FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

After doing PBP games for Elmhurst for 10 years ('01-'10) I came across a wide range of talent on the air.  Some were very good and some were "how soon can you hit the mute button" varieties. I thought Eric @ IWU, Dan @ Augie, and John up @ Carthage were all very good.  We would often chat during time outs and/or after the games about some of the experiences during the games.  Then you get some of the students who had no clue how to keep an audience.   

Plus, there are times you have to be creative on the air when the score is lopsided.  Elmhurst lost 58-0 and 62-0 vs. Augie, which left me scrambling for things to say because you can't have dead air, and try to stay positive despite the score saying otherwise.

It's definitely a challenge when things get lopsided.  I think baseball announcers are masters at this because the slow pace of the game really lends itself to honing this ability.  Having story lines about coaches and players on both sidelines really helps, as does having been around a while and having seen a lot of relevant things.  My broadcast partner is always grateful when I can dust off some stories from the last (God help me, let me check this math again!) 17 years of CCIW football that I"ve followed extremely closely.

This. I never go into a press box without a bunch of factoids or stories about that particular sport that are pertinent to North Park, NPU's opponent, and/or the CCIW that I can use in case of a blowout or a lengthy delay. It's just part of the pregame prep, as far as I'm concerned.

The exceptions for me are men's and women's soccer -- because I know that I'm going to be talking continuously for ninety minutes just covering the play-by-play, regardless of whether or not the match is a blowout -- and women's volleyball, which goes so fast that I can hardly keep up with PBP, let alone have time for anecdotes. (NPU has added men's volleyball this year, but I've been assured by the men's volleyball coach that it's easier to call than women's volleyball, because the men's game features so much more power that long volleys are almost nonexistent.)

[79jaybird]

My first 9 years we didn't have any commercials so injury timeouts, breaks, etc.  you HAD to have something to say.      The TOP25 always worked, but like Greg and Grant mention,  trying to find stories and facts to elaborate and provide insight to always help.  I.E. The Cortaca Jug or Monon Bell weeks,  I would talk about some of the best D-III traveling trophies etc.  Listeners who may not know a lot about the D-III landscape would like hearing about those. 

[iwu70]

Glad to see IWU back in the top 25 ranking at 19.  WC 22, and NCC still at 5.  UW Lax about there with WC. 

Loved the win over Wheaton. 

[Augie6]

I was disappointed Saturday.  Not so much because EC lost, but the current state of the program.  Augie's offense was clicking and their defense was stingy.  But EC has to look at themselves in the mirror.  Seems a lot of the problems are internal and IMO, seemed like there was no leadership by the guys on the field.  Also,  they barely beat a NAC team,  get handcuffed by a conference rival that is supposed to be middle to lower end of the pack,  so where does that leave you?     Congrats on Augie on the win, as they played very well.  but if you're Augie, keep in mind Elmhurst is showing signs they are going to be in the bottom 1/3 of the conference.

Big win for IWU wow!   Very few people thought IWU would pull out of this game victorious, so props to the Green Machine.

Trust me Jaybird, I'm being careful not to get too excited about Augie starting 2-0, based on who they played the first two games.  That being said, Augie hasn't had many easy wins the past several years, so the fact that they won both games rather easily tells me that they are improved, I'm just not sure how much.  Will have a much better idea after this weekend's game with IWU.  Could be a long year for your Bluejays, as they did not look good on Saturday.  Hopefully, they can pick it up and improve over the course of the season.  I know it's not a good feeling when the season seems to be pretty much done, two games in. 

[GoIrish7]

I was disappointed Saturday.  Not so much because EC lost, but the current state of the program.  Augie's offense was clicking and their defense was stingy.  But EC has to look at themselves in the mirror.  Seems a lot of the problems are internal and IMO, seemed like there was no leadership by the guys on the field.  Also,  they barely beat a NAC team,  get handcuffed by a conference rival that is supposed to be middle to lower end of the pack,  so where does that leave you?     Congrats on Augie on the win, as they played very well.  but if you're Augie, keep in mind Elmhurst is showing signs they are going to be in the bottom 1/3 of the conference.

Big win for IWU wow!   Very few people thought IWU would pull out of this game victorious, so props to the Green Machine.

