FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Neverwas]

Wheaton better get their punting in order.  Way more short fields than necessary.   If not for the defense bowing up on real short field after less than 20 yard punts, this game might not have been a W.

Out of 241 ranked teams in D3, Wheaton is 236th in net punting. Since there are only 5 teams worse it's worth noting who they are:

237. Widener
238. Wisconsin Platteville
239. Geneva
240. Gallaudet
241. Carleton

The next best teams to Wheaton in net punting that are playoff teams are UWO 169th, UWW 132 and Wabash 102

In what can be considered a providential bit of irony, Wheaton Punter Zach Feddler was named special teams player of the week yesterday. 

I got a good laugh out of that!  Though he probably should share that honor with Dansdill, the guy who downed those punts on the one

[wally_wabash]

If I'm a Wheaton fan, I'm way more concerned about being a 74% red zone team than I am about net punting. 

[USee]

First of all, huge props to Wheaton for a great run through the conference.  This is the best Wheaton team I have seen in a long time, other than their punt team!      I really think Wheaton was deserving of a #1 seed and hopefully shows that in the playoffs.  The NCAA did them no favors for sure, but this team is as ready as any CCIW playoff team has been for a run.   Good luck, Thunder!

The Cards were young in many key spots and will be much better next year because of it!   No playoffs means hitting the recruiting trail earlier.  Hoping for another great class for next season.   

Conference awards coming out later today.  I would guess, Dansdill, Frasco and Swider, but would think Conway may get some votes for Coach of the year.

I think Austin Breunig of North Central should be considered the favorite for Offensive POY.

* He led the CCIW in rushing by a wide margin-over 300 yards more than the 2nd place finisher.
* Finished 7th in total offense-the highest among non quarterbacks.
* Finished 1st in all-purpose yards
* Led the conference in scoring-30 points more than the 2nd place finisher
* Led the conference in TDs-5 more than the 2nd place finisher

I wouldn't call Bruenig the favorite, but he is certainly in the conversation. His rushing lead in the CCIW was bolstered by 32 more carries than anyone else so that is a misleading statistic. A more apples to apples comparison is total offense but you have to factor in the number of times each player touches the ball. One reason QB's usually win the award is because they literally touch it every time the ball is snapped. The question is how do you measure the relative production. One way is to calculate their yds per touch. In conference play Bruenig had a 7.2 yds per touch and Frasco had 6.2 yds per touch. That's a pretty convincing spread to Bruenig.

The other issue is if you calculate all 10 games Frasco is at 7.4 and Bruenig is 6.9. Coaches are suppose to vote from results from the conference games only but I don't think they do that. The reality is they are watching tape of these kids for all their games and for at least half the conference season most of what they watch is the 3 non conference games. I think that ends up playing into the voting more than it should. Frasco was dramatically better in the non conference than he was in the conference season.

I think there is an argument for either player as the OPOY. We find out today.

[USee]

If I'm a Wheaton fan, I'm way more concerned about being a 74% red zone team than I am about net punting.

As a Wheaton fan I am much more concerned about the injuries to the offense than I am about 74% redzone performance. They started just 4 of their first team offense in the last two games of the season. They are now starting to get those guys back and, if they can survive this week, should be as healthy for round 2 as they have been all season. The last time they had their full complement of offensive players, they were a 92% red zone team. On a somewhat related note, they are the #7 team in the country in red zone defense.

[Neverwas]

If I'm a Wheaton fan, I'm way more concerned about being a 74% red zone team than I am about net punting.

I think the whole "net punting" thing is more past demons making fans nervous about this year again... but your point is valid, and I agree.

IMO, Wheaton fans are worried about the kicking game in general.  Wheaton stacks up pretty well with most teams but 1/3 of the game is special teams.  The kickers, specifically, have been a part of that 74%.  In an evenly matched game, net punting is an important stat. 

[Mugsy]

If I'm a Wheaton fan, I'm way more concerned about being a 74% red zone team than I am about net punting.

I think the whole "net punting" thing is more past demons making fans nervous about this year again... but your point is valid, and I agree.

IMO, Wheaton fans are worried about the kicking game in general.  Wheaton stacks up pretty well with most teams but 1/3 of the game is special teams.  The kickers, specifically, have been a part of that 74%.  In an evenly matched game, net punting is an important stat.

