FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

As many have said, a great win for the Titans and the program.  A very well-coached game, with the D and O playing very very well.  Many new players doing well. Bauer had a good, wise game and the new Titan RB also played very well, running north and south with strong moves against a huge WW D line.  Key to the win was the outstanding D by IWU.  Many many 3 and outs, good pass D for the most part.  WW got new life on several very dubious calls, including an interference call in the end zone and a roughing the passer call that was truly not so.  IWU hung in and played poised football throughout.  The new receiver corps played well, though surely can improve in coming weeks.  Game shows that IWU is better than many of us thought and that WW did not play up to their #3 ranking today.  I'm sure this bitter loss, esp. with the bad snaps and fumbles, will spur them on to better days.  Big crowd, students and former players rushing the field.  This team could be very good.  I'm stunned, and happily surprised.  Great win TITANS.  Surely one of the best in the history of the program.  A beautiful, blue-skied sunny day at Tucci Stadium at Wilder Field.  As we often say, "A Great Day to be a TITAN."

IWU'70

[USee]

I thought the roughing the passer penalty against IWU was absolutely the right call. #1 Trevor Koepke was on a blitz and dove at the back of the knees of UWW QB Cole. To me there was no question that is a penalty.

The refererees did a great job in the game overall I thought. It was fairly clean and well played. 3 turnovers to 0 was the story. That and IWU defense holding UWW to 43 yrds rushing.

Very impressed with the Titans today. Bauer played ok, not great. He did not turn the ball over which was obvsiously huge. 17-32 for 128 wasn't great, though he did have a couple drops from his WR. Morgan Alexander is going to be a great RB behind that veteran OL.

[Mugsy]

Wheaton over Benedictine 43-0 at half.  437 yards in first half, multiple big plays both running and passing.  Olateju with 170 yards rushing on 8 carries.  McWilliams at QB was 6-9 for 183 yards and 2 TDs.  Wheaton averaging 12.1 yards per rush, Benedictine 0.0.  Wheaton 14.6 yards per play!   

[CardinalAlum]

Wheaton over Benedictine 43-0 at half.  437 yards in first half, multiple big plays both running and passing.  Olateju with 170 yards rushing on 8 carries.  McWilliams at QB was 6-9 for 183 yards and 2 TDs.  Wheaton averaging 12.1 yards per rush, Benedictine 0.0.  Wheaton 14.6 yards per play!   

Yeah, BU is ready for D-2....

[Gregory Sager]

North Park beat Anderson in central Indiana, 33-7.

I was told earlier in the week by Mike Conway that he would be splitting the QB duties between junior Anthony DiNardo and freshman Frank Mauigoa on an every-other-series basis. That lasted for two series, after which he stuck with the hot hand. For most of the game that was Mauigoa, who picked up a modest 129 yards passing but was 16-21 and didn't throw any picks. He kept the chains moving pretty consistently all day, helping the Vikes convert 12 of 20 third-down attempts. This was partly because he was such an effective running threat as well (eight carries for 56 yards and a TD). He has tremendous potential. DiNardo was a near-perfect 8-9 for 75 yards and got the lone NPU touchdown pass of the day, a 24-yard strike to Hunter Hinkel. Enrique Moises Menendez wore down the Ravens as the game went on; when the day was done he had 100 yards and a pair of rushing TDs on 27 totes, and he also caught four passes for 48 yards.

The defense was rock-solid, holding AU to only four rushing yards on 20 carries and 184 yards total. Outside of too many penalties (8-81, including several loss-of-composure unsportsmanlike conduct calls) and a late Ravens touchdown that shouldn't have been awarded (the AU receiver was a good yard and a half out of bounds when he caught the ball), it was about as picture-perfect a performance as Mike Conway could've hoped for on opening day. But one shouldn't read too much into this game -- Anderson is dreadful, same as last year, and I doubt that the Vikings will see an easier opponent all season. Still, given the length of the trip, the fact that it was opening day, and the reality that a large number of NPU players saw their first-ever varsity action (including both QBs), this was a very solid result. But next week's sojourn in Nebraska against a formidable Midland squad will be a much better indication of where the Vikings are than today was -- and a much better prep for CCIW play as well.

It was fun to be back behind the mic again today as well.

