FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Speaking of quarterbacks, it appears that from the Game Notes published by NCC, that the Cardinals will open with a new signal caller this season. According to the 2 Deep Depth Chart for today's game, D1 Indiana State transfer Broc Rutter has beaten out last year's freshman starter Justin Hunniford. It was considered a major coup last year when NCC landed Hunniford, who was the Chicago Tribune POY the season before. It was in no way surprising when Hunniford gained the starter's role last year, and he went on to have a very good freshman season. Accordingly, Rutter must have really brought it during spring practice and summer camp. I believe Hunniford was also coming off labrum surgery, but the fact that he is listed as the #2 QB is indication of his recovery. Newcomer Rutter did not play at Indiana St., and thus comes in with freshman status eligibility wise.

[thunderdog]

What is up with so many Wheaton players wearing loose white undershirts sticking out? Looks awful! C'mon Thunder, look the part...

[thunderdog]

Speaking of quarterbacks, it appears that from the Game Notes published by NCC, that the Cardinals will open with a new signal caller this season. According to the 2 Deep Depth Chart for today's game, D1 Indiana State transfer Broc Rutter has beaten out last year's freshman starter Justin Hunniford. It was considered a major coup last year when NCC landed Hunniford, who was the Chicago Tribune POY the season before. It was in no way surprising when Hunniford gained the starter's role last year, and he went on to have a very good freshman season. Accordingly, Rutter must have really brought it during spring practice and summer camp. I believe Hunniford was also coming off labrum surgery, but the fact that he is listed as the #2 QB is indication of his recovery. Newcomer Rutter did not play at Indiana St., and thus comes in with freshman status eligibility wise.

Very interesting AndOne. I'll be following this closely. After watching Hunniford go toe-to-toe with Joe Callahan last year, I'm surprised by this decision, but I'm sure the surgery played a part...

[Gregory Sager]

Maybe not that exact transition, but some of us are old enough to remember North Central make the pivot from perpetual mediocrity (in a good year) to a level of consistent success and recalibrated expectations.  It's not easy to push through that sort of tipping point, which I believe NPU has, and is a nice feeling when you realize the paradigm has shifted from 'I hope Augustana doesn't beat us by 40 this year' to 'we are as good as they are*, and expect to beat them'.

(*) - today this is 'we are a better team than they are', which was a second tipping point to break past.

I understand it. I saw it first hand at Wheaton. They were 2-7 for 4 straight years before JR Bishop took over and began the cultural change that led to where they are now. It wasn't the stretch of futility that the Park fans have endured, but it was a sea change nonetheless. It started with getting better, then getting better players, then expecting to win, and eventually they won and then kept winning. It's no easy task but I see the familiar roots of it on Foster with Coach Conway. He has that ship headed in the right direction. The only question is when, not if. It won't be this year but I would expect NPU to continue to surprise people with what they are doing.

Gotberg- I know where you are coming from.  This was a vision of mine on the air for 10 years covering the Jays. Seeing quality recruits and coaches go to rival schools,  trying to get the school excited about their team, being 7-3 and just not getting over that "hump".   Keep the faith.   I see NPU putting the building blocks in place to start (continue) climbing the ladder.   

I appreciate the positive sentiments, gentlemen, but, with all due respect, you don't understand the magnitude of NPU's change in attitude. No matter how poor North Central, Wheaton, or Elmhurst were in the past, they always had North Park below them to cushion the fall. Lest anybody forget, the Vikings went almost thirteen full seasons without a CCIW win prior to Mike Conway's hire three and a half years ago. They haven't had a break-even season since 1993 or a winning season since 1968. The feeling at NCC, Wheaton, Elmhurst, and other CCIW schools has always been that if the right coach came along, and if he got adequate support from the school's administration, the program could become a winner, and historical evidence bears that out. That was never true at North Park, at least not since the late '60s. You really have to have been around North Park to grasp the perennial sense of futility and despair (which, all too often, eventually led to indifference or dissension) that plagued the program.

It's just not the same thing at all.

[Gregory Sager]

Elmhurst 28
Loras 27

The 'jays came back from a 27-9 deficit early in the fourth quarter to win a sloppy but exciting game.

