FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[ncc58]

Yes, a close game in Bloomington until that series.  I give NCC a lot of credit, as their offence is very good, crisp and efficient.  Stanek plays so well within that system of short quick out patterns, short quick over the middle routes.  IWU couldn't stop that today pretty much at all.  The ball comes out quick, so virtually no pressure on Stanek today at all, and he rolled out some too.  NCC hurt themselves with penalties, as did IWU.  IWU gave them a good game 'til about 6 minutes of the third Q and then seemed to deflate, make several key mistakes.  That's when Gallik threw the two INTs, and the rest was pretty much over.  A lot closer than the final score indicates, but NCC is the better team today on the day.  IWU's corners made some key mistakes covering the bigger NCC WRs.  Stanek made the good throws when he had to. 

NCC controlled the game early, and the game may have been over had NCC executed on that silly hook n ladder call. It gave IWU a chance to score before halftime and make the game more interesting.

However, when IWU blinked in the second half (key penalty and two turnovers), NCC did what you expect good teams to do and put the game away with 3 scores. When NCC was committing the penalties in the first half, it seemed only a matter of time before a call went against IWU.

IWU was impressive. I too wondered why they commit more to the run, especially since NCC controlled TOP to such a large degree in the first 20 minutes.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU let a very winnable game slip away today. The Vikings led at the half, and were still up deep into the third quarter. The big reason why Elmhurst came from behind to win was twofold: 1) The Bluejays were able to mount just enough rushing offense to wear down the smaller Vikings up front as the second half went on; and 2) Elmhurst got better play from the quarterback position. Junior QB Joe Camilieri was the big difference for the 'jays; he didn't pile up gaudy statistics, but on a number of occasions he stood and took the big hit from Vikings rushers in order to put a pass on target. On the other side of the field, T.D. Conway had a pretty poor day. He was consistently off-target all afternoon, overthrowing numerous receivers (including several who were wide open), and two of the three interceptions he threw were just bad reads on his part that turned out to be very costly. One blunted a drive at the EC 22, and the second was deep in NPU territory and led to the first 'jays touchdown in the third quarter.

He's a freshman quarterback, and this is what you get from freshmen -- a great day followed by a bad day. Last week in Rock Island, he was king of the world. Today, not so much. Vikings fans need to keep reminding themselves that it's a learning process for him. He has what it takes to be a terrific CCIW QB, but it's going to take him more than one season to get there.

A disappointing loss, but I suppose that it's some sort of solace that the Vikings are even in a position in which they can have disappointing losses instead of the humdrum whippings of yesteryear. Next week @ Millikin looks like a good occasion for T.D. and his compatriots to bounce back.

[Langhorst_Ghost]

Tremendous second half effort from the Jays today to put away the fiesty Parkers. 

It's been more than a decade since NPU bested the Bluejays, and heading into halftime up 7-0, the confidence brewing along the home sideline could be felt in the stands (which was clearly more Jays fans than NPU fans, by the way).  But a blue collar effort in the second half from EC, lead by a punishing ground game and a ball hawking secondary, put away the Park.  The Bluejay defense held the Conway crew to less than 100 yards in the second half, yeilding just 3 yards or less on 4 of the 6 NPU second half possesions. 

This is the preferred Coach Adam blueprint for winning games - pounding the rock for 4 quarters and wearing the opponent down (another 200+ yard rushing day - the NPU D had hands on hips most of the second half) and forcing takeaways (3 on the day).  The cummulative effect of the power running game really seemed to take its toll on NPU's D in the 4th quarter - with plenty of chances to turn away the Jays on 3rd and 4th down, they couldn't get off the field - the EC O-Line and Josh Williams (who saw most of the carries in the final frame) just flat out-muscled the Viking front 7 in the second half.

