FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[emma17]

Let me start with the disclaimers.
-I am a UWW fan dwelling in the business killing state of IL.
-I have the utmost respect for teams from the OAC.
-I saw NCC play this year (they dismantled Carthage in all phases of the game).
-I did not see ONU play.
-I am a longtime fan of Coach John Thorne, dating back to his great teams at Wheaton Warrenville S HS.

All the legal stuff and pc taken care of, I believe NCC wins by two touchdowns.  NCC may not have the offense some posters say they had last year, but they have tremendous coaching with great creativity.  They will put their players in position to make plays, and because the players are so well coached, they will make the plays to win.  The defense is fast and disciplined. 

No slight to ONU here, just my take on the game. 

[bleedpurple]

Let me start with the disclaimers.
-I am a UWW fan dwelling in the business killing state of IL.
-I have the utmost respect for teams from the OAC.
-I saw NCC play this year (they dismantled Carthage in all phases of the game).
-I did not see ONU play.
-I am a longtime fan of Coach John Thorne, dating back to his great teams at Wheaton Warrenville S HS.

All the legal stuff and pc taken care of, I believe NCC wins by two touchdowns.  NCC may not have the offense some posters say they had last year, but they have tremendous coaching with great creativity.  They will put their players in position to make plays, and because the players are so well coached, they will make the plays to win.  The defense is fast and disciplined. 

No slight to ONU here, just my take on the game. 

I've barely scratched the surface in looking at that game, but one thing that JUMPED out at me:

Ohio Northern has fumbled 21 times this year and fumbled at least once in each of the last 9 games.  Against a fast and hard hitting defense (which I am assuming describes NCC), ball security could be a real problem for the Polar Bears.

[nccfac]

Let me start with the disclaimers.
-I am a UWW fan dwelling in the business killing state of IL.
-I have the utmost respect for teams from the OAC.
-I saw NCC play this year (they dismantled Carthage in all phases of the game).
-I did not see ONU play.
-I am a longtime fan of Coach John Thorne, dating back to his great teams at Wheaton Warrenville S HS.

All the legal stuff and pc taken care of, I believe NCC wins by two touchdowns.  NCC may not have the offense some posters say they had last year, but they have tremendous coaching with great creativity.  They will put their players in position to make plays, and because the players are so well coached, they will make the plays to win.  The defense is fast and disciplined. 

No slight to ONU here, just my take on the game. 

I've barely scratched the surface in looking at that game, but one thing that JUMPED out at me:

Ohio Northern has fumbled 21 times this year and fumbled at least once in each of the last 9 games.  Against a fast and hard hitting defense (which I am assuming describes NCC), ball security could be a real problem for the Polar Bears.

I am just wondering why UWW fans are either wanting the NCC players/fans believe we should win or are they hoping we do win, so that we get to see them in the next round? Either way I still think that UWW should have been a #1 seed, so don't try and give us false hopes. And by the way that Massey Rating has us a 90% favorite to win over ONU and by a 31 to 14 margin. It doesn't matter because it will be decided on the field. Go Cards.

[footballfan413]

Let me start with the disclaimers.
-I am a UWW fan dwelling in the business killing state of IL.
-I have the utmost respect for teams from the OAC.
-I saw NCC play this year (they dismantled Carthage in all phases of the game).
-I did not see ONU play.
-I am a longtime fan of Coach John Thorne, dating back to his great teams at Wheaton Warrenville S HS.

All the legal stuff and pc taken care of, I believe NCC wins by two touchdowns.  NCC may not have the offense some posters say they had last year, but they have tremendous coaching with great creativity.  They will put their players in position to make plays, and because the players are so well coached, they will make the plays to win.  The defense is fast and disciplined.  

No slight to ONU here, just my take on the game.  

I've barely scratched the surface in looking at that game, but one thing that JUMPED out at me:

Ohio Northern has fumbled 21 times this year and fumbled at least once in each of the last 9 games.  Against a fast and hard hitting defense (which I am assuming describes NCC), ball security could be a real problem for the Polar Bears.

I am just wondering why UWW fans are either wanting the NCC players/fans believe we should win or are they hoping we do win, so that we get to see them in the next round? Either way I still think that UWW should have been a #1 seed, so don't try and give us false hopes. And by the way that Massey Rating has us a 90% favorite to win over ONU and by a 31 to 14 margin. It doesn't matter because it will be decided on the field. Go Cards.

No need to look for hidden motives from these two posters.  I know them both personally and they are two of the fairest and most informed UWW posters we have.  
  As for the Massey rating..........ya, football math doesn't impress us much these days. 

[Warhawk 96]

Let me start with the disclaimers.
-I am a UWW fan dwelling in the business killing state of IL.
-I have the utmost respect for teams from the OAC.
-I saw NCC play this year (they dismantled Carthage in all phases of the game).
-I did not see ONU play.
-I am a longtime fan of Coach John Thorne, dating back to his great teams at Wheaton Warrenville S HS.