Trust me Jaybird, I'm being careful not to get too excited about Augie starting 2-0, based on who they played the first two games.  That being said, Augie hasn't had many easy wins the past several years, so the fact that they won both games rather easily tells me that they are improved, I'm just not sure how much.  Will have a much better idea after this weekend's game with IWU.  Could be a long year for your Bluejays, as they did not look good on Saturday.  Hopefully, they can pick it up and improve over the course of the season.  I know it's not a good feeling when the season seems to be pretty much done, two games in.

Agreed Jaybird! I was able to watch the game on youtube today and things are not going well. I predicted 3-7 for the Jays this year... I am starting to think we might go 2-8 with the only other win being Carroll. Wash U is no slouch, and I think NPU and Millikin both have more talent this year. I was very impressed with Augie's QB - that guy is a monster with a big arm.

The Jays have a solid RB in Halloway - when he got to carry the ball I thought he ran hard and did some good things. We also have some speed on the edge with Gaines, would love to see those 2 get more designed touches. I get that we like the QB and his running ability, but when your down 2-3 scores I think its time to put your best passer in, if #12 is it, we are in trouble. Our Offense just seems very High school esc.... snap the ball to the QB have him run around a little bit and try and make plays instead of having a true passing progression. 2 Redzone turnovers did not help our chances. On Defense, we are just outmatched, we are still stuck in the Cover 2 / Tampa 2 defense but none of our backers are athletic enough to run the Tampa hole thus opening a huge void for opposing passers. I thought our DB's looked the part, but man does the front 7 look small. Augie's QB had all day to sit back and pick apart the back 7 at will. I keep hearing about these huge recruiting classes being brought in but only count 17 Juniors on the roster and 27 sophomores which doesnt fare well for the future either. I hope we can make the turn, but after Augie was up 14-0 the sideline was out of the game and it looked like we packed it in.

In other news - was able to watch the NCC/Wash and IWU/Wheaton games as well. NCC being the team to beat, they went to the air ALOT which I know they are big on their QB and it shows. Really good core of WR's for Rutter to throw to, but they are also very very talented up from and at the RB slot. Going to be a tough Offense to stop. On Defense, their new DC has brought alot of variation to the scheme. The old DC was pretty generic lining up and running his base defense and just counting on having better players, I saw alot more exotic looks out of NCC then what I remember.

Wheaton came out flat, which I was shocked to see. Wheaton has done a great job of hiring young coaches, much like NCC in that regard with alot of passion for the program - that youth on staff is usually able to get the players up, it didnt show this weekend for whatever reason. Wheaton will be alright, I look forward to watching them in person vs NCC in a few weeks. IWU coaching staff deserves alot of credit, they had the boys flying around. I didnt know much about IWU defense, but man were they impressive.

Looking forward to getting to watch NPU, Millikin, Carroll and Carthage. Didnt get a chance to see them this weekend. All in all I think the CCIW is very talented this season from top to bottom. NCC, IWU, Wheaton - Big 3... But WashU, Carthage, Millikin, Augie and NPU all look and or sound like they will be competitive and play everyone tough with possible upsets. Looks like could be a rough year for Elmhurst and Carrol.

[79jaybird]

IMO,  Elmhurst has returned to the "woes"  that we experienced as players (1998 ish) where we were 2-7, 1-9,  500 was a stretch type of campaigns. I just don't see a lot of leadership.   Elmhurst needs to execute.   Some of the Jays decisions inside the red zone vs. Augie made you scratch your head and wonder. 

Augie is indeed showing signs of climbing up the rungs of the ladder again.  For their sake I hope that continues.  Caroll vs. Elmhurst is a toss because both teams are unfortunately not very good right now. 

[matblake]

That was a good win for IWU on Saturday night.  The thing that I found most interesting was how IWU was able to pile up first downs, especially in the second half.  They kept Wheaton's offense off the the field.  It's hard to come back into the game as an offense after a prolonged drive by the opposing team, even if it didn't result in any points.  You lose your rhythm.  Add in that the IWU defense was very stingy and you have a great recipe for success, which they capitalized on.

[79jaybird]

Looking at the Carroll/Elmhurst game,  IMO this is a toss up as both teams are struggling with various issues.  For Elmhurst a big key is going to be taking care of the football.  If Elmhurst is to hang around and compete with the middle to upper echelon of teams in the conference,  they need to play clean.  Then once a drive enters the red zone,  somebody has to step up and execute.

Then second half adjustments (or lack there of) I think is going to play a big part of this game too.

I'm anxious to see who is going to be the one to step up Saturday. 

