FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CardinalAlum]

It looks like I may have gotten a bit carried away in my IWU having an historically bad season, worrying that IWU might finish last and lose to NPU and Elmhurst.  IWU 52, Elmhurst 3.

Going ONLY by NPU vs. Augie, it appears that IWU will either win both or lose both (yeah, I know it comes down to matchups against individual teams, and comparative scores can be a loser's game).

I have no idea what you're going on about here, Chuck. Neither Augie nor NPU have had any common opponents with IWU to date.

It looks like I may have gotten a bit carried away in my IWU having an historically bad season, worrying that IWU might finish last and lose to NPU and Elmhurst.  IWU 52, Elmhurst 3.

Going ONLY by NPU vs. Augie, it appears that IWU will either win both or lose both (yeah, I know it comes down to matchups against individual teams, and comparative scores can be a loser's game).  IF IWU loses both those game then YIKES! - Elmhurst this season may be worse than NPU (NPC) EVER was!

I will let someone from NPU weigh in with specifics if they choose, but NPU went two days shy of thirteen calendar years without a conference victory during the darkest of its dark days.  The Jays are clearly going to struggle this year, but in that context, a month of poor results likely doesn't get you past the velvet rope and into that conversation just yet.

Those were only "the darkest of its dark days" in terms of how NPU performed in league play, not overall. I've been around long enough to vouch for the fact that, talentwise, North Park's worst teams didn't come during that thirteen-year period. NPU was always able to step out of league play during that sad CCIW streak and win games in September against competition from inferior leagues. In fact, on a couple of occasions the Vikings were even able to win all three non-conference games, which goes to show just how superior CCIW teams generally are to everybody else in this neck of the woods, WIAC aside. I think that we lose sight of that on this board when we talk about this sort of thing. If we studied what goes on in other D3 leagues more closely, we could find plenty of teams this season that the Bluejays could beat.

You have to go back to the nine-game era of D3 football to find what I consider the worst Vikings teams, such as the '96 and '97 teams, teams that couldn't even win when stepping outside the league to play non-con foes in September. While those older than me might point to some of the bad teams of the '70s, for me the bottom of the barrel were the winless '86 and '87 teams. That was when NPC football was in the throes of having four different head coaches in a five-year period; recruiting thus nosedived, the roster barely scraped forty players, and talent at any position was hard to come by. Once Tim Rucks was hired after the end of the 1989 season and his first recruiting class matured, the situation improved dramatically for North Park football. If his alma mater's job hadn't come open when Mike Larry moved to the administrative side of Carthage, who knows what would've ensued for the Vikings under Rucks.

Who could forget the Ellett and Fouhy years?! 

[Gregory Sager]

It looks like I may have gotten a bit carried away in my IWU having an historically bad season, worrying that IWU might finish last and lose to NPU and Elmhurst.  IWU 52, Elmhurst 3.

Going ONLY by NPU vs. Augie, it appears that IWU will either win both or lose both (yeah, I know it comes down to matchups against individual teams, and comparative scores can be a loser's game).

I have no idea what you're going on about here, Chuck. Neither Augie nor NPU have had any common opponents with IWU to date.

It looks like I may have gotten a bit carried away in my IWU having an historically bad season, worrying that IWU might finish last and lose to NPU and Elmhurst.  IWU 52, Elmhurst 3.

Going ONLY by NPU vs. Augie, it appears that IWU will either win both or lose both (yeah, I know it comes down to matchups against individual teams, and comparative scores can be a loser's game).  IF IWU loses both those game then YIKES! - Elmhurst this season may be worse than NPU (NPC) EVER was!

I will let someone from NPU weigh in with specifics if they choose, but NPU went two days shy of thirteen calendar years without a conference victory during the darkest of its dark days.  The Jays are clearly going to struggle this year, but in that context, a month of poor results likely doesn't get you past the velvet rope and into that conversation just yet.

Those were only "the darkest of its dark days" in terms of how NPU performed in league play, not overall. I've been around long enough to vouch for the fact that, talentwise, North Park's worst teams didn't come during that thirteen-year period. NPU was always able to step out of league play during that sad CCIW streak and win games in September against competition from inferior leagues. In fact, on a couple of occasions the Vikings were even able to win all three non-conference games, which goes to show just how superior CCIW teams generally are to everybody else in this neck of the woods, WIAC aside. I think that we lose sight of that on this board when we talk about this sort of thing. If we studied what goes on in other D3 leagues more closely, we could find plenty of teams this season that the Bluejays could beat.

You have to go back to the nine-game era of D3 football to find what I consider the worst Vikings teams, such as the '96 and '97 teams, teams that couldn't even win when stepping outside the league to play non-con foes in September. While those older than me might point to some of the bad teams of the '70s, for me the bottom of the barrel were the winless '86 and '87 teams. That was when NPC football was in the throes of having four different head coaches in a five-year period; recruiting thus nosedived, the roster barely scraped forty players, and talent at any position was hard to come by. Once Tim Rucks was hired after the end of the 1989 season and his first recruiting class matured, the situation improved dramatically for North Park football. If his alma mater's job hadn't come open when Mike Larry moved to the administrative side of Carthage, who knows what would've ensued for the Vikings under Rucks.

Who could forget the Ellett and Fouhy years?!

Boy, I sure wish that I could.

