FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

North Central is pretty good. Also, there is a pack of Mount Union fans at the game.

Tough one for the Titans. Disappointing that we can't put together a whole game. 1/2 versus NCC and 1/4 vs Wheaton is not going to get it done. Hats off to Norm on a great game plan. Sometimes scheme isn't enough.

That's a nice attempt at spin, giving your team credit for a fourth-quarter "win" for scoring a single touchdown against Wheaton's backups -- as if that somehow equates to any one of the 28-0, 20-0, and 24-0 pastings your team was handed in the first three quarters.

Take it from somebody who's had a lot of experience at seeing his team absorb huge losses on the gridiron: Trying to spin some sort of a positive outcome when your team gets its butt whipped just makes you look foolish. Didn't it soak in for you that this entire board was laughing at your coach and your sports information department for the spin job in the headline of IWU's gamer two weeks ago?

Face the facts, man. Your team got its butt whipped two weeks ago, and it got its butt whipped today. That's it, end of story, no spin. Just take your loss without dispensing look-on-the-bright-side propaganda and move on to next week.

I don't get why this is such a hard lesson for the Green people to learn ... but I think we can all sense who sets the tone for that sort of mentality down there in Bloomington.

Tough one for the Titans. Disappointing that we can't put together a whole game. 1/2 versus NCC and 1/4 vs Wheaton is not going to get it done. Hats off to Norm on a great game plan. Sometimes scheme isn't enough....

A great game plan indeed 🤗. But, sometimes 7 points just aren't quite enough, and some adjustments need to be made 🤔.

Who won the coin toss?

ROTFL!

[Gregory Sager]

North Park gave up the ball on downs in Millikin territory five times today, including twice inside the MU 5. Bad execution kept the Vikings from giving themselves a chance to win this game, which actually could've happened in spite of the fact that they were again outplayed at the line of scrimmage (albeit not nearly as badly as was the case last week). There's nothing really impressive about Millikin as a whole, but the Big Blue was able to ride better line play on both offense and defense to victory despite nearly matching NPU mistake for mistake.

This was a disappointing season, in that a well-below-par CCIW gave the Park the chance to post a landmark W-L record. That didn't happen, and now the Vikings get to endure the indignity of being thrown under the NCC steamroller to finish out the 2021 campaign.

[D3FLETCH]

Big 2nd Half from Bears. Had the Cardinals on the "ropes" for the second half spread  . NCC backups would barely crack .500 in the CCIW.   

[WW]

Since there has been a fair bit of Region 5 Pool C discussion here, this is how the ranked teams fared this weekend:

(Using Wally's rankings):

1. North Central defeats Wash U 59-20    next vs North Park
2. Central defeats Dubuque 56-7          next at Buena Vista
3. Wheaton defeats Ill. Wesleyan 72-7   next at Millikin
4. Lake Forest defeats Beloit 21-0        next vs Chicago
5. Aurora defeats Lakeland 38-20        next at Concordia (Wis)
6. Coe defeats Buena Vista 31-28        next at Nebraska Wesleyan
7. Lakeland loses to Aurora 20-38        next at Rockford
8. Chicago defeats Lawrence 66-0        next at Lake Forest



Since the region involves four conferences and two from each are ranked, here is the next-out team from each.  Likely Monmouth will replace Lakeland in the regional rankings next week; if so, the MWC teams will get a boost in their RRO creds from the extra team in that conference being ranked.  I do not see a scenario where a third CCIW team is ranked.

Unranked Benedictine (7-2) defeats Concordia (Ill) 49-21   next vs Wisconsin Lutheran
Unranked Monmouth (7-2) defeats Ripon 31-21              next vs Knox
Unranked Wartburg (6-3) defeats Neb. Wesleyan 50-14   next vs Simpson
Unranked Wash U (6-3) loses to North Central 20-59       next at Carthage

Lake Forest beat Beloit 84-3, not 21-0, fyi. I'm wondering if Wartburg might be the Lakeland replacer, given their donkey-stomping of Monmouth

[blue_jays]

On the "let's run the ball!" front, IWU has negative 16 rushing yards early in the third quarter...

Has anyone checked on Norm after today's game? I envision he has the same frozen grin on his face as Jack Nicholson's Joker when he's lying on the pavement at the end of Batman.

[Gregory Sager]

On the "let's run the ball!" front, IWU has negative 16 rushing yards early in the third quarter...

Has anyone checked on Norm after today's game? I envision he has the same frozen grin on his face as Jack Nicholson's Joker when he's lying on the pavement at the end of Batman.

