FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Viking Mike]

Sorry Wheaton fans........... I see this one in Rock Island going down a little differently. 

I agree a close game, but I see Augie holding off the Thunder in the end.
Vikes are still looking for a solid game against a great team.  I see Augie winning the turnover battle and Lee picking apart the pass defense of Wheaton.  I think the Augustana defense will come to play and hold the Thunder to 100-120yds on the ground.  Many think this is a 2 team race, but the Vikings still have something to say about this.  Look for Barnes to have the Viking ship righted for THIS game,  the 3rd home game against a ranked top 15 team.

Augie 24
Wheaton 21

Here's hoping for a nasty fight at the birdbath in Elmhurst this week.  A surprise upset of NC at Elmhurst this week followed by a loss to Wheaton the following week gives AUGIE a chance at the title and playoff bid.  Not likely, but still a possibility.  Would love to see it happen!  Stranger things have happened!!!   GO AUGUSTANA!!!

[Mugsy]

Sorry Wheaton fans........... I see this one in Rock Island going down a little differently.  

I agree a close game, but I see Augie holding off the Thunder in the end.
Vikes are still looking for a solid game against a great team.  I see Augie winning the turnover battle and Lee picking apart the pass defense of Wheaton.  I think the Augustana defense will come to play and hold the Thunder to 100-120yds on the ground.  Many think this is a 2 team race, but the Vikings still have something to say about this.  Look for Barnes to have the Viking ship righted for THIS game,  the 3rd home game against a ranked top 15 team.

Augie 24
Wheaton 21

Here's hoping for a nasty fight at the birdbath in Elmhurst this week.  A surprise upset of NC at Elmhurst this week followed by a loss to Wheaton the following week gives AUGIE a chance at the title and playoff bid.  Not likely, but still a possibility.  Would love to see it happen!  Stranger things have happened!!!   GO AUGUSTANA!!!

Turnover battle:  Wheaton is +1.57 vs. Augie +1.0 (Edge: Wheaton)
Wheaton pass defense vs. Lee: Wheaton pass defense efficiency #1 @ 95.7 vs. Augie pass efficiency #1 @ 154.6 (Edge: push)
Wheaton rushing vs. Augie D: Wheaton 203.0 ypg, 4.6 ypc vs. Augie 115.3 ypg, 3.0 ypc (Edge: Wheaton)

Elmhurst victory over NCC – don't see it happening.  NCC losing 2 in a row – definitely not going to happening (primarily because they won't be losing this week  ).

[Viking Mike]

Wheaton does indeed have some nice stats but it is difficult to compare the 2 teams when you are looking at total stats for the year, including 3 uncommon nonconference foes.  If you look at CCIW games stats only, you will see the numbers are much more interesting.  Even then, the only common opponents the 2 teams have are North Park and Carthage.
Augie's defense dominated NP (as do most defenses) but the offense struggled to score 21 pts on a wet rainy day.  Augie destroyed Carthage.  Wheaton annialated NP and struggled against Carthage.

My point being .... tough to determine winner based on the stats.

The Viking / Thunder games are always a battle and I expect no different on Saturday.

I know the Thunder are good, but I feel the Vikings may play their best overall game of the year at Ericson on Saturday...... and this will be good enough to beat Wheaton.

[Viking Mike]

Mugsy,

I agree,...... NC losing twice is not likely to happen.

From what I saw of North Central in Rock Island, they are most likely to win out and take the title. (their defense is ridiculous!)

Wheaton will have their shot next week to take the Cardinals down.  IF Augie can take down Wheaton this week, a lot of Rock Island faithful will  become instant Thunder fans next week.  Too bad the NC/Wheaton game is at 1pm next week.  It would be great to watch Augie at Elmhurst and then come to Wheaton to watch them knock off the Cardinals.................... thus creating a 3 way tie with 1 to go!

YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE!

[usee]

Vmike-

Although Wheaton clearly "stuggled" against Carthage it was only for the first half when they were 1-4 in the redzone and left 11 points on the field in the kicking game to go down 24-7 (on 4 pass plays). In the second half they held the Redmen to 45 total yards and "dominated" Carthage 24-0.

The game in Rock Island will be a battle and the Thunder will be fortunate to come out with a win if they can play well. Kicking game is a big concern.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie's defense dominated NP (as do most defenses) but the offense struggled to score 21 pts on a wet rainy day.  Augie destroyed Carthage.  Wheaton annialated NP and struggled against Carthage.

Don't make excuses for Augie's offense. NPU played very solid defense against Augie, and, coupled with a pretty anemic Augie offense, it basically put the clamps down on the Doggies all afternoon except for three long pass plays. Weather and field conditions had absolutely nothing to do with it.

I saw no evidence whatsoever in the Augie @ NPU game that Augustana is a team that's capable of winning the CCIW.

[Mugsy]

Augie's defense dominated NP (as do most defenses) but the offense struggled to score 21 pts on a wet rainy day.  Augie destroyed Carthage.  Wheaton annialated NP and struggled against Carthage.