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton 26
Benedictine 7

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage 51
Aurora 11

This one was close in the first half, but the Red Men blew it open with a pair of pick-sixes in the second half.

[Gregory Sager]

Illinois Wesleyan 33
Monterrey Tech 16

[Gregory Sager]

Lakeland 27
Carroll 24

I watched this one and the Elmhurst game, as they were the two most exciting early contests. This game was one of those seesaw, last-team-to-score-wins kind of games, and the Muskies scored the deciding touchdown with about two minutes or so left in the fourth quarter. Carroll tried to tie with a 42-yard FG attempt in the final thirty seconds, but it was blocked.

Millikin's got a big lead on Greenville in the fourth quarter, so it appears that the CCIW will go 4-1 (not counting the IWU exhibition) in the early games.

[Gregory Sager]

I'm off to Foster and Albany to call NPU's season opener against Anderson. I'm not sure what to expect from the Vikings, but it should be an interesting evening under the lights.

Go Vikes!

[thunderdog]

Speaking of QB's, saw this on the NJAC:
http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2016/09/03/final-cuts-day-packers-release-price/89824392/

Callahan makes the Packers 53 man roster, that's just incredible!

[kiko]

Maybe not that exact transition, but some of us are old enough to remember North Central make the pivot from perpetual mediocrity (in a good year) to a level of consistent success and recalibrated expectations.  It's not easy to push through that sort of tipping point, which I believe NPU has, and is a nice feeling when you realize the paradigm has shifted from 'I hope Augustana doesn't beat us by 40 this year' to 'we are as good as they are*, and expect to beat them'.

(*) - today this is 'we are a better team than they are', which was a second tipping point to break past.

I understand it. I saw it first hand at Wheaton. They were 2-7 for 4 straight years before JR Bishop took over and began the cultural change that led to where they are now. It wasn't the stretch of futility that the Park fans have endured, but it was a sea change nonetheless. It started with getting better, then getting better players, then expecting to win, and eventually they won and then kept winning. It's no easy task but I see the familiar roots of it on Foster with Coach Conway. He has that ship headed in the right direction. The only question is when, not if. It won't be this year but I would expect NPU to continue to surprise people with what they are doing.

Gotberg- I know where you are coming from.  This was a vision of mine on the air for 10 years covering the Jays. Seeing quality recruits and coaches go to rival schools,  trying to get the school excited about their team, being 7-3 and just not getting over that "hump".   Keep the faith.   I see NPU putting the building blocks in place to start (continue) climbing the ladder.   

I appreciate the positive sentiments, gentlemen, but, with all due respect, you don't understand the magnitude of NPU's change in attitude. No matter how poor North Central, Wheaton, or Elmhurst were in the past, they always had North Park below them to cushion the fall. Lest anybody forget, the Vikings went almost thirteen full seasons without a CCIW win prior to Mike Conway's hire three and a half years ago. They haven't had a break-even season since 1993 or a winning season since 1968. The feeling at NCC, Wheaton, Elmhurst, and other CCIW schools has always been that if the right coach came along, and if he got adequate support from the school's administration, the program could become a winner, and historical evidence bears that out. That was never true at North Park, at least not since the late '60s. You really have to have been around North Park to grasp the perennial sense of futility and despair (which, all too often, eventually led to indifference or dissension) that plagued the program.

It's just not the same thing at all.

Disagree with this.  Your framing is 'they always had North Park below them'.  Looking through the other end of the telescope, the view was 'Augustana will always be six levels above you'.  It is equally hopeless.

I get why you think the Park is a special snowflake in this regard, and the Vikings did have to move mountains just to secure the progress we've seen to date.  But the other transitions referenced were not even close to the slam dunks you suggest they would be if you tick the coach/admin support boxes, particularly when you consider how sustained they've been.  The idea in, say, 1990, that North Central would soon become a perennial Top 20 program was simply not believable.

You're not going to agree with this, and that is fine.  But just as you feel someone had to loiter a bit near Foster and Kedzie to understand the Park's challenges, I'd suggest that you haven't walked in the shoes of those at other schools to fully understand their journey.   North Park has had to overcome more than its share of challenges on the athletic front, particularly in football, but it doesn't have a monopoly on them.