From the Pantagraph:

"We were humbled by a good football team today. They have a lot to play for," said IWU head coach Norm Eash. "You can tell by their desire they're a very experienced ballclub. It was their Senior Day and Family Day. It was a tough environment.

"If you didn't control things right away it could get out of hand, and that's what happened. We didn't manage the game very well and it got out of control on us."

That was borderline gracious on his part, albeit it came with the implication that it was within IWU's power to "manage the game," and that letting it get out of control implies that it was at any point in control, despite the fact that Wheaton was up 14-0 by the time that the game was five and a half minutes old.

Here's what he said later on in the article, though:

"They're not 72-7 better than us. They're not," said Eash. "Did they play a great game? Yes, they played a great game. They played with a lot of desire and heart."

At best he gives with one hand and takes away with the other. Didn't he say something similar about North Central not being 55-7 better than his team? This appears to be a recurring theme.

[lmitzel]

On the "let's run the ball!" front, IWU has negative 16 rushing yards early in the third quarter...

Has anyone checked on Norm after today's game? I envision he has the same frozen grin on his face as Jack Nicholson's Joker when he's lying on the pavement at the end of Batman.

From the Pantagraph:

"We were humbled by a good football team today. They have a lot to play for," said IWU head coach Norm Eash. "You can tell by their desire they're a very experienced ballclub. It was their Senior Day and Family Day. It was a tough environment.

"If you didn't control things right away it could get out of hand, and that's what happened. We didn't manage the game very well and it got out of control on us."

That was borderline gracious on his part, albeit it came with the implication that it was within IWU's power to "manage the game," and that letting it get out of control implies that it was at any point in control, despite the fact that Wheaton was up 14-0 by the time that the game was five and a half minutes old.

Here's what he said later on in the article, though:

"They're not 72-7 better than us. They're not," said Eash. "Did they play a great game? Yes, they played a great game. They played with a lot of desire and heart."[/i]

At best he gives with one hand and takes away with the other. Didn't he say something similar about North Central not being 55-7 better than his team? This appears to be a recurring theme.

[blue_jays]

On the "let's run the ball!" front, IWU has negative 16 rushing yards early in the third quarter...

Has anyone checked on Norm after today's game? I envision he has the same frozen grin on his face as Jack Nicholson's Joker when he's lying on the pavement at the end of Batman.

From the Pantagraph:

"We were humbled by a good football team today. They have a lot to play for," said IWU head coach Norm Eash. "You can tell by their desire they're a very experienced ballclub. It was their Senior Day and Family Day. It was a tough environment.

"If you didn't control things right away it could get out of hand, and that's what happened. We didn't manage the game very well and it got out of control on us."

That was borderline gracious on his part, albeit it came with the implication that it was within IWU's power to "manage the game," and that letting it get out of control implies that it was at any point in control, despite the fact that Wheaton was up 14-0 by the time that the game was five and a half minutes old.

Here's what he said later on in the article, though:

"They're not 72-7 better than us. They're not," said Eash. "Did they play a great game? Yes, they played a great game. They played with a lot of desire and heart."

At best he gives with one hand and takes away with the other. Didn't he say something similar about North Central not being 55-7 better than his team? This appears to be a recurring theme.

The defining trait of Norm: he is incapable of saying too many nice things about the opposing team, even in a butt-whooping. He has to balance it with delusion/hubris.
Here's the thing tho: Wheaton is, in fact, 72-7 better than IWU this year. That's why the score was 72-7.
Not 22-7
Not 42-37

72-7

[USee]

Since there has been a fair bit of Region 5 Pool C discussion here, this is how the ranked teams fared this weekend:

(Using Wally's rankings):

1. North Central defeats Wash U 59-20    next vs North Park
2. Central defeats Dubuque 56-7          next at Buena Vista
3. Wheaton defeats Ill. Wesleyan 72-7   next at Millikin
4. Lake Forest defeats Beloit 21-0        next vs Chicago
5. Aurora defeats Lakeland 38-20        next at Concordia (Wis)
6. Coe defeats Buena Vista 31-28        next at Nebraska Wesleyan
7. Lakeland loses to Aurora 20-38        next at Rockford
8. Chicago defeats Lawrence 66-0        next at Lake Forest



Since the region involves four conferences and two from each are ranked, here is the next-out team from each.  Likely Monmouth will replace Lakeland in the regional rankings next week; if so, the MWC teams will get a boost in their RRO creds from the extra team in that conference being ranked.  I do not see a scenario where a third CCIW team is ranked.

