FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Augie6]

Augustana 31
Rhodes 21

Augie back at Lindgren Stadium in 2 weeks!

Congrats to Augie on the season opening win.  Had a chance to watch most of this game online.  Augie dominated the first half, taking a 31-7 lead, with the only score given up to Rhodes coming on a 94 yard kick off return following Augie's first TD.  RB Tyler Rivelli had a strong first half and I really liked the way he ran the ball, gaining 105 yards on 17 carries for the game.  The 2nd half was a completely different story.  Augie let Rhodes get back in the game by turning the ball over on 3 straight drives in the 3rd Qtr (2 fumbles and an INT) and basically looked terrible in the 2nd half.  A couple things to note.  There is a reason that Rhodes was picked to finish in last place in their conference.  They are awful and I wouldn't be shocked if they don't win a game this season.  Letting a team like that come back in the second half does not bode very well for Augie as it heads into CCIW play.  Thomas Hall started at QB for Augie and, after leading Augie to 10 points in their first two drives, he was replaced by Jason Grimes, with about 4 mins left in the 1st quarter.  He stayed in the game until the start of the 4th quarter and led Augie to 21 points, but also lost 3 fumbles and threw an INT.  Hall came back in to start the 4th quarter and finished the game.  I hope this is not the plan for the season.  Neither one were particularly impressive, but I have never understood when coaches think it's a good thing to play two QBs and, much more often than not, teams that do that, typically, don't have much success. I would give the edge to Hall, since you can't have a player turn the ball over 4 times, like Grimes did, and expect to win many games.   

With a bunch of very inexperienced players, getting a win to start the season is good thing, regardless of how it comes.  It's a good thing Augie has two weeks to prepare for their CCIW opener against Millikin.  Performances like today simply will not be competitive efforts in the CCIW. 

[CardinalAlum]

Major upset downstate:

Greenville 37
Millikin 33

Also, Chicago dumped Wash U, 31-21; Wheaton humbled Northwestern, 56-0; UW-Whitewater ran away from Carthage, 46-7; and UWRF toppled Elmhurst, 45-7.

Illinois Wesleyan is losing late at home to Franklin, 35-21

Ouch.  Rough weekend for most of the conference.  Millikin score is a big shocker!

[Gregory Sager]

Wesleyan lost, 35-21.

[CardinalAlum]

Curious if the new Blue followers have any insight on the loss to Greenville?  That one is a head scratcher. 

[hazzben]

Bethel 59
North Park 7

This one went pretty much according to form. Bethel is outstanding. The Royals looked like a team that could go deep into the playoffs.

Enjoyed listening to you call the game Greg.

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks, hazzben!

[matblake]

I'm usually more a a "half-empty" type of fan, so I thought I would switch it up and list my concerns first, followed by what I enjoyed with regards to Wheaton.

Penalties, penalties, penalties.  We've got to break this pattern of being one of the most penalized teams.  We've seen it make a difference in the past and it will make a difference in the future.  Everytime there is a big play, I worry how it will get called back.

If we allow the seam and sideline routes to keep up those completion rates, North Central will eat us alive.  We'll endure an afternoon of 5 to 7 yard passes for first downs and our front seven needing to take more and more risks which will inevitably result in...........more penalties, probably of the 15 yard variety.   

Non-conference games that don't give us enough information.  With the 9 game conference schedule in place, we can't schedule warm-up games anymore.  I think North Central will know a bunch more about their team after their game with Aurora.  That being said, the game with Aurora was most likely scheduled prior to Beebe's arrival there.  Speaking of Aurora, a moment of silence for the old Illini-Badger Conference Board..........Thank you.  Ah, the memories!

Ok, now for the half-full stuff. That front seven is amazing against the run.  Outside of North Central, most CCIW rushing attacks will be used to keep the defense honest.  My guess will be that the outside linebackers should run extra wind sprints because they will be chasing swing passes into the flat all year as teams try to simulate a rushing attack.

John Bickle is an amazing punter.  He's a weapon that really allows you to take more risks on say third and 6 and beyond.

Starting to insert the back-ups into the game earlier.  In previous seasons, I was often frustrated at how long Wheaton kept their starters in the game with the game well in hand.  I understand the starters needing to get their game reps, so I guess that's just an opinion thing.  I just don't like seeing a starter get hurt, when we're up by 35 and you could be developing a future player or rewarding a senior who has been in the program for 4 years and plays sparingly.

Less adoration of the big play.  I'm sure some of this was personnel (player) related, but it seems like the past maybe 10 years we were always going for the big shot downfield or trying to run more sweeps from outside the tackle to the numbers.  At least in this game, there were shots downfield, but there was more balance of the 0-10 and 10-20 attempts and then 20+ sprinkled in.  The running game also appeared to be much more focused from tackle to tackle. 

