FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[mwunder]

The average margin of victory over the weekend was 46 points, with only one game being competitive.

Wheaton 75 - Millikin 0
Wash U 66 - Elmhurst 0
NCC 56 - North Park 0
Augie 44 - IWU 14
Carthage 30 - Carroll 27

[Gregory Sager]

Congrats to Carthage for pulling off one of the very few surprises we've seen since the league more or less settled out by the midway point.

[Stertorous Thunder]

The average margin of victory over the weekend was 46 points, with only one game being competitive.

Wheaton 75 - Millikin 0
Wash U 66 - Elmhurst 0
NCC 56 - North Park 0
Augie 44 - IWU 14
Carthage 30 - Carroll 27

If the Wheaton, Wash U, and North Central scores were in high school games, I would likely suspect the winning coaches of poor sportsmanship (unless maybe the third- and fourth-stringers from the winning team were doing most of the second half damage).  But when there are so few postseason spots available for at-large teams, I understand why a team might keep its foot on the gas even when the point margin exceeds 30 or 40.  Does anyone have an insider perspective on how D3 teams view blowouts like this?  I'm sure that individual games have their own unique stories, but in general do coaches take offense to getting blown out by 50+ points?  Or do they understand the situation and accept that a team in contention for an at-large bid has an incentive to run up the score and earn style points for the end-of-season decisions that must be made by the selection committee?

[CardsFan1988]

The average margin of victory over the weekend was 46 points, with only one game being competitive.

Wheaton 75 - Millikin 0
Wash U 66 - Elmhurst 0
NCC 56 - North Park 0
Augie 44 - IWU 14
Carthage 30 - Carroll 27

If the Wheaton, Wash U, and North Central scores were in high school games, I would likely suspect the winning coaches of poor sportsmanship (unless maybe the third- and fourth-stringers from the winning team were doing most of the second half damage).  But when there are so few postseason spots available for at-large teams, I understand why a team might keep its foot on the gas even when the point margin exceeds 30 or 40.  Does anyone have an insider perspective on how D3 teams view blowouts like this?  I'm sure that individual games have their own unique stories, but in general do coaches take offense to getting blown out by 50+ points?  Or do they understand the situation and accept that a team in contention for an at-large bid has an incentive to run up the score and earn style points for the end-of-season decisions that must be made by the selection committee?

I think this is a really difficult thing to navigate when the gap between the top of the conference and the bottom of the conference is so wide (and this applies to a lot of Division III).

Using NCC as an example, their average halftime score this year is 41-3. The average second half score, by comparison, is 18-6. So I think it's unfair to say they're running up the score. They typically run their offense/leave starters on the field through the first or second possession of the second half. After that they put backups in and run the ball 80+% of the time. I think they have to balance allowing their kids to play and getting them ready for the playoffs with not hanging 80+ points in 7 or 8 of their conference games each year. Wheaton is in the same boat most years and occasionally another program (Augie/WashU this year) jumps into that territory.

In short, other coaches hopefully recognize that the elite teams aren't necessarily trying to run up the score or embarrass the opponent, but they are trying to get their teams ready, from an execution standpoint, for the playoffs and game situations are the best time to do that. Also, kids who go to elite programs shouldn't be punished into only playing 1+ quarters in the majority of their games to spare another team that may be inferior. I think, for the most part, people who have been around Division III for a long time recognize all this as a byproduct of the wider talent gap than at other levels, but it may be eye opening to new fans.

[MediaGuy]

The average margin of victory over the weekend was 46 points, with only one game being competitive.

Wheaton 75 - Millikin 0
Wash U 66 - Elmhurst 0
NCC 56 - North Park 0
Augie 44 - IWU 14
Carthage 30 - Carroll 27

If the Wheaton, Wash U, and North Central scores were in high school games, I would likely suspect the winning coaches of poor sportsmanship (unless maybe the third- and fourth-stringers from the winning team were doing most of the second half damage).  But when there are so few postseason spots available for at-large teams, I understand why a team might keep its foot on the gas even when the point margin exceeds 30 or 40.  Does anyone have an insider perspective on how D3 teams view blowouts like this?  I'm sure that individual games have their own unique stories, but in general do coaches take offense to getting blown out by 50+ points?  Or do they understand the situation and accept that a team in contention for an at-large bid has an incentive to run up the score and earn style points for the end-of-season decisions that must be made by the selection committee?