Unranked Benedictine (7-2) defeats Concordia (Ill) 49-21   next vs Wisconsin Lutheran
Unranked Monmouth (7-2) defeats Ripon 31-21              next vs Knox
Unranked Wartburg (6-3) defeats Neb. Wesleyan 50-14   next vs Simpson
Unranked Wash U (6-3) loses to North Central 20-59       next at Carthage

Lake Forest beat Beloit 84-3, not 21-0, fyi. I'm wondering if Wartburg might be the Lakeland replacer, given their donkey-stomping of Monmouth

I think the candidates to replace Lakeland in the RR are:

Wartburg   6-3    .575    1-1 v RRO
Monmouth

[USee]

Since there has been a fair bit of Region 5 Pool C discussion here, this is how the ranked teams fared this weekend:

(Using Wally's rankings):

1. North Central defeats Wash U 59-20    next vs North Park
2. Central defeats Dubuque 56-7          next at Buena Vista
3. Wheaton defeats Ill. Wesleyan 72-7   next at Millikin
4. Lake Forest defeats Beloit 21-0        next vs Chicago
5. Aurora defeats Lakeland 38-20        next at Concordia (Wis)
6. Coe defeats Buena Vista 31-28        next at Nebraska Wesleyan
7. Lakeland loses to Aurora 20-38        next at Rockford
8. Chicago defeats Lawrence 66-0        next at Lake Forest



Since the region involves four conferences and two from each are ranked, here is the next-out team from each.  Likely Monmouth will replace Lakeland in the regional rankings next week; if so, the MWC teams will get a boost in their RRO creds from the extra team in that conference being ranked.  I do not see a scenario where a third CCIW team is ranked.

Unranked Benedictine (7-2) defeats Concordia (Ill) 49-21   next vs Wisconsin Lutheran
Unranked Monmouth (7-2) defeats Ripon 31-21              next vs Knox
Unranked Wartburg (6-3) defeats Neb. Wesleyan 50-14   next vs Simpson
Unranked Wash U (6-3) loses to North Central 20-59       next at Carthage

Lake Forest beat Beloit 84-3, not 21-0, fyi. I'm wondering if Wartburg might be the Lakeland replacer, given their donkey-stomping of Monmouth

I think the candidates to replace Lakeland in the RR are:

Wartburg   6-3    .575    1-1 v RRO
Monmouth 7-2    .520    1-1 v RRO
WashU      6-3     .537   0-3  v RRO
Benedictine 7-2    .493   0-1 v RRO

[D3FLETCH]

North Central is pretty good. Also, there is a pack of Mount Union fans at the game.

Tough one for the Titans. Disappointing that we can't put together a whole game. 1/2 versus NCC and 1/4 vs Wheaton is not going to get it done. Hats off to Norm on a great game plan. Sometimes scheme isn't enough.

That's a nice attempt at spin, giving your team credit for a fourth-quarter "win" for scoring a single touchdown against Wheaton's backups -- as if that somehow equates to any one of the 28-0, 20-0, and 24-0 pastings your team was handed in the first three quarters.

Take it from somebody who's had a lot of experience at seeing his team absorb huge losses on the gridiron: Trying to spin some sort of a positive outcome when your team gets its butt whipped just makes you look foolish. Didn't it soak in for you that this entire board was laughing at your coach and your sports information department for the spin job in the headline of IWU's gamer two weeks ago?

Face the facts, man. Your team got its butt whipped two weeks ago, and it got its butt whipped today. That's it, end of story, no spin. Just take your loss without dispensing look-on-the-bright-side propaganda and move on to next week.

I don't get why this is such a hard lesson for the Green people to learn ... but I think we can all sense who sets the tone for that sort of mentality down there in Bloomington.

Tough one for the Titans. Disappointing that we can't put together a whole game. 1/2 versus NCC and 1/4 vs Wheaton is not going to get it done. Hats off to Norm on a great game plan. Sometimes scheme isn't enough....

A great game plan indeed 🤗. But, sometimes 7 points just aren't quite enough, and some adjustments need to be made 🤔.

Who won the coin toss?

ROTFL!