First time for me seeing these Vikings live this year - they are definitely better than in any year i can remeber, but depth and talent-wise, they are still a very long ways away.  The coach's two kids are terrific, but there is a lot of work to be done rebuilding this roster.  Given the well-documented recruiting challenges the program faces (and most of the issues are completely beyond a head football coach's influence), 2013 is more likely a nice story than it is a harbinger of inevitable success or indictative of some kind of magical transformation of the program.  I will say this, however, Conway gets these Vikes to play hard - with passion and with effort - and having been around the league for 15 years now, this is the first time i would use that description of an NPU squad.  Clearly not the bye week they were before this season, NPU will play most of this conference tough over then next few years.

Another takeaway: they throw the ball...alot - probably too much.  In a close game, Coach Conway rolled out just 14 designed run plays (TD scrambled for another 6 carries).  Now, NPU did use a few quick wide receiver screen plays to supplement the ground game, but slinging it 43 times into a secondary featuring 4 seniors seems way out of balance.  Now, i do get that this is the personality of the offense (exclusively in the shotgun, rolling 3 and 4 wide every play), but sprinkling in a little more Magwood to slow the pass rush, maybe pull the safeties down a bit, wouldn't seem to me to disrupt the plan.  Fine by the Jays - 3 picks, a couple of sacks, multiple hurried pockets, and 20 incompletions is a good day for the D.

Good win for my Jays, second consectutive conference victory heading into senior day next week against a dreadfully inept Kenosha bunch - looking to build some late season momentum.  Given the outcome in Bloomington today (and depending on what happens with the Bell), the Weenies will probably be playing for their playoff lives in two weeks when the Jays fly south to Tucci. 

[iwu70]

Sorry Ypsi, I'm not taking notes, keeping the exact time as I walk the sidelines cheering on the Titans.  No doubt it was close late, and no doubt it got out of hand, due to key untimely penalties and late TOs by our guys, and better ground game by the Cardinals. 

OK, I'm going to go turn my clock back now, so I get it right and make it to church on time tomorrow. 

I think NCC beats WC next week, perhaps handily, and hopefully our Titans regroup, recoup, recommit and win out to get to the 9-1 club for the play-offs.

Great result for IWU in Winona, MN. earlier today -- did you see it?  Our roundballers taking down a very good DII team in an exhibition game, tune-up for the opening of the D3 basketball season, now less than two weeks away.

Have a good weekend all.  I'm footballed out for today.

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

I don't agree with your read of the game, LGhost. Your vaunted defensive secondary was the beneficiary of a lot of unforced, off-target throws by T.D. Conway, including the first two picks (the third was really nothing more than a desperation heave). If Conway didn't let so many passes sail on him, the Vikings would've done a much better job of moving the ball. He misfired to open receivers on several occasions.

And "punishing" ground game is a bit of an exaggeration. Elmhurst gained 201 yards on the ground on 47 carries for a 3.9 ypc average. That's good, but it's not great, much less "punishing". NPU's problem is the lack of depth on defense; Mike Conway simply doesn't have enough CCIW-grade players to trot out there to keep people fresh. It's the same old story as it's always been for North Park, but this year it's a more acute problem, because Scott Pethtel's option offense -- which guaranteed a TOP win for the Vikings and thus a rested defense -- has been scrapped in favor of a spread offense, which is mostly pass and which leads to the defense not getting enough rest, unless the Vikings march the length of the field.

The big question is whether Mike Conway and his staff can recruit enough defensive talent for him to fully utilize the two-deep on D and thus solve the spread offense problem, because the spread isn't going away. It's clearly the offense for which the current talent is tailored.

[NCF]

Does anyone know what the commotion that took place between the teams prior to the start of the NCC/IWU game was all about? 

On the audio, I heard some boisterous Weenie fans yelling something like "get off our W," and "you can't touch our W."

It all seem premeditated to me. IWU was ready to make sure that NCC didn't mass in the middle of the field (on the W). NCC wasn't about to back down, and judging from some of the interviews with players before the game, they expected the scene that transpired.

