FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CarollFan]

WashU preview
Key seems to be replacing Rush at QB

https://www.studlife.com/sports/2024/08/24/new-look-offense-hopes-to-bring-football-back-to-title-contention

[CarollFan]

Millikin garnered all one-point votes and perhaps the NCC HC voted for Wheaton.  I see NPU has a "blackout game" as its opener against Ripon.  Surely ugly uniforms guarantee a victory. Thus, after beating Millikin, the Vikings will be 2-0 with a road game at Elmhurst on 9.28.  Augie on the road and then versus Carroll for Homecoming.  So, perhaps 6-0 before losing the last five.  That scenario ends with a 6-5 record, and NPU has not had a better than .500 season since 1968.
 

NP playing 11 games?

Might be getting ahead of yourself with some of those victories. Love this time of year and all the optimism.

[Gregory Sager]

Millikin garnered all one-point votes and perhaps the NCC HC voted for Wheaton. I see NPU has a "blackout game" as its opener against Ripon. Surely ugly uniforms guarantee a victory.

I wish it were so. Alas, the only thing that the ugly uniforms guarantee are headaches and potential mistakes for those of us in the press box tasked with identifying players for broadcasting, P.A., and stats-keeping purposes. Those black unis with royal blue numbers continue to be the bane of our existence in the press box.

Thus, after beating Millikin, the Vikings will be 2-0 with a road game at Elmhurst on 9.28. Augie on the road and then versus Carroll for Homecoming. So, perhaps 6-0 before losing the last five. That scenario ends with a 6-5 record, and NPU has not had a better than .500 season since 1968.

I can guarantee that the Vikings will not finish 6-5. North Park is only playing ten games, not eleven.

I would not be too hasty about predicting NPU victories over Augie and Carroll. The Vikings will definitely be underdogs when they play those two teams, perhaps considerable underdogs on October 5 against Augie at Ericson Field.

Also, you seem resigned to North Park losing its last five. You don't think that the Vikings will beat Carthage on November 2? The Firebirds have a new head coach who is learning the ropes this season. NPU beat Carthage by two touchdowns last season and finished ahead of the Firebirds in the standings; the Vikings are predicted to finish above the Firebirds again this season. Carthage hasn't even posted its roster yet, so we have no way of knowing who's back and who isn't from last season's team.

My guess -- and we'll see whether I'm right or not -- is that North Park has a legit shot at snapping The Streak this season by going 6-4. I see Ripon, Millikin, Elmhurst, and Carthage as likely wins. Regardless of the fact that NPU beat Illinois Wesleyan last season and finished ahead of the Titans in the standings, the coaches nevertheless picked IWU to finish ahead of the Park in 2024. Still, I like North Park's chances in that game, at least looking at it here in the preseason with everyone still healthy. That brings us to five wins. It's most likely going to be obligatory for the Vikings to steal a win to get to that 6-4 mark; Carroll looks like the most obvious opportunity for an upset.

[markerickson]

Twas not a prognostication - just amusing myself with an ongoing jab at the perennially woeful program.

[USee]

Wheaton has their 2024 roster posted. 33 seniors including 2 extra year returnees in RB Gio Weeks and CB Riley Schwartz. Wheaton has 6 starters back on offense and 8 returnees on defense.

Defensively they have 3 of 4 DB's returning with 2 others that either started a few games or played considerably. All conference corner Max Wilson headlines that group. At LB they have 3 starters back in Eller, McClung and Haigler with Luca Torti another LB who will play a significant role this year. On the DL they have all conference Peter Johanick, who will be one of the better DL in the conference and could have an AA type year as well as senior Isaac Parrish. The big key for Wheaton will be who plays at defensive tackle. This unit should be dramatically better than a year ago, helped by Mikey Swider taking over as defensive coordinator.

Offensively the Thunder are stacked at the skill positions. They have 2 of the better D3 WR's in Bonga and Kortenhouven to go along with TE's Juska Vojtisek and Kopp and of course AA Gio Weeks at RB. A big question is who will win the starting QB battle between Jr's Xavier Jones and Holy Cross transfer Mark Forcucci. Either one will be a different QB than last year's Ben Thorson, who excelled at accuracy and timing with no interceptions through 9 games. The biggest question for me on offense will be the OLine where Wheaton needs to replace 4 starters who all had 3+ yrs of starting experience. This group will take time to develop and gel which could create some havoc early in the season for the Thunder. It remains to be seen if they will be able to consistently free up space for Gio Weeks and give time to the new Thunder signal caller.

In summary, like most years in the CCIW and the upper tier of D3 football, these games will be won or lost in the trenches where Wheaton has its biggest question marks on both sides. NCC hasn't posted their roster yet but looks to have 3 OL returning (7 starters on offense) and 5 of their front 7 on defense returning (6 total defensive starters).

Augie has just 10 starters returning (5 off, 5 Def) but a lot of the departed player's backups return so if those players develop, Augie could return to the top 3 though I am skeptical and would choose WashU as the 3rd best team in the CCIW.

