FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

It's a short sample of course, but appears CCIW's overall prowess is down this year. 

I understand why you're saying this but I'm cutting the other teams that lost some slack.

Look at who they played.

Carthage @ St. John's (What's the expectation here?) The expectation was for a decisive SJU win, but the seven-TD margin of decisiveness not only confirms that the Johnnies are their usual selves, it also confirms that Carthage probably will struggle under first-year HC Matt Popino.
IWU @ Central (IWU hung with them for awhile) Big deal. A five-touchdown loss that would've been worse if Central hadn't taken its foot off the gas in the fourth quarter is not the sort of pig that can be gussied up with some Maybelline SuperStay matte red.
IC @ Millikin (IC is a 9-1 playoff team last year) In a lesser league. And MU was at home. And it took a late-minutes TD against the Blueboys backups for the Millikin offense to just get the final margin down to 25 points.

Augie, WashU, Carroll and NP win. Well, I can't vouch for the Carroll vs. UW-Stout game, but all three of Saturday's victors beat decidedly meh teams by CCIW standards -- and NPU barely got away with a win in a game it seemed determined to lose via excess yellow laundry.

Wheaton was right there against a very good team. I'll give you that, but at the same time it bears mentioning that this is not your older brother's UW-Oshkosh football team.

[CarollFan]

Last me ask you this when Jaybird says the CCIW prowess is down this year?
Compared to last year?
Or compared to the past?

Man, even wins don't count? 

[Gregory Sager]

He might be on point, is all I'm saying. The CCIW went 7-3 in non-conference openers last season, whereas this season they can't do better than break even at 5-5 once the smoke clears after NCC's win over Aurora next Saturday. Granted, the teams that are playing different opponents this year have all upgraded the caliber of their opposition (although, granted, it's hard to get a read on the distinction between Roosevelt and Aurora vis-a-vis NCC openers, given the fact that the Lakers are NAIA and thus don't provide much in terms of a frame of reference unless you've eyeballed them). But, still, if you're comparing 2024 openers to 2023 openers in terms of the five CCIW teams that played the same opponent:

2023 Augustana 49, Simpson 27
2024 Augustana 30, Simpson 13
- 5 points

2023 Elmhurst 14, Adrian 3
2024 Adrian 55, Elmhurst 20
- 46 points

2023 Central 38, Illinois Wesleyan 13
2024 Central 49, Illinois Wesleyan 17
- 7 points

2023 Illinois C. 31, Millikin 0
2024 Illinois C. 46, Millikin 21
+ 6 points

2023 Wheaton 30, UW-Oshkosh 21
2024 UW-Oshkosh 21, Wheaton 14
- 16 points

[Pat Coleman]

It's nice to stay #1 without even having to step onto the field.

https://d3football.com/top25/2024/week1

Why would voters change?

[Gregory Sager]

I wasn't saying that they should. I'm just saying it's a nice perq to be recognized as the top team in the nation without having actually proved it.

It's just a small, transitory quirk of the schedule. The Cardinals' date with Aurora will come soon enough.

[markerickson]

Student-athletes presently comprise over 30% of North Park's undergraduate population.  You guys know the rate at your schools?  I think 30% is too high.

By contrast, a friend's daughter played VB at Clark College (class of 2024).  Clark's athletics' homepage mentions 16% of the undergrad population participates in a varsity sport.

[Pat Coleman]

Student-athletes presently comprise over 30% of North Park's undergraduate population.  You guys know the rate at your schools?  I think 30% is too high.

By contrast, a friend's daughter played VB at Clark College (class of 2024).  Clark's athletics' homepage mentions 16% of the undergrad population participates in a varsity sport.

Clark doesn't have football, so ...

[USee]

New top 25
Wheaton #19

Gio had 59 yds rushing yesterday. He gets 100 yds rushing coming off the bus the last couple years. You got to go back to NCC game in 2022 for these kind of stats. I'm not counting games like against lower tier teams where he might not get carries. The Oshkosh announcers early on where like, "where's Gio?"

I would cite 3 main reasons Gio's production was lower on Saturday:

1-Inexperienced offensive line. For his first 3 years Gio played behind the same group of guys, all but one of them graduated. This group is going to take a few games to come together.
2-Tough scheme to start. Oshkosh, more than most others, runs a fairly complicated scheme (3-4) where its difficult to identify which defenders are responsible for which gaps and which defenders will rush on any given down. This is particularly problematic for a young, inexperienced line and new QB. Credit the Titans for doing a great job confusing the Wheaton OL and bottling up the Wheaton running game.
3-Competing rushers. Gio had 17 carries out of 34 rush attempts. Last year he averaged 21 carries a game out of 37 per game average. QB Mark Forcucci had 15 carries vs UWO. Last year rushers not named Gio averaged 6 carries a game. Jesse Scott clearly believes his new QB is a running threat and there were many more designed QB runs in this game than they had a year ago (Ben Thorson was not a running threat).

Gio averaged 3.5 yds per rush vs UWO (6.5 ypr last year). Forcucci averaged 1.5 yds per rush. I think Gio will be better as this line gains more experience but clearly Wheaton is trying to diversify their running threat beyond just #30. Whatever the reason, I don't think any Wheaton faithful expected just 14 points out of an offense that is expected to be the strength of this team.

[NCC2010]

I'm not seeing Trey Madsen on the North Central roster any longer. Is he no longer apart of the team?

They don't have any of their new transfers or incoming freshman on the roster at the moment. Not sure what happened, as they were all there in July.