I'm sure that individual games have their own unique stories, but in general do coaches take offense to getting blown out by 50+ points?
In general, most teams try to keep their starters in until halftime, or at least a hybrid team with mostly starters and some other guys who may have to be a starter if someone gets hurt.  I've been following Wartburg Football for over 30 years and when the game gets out of hand, there is usually a bit of a gentleman's agreement wherein the losing team continues to run their normal game plan, while the winning team attempts to shorten the game.  When games get lopsided, it usually stays pretty civil unless the losing team starts blitzing cover 0 every snap or the winning team keeps throwing 25+ yard passes or trick/gimmick plays.  When the back-ups get in, as long as they keep the clock running, both teams understand they are just trying to get some good experience reps and keep everyone healthy.

Or do they understand the situation and accept that a team in contention for an at-large bid has an incentive to run up the score and earn style points for the end-of-season decisions that must be made by the selection committee?
It has been made extremely clear that in the eyes of the selection committee, a win is a win, point differential is not a factor.  Also, almost to a person, everyone on both the Regional Advisory Committees and the National Selection Committee is a current coach, or administrator who was a football coach.  They all know the unwritten rules and won't award a team that is just running up the score.

Also the score doesn't always tell the whole story.  I've seen Wartburg beat a team that had no business on the same field by 50+ and the starters are out of the game late in the 2nd quarter.  In those games, the losing team usually doesn't have good ball security, special teams or defense.  So when they get stuck on their own side of the field, the winning team only have to move the ball 30 or 40 yards to score and can score 4 or 5 times even while the 3rd and 4th stringers are trying to run out the clock. 

I've also seen Wartburg be ahead of a team by 30+ just because they had a bad quarter and are still capable of coming back in the 2nd half, so it's not always black and white.  If you think either team is not playing "classy" then just watch the sidelines...the coaches and players are pretty good at self-policing that kind of thing.

[markerickson]

Trekked up to MN for a few days.  While returning on Saturday after the Dells, I searched the AM dial for college football.  The only one?  Carthage/Carroll.  Since Carroll was up 14 points in the first half, I chose music instead.

[Gregory Sager]

The average margin of victory over the weekend was 46 points, with only one game being competitive.

Wheaton 75 - Millikin 0
Wash U 66 - Elmhurst 0
NCC 56 - North Park 0
Augie 44 - IWU 14
Carthage 30 - Carroll 27

If the Wheaton, Wash U, and North Central scores were in high school games, I would likely suspect the winning coaches of poor sportsmanship (unless maybe the third- and fourth-stringers from the winning team were doing most of the second half damage).  But when there are so few postseason spots available for at-large teams, I understand why a team might keep its foot on the gas even when the point margin exceeds 30 or 40.  Does anyone have an insider perspective on how D3 teams view blowouts like this?

As I've been saying all season, CCIW teams in particular view this as "another day at the office." Lopsided scores like that are a multi-game, every-week occurrence in this league. The 230-point combined margin of victory this past Saturday isn't even the biggest that the CCIW has registered thus far in 2023. There had already been eleven wins of 40 points or more in CCIW games this season before the three you cited from last weekend had even taken place.

In a neat trick, the average margin in a CCIW game -- 35 points -- is now the square root of the combined margin (1,225 points). That's because the league has played 35 games. It's a fun mathematical curiosity, but it doesn't hide the fact that this continues to be a league in which close games like the Carroll vs. Carthage battle are the exception rather than the rule.

[Cardinal773]

Here's a little task avoidance as I sit at my desk at work.  I've always wondered how the CCIW and D3Football teams of the week match up to the opponents.  I'm going to call them the "victims" here. 

Let's take a look at who has been on the wrong end of some outstanding performances in the CCIW this year...

VICTIM   TotalPOW Against (Offense, Defense, Special Teams)
Millikin       5  (2O, 2D, 1ST)
Elmhurst    4  (3O, 1ST)
Carroll       3  (2O, 1ST)
IWU           3  (1O, 3ST)
Carthage    2  (1O, 1D)
Augie         2  (2ST)
WashU       1  (1D)
Wheaton    1  (1O)

[Pat Coleman]

Interesting. And this year I have tried to take a hard line on picking players, as well. If your big statistical performance comes against the worst team in your conference, I'm less likely to select.

I will say that on kickers and punters, I generally don't consider the opponent. Obviously, better teams tend to have better kick/punt blocking units as well, but in large part the kickers and punters are less affected by strength of opponent.

