FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[devildog29]

Got a chance to see the Titans yesterday for the first time in quite a while in Bloomington yesterday.  I came away very impressed with Kraig Ladd.  Big kid, strong arm, but the biggest thing that impressed me was his accuracy.  He had all day to throw against Aurora which abviously helps, but time after time he put the ball right in the perfect spot for the receivers.  The other big takeaway was IWU just brutalized the Aurora safeties all day, in the air and on the ground.  Poor angles in pass protection from Aurora, and Eli Williams just broke off some ankles numerous times and had the safeties tackling air.  Of course this is cliche and always true, but if the O- and D-line continue to play well, I think the Titans have some great talent at the skill positions on both sides of the ball and can really make some noise in the conference.  

[matblake]

I have to say that I'm really looking forward to the Wheaton/Hope game this week.  With Hope having played both IWU and Carthage tough, we'll get to play the comparision game headed into conference play.  At this point, Hope appears to be much improved over last season.

[augiefan]

This board has been a little quiet, but that should change once the conference matchups start. Only NPU seems to be a noncontender at this point, although Wheaton and NCC still are my picks to battle for the title and the playoff bid.

Millikin and IWU look to be the most improved with Augie always dangerous but not really a title contender. Once again Augie lost a nonconference game they should have won but for a botched FG attempt. It's hard to be taken seriously when a CCIW team does not win out in the noncoference games, unless the loss is to another Top 20 program.

The question for Augie fans is will this be the first year in decades that Augie fails to have a winning season? I think not, but it could be dicey given the talent overall in the CCIW this year.

[matblake]

CCIW players of the week posted
http://www.cciw.org/fall_football/FBPOW3_09.php
Congrats to all.

[Son of Tailgater]

I am not sure if anyone noticed from the Monday Night Football game last night but Pierre Garcon from Mount Union and now on the Colts caught the winning touchdown pass from Peyton Manning. Even though it was his only catch of the game I thought it was pretty neat to see a D3 player impact such a big stage game. It was also hard to believe that I actually played against him during the playoffs in 2004.  8)

[Son of Tailgater]

New top 25 poll out.  Wheaton remains at #4, North Central remains at #12.

Millikin and Illinois Wesleyan receiving votes.

It would not surprise me if both Millikin and IWU had some early upsets in conference this year. They seem to be much improved from the few years.

IWU has 2 weeks to prepare for Carthage while Millikin has 2 weeks to prepare for NCC - that always allows for an advantage in three areas:

1. Players have a chance to heal up from the non-conference games
2. Scouting becomes easier with an off-week where players can actually see their next opponent live
3. 3-4 more practices of extra preparations and focus

The one negative I found with the bye week was that you lose that week of game hitting and this can sometimes throw off momentum.

[Wags]

JAYBIRD,

Check your pick ems for this week.  I think you forgot your Game of the Week pick. 

[Neverwas]

Saw in the paper today the Jaguars signed a CB off of Atlanta's practice squad and waived a S, among other moves.  That doesn't sound like great news for Pete.  I was hoping he may get a call back after a bad couple of weeks for the Jags.  Does anyone have an idea of where he could get signed?  Or is it over for this year?

[lakeshore]

2. Scouting becomes easier with an off-week where players can actually see their next opponent live

[/quote]

Not sure of the legality of any coach/player live scouting a CCIW opponent.

[Crutches McGee 87]

Saw in the paper today the Jaguars signed a CB off of Atlanta's practice squad and waived a S, among other moves.  That doesn't sound like great news for Pete.  I was hoping he may get a call back after a bad couple of weeks for the Jags.  Does anyone have an idea of where he could get signed?  Or is it over for this year?

i heard the eagles picked him up for the practice squad.  just rumor though.  any news on sulo's surgery?  NCC's players need to step it up.  The CCIW is defintiely looking tougher this year than it was last.  hithitski42NCC, welcome to the boards my friend. Always good to have another red and white person on this board!

[Mugsy]

Saw in the paper today the Jaguars signed a CB off of Atlanta's practice squad and waived a S, among other moves.  That doesn't sound like great news for Pete.  I was hoping he may get a call back after a bad couple of weeks for the Jags.  Does anyone have an idea of where he could get signed?  Or is it over for this year?

i heard the eagles picked him up for the practice squad.  just rumor though.  any news on sulo's surgery?  NCC's players need to step it up.  The CCIW is defintiely looking tougher this year than it was last.  hithitski42NCC, welcome to the boards my friend. Always good to have another red and white person on this board!

A couple of pages back, I mentioned how an interview with Pete was played at half time of the Wheaton game this weekend.  Pete was at the Wheaton game.  As of Saturday he hadn't signed on yet to any teams practice squad.  Some interesting comments and thoughts from Pete.  I'll see if I can find a link to it on the Wheaton website.

His overall feeling after his experience with the Jaguars is that he thinks he can make it at the next level, if he is given the chance.  That is often the problem with players from D3, they often aren't given the chance to show what they can do.  It'll be interesting to see where Pete ends up.  It sounds as if he is committed to continuing to work towards additional chances at the NFL level.

[Gregory Sager]

2. Scouting becomes easier with an off-week where players can actually see their next opponent live

Not sure of the legality of any coach/player live scouting a CCIW opponent.

Really? Live scouting of CCIW opponents has been standard operating procedure in basketball since time immemorial. And it's not uncommon for players to accompany their coaches to a CCIW rival's gym to get a firsthand look at that future opponent.

[ncc58]

From Section 2 of the CCIW Football Sports Guide:

K.   Football game video tape exchange
...

2.   Eliminate all live "eyeball' scouting of conference opponents by representatives of the football program.

...

[WahooThunder]

I am not sure if anyone noticed from the Monday Night Football game last night but Pierre Garcon from Mount Union and now on the Colts caught the winning touchdown pass from Peyton Manning. Even though it was his only catch of the game I thought it was pretty neat to see a D3 player impact such a big stage game. It was also hard to believe that I actually played against him during the playoffs in 2004.  8)

As a Colts and D3 football fan that was great to see. Not only did he score the game-winning touchdown, but he did it by catching a screen pass and outrunning the entire Dolphins secondary to take it 50 yards after the catch. Peyton even mentioned what a great weapon his speed is in the post-game press conference.

[79jaybird]

Thanks Wags,  I made the change
I started forgetting things once I got married back in June and found out we're expecting.