FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Naperville Sun article on the North Central win yesterday:

http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/sports/fbl_ncc-NAP-09222013:article

[kiko]

One thing that yesterday demonstrated is how impressive both North Central and Wheaton can be.  I don't have a good sense of where Lex Luther and Stout sit in their conferences' relative pecking order, but assume they are somewhat mid-tier (Stout) and mid-lower tier (Luther).

Here's Wheaton drives yesterday against Lex Luther... lots of sustained drives and a couple of quick strikes:

5 Plays, 71 Yards, Touchdown
1 Play, 24 Yards, Touchdown
9 Plays, 37 Yards, turned over on downs
8 Plays, 65 Yards, Touchdown
---
9 Plays, 48 Yards, Field Goal
5 Plays, 10 Yards, Punt
3 Plays, 42 Yards, Touchdown
---
9 Plays, 63 Yards, Touchdown
----- (Wheaton replaces Jordan Roberts and presumably empties bench) -----
3 Plays, 16 Yards, Interception
6 Plays, 31 Yards, Punt

(The second TD came after a 1-yard punt.  Anyone know how Luther managed a 1-yard punt?)

Most impressive to me is this:

Luther's first half drives:
3 Plays, 1 Yard, 0:49 Time of Possession
3 Plays, 3 Yards, 1:38 TOP
6 Plays, 19 Yards, 3:43 TOP
3 Plays, -5 Yards, 1:34 TOP
3 Plays, 6 Yards, 2:24 TOP
3 Plays, -9 Yards, 1:41 TOP
3 Plays, 5 Yards, 0:55 TOP
3 Plays, 1 Yard, 2:03 TOP, halftime

One first down and 21 yards of offense for the half.

[kiko]

Here's North Central's drives against Stout.  Like what Wheaton did, this was pretty impressive.  Lots and lots of long, time-chewing drives:

12 Plays, 71 Yards, Missed FG
4 Plays, 69 Yards, Touchdown
---
9 Plays, 85 Yards, Touchdown
11 Plays, 75 Yards, Touchdown
12 Plays, 80 Yards, Touchdown
---
5 Plays, 55 Yards, Touchdown
(Stanek and others depart)
5 Plays, 17 Yards, Interception
---
16 Plays, 80 Yards, Touchdown
3 Plays, 9 Yards, Punt
10 Plays, 55 Yards, Turn over on downs
1 Play, -2 Yards, Victory Formation

Stout had a little more success moving the ball a little more than I'd like to see against the Cardinal defense, but this metronomic performance by the offense was great to see.

[NCF]

One thing that yesterday demonstrated is how impressive both North Central and Wheaton can be.  I don't have a good sense of where Lex Luther and Stout sit in their conferences' relative pecking order, but assume they are somewhat mid-tier (Stout) and mid-lower tier (Luther).

Here's Wheaton drives yesterday against Lex Luther... lots of sustained drives and a couple of quick strikes:

5 Plays, 71 Yards, Touchdown
1 Play, 24 Yards, Touchdown
9 Plays, 37 Yards, turned over on downs
8 Plays, 65 Yards, Touchdown
---
9 Plays, 48 Yards, Field Goal
5 Plays, 10 Yards, Punt
3 Plays, 42 Yards, Touchdown
---
9 Plays, 63 Yards, Touchdown
----- (Wheaton replaces Jordan Roberts and presumably empties bench) -----
3 Plays, 16 Yards, Interception
6 Plays, 31 Yards, Punt

(The second TD came after a 1-yard punt.  Anyone know how Luther managed a 1-yard punt?)

Most impressive to me is this:

Luther's first half drives:
3 Plays, 1 Yard, 0:49 Time of Possession
3 Plays, 3 Yards, 1:38 TOP
6 Plays, 19 Yards, 3:43 TOP
3 Plays, -5 Yards, 1:34 TOP
3 Plays, 6 Yards, 2:24 TOP
3 Plays, -9 Yards, 1:41 TOP
3 Plays, 5 Yards, 0:55 TOP
3 Plays, 1 Yard, 2:03 TOP, halftime

One first down and 21 yards of offense for the half.

