FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[GRIZ_BACKER]

Went to the Carthage opener against Franklin. Beautiful day for a football game in Kenosha. Fun game to watch. Back and forth with scoring right down to the finish. Franklin has a solid team and was very evenly matched with the Red Men.

Quick observations: Carthage defense played well. Bend don't break style. Stood firm in the red zone a few times limiting Franklin to a couple field goals. One of Franklin's drives mid-game took several plays in the red zone and a couple of unfortunate penalties against Carthage before the Grizzlies finally crossed the goal line. Red Men defense is quick to the ball, good team speed, a little small on the d-line. Quickness on the line made up for bulk.

All-American kicker Tyler Funk performed as advertised. 3 field goals, 3 extra points. Missed a 49 yard attempt into a steady wind by a yard after Carthage took a 5 yard delay of game penalty. He did bang home a 42 yard kick into the wind to end the first half.

Evan Jones will do his damage to defenses this year. He wasn't as sharp today as I've seen him play, but the season is young. He is a leader with a lot of confidence. Although his receiving core is missing a couple of great receivers from last season this current group of WRs looks very capable.

Running game for the most part was non-existent until the last Carthage possession of the game. Jake Smith can carry the ball with authority providing there is some push up front by the O-line. Freshmen  back-up QB for Carthage was on and off for several plays and did a good job running what looked like a version of the wildcat offense.

The O-line is where I see the question mark for the 2010 Red Men. They could not handle the blitz.  There was frequently no running back set up along-side Jones in the backfield to pick-up the extra attacker(s). I was surprised that Franklin did not keep the blitzing going in the second half as they got to Jones frequently and disrupted the passing game in the first half. Not a lot of push from the front line on running plays.  Then again not a lot of running plays.

I was pleased with what I saw. There is a solid core to build on and I expect the Red Men will have another solid season. I was impressed with the Franklin supporters. They came out in large numbers and they do know how to throw a good tailgate party.

I also attended and agree with Tailgater on his synopsis of the game.  Game could have gone either way. Certainly entertaining from start to finish.  We do take pride in the tailgate arena.

[HoosierRedMan]

The Redmen defense needs to work on the pass rush.  The Franklin QB had way to much time to throw the ball.  With their 3 man line they need to send a linebacker once in a while.  Also the last drive by Franklin just can't happen; letting them march 70 yards in 40 seconds.  Good teams just do do that. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

I was pleasantly shocked when IWU moved into the Top 25 (by coming from behind to beat Kickoff's #118 team, Hope, in the last two minutes?! ), until I realized they had actually LOST 23 points (91 to 68) - just some consolidation of votes after a week of evidence (in preseason it took 93 points to be 25th; this week only 64).

Having not studied the poll in detail, I assumed Wartburg would enter the Top 25, having thrashed the pre-season #17.  Obviously the voters decided more that Monmouth had been grossly over-ranked than that Wartburg was therefore a 'great' team - Monmouth dropped from 164 to 19 points; Wartburg rose from 0 to 22 points.

I fear that IWU is probably over-ranked, but we probably won't get a clear idea until they journey to Wheaton on October 2nd (unless, heaven forbid, they are upset by Alma or Aurora in the interim ).

[usee]

I was not surprised by the IWU result. A slow start was not unexpected when so many new players are getting snaps. I thought the way they came back and won is a great sign for Titan fans since they really are an unexperienced team with some key, experienced players. Rooney is going to be tough to deal with this year for opponents. He has some talent around him and it will allow him to make plays. IWU is about where I thought they'd be so far. The October 2 test will be a big game for both sides.

[Viking Mike]

Was able to watch the Augie game on Greenville's webcast.  Hard to get an idea of how good they will be against a team like Greeneville.  They seemed to have a solid game and the defense played well.  That is a good start.  It will be an exciting season with Lee leading the team.  (still having trouble adjusting to the passing game)

Any word on the two running backs that were injured in the game?

Next week will be a great opportunity to see how the Vikes stack up against an experienced and talented Central IA team that won the Iowa Conference and made the playoffs.  Hopefully if are backs aren't ready to go, someone else can jump in and make a statement! 

[AndOne]

Help please!
I post regularly on the basketball board, so I'm not as familiar with how things work on the football side. Accordingly, I'm wondering if someone can educate me on something.

North Central was ranked 14, played, and won 41-7. However, they dropped 2 places in the new poll. How does this happen when not only did they win by 35 points, but most, if not all, of the other winners rose in the rankings? Is this usual?

I'm especially confused over the fact that 4 teams didn't even play and by doing so actually went up in the new poll. This seems ridiculous.

As such, any help anyone can give me as to how the poll works/possible reasoning on this is appreciated.
Thanks!

[usee]

And one-

Your concerns are validnto a degree. The preaseason pollmis reallynhard to do in football because of all the variables. I usually throw that out and start after all the teams have played one game. Won't see that happen as much. It has more to do with figuring out where other teams should be than what any one team did or didn't do any given week. In another week or so it starts to sort itself out

[Mr. Ypsi]

And One,

Check out my post above.  Did you really expect credit for whupping Cornell?!!