It's the exact same thing that happened in 2011. Must be the way they great the visitors from South DuPage

[Stagg Again!!]

iwu70,  your memory starting to go??!!   You keep talking about midway thru the 3rd Q, but it was 25-17 midway thru the FOURTH quarter.  Then the dam broke, and the offense imploded (including Gallik's only two INTs of the day).

Despite the statements of some, it WAS a close game.  I don't deny that NCC looked somewhat stronger the whole way, but with just 7 minutes remaining, it was still anyone's game to win.  IWU just needed a couple of breaks; instead the breaks went NCC's way and the final score got out of hand.

Since with a -18, IWU is eliminated from any 3-way tie (and the ONLY way to still get the AQ is for Wheaton to beat NCC, then NCC lose at home to Augie; I'd sooner bet on the chances of the proverbial snowball in hell ), the Titans are probably best off if NCC beats Wheaton (which I think is likely).  Even if Wheaton wins by 1-19, forcing a 3-way tie but with NCC the winner of the AQ, IWU should be ahead of Wheaton in the C line, due to h-to-h.  The nightmare scenario for IWU is Wheaton winning by 21+, leaving IWU behind the Cards in the C queue.

BTW, anyone know what happens if Wheaton wins by exactly 20 (in which case IWU is -18, and Wheaton and NCC are both +9)?  My guess would be that IWU is eliminated, then Wheaton wins the h-to-h, but anyone know?

We can agree to disagree Ypsi.  I, for one, never saw any surge by IWU in the second half (after their first drive of the 3Q).  Meanwhile, NCC seemed to keep threatening and shooting themselves in the foot (and elsewhere).  Just looked at the stats for the game and noted that IWU only had 34 yards of total offense after their first drive of the second half.  Like everyone else, I didn't understand why Eash didn't try to run the ball a bit more.  He put way too much pressure on Gallik and, ultimately, the Titans defense.  As has been noted, the IWU defense looked gassed by the 4Q of what is a four quarter game. 

[CardinalAlum]

I hear Stormin Norman was less than thrilled in the post game handshake about the late TD's.   

[Langhorst_Ghost]

I don't agree with your read of the game, LGhost.

That's not shocking, considering we prefer to don different shades of blue, Greg. 

Your vaunted defensive secondary was the beneficiary of a lot of unforced, off-target throws by T.D. Conway, including the first two picks (the third was really nothing more than a desperation heave). If Conway didn't let so many passes sail on him, the Vikings would've done a much better job of moving the ball. He misfired to open receivers on several occasions.

I am usually on board with your thoughts, my friend, and i do enjoy your thorough and honest prose on the boards, but despite the differences in our respective takes, your assesment of the NPU passing game today is simply inaccuarte.  TD overthrew some balls - but there were very few wide open windows on the back end of that EC D this afternoon.

You are correct in identifying TD's misfires today, but it is unfair to discount the "vaunted" (your word, not mine) EC defensive backfield - they mixed coverages, confused the young QB, and forced a couple of coverage sacks and half a dozen coverage scrambles coupled with the blitz pressure that FORCED errant throws.  You write off the interceptions as "sailed throws" - that's just simply not true.  The opening play of the second half was a play-action boot pass with multiple level crossing routes - savvy middle backer, DeMaria undercut the route on the shallow crosser (a route combo he no doubt identified from his film work) and picked off the young QB. To add another layer to it - Conway's completion numbers (50%) were vastly inflated by the half dozen WR screen passes called and completed.  Yeah - he made some throws, all good QBs will when they chuck it 45 times (especially on that deep ball on 3rd down vs. man coverage in the 3rd quarter - perfect spot) - but the veteran EC secondary kept him uncomfortable much of the afternoon in his down-the-field shots.