If we aren't "allowed" to spin the results of our favorite CCIW team it would make for a very boring discussion board. IWU has played some of the best periods of football against the conference juggernauts. Not sure why I would overlook that fact. I believe in Norm, IWU, and the bible (In that order). "Hail, Hail the gangs all here"

[kiko]

Since there has been a fair bit of Region 5 Pool C discussion here, this is how the ranked teams fared this weekend:

(Using Wally's rankings):

1. North Central defeats Wash U 59-20    next vs North Park
2. Central defeats Dubuque 56-7          next at Buena Vista
3. Wheaton defeats Ill. Wesleyan 72-7   next at Millikin
4. Lake Forest defeats Beloit 21-0        next vs Chicago
5. Aurora defeats Lakeland 38-20        next at Concordia (Wis)
6. Coe defeats Buena Vista 31-28        next at Nebraska Wesleyan
7. Lakeland loses to Aurora 20-38        next at Rockford
8. Chicago defeats Lawrence 66-0        next at Lake Forest



Since the region involves four conferences and two from each are ranked, here is the next-out team from each.  Likely Monmouth will replace Lakeland in the regional rankings next week; if so, the MWC teams will get a boost in their RRO creds from the extra team in that conference being ranked.  I do not see a scenario where a third CCIW team is ranked.

Unranked Benedictine (7-2) defeats Concordia (Ill) 49-21   next vs Wisconsin Lutheran
Unranked Monmouth (7-2) defeats Ripon 31-21              next vs Knox
Unranked Wartburg (6-3) defeats Neb. Wesleyan 50-14   next vs Simpson
Unranked Wash U (6-3) loses to North Central 20-59       next at Carthage

Lake Forest beat Beloit 84-3, not 21-0, fyi. I'm wondering if Wartburg might be the Lakeland replacer, given their donkey-stomping of Monmouth

I think the candidates to replace Lakeland in the RR are:

Wartburg   6-3    .575    1-1 v RRO
Monmouth 7-2    .520    1-1 v RRO
WashU      6-3     .537   0-3  v RRO
Benedictine 7-2    .493   0-1 v RRO

I hadn't dug far enough to realize that Wartburg had a H2H over Monmouth.  So in retrospect I agree with this, unless for whatever reason the committee is a stickler for "7-2 is better than 6-3".  But a 44-3 H2H should outweigh that IMO.  Neither is in the conversation for Pool C, so the only real impact will be on how who is ranked (and where) impacts teams likely to get to the table.

[USee]

Who the committee picks to replace Lakeland could have some big implications for how Region 5 gets ranked. Wartburg sliding in might affect Coe as Monmouth would have a case to replace Coe at the bottom of the rankings. If that happens, Chicago picks up an RRO. There is no real argument to include WashU because they weren't in it last week, they lost big, and their profil is exactly the same as Wartburg with a much worse SOS. So Wartburg has to be ahead of WashU to get ranked. That means its either Wartburg and their strong SOS (but 6-3 record) or Monmouth and their better win percentage (7-2) and decent SOS .520.   Benedictine isn't much of a factor with their low SOS and 2 losses.

[kiko]

North Central is pretty good. Also, there is a pack of Mount Union fans at the game.

Tough one for the Titans. Disappointing that we can't put together a whole game. 1/2 versus NCC and 1/4 vs Wheaton is not going to get it done. Hats off to Norm on a great game plan. Sometimes scheme isn't enough.

That's a nice attempt at spin, giving your team credit for a fourth-quarter "win" for scoring a single touchdown against Wheaton's backups -- as if that somehow equates to any one of the 28-0, 20-0, and 24-0 pastings your team was handed in the first three quarters.

Take it from somebody who's had a lot of experience at seeing his team absorb huge losses on the gridiron: Trying to spin some sort of a positive outcome when your team gets its butt whipped just makes you look foolish. Didn't it soak in for you that this entire board was laughing at your coach and your sports information department for the spin job in the headline of IWU's gamer two weeks ago?

Face the facts, man. Your team got its butt whipped two weeks ago, and it got its butt whipped today. That's it, end of story, no spin. Just take your loss without dispensing look-on-the-bright-side propaganda and move on to next week.

I don't get why this is such a hard lesson for the Green people to learn ... but I think we can all sense who sets the tone for that sort of mentality down there in Bloomington.

Tough one for the Titans. Disappointing that we can't put together a whole game. 1/2 versus NCC and 1/4 vs Wheaton is not going to get it done. Hats off to Norm on a great game plan. Sometimes scheme isn't enough....

A great game plan indeed 🤗. But, sometimes 7 points just aren't quite enough, and some adjustments need to be made 🤔.

Who won the coin toss?

ROTFL!

If we aren't "allowed" to spin the results of our favorite CCIW team it would make for a very boring discussion board. IWU has played some of the best periods of football against the conference juggernauts. Not sure why I would overlook that fact. I believe in Norm, IWU, and the bible (In that order). "Hail, Hail the gangs all here"

Seems to me that if you lose to a team 72-7, the only proper takeaway, rather than 'they're not 72-7 better than us', is 'we're really happy that we don't have to play them again'.

[hazzben]

I'm trying to imagine having Norm as a Father-In-Law.