From someone who was there, I understand that Stout was pretty bad.

[lfter]

Several extraordinary statistics in association with NCC's dominating 41-14 victory over UW-Stout today. However, the most outstanding may be the passing stats compiled by last week's CCIW offensive player of the week Spencer Stanek who today hit on 24 of 26 attempts for 278 yards and 4 TDs. For good measure he ran 6 times for 50 yards (8.3 average) and another TD. On the surface, it sounds like there is a pretty good possibility of Stanek being named offensive player of the week for the 2nd week in a row.

------  Over 674 and 585 total yards in past 2 weeks,  love Spencer but I'll hope for the Offensive line as Off Player(s) of the Week

[AndOne]

Here's North Central's drives against Stout.  Like what Wheaton did, this was pretty impressive.  Lots and lots of long, time-chewing drives:

12 Plays, 71 Yards, Missed FG
4 Plays, 69 Yards, Touchdown
---
9 Plays, 85 Yards, Touchdown
11 Plays, 75 Yards, Touchdown
12 Plays, 80 Yards, Touchdown
---
5 Plays, 55 Yards, Touchdown
(Stanek and others depart)
5 Plays, 17 Yards, Interception
---
16 Plays, 80 Yards, Touchdown
3 Plays, 9 Yards, Punt
10 Plays, 55 Yards, Turn over on downs
1 Play, -2 Yards, Victory Formation

Stout had a little more success moving the ball a little more than I'd like to see against the Cardinal defense, but this metronomic performance by the offense was great to see.

Kiko--

Good stuff +K
Keep in mind that both of the Stout TDs came in the last 7 minutes of the game long after the  NCC starters had been removed. Not sure, but the 2nd TD with 16 seconds left, could well have come against the 3rd or even 4th teamers.

[AndOne]

Several extraordinary statistics in association with NCC's dominating 41-14 victory over UW-Stout today. However, the most outstanding may be the passing stats compiled by last week's CCIW offensive player of the week Spencer Stanek who today hit on 24 of 26 attempts for 278 yards and 4 TDs. For good measure he ran 6 times for 50 yards (8.3 average) and another TD. On the surface, it sounds like there is a pretty good possibility of Stanek being named offensive player of the week for the 2nd week in a row.

------  Over 674 and 585 total yards in past 2 weeks,  love Spencer but I'll hope for the Offensive line as Off Player(s) of the Week

The O line did a very commendable job, but when a QB hits 24 of 26 passes for 4 TDs, it seems like it would require a very long stretch to present the award to anyone but Stanek. While its certainly possible the award might go to another player(s), his performance was superior to the point that its doubtful that Manning, Brady, Rodgers, or any other PRO QB could have compiled a higher completion percentage or efficiency rating than did Stanek yesterday. And for the topper, he added a rushing TD to initiate the afternoon's onslaught.

[lfter]

As a former O Lineman you learn to live with the following:

When you do crappy you get all the criticism, when you do well, the back gets all the credit

[kiko]

Here's North Central's drives against Stout.  Like what Wheaton did, this was pretty impressive.  Lots and lots of long, time-chewing drives:

12 Plays, 71 Yards, Missed FG
4 Plays, 69 Yards, Touchdown
---
9 Plays, 85 Yards, Touchdown
11 Plays, 75 Yards, Touchdown
12 Plays, 80 Yards, Touchdown
---
5 Plays, 55 Yards, Touchdown
(Stanek and others depart)
5 Plays, 17 Yards, Interception
---
16 Plays, 80 Yards, Touchdown
3 Plays, 9 Yards, Punt
10 Plays, 55 Yards, Turn over on downs
1 Play, -2 Yards, Victory Formation

Stout had a little more success moving the ball a little more than I'd like to see against the Cardinal defense, but this metronomic performance by the offense was great to see.