[Gregory Sager]

The Week One scoreboard:

@ Millikin 76, Greenville 3
@ SUNY Cortland 34, Augustana 32
Carthage 24, @ Aurora 0
Loras 41, @ Elmhurst 9
@ Illinois Wesleyan 17, UW-Whitewater 10
@ Lakeland 43, Carroll 29
North Park 33, @ Anderson 7
@ North Central 33, Robert Morris-Chicago 31
Wheaton 57, @ Benedictine 14

The league goes 6-3 on Opening Weekend. That Elmhurst score from Langhorst is ugly. The wholesale graduation losses on the defensive side of the ball for the 'jays clearly have taken their toll. The Carroll loss isn't good, either, as the game was not as close as the final score appears.

Next Saturday's slate:

Wheaton @ Kalamazoo, 12 pm CST
Augustana @ Central, 1 pm
Bethel @ Carthage, 1 pm 
Olivet @ Elmhurst, 1 pm 
Nebraska Wesleyan @ Illinois Wesleyan, 1 pm
Millikin @ Rose-Hulman, 1 pm 
North Park @ Midland, 1 pm

Carroll and North Central have byes.

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton over Benedictine 43-0 at half.  437 yards in first half, multiple big plays both running and passing.  Olateju with 170 yards rushing on 8 carries.  McWilliams at QB was 6-9 for 183 yards and 2 TDs.  Wheaton averaging 12.1 yards per rush, Benedictine 0.0.  Wheaton 14.6 yards per play!   

Yeah, BU is ready for D-2....

Give the Bennies several dozen scholarships with which to recruit, and you'll see things change pretty darned quickly. Don't make the mistake of thinking that Benedictine's possible D2 future will be determined by what it's doing right now in D3, hamstrung as it currently is in an inferior league on this level. Benedictine has the facilities to be a solid destination for D2 prospects.

[Titan Q]

A few things learned in IWU's opener...

* Brandon Bauer, a sophomore from Lincoln-Way East HS, is IWU's QB. Bauer became IWU's starter in game #3 last season, and led the Titans to a 6-1 record. The loss was to Wheaton - a game in which Bauer was 22-33 passing for 399 yards and 3 TDs. He had a so-so game overall vs UWW, but he did make a number of big plays and good decisions to help IWU win that game.  He has the talent to have a big year.

* Junior Morgan Alexander (York H.S.) is IWU's top RB.  Alexander, who was IWU's "Most Valuable Offensive JV Player" last year, had a big game vs the Warhawks - 15 carries, 94 yard (6.3 per).

* 6-5 sophomore Jack Healy (Glenbrook South HS) appears to be IWU's top WR - he caught both IWU TDs yesterday.

* The Titans have a strong rush defense.  IWU held UWW to just 42 yards on the ground on 34 carries - 1.2 per carry. Last year the Warhawks averaged 199 per game and 4.5 per attempt last year.

* Returning all 5 starters, IWU has a very good offensive line - 6-0/260 Sr. Mike Mulcrone (C), 6-4/320 Jr. Jack Moroni (LG), 6-2/280 Sr. Chris Collins (RG), 6-2/275 Sr. Connor Melvin (LT), 6-5/275 Sr. Nicholas Monferdini (RT). This unit helped IWU rush for 131 yards against Whitewater, which gave up just 83 rushing yards per game last year.


Still plenty of questions for IWU in terms of competing with #6 Wheaton and #7 North Central, but the Titans have some really nice pieces.

[USee]

Q, great assessment. I agree with all your points. Bauer has to be better (in terms of playmaking) but it is critical he did not turn it over against the Warhawks. If you have a great defense (and it appears the Titans do) taking care of the football will keep you in most games. He will just have to make more plays, which he has done in the past, against the rest of their schedule.

IWU's big concern will be injuries. In the past, their top guys are as good as any, it's when they get guys hurt (and everyone does) they haven't had the depth of guys to step up.

If IWU stays healthy, they will be right there for the conference race.

[Titan Q]

IWU's big concern will be injuries. In the past, their top guys are as good as any, it's when they get guys hurt (and everyone does) they haven't had the depth of guys to step up.

And senior LB Josh Akin left the game late yesterday with some type of lower body injury...needed assistance getting off the field.  So that worries me.

