FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

What's with the CCIW.org sports website?  It never seems to work properly . . . always sends a "no response" signal back.  Needs some work, some attention, me thinks.

I'm on CCIW.org regularly and have never once had a problem.  I think the league does a fantastic job with the site actually.

Two shockers in the Big Ten today -- Iowa over Michigan, and, believe it or not, Norhwestern over Nebraska. 

As a Cornhuskers season ticket holder who was at the game today, I can tell you that Lincoln is not a real happy place right now.

[Titan Q]

Norm Eash comments (audio) after IWU's comeback win @ Carthage...

http://wjbc.com/illinois-wesleyan-football-rallies-to-finish-perfect-on-road/

[robertgoulet]

After today's game, the biggest concerns I came away with for NCC was the need to capitalize in the red-zone. If you get down there against the big boys you have to be able to take advantage. Also, the kick return coverage was less than stellar, as Wheaton seemed to consistently start around the 35 yd line.

One player who really caught my eye was NCC CB #31. He had his side of the field shut down all day (other than taking a huge hit on Wheaton's only scoring drive, man was he lit up). He has really good size for a D3 DB, and was on his man tight all day.

Dicken really throws a nice ball, the first TD pass to Kabba was placed perfectly (on a 3rd and 22, none the less).

Congrats to NCC!

[NCF]

Agree with your points on today's game. again punt and kick-off give up too much on the return. the entire defense did a great job of shutting down Wheaton. the offense should have had a few more scores, but it was nice to see three QB's contribute. this should prove to be a huge headache to the d coordinators who have to prepare for NC in the play-offs. I can see this team making another deep run. Great job Cards!

[robertgoulet]

Agree with your points on today's game. again punt and kick-off give up too much on the return. the entire defense did a great job of shutting down Wheaton. the offense should have had a few more scores, but it was nice to see three QB's contribute. this should prove to be a huge headache to the d coordinators who have to prepare for NC in the play-offs. I can see this team making another deep run. Great job Cards!

Mentioned this exact thing to a friend of mine while at the game today. They shuffle in and out every play, and they rarely huddle so it will be tough for defenses to change out personnel if they need to.

[AndOne]

I posted the following after NCC hammered IWU on 10/22...

Watching North Central play, it's very evident how much their program has separated from the rest of the CCIW.  I think they have 7-8 scholarship school transfers on the roster (several from D1) to complement their homegrown guys, who are outstanding D3 players.  In my opinion, North Central is not quite at UW-Whitewater/Mount Union level, but I think they are closer to those schools than they are the "next tier" of the CCIW (Wheaton, IWU this year).  John Thorne has really built a powerhouse program in Naperville.  This will be 6 CCIW titles in a row...that's hard to do.

The more North Central plays, the more evidence we get of how much they have completely separated from the CCIW pack as a program.  The Cardinals have now won 14 CCIW games in a row by 20+ points.  Looking at the last 5 years, the "next tier" isn't really even in the ballpark with NCC...

CCIW record, 2007 - 2011
North Central, 32-2 (5 titles)
Illinois Wesleyan, 24-10 (2 titles)
Wheaton, 24-10

The only thing I might reconsider about what I posted back on 10/22 is the statement "North Central is not quite at UW-Whitewater/Mount Union level..."  There is a very good chance that NCC is right there with the big boys.

With a victory, we often see the majority of the accolades going to the QB, the running backs, or the receivers---those that throw for or score almost all the points. Linemen, especially those on the offensive side of the ball usually receive little or no praise. Today saw the North Central Cardinals soundly take down the D3Football #13 team in the country, in large part due to a more than 2 to 1 advantage in total yards gained.

My understanding is that this was done with BOTH of the usual starting offensive tackles out. Kudos are certainly due to the big bodies on both sides of the ball, but especially to today's starting LT Alex Mann, and RT Greg Whalen, who did a most admirable job. Both Alex and Greg are only sophomores.

The above might be a primary example of why. North Central just seems to have so much more depth than any of the other teams.
In addition to the starters, 18 additional players saw action for Wheaton, while the Casrdinals sent 33 additionl bodies into the fray. They just wear down the other team. 

