FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[mr_b]

Final from Elmhurst: North Park 31, Elmhurst 8.  Congratulations to the Vikings on their fifth win of the season, the most for the team since 1968, when the Vikings finished with six victories.

[Crusader92]

Wow!! What a conclusion to the Wheaton WashU game. Wheaton down 7 scores on a 40 yard Hail Mary as time expires. Then gets the 2pt conversion to clinch it. Nice exciting game for Parents Weekend and Senior Day.

[cciwman]

Can only imagine Norm had this game in the bag today but the opening kick-off was not executed the way he instructed and went downhill from there.  Hoping we get a post game interview to hear his excuses for giving up 83 points and 712 yards.  Yes NCC is a load, but IW has significantly gotten less competitive the past six years. 

[Gregory Sager]

Congratulations to North Park for snapping that dubious streak of 29 straight losing seasons.

One of the season highlights for the Vikings has to be the fourth-quarter goal-line stand when they not only kept EU out of the end zone after three opportunities from inside the 2 yard line, but they swatted the ball out of QB Conner Buyck's hands at the goal line on 4th down when Buyck tried to extend it forward across the goal line, with Ben Butler scooping up the ball and giving the NPU offense some room with which to work.

Yeah, it's only Elmhurst, but: a) EU isn't the worst team in this league; and b) everybody gets a shot at everybody else in a round-robin.

I'm under no illusion that NPU has a realistic shot at Wheaton and a winning season next week, but 2023 has nevertheless been a big step forward for Kyle Rooker and the Vikings.

[Gregory Sager]

Augustana 16, Carthage 13
Carroll 41, Millikin 0
North Park 31, Elmhurst 8
North Central 83, Illinois Wesleyan 26
Wheaton 36, Wash U 35

[Cardinal773]

Congrats to the Thunder.  I flipped over to it just in time to see the final (penultimate) play.  How exciting for their fans.  That play and  the gutsy call to go for the win likely have huge pool C ramifications. There are definitely some deserving region 6 contenders sweating this result.

Back to region 5...
I know this isn't how this works, but damn.  The way WashU showed up and the way Augie sputtered, it's a shame there isn't any room on the regional ranking list.

Back to Norm.  I'm thinking the game took a big turn when the ref missed the QB hitting the pilon and robbing the Titans of a crucial 2-point conversion.  That's the kind of call that can really take away a team's momentum.   

[New Tradition]

Back to Norm.  I'm thinking the game took a big turn when the ref missed the QB hitting the pilon and robbing the Titans of a crucial 2-point conversion.  That's the kind of call that can really take away a team's momentum.

Can't tell if you're being tongue in cheek or not but I'm pretty sure the score was 69-20 at that point.

[Cardinal773]

Come on, man! Give me a little credit here!  But wouldn't that be just the most Eshy thing to say? Grab on to some insignificant thing and use it to minimize your opponent?

Let's just say I've got no love for the man.  The last time I remember Norm going for 2 was in a game against us in '96.  They were doing that swinging gate thing and shifted back to a normal PAT formation.  I remember thinking, "These ___ are gonna fake this!". I knew I wasn't supposed to, it was someone else's job to cover the flat.  But they snapped it, I dropped back and BAM. The ball hits me in the forearm and fell incomplete.  True story.

Unlike today, Norm's Titans overcame the missed 2-point conversion and managed a victory against the Cardinals, 60-0.

[Pat Coleman]

I miss those quotes. I went looking for one earlier this year and didn't have any success. Wonder if the Pantagraph stopped running quotes because of deadline/budget cuts.

[Gregory Sager]

I miss those quotes. I went looking for one earlier this year and didn't have any success. Wonder if the Pantagraph stopped running quotes because of deadline/budget cuts.

Nowadays, you usually have to listen to IWU's postgame radio interview with Norm to hear his gems.

[New Tradition]

Come on, man! Give me a little credit here!  But wouldn't that be just the most Eshy thing to say? Grab on to some insignificant thing and use it to minimize your opponent?

Let's just say I've got no love for the man.  The last time I remember Norm going for 2 was in a game against us in '96.  They were doing that swinging gate thing and shifted back to a normal PAT formation.  I remember thinking, "These ___ are gonna fake this!". I knew I wasn't supposed to, it was someone else's job to cover the flat.  But they snapped it, I dropped back and BAM. The ball hits me in the forearm and fell incomplete.  True story.

Unlike today, Norm's Titans overcame the missed 2-point conversion and managed a victory against the Cardinals, 60-0.

LMAO I was 90% sure that's what you were doing. Gold!

[Viking Mike]

Congratulation to the Augustana Vikings football team that has grinded out a 8-1 campaign so far this year.  Despite their offense sputtering on Saturday, they were still able to play outstanding defense and take the win in Kenosha.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember when Augie last achieved 8 wins in a season.

Its has to be exciting for the team and fans to go into the last game of the season with so much on the line.  A CCIW championship and a berth in the NCAA playoffs for the victor.  Obviously, like so many other opponents over recent years, we have not matched up well with the Cardinals in the past. 

If the Vikings have one advantage, it may be the number of seniors and 5th year players that have played a lot of football over the last 4-5 years.  It will be a matchup of the #1 and #2 rushing offense and rushing defense teams in the conference.  It will also match the #1 and #2 scoring defenses and the #1 and #3 scoring offenses in the conference.

While it looks good on paper, its difficult to see how Augie will be able to slow down this offensive machine that is averaging 64 pts/ game.  They have beaten some good teams by a lot of points!  Hoping the Vikes can prevent the big plays and avoid turnovers.  They have been excellent with protecting the ball all year.  We have a lot of experience in the secondary where the Cardinals will be looking for the big plays.  Our defensive line has been solid all year, but especially last week when they were needed the most.  They have obviously not gone up against a O-line like North Centrals, however. 