I'm not worried about the kicking game in general.  That has not been nearly as much of an issue as last year.  Consistency with punting has been the primary issue with special teams.  I will say a couple of the games the punting numbers were impacted by kicking from 50 yard line or less trying to win the field position game by putting it inside the 20.

[wally_wabash]

If I'm a Wheaton fan, I'm way more concerned about being a 74% red zone team than I am about net punting.

I think the whole "net punting" thing is more past demons making fans nervous about this year again... but your point is valid, and I agree.

IMO, Wheaton fans are worried about the kicking game in general.  Wheaton stacks up pretty well with most teams but 1/3 of the game is special teams.  The kickers, specifically, have been a part of that 74%.  In an evenly matched game, net punting is an important stat.

If we're talking about Wheaton specifically, They ran 683 plays on offense, spent 620 plays on defense, and  then had 193 plays that were either punts, FGs, or kickoffs.  So special teams is actually about 2/15ths of the game and not 1/3rd.   

[GoPerry]

Hats off to a Carthage squad that went toe-to-toe w/ Wheaton on Saturday.  To finish 5-5 overall (including a 29-28 road win over playoff bound Lakeland in week 3), 4-3 in conference, with the toughest SOS in the country... that's certainly something to build off of during the off-season. Great job by head coach Mike Yeager, his staff, and of course, his players.

Agree.  Carthage was a very strong opponent and it was a well earned win for Wheaton.  The Redmen D really came to play, lots of tackles for losses, and kept them in the game well into the 4thQ.

Yeah, it's a tough draw for the Thunder.  But let's face it, there are no bad teams left anymore- only good teams and better teams.  They've all had to win on the road as well as home.  I'm sure the coaches will not look beyond Lakeland and I'm hoping the players won't either.  Board posting allows looking ahead to UWW , potential matchup vs UWO, first 2 playoff games at home, etc.  but the team on the field does so at its peril.

Congratulations to Coach Swider et al for a 2nd undefeated regular season.  Now- keep it going Thunder!

[Gregory Sager]

Here's a short highlight clip from Saturday's NPU win over IWU. The video reproduction isn't top-notch quality. I sound incredibly hoarse, and my tongue wasn't working too well on the last couple of plays, but you get a flavor of the emotion of the moment.

Believe it or not, my voice actually came back in time for me to do the PBP for the men's basketball home opener a couple of hours later.

[izzy stradlin]

Here's a short highlight clip from Saturday's NPU win over IWU. The video reproduction isn't top-notch quality. I sound incredibly hoarse, and my tongue wasn't working too well on the last couple of plays, but you get a flavor of the emotion of the moment.

Believe it or not, my voice actually came back in time for me to do the PBP for the men's basketball home opener a couple of hours later.

Love it.  I have to think you enjoyed that one even more than the big bball victory that night. 

I'm looking forward to seeing NPU's continued progress on the gridiron. 

[wabashcpa]

First win in 30 years against IWU?  I would say that's a great reason to lose your voice!

[matblake]

Here's a short highlight clip from Saturday's NPU win over IWU. The video reproduction isn't top-notch quality. I sound incredibly hoarse, and my tongue wasn't working too well on the last couple of plays, but you get a flavor of the emotion of the moment.

Believe it or not, my voice actually came back in time for me to do the PBP for the men's basketball home opener a couple of hours later.

First win in 30 years against IWU?  I would say that's a great reason to lose your voice!

That eliminates one more of the lengthy losing streaks by the Vikings.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the next 2 are Wheaton since 1979 and North Central since 1993.  From what we have seen from the Vikings, Mike Conway and his crew are on their way to try and knock those off too.

[New Tradition]

Here's a short highlight clip from Saturday's NPU win over IWU. The video reproduction isn't top-notch quality. I sound incredibly hoarse, and my tongue wasn't working too well on the last couple of plays, but you get a flavor of the emotion of the moment.

Believe it or not, my voice actually came back in time for me to do the PBP for the men's basketball home opener a couple of hours later.

As a fellow broadcaster, throw all the rules and apologies out the window.  You're supposed to let raw emotion take over in a moment like that.  You did.  That makes your call perfect in every facet of the word.

[USee]

All conference teams are up:

http://cciw.org/news/2015/11/18/FB_1118151217.aspx

Dandsdill, Frasco, Swider are POY/COY

[USee]

Pretty fair by my eye. The only beef I would have is Chaun Maiava sure looked like one of the top 4 LB's in the conference to me. I would have had him on the first team and Warsen on the second team. Both great players.