[bluejay4ever]

Elmhurst beats Augustana 28-27 in Rock Island.    Augie marched 95 yards in final minute to score TD and misfired on fake PAT.    Would love to hear what Augie alums think of the decision not to go for the tie.

Interesting that they would go for a fake PAT. Two things here. First you are at home and going into overtime with momentum would seem to be smart. Secondly if you want to go for the win, line up in regular offense and call your best play. That took guts and it if it would have worked I still would say that is strange.

More importantly it did not work and my Jays received the big W in Rock Island. This may not seem like much to many on this board, but that is a huge mental win for the players at EC. For the first time in probably 30 years EC wins at Augie. For the first time in who knows they win two years in a row against Augie. I am so happy for the coaches and players over there that have put in so much time preparing for this game. After a lot of high hopes that were dashed early in conference it says a lot about the people over there playing as hard as they do through the end of the year.

About 40 more straight and we are going to tie of that series!! Here we come!

Congrats to the NC for yet another CCIW title. I now am going to go wash my fingers in bleach for typing that.

[AndOne]

After today's game, the biggest concerns I came away with for NCC was the need to capitalize in the red-zone. If you get down there against the big boys you have to be able to take advantage. Also, the kick return coverage was less than stellar, as Wheaton seemed to consistently start around the 35 yd line.

One player who really caught my eye was NCC CB #31. He had his side of the field shut down all day (other than taking a huge hit on Wheaton's only scoring drive, man was he lit up). He has really good size for a D3 DB, and was on his man tight all day.

Dicken really throws a nice ball, the first TD pass to Kabba was placed perfectly (on a 3rd and 22, none the less).

Congrats to NCC!

Robert---

#31 for NCC would be 6'1' 200 pound senior Stewart Charles, the man with 2 1st names. 

I am very familiar with Stewart going back to his HS days at Batavia. Stew is just a very good athlete. In HS he also excelled on the basketball court playing as the 6th man on the basketball team, and being a major contributor. Even more impressive than his athletic ability, Stew is the type of young man you would like to see your daughter in partnership with, and is a prime example of a student-athlete having attained Academic All-CCIW status for his body of work in the classroom.

[Gregory Sager]

Another tough loss for NPU. This wasn't the heartbreaker that last week's loss was, but it was still a hair-pulling, shoulda-coulda-woulda sort of day for the Vikings. NPU outgained Millikin 384 to 320 in offensive yards, almost doubled MU in first downs (33-17), and had almost a 2-to-1 TOP lead over the Big Blue. Lest that sound like I'm taking refuge in statistics, the one stat that really stands out in this game is -- you guessed it -- turnovers: NPU coughed up the ball five times to Millikin's one. One turnover took place at the Millikin 12, another happened at the Millikin 5, and the one that pounded the final nail in North Park's coffin occurred at the Millikin 3. Just a classic case of a team shooting itself in the foot.

Millikin has a very solid offense -- Matt Holmes is as good a QB as I've seen this year, and freshman running back Sean Dunning (son of former MU basketball star "Stunning" Wayne Dunning) is a star in the making. But the Big Blue are good at shooting themselves in the foot as well; their Raideresque 11 penalties for 113 yards helped keep several Vikings drives alive as NPU was fighting its way back from a 27-7 halftime deficit to close within six points. And Millikin's defense certainly leaves a lot to be desired. But that solid Big Blue offense, plus NPU's chronic propensity to turn the ball over, proved to give the hosts the edge that they needed to win the game.

Matt Hassan followed up his 156-yard game of last week with a 192-yard rushing effort today. Equally as impressive, he did it with a workmanlike 35 carries. I hope he gets his due as an All-CCIW selection at the end of the season.

Tyler Krebs did not play today, as he suffered a concussion at the end of last week's game against Carthage. His fellow sophomore Jon Williams went the distance as NPU's QB, and while he brings some things to the table that Krebs doesn't offer (and vice-versa), the problem with Williams is that he simply lacks the necessary game experience at this point to throw accurately. I'm not pinning the loss on him for throwing three interceptions, because there's plenty of blame to go around (f'rinstance, not wrapping up Dunning on several of his long runs is an onus that's on the shoulders of the defensive players for the Park), but Williams definitely looked like a backup QB today.

