FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[footballfan413]

The team you guys played at the Perk was an offensive minded team. This year's NCC team will be very defensive minded but explosive on offense. This defense is significantly better and this offense is probably not as good. The Cardinal offense hinges on the play of its QB. They line up in spread sets and are talented as a running team but the threat of the pass from the spread is often what enables teams in this set to run (do they keep 6-7 in the box vs a spread set, etc.). This NCC team will be a more confident group than the one you saw in 07 and probably a deeper team (which will show in special teams coverage, etc). Starting talent is about equal all things considered. I would not be surprised to see NCC run the regular season table and make a deep playoff run this year. Likewise I would not be surprised to see them drop this game and 1 conference tilt and miss the dance at 8-2. The difference between these two outcomes really rests on the development of their QB in my opinion.

Thanks,  I am now much more informed but just as confused.   Not sure how much experience the Blugolds have had against the spread and home field advantage alone says that I should pick the Cardinals but a win with UW-EC will help me salvage a slow start in my pick em's.  Here is hoping for a great, injury free game for both teams.  

[hyrooster]

The team you guys played at the Perk was an offensive minded team. This year's NCC team will be very defensive minded but explosive on offense. This defense is significantly better and this offense is probably not as good. The Cardinal offense hinges on the play of its QB. They line up in spread sets and are talented as a running team but the threat of the pass from the spread is often what enables teams in this set to run (do they keep 6-7 in the box vs a spread set, etc.). This NCC team will be a more confident group than the one you saw in 07 and probably a deeper team (which will show in special teams coverage, etc). Starting talent is about equal all things considered. I would not be surprised to see NCC run the regular season table and make a deep playoff run this year. Likewise I would not be surprised to see them drop this game and 1 conference tilt and miss the dance at 8-2. The difference between these two outcomes really rests on the development of their QB in my opinion.

I could not agree with you more on the QB theory! I also agree on your concept of how the teams evolved to D minded team. They always say that offense wins games but defense wins Championships! Off to do some tailgating.

[hyrooster]

One last thought because I really do have a cold one waiting. NCC has 52 senior and juniors. That says a lot for a D-3 program too. My experience says that this is where you lose them especially since they pay to play. You gotta love D-3 football! Good health to all players today!

[Pat Coleman]

If North Central had played Olivet or Cornell it would have taken a big hit to the strength of schedule and there's no guarantee that gets them in at 9-1.

North Central would have gone from .572 to .535 if it had scheduled Cornell instead of Ohio Northern.

[footballfan413]

A big congrats to NCC.  You guys were right.  Defense is very tough.  Good luck the rest of the way.   

[Mugsy]

Wow.  Really big win for NCC.  Congrats for taking on a tougher non-conference foe and coming out with a strong win.

It'll be interesting to hear the details, but if the score is indicative of the win, CCIW teams better look out.

[Stagg Again!!]

Wow.  Really big win for NCC.  Congrats for taking on a tougher non-conference foe and coming out with a strong win.

It'll be interesting to hear the details, but if the score is indicative of the win, CCIW teams better look out.

They held the #16 ranked RB (Sweeney) to 28 total yards rushing and held the entire team to 13 yards rushing.  Sweeney had torched a defensive-minded St. Johns team and Bethel (NAIA) for an average of 165 yards in the past two games.  NCC's defense also had five sacks and were in the UW-E backfield all day.  I will be interested to see how many tackles for loss they had.  UW-E is a very good team, and NCC's defense held them in check most of the day.  This unit doesn't look like the same old NCC defense.  It has a chance to be quite good.  I should note that they will have a big challenge next week as they host Carthage and Evan Jones. 

[FormerCard]

I was very impressed with North Centrals performance today.   Offensively, they ran the ball effectively utilizing alot of their running backs including a few WR's as well.  Crackel was average, but effective, completing 50% of his passes and not turning the ball over.  Hlavac had another good day with 100 total yards.  I thought Eau Claire had a defense with good size, but NC still moved the ball and converted well on 3rd down and a few 4th downs too.

Defensively, It is hard to imagine any team running the ball effectively against North Central.  They have extremely fast LBs (Wenger was all over the field today) and solid D ends who create havoc.  Garza and Hayes both had great days and spent alot of their time in the backfield.    It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals match up against Carthage next week and Jones.

[Tailgater]

I was very impressed with North Centrals performance today.   Offensively, they ran the ball effectively utilizing alot of their running backs including a few WR's as well.  Crackel was average, but effective, completing 50% of his passes and not turning the ball over.  Hlavac had another good day with 100 total yards.  I thought Eau Claire had a defense with good size, but NC still moved the ball and converted well on 3rd down and a few 4th downs too.

Defensively, It is hard to imagine any team running the ball effectively against North Central.  They have extremely fast LBs (Wenger was all over the field today) and solid D ends who create havoc.  Garza and Hayes both had great days and spent alot of their time in the backfield.    It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals match up against Carthage next week and Jones.

