FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[devildog29]

So I'm flying into Blo-No tomorrow and looking forward to catching my first IWU game in a few years on Saturday.  Particularly excited to see all the changes to the field.  That being said, while I understand all of the economic/maintenance arguments for having the FieldTurf, I will always prefer football on real grass.  Maybe this means I am now officially a generation removed, but the idea of playing football with no grass stains on my uniform is just......weird.  What's next - Augie starts throwing the football?

[NCF]

So I'm flying into Blo-No tomorrow and looking forward to catching my first IWU game in a few years on Saturday.  Particularly excited to see all the changes to the field.  That being said, while I understand all of the economic/maintenance arguments for having the FieldTurf, I will always prefer football on real grass.  Maybe this means I am now officially a generation removed, but the idea of playing football with no grass stains on my uniform is just......weird.  What's next - Augie starts throwing the football?

My son's high school has a grass field and he would rather play on grass, so you aren't the only one who feels that way.

[matblake]

Swider's post game comments, which includes a little jab at Notre Dame.

[Mugsy]

Wheaton's game this week against UW-Platteville has me just a bit unsteady.  UW-Platteville is a real up and coming team.  They obviously have a lot of talent returning this year and the game is in Wisconsin.

Extending the 27 game regular season non-conference win streak will be seriously challenged this week.  Later tonight I plan to investigate a bit more concisely where the challenges seem to exist for Wheaton this week.

[Mugsy]

USee sighting, USee sighting... (over on the WIAC board).

[02 Warhawk]

USee sighting, USee sighting... (over on the WIAC board).

He defected...sorry.

[bluejay4ever]

Does anyone feel that the Alums at Augie are going to be in uproar soon? I think they had a huge nitch with their offense they ran and it was such a tradition there. Now trying to change the culture has turned into a couple of sub par seasons from their standard and now and a 0-2 start. Just knowing some of their alumni I wonder if it is just a matter of time before a new coach is asked to come in and return them to their old ways.

[Gregory Sager]

Does anyone feel that the Alums at Augie are going to be in uproar soon? I think they had a huge nitch with their offense they ran and it was such a tradition there. Now trying to change the culture has turned into a couple of sub par seasons from their standard and now and a 0-2 start. Just knowing some of their alumni I wonder if it is just a matter of time before a new coach is asked to come in and return them to their old ways.

You'll really hear them squawk if North Park (and its option offense) beats Augie.

[Kovo]

I always love all the talk about what offense is more effective.  I think that it is part of what makes college football more interesting than the NFL.  With that  said, I heard everyone in Florida this year  talking about the change at UF from the spread to the a pro style offense, and wouldn't that be great?  But, (I asked) is it any greater than Auburn and Oregon's version of the spread?  What about the "pistol" Nevada ran last year?  Isn't that effective?  But, is it any more effective than the version of the old run and shoot that June Jones runs at SMU, or Mike Leach ran at Texas Tech?

And, of course, the option alive and well at Georgia Tech, Air Force and NPU.  Isn't it real difficult to defend?  So was it really a good idea for Augie to scrap it to throw the ball?

In the end, I believe that if you have speed, good athletes and are well schooled in the fundamentals (i.e. blocking and timing), you can run any offense (or not).  But, I always enjoy the conversation of "shouldn't we dump this offense and move to something different to really score some points?"  For me, I miss the veer that we ran in high school (of course, you didn't want to get behind---not that it is ever a good idea).

Any thoughts on the "best" offensive schemes out there for D3 and why?

[NCF]

I always love all the talk about what offense is more effective.  I think that it is part of what makes college football more interesting than the NFL.  With that  said, I heard everyone in Florida this year  talking about the change at UF from the spread to the a pro style offense, and wouldn't that be great?  But, (I asked) is it any greater than Auburn and Oregon's version of the spread?  What about the "pistol" Nevada ran last year?  Isn't that effective?  But, is it any more effective than the version of the old run and shoot that June Jones runs at SMU, or Mike Leach ran at Texas Tech?

