FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[usee]

my 2 cents (worth about half that in this economy):

Mugsy has it right. The two best Wheaton teams to play MUC were 1995 and 2002. Both those teams made a game of it into the second half but were upended by mistakes and ultimately a better team. the next three versions were inferior to Mt Union and it showed but most of all they played tight and made mistakes they hadn't made all season. That's why those games weren't closer. Mt plays the way Mt plays and its up to the opponents to come in, play loose and take their shots. Wheaton has shot themselves in the foot before they could make a game of it 3 times in a row.

The key is Wheaon's defensive front. If you can't slow down Nate Kmic you can forget about it. IF this MUC offensive line is not as good as 2 years ago (Thank the Lord) then Wheaton better do a better job at the point of attack than they did 2 yrs ago. If Mt Union's center is reaching a Dlineman lined up outside shoulder of the guard, it'll be a long day. Likewise, I would say Wheaton has a power running game and is pretty big. Can they move Mt Union's smaller, quicker guys? I don't know either. But Wheaton also has balance which they will need to keep the secondary from making plays at the line of scrimmage.

It's up to the Thunder to rely on their technique and fundamentals (breaking on the ball, tackling, getting off blocks, staying on blocks, holding on to the ball) and to play loose. If the Thunder play the way the 1995/2002 teams did they could make it close late in the game. If not, roll tape.

[purpled]

Mount's o-line is good enough to help Nate rush for 750 yards and 12 TD's in 3 games.

And no, the d-line is not that big but nobody seems able to run the ball against them. The defense truly plays as a unit.

Special teams do need to step it up.

[lakeshore]

All Region team really dominated by the CCIW and OAC (MUC)....

[FormerCard]

All Region team really dominated by the CCIW and OAC (MUC)....

I am assuming All-Region is voted on after last weeks game?    I should know this after posting for 4+ years, but I think the cold, snow and sleet is getting to me.

[rocketraider]

Wow! hscoach and blutarsky are right on with all that they say. You guys know way too much. This is a good Wheaton team no doubt and of course Mount can be beat--that's why they play the game, right? Having only seen Mount on TV this year what impresses me most might be the urgency with which they play. As for Wheaton, you've got a Cinderella team on a real roll. Ittersagen is the real deal but you're right, Mount will not give him a chance to hurt them with his kick returns so he'll have to do it on defense and Mount won't throw his way etc. Wheaton will play hard and smart and will try to limit their mistakes but Mount will do what Mount does. No matter. This has been a wondrous season for Wheaton and they will show up and earn some respect that's for sure.

[GrizPride]

When I click on the All-Region link on the front page of D3football.com, it does not have 2008 listed?  Anyone know if Im missing something here?

[Blutarsky]

Mugsy, there's always a chance......no one thought that the Jets would beat the Colts in the Super Bowl, or the Reds beating the A's in the '90 World Series, the Giants over the Pats, or that David had a shot against Goliath.   Wheaton beating MUC would not be anywhere near those "upsets".

Having coached young folks (let's not forget that these young man are around 18-22 yrs. old) for a number of years, the one constant is "you never quite know what's going to happen"

Sample dialogue:

Coach (me):  You realize that on flow away, you have deep middle?

18 yr. old Player:  Yeah.....

Coach:  Why didn't you get there?

18 yr. old Player:  I don't know.

Coach Kehres does a wonderful job of minimizing those conversations...

[Mugsy]

Mugsy, there's always a chance......no one thought that the Jets would beat the Colts in the Super Bowl, or the Reds beating the A's in the '90 World Series, the Giants over the Pats, or that David had a shot against Goliath.   Wheaton beating MUC would not be anywhere near those "upsets".

D-day: Game over, man. The playoff selection committee dropped the big one.

Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

Otter: Germans?

Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.

Bluto: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!

[Runs out, alone, then returns.]

Bluto: What the heck happened to the CCIW I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you, we might lose in Alliance." Well just kiss my <backside> from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Kmic, he's a dead man! Micheli, dead! Herbert...

Otter: Dead! Bluto's right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these guys. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part.

Bluto: We're just the guys to do it.

D-Day: Let's do it.

Bluto: LET'S DO IT!

[apologies, I'm in a weird mood...]   

[muc-raider]

Wow! hscoach and blutarsky are right on with all that they say. You guys know way too much. This is a good Wheaton team no doubt and of course Mount can be beat--that's why they play the game, right? Having only seen Mount on TV this year what impresses me most might be the urgency with which they play. As for Wheaton, you've got a Cinderella team on a real roll. Ittersagen is the real deal but you're right, Mount will not give him a chance to hurt them with his kick returns so he'll have to do it on defense and Mount won't throw his way etc. Wheaton will play hard and smart and will try to limit their mistakes but Mount will do what Mount does. No matter. This has been a wondrous season for Wheaton and they will show up and earn some respect that's for sure.

Good observations.    Do you have any score predictions?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Mugsy, you are ON A ROLL.  Unfortunately, the system won't let me 'applaud' you again until tomorrow.

You guys go get them guys from Alliance that bombed Pearl Harbor!

[Pat Coleman]

When I click on the All-Region link on the front page of D3football.com, it does not have 2008 listed?  Anyone know if Im missing something here?

