plan.

2) Another great INT by MLB #36 Eric Stevenson, at the goal-line! and with a 35 yard return! This young man just seems to get better and better with each passing week. This happened at the end of that defensively dominant 1st quarter and would be the first of 2 HUGE takeaways by the D.

3) While trailing 0-7 and time winding down in the 1st half, NCC was driving again (starting from the WC 40). On the second play of the drive, NCC RB Austin Breunig broke thru the first 2 levels of the D on a run right up the gut to the WC 17. A combination of S #12 Nick Blazek and DE #3 Chase Greenlee hit Breunig forcing the ball to pop out, recovered by CB #9 Marcus Smith. HUGE, HUGE, HUGE!

4) The above takeaway finally woke up the WC Offense. With only 3:11 remaining in the half and starting from their own 16, the Thunder go 84 yards on 10 plays for the TD, eating up 2:54 on the clock. 7-7 score at half. Stark, stark difference to the week 7 match-up when NCC held a 3-24 lead. This drive would prove to be the start of something special from the Wheaton O the rest of the way.

5) The determined, beast-mode running of RB #23 Sola Olateju. 29 carries for 160 yards and 2 TDs with many, many broken tackles along the way. Wow, just wow! Sola is no doubt establishing himself as one of the best in the country, IMO.

6) How about the 32 yard FG by #17 Stefan Knoerr early in the 4th quarter with the score tied 14-14? This can't be short-changed. WC was 1st & G from the NCC 6... then found itself looking at 4th and G from the NCC 15 after losing 9 yards over the previous 3 plays. To come away with points there is just BIG. That would have been a huge, momentum swinging stop for the NCC defense otherwise. Knoerr should get credit for (finally) bringing some stability to our PAT unit (see 2014) and being able to hit some much needed FG's.

7) The play calling and offensive groupings by OC Jesse Scott. USee has touched on this (the self-evaluation and renewed commitment to the run game) often ever since Wheaton's bye week. Double tight was wildly effective. Between AA #89 Zach Lindquist, #88 Tyler Pace, and #81 Luke Van Dyke... WC is loaded at the position... These guys give WC the opportunity to just out-muscle the opposing D at the point of attack. Also, as a guilty culprit of questioning both personnel and play calling decisions, I'll happily eat a bucket full of crow... I thinks it's safe to assume that Coach Scott is finding his comfort zone and mojo as an OC.

8) The depth of the WC roster. To lose starting tackle #77 Ben Pettway and have Frosh #71 Drew Smith (6'5" 277) step in like he did is just studly. HC Mike Swider highlighted this in the press conference, there is a "next man up" mentality that has been fully embraced by this TEAM!

9) Kudos to the WC crowd that really brought it Saturday. We made some serious noise y'all!!!

9) PENALTIES! Penalty stats can be misleading. WC had 8 for 62 yards. It felt much worse than that. They don't account for the lost yardage of the "what if" the penalty hadn't occurred. I do remember that WR #13 Trey Hanley had a long play of 44 yards negated by a hold. All in all, I'd estimate that WC lost roughly 75-100 yards in "what if" yardage. Interesting to see that UMHB is a more penalized team, I find that hard to believe...

This Wheaton Thunder team has the alumni in a tizzy. We got guys flying into TX from all parts of the country. And those of us that can't make it in person will be getting together to root like crazy for the orange-and-blue.

Keep believin', keep rollin'

BEAT THE CRUSADERS!

[D O.C.]

thunder dog... Love your endorphin surge.
Please break down next Saturdays game as well.
Good luck Thunder. 

[emma17]

Three comments from a relative outsider:
-Congrats to Wheaton College for such an impressive victory.
-Sola must elevate his game in the playoffs as I thought he was outstanding vs UWW last year. I'm surprised he didn't have huge numbers in regular season.
-Receiver Trey Hanley is a stud. It looks like he's got moves, speed, strength and toughness.

[USee]

I really think the key to Wheaton's dominance late this season has come with their renewed committment to running the ball. They kept Broc Rutter and Co. off the field. NCC ran just 59 plays, by far their lowest total of the season, and Wheaton ran 69 plays and held the ball for 33 min to just 25. You do that by controlling the LOS on both sides, which Wheaton did.

This week, that has to continue to have a chance to win on the road at #1.

[USee]

Quick tale of the tape (click to enlarge). National rank included

[D O.C.]

Thanks USee, that was cool.

I see how to beat the #1 team....make them commit a lot of penalties and beat themselves.

[USee]

good article on Wheaton on the front page:

http://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2016/wheaton-defense-december

Also a hint to the Thunder game plan for this weekend:

"We've played well defensively all year," Swider said. "Our defensive line is strong and we are great against the run. I've never heard anyone say a defense is great if it hasn't been able to stop the run. We have to do that Saturday and keep the ball in front of us defending the pass."

that's not really surprising as Wheaton's defense has been a "stop the run and don't give up big pass plays" defense all year. MHB comes in with the #1 scoring offense in the nation and the #12 rushing offense (272 yds a game). Wheaton comes in with the #2 ranked rush defense and #12 ranked total defense.

On the other side MHB has the #26 ranked total defense and is #6 in rush defense led by 3 time POY Teidrick Smith (13 sacks, 20 TFL).

[Kelly Boggs]

FYI: Weather forecast for kickoff at The CRUthedral on Saturday: Temp 48 degrees, 92% chance of rain, winds from the NNE at 15 mph. This is Texas, so a lot can change between now and Saturday. I guess we will know for sure when we wake up on Saturday morning. 

[AUPepBand]

FYI: Weather forecast for kickoff at The CRUthedral on Saturday: Temp 48 degrees, 92% chance of rain, winds from the NNE at 15 mph. This is Texas, so a lot can change between now and Saturday. I guess we will know for sure when we wake up on Saturday morning. 

Hey Kelly! Seems it's cooled off in Texas since I was there in July. Sorry I missed you then. Can Pep get a "rain check" for next Saturday?

The weather in Alfred this Saturday will be cloudy with a high of 38 degrees, 20 percent chance of precipitation (up here, we can't just call it "rain") and winds from the WNW at about 10 mph.

On Saxon Warriors!