All the legal stuff and pc taken care of, I believe NCC wins by two touchdowns.  NCC may not have the offense some posters say they had last year, but they have tremendous coaching with great creativity.  They will put their players in position to make plays, and because the players are so well coached, they will make the plays to win.  The defense is fast and disciplined. 

No slight to ONU here, just my take on the game. 

I've barely scratched the surface in looking at that game, but one thing that JUMPED out at me:

Ohio Northern has fumbled 21 times this year and fumbled at least once in each of the last 9 games.  Against a fast and hard hitting defense (which I am assuming describes NCC), ball security could be a real problem for the Polar Bears.

I am just wondering why UWW fans are either wanting the NCC players/fans believe we should win or are they hoping we do win, so that we get to see them in the next round? Either way I still think that UWW should have been a #1 seed, so don't try and give us false hopes. And by the way that Massey Rating has us a 90% favorite to win over ONU and by a 31 to 14 margin. It doesn't matter because it will be decided on the field. Go Cards.

We hope you win. It would be a good step for your program to knock off a quality OAC team.

[NCF]

Let me start with the disclaimers.
-I am a UWW fan dwelling in the business killing state of IL.
-I have the utmost respect for teams from the OAC.
-I saw NCC play this year (they dismantled Carthage in all phases of the game).
-I did not see ONU play.
-I am a longtime fan of Coach John Thorne, dating back to his great teams at Wheaton Warrenville S HS.

All the legal stuff and pc taken care of, I believe NCC wins by two touchdowns.  NCC may not have the offense some posters say they had last year, but they have tremendous coaching with great creativity.  They will put their players in position to make plays, and because the players are so well coached, they will make the plays to win.  The defense is fast and disciplined. 

No slight to ONU here, just my take on the game. 

I've barely scratched the surface in looking at that game, but one thing that JUMPED out at me:

Ohio Northern has fumbled 21 times this year and fumbled at least once in each of the last 9 games.  Against a fast and hard hitting defense (which I am assuming describes NCC), ball security could be a real problem for the Polar Bears.

I am just wondering why UWW fans are either wanting the NCC players/fans believe we should win or are they hoping we do win, so that we get to see them in the next round? Either way I still think that UWW should have been a #1 seed, so don't try and give us false hopes. And by the way that Massey Rating has us a 90% favorite to win over ONU and by a 31 to 14 margin. It doesn't matter because it will be decided on the field. Go Cards.

We hope you win. It would be a good step for your program to knock off a quality OAC team.

We hope they win also. Last year ONU made great adjustments at half-time and pretty much shut down the NC offense. This year the offense is more versatile, not flashy and not reliant on one or two superstars to get the job done. The one thing I like about this team, both offense and defense is knowing that if one player goes down or needs a break, someone else can step in and get the job done. This year it's all about the team first, not individual glory.

[usee]

For the Bethel/Wheaton game the teams appear to be very close based on the numbers offensively and defensively. Looking closer there are some interesting statistics in the special teams area:

Wheaton Kick Off return avg is 23.8 to Bethel's 16.6
Wheaton Punt Return avg is 15.6 to Bethel's 5.3
Wheaton is 17-27 on FG's this year to Bethel's 1-5

And Bethel stopped trying extra points after they had one blocked and missed a Fg vs St Thomas. in the 4 games since then they have only tried PAT's when they have built a lead. They have started each of those games going for 2.

The other stat that sticks out is penalties. Wheaton averages 69.3 yds per game in penalties and Bethel 26.2.

I think Wheaton has a substantial edge in the special teams area but they have certainly been affected by the penalty bug (including last Saturday)

[Mugsy]

Game preview from the Bethel website:

This will be the third year in a row that these two team have faced off, but the first time in the post-season. In 2009 Wheaton travel to Arden Hills early in the season to take on the Royals. The match up was a hard fought battle that Wheaton ended up winning on a last second touchdown 29-26. The Royals lead that game statistically in almost every category. The previous year in 2008 the Royals traveled to Wheaton taking on the Thunder in a heavy rain storm. That game was a story of turnovers due to the weather, a game in which Wheaton escaped the Royals winning 10-7.

This year the Royals are hungry to avenge their losses and hope to defeat Wheaton to move on to the quarter-finals, a place they are familiar with, having been in that position as recently as the 2007 season.

Looking at how the two teams match up statistically they are very even. The Royals have put up 4,374 yards of total offense, while Wheaton has gone for 4,469 yards on the year. The Thunder have an offense that has thrown for 2,247 yards while rushing for 2,222. The Royals on the other hand have thrown for 1,562 while rushing for 2,812 yards.

