FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Comet 14]

I am looking forward for a great weekend also. It will be interesting to see if The Bluejays can slow down Kniss and Co. I think Wheaton will come out on top with there defense, although Augie at home makes it very tough.

[matblake]

Not much talk on the IWU-Millikin game.  Like most games, this one will really help sort out the conference picture.  Is IWU really on the way down or are they on their way back to regaining that spark they had not too long ago?  Is Neibuhr putting the pieces into place to move Millikin back from middle of the road to elite? 

[TitanBacker]

Not much talk on the IWU-Millikin game.  Like most games, this one will really help sort out the conference picture.  Is IWU really on the way down or are they on their way back to regaining that spark they had not too long ago?  Is Neibuhr putting the pieces into place to move Millikin back from middle of the road to elite? 

The IWU camp has been pretty quiet since the Carthage comeback.  Through the grapevine, I heard that a DB lined up in the wrong position for 3 plays allowed Carthage to make three big TD plays and put themselves back into the game.  Not a knock against Carthage, they're a heck of a team, but with him in the right place who knows what would have happened.  Seems he just had a brain fart.  To my knowledge, the DB is a VERY smart and skilled player, but everyone makes mistakes.

I dont' know much about MIllikin except for Wallick and Albion (?).  I'm assuming IWU's D will be fired up to play to avenge their problems from last week.  I think Mike Stephens and a few other D linemen will give the Millikin backfield problems all day long.  Since Panno has one start under his belt, I believe he'll be up to the challenge again this week.  Talk is that he's a very savvy quarterback with good football sense and a nice arm.  As far as injuries go, IWU should be very close to full strength this week. 

As far as IWU's chances go, I believe they need to develop a killer instinct.  It seems to be the tendency to fold after a team starts to creep their way back into the game rather than breaking that other team's back.  The Titans need an attitude adjustment or the team may wallow in the "new CCIW order."   

[matblake]

Through the grapevine, I heard that a DB lined up in the wrong position for 3 plays allowed Carthage to make three big TD plays and put themselves back into the game.  Not a knock against Carthage, they're a heck of a team, but with him in the right place who knows what would have happened.  Seems he just had a brain fart.  To my knowledge, the DB is a VERY smart and skilled player, but everyone makes mistakes.

If that is true I feel sorry for that player.  As someone who has snapped the ball over the QB's head twice in the same game for a safety each time with the point differential turning out to be 4, I know what it's like to feel like you've blown it.  Kudos to Carthage for executing regardless of the situation.  Quite a comeback I must say.

[RedmenFB44]

Tailgater -

Looking forward to seeing you tomar at the game. Ill stop by the tailgate before the game.

Redmen04 -

Hope to see you as well. Look for a couple of guys drinking the refreshing Blatz 

[79jaybird]

I think both Elmhurst and North Central will be able to run the ball and pass the ball on offense.  North Central is not the same team as last year and Elmhurst is not the same team as last year.  To add to this,  show me a team that is the same as last year.
The bottom, underlying feature is the same as the Elmhurst/Carthage game.  You have two very even teams going up against each other.  When this happens I look at 3 things A) Execution  B) Turnovers C) more of A and B.
I think this is a toss up with no favorite because both teams have talent at every position.
One very key component on defense is Elmhurst will have to put the pressure on defense.  If Kniss has all day to throw, then he has the ability to be a 1 man team.  Looking forward to a good crowd at BW Stadium tomorrow.

[79jaybird]

NCCCardinalFan-- C'mon buddy, quit the 2 yr old crybaby stuff.  You are in/was in college so act like it.  We all poke fun at each other, but you are taking shots at people's integrity, so cut the crap. 
Most of us here are either still involved with the team i.e. Tailgater, Hiker Jim, yours truly, etc.  or are former players that add credible and interesting tidbits of information.  I have yet to see you add anything worthwhile on the board.

[usee]

Not to prolong the debate about Studebaker, just wanted to add my "two cents".  Stat's can be very misleading when it comes to a defensive player, particularly on the D-line.  Studebaker's total tackles stat may not be that impressive, but I wonder how many coaches are game planning against him with double teams on almost every play.  11.5 sacks in 5 games is unbelievable production from a DE. 

We had a DT at Augie in the mid-80's (Lynn Thomsen) whose tackle statistics weren't all that impressive, but if you asked anyone who played or coached against him, they will all tell you what a great player he was.  Opposing coaches would design offensive game plans with his presence in mind.  Regardless of statistics, when coaching staffs take into account the abilities of a single player into their game plans, it says alot about the talent of that player.

This weekend should be a good test for Wheaton's D, as Augie seems to have gotten their offense back on track.  Hopefully, we won't see a repeat of the B-W game where Augie's offense was absolutely horrible.  I believe the winner of this game will end up as the CCIW champ and will represent the conference in the playoffs. 

Go Augie.

Lyn Thompsen was a man among boys. I call him Lyn Thomugsen

[Mr. Ypsi]

Stats for individual defensive players can be highly misleading.  UM's Charles Woodson (if memory serves, the only primarily defensive player to ever win the Heisman), had piss-poor stats the second half of his Heisman year.  There was a very simple explanation for that - no sane QB would EVER pass within a country mile of him!

If Studebaker's stats are not impressive, might the explanation be the same?  If he can shut down an entire half of the field(!), he is da man!

[79jaybird]

Some stats for tomorrow's game in Naperville
EC vs. NC
All time Series:  NC leads 43-22-1  (67th meeting)
First meeting 1922:  NC 48 EC 0
Last meeting 2005:  NC 28 EC 21
Streak:  NC has won the last 7 meetings
Last Elmhurst win in the series  1998 (I was on the team then  ) EC 6 NC 0
NC has won 10 of the last 12 meetings
****(most interesting) 5 of the last 6 meetings between these two local schools have been decided by 10 points or less
Last EC win in Naperville was in 1987  EC 22 NC 19
And if I was gambling, I would say these stats don't mean a thing and anything/everything could happen tomorrow!

[79jaybird]

Just a reminder that if you are unable to make it over to BW Stadium in Naperville tomorrow, you can hear the game via the Internet/Radio at this location
WRSE 88.7 FM (conventional radio)
www.wrse.com  ( to listen via the live stream)
My Color Analyst is 50/50 whether he can make it or not.  I am hoping he can make the game, but otherwise I will be going solo.

[augievike93]

We had a DT at Augie in the mid-80's (Lynn Thomsen) whose tackle statistics weren't all that impressive, but if you asked anyone who played or coached against him, they will all tell you what a great player he was.  Opposing coaches would design offensive game plans with his presence in mind.  Regardless of statistics, when coaching staffs take into account the abilities of a single player into their game plans, it says alot about the talent of that player.

Lynn Thomsen is certain in any discussion talking about all time great CCIW defensive linemen.  He truely was an incredible player.  I recall how much respect Coach Bishop and staff gave to him in preparing to play Augie.  If I'm not mistaken, he wasn't 100% in one of the Wheaton/Augie games I played in due to ankle or knee injury and he still was all over the place.

Evidently more than your Coach respected him...He is in the College Football Hall of Fame....and his wife used to be my babysitter when I was just a wee tot.

[Jim Matson]

Mugsy, you made Greg feel really good when you used the word "foster" in one of your posts recently.  Now if you could just find a use for the word "kedzie."

[wheels81]

Kedzie = cheap Czeck knock off of kids tennis shoe
The boy fell because he failed to lace up his Kedzie properly?

[wheels81]

It would warm the cockels of my heart if you worked the word "Trumball" in a post.