FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CardinalAlum]

I heard Dunlop say he was better than all of wheaton!! in fact his quote was, "I pity the fools, they don't know whats coming this week. there won't be any playoffs for those chumps after I get done with them. You can quote me on that!! We are a better team than them!"

I heard him say that. really!!

Now that was funny!  Big +K there!

[Tailgater]

carthage fakes a punt for the first down. are we the  only ones these work against?

Funny how this worked out as the coaching staffs were trying to out strategize each other. Carthage was 4th and short around mid-field. Carthage sent out their long punter to kick the ball away then decided to call time-out to think about it. When they came back out they had a different punter on the field and were in a spread punt formation. Wheaton then called time-out, most likely to discuss the possibility of a fake. When Carthage came back out they had their long punter back on the field (who happens to be a D-lineman). Wheaton apparently was certain Carthage was kicking now. The punter pulled up and threw a pass to a wide open Tight-End who was standing flat footed waiting for the ball. If not for throwing into the wind, if the receiver had been led, this play may have resulted in a touchdown.

[usee]

carthage fakes a punt for the first down. are we the  only ones these work against?

Funny how this worked out as the coaching staffs were trying to out strategize each other. Carthage was 4th and short around mid-field. Carthage sent out their long punter to kick the ball away then decided to call time-out to think about it. When they came back out they had a different punter on the field and were in a spread punt formation. Wheaton then called time-out, most likely to discuss the possibility of a fake. When Carthage came back out they had their long punter back on the field (who happens to be a D-lineman). Wheaton apparently was certain Carthage was kicking now. The punter pulled up and threw a pass to a wide open Tight-End who was standing flat footed waiting for the ball. If not for throwing into the wind, if the receiver had been led, this play may have resulted in a touchdown. C

carthage fakes more punts than any other team in the nation. two years ago they faked 3 against wheaton and they all worked. wheaton knew going in they fake punts alot and still got beat on it. that's ridiculous.

[Tailgater]

O'Boyle or not that was not a good performance by Carthage. I know they have some tough injuries but, man, that's a big score in kenosha.

Your gonna score big when a top offense in the conference plays against a defense that has a majority of it's players from the JV and Scout team on the field. Literally! Talking with Coach Rucks before the game he said that of the 22 original starters at the beginning of the year 14 of them are out for the season injured. Last week against Millikin they lost 3 more of the defensive line who were filling in for other injuries. Yikes! Couple that with loosing almost all of your #1 skill possition players on offense and you have a recipe for disaster. After the two early 50+ and 60+ TD passes by Wheaton we Carthage fans knew it would be a long day. Unfortunately more of that may be coming next week at NCC.

[usee]

O'Boyle or not that was not a good performance by Carthage. I know they have some tough injuries but, man, that's a big score in kenosha.

Your gonna score big when a top offense in the conference plays against a defense that has a majority of it's players from the JV and Scout team on the field. Literally! Talking with Coach Rucks before the game he said that of the 22 original starters at the beginning of the year 14 of them are out for the season injured. Last week against Millikin they lost 3 more of the defensive line who were filling in for other injuries. Yikes! Couple that with loosing almost all of your #1 skill possition players on offense and you have a recipe for disaster. After the two early 50+ and 60+ TD passes by Wheaton we Carthage fans knew it would be a long day. Unfortunately more of that may be coming next week at NCC.

who are these injured players?  the defensive stats have the same guys listed as played vs lakeland at the beginning of the year.

[Redmen96]

Coach Rucks on the Wheaton game:

"It wasn't a good day, and I don't know if there's anything good to say about it.  It was a total wreck.  Early on, I thought we had a chance, but penalties really turned out to be drive-stoppers for us.  Defensively, we were out of position and missed tackles.  Wheaton's running backs are tough and hard to bring down—they're a very formidable team.  We're not a better team than Wheaton right now, but we were capable of making  a much-better showing than this.  At this point, there's two ways this team can go.  Either we ride it out against North Central, or we fight back.  It's my job to make sure we don't feel sorry for ourselves and just ride things out."

You gotta admit he says the right things that makes you want to play harder for him.

[Tailgater]

for carthage I hear about all their injuries but the participation report and stats have almost the same lineup vs wheaton as they had at the beginning of the year. obviously O'Boyle didn't play but on defense their lineup has been consistent except for 1 safety and on offense the OLine has been intact the whole year. the only other sub on offense has been the fullback. not sure what all the injury talk has been about. maybe I am missing something.

I think I covered some of this earlier, but indeed you are missing something. All the injuries to starters didn't happen in the last week or two. Starting with fall camp, the injuries were significant as 3 of the 4 returning defensive starters went down for the year and shortly there-after those who had earned starting possitions began to fall with some attempting to continue playing seriuosly banged-up. The snowball continued to roll from there. Early in the season many of those starting may not have been seeing much action if not for injuries that opened the door for them to get on the field. I'll give the Carthage D a lot of credit thou as even playing with a mash unit they were able to remain statistically as a top defensive unit in the conference coming into the Wheaton game. I was shocked they were #1 against the pass as I thought this was not our strong point having seen all the games. Yes the O-line is the only unit that remains intake as the original players slatted to start. Simply having a good O-line doesn't always translate to the ability to score points. Carthage has lacked solid production from any of the running backs and from the fullback possition. O'Boyle has accounted for something like 245 yds of offense each week. Makes it fairly simple for a defense to scheme against. Now with a (eventually capable) Freshman QB replacing those 245 yds your offensive production falls from the mid 300s per game to the mid 100s against Wheaton. Coach Rucks said they had 34 injured players observing practice from the side-lines this week, most of them being key personnel. I hope that sheds some light on the serious situation Carthage is currently facing.

