FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[washdupcard]

Congrats to the Cards.  Lets keep it rollin. 

[79jaybird]

I  "jumped the gun" again. 
I think Pat and Usee are right that I may have been a tad "over" with my description and praises for Kniss.  He is a great QB no doubt, but that comment about best in D-3 was out of context.  Especially considering the first Stagg Bowl was 6 years prior to my existence! 

[keil59]

Im a little late, but at the Wheaton game i was with  SOT and several Wheaton fans approached us and congratulated us for our all conference performances.  I was glad to see that Wheaton fans were friendly and good natured.  I also liked the ice cream bars after the Thunder scores.  Seemed like a good atmosphere except for the lack of students that was addressed as the students off on Thanksgiving break.  I thought there would still be a formidable student section, but oh well.  
Great Job by the offensive coaches, they adjusted well after being stuffed for the first few drives at the beginning of the game. this wheaton team will have to avoid the careless turnovers if they want to have a chance Saturday in Alliance

[79jaybird]

"I was glad to see that Wheaton fans were friendly and good natured." 
Keil59  The Wheaton Football Family for as long as I have been involved has always been first class.  Only at Wheaton have I ever seen the home team's fans give a standing ovation to the opposing team as the players made their way to the field. (at any sports level)  (Mt. St. Joseph 1st time they played Wheaton in the Playoffs)
IMO,  I think most people are appreciative of seeing other fans from rival schools come to offer their support in post-season play.  We are hated rivals on the field and during the regular season, but come playoff time, I think we all band together for the common good.

[washdupcard]

Congrats to Wheaton as well.  I'm not at all predicting this...but it would be great for the conference if NCC/Wheaton met in the 3rd round.

[Sterny]

I'm sure this fails a power analysis for any statistical significance (or general significance for that matter) but 3, yes count them, 3 of the 4 times Wheaton lost to Mount Union in the playoffs, Mount Union did NOT go on to win the Stagg Bowl (95, 03, 04).  02 was the exception.  So, what conclusions can we draw from this?  Yes, Wheaton spells DOOM for Mount Union  (at least 75% of the time . . . and if you define "doom" as not winning it all . . . while still beating the opponent "delivering" the doom.)

Anyway, all joking aside, I too think it is possible for the Thunder to win this game.  I listened to almost the whole MSJ game.  Usee says the defense went to sleep, while others that its the dicontinuity from bringing in the 2s and 3s.  Just about everyone has commented, though, that its the turnovers  that'l kill.  I agree.  I hope to "hear" a perfect game from Alliance this weekend by Wheaton. 
Go Wheaton!!!
Go Cardinals!!!

[RedmenFB44]

Mr. Ypsi,

I was browsing through some post pattern statistics and I gotta say, I am worried about you:


Top 10 Most time spent online:

Warren Thompson  61d 6h 42m
Mr. Ypsi  52d 19h 15m
Pat Coleman  52d 8h 53m
Ralph Turner  48d 3h 34m
wally_wabash  31d 2h 49m
Gregory Sager  29d 3h 6m
finsleft  27d 8h 14m
Kilted Rat  26d 9h 34m
Matt Barnhart (kid)  25d 23h 49m
'gro  25d 45m

HAHA now that's just awsome  

[Redmen96]

The Wheaton people don't even need to mapquest MUC anymore it is just the annual trip.

[New Tradition]

North Central @ Capital-- This is going to be a good ol' fashioned slugfest.  You have arguably the best QB in D-3 History

Mark, seriously -- you have to learn not to do this if you're going to be doing national games for us. You have to resist the urge to boil down 35 years of D-III history into the context of the 12-15 teams you've seen.

With both qb's being so wonderful for their conferences and d3 football, with their numbers, with the show that both have been known to put on, with the exciting playoff atmostphere, not to mention the fact that there is potential for vengance for last year's first round matchup, I don't see why this can't be billed as "arguably the best d3 quarterback match up in d3 history..."  I'm with JB...  I know I'm still young, new to the board, and ignorant of much of the history of D3 football, but this sounds like a good one to me.  Out of curiosity, can anyone think of a game when 2 legendary D3 quarterbacks have played eachother in such a high stakes contest?

well, the top 2 cciw qbs (statistically) of all time played against each other in 1983 (rooney v bishop). In fact they were teammates at IWU in 1981. It wasn't high stakes but they played. Last year wabash's qb (pretty close to the best qb they have ever had) played against pentello in the playoffs; I think bill Borchert from MUC had a couple "legendary" games in there somewhere. I think this is a great matchup, but it certainly doesn't strike me as the 2 best qb ever game.

