FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[izzy stradlin]

Broc Rutter.  Wow.  That's one tough kid and I'm happy as heck he will be around for a while.    Bowers is good but I'm still shocked Peltz didn't have a role in this game as he has really hurt us in the past.

I look at Rutter probably in a similar way to what you guys saw in Peltz 2 years ago-- could end up being the best QB of the Thorne Era.  His arm is very good and accurate but otherwise he isn't really flashy in any way-- just a leader who does all the small things that are what quarterbacking is all about. Doesn't hold the ball, quick decisions, quick release and enough mobility to pick up a few yards for a conversion.  The Wheaton DLine actually played really well but Rutter just got rid of the ball so quickly it didn't matter.  He also displays a confidence out there that you want from you offensive leader.  The play where he took a shot from a Wheaton DT and jumped to his feet fired up--that stuff has an impact on your whole offense.

When there is pressure, Bowers holds the ball and dances. Yes this necessitates highlight reel plays that look as good as any QB in D3, but you just need to move the chains and 15-31 passing leads to 2-11 on third down and giving up the football. 

[AndOne]

Daily Herald article on the Bell Game:

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20161015/sports/161019017/

* Click on the numbers at the top of the article if you want to see game pictures.

[CardinalAlum]

USee,

Always interested to hear your thoughts on the game.  Curious why Watson didn't carry the ball more.  I know you've been a big fan of his.   

[New Tradition]

New poll out. NCC remains 6th but is only 5 points out of 5th. Wheaton drops 1 spot from 11th to 12th.

[USee]

North Central 35
Wheaton 25

Wheaton 65 plays 354 yards; 246 pass, 33 rush for 108 yds 3.3 yds per rush
Andrew Bowers 16-32-1 (50%), 16 rush 43 yds
Sola Olateju 15 rush 63 yds
Trey Hanley 6 catches 107 yds 1 TD

North Central 71 plays 294 yards; 238 pass, 56 rush yds 1.8 yds per rush
Broc Rutter 23-39-0 238 yds (59%); 10 rush 32 yds
Austin Bruenig 14 rush 30 yds
Alex Ulmer 8 catches 90 yds

Congratulations the Cardinals who deserved to win the Battle for the Little Brass Bell. There were a number of critical plays that contributed to the outcome but at the end of the day North Central won the game by playing better in the trenches on both sides of the ball, winning on special teams and the turnover battle. They were the better team last night.

In my pregame notes I thought the Thunder were good at OLine play, getting to the quarterback and covering special teams. North Central out played Wheaton in each of these areas. Even more surprising is the fact that Wheaton has not been good at defending the pass and did so by getting to the quarterback. Wheaton was ineffective at pressuring Rutter but did a tremendous job against the Cardinals passing game. This was in large part due to the personnel switch the Thunder made, moving Tyler Sigler from safety to corner and matching him up against Ryan Kuhl. Wheaton also played their dime package much of the second half which features a 3 man Dline, 2 LB's and 6 dbs.That group was outstanding. North Central had 100 yds of offense after 2 series in the game, had 156 at half time and 138 second half yards.

The 2 biggest plays of the game were Sola Oletaju's fumble on the second series of the game at Wheaton's own 7 yard line, which led to a 14-0 lead and the punt return when there was less than 20 seconds to go in the half and the Cardinals had no timeouts. That punt was forces as Wheaton, trailing 17-3 and getting the ball to start the second half, threw the ball on 3rd and 8 to try and get a first down with 20 seconds to go in the half. I think there must have been a communication error among the Wheaton coaches as that's a situation that Swider would always run the ball, ending the half.

Credit the Thunder for coming out and stopping North Central for much of the second half and getting back in the game making it a one score game 2 different times. The Cardinals answered each time with TD and a FG to keep Wheaton at arms length.

Wheaton ran the ball 33 times and passed 32 times but Bowers had 16 runs and only about half of those were called runs so the Thunder coaches called more pass plays than running plays. Wheaton's OLine struggled to protect Bowers, in particular Tyler Leslie as Billy Douds had 3 sacks and is the probable POW for the league as a result. I thought they should have stayed with the the running game but that's a problem when you are down 24-3 in the second half.