And, of course, the option alive and well at Georgia Tech, Air Force and NPU.  Isn't it real difficult to defend?  So was it really a good idea for Augie to scrap it to throw the ball?

In the end, I believe that if you have speed, good athletes and are well schooled in the fundamentals (i.e. blocking and timing), you can run any offense (or not).  But, I always enjoy the conversation of "shouldn't we dump this offense and move to something different to really score some points?"  For me, I miss the veer that we ran in high school (of course, you didn't want to get behind---not that it is ever a good idea).

Any thoughts on the "best" offensive schemes out there for D3 and why?

It all depends on the athletes. I don't think there is a one offense fits all for d3-you have to go with what works for the type of athletes you can recruit.

[Always.A.Titan]

I always love all the talk about what offense is more effective.  I think that it is part of what makes college football more interesting than the NFL.  With that  said, I heard everyone in Florida this year  talking about the change at UF from the spread to the a pro style offense, and wouldn't that be great?  But, (I asked) is it any greater than Auburn and Oregon's version of the spread?  What about the "pistol" Nevada ran last year?  Isn't that effective?  But, is it any more effective than the version of the old run and shoot that June Jones runs at SMU, or Mike Leach ran at Texas Tech?

And, of course, the option alive and well at Georgia Tech, Air Force and NPU.  Isn't it real difficult to defend?  So was it really a good idea for Augie to scrap it to throw the ball?

In the end, I believe that if you have speed, good athletes and are well schooled in the fundamentals (i.e. blocking and timing), you can run any offense (or not).  But, I always enjoy the conversation of "shouldn't we dump this offense and move to something different to really score some points?"  For me, I miss the veer that we ran in high school (of course, you didn't want to get behind---not that it is ever a good idea).

Any thoughts on the "best" offensive schemes out there for D3 and why?

It all depends on the athletes. I don't think there is a one offense fits all for d3-you have to go with what works for the type of athletes you can recruit.

Agreed. Obviously each coach has their own preference, but when it comes down to being successful, you have to tailor your offensive scheme to the athletes that you have on your side of the ball. If a coach is at a school for a longer period of time, you will most likely see a shift to his personal favorites when he is able to recruit in his type of players. But until that point, you have to mix and match to be successful. Look at Brady Hoke at U of M...Denard Robinson isn't going to be a dropback, pocket passer anytime soon. Hoke is going to have to find the right mix of implementing his more pro-style minded offense with the spread that lets Robinson run around and make ridiculous plays.

Or if you are a WR like myself, you believe in zero running backs, zero full backs, zero tight ends, 5 wide outs, and 95 passes per game 

[NCF]

I always love all the talk about what offense is more effective.  I think that it is part of what makes college football more interesting than the NFL.  With that  said, I heard everyone in Florida this year  talking about the change at UF from the spread to the a pro style offense, and wouldn't that be great?  But, (I asked) is it any greater than Auburn and Oregon's version of the spread?  What about the "pistol" Nevada ran last year?  Isn't that effective?  But, is it any more effective than the version of the old run and shoot that June Jones runs at SMU, or Mike Leach ran at Texas Tech?

And, of course, the option alive and well at Georgia Tech, Air Force and NPU.  Isn't it real difficult to defend?  So was it really a good idea for Augie to scrap it to throw the ball?

In the end, I believe that if you have speed, good athletes and are well schooled in the fundamentals (i.e. blocking and timing), you can run any offense (or not).  But, I always enjoy the conversation of "shouldn't we dump this offense and move to something different to really score some points?"  For me, I miss the veer that we ran in high school (of course, you didn't want to get behind---not that it is ever a good idea).

Any thoughts on the "best" offensive schemes out there for D3 and why?

It all depends on the athletes. I don't think there is a one offense fits all for d3-you have to go with what works for the type of athletes you can recruit.