NCC went down just one point, but the consolidation of votes left them down two slots.  (The teams that passed them did not play Cornell!)  Next year, open the season by whupping Mount Union - I guarantee you will rise in the poll

[FormerCard]

Unfortunately the Cardinals wont be getting much credit for whupping Cornell (and that makes complete sense), but to the Rams credit, I think they will win 5 games this year, which will be a vast improvement from the last 8 years when they have won 4 games twice and 2 games 5 times, sprinkling in a winless year in 2008.

That is my bold prediction for Cornell...5-5.   Good luck guys.

[Mr. Flynn]

Unfortunately the Cardinals wont be getting much credit for whupping Cornell (and that makes complete sense), but to the Rams credit, I think they will win 5 games this year, which will be a vast improvement from the last 8 years when they have won 4 games twice and 2 games 5 times, sprinkling in a winless year in 2008.

That is my bold prediction for Cornell...5-5.   Good luck guys.

Not too bold, Loras, Simpson, Buena Vista, Luther, and Macalester are winable throw in Dubuque and it could be 6 wins. Now thats bold

[dansand]

Let's be frank. None of the CCIW's opponents in week one, except Franklin, are too good. The Greenville team that Augie beat plays in a terrible conference. IWU squeaked by a Hope team that hasn't won a  non-conference game in something like six years. Cornell and Loras play in a very solid conference, but both went 2-8 last year. Illinois College is middle of the road (at best) in a not-too-great Midwest Conference. USee hit it on the head...it's way too early to be too concerned with the polls.

...and stop calling me Frank.

[Thunderbolt]

Unfortunately the Cardinals wont be getting much credit for whupping Cornell (and that makes complete sense), but to the Rams credit, I think they will win 5 games this year, which will be a vast improvement from the last 8 years when they have won 4 games twice and 2 games 5 times, sprinkling in a winless year in 2008.

That is my bold prediction for Cornell...5-5.   Good luck guys.

Not too bold, Loras, Simpson, Buena Vista, Luther, and Macalester are winable throw in Dubuque and it could be 6 wins. Now thats bold

I understand why you guys want to be Ram fans from here on out, and they have a good chance of getting a win this weekend. But after that, they have been 1-31 the last four years in the IIAC(last year over Loras) They have a new coach and a few real good football players. Their problem is and has been recruiting. They have 53 players on the current roster, which is a nice number if your making travel arrangements, not so nice for practice and creating competition at positions. While they will be competitve in some of the games you mentioned and can certainly pull an upset here or there, they just don't have enough ammo this season.

[AndOne]

Thanks to all those who helped "educate" me.
I was aware that Cornell is not exactly a powerhouse. However, it seemed several other ranked teams also played opponents that were, in many cases, only slightly better than Cornell, if at all. 

[usee]

I really don't think the game against Cornell had anything to do with NCC's move in the top25. They did what they were expected to do. The reason NCC fell is because Willamette and Hardin Simmons (the two teams that moved ahead of them) had strong wins on the road against good opponents. This was "new" information for the pollsters and they responded by moving those teams up on their ballots. The vote change for NCC from a statistical perspective is just "noise" and likely not reflective voters opinions. This will sort itself out as things move along. Remember, Wheaton was ranked as high as #4 last year before not making the playoffs and finishing unranked.

[Mugsy]

I really don't think the game against Cornell had anything to do with NCC's move in the top25. They did what they were expected to do. The reason NCC fell is because Willamette and Hardin Simmons (the two teams that moved ahead of them) had strong wins on the road against good opponents. This was "new" information for the pollsters and they responded by moving those teams up on their ballots. The vote change for NCC from a statistical perspective is just "noise" and likely not reflective voters opinions. This will sort itself out as things move along. Remember, Wheaton was ranked as high as #4 last year before not making the playoffs and finishing unranked.

And many people agreed that Wheaton was not the #4 team in the country at the time.  Wheaton was ranked highly going into the 2009 season primarily due to their surprise semi-finals finish in 2008 and having a decent number of returning starters.  I recall posting several times last year that I did not think the Wheaton team I saw playing on the field (even when 6-0) equated to the #4 team in the country - I thought they belonged more in the #13-#15 range, until the bottom fell out with losses to NCC, IWU and Carthage.

Every year there are a few teams ranked in the Top 25 at the start of the season, who are there primarily based on the final ranks of the previous season or based on recent history (a perrenial strong team).  Bethel's 2008 pre-season ranking is another very similar example to Wheaton - Bethel reached the semi-finals in 2007, but finished 5-4 despite being highly ranked early in 2008.  

This is not a knock on the D3Football Top 25 poll, but the early year rankings are based on the only information available.  How did the team perform last year and how many of the keys players are returning?  IMO this is not isolated to the D3Football poll only - virtually every sport and every level as similar challenges with ranking teams before you start the actual season.  As Usee (and others mentioned), as the season progresses you will get a clearer picture of who truly belongs in the Top 25 (includes those who weren't on the radar during the pre-season and excludes those who were but mostly based on the performance from the previous season).

Early in the season there always seems to be some question of "why did this team leapfrog that team?"  In the end if a team takes care of their business by winning conference or has a decent schedule (in terms of strength and in the event they incur 1 or 2 losses), they should be ranked in-region and be considered for the playoffs.  That is what is important as it relates to Top 25 ranking.