The other X factor is the health of WR Bobby Inserra.  His skills and talent will be needed on the field Saturday if the Vikings hope to compete.

Regardless of the outcome this weekend, it has been exciting to watch this team this year and Im hoping this is only the beginning of a string of success in Rock Island!

Go Augie!!!

[NCC2010]

Does anyone have an update on NCC DT Dan Lester? Has only played in 3 games this year and none since the Wheaton game back on 9/30.  is he out for the year or hoping he's back for the playoffs?  love watching him play and hope his career isnt over (i guess at this point he could potentially petition for a medical redshirt)

[cuyahogacuse]

Congratulation to the Augustana Vikings football team that has grinded out a 8-1 campaign so far this year.  Despite their offense sputtering on Saturday, they were still able to play outstanding defense and take the win in Kenosha.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember when Augie last achieved 8 wins in a season.

Its has to be exciting for the team and fans to go into the last game of the season with so much on the line.  A CCIW championship and a berth in the NCAA playoffs for the victor. Obviously, like so many other opponents over recent years, we have not matched up well with the Cardinals in the past. 

Rare (first time?) poster here, but lurking for the last three years. On the way home from the Wheaton game yesterday - we've got a six hour drive each week - we were discussing what would happen in this exact scenario, calling it a "thought exercise" given a NCC win is almost a foregone conclusion. But should the "unthinkable" occur, as we described it, it would be a three-way tie atop the standings, assuming Wheaton takes care of business against North Park.

We found the CCIW Tiebreaker procedures here, which are:

     1. Head-to-head competition
     2. Best record by tied teams against the next best team or the next best tied teams in conference standings
     3. Point differential between tied teams in conference
     4. The fewest defensive yards given up versus tied teams in conference
     5. Random drawing by CCIW commissioner.

Based on the criteria above:

     1. All three teams would be 1-1 against the other
     2. All three teams are 1-0 vs. Wash U, which will finish as the "next best team" in the conference
     3. Point differential:
         a: Wheaton is "in the clubhouse" at minus-12 vs. NCC and Augie
         b: NCC is +19
         c: Augie is minus-7

Therefore, based on the above, if my calculations are correct, Wheaton is eliminated from the auto-bid. The Thunder cannot overcome the deficit and there is no scenario in which both Augie and NCC fall below minus-12.

In order for Augie to win the conference tiebreaker, they not only have to defeat North Central, but they must win by 14 points, which would put them at +7, and in turn, it would cause NCC to be +5. A 13-point victory would be a tie at +6, and would likely move the two teams to the fourth tie-breaker, I suppose.

As I said, a thought exercise. I expect NCC to win. Wheaton will be sweating it out for the third straight year, and Augie should be lining up trips to Culvers ... unless Wheaton ends up in Madison in Week 11.

[Augie6]

Congratulation to the Augustana Vikings football team that has grinded out a 8-1 campaign so far this year.  Despite their offense sputtering on Saturday, they were still able to play outstanding defense and take the win in Kenosha.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember when Augie last achieved 8 wins in a season.

Its has to be exciting for the team and fans to go into the last game of the season with so much on the line.  A CCIW championship and a berth in the NCAA playoffs for the victor.  Obviously, like so many other opponents over recent years, we have not matched up well with the Cardinals in the past. 

If the Vikings have one advantage, it may be the number of seniors and 5th year players that have played a lot of football over the last 4-5 years.  It will be a matchup of the #1 and #2 rushing offense and rushing defense teams in the conference.  It will also match the #1 and #2 scoring defenses and the #1 and #3 scoring offenses in the conference.

While it looks good on paper, its difficult to see how Augie will be able to slow down this offensive machine that is averaging 64 pts/ game.  They have beaten some good teams by a lot of points!  Hoping the Vikes can prevent the big plays and avoid turnovers.  They have been excellent with protecting the ball all year.  We have a lot of experience in the secondary where the Cardinals will be looking for the big plays.  Our defensive line has been solid all year, but especially last week when they were needed the most.  They have obviously not gone up against a O-line like North Centrals, however. 

The other X factor is the health of WR Bobby Inserra.  His skills and talent will be needed on the field Saturday if the Vikings hope to compete.

Regardless of the outcome this weekend, it has been exciting to watch this team this year and Im hoping this is only the beginning of a string of success in Rock Island!

Go Augie!!!

The last time Augie won at least 8 games in a season was in 2005.  They went 10-2, losing by a point to Central IA in the opener, going 7-0 in the CCIW and then getting spanked by Mt Union in the second round of the playoffs 44-7.  Since the beginning of the 2011 season, this is only Augie's second season with a winning record, the other being at 6-4 in 2019.  It's been very nice to see Augie be, at least, competitive within the CCIW, but I don't see any chance that this team beats North Central and I don't think the game will be particularly close.  That being said, an 8-2 record with losses to only NC and Wheaton (in a pretty close game) can certainly be considered progress.

My concern is, and one of the things you point out in giving Augie somewhat of a chance vs NC, is the number of 5th year players that it took to achieve this result.  Clearly, this is not something that will be counted on in the future, and Augie seems to have a lot more 5th year seniors than other programs.  Will Augie be competitive in future seasons, without having what I believe is a pretty significant advantage in having the high number of 5th year, experienced players making up about half of the starting roster? Time will tell, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Augie take a step back, next season.  I hope I am wrong about that.