[Tailgater]

carthage fakes a punt for the first down. are we the  only ones these work against?

Funny how this worked out as the coaching staffs were trying to out strategize each other. Carthage was 4th and short around mid-field. Carthage sent out their long punter to kick the ball away then decided to call time-out to think about it. When they came back out they had a different punter on the field and were in a spread punt formation. Wheaton then called time-out, most likely to discuss the possibility of a fake. When Carthage came back out they had their long punter back on the field (who happens to be a D-lineman). Wheaton apparently was certain Carthage was kicking now. The punter pulled up and threw a pass to a wide open Tight-End who was standing flat footed waiting for the ball. If not for throwing into the wind, if the receiver had been led, this play may have resulted in a touchdown. C

carthage fakes more punts than any other team in the nation. two years ago they faked 3 against wheaton and they all worked. wheaton knew going in they fake punts alot and still got beat on it. that's ridiculous.

And if Donavan Moore had not gone down for the year before the season started they would have had several more successfull fake punts. He is truly special from punt formation.

[Tailgater]

Will O'Boyle play this week or is he done? 

MCL tear, done. Happened 1st qtr against Millikin, but he finished the game.The kid has guts! Now we know why he appeared so patient in the pocket and got sacked 7 times.

[CardinalAlum]

Will O'Boyle play this week or is he done? 

MCL tear, done. Happened 1st qtr against Millikin, but he finished the game.The kid has guts! Now we know why he appeared so patient in the pocket and got sacked 7 times.

That's unfortunate.  He was really having a nice year!

[Tailgater]

who are these injured players?  the defensive stats have the same guys listed as played vs lakeland at the beginning of the year.

With a 123 player roster, I'm not that good with all the names of the defensive players as my focus has been with the offensive side of the ball having a son on the O-line.  Suffice it say many of those guys on D were not penciled in as starters before the season started (against Carroll). Coach Etter has done a nice job filling the voids. He could confirm the struggle he has had keeping a healthy unit on the field. The guys you refer to as listed at the beginning may well not have been there at all if not for all the injuries.

[Tailgater]

OK...... all that said I want to not only congratulate Wheaton for their overwhelming domination of Carthage yesterday, but say I think they would be an outstanding conference rep in the playoffs if they can get there. Wheaton is a big, physical team with a lot of talent. Carthage was simply outplayed on both sides of the ball yesterday, regardless of the personnel on the field. This is the best team I've seen all year. We'll see how NCC stacks up next week.

[Tailgater]

One last comment for the Wheaton Coaching staff and players. Saturday was the last home game for 21 Red Men seniors. Carthage has a traditional pre-game recognition ceremony to recognize the seniors for their commitment to the Carthage football program. Their teamates form a tunnel leading to mid-field. The seniors run through the tunnel while being introduced and meet their parents at mid-field on the Carthage emblem. On the Emblem, a keep-sake photo is taken of the player & parents which is charished by all for a life-time. Wheaton was running their  pre-game offensive sets at mid field and was politely asked to move up several yards off the mid-field emblem so photos could be taken. Wheaton refused to move and some of the players gave disgusting glares to the ladies (photographers) who had asked if the would move. I thought Wheaton was supposed to be a team that held itself up as having class and good character. I have certainly lost respect for them as they apparently don't practice what they preach. The seniors and parents have put a lot of time and effort into Carthage Football over the last 4 years. Thanks for ruinning our moment.

[RedmenFB44]

for carthage I hear about all their injuries but the participation report and stats have almost the same lineup vs wheaton as they had at the beginning of the year. obviously O'Boyle didn't play but on defense their lineup has been consistent except for 1 safety and on offense the OLine has been intact the whole year. the only other sub on offense has been the fullback. not sure what all the injury talk has been about. maybe I am missing something.

Carthage has had injuries this whole season. No excuse for losing I understand but you say you dont understand what people are saying when it comes to Carthage's injuries. Most of them happened before the season even started. The biggest one was the Redmen's best athlete in Donavan Moore (Sr. 3 year letterwinner). He has been all-conference as a DB and a punter. That is the biggest lost. The Redmen also lost a starting CB Franko Shenault (Jr. 2 year letterwinner). Another injury before the season was a starting DE Mike Powers (Jr. 2 year letterwinner). The fullback Shaun Jozwiak (Jr. 2 year letterwinner) was hurt in the 1st or 2nd game of the year. The Redmen's leading receiver Eric Haldeman (Jr. 2 year letterwinner) has been out since week 5.

I understand that good teams will overcome injuries but you were saying that you didn't know what all the talk was about the Redmen's injuries so I just wanted to fill you in  

[RedmenFB44]

carthage fakes more punts than any other team in the nation. two years ago they faked 3 against wheaton and they all worked. wheaton knew going in they fake punts alot and still got beat on it. that's ridiculous.

Carthage would be doing more fake punts but they don't have their best punter and their best athlete Donovan Moore who got hurt before the season started. He was great at running the spread punt.