I'd agree with FormerCard for the most part although I'm hessitant to say impressive performance as a whole. I guess I exected a lot more fireworks from a #11 vs #17 match-up. NCC's D-line and O-line were the reason for todays success. The O-line gave Crackel plenty of time to search out his receivers. When Brad was flushed he played smart and got rid of the ball and avoided mistakes. He didn't appear to be terribly mobile. The running game was pretty much one dimensional with most success coming on the option pitch to the edge. Neither Tassio or Kukoc knocked my socks off. They have a way to go before NCC fans forget about Sulo (IMO). There was very little room to run, for either team, between the tackles. NCC's defense was impressive. They had a great push at the line all day and filled the holes well. UWEC's QB had little time to search for receivers. This will be a problem for Carthage as they rely heavily on the pass. If Jones isn't given time to set and find recievers it could be a long afternoon for the Red Men. NCC's secondary looked to me to be the weak link of the defense. If Jones has enough protection he should be able to hit capable receivers throughout the game. Congratulations to the Cardinals on a big win agains a quallity opponent.

[AndOne]

After watching North Central defeat #17 Wisconsin-Eau Claire today, the overriding feeling was that the outcome was really never seriously in doubt despite the fact the NCC was held to the relatively low total of 20 points.

Defense won the game for Cardinals as evidenced by the fact that the Cardinal D never permitted the Blugolds to cross midfield during the entire 1st half. For the game, UWEC was held to an almost invisible 13 yards on the ground (0.4 apr) and was outgained by a total of 354 to 186. If NCC has an Achilles heel, it is its pass defense. However, it seems the defensive backfield is one that may bend, but not break. At one point in the contest, Eau Claire tried to bite off a big chunk of turf by going deep, but the pass was picked off in the NCC end zone by the defensive back who matched the intended receiver step for step down the sideline.   
The closest the Blugolds  came to scoring a TD came with only a little over 3 minutes remaining when the NCC running back lost the ball on a wide sweep to the right. The ball was picked up by a Eau Claire Defensive lineman who rumbled 63 yards down the sideline before being caught and yanked down by a horse collar tackle which added 15 more yards to the run, placing the ball at the Cardinal 6 yard line. However, 3 plays netted no yardage and UWEC was forced to kick their 2nd field goal.   

Wenger, as often is the case, was all over the field, and I felt Valente Garza turned in a dominating performance. 

[Mr. Flynn]

NCC's biggest problem was penalties (9-99 yards), other than that they looked very solid and they hit hard.  Wenger needed to have his facemask replaced after he bent it out of shape.

[Tailgater]

The only aspect of the NCC vs UWEC match-up that UWEC won was the BAND play.   UWEC brought their entire marching band which appeared to out-number their fans and players combined. They sounded GREAT and certainly out-performed their team.  A little humiliating for NCC's "Red Noise" band that made their marching debut at half time. While their performance was entertaining they couldn't match the volume and quality of UWEC. What's a College football game without the sound of a good band?  

[ncc58]

My observations from NCC-UWEC:

This was a good UWEC team. Afterall, they beat the Johnnies who are one of the best D3 teams every year.

The TEs were key on both NCC TD drives.

NCC was moving the ball on both drives that ended in turnovers. The first one would have led to at least a FG.

The quality of officiating in CCIW games is consistent - neither coaching staff was happy.

NCC needs a significant improvement in the QB play. Passing efficiency was not to a level that will win games down the stretch in the CCIW. The Wildcat wasn't very effective either.

NCC plays a lot of players on defense. They used 6 LBs, although one of them never left the field. And that one is a beast.

It's hard to evaluate the NCC pass defense, since UWEC is not regarded as a passing team.

I've never seen a visiting D3 team bring a marching band.

[cardinaldad]

NCC's biggest problem was penalties (9-99 yards), other than that they looked very solid and they hit hard.  Wenger needed to have his facemask replaced after he bent it out of shape.

Yeah, the penalties could have been a BIG problem. Did Wenger SMACK Sweeney a few times, or what? He's a big back and each time Wenger hit him, he was immediately stopped in his tracks and was driven backwards. On one tackle Sweeney's feet were over his head before he hit the ground. Wenger is soooo fast to the ball. It is so much fun watching him again.

[cardinaldad]

The only aspect of the NCC vs UWEC match-up that UWEC won was the BAND play.   UWEC brought their entire marching band which appeared to out-number their fans and players combined. They sounded GREAT and certainly out-performed their team.  A little humiliating for NCC's "Red Noise" band that made their marching debut at half time. While their performance was entertaining they couldn't match the volume and quality of UWEC. What's a College football game without the sound of a good band?  

I'll agree Taigater, their band was tremendous. They had 13 sousaphones! It was fun having them at the game. They sounded like a D1 band. I guess you can have a band like that with an enrolment of over 10,000.