[robertgoulet]

In summary, like most years in the CCIW and the upper tier of D3 football, these games will be won or lost in the trenches where Wheaton has its biggest question marks on both sides. NCC hasn't posted their roster yet but looks to have 3 OL returning (7 starters on offense) and 5 of their front 7 on defense returning (6 total defensive starters).

It's odd that NCC's is not up anymore. It was up a few weeks ago.

[USee]

They probably had to amend their coaching staff. Hopefully no further additions!

[Cardinal773]

Get ready for a 6th Brad Spencer!

[79jaybird]

Ah, best time of the year,  college football season is back.

For Elmhurst I hope to see some improvement from last year.  The wins may not be there yet, but I'm hoping some of their (many) deficiencies from last year can be polished up.

**Reminder**  Opening week for the CCIW Pick Em's is up, so log onto that board and make your picks each week.

Looking at the conference as a whole, the real race will be who takes second place.   The on paper pick would be Wheaton, but I have a feeling there will be 2 teams ready to compete for that #2 spot.   

[NCC2010]

In summary, like most years in the CCIW and the upper tier of D3 football, these games will be won or lost in the trenches where Wheaton has its biggest question marks on both sides. NCC hasn't posted their roster yet but looks to have 3 OL returning (7 starters on offense) and 5 of their front 7 on defense returning (6 total defensive starters).

It's odd that NCC's is not up anymore. It was up a few weeks ago.

2024 roster is now posted but does not show any freshman/transfers.

Of note, Cortez Jones is listed at DL and changed to #97 so he will not be the new starting RT.

[CarollFan]

Games notes for tonight's game between Carroll and UW-Stout.
Includes 2 deep roster for both teams.

https://gopios.com/documents/2024/9/4/STOUT.pdf

[USee]

Wheaton kicks off their season Saturday @UW Oshkosh (ORV). Oshkosh returns 8 starters on Offense including a veteran offensive line and their top 5 pass catchers from 2023. They have to replace their stud QB, Kobe Berghammer. Defensively they have just 5 starters back (all 4 LB's and 1 DL).

Wheaton's question marks for this weekend for me are as follows:

QB: Mark Forcucci, transfer from Holy Cross, takes the reigns. While he is a D1 transfer and has a lot of talent, he also never played a down at Holy Cross in his 2 years there so he hasn't played a meaningful game in almost 3 years (since HS). I will be interested in his decision making timing. He has a tremendous amount of talent around him so if he can make good decisions, this offense can be elite.

OL: A huge part of Gio Weeks AA production last year was because he had a number of 5th/6th year seniors up front blocking for him. Only 1 starter returns and on balance this group is very inexperienced. Can they work together in the run game and protect Forcucci, giving the QB more confidence and time to make decisions? UWO brings back a talented set of LB's who will put pressure on the offensive line to recognize the front and identify the right people in the run and pass game.

DL: Wheaton returns most of their LBs and secondary so will be much improved on the back end. Last year they got manhandled in several games up front as strong, experienced OLine's ran on this defense pretty much at will. They replace their DT's from last year and have returnee's in Peter Johanik and Isaac Parrish. This group's performance will be a huge key to Wheaton's success and this Saturday they are going against a fairly veteran WIAC OLine with some size and an offense that can run the ball. This will be a big test.

Coaching: Jesse Scott has done a tremendous job in his 3+ years at the helm. He replaces both coordinators this year and will clearly take a much bigger role calling the plays for the offense. He also is moving from coaching the OL to coaching the QB's which is a great thing for him and probably for the offense, but it means a younger coach is working with an inexperienced OL. Defensively Mikey Swider takes over as the DC and I expect a more aggressive and disciplined group that plays with a chip on their shoulder similar to the many years under Mike Sr. Hopefully he has the horses to execute that strategy. I think this will be an undersized group so utilizing athleticism and movement will be critical. Last year was historically bad for the Wheaton Defense so even modest improvement will be an upgrade.

As is the case with most championship teams, line play will dictate the success of the teams at the top and Wheaton's biggest question marks are in that area on both sides. They have top level skill players that can play championship football. A strong offensive line will relieve a lot of pressure on their new, talented QB. Can they control the LOS? The first test is Saturday.

[CarollFan]

Usee, you should check out the interview the InTheD3FBHuddle guys did with Gio.
Some insight on why he came back and they asked him what he thought about Luke.

[CarollFan]

Carroll 28. UW-Stout 16 Final
CCIW 1  WIAC 0

Carroll started Caden Pendleton #17 (6'5" 240 JR) at QB.
He went 17 for 25 212 yards passing, 4 TD passes, 0INT's and 24 yds rushing.
Carroll's defense had 5 sacks, 1 INT, 1 Fumble recovered by Carroll and 1 blocked punt.

Overall Stats

https://stoutbluedevils.com/sidearmstats/football/team-stats;period=F

[Pat Coleman]

FYI on some breaking news today:
D3sports.com is reporting the CCIW has revoked WashU's associate membership in the conference for football, and the Bears will be out after 2025. WashU has gone 33-12 in CCIW play and 37-15 overall since joining in 2018.

https://www.d3football.com/notables/2024/09/cciw-cutting-wash-u-loose