[mck99]

Celebrating 30 years with WashU head football coach Larry Kindbom: http://washubears.com/sports/fball/2018-19/releases/20180921emekw3

[USee]

Millikin (2-0) @Wheaton (1-1) 6pm McCully Stadium

Huge game for both teams at McCully Stadium under the lights tonight. Millikin brings its 2-0 record and "under the radar" status to Wheaton, who needs a strong bounce back game after last week's disappointment in Bloomington.

I suspect changes to the Wheaton offense tonight, specifically some new faces on the offensive line. What was considered an area of strength coming into the season has quickly, and mysteriously, become an area of weakness. A unit with 4 returning starters and a pre-season all american needs a makeover against a Millikin defense that leads the conference with 13 sacks in 2 games. That's going to be the absolute key to the game.

Nico Stepina is the 2nd of Wheaton's trifecta (the top 3 QB's in the league back-back-back) and they will need to control the LOS on offense, get first downs, and keep Stepina off the field. If Wheaton's defense has to defend 80 plays against Nico's air and water show this game could get ugly. Stepina is completing 55% of his passes and averaging 320 yds per game in total offense with 6 TD passes and just 1 INT so far. Last year he completed 57% and had 307 yds per game in offense with 29 TD's and 6 INT's. He is a talented QB and can hurt you with his feet if you dont' keep him in the pocket. The good news is Wheaton should have an advantage at the LOS on defense and the Thunder secondary is as strong as its ever been. In addition to Tyler and Caden Sigler, Kyle Fox, Corey Kennedy have played well and I expect to see more Spencer Rowland in the mix.

Big game for these two teams tonight.

[USee]

Two other games I'll be watching today:

Carthage(1-1) @WashU (1-1); The Redmen lead the league in defense but WashU had a stingy showing against NCC last week as Johnny Davidson threw for 300 yds (30-42). WashU's defense is average at best so if the Redmen can get to Davidson they  have a strong chance of victory in St Louis.

My prediction Carthage 27 WashU 21

IWU@Augustana: the Vikings have been the surprise team of the CCIW thus far and today we find out if they are for real. They have given up just 7 pts and face the Bauer led Titans who are averaging 25pts a game. The Vikings also lead the league in takeaways with 9 in 2 games after getting just 8 turnovers all of last season. If Augie can control the ball and contain Bauer, they could surprise in Rock Island (which would be a shocker).

My prediction: IWU 28 Augie 17

[AndOne]

With 5 seconds left Carroll scores a TD to beat Elmhurst 16-14 (XP no good).

* IT SEEMS THERE WAS A QUESTION AS TO WHETHER CARROLL MAY HAVE BEEN GIVEN 5 DOWNS ON IT'S FINAL POSSESSION, AND THEREFORE SCORED THE WINNING TD ON WHAT WAS REALLY 5TH DOWN.

The EC announcers seemed to be voicing the opinion that Carroll spiked the ball, I believe, on 2nd down, but the officials didn't see/count it. That resulted in Carroll's actual 3rd down being only counted as being 2nd down. That play and the next resulted in incomplete passes into the end zone.
Then, on 4th down, which was possibly really 5th down, the Pioneers connected on a pass into the end zone for the winning points.

I switched viewing from the NCC/NPU game to the EC/CC game just before the play that the officials called as 2nd down, but which the EC announcers seemed to view as 3rd down, so I didn't see the possible spike. It will be very interesting to sort back through the last Carroll possession to see exactly what happened and whether there was a spike that was not noticed/counted by the refs. How could they not see this if it indeed occurred? But two or three times you could hear an Elmhurst guy, not the PBP guy, in the background say "theres the spike right there." Pretty crazy.     

[Pat Coleman]

Video archive isn't available. Would love to watch it.

[Gregory Sager]

Didn't that exact same scenario happen a few years ago in a CCIW game, in which a phantom fifth-down play resulted in a game-winning touchdown?

[AndOne]

Hopefully an account of what really happened will materialize from someone who was at the game.
If a spike indeed occurred and the refs somehow missed it, how can the CCIW continue to employ them as officials? What happened after the ball was reset following the previous play?

Another curious thing, and maybe it was just not visible from the EC camera angle, was that there didn't seem to be a whole lot of screaming or jumping up and down by the EC coaching staff.
Could they have also missed it if it really happened? Maybe the announcer(s) was/were the only one(s) in the stadium that saw it??

Abra Cadabra make that down disappear! 👳🏻‍♂️ 🏺