Give the refresh button on your browser a try if you don't see something you expect.

[runyr]

Mugsy,

Nice adaptation - +k.

But I think it is 1 (maybe even 2 or 3) in a hundred.  WAY better than one in a million!

hscoach gives Wheaton 30.5 pts on OAC Pick-Ems board this week and about half so far have taken Wheaton, which isn't typical, so I'd say you're in the ballpark with those odds.  I'm picking Wheaton (don't tell anybody) with the points.  I like the odds.  8)

[Mugsy]

Congrats to the CCIW representatives to the 2008 North All-Region Team!

DPOY: CB Pete Ittersagen, Sr. - Wheaton

1st Team Offense:
RB Rocky Gingg, So. - Wheaton
WR Alex Pokorny, Sr. - Wheaton
OT Jesse Scott, Sr. - Wheaton
TE Rick Podkowa, Sr. - Illinois Wesleyan
K Tim Ellingsen, Sr. - Wheaton
RET Pete Ittersagen, Sr. - Wheaton

1st Team Defense:
LB Matt Wenger, Jr. - North Central
LB Randy Wright, So. - Elmhurst
CB Pete Ittersagen, Sr. - Wheaton

2nd Team Offense:
RB Dominic Sulo, Jr. - North Central
OT Blaine Westemeyer, Jr. - Augustana
OG Kyle Antos, So. - North Central

2nd Team Defense:
LB Sam Jordan, Sr. - Millikin

3rd Team Offense:
QB Aaron Fanthorpe, Jr. - North Central
WR Martin Ceisel, Sr. - Illinois Wesleyan
WR Nick Merchut, Jr. - Carthage
C Jim Tongue, Sr. - Augustana
OT Josh Delancy, Jr. - North Central

3rd Team Defense:
LB Stephen Pagh, Sr. - Wheaon
S Robert Beauchamp, Jr. - Illinois Wesleyan
CB Derek Sulo, Jr. - North Central
P Adam Pucylowski, Sr. - North Central

[thunderdog]

If the Thunder blitz more than usual, Kehres will waste your great corners off with wideouts running deep and hit underneath crossing patterns with the TE or Kmic out of the backfield....

so, if you are going to blitz, you had better get there quick

Let me give a case-in-point...

In the 1995 game, we ran "weak bullets" 3 times.  That's where we sent the weak OLB and SS from the same side of the field.  I would venture to say that MUC AVERAGED 35-45 yards on each of those 3 plays as they ran a slip screen right behind the 2 blitzing defenders.  MUC was clearly ready for this blitz and had a perfect audible ready whenever we showed it.

Despite the above example and despite MUC being notorious for out-scheming their opponents, I still think it's vital that Wheaton is aggressive in their defensive game-plan.  Before I get into why, let me go on a tangent first.

I have only seen 1 game this year... the WC vs. NCC game.  Needless to say, the Thunder did not leave a strong impression on me.  I walked away thinking, "where are all the playmakers on D?"  It was the first time ever watching a WC game that none of the 3 LB's stood out.  And there was a nameless DE who was 2 sec slower than everyone else on the field getting out of his 3 pt stance- and would basically be a spectator each play.  Fortunately, everyone would agree that this (or possibly the Elmhurst game) was the worst WC has played all season and that they have certainly turned the corner since then.  I feel that Wheaton's aggressiveness on D is a big part of that turnaround.

I haven't seen any of the 3 playoff games, but I've listened to all of them on the radio.  It seems as the 3 LB's for WC have been wreaking havoc in the opponents backfield like crazy.  Maybe I'm not correct in that assessment, but the D as a whole is certainly playing their best ball right now.  I'm attributing much of this to their aggressiveness.

Now is not the time to get conservative.  Heck, noone even thought that WC would be IN the playoffs, keep playing with a "Nothing To Lose" attitude.  As JR Bishop used to say... "WIDE OPEN".  Whenever I heard Coach Bishop, or anyone on our offense start using that phrase, I knew the other team's D was in trouble.  It meant, expect the unexpected.  It meant... you just might see the ol' Statue-of-Liberty play.  

I'm hoping that Coach Swider and Coach Sandberg go into this game with a "WIDE OPEN" mentality on D.  If MUC starts to show a "readiness" for a certain blitz, hopefully an in-game adjustment will be made to stalemate that "readiness".  I think if WC keeps playing the way it has the past 3 games, they could potentially hold MUC to around 28 points.

On the other side of the ball, I only want want to see "somewhat wide open"    I'd like to see the ROCK get 35+ carries, I'd like to see time consuming drives that end in TD's not FG's, and no more than 1 TO (zero would be nice, but that seems to be asking alot).

Go Thunder... WIDE OPEN

[Mugsy]

In the 1995 game, we ran "weak bullets" 3 times.  That's where we sent the weak OLB and SS from the same side of the field.  I would venture to say that MUC AVERAGED 35-45 yards on each of those 3 plays as they ran a slip screen right behind the 2 blitzing defenders.  MUC was clearly ready for this blitz and had a perfect audible ready whenever we showed it.

The most frustrating part, it was 14-7 Mount Union in the 4th quarter before those 3 slip screens.  Just like that it was 40-14!

MUC has done that time and time again.  It truely is quite remarkable... and annoying.