Bethel will look to exploit a Wheaton defense that has allowed opponents to rack up 2,213 passing yards and 1,071 yards on the ground through 11 games.

Hmm... while nothing here is inaccurate but it does not paint a full picture (not to mention "rack up" is a bit overstated).  

Yes Wheaton is allowing 201.2 yards a game passing, but on 47% completions and while gathering 23 INT's (a school record).  Factor in that Bethel is only passing for 142 yards per game for 196th of 236 nationally.  Please don't read in that I'm implying Bethel is inept in their passing game, just not how they try to beat you.  That is not Bethel's "strength" on offense .

Rather than focus on total yards allowed or gained, to me a primary key to the game could be Bethel's rushing attack vs. Wheaton's rush defense.

The game preview above implies that teams have "racked up" 1071 yards rushing against Wheatons defense.  What it doesn't say is that is only 97.4 yards a game on 3.0 yards per carry.  Good enough for 26th in the nation - a very solid rushing defense.

So the #12 rushing offense in Bethel at 256 yards per game & 5.14 ypc vs. the #26 rushing defense in Wheaton at 97.4 yards per game & 3.0 ypc.  Intriguing.

Not that Bethel's attack is completely one-dimensional (142 passing, 256 rushing), but Wheaton is clearly more balanced (204.3 passing, 202.0 rushing).

RB Logan Flannery concerns me.  He has 1516 yards rushing, 15 TDs, 6.45 ypc and over 4500 yards rushing for his career.  Flannery had 142 yards rushing on 27 carries during the monsoon in Wheaton in 2008 and 139 yards on only 21 carries at Bethel in 2009.  

Flannery is not the only RB to be concerned with for Bethel.  Clearly the Wheaton defense has another significant challenge before them this week (not that any week from here on out doesn't).  

Wheaton has performed well this year against other top rank RB's.  
Millikin's Dion Wilson is #5 in the nation with 151.22 ypg, Wheaton held him to 54 yards on 20 carries.  
Albion's Clinton Orr is #8 in the nation with 139.6 ypg, Wheaton held him to 66 yards on 22 carries.  
Coe's Brendan Lerian is #27 in the nation with 111.36 ypg, Wheaton held him to 46 yards, though only on 9 carries.

On the not so good side, Elmhurt's Scottie Williams is #14 in the nation with 122 yards a game, Wheaton allowed him to gain 159 yards on 30 carries (though much tougher on him in the 2nd half when Wheaton mounted yet another double digit come from behind win).  He had 105 yards on 15 carries in the 1st half, but only 54 on 15 carries in the 2nd half.

Wheaton should have a reasonable level of confidence in that they have faced 4 of the top RB's in the country and have shown themselves to be strong against the run.  The unknown for me is that based on my recollection from the 2008 & 2009 games against Bethel, I believe Bethel has a stronger run blocking offensive line than any of these teams Wheaton has faced this year.  Gut feel/speculation on my part.

[Mugsy]

Highlights from Wheaton's game against Coe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh-66BYX2Wg

If there is any question about Jordan Roberts positive impact on Wheaton's offense, some of these highlights make it a bit more clear.  All this with a significantly injured throwing hand.  His mobility plays a HUGE role.

[02 Warhawk]

Let me start with the disclaimers.
-I am a UWW fan dwelling in the business killing state of IL.
-I have the utmost respect for teams from the OAC.
-I saw NCC play this year (they dismantled Carthage in all phases of the game).
-I did not see ONU play.
-I am a longtime fan of Coach John Thorne, dating back to his great teams at Wheaton Warrenville S HS.

All the legal stuff and pc taken care of, I believe NCC wins by two touchdowns.  NCC may not have the offense some posters say they had last year, but they have tremendous coaching with great creativity.  They will put their players in position to make plays, and because the players are so well coached, they will make the plays to win.  The defense is fast and disciplined. 

No slight to ONU here, just my take on the game. 

I've barely scratched the surface in looking at that game, but one thing that JUMPED out at me:

Ohio Northern has fumbled 21 times this year and fumbled at least once in each of the last 9 games.  Against a fast and hard hitting defense (which I am assuming describes NCC), ball security could be a real problem for the Polar Bears.

I am just wondering why UWW fans are either wanting the NCC players/fans believe we should win or are they hoping we do win, so that we get to see them in the next round? Either way I still think that UWW should have been a #1 seed, so don't try and give us false hopes. And by the way that Massey Rating has us a 90% favorite to win over ONU and by a 31 to 14 margin. It doesn't matter because it will be decided on the field. Go Cards.

you're are looking into this way to much there buddy...We are saying we think you guys are going to win, b/c we think NCC is the better team. Myself included.

That's all 

[bleedpurple]

Let me start with the disclaimers.
-I am a UWW fan dwelling in the business killing state of IL.
-I have the utmost respect for teams from the OAC.
-I saw NCC play this year (they dismantled Carthage in all phases of the game).
-I did not see ONU play.
-I am a longtime fan of Coach John Thorne, dating back to his great teams at Wheaton Warrenville S HS.

