FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Pat Coleman]

Captain Obvious,

The kicker who made 15/19 is Jake Tanner of DePauw. The four kicks he missed were from 30, 38, 37, and 35 yards. So he wasn't missing long ones from 50+. His long was 43—same as Judka.
JMHO that Judka has the better credentials. 

I took hazzben's statement as hypothetical, and in fact, he described the very philosophy to which I ascribe. Definitely some leeway given for long misses. Very little leeway given for not being given any long attempts. Kid for Trinity (Conn.) was perfect a couple years ago but nothing longer than 40 and he didn't get ranked super highly by us.

[Bombers798891]

Very little leeway given for not being given any long attempts. Kid for Trinity (Conn.) was perfect a couple years ago but nothing longer than 40 and he didn't get ranked super highly by us.

I think the thing I'm having trouble with is that it's really hard to know what opportunities presented themselves for the kicker. How many times was the team facing a reasonable FG opportunity between the opponents' 24 and 35*? Lots of players' stats are influenced by opportunities, I know. But it seems like kickers really are at the mercy of a lot of different factors that make me leery of dinging them for that. And, yes, I get it, it's impossible to go through the game logs for every kicker you're considering, so it's not really a criticism as much as it is a stray thought.

*Getting us into kicks of > 40 yards, and just arbitrarily making 52 yards a theoretical max that a coach would attempt, for purposes of brevity, and thinking about the possibility of a coach electing to run out the clock in a blowout, or needing to go for it on 4th when trailing (which didn't apply to this Trinity kicker I get it)

[Pat Coleman]

I get what you're saying, but how can I judge a player on something he hasn't done?

[Bombers798891]

I get what you're saying, but how can I judge a player on something he hasn't done?

I mean, you could just make it nothing, as opposed to being a negative (unless that is what you do, and I misinterpreted it)

[footballlover]

https://cciw.org/sports/2018/11/13/FB_1113180014.aspx

[Marmac]

Stepina (Millikin) over McWilliams (Wheaton)? Wow!

[iwu70]

Congratulations to all the All-CCIW selections.  Special congratulations to the IWU TITANS receiving these much-deserved honors.  Bauer and the IWU receivers had a great year.  More to come.  Bauer re-writing the IWU record books for his position. 

All best to all the seniors for their future endeavors, post-football.

Good luck to NCC in the playoffs.  Make some noise for the CCIW.

IWU'70

[Gregory Sager]

Congratulations to David Simmons, Jr. upon being named to the first team, and kudos to the coaches for recognizing that his all-around work merited his inclusion among the DBs. Congratulations as well to his NPU teammates, juniors Gary Anish (who likewise distinguished himself for his play in multiple facets of the game besides DB work) and George Tafua, Jr. (who became a solid presence on NPU's O-line, in spite of missing a couple of games to injury).

[USee]

Congratulations to Eric Stevenson, Wheaton MLB for POY honors. A very deserving player on a nationally dominant defense. Glad to see him rewarded for his leadership and high quality play in every game this year.  He will go down as one of the best LB's this conference has seen, in a conference that has had some dominant LB's. Its a great honor.

Happy also for the other honorees. No great misses in these choices that I can see. McWilliams had 4 great QB's to compete with. I think he is right there with all the 2nd Team QB's (Who are all 1st team in other years) but you can't vote for them all. Happy to see NPU's Simmons honored. Greg laid out the case for his contribution and it's good to see that rewarded.

Also glad to see Larry Kindbom get the COY award. He is a great guy and WashU came into the CCIW with a purpose.

Finally, I am very glad to see the CCIW add Lineman of the Year. Sharmore Clarke is well deserving of this honor.

[Gregory Sager]

Congratulations to Eric Stevenson, Wheaton MLB for POY honors. A very deserving player on a nationally dominant defense. Glad to see him rewarded for his leadership and high quality play in every game this year.  He will go down as one of the best LB's this conference has seen, in a conference that has had some dominant LB's. Its a great honor.