[lmitzel]

I have to admit I raised an eyebrow seeing Carthage in the ORV category this week. I suppose scoring 125 over the last two games plays a role.

[WUPHF]

The Wheaton quarterback may have had an off game, but let's give a little credit to the Bears defense who spent most of the night on the field.  Unfortunately, the offense could do nothing against the Wheaton defense.

[USee]

The Wheaton quarterback may have had an off game, but let's give a little credit to the Bears defense who spent most of the night on the field.  Unfortunately, the offense could do nothing against the Wheaton defense.

I think the Bears have a good secondary. I knew that going in. If they had a little more stout line on both sides the game would have been a different story. The Wheaton OLine and Dline just dominated the game on both sides. I also think WashU has a decent QB and some solid WR's. They just didn't have any time to generate a passing game.

[Next Man Up]

I have to admit I raised an eyebrow seeing Carthage in the ORV category this week. I suppose scoring 125 over the last two games plays a role.

Although favored over only Carroll, Elmhurst, and North Park in the coaches poll, perhaps Carthage is the school ready to emerge from the pack, and step up and occupy at least the #3 position in the conference. Upcoming games vs NCC and Wheaton should be a good barometer of the direction in which the Firebirds might fly. 🤔

Did we ever figure out just what a Firebird is? Can they fly? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[robertgoulet]

I have to admit I raised an eyebrow seeing Carthage in the ORV category this week. I suppose scoring 125 over the last two games plays a role.

Although favored over only Carroll, Elmhurst, and North Park in the coaches poll, perhaps Carthage is the school ready to emerge from the pack, and step up and occupy at least the #3 position in the conference. Upcoming games vs NCC and Wheaton should be a good barometer of the direction in which the Firebirds might fly. 🤔

Did we ever figure out just what a Firebird is? Can they fly? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Not sure about flying but they can definitely outrun a smokey.

[Next Man Up]

LOL. I guess Burt Reynolds could confirm that! 

[Stagg Again!!]

I have to admit I raised an eyebrow seeing Carthage in the ORV category this week. I suppose scoring 125 over the last two games plays a role.

Although favored over only Carroll, Elmhurst, and North Park in the coaches poll, perhaps Carthage is the school ready to emerge from the pack, and step up and occupy at least the #3 position in the conference. Upcoming games vs NCC and Wheaton should be a good barometer of the direction in which the Firebirds might fly. 🤔

Did we ever figure out just what a Firebird is? Can they fly? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Not sure about flying but they can definitely outrun a smokey.

Nicely played ... 10-4 good buddy! 

[Thunderdome21]

A little disturbed that Anthony seems to keep missing high. Wheaton also seems to lack that wideout that catches everything.

Still feeling like Wheaton doesn't run the ball as much as they could.  They seem to be getting 5-8 yards at a clip and then stop.

Agree.  It would open the passing game too. 

Side note: Weeks had 191 yds tonight.
Washu boxscore is incorrect his TD run from the Washu26 was actually from the Wheaton26 (74 yds not 26).

I thought Weeks' totals were off. I remember his long TD run in the 3rd and when I looked at the stats his long run was listed as 26 yds. Even the Wheaton story online has the totals wrong. I hope it doesn't keep him from consideration for POW.   Weeks has quickly become Wheaton's best offensive weapon. He is fast and not afraid to run it between the tackles.

I agree something seems off with Luke Anthony. He is not completing passes at a high rate (12-26 yesterday) and misses wide open receivers several times a game. I hope he is not hurt. Jeremiah Tucker continues to impress as a QB though.

Wheaton's bigger issue, which will manifest itself in the playoffs, is they really miss Philip Nichols. Terrini is good but other than him they don't have any WR that can shake man coverage consistently.

They finally changed Week's rushing stats. And his performance was recognized as one of the RB's in D3football.com's team of the week.   As for Weeks, he's has really good receiver skills as well. If other WR's besides Terrini and M. Tucker aren't getting open, getting Weeks into space running some routes may be the next best option. He has the skills to be a RB/WR combo somewhat similar to what Ohio St. did with Curtis Samuel back in 2016. 

[Gregory Sager]

LOL. I guess Burt Reynolds could confirm that! 

You mean Turd Ferguson, of course.



RIP Norm Macdonald

[USee]

LOL. I guess Burt Reynolds could confirm that! 

You mean Turd Ferguson, of course.



RIP Norm Macdonald

One of the great SNL skits of all time. RIP

[USee]

3 min still to go in the 1st quarter in Kenosha and NCC leads Carthage 26-0. The Firebirds don't look like they belong on the same field as NCC. If Carthage is the 3rd place team there is a chasm between 1-2 and 3.

[Next Man Up]

North Central exceeds 60 once again with a 64-13 blowout of Carthage. The Cardinals racked up 639 yards on offense. Luke Lehnen completed 18 of 25 pass attempts for 353 yards, and 3 TD's. He also ran for 2 scores. Terrence Hill also had 2 rushing TDs, and Ethan Greenfield, and Justin Lynch each added 1. Andrew Kamienski had a pair of TD receptions, and DeAngelo Hardy hauled in a 73 yard bomb. Sam Tavaini and Storm Simmons led the D with 5 tackles apiece.
As a bonus to this afternoon's festivities in Kenosha, the Cardinals may have finally found a consistently capable FG/PAT kicker 🏈.

[D3FLETCH]

IWU 1-4  Hopefully Norm can get the team back on track  before retirement.