All the legal stuff and pc taken care of, I believe NCC wins by two touchdowns.  NCC may not have the offense some posters say they had last year, but they have tremendous coaching with great creativity.  They will put their players in position to make plays, and because the players are so well coached, they will make the plays to win.  The defense is fast and disciplined. 

No slight to ONU here, just my take on the game. 

I've barely scratched the surface in looking at that game, but one thing that JUMPED out at me:

Ohio Northern has fumbled 21 times this year and fumbled at least once in each of the last 9 games.  Against a fast and hard hitting defense (which I am assuming describes NCC), ball security could be a real problem for the Polar Bears.

I am just wondering why UWW fans are either wanting the NCC players/fans believe we should win or are they hoping we do win, so that we get to see them in the next round? Either way I still think that UWW should have been a #1 seed, so don't try and give us false hopes. And by the way that Massey Rating has us a 90% favorite to win over ONU and by a 31 to 14 margin. It doesn't matter because it will be decided on the field. Go Cards.

I just reacted to Emma17's post because I had just begun looking at the NCC/Northern Ohio game, when I checked the board and saw his post regarding the game. (ADD? probably  )

Anyway, I am still trying to figure out who I will pick to win that game. I think I may have picked Ohio Northern on the d3photography.com pickem board.  I have no illusions of continued success in that contest, because I had not studied any of the games beyond the first round. 

As far as rooting interest, I don't really care who wins that game, I guess.  I respect both teams, but fear neither. On one hand, another game at the Perk would be awesome. On the other hand, I relish the opportunity UW-W would have to make a statement to the selection committee far louder than any message board banter could ever resonate. 

[letsplay2]

It's been a while since I've contributed anything to the board, but as a Wheaton transplant up in Minneapolis, and having been at the Bethel-St. Thomas game this year, I felt the need to give my input on the Wheaton-Bethel matchup.

As a Wheaton fan and former player, this game scares me.  The St. Thomas game was Bethel's to lose, and they lost it, thanks in large part to their kicking game.  It baffles me that Bethel has not been able to bring in at least a decent kicker for the better part of the last 6-7 seasons.  My first year at Wheaton, I played with Andrew Day, who was an all-american at the end of that year.  Interestingly enough, Day went to Mounds View high school, which is not far at all from Bethel. Needless to say, Bethel's inablility to convert PAT's and especially field goals could play a huge role in this game.

Flannery is an absolute stud.  His ability to make something out of nothing is amazing.  There were numerous times he should have been stopped at the line of scrimmage against the Tommies, but was able to break free for 5-10 yard gains.  I hate to keep dropping names, but he reminded me a lot of Garrett Granberg.  Outside of their solid run game, I was not impressed at all with their passing attack.  Aakre's mobility is decent, but his arm strength and accuracy leave a lot to be desired.  In addition to that, they have no real threat on at receiver.  I feel very confident that Wheaton's secondary will be able to handle bethel's passing game, so the only question will be how they handle Flannery and the running attack.

What scares me even more than Flannery is Bethel's defense.  They absolutely shut down a very good St. Thomas offense.  They are a bit undersized overall, but have great team speed and are extremely disciplined.  Their SS, Vavra is a beast and will make plays all over the field.  If Wheaton cannot establish the run game early against these guys, Their secondary is good enough to limit the pass game and make it very difficult for Wheaton to move the ball.

To me the Wheaton O vs. Bethel D is the key to this game.  Bethel's offense, outside of Flannery, is very subpar.  If Wheaton is able to get into the endzone, they should be able to pull this one out. 

Fortunately, I'll be making my way back to the Wheaton area for Thanksgiving, so I will be able to enjoy what sholuld be a great game, in person.  My prediction is 13-6 Wheaton.

[shepherd]

Augustana coach resigns

http://www.d3football.com/notables/2010/11/augustana-coach-resigns

[CardinalAlum]

Augustana coach resigns

http://www.d3football.com/notables/2010/11/augustana-coach-resigns

Huge surprise!  Augie guys see this coming?   Resign or be fired?  Who are the possible replacements?

[hazzben]

Mugsy,

I think that's a fair analysis. FWIW, I was a little uncomfortable with Bethel's game preview. Yeah, they racked up yards the last two years, but Wheaton also won both games. Pretty sure Wheaton would be just fine with the same result this year and Bethel would love to be outgained, but still playing next week.

letsplay2:

What you don't realize about Bethel's passing attack is that Halstrom, who just had 119 yds rec and a TD last week, didn't play against UST. It is definitely not the strengh of our offense, but it will have an added dimension it was lacking against UST.

Should be a fun game on Saturday, especially with neither team having an edge in prayer power