Happy also for the other honorees. No great misses in these choices that I can see. McWilliams had 4 great QB's to compete with. I think he is right there with all the 2nd Team QB's (Who are all 1st team in other years) but you can't vote for them all. Happy to see NPU's Simmons honored. Greg laid out the case for his contribution and it's good to see that rewarded.

Also glad to see Larry Kindbom get the COY award. He is a great guy and WashU came into the CCIW with a purpose.

This was the right call. I think that a lot of us would agree that Wash U made a bigger impact upon the league in its first year than it was expected to have. Giving Larry Kindbom the COY award is an acknowledgement of that impact.

Finally, I am very glad to see the CCIW add Lineman of the Year. Sharmore Clarke is well deserving of this honor.

The creation of this award was long overdue.

[Marmac]

Congratulations to Eric Stevenson, Wheaton MLB for POY honors. A very deserving player on a nationally dominant defense. Glad to see him rewarded for his leadership and high quality play in every game this year.  He will go down as one of the best LB's this conference has seen, in a conference that has had some dominant LB's. Its a great honor.

Happy also for the other honorees. No great misses in these choices that I can see. McWilliams had 4 great QB's to compete with. I think he is right there with all the 2nd Team QB's (Who are all 1st team in other years) but you can't vote for them all. Happy to see NPU's Simmons honored. Greg laid out the case for his contribution and it's good to see that rewarded.

Also glad to see Larry Kindbom get the COY award. He is a great guy and WashU came into the CCIW with a purpose.

Finally, I am very glad to see the CCIW add Lineman of the Year. Sharmore Clarke is well deserving of this honor.

Wheaton's defense was Stagg Bowl caliber this season. Aside from the perplexing performances against IWU and WashU, this was one of the best Wheaton teams I've seen.

Wheaton won half its games by 45+ points, and that's probably what kept McWilliams from getting the 2nd Team honor. He was either handing off the ball or resting on the bench in the third and fourth quarters of most games.

[footballlover]

Coach K will also be representing the CCIW well as the 2018 AllState AFCA Good Works Team Honorary Coach! Look for him during halftime of the Sugar Bowl on New Years Day! 

[footballlover]

http://promo.espn.com/espn/contests/allstate/2018/phase1/index?next=vote

[New Tradition]

Former NCC DC Rick Ponx and standout WR Eric Steudemann out as head coach and OC, respectively, at Aurora. I'm a little surprised as they won the conference in 2016 and were a .500 club this year. They were tied for second in the conference in 2018 and rallied to that finish after an 0-4 start. Sounds like things were going in a pretty positive direction. Don Bebe in as the new head.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/sports/ct-abn-spt-football-aurora-university-rick-ponx-st-1114-story.html

[Gregory Sager]

Don Beebe (proper spelling) isn't just any old guy with a whistle and a clipboard. He spent nine seasons in the NFL as a wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, and Green Bay Packers, and played in six Super Bowls. He was one of the NFL's most respected players in the '90s because of his work ethic and his attitude, and this play from Super Bowl XXVII -- which occurred when the Bills were losing to the Cowboys, 52-17, with five minutes left in the game -- tells you everything that you need to know about Don Beebe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6gmDtVYdLA

He's spent his entire life, aside from his playing days, in the western suburbs. He's from Maple Park (he went to Kaneland HS) and lives in Aurora, where he was the head coach at Aurora Christian and won two 2A state championships (2011 and 2012) before he stepped down and gave the job to his younger brother David. His son Chad is a WR for the Minnesota Vikings. Beebe actually attended Aurora University for a year after leaving Western Illinois, before transferring to Chadron State, which is where he finished his college football career and earned his degree.

No offense to Rick Ponx, but if Aurora got Don Beebe to serve as the next head coach of the Spartans, it's pulled off a major coup.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/sports/ct-abn-spt-rick-armstrong-column-st-0926-story.html