Trying to get a lot of formations and personnel on film. 

It's always good to get the win.  It was weird to see Wheaton in the west end zone following the game and the players not congratulate the other team via handshake.  I really liked Northwestern's heart.  Even at the point where they were really run down, they kept coming.  That's a lesson that all athletes learn and can apply to life after athletics.

Wish there was a way for the PA system to be linked up to the audio for the broadcast so that things like the national anthem or special events at halftime like the Swider thing or Wheaton Hall of Honor or Senior Day could be heard more clearly.  Maybe it's an all or nothing thing where you'd have to hear the PA announcer cutting off the broadcasters throughout the broadcast?

Oops, last paragraph drifted into half-empty again.

[CardinalAlum]

Matblake,

This Aurora game was actually scheduled AFTER Beebe’s arrival.  Aurora will have the advantage of having already played their first game and getting the kinks worked out.  It will be interesting to see how they will line up to defend the Cards. 

[BIG BLUE BEN]

Curious if the new Blue followers have any insight on the loss to Greenville?  That one is a head scratcher.

.


To be honest, I was shocked yesterday with Greenville finding a way to come back and upset Millikin in the rain. For the starters, Greenville was just straight up better than anyone expected. If there is a silver lining, its that Greenville has the best team I have seen in the last 7-8 years and they were playing in front of a packed out crowd. Add in one of the worst D3 football fields in the country, 6 hours of rain before and during the game, creating a mud bowl. Milikin lost 2 fumbles, one as they were about to score on 1st and goal. The other recovered by Greenville inside Millikins 20 yard line. To make matters worse Cal threw 2 picks, both of which were going in to score. It was a perfect storm with Millikin playing the worst I have seen them in the Gritti Era, mixed with Greenville having a solid team that probally goes 9-1 and wins Conference results in what will be a soul searching 2 weeks for this team.

With that said, this is a bad loss for Millikin no matter how good Greenville is. We came in over confident and played poorly. I still think Millikin can and will go win there next 5 games and make things interesting but I would be lying if I wasnt very concerned with my early predictions.

Millikin's offense will be hard to stop as they were just as good as advertised. Throwing for over 300, scoring 33 points all with having 4 turnovers in the rain was encouraging if anything.....They just need to protect the ball, if we only have one turnover we win by 21.

The defense is what failed them in the second half of this one. As Millikin got weaker, Greenville ran harder. The secondary was lost all day, couldnt seem to figure out Greenville's 3 passing concepts along with not stop the tight ends or the middle of the field. Greenville lived up and down the hashes all day and Millikin kept running cover 2/4 and was not learning their lesson. I am confident Millikin will look like a new team after the bye and think they find a way to win a close one @augy on 9/18.

[matblake]

Matblake,

This Aurora game was actually scheduled AFTER Beebe's arrival.  Aurora will have the advantage of having already played their first game and getting the kinks worked out.  It will be interesting to see how they will line up to defend the Cards.

I stand corrected on the scheduling.  Good on the Cards.  Based off what people are saying about the game in Collegeville, NCC should know where they stand going forward.

[USee]

I'll be interested to see the NCC v Aurora game. I know the STJ Defense is legit, not sure about their offense so I can't really measure the Aurora defense. We'll know for sure after this week because NCC has a potent offense and a top 20 defense. 

[USee]

The Thunder performed pretty much as expected Saturday. Not sure we learned anything other than the names of a few players we hadn't much before. My assessment of them hasn't really changed. I loved Giovanni Weeks, fast runner who can get yards in traffic. He was a nice surprise. Jeremiah Tucker makes me think we have 2 starter quality QB's at Wheaton, which is a good feeling to have going into the next couple weeks.

Defensively the front 7 are the best I have seen as a group, in a long time. These guys are going to give opponents a lot of problems all year. The back end looked good, but against poor competition so still not as confident about the secondary.

Great tape to teach off and now we have 2 weeks to prepare for the Little Brass Bell!

[Gregory Sager]

If there is a silver lining, its that Greenville has the best team I have seen in the last 7-8 years

Seriously? Just how much football do you watch, anyway?

[Next Man Up]

If there is a silver lining, its that Greenville has the best team I have seen in the last 7-8 years

Seriously? Just how much football do you watch, anyway?

He must have meant its the best Greenville team he has seen in the last 7-8 years. No???

[Gregory Sager]

I sure hope so, because the straight-up reading of that sentence is that Greenville has the best team he's seen in the last 7-8 years, without qualification.