And "punishing" ground game is a bit of an exaggeration. Elmhurst gained 201 yards on the ground on 47 carries for a 3.9 ypc average. That's good, but it's not great, much less "punishing". NPU's problem is the lack of depth on defense;

You can disagree with my choice of adjective, but it would simply be a difference in symantics.  200 yards is a fairly regular day at the office for this team - it's built on the inside zone running game.  My intention with choosing the descriptor "punishing" is not to support the statistics (which are pretty decent), but to add some texture to my text - to paint a picture of the afternoon.  The NPU defenders, particularly the front 7, simply based on body language looked the part of a punished group - hands on hips and poor technique, slow to rally to the ball, little pop at the point of attack - they were physically unable to withstand the consistent power running attack the Jays brought at them by the time the 3rd and 4th quarters rolled around - 3.9 yards at a time.  Particularly so on the 13 play, 75 yard drive that chewed up half the 3rd quarter and gave the Jays the lead for good.  So in that sense, yes, from my seat, the EC ground game punished the Vikings' D.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I hear Stormin Norman was less than thrilled in the post game handshake about the late TD's.   

Understandable.  I was totally perplexed about the final two time-outs by NCC (already up by 22), until I recalled the 3-way tie scenario from last year.  NCC wanted to make it as hard as possible for Wheaton to 'steal' the pool A!  (I'd imagine that that scenario was by then the last thing on Eash's mind.)

For those who value sportsmanship, the downside of the current CCIW 3-way break scenario.

[CardinalAlum]

I hear Stormin Norman was less than thrilled in the post game handshake about the late TD's.   

Understandable.  I was totally perplexed about the final two time-outs by NCC (already up by 22), until I recalled the 3-way tie scenario from last year.  NCC wanted to make it as hard as possible for Wheaton to 'steal' the pool A!  (I'd imagine that that scenario was by then the last thing on Eash's mind.)

For those who value sportsmanship, the downside of the current CCIW 3-way break scenario.

I thought only the Wheaties forgot about the tie breaker scenarios!   

[Gregory Sager]

Your vaunted defensive secondary was the beneficiary of a lot of unforced, off-target throws by T.D. Conway, including the first two picks (the third was really nothing more than a desperation heave). If Conway didn't let so many passes sail on him, the Vikings would've done a much better job of moving the ball. He misfired to open receivers on several occasions.

I am usually on board with your thoughts, my friend, and i do enjoy your thorough and honest prose on the boards, but despite the differences in our respective takes, your assesment of the NPU passing game today is simply inaccuarte.  TD overthrew some balls - but there were very few wide open windows on the back end of that EC D this afternoon.

We are definitely going to disagree on this. There were numerous overthrows by T.D. -- and a number of them were aimed at receivers who definitely had space between themselves and the Elmhurst defenders.

You are correct in identifying TD's misfires today, but it is unfair to discount the "vaunted" (your word, not mine) EC defensive backfield - they mixed coverages, confused the young QB, and forced a couple of coverage sacks and half a dozen coverage scrambles coupled with the blitz pressure that FORCED errant throws.

I saw no "forced errant throws"; the 'jays did sack T.D. three times and made him pull down the ball twice and run (his third run was clearly a case of his seeing an open lane and trying to make a first down himself, probably not a wise choice for a kid who does not possess a lot of speed), but he had plenty of time on most of his incompletions.

The word "vaunted" was admittedly a bit of a jab at you for your talking up of your defensive secondary so much over the past couple of days.

You write off the interceptions as "sailed throws" - that's just simply not true. The opening play of the second half was a play-action boot pass with multiple level crossing routes - savvy middle backer, DeMaria undercut the route on the shallow crosser (a route combo he no doubt identified from his film work) and picked off the young QB.

I said that the incompletions were mostly sailed throws, not the interceptions. Only one of the interceptions overshot the receiver. The interceptions mostly involved both bad reads and bad throws on his part. The interception by DeMaria that you mentioned was not simply a good read on the shallow cross pattern; it was also a ball thrown far behind the intended receiver, John Barnabee. The interception in the first half by Ritter that killed a good NPU drive was on a badly overthrown ball by T.D.