[wabashcpa]

Congrats to IWU, fantastic win!

[lmitzel]

I watched some of the 4th quarter from UWW-IWU from yesterday. Big props to the Titans for playing a composed game and taking advantage of the opportunities they were given.

Out in Naperville, with some more details on that one, North Central was in command early, leading 19-0 late in the first half and 26-3 early in the third quarter, it looked like the Cardinals were on track for a blowout. But the Eagles caught fire in the second half, scoring on four of five possessions to get it close, with the margin coming on a failed two point conversion on RMU's final score with just under four minutes to play. North Central also had to make a fourth down stand on the next possession to secure the W.

[USee]

Some notes from the Thunder's win over Benedictine:

-Curtis McWilliams looked good in his debut. He stood in the pocket with confidence and threw a nice ball. His one INT was a ball he rushed as he was hit, was behind the receiver and tipped into the air. Furrow is a close second so the Thunder have 2 QB's who can run this offense right now.
-The OL looked really good, albeit against Benedictine. I was particularly impressed with Andrew Jones, the big LT. Pettway has some sort of cast on his right hand and that concerns me in pass protection.
-Olateju was explosive and physical. He seems to have turned it up another notch. Stone Watson and TJ Williams are very talented RB's as well giving the Thunder plenty of depth
Overall on Offense I thought they were very explosive. If the QB develops, this could be one of the better offenses. I would like to see how we do against a team that brings a lot of pressure.

Defensively the Thunder did what they wanted. We lost the DPOY off this defense but Corey Kennedy, an NIU transfer, looks every bit the appropriate fill in. I was really impressed with his IQ, speed and tackling ability. The defensive front played great, has a lot of depth and is led by 3 LB's that very, very good. One of those three will be the nominee for this years DPOY before it's over.

My longer term concern for the Thunder, besides QB development are two: Our corners get beat deep against teams with speed at WR. We are almost too confident with our secondary. These guys are great at playing zone but one weakness may be man defense when we bring pressure. Fortunately we often play man under (man with safety help). the other concern is penalties. It was a problem last year and we obviously haven't fixed it. 14 for 155 yds is brutal. many of them were 15 yard type's. It is frustrating to watch us continually get late hits, roughing passer, un-sportsmen like conduct, etc.

Overall, an expected dominating start. I expect similar results this week @Kalamazoo before a big challenge when Carthage comes to Wheaton in two weeks.

[Augie6]

Congrats to IWU on their win against #3 UWW.  Big win for their program and for the CCIW. 

Didn't get a chance to see any of the Augie - Cortland game online, but after reading the recap, Augie continues their trend of the past 2 seasons of not being able to finish games when they have a chance to win.  Granted, there haven't been many of these chances since Augie hasn't even been in a lot of their games in the 4th quarter, but this the 5th time since the 2015 season that Augie has had a lead in the fourth quarter and found a way to lose the game.  Saw a lot of undisciplined play last season with bad penalties and it looks like that trend is continuing this year, as Augie had 17 penalties for 146 yards in yesterday's game.  Hard to win close games when you are giving up 146 free yards to your opponents. Based on Coach Bell's comments after the game, it sounds like he is pretty frustrated with this trend, as well. 

"It's disheartening when you have the game won and then give it away at the end,'' Bell said. "Obviously, there are a lot of things that go into a loss. It's not one play, it's not one series, not one moment. We had an opportunity to win that one."

"I'm getting tired of almost. We should be tired of almost.  We had it. It was there for the taking," said a frustrated Bell. "All the junk that went on before and we still had a chance to win it. Now we've got a 13-hour bus ride to think about this one."

There seemed to be a lot of optimism coming out of the program for this season, but this is a bad loss to start the year.  Cortland returned only 10 starters from a 5-6 team last year, so it wasn't like Augie was playing a powerhouse team.  I'll remain hopeful that they can get a turned around next week against a Central team that got smoked at home by Whitworth. 

[bleedpurple]

Congratulations to the Titans on their win on Saturday.  They are a good team that played very well and showed a lot of determination. They deserve all the credit in the world.  In addition, the people treated us well. Great stadium and great atmosphere.  Good luck the rest of the season.