FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Redmen96]

This is the best time of year for this board.  Conference play, the banter has increased and everyone is locked and loaded.  Good luck to all the teams this week , except for Millikin of course.  Then good luck to them next week.


Joe Bear It doesn't look like I will make it to homecomming now.

[usee]

mugsy- that is not what i am saying. as i mentioned, the dline is really athletic and making plays. my point was I believe the secondary makes the dline better. you say even the best coverage breaks down if you don't get to the qb. the inverse is also true: if the coverage isn't any good, even an ublocked player can't get there in time.

My observation is that this is simply the best secondary i have seen for wheaton in quite some time. while it appears to be an athletic and efficient defensive line, i would still take the lundgren, diggs, darnhower, issaacson dline to this one.

[Mugsy]

Disclaimer:  Stats for 3 games with no common opponent by itself doesn't mean a whole lot... but it's a start for discussion and debate

So... some interesting match-ups and head-to-head comparisons:

NCC #1 Passing O @ 327.0 ypg vs. Wheaton #1 Passing D @ 117.7 ypg
NCC #2 O Passing Efficiency vs. Wheaton #2 D Passing Efficiency
NCC #1 Total O @ 517.7 ypg vs. Wheaton #1 D @ 169.0 ypg

Incidently for all the hubbub concerning NCC's defense, they currently rank #5 in the CCIW at 291.7 ypg

NCC & Wheaton represent the top 2 scoring offenses to date at 44.3 and 43.0 respectively.   NCC & Wheaton are #1 and #2 in first downs, kickoff coverage, and kickoff returns.  While Wheaton is #1 in opponent 3rd down efficiency at 17.8% and opponent 1st downs.

In my post #502 on page 34, I alluded to a few keys to this game in my mind.  Namely NCC vs. Wheaton line play (particularly NCC OLine vs. Wheaton DLine) and special teams.  Here are some stats in these areas:

Sacks By: #1 Wheaton - 17 sacks
               #4 NCC - 10 sacks

Sacks Against: #1 Wheaton - 0 sacks in 88 attempts
                       #6 NCC - 6 sacks in 93 attempts

If Kniss has time to throw, it'll be a big problem for the Wheaton.

With regards to special teams, Wheaton is #1 or #2 in virtually ever category including: kickoff returns, punting, punting net, punt returns, field goals and kickoff coverage.  In a close game, field goals could be the crucial area.

Wheaton #1 - 6 for 6
NCC #7 - 2 for 6

I'd give a narrow edge on special teams to Wheaton.

[Mugsy]

USee,
That is what I thought... just wanted to clarify.

[irish21]

Very exciting start to the conference season but I have to agree that until NCC finally beats Wheaton, you have to defer to the Thunder. No one expected the Redmen to do it last year and it set a tone for the season.

If the Cardinals pull it off, the CCIW may be up for grabs.

A little nervous about the Redmen in Decatur. Hopefully they've been laying in the weeds through the non-conference games.

Joe...it was great to see you Friday night! Good luck the rest of the season.

[devildog29]

Just to throw my two cents in on the Wheaton vs. NCC debate, call me traditional/old school/whatever, but am I the only one who thinks that the nod should go to the defending conference champs who haven't lost a game yet this season?  Shouldn't they get the benefit of the doubt until someone knocks them off?  I know NCC is tremendously talented, but Coach Swider somehow has a knack for winning big games.  Until someone else proves the Crusading Thunder can be beat, I'm picking them.

[devildog29]

Ok, so I guess I'm not the only one to think that as I now see right above me irish21 says basically the same thing.  I'll try to read the entire post from now on.

[Mugsy]

Uhhh... devildog29,

I believe I've indicated I'm rather strongly aligned with Wheaton in this one - see post #521, among many others.

[devildog29]

Mugsy, as you stated in that post, surprise you're going with Wheaton and the 3 time defending champs.  I would certainly expect that from you as an alum and former coach, and obviously, I agree 100% with you.  However, many people seem to want to compare paper statistics and o-line vs. d-line etc.  I don't really think this is a game to compare these types of things this early in the season.  In the first few games, stats are pretty much totally meaningless because teams are still improving and not necessarily playing to their full potential.  You seem to be one of the few pointing this fact out.

[redman04]

mugsy,

Were you a coach for wheaton? If so what year?

Mr.B good to see you too, best of luck!

Reidy What changed?  You think you'll be able to make it to any game?

[Sterny]

My picks for the weekend ahead.

Augie over North Park by plenty
Wheaton over North Central by just enough
Milikin over Carthage by a little more than just enough
Elmhurst over IWU by somewhere between just enough and a little more than just enough

Hope ya like my scientific new point spread methodology Mugsy

[DarrinC]

Joe,
Who taught you to add?
That job you have is really paying huge dividends!!

VERY impressive !

[Bigg_Smack]

There are going to be plenty of good games this weekend, I can't wait to see some of the outcomes. NCC matches up well w/ Wheaton, and Millikin v. Carthage should be one hell of a fight. It seems like everyone is expecting the north park of old though. I wouldn't be so quick to say that augie is going to roll right over those boys. Anyone else think NPU will make history here and go 4-0?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Well, nobody so far on pickems; we're all voting Augie as the most definite winner.

I DO think that this is the year that NP will finally win a conference game, but not in Rock Island.

[spiderman]

well here's my thought about the Augie, NP game...North Park is simply not the sam team they were over the past decade or so and I "absolutely"  don't think that saturdays game will be a blow out at all. Infact Augie better bring there A game cause those NP boys are not the push over. Now I don't think that NP has really played anyone especially not as good as Augie , but I can say that they do have the momentum coming off of three strait wins...