Thanks for the info!  I was curious.  I really should study up on my D3 history (especially because I am a history teacher!)

[Mugsy]

The Wheaton people don't even need to mapquest MUC anymore it is just the annual trip.

Yeah, well... I'm hopeful that one of these years we'll break through a finally comeback with a "W".  It only took Wheaton about a decade to finally win a CCIW crown after 8 or 9 6-3 or 7-2 seasons.  This is the 5th time we've gone to Alliance since 1995... so hopefully we're getting closer to breaking through.

For years in the 80's Augie had better talent and we crept closer and closer... then finally we broke through and lately (other than the last 2 years  ) we've had the upper hand.  I don't think Wheaton is in anyway intimidated by Mount Union.  They respect them as a team and program and aim to have the same level of success.  One of these years Wheaton will break through...  could be this year... could be several more... we'll find out on Saturday.

[formerd3db]

Mr. Ypsi,

I was browsing through some post pattern statistics and I gotta say, I am worried about you:


Top 10 Most time spent online:

Warren Thompson  61d 6h 42m
Mr. Ypsi  52d 19h 15m
Pat Coleman  52d 8h 53m
Ralph Turner  48d 3h 34m
wally_wabash  31d 2h 49m
Gregory Sager  29d 3h 6m
finsleft  27d 8h 14m
Kilted Rat  26d 9h 34m
Matt Barnhart (kid)  25d 23h 49m
'gro  25d 45m

Thanks for the info - that is good news.  Now I can show my wife and prove to her that I'm not on this site as much as some others - she thinks I'm on here "all the time"!

[DismySpecial-T]

It is going to be very important for wheaton to run the ball, easier said then done with MUC allowing less then a yard per carry. If Mount makes you one dimensional you can forget it. And Ittersagen better get a good nights sleep tonight because when he watches film tomorrow, the nightmares that #1 will give him will last until sat.

[usee]

My biggest concern about the wheaton/muc matchup (besides the obvious) is the MUC defense against the wheaton offense. not that the wheaton D is without challenges but this is a pretty fast wheaton defense overall. they may not be fast enough, but they are faster than any other defense we have sent to alliance. on the other hand I know the exceptional speed MUC always has and their speed on defense is a real concern. the wheaton offense will struggle with this. MUC in the past has been able to cover recievers agressively because no one can run by them. they have stifled us in the past by ganging up on the running game and leaving recievers with single coverage, simply because they can. without the speed to get loose you end up w not much production from the offense. I remember in 2004 we had everybody blocked and the safety would make the play for a 2 yd gain. the next play we would run play action and the same safety made an interception 40 yds down the field.

While the wheaton defense brings an athletic group of linebackers, a stud DE in Studebaker and arguably the best db in the CCIW in Itersagen, none of this will phase MUC. they have played against Trusnick (a DE every bit as formidable as Studebaker), plenty of athletic LBs (capital, ONU) and there are several Itersagen's in the OAC. in fact MUC has a couple of their own. (Hausler of Capital will play against NCC this weekend and he is as good as Itersagen, maybe better). There will be no surprises  but I expect the Thunder to compete better than they have in the past in Alliance. 99% of those going won't expect a good game and won't be surprised to see another purple blowout. Us Wheaton fans will continue to expect our team to rise to the occasion and run with the Big Dogs.

[ncc58]

I  "jumped the gun" again. 
I think Pat and Usee are right that I may have been a tad "over" with my description and praises for Kniss.  He is a great QB no doubt, but that comment about best in D-3 was out of context.  Especially considering the first Stagg Bowl was 6 years prior to my existence! 

JB, you sure know how to hype a game. The big boys at the networks have nothing on you. NCC-Capital should be a fantastic game. Two 4-year QBs, great defenses, a playoff rematch, ...

[rscl70]

North Central @ Capital-- This is going to be a good ol' fashioned slugfest.  You have arguably the best QB in D-3 History

Mark, seriously -- you have to learn not to do this if you're going to be doing national games for us. You have to resist the urge to boil down 35 years of D-III history into the context of the 12-15 teams you've seen.

Out of curiosity, can anyone think of a game when 2 legendary D3 quarterbacks have played eachother in such a high stakes contest?

In 1993, Willy Seiler of St. John's, selected by Sports Illustrated as the DIII player of the year vs. 1993 Gagliardi winner Jim Ballard of Mount Union in the National Semifinals.

Ballard threw 8 TD passes, leading Mount to a 56-8 win. St. John's fans still think Ballard had nothing to do with it.  They think it all came down to mud and the length of Mount's cleats.

No mud at Mount Union this weekend.  Looking forward to a great game.  It always is when Wheaton comes to town.