  To add another layer to it - Conway's completion numbers (50%) were vastly inflated by the half dozen WR screen passes called and completed.

No argument there ... but, then again, I didn't make any statements in support of T.D.'s stats, so I'm not sure why you're bringing that up. Those were good passes, by the way, and explain part of the reason why NPU didn't run the ball so much; Dakota Conway is a dangerous player when he has the ball in space. I wish that the Vikes had used those short swing passes in the flat (they weren't really screens, as Dakota didn't have blockers aligned in front of him) more often.

Yeah - he made some throws, all good QBs will when they chuck it 45 times (especially on that deep ball on 3rd down vs. man coverage in the 3rd quarter - perfect spot) - but the veteran EC secondary kept him uncomfortable much of the afternoon in his down-the-field shots.

As I said, we are going to disagree about that. I thought that the EC secondary did a creditable job, but I also think that you're overvaluing them. I think that much of the onus lies on T.D.'s shoulders for not being accurate with his throws. But, as I said, he's a freshman, and freshmen tend to be up and down. On balance, he's having a remarkable season, freshman or not -- he's already set one NPU passing record that stood for 23 years, and I think he'll break several more before the season's done (especially with Millikin on the docket for next week).

And "punishing" ground game is a bit of an exaggeration. Elmhurst gained 201 yards on the ground on 47 carries for a 3.9 ypc average. That's good, but it's not great, much less "punishing". NPU's problem is the lack of depth on defense;

You can disagree with my choice of adjective, but it would simply be a difference in symantics.

I don't think so. There's semantics, and there's out-and-out exaggeration. "Punishing" describes a running game that produces much bigger stats than 201 yards and 3.9 ypc. Wheaton gained 286 yards on 6.8 ypc against Millikin today. That's punishing. Augie rolled up 252 yards on the ground and averaged 6.5 per carry today against Carthage. That's punishing.

200 yards is a fairly regular day at the office for this team - it's built on the inside zone running game.  My intention with choosing the descriptor "punishing" is not to support the statistics (which are pretty decent),

I wouldn't call 201 yards of rushing offense anything spectacular. Four teams in this league average better than 200 yards per game on the ground. Elmhurst hit right about its average today in yardage, and was a full yard behind its season average of 4.9 ypc. I'll give you "decent". I won't give you "punishing".

but to add some texture to my text - to paint a picture of the afternoon.  The NPU defenders, particularly the front 7, simply based on body language looked the part of a punished group - hands on hips and poor technique, slow to rally to the ball, little pop at the point of attack - they were physically unable to withstand the consistent power running attack the Jays brought at them by the time the 3rd and 4th quarters rolled around - 3.9 yards at a time.  Particularly so on the 13 play, 75 yard drive that chewed up half the 3rd quarter and gave the Jays the lead for good.  So in that sense, yes, from my seat, the EC ground game punished the Vikings' D.

Again, you've completely missed the bigger point here, which isn't that Elmhurst's ground game is all that and a bag of chips. Sorry, man, but it just isn't. The bigger point here is that the Vikings simply don't have defensive depth. (It was reduced again this week, as starting LB Zach Greco went down to a knee injury and didn't dress for today's game.) That's why the Vikings were standing with hands on hips in the fourth quarter and were unable to wrap-and-drop Elmhurst runners at first contact. You saw this all through blue-colored glasses as some sort of evidence of EC's running prowess. But it's much more a matter of the NPU defenders having to be out on the field for too many plays. Anybody with a decent ground game -- and Elmhurst's is pretty average by CCIW standards, not bad at all but hardly "punishing", or anything like that -- should be able to do to the Vikings in the second half of a game what Elmhurst did today.