Agreed. Obviously each coach has their own preference, but when it comes down to being successful, you have to tailor your offensive scheme to the athletes that you have on your side of the ball. If a coach is at a school for a longer period of time, you will most likely see a shift to his personal favorites when he is able to recruit in his type of players. But until that point, you have to mix and match to be successful. Look at Brady Hoke at U of M...Denard Robinson isn't going to be a dropback, pocket passer anytime soon. Hoke is going to have to find the right mix of implementing his more pro-style minded offense with the spread that lets Robinson run around and make ridiculous plays.

Or if you are a WR like myself, you believe in zero running backs, zero full backs, zero tight ends, 5 wide outs, and 95 passes per game 

...just like when kids play when the adults leave them alone

[hazzben]

So I'm flying into Blo-No tomorrow and looking forward to catching my first IWU game in a few years on Saturday.  Particularly excited to see all the changes to the field.  That being said, while I understand all of the economic/maintenance arguments for having the FieldTurf, I will always prefer football on real grass.  Maybe this means I am now officially a generation removed, but the idea of playing football with no grass stains on my uniform is just......weird.  What's next - Augie starts throwing the football?

My son's high school has a grass field and he would rather play on grass, so you aren't the only one who feels that way.

I'm all for grass, but only if the school's willing to invest the time and money into making it a quality playing surface. At Bethel, they have a top notch grounds crew dedicated to the football field and it shows. It's a great surface and yes, you do get grass stains!

If you have a field that is used by multiple teams, however, artificial is the way to go. When soccer and/or area high schools are sharing the field, you've simply got to go this route to ensure that the field holds up. And if you aren't willing to invest the time to keep the grass field playable (and it takes a tone of time, energy and expertise, especially late in the year) you owe it to your team and your opponents to get something akin to field turf. Their's nothing worse than playing on a grass field that is more like a pasture than a football field. And I've had that experience on several occasions in college.

[hazzben]

Wheaton's game this week against UW-Platteville has me just a bit unsteady.  UW-Platteville is a real up and coming team.  They obviously have a lot of talent returning this year and the game is in Wisconsin.

Extending the 27 game regular season non-conference win streak will be seriously challenged this week.  Later tonight I plan to investigate a bit more concisely where the challenges seem to exist for Wheaton this week.

Agreed. I was thinking about the Wheaton - UWP game this morning. That's going to be a good game. Probably a lot better game than most people realize. I'd say Wheaton probably has the edge simply from knowing how to win important and close games. But UWP is definitely on the rise.

And could you add any more qualifiers to this win streak: 27 game regular season non-conference win streak 

[Mugsy]

I always love all the talk about what offense is more effective.  I think that it is part of what makes college football more interesting than the NFL.  With that  said, I heard everyone in Florida this year  talking about the change at UF from the spread to the a pro style offense, and wouldn't that be great?  But, (I asked) is it any greater than Auburn and Oregon's version of the spread?  What about the "pistol" Nevada ran last year?  Isn't that effective?  But, is it any more effective than the version of the old run and shoot that June Jones runs at SMU, or Mike Leach ran at Texas Tech?

And, of course, the option alive and well at Georgia Tech, Air Force and NPU.  Isn't it real difficult to defend?  So was it really a good idea for Augie to scrap it to throw the ball?

In the end, I believe that if you have speed, good athletes and are well schooled in the fundamentals (i.e. blocking and timing), you can run any offense (or not).  But, I always enjoy the conversation of "shouldn't we dump this offense and move to something different to really score some points?"  For me, I miss the veer that we ran in high school (of course, you didn't want to get behind---not that it is ever a good idea).

Any thoughts on the "best" offensive schemes out there for D3 and why?

It all depends on the athletes. I don't think there is a one offense fits all for d3-you have to go with what works for the type of athletes you can recruit.

I completely agree.  I think what separates a great coach from a good coach is that a great coach will recognize the skillset of his players year to year and will make adjustments to scheme to fit the skills.  Don't force a scheme if you don't have the players to execute it.