NCC roster is finally updated with freshman and transfers now

https://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/football/roster

[robertgoulet]

I'm not seeing Trey Madsen on the North Central roster any longer. Is he no longer apart of the team?

They don't have any of their new transfers or incoming freshman on the roster at the moment. Not sure what happened, as they were all there in July.

NCC roster is finally updated with freshman and transfers now

https://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/football/roster

After careful review of the roster, my expert opinion is that I don't know why I was waiting for the update bc I don't know a thing about anyone anyway.

2 things I have noticed, though (the first which I think USee already mentioned):
1) O Line basically returns 4 starters, however 1 of them (Knaperek) was the starter in 2022 and not 2023.
2) D Line seems a little light in the butt. It will be interesting to see how they handle power rushing offenses with heavy O lines.

The offense should be really really good. Lots seniors at key positions. If Madsen can click with Lehnen they will be very hard to stop. The D has some guys but seems more built on speed than power.

[CarollFan]

Student-athletes presently comprise over 30% of North Park's undergraduate population.  You guys know the rate at your schools?  I think 30% is too high.

By contrast, a friend's daughter played VB at Clark College (class of 2024).  Clark's athletics' homepage mentions 16% of the undergrad population participates in a varsity sport.

You can search schools here and you'll find total enrollment and number of athletes per team. Not sure how often this is updated.

https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/

[NCC2010]

I'm not seeing Trey Madsen on the North Central roster any longer. Is he no longer apart of the team?

They don't have any of their new transfers or incoming freshman on the roster at the moment. Not sure what happened, as they were all there in July.

NCC roster is finally updated with freshman and transfers now

https://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/football/roster

After careful review of the roster, my expert opinion is that I don't know why I was waiting for the update bc I don't know a thing about anyone anyway.

2 things I have noticed, though (the first which I think USee already mentioned):
1) O Line basically returns 4 starters, however 1 of them (Knaperek) was the starter in 2022 and not 2023.
2) D Line seems a little light in the butt. It will be interesting to see how they handle power rushing offenses with heavy O lines.

The offense should be really really good. Lots seniors at key positions. If Madsen can click with Lehnen they will be very hard to stop. The D has some guys but seems more built on speed than power.

NCC just posted their game preview for Aurora and there are some definite starters/non-starters I did not anticipate...

"After orchestrating the most efficient passing attack in the sport's history a season ago, Lehnen will throw to a pair of returning starters in wideout Jack Rummell and tight end Bobby Behmer. Thomas Skokna and Jacob Paradee start alongside Rummell. Graduate transfer Trey Madsen joins North Central's receiving corps as well after establishing career records for receptions, yards and touchdowns at Aurora."

pretty shocking that Madsen is not starting (listed as a backup on the depth chart as well)

"After starting at safety a season ago, Jahron Williams moves to cornerback alongside Rahmareon Roby. Kenny Rutherford and incoming transfer Brayden Garrigan take over at safety."

Also, very interested by the starting DBs.  Ethan Groark is not starting after being the starting boundary corner for the entire playoffs (following the Walker injury) and Kyler Green was the 3rd safety for all of last season as a freshman and now was beat out by Rutherford and Garrigan.

Lastly, looks like Knaperek is not starting on the o-line either. he is listed as the backup center on the depth chart. 

"Quarterback Luke Lehnen, left tackle Jeske Maples and right guard Sam Pryor return as four-year starters on offense for the Cardinals. Nick Fehrle returns as the starter at left guard while Jerred Durian (center) and Ryan Kennelly (right tackle) ascend to starting roles."

link to the article : https://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2024/9/11/football-week-1-preview-aurora.aspx

[Pat Coleman]

These things could change, for sure. Perhaps they are not starting Madsen against Aurora and he will later, or indeed, perhaps they have 3-4 guys they like better.

[Gregory Sager]

Student-athletes presently comprise over 30% of North Park's undergraduate population.  You guys know the rate at your schools?  I think 30% is too high.

There are D3 schools -- including CCIW schools -- where the percentage is higher. Sometimes much higher.

I have no problem with it. North Park is part of a great big chunk of D3's membership that is tuition-driven with regard to annual budget, so the enrollment needs to reach a certain level each year in order to keep the doors open. This problem becomes even more acute when you consider the demographic cliff over which the United States has just plunged; the number of 18-year-olds in the United States has dropped precipitously, and the number will continue to fall. Schools need to draw a sufficient number of students to maintain necessary enrollment levels despite this demographic environment, and athletics is a proven means to that end.

[CarollFan]

Student-athletes presently comprise over 30% of North Park's undergraduate population.  You guys know the rate at your schools?  I think 30% is too high.

There are D3 schools -- including CCIW schools -- where the percentage is higher. Sometimes much higher.

I have no problem with it. North Park is part of a great big chunk of D3's membership that is tuition-driven with regard to annual budget, so the enrollment needs to reach a certain level each year in order to keep the doors open. This problem becomes even more acute when you consider the demographic cliff over which the United States has just plunged; the number of 18-year-olds in the United States has dropped precipitously, and the number will continue to fall. Schools need to draw a sufficient number of students to maintain necessary enrollment levels despite this demographic environment, and athletics is a proven means to that end.

I was wondering why 2025 for this decline? Looks like pointing to 2008 financial crisis 17 years ago. So you have a smaller pool of high school graduates and from that smaller pool more and more are choosing not to go to college. They expect declines to continue into 2030's. Definitely sounds challenging....

https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/education/4398533-college-enrollment-could-take-a-big-hit-in-2025-heres-why/