[Kovo]

iwu70,  your memory starting to go??!!   You keep talking about midway thru the 3rd Q, but it was 25-17 midway thru the FOURTH quarter.  Then the dam broke, and the offense imploded (including Gallik's only two INTs of the day).

Despite the statements of some, it WAS a close game.  I don't deny that NCC looked somewhat stronger the whole way, but with just 7 minutes remaining, it was still anyone's game to win.  IWU just needed a couple of breaks; instead the breaks went NCC's way and the final score got out of hand.

Since with a -18, IWU is eliminated from any 3-way tie (and the ONLY way to still get the AQ is for Wheaton to beat NCC, then NCC lose at home to Augie; I'd sooner bet on the chances of the proverbial snowball in hell ), the Titans are probably best off if NCC beats Wheaton (which I think is likely).  Even if Wheaton wins by 1-19, forcing a 3-way tie but with NCC the winner of the AQ, IWU should be ahead of Wheaton in the C line, due to h-to-h.  The nightmare scenario for IWU is Wheaton winning by 21+, leaving IWU behind the Cards in the C queue.

BTW, anyone know what happens if Wheaton wins by exactly 20 (in which case IWU is -18, and Wheaton and NCC are both +9)?  My guess would be that IWU is eliminated, then Wheaton wins the h-to-h, but anyone know?

We can agree to disagree Ypsi.  I, for one, never saw any surge by IWU in the second half (after their first drive of the 3Q).  Meanwhile, NCC seemed to keep threatening and shooting themselves in the foot (and elsewhere).  Just looked at the stats for the game and noted that IWU only had 34 yards of total offense after their first drive of the second half.  Like everyone else, I didn't understand why Eash didn't try to run the ball a bit more.  He put way too much pressure on Gallik and, ultimately, the Titans defense.  As has been noted, the IWU defense looked gassed by the 4Q of what is a four quarter game.

Stagg,

I agree that we kept shooting ourselves in the foot.  But speaking of the foot-----it would have be much worse, and a potential disaster had our kicker not returned to form.  After a very inconsistant year (to this point) he came up huge going 3/3 in FGs and 5/5 on PATs.  We will need that type of performance in the playoffs if we are going to make a deep run.  For me it was very encouraging.

[iwu4ever]

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=711&c=3911&f=2052653

Eash Post Game

[kiko]

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=711&c=3911&f=2052653

Eash Post Game

Verbatim from this for those who don't want to spend five minutes listening to Norm whine discuss the game:

"I don't know if North Central beat us.  I think we didn't make some plays when we had the score at eight points."

...

"Those scores at the very end mean nothing.  I mean, I don't think North Central should have put the last one in, and they did.  It's our situation to stop, but I hope our profession has more professionalism and more ethics than that."

...

(On the "stay off our W" chatter)

"We talked about this in our league, that the opposing team is supposed to go down their sidelines and not come towards the middle.  And that's what North Central did, and our kids are going to respond to that, and I can't control 128 kids, but they're going to respond to that when a visiting team goes out and takes the field.  That's the CCIW rule.  And North Central knows that; I know that.  We never do that when we're on the road; we come down the sidelines and we let the home team have the middle of the field.  So that's what started the whole thing.  And then the other thing is, the official gave everybody a warning, said the next unsportsmanlike, (he) gave everybody a warning, and so the next one, the player is going to get ejected.  And right off the bat, their quarterback is taunting our player.  And I just don't think the officials followed through on what they said they were going to do.  And I think that's disappointing because that's a poor example in front of young men."

(Interviewer: "As I recall, it was a penalty, but it wasn't an unsportsmanlike, which as you said would have been an ejection automatically.")

Norm: "But taunting is taunting, okay?  And to me, that's unsportsmanlike.  So follow through on your rule, and I think the official agreed with me.  That's a tough call to make when that's a quarterback, but you know what?  Make an example.  Let everybody know, the game was going to get out of hand if he didn't."