[AndOne]

Speaking of QB's, saw this on the NJAC:
http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2016/09/03/final-cuts-day-packers-release-price/89824392/

Callahan makes the Packers 53 man roster, that's just incredible!

After watching his magic show when he performed at NCC last season, I'm honestly not surprised.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Maybe not that exact transition, but some of us are old enough to remember North Central make the pivot from perpetual mediocrity (in a good year) to a level of consistent success and recalibrated expectations.  It's not easy to push through that sort of tipping point, which I believe NPU has, and is a nice feeling when you realize the paradigm has shifted from 'I hope Augustana doesn't beat us by 40 this year' to 'we are as good as they are*, and expect to beat them'.

(*) - today this is 'we are a better team than they are', which was a second tipping point to break past.

I understand it. I saw it first hand at Wheaton. They were 2-7 for 4 straight years before JR Bishop took over and began the cultural change that led to where they are now. It wasn't the stretch of futility that the Park fans have endured, but it was a sea change nonetheless. It started with getting better, then getting better players, then expecting to win, and eventually they won and then kept winning. It's no easy task but I see the familiar roots of it on Foster with Coach Conway. He has that ship headed in the right direction. The only question is when, not if. It won't be this year but I would expect NPU to continue to surprise people with what they are doing.

Gotberg- I know where you are coming from.  This was a vision of mine on the air for 10 years covering the Jays. Seeing quality recruits and coaches go to rival schools,  trying to get the school excited about their team, being 7-3 and just not getting over that "hump".   Keep the faith.   I see NPU putting the building blocks in place to start (continue) climbing the ladder.   

I appreciate the positive sentiments, gentlemen, but, with all due respect, you don't understand the magnitude of NPU's change in attitude. No matter how poor North Central, Wheaton, or Elmhurst were in the past, they always had North Park below them to cushion the fall. Lest anybody forget, the Vikings went almost thirteen full seasons without a CCIW win prior to Mike Conway's hire three and a half years ago. They haven't had a break-even season since 1993 or a winning season since 1968. The feeling at NCC, Wheaton, Elmhurst, and other CCIW schools has always been that if the right coach came along, and if he got adequate support from the school's administration, the program could become a winner, and historical evidence bears that out. That was never true at North Park, at least not since the late '60s. You really have to have been around North Park to grasp the perennial sense of futility and despair (which, all too often, eventually led to indifference or dissension) that plagued the program.

It's just not the same thing at all.

Disagree with this.  Your framing is 'they always had North Park below them'.  Looking through the other end of the telescope, the view was 'Augustana will always be six levels above you'.  It is equally hopeless.

I get why you think the Park is a special snowflake in this regard, and the Vikings did have to move mountains just to secure the progress we've seen to date.  But the other transitions referenced were not even close to the slam dunks you suggest they would be if you tick the coach/admin support boxes, particularly when you consider how sustained they've been.  The idea in, say, 1990, that North Central would soon become a perennial Top 20 program was simply not believable.

You're not going to agree with this, and that is fine.  But just as you feel someone had to loiter a bit near Foster and Kedzie to understand the Park's challenges, I'd suggest that you haven't walked in the shoes of those at other schools to fully understand their journey.   North Park has had to overcome more than its share of challenges on the athletic front, particularly in football, but it doesn't have a monopoly on them.

And I disagree with this.

Augie's strangle-hold on the CCIW lasted less than a decade; NPC went THIRTEEN consecutive years without a single conference win - no comparison!

Wheaton does not even belong in this conversation, having been part of the upper group in the decades-long Big Four/Little Four model.  IWU has also had some rough years lately, but I'm sure both the Thunder and Titans were confident that the bad times were short termed.  Since NCC and Elmhurst were both perennial members of the 'Little Four', I can understand their comparisons, but they were still (almost) ALWAYS able to look down and see NPC.

The struggles of NPC(U) football are truly UNIQUE in CCIW history.  (Though they still pale next to Caltech baseball! )

[Gregory Sager]

Late scores:

North Park 41
Anderson 13

Augustana 21
Mount St. Joseph 10

North Central 35
Robert Morris-Chicago 21

Not counting the exhibition, the CCIW went 7-1 today.