I thought the pass interference call on Marcus Smith was a good call which was a 3rd down conversion and prolonged a NCC scoring drive. Likewise a subsequent pass interference call against Blazek on 3rd down  was horrible and led to the other score in the second half for NCC. The officials, by and large, were not a factor in the outcome and made some calls good and bad both ways.

Bowers was just ok. 50% is not a good completion number and he missed some throws he needed to make. North Central clearly saw that Bowers locks in on his first read and then when he scrambles he is looking to run vs looking to keep a play alive and throw because every time he started to scramble 2 NCC defenders would leave their zone and attack Bowers as he ran. If Bowers had looked to throw after scrambling he had some opportunities but that's not his gig.


Both of these teams played at a very high level that you would expect from two top 10 teams. Wheaton plays North Park, Carroll and Augie down the stretch and NCC has Augie, @ Carthage and @Elmhurst. The Carthage game will provide some intrigue  as they have only the loss to Wheaton so a victory would bring the tie breaker into play, which would favor NCC.

If Wheaton wins out they should be an early pick as a pool C for the playoffs.

[matblake]

Good analysis, USee.  Appreciate your thoughts.

[USee]

New poll out. NCC remains 6th but is only 5 points out of 5th. Wheaton drops 1 spot from 11th to 12th.

No idea how someone votes Thomas More (#13) ahead of Franklin (#14) when Franklin beat them head to head.

[wally_wabash]

New poll out. NCC remains 6th but is only 5 points out of 5th. Wheaton drops 1 spot from 11th to 12th.

No idea how someone votes Thomas More (#13) ahead of Franklin (#14) when Franklin beat them head to head.

Oh you know why. Franklin's poll position pays the price for Earlham, Anderson, Manchester, etc whether they have anything to do with Franklin or not (they don't). 

[USee]

New poll out. NCC remains 6th but is only 5 points out of 5th. Wheaton drops 1 spot from 11th to 12th.

No idea how someone votes Thomas More (#13) ahead of Franklin (#14) when Franklin beat them head to head.

Oh you know why. Franklin's poll position pays the price for Earlham, Anderson, Manchester, etc whether they have anything to do with Franklin or not (they don't).

I know that's why it happens when there is no H2H. This is a different story. Hurts the credibility of the poll in my view.

[HoosierRedMan]

New poll out. NCC remains 6th but is only 5 points out of 5th. Wheaton drops 1 spot from 11th to 12th.

Any thoughts on why a 5-1 Carthage team isn't getting any recognition in the poll.

[Pat Coleman]

New poll out. NCC remains 6th but is only 5 points out of 5th. Wheaton drops 1 spot from 11th to 12th.

Any thoughts on why a 5-1 Carthage team isn't getting any recognition in the poll.

Elmhurst is the best team they've beaten.

[wally_wabash]

New poll out. NCC remains 6th but is only 5 points out of 5th. Wheaton drops 1 spot from 11th to 12th.

Any thoughts on why a 5-1 Carthage team isn't getting any recognition in the poll.

There are 64 zero or one loss teams, not to mention a handful of strong two-loss teams in the E8, NJAC, IIAC, MIAC, and WIAC.  That's a lot of teams for just 25 open spots. 

[NCC26]

NCC

The Good:
Rutter showed he can play in the CCIW.  What impressed me was that he changed the way he ran in the 4th qtr.  After getting short changed by the refs in the 3rd qtr on some slides (way past the first down markers prior to slide, but refs mark it 2 yards short??), he skipped the sliding and went full bore ahead to make sure he got the proper mark.     

NCC Defense was outstanding!  Kept the Wee ton running game in check.  The big back didn't do much (yards gained were deceptive as he got half those on one carry prior to the half ending).  They kept the pressure on the QB and didn't give him time for any reads.  The Wee ton tackles couldn't block our ends.  Not to further knock the refs, but on third down Wee ton completes a long pass that led to a touchdown in the third quarter, should have been called back.  The referee standing not 5 yards away and doesn't call the  right tackle for a huge holding (he was beat so bad he had to grab and pull our end back from getting a clear shot at the QB).  The player turns and look at ref and he just shrugs?? The defensive line coach was ticked and kept asking the ref why he didn't throw flag.