Unfortunately, the Vikings are going to have to end the season next week with a bad taste in their mouths. After three weeks of very competitive, and at times impressive, football following the three early lopsided CCIW losses, NPU will have to end the year as North Central's final sacrificial lamb. Doesn't seem right, but that's the way the schedule works. All that NPU can do at this point is put forth the effort and play with a sense of determination and pride next week in Naperville.

[Augie6]

Elmhurst beats Augustana 28-27 in Rock Island.    Augie marched 95 yards in final minute to score TD and misfired on fake PAT.    Would love to hear what Augie alums think of the decision not to go for the tie.

I don't think you'll get many emotions/thoughts from any Augie alum on that decision.  The difference between a 2-8 or 3-7 season is meaningless, much like the football program is in the CCIW, right now.  Congratulations to the current administration at Augie, mission accomplished.  You have succeeded in killing the program.  Assuming they lose against IWU (which is a pretty safe bet), this will be the least amount of wins for an Augie team since 1958.  If, by some miracle, they beat IWU, it will be their worst record since 1970. 

[Stagg Again!!]

Last year's schedule was a bit weaker, but folks can't complain about games against four Top 20 teams and very good CC and MU teams.

Updated SOS numbers for Top 10 teams in North Region (in Regional Ranking order from last week):

Mount Union         #81
Franklin               #217
Wabash               #144
NCC                    #8
Case                    #126
IWU                    #20
WC                     #14
Baldwin Wallace   #105
Wittenberg          #117
Albion                  #60

[ncc58]

#31 for NCC would be 6'1' 200 pound senior Stewart Charles, the man with 2 1st names. 

Charles is very physical. He can be dominant as a CB. However, in some games where the officials call it closely, he has been flagged for penalties.

[ncc58]

I haven't seen Wheaton play prior to today so I don't have perspective on their typical game.
I attended the game today and besides being surprised by a lower attendance for such a big game- I was surprised with how flat and mistake prone Wheaton was. From punting to poor play against the option there were unforced errors that created such a score disparity.

Emma, Wheaton is a very good team. I don't think they were flat. I was in the endzone watching them during the pregame, and they appeared to be focused and energetic. They just played an NCC team that was better.

Remember, Wheaton beat Platteville in the third week by 9 points, and UWP (despite all the injuries they've had) is tied for 2nd in the WIAC. UWP gave your Warhawks a game for three quarters.

[Stagg Again!!]

Last year's schedule was a bit weaker, but folks can't complain about games against four Top 20 teams and very good CC and MU teams.

Updated SOS numbers for Top 10 teams in North Region (in Regional Ranking order from last week):

Mount Union         #81
Franklin               #217
Wabash               #144
NCC                    #8
Case                    #126
IWU                    #20
WC                     #14
Baldwin Wallace   #105
Wittenberg          #117
Albion                  #60

Redlands is winning again and Bethel of Tennessee won again to go to 7-2 overall.  Neither of these is taken into account in NCC's OWP.

[BoBo]

I haven't seen Wheaton play prior to today so I don't have perspective on their typical game.
I attended the game today and besides being surprised by a lower attendance for such a big game- I was surprised with how flat and mistake prone Wheaton was. From punting to poor play against the option there were unforced errors that created such a score disparity.

Emma, Wheaton is a very good team. I don't think they were flat. I was in the endzone watching them during the pregame, and they appeared to be focused and energetic. They just played an NCC team that was better.

Remember, Wheaton beat Platteville in the third week by 9 points, and UWP (despite all the injuries they've had) is tied for 2nd in the WIAC. UWP gave your Warhawks a game for three quarters.

That Platteville game was very much in doubt (16-14 game) until the final 3 minutes. Could've gone either way. In fact, a Pioneer fumble deep in their own territory that Wheaton converted was the final margin of victory. They also lost to the team they are tied with in the standings (Oshkosh) 24-3, so they are in third place in reality. They have had injuries, but a lot of teams have injuries.  The difference is they haven't made as big a deal out of it as you have.