Don't make excuses for Augie's offense. NPU played very solid defense against Augie, and, coupled with a pretty anemic Augie offense, it basically put the clamps down on the Doggies all afternoon except for three long pass plays. Weather and field conditions had absolutely nothing to do with it.

I saw no evidence whatsoever in the Augie @ NPU game that Augustana is a team that's capable of winning the CCIW.

Thanks for mentioning this Greg.  I was going to point out that Augie's performance against North Park should not be dismissed that it was "just the weather".  But then coming from a Wheaton fan in the context of a statement against an opponent for this week, it would seem to be weaker.

Don't get me wrong.  I don't think Wheaton will win going away in this game, in fact as USee points out, on the road in the CCIW against a solid team is a daunting task.  I think Wheaton will win, but I wouldn't necessarily be surprised if Augie pulled out a win.

[Neverwas]

Recent history shows this is going to be a battle.  Only one game since 2002 has a team won by more than 7pts (2005 augie win).  Records don't seem to much in this game. 

I must say I am nervous for the thunder for many reasons.  It is tough to go to Rock Island and win late in the season.  It seems to me, this will be the most complete team Wheaton has played all year.  I hope it makes the Thunder bring their A-game and get a solid tune up before NCC.   

It should be interesting to watch Roberts make his first road start at Augie.  I think he has played well but Wheaton cannot afford the types of mistakes he has made in the past.  He already has a few redzone interceptions with one in the endzone.  Does anyone have the Wheaton redzone #'s are this year?  They cannot be that impressive when the kicking game is included.

[lakeshore]

Oct 10, 2009      Wheaton, Ill.       Wheaton 24, Augustana 17
Oct.11, 2008    Rock Island, Ill.       Wheaton 26, Augustana 14
Oct 13, 2007      Wheaton, Ill.       Wheaton 28, Augustana 24
Oct.14, 2006    Rock ISland, Ill.        Augustana 17, Wheaton 14
Nov.12, 2005   Wheaton, Ill.            Augustana 28, Wheaton 7

folks....its gonna be a close one!

[usee]

Wheaton is 29-38 in redone chances this year. That includes 21 tds and 8-13 fgs. No team has more redone opportunities or more redzone scores than the Thunder but their percentage, 76%, puts them 6th of 8 teams. Only Augie and NP are worse on a percentage basis. The Naperville school is 5th at 77.1%

[Mugsy]

Recent history shows this is going to be a battle.  Only one game since 2002 has a team won by more than 7pts (2005 augie win).  Records don't seem to much in this game.  

I must say I am nervous for the thunder for many reasons.  It is tough to go to Rock Island and win late in the season.  It seems to me, this will be the most complete team Wheaton has played all year.  I hope it makes the Thunder bring their A-game and get a solid tune up before NCC.  

It should be interesting to watch Roberts make his first road start at Augie.  I think he has played well but Wheaton cannot afford the types of mistakes he has made in the past.  He already has a few redzone interceptions with one in the endzone.  Does anyone have the Wheaton redzone #'s are this year?  They cannot be that impressive when the kicking game is included.

The other challenge for Wheaton (and for the Naperville school as well), regardless of how much the coaching staff harps on it, the team must absolutely focus on this week and beating Augustana.  You can not even think about the potential 8-0 vs. 8-0 showdown for it all on Nov. 6th.  If Wheaton or the Naperville school fails to pay attention to Augie or Elmhurst, both will be looking at a loss.

What has me a bit uneasy with Wheaton is the horrible 1st half against Elmhurst and Carthage.  Wheaton can not afford that in Rock Island.

[bleedpurple]

I think any region with Linfield in it is scary. It'll be the toughest this year especially if UWW and St. Thomas gets put in the west along with Linfield.

then again NCC looks good this year, I don't want to play them either...

If it makes you feel any better, the followers of those programs probably don't consider their team exactly  a lock to take out UW-W either. 

[Viking Mike]

Did not mean to slight North Park's effort against Augie.  Obviously NP had a part in Augie's poor offensive output last week.  They did play well defensively.

I do think Augie is still trying to find consistency on offense and has often been victims of slow starts.  I also think the wet and windy conditions played havoc with BOTH teams at times.  Despite their poor offensive showing last week, they are still averaging almost 400 yds per game!  My point..... I do not think you saw Augie last week at its best

In regards to not looking like a championship team, I would agree with that.  Augie does not appear to be the leagues' best team this year.  That being said,  they still have a chance to put together a strong team effort today and make this race interesting.  Don't be caught up in appearances.  Defense is what wins championships and Augie has a good one.
I look for a better offensive showing at Ericson today by Lee and the Vikes. 

Go Augie!!!

[WahooThunder]

Does anyone know if Augie has live stats? I can't find it on their website.

[FishHack76]

If the first half so far is an indication, NCC might be in trouble today.