NCC Special Teams answered the call.  Punt return team was outstanding and kicking game was on point.

The whole team: Showing Wee ton you can win the game and WAIT TO RECEIVE the bell with class without being a bunch of jags running through their bench to grab it.  Well done men!!

The Bad:
We need to figure out the running game.  Please coach, no more delayed/draw plays!!  It hasn't worked all season.  Get these guys the ball with a running start.  Would like to see Broc looking in the flats for his running backs/ motion receivers for a quick check down.  There was a play he tried to go deep on third down and he had Dylan wide open in the flat with a ton of green out front.  Wasting time outs because we take too long getting the plays in.  This shouldn't be happening in my opinion.  We get to the line right away, then we cannot decide what we want to call??  c'mon coach get your $hit together.

Late hit penalty....keep your emotions in check.  No reason whatsoever to hit the quarterback out of bounds.  That is just plain stupid, dangerous, unprofessional.  i would have no problem if the refs would throw your ass out of the game so it is very clear to you that it is not acceptable.



Wee ton

The Good:
Not a single guy on that team gave up!  You guys play hard for the whole game.  Your tight end is an absolute stud!  He should have gotten way more touches with the ball.  He was a one man wrecking crew!! 

Defensive line and linebackers - They get to the ball carriers quick!  Our running backs were better off just going straight up the field and getting zero to two yards instead of trying to string the play out wide and getting hit for 3-4 yard losses.  Outstanding tackling by everyone on the team.

Punter kept us pinned in the third quarter.  He was very very good with hang time.


The Bad:
Your offensive line needs a lot of work in pass protection.  Your tackles are huge, but man are they slooooow.  If you guys end up in a different bracket and gets ref's who might call a lot tighter game, you could end up in trouble with holding calls. 

Your defensive secondary can't cover.  They had trouble all night with coverage.  You could see the frustration in their body language.  The pass interference calls were spot on.

Special teams - Your kicker needs to relax; by that, i mean he needs to just put the ball through the uprights without trying to kick the thing to the next county.  On extra points, kick for accuracy not power.  On punt coverage, you had guys who didn't stay in their lanes on that return for a TD. 

[wally_wabash]

The Wee ton tackles couldn't block our ends.  Not to further knock the refs, but on third down Wee ton completes a long pass that led to a touchdown in the third quarter, should have been called back.  The referee standing not 5 yards away and doesn't call the  right tackle for a huge holding (he was beat so bad he had to grab and pull our end back from getting a clear shot at the QB).  The player turns and look at ref and he just shrugs?? The defensive line coach was ticked and kept asking the ref why he didn't throw flag.

Your offensive line needs a lot of work in pass protection.  Your tackles are huge, but man are they slooooow.  If you guys end up in a different bracket and gets ref's who might call a lot tighter game, you could end up in trouble with holding calls. 

I'll go ahead and take this at face value and just assume that North Central did not hold without being called for it- not ever ever ever even one single time- during the entire game. 

[Mugsy]

The Wee ton tackles couldn't block our ends.  Not to further knock the refs, but on third down Wee ton completes a long pass that led to a touchdown in the third quarter, should have been called back.  The referee standing not 5 yards away and doesn't call the  right tackle for a huge holding (he was beat so bad he had to grab and pull our end back from getting a clear shot at the QB).  The player turns and look at ref and he just shrugs?? The defensive line coach was ticked and kept asking the ref why he didn't throw flag.

Your offensive line needs a lot of work in pass protection.  Your tackles are huge, but man are they slooooow.  If you guys end up in a different bracket and gets ref's who might call a lot tighter game, you could end up in trouble with holding calls. 

I'll go ahead and take this at face value and just assume that North Central did not hold without being called for it- not ever ever ever even one single time- during the entire game.

My thought exactly.  I didn't see the game, unfortunately, though was watching the progress via live stats. 

I do not question the possibility that there was a significant holding penalty that may not have been called on Wheaton.  But to complain about it is ridiculous, when I'm sure there were multiple other occurrences on for either team.