[mwunder]

Interesting. And this year I have tried to take a hard line on picking players, as well. If your big statistical performance comes against the worst team in your conference, I'm less likely to select.

I will say that on kickers and punters, I generally don't consider the opponent. Obviously, better teams tend to have better kick/punt blocking units as well, but in large part the kickers and punters are less affected by strength of opponent.

Punters on bad teams do get a lot more game experience though! NCC has 9 punts on the season. Carthage has 45. Elmhurst has 54.

[Cardinal773]

And Lehnen has a few of those punts.  The way they're playing, I wonder if they have a guy who's job it is to wake up the punter when they get into those situations.

Didn't the old WashU QB get recognized for POW as a punter and QB?

[wally_wabash]

The average margin of victory over the weekend was 46 points, with only one game being competitive.

Wheaton 75 - Millikin 0
Wash U 66 - Elmhurst 0
NCC 56 - North Park 0
Augie 44 - IWU 14
Carthage 30 - Carroll 27

If the Wheaton, Wash U, and North Central scores were in high school games, I would likely suspect the winning coaches of poor sportsmanship (unless maybe the third- and fourth-stringers from the winning team were doing most of the second half damage).  But when there are so few postseason spots available for at-large teams, I understand why a team might keep its foot on the gas even when the point margin exceeds 30 or 40.  Does anyone have an insider perspective on how D3 teams view blowouts like this?  I'm sure that individual games have their own unique stories, but in general do coaches take offense to getting blown out by 50+ points?  Or do they understand the situation and accept that a team in contention for an at-large bid has an incentive to run up the score and earn style points for the end-of-season decisions that must be made by the selection committee?

I just don't think there's a sportsmanship issue here as much as so many want to create one.  For years and years and years Mount Union has famously gone out of their way to NOT score in lopsided games.  Running out of bounds on breakaways, kicking FGs on first down, etc.  You could have a completely separate conversation about how teams could view that practice. 

Using North Central as an example, if you've talked to just about anybody in the program- coaches or players- one can't possibly believe intentional embarrassment of the opponent is in their ethos.  They compete their tails off and expect to be great, but they aren't rubbing it in anybody's face out there.  Unless it's all an act and my experiences with NCC have been disingenuous, but again- I don't think that's their thing.  At the end of the day, there's no real good way to handle the last 15 or so minutes of a game that is way out of hand.  Most do what they think is best for their team and what is respectful of the competition. 

[Thunderdome21]

The average margin of victory over the weekend was 46 points, with only one game being competitive.

Wheaton 75 - Millikin 0
Wash U 66 - Elmhurst 0
NCC 56 - North Park 0
Augie 44 - IWU 14
Carthage 30 - Carroll 27

If the Wheaton, Wash U, and North Central scores were in high school games, I would likely suspect the winning coaches of poor sportsmanship (unless maybe the third- and fourth-stringers from the winning team were doing most of the second half damage).  But when there are so few postseason spots available for at-large teams, I understand why a team might keep its foot on the gas even when the point margin exceeds 30 or 40.  Does anyone have an insider perspective on how D3 teams view blowouts like this?  I'm sure that individual games have their own unique stories, but in general do coaches take offense to getting blown out by 50+ points?  Or do they understand the situation and accept that a team in contention for an at-large bid has an incentive to run up the score and earn style points for the end-of-season decisions that must be made by the selection committee?

In Wheaton's blowout against Milliken, their All-American RB, Gio Weeks was pulled in the 2nd Q after 10 carries for 155 yards and 4 TDs. Alot of the 3rd and 4th stringers had playing time in the 4th Quarter, but they still scored 75 pts. In their blowout win against Elmhurst, Gio only carried the ball 7 times for 84 yds and 2 TDs but was pulled in the 2nd Q. In these huge blowout wins, most of the 1st stringers only played a series or two in the 3rd Q. Both games allowed their 3rd string QB playing time in the 4th Q. You're actually doing the opposite of running up the score and earning style points when you're pulling your star players in the 2nd and early 3rd Q.

[markerickson]

In the kicking/punting realm, North Park's punter served as the team's best offensive weapon in their shutout loss to #1 NC. NP averaged less than one-half yard per rushing attempt and netted 128 yards of offense.  By contrast, the punter booted nine times for 388 yards-260 yards more than the offense!!

[gryfalia]

What a crazy, crazy game.

Wheaton 36, Wash U 35 on the final 2 point conversion...