FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[79jaybird]

I don't think Wheaton has much to worry about on Saturday

[ExTartanPlayer]

Saturday night presents kind of an unexpected challenge for the Jays coming off just their second non-con loss in a decade.

U of Chicago is 2-0 after blanking Beloit north of the cheese curtain and taking down last year's 10-0 Concordia in River Forest.

Last time the Jays got off the bus in Hyde Park in 2011, the Maroons found a way to win.  These UofC kids are playing with some confidence and seem to have their ground game rolling (450 yards in 2 games) - i am sure they will be charged at Stagg Field on Saturday night.

This will serve as a big mental test for EC as they hope to shake off a disappointing performance in Angola and look ahead to the bye week before the Cards come to town.  How these young Jays approach this Saturday night will go a long way in setting the tone for the conference grind that lies ahead.

Kind of an intriguing game here from my side as well, on the "below the national radar but still fascinating to D-III diehards" level.  I still mark Elmhurst as a clear favorite, but with Chicago off to a surprising 2-0 start and Elmhurst coming off the loss to Trine, it will be interesting to see how each squad performs.  It's important for both teams; a chance for the Maroons to validate their 2-0 start with another win against a 2012 playoff team (admittedly one that suffered heavy graduation losses) and a chance for Elmhurst to re-orient themselves after the loss to Trine.

I expected Chicago to struggle this year with a late coaching change, but their defense (which is quite experienced) has been stingy through two games.  It's hard to know just how much weight to place on those results because Beloit was 0-10 last year and Concordia, even though they were a playoff team in 2012, got blown out by Lake Forest in Week 1.  Nonetheless Chicago is 2-0 with a promising defense, an OK running game, and a veteran QB.  I may have been too quick to write off the Maroons.

Elmhurst has fallen off a notch from last year, but that was to be expected given the heavy graduation losses.  The loss to Trine is disappointing, but Trine has been a consistently good program for the last 5+ seasons and they might be a bit better than you think.  Fascinating little game here.

[NCF]

North Central's Spencer Stanek and John Focosi are the CCIW offensive and defensive players of the week.

http://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2013/9/16/FB_0916133919.aspx

Typical NCC guy, leaves off the other POW, Sam Cote. Kicker for Wheaton, current owner of the Bell, earned special teams honors for 9 PAT's and a 45 yd FG.

As in current owner until Nov.9th?

No, that's not what I meant at all.

I know, but just tryin to get your goat

I didn't know they were giving away a goat as a consolation prize to the loser of the Bell game. 

Yea, good eatin!!

[blue_jays]

North Central's Spencer Stanek and John Focosi are the CCIW offensive and defensive players of the week.

http://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2013/9/16/FB_0916133919.aspx

Typical NCC guy, leaves off the other POW, Sam Cote. Kicker for Wheaton, current owner of the Bell, earned special teams honors for 9 PAT's and a 45 yd FG.

As in current owner until Nov.9th?

No, that's not what I meant at all.

I know, but just tryin to get your goat

I didn't know they were giving away a goat as a consolation prize to the loser of the Bell game. 

Yea, good eatin!!

I'm not a fan of goat myself, too greasy.

[shepherd]

I don't think Wheaton has much to worry about on Saturday

Thats not the point.  Its about a good option offense will point out weaknesses in a defense.  I know the option including the blocking and most do not do it correctly.  I don't care how good of athletes you put on the field a good option team can destroy a defense without discipline as Coach Swider mentioned after the Albion game.  I know personally technique, discipline, and smarts can go a long way overcoming pure athleticism.  You don't realize how sloppy the technique of linemen is today.  When they got rid of the option type linemen of the 70s and eighties they threw the baby out with the bathwater because they have big slow strong 300 lb linemen.  I am not advocating running the option just advocating good  technique and smart play.  Their is a reason teams today have such a hard time running the ball unless you have super all American athletes.

[CardinalAlum]

How about the new karma feature. + and -. Interesting little feature. Now if we could only get instagram links we will be set.

I only dinged the new USee 30 times?   . Scary thing is I agree with you about 51 weeks out of the year! 

[CardinalAlum]

Where the heck is Mugsy? 

[USee]

Where the heck is Mugsy?

Sabbatical

[kiko]

How about the new karma feature. + and -. Interesting little feature. Now if we could only get instagram links we will be set.

I only dinged the new USee 30 times?   . Scary thing is I agree with you about 51 weeks out of the year!

Maybe the odometer rolled over or something... 

[mr_b]

Where the heck is Mugsy?

Sabbatical

A sabbatical from D3Boards??  No such thing.

[USee]

How about the new karma feature. + and -. Interesting little feature. Now if we could only get instagram links we will be set.

I only dinged the new USee 30 times?   . Scary thing is I agree with you about 51 weeks out of the year!

Maybe the odometer rolled over or something... 

Not like Ypsi, Prikkel or Sager (if I dare add Sager to that geriatric crowd). My odometer has a lot of miles, but hasn't quite rolled over like those guys.

[USee]

Where the heck is Mugsy?

Sabbatical

A sabbatical from D3Boards??  No such thing.

False. You have to be on the boards for at least 7 years and then you get a sabbatical. I took mine about a year ago and Mugsy has taken his this year.

[robertgoulet]

Just noticed that I'm within a very loud shout of 1K posts. Maybe I can reach the promised land by the end of this season!

[mr_b]

Where the heck is Mugsy?

Sabbatical

A sabbatical from D3Boards??  No such thing.

False. You have to be on the boards for at least 7 years and then you get a sabbatical. I took mine about a year ago and Mugsy has taken his this year.

Thanks for the clarification.  I guess I missed the sabbatical deadline application!  I'll try to be more vigilant.

[USee]

And an article on IWU's large senior class...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/big-iwu-senior-class-eager-to-close-out-with-special/article_a3b47e58-06f4-11e3-b2e7-001a4bcf887a.html

Q brought up this article a few weeks back that shows IWU with 32 people in their SR class. Obviously we all know that you win the CCIW with upper classmen and good teams with a strong senior class are almost always in contention for league titles in all sports, but surely in CCIW football. This is a big reason why IWU has such high aspirations for the current season.

I took a look at the CCIW schools, and in particular the projected top 3. I looked at how many seniors are returning and how many of them are regular contributors on the field in terms of playing time for meaningful parts of games.

(seniors/contributors)
IWU 30/15
Wheaton 26/19
NCC 21/13

Augie 25/13
Elmhurst 17/7
Millikin  14/7
NPU  17/7

I have a pretty good feel for the top 3 plus Elmhurst of how many are "contributing" the other schools are partly informed and part guesses. A couple observations:

IWU and Wheaton are threats to win the conference title because of their incredibly strong senior classes and experience. I think this stat shows why there is separation amongst the top 3 as much as anything else.

-Augie is surprisingly strong in their senior class. It does matter how good those seniors are and I think what we have seen is they don't have enough senior All CCIW type players to compete with the top 3. This stat makes me think they will be in the top half of the league this year though.

-NPU has as strong a senior class as they have had in some years (GS has previously mentioned this). Makes me think they can compete this year with the likes of Millikin and Carthage. It wouldn't be a total shock to see 2 conference wins from NPU......heresy you say? We will see