Kiko--

Good stuff +K
Keep in mind that both of the Stout TDs came in the last 7 minutes of the game long after the  NCC starters had been removed. Not sure, but the 2nd TD with 16 seconds left, could well have come against the 3rd or even 4th teamers.

I get that, and didn't really factor garbage time into my comments.

Stout's drives:

12 Plays, 49 Yards, Interception
4 Plays, 23 Yards, Punt
---
5 Plays, 16 Yards, Punt
5 Plays, 38 Yards, Punt
1 Play, 5 Yards, Halftime
---
3 Plays, 6 Yards, Punt
7 Plays, 27 Yards, Punt
5 Plays, 19 Yards, Missed FG
---
10 Plays, 26 Yards, Punt
11 Plays, 73 Yards, Touchdown
6 Plays, 59 Yards, Touchdown

The lack of three-and-outs in the first half is what sparked my comment.  It's probably nitpicky on my part, but the Wheaties and Wezzies of the world will bring much better offenses.  So I'd prefer to see the standard set by the D ratcheted up a little.

[AndOne]

As a former O Lineman you learn to live with the following:

When you do crappy you get all the criticism, when you do well, the back gets all the credit

And the lesson the O linemen learned last week in Philosophy 101 was to revel in the accomplishment of the final result (pass completion) rather than in the steps employed along the way (O line's pass blocking technique).        

[lfter]

     The lesson is to let him run for his life and see if the stats are still the same

[kiko]

Latest top 25 results are posted.

With the Tommies and Wesley both losing, North Central moves up from #6 to #4.

Wheaton actually dropped a spot to #15 and regressed by a few points.

Illinois Wesleyan dropped a few points (not unreasonable in a week where they are idle and others around them play and win), and is still just outside the top 25.  I personally would rate them higher but that will take care of itself should the Titans keep winning.

-----

Whitewater jumped the Wheaties, gaining 101 points and moving from 15 to 12 following their 55-12 win over Buffalo State.

The Tommies previously had seven first place votes; perhaps of interest only to me is that Mary Hardin Baylor picked up the majority of these.

Also - kudos to the panel of voters for keeping an 0-2 Cal Lutheran in the top 25.  Two non-conference losses means they've got some work to do in the SCIAC if they want to see the playoffs, but I'm happy to see an acknowledgment that the two losses are in part a reflection of who they have played (#2 Linfield and #10 Pacific Lutheran).

[Mr. Ypsi]

New poll is out.

With the losses by St. Thomas (falls to 6th) and Wesley (falls to 11th), NCC rises to 4th.  However, no one fell behind Wheaton, while UWW jumped past them, so they go from 14th to 15th.  Likewise, idle IWU lost nearly half their points and was jumped by four teams - were (27th), now (31st).  (A convincing win over 3-0 Hope might help considerably; I'd guess that Hope is at least on the radar of many voters.)

EDIT:  Just before hitting 'post', I saw Kiko's post.  I disagree on Cal Lu - they are certainly still in my top 30-35, but it is not like Franklin, who started 0-2 with VERY close losses to The Machine and FBC Butler (who annihilated Wittenberg); Cal Lu played Pac Lu close, but was destroyed by Linfield.

I was really wondering how far St. Thomas and Wesley would drop, and how the #1 voting would go.  On my fan poll ballot, I dropped the first two 2 spots further down; I wish I could have had a 3-way tie for first, but finally settled on Linfield 3, UMHB 2, and 'tie' goes to The Machine.

[kiko]

There's a lot of top 25 teams that would get destroyed by Linfield.

I like the statement this makes as much as anything.  It drives me crazy in any sport when (for instance), #1 edges #2, and then #2 drops significantly in a poll.  It's lazy voting.

[AndOne]

Some will probably think this a silly question but................

If a poll is valid and a team plays someone ranked higher, aren't they supposed to lose?