FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mugsy]

What was the IWU/Elmhurst final?

Elmhurst 20, IWU 15

[Jim Matson]

Usee had it right on the summary - 2 completely different halves.  Wheaton had (I think) 3 sacks and numerous hurries in the first half.  I didn't see much from them in the 2nd half - the NCC coaches made some adjustments and had a few guys back to block more often.  And even though the NCC wide outs are small, they have great hands.  

I thought the Wheaton play calling was a bit suspect in the 2nd half.  Too many attempts up the middle and too many long throws.  The passes across the middle always seemed to work and yet those weren't called often enough.  "Chupp on the keeper" was also effective and could have been a nice counter to the over-pursuing tendencies of the Cardinal D line.

North Central is tough.  They are fast and disciplined.  And the QB reminds me of Brylka - but with better receivers.  Yes, it seemed to me that Wheaton gave it away tonight, but North Central stayed around and made their plays when it counted.

Great crowd tonight and a great facility at North Central.  It was good to see Pat as well!

[Jim Matson]

I think the on-side kick decision reflected the coaching staff's thoughts on the ability of Wheaton to stop North Central.  It probably wasn't going to happen.

[Tailgater]

First of all congrats to NCC on a big win in Naperville! Looks like they are legit and a team for all CCIW opponents to worry about. Also, nice job by Elmhurst moving to 4-0. Augie did as was expected and I'll throw some kudos to them as well.

I was fortunate to witness the game in Decator today. I have not seen the statistical numbers yet, but I'm certain Carthage won almost all categories. To put it bluntly, the Carthage defense was so dominant, Millikin never threatened to score throughout the game other than 2 consecutive possessions in the 3rd qtr which started inside the Carthage 25 yard line. The field possition on both possessions was do to failed punt attempts. I say failed instead of faked intentionally. The Carthage spread punt formation has the punter set at a very shallow depth. It appeared if the Carthage punter had attempted to kick the ball each time it would have most likely been blocked. The punter was flushed from his pocket and did what he could to move the ball, but both attempts fell short. Millikin made good on it's first opportunity and tied the game up 7-7. The second opportunity ended quickly as a well coached Carthage defense stripped the ball from the Millikin Rb. Other than these two possessions I can't even remember Millikin being on Carthage's half of the field. The Redmen run defense was as consistent as always and I saw much improvement with thier pass coverage.

The Carthage offense played well and better than the 19 points they scored indicate. They controlled the clock. They moved the ball both on the ground and in the air. Back-up Rb, Tyson Mengel, had a great game showing that Carthage has some depth at the Rb possition. Unfortunately penalties cut into some good drives and hurt the Redmen point production. Holding, clipping, tripping during several drives into the redzone forced Carthage to settle for 2 field goals which could have been TDs. Also, Millikin stuffed Carthage on a 4th and short also in the redzone to end another Redmen opportunity.

If this game was an indication and test to see which of these two teams was the real deal, Cartahge ACED the test.

[sica-sica]

Cards Win! Cards Win! What a difference a year makes.The Wheaton qb is real good ,but I have to agree with earlier post,why did they change the play calling in 2nd half.They did well in 1st half,why not stick with it.Great job by NCC coaches on the adjustments on the defense in 2nd half.

[Mr. Ypsi]

This coming week's B-I-G game would appear to be in Kenosha - the irresistable force vs. the immovable object!  I'll withhold picking 'til I hear more commentary, but I'll PROBABLY go with the home team.

The other BIG game would be in Wheaton - two of the potential contenders (now licking their wounds) in an elimination contest.  I'll almost certainly pick Wheaton.

The other two games are probably of interest only to fans of those schools, unless, of course, my Titans can pull a major upset of the Cardinals (or Elmhurst turns out to be for real, afterall)!

[RedmenFB44]

Congrats to the Redmen!

I listened to the game online and it sounded like a dominating Carthage defense. Offense sounded good but some drives stalled because of some flags.

Here are some stats from the Carthage vs. Millikin game:

                                           Carthage     Millikin
FIRST DOWNS...................       14        7
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   57-212    24-33
PASSING YDS (NET).............       93       69
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........   14-8-0   26-6-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   71-305   50-102
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............     8-77      2-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     2-43     1-15
Interception Returns-Yards....      1-0      0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............   6-37.0   9-39.7
Fumbles-Lost..................      1-0      2-1
Penalties-Yards...............     9-96     6-41
Possession Time...............    35:53    24:07
Third-Down Conversions........  5 of 17  2 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   1 of 4   0 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      4-5      1-1
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     3-26     9-53

The Carthage defense held Millikin's power running game to only 33 yards on 24 carries. Millikin only had 102 yards of total offense.  Just dominating stats.

I really like what I am seeing from the Redmen now. This next game with Auggie will be nothing like last year. It will be a close one.

Congrats to North Central on a big win over Wheaton. This shows, once again, that this conference should be in the top 3 in D-3. The thing about this season is that every team has a legit chance of winning any game compared to years in the past.

GO REDMEN!!!

[Redmen96]

Congrats to NCC beating Wheaton makes you a real contender.  We found that out last year.  We will soon be seeing you in the top 25 board.

[usee]

the only real stand out stat from the boxscore is the turnovers. if you had told me before the game wheaton would have 460+ yds of offense including 200 yds rushing, i would have bet the ranch they would win. but when you give the ball away you won't win many games, particularly against a team like ncc.

problem is wheaton still has to face 3 other teams like ncc in the conference and if they they turn the ball over like that, they won't beat them or anyone else for that matter.

[usee]

Pat,

having now seen the ncc facilities, how do you think they compare w others you have visited?

[couchqb]

Good job NCC and Elmhurst.  Did carthage really move the ball and due to great field position, not show many yards?  Or did they not move the ball well either?  You're going to win if your defense doesn't give up points, but there's a good chance they will lose at some point this CCIW season due to their offense, especially if they turn it over.  I think Augie will handle them again for sure.  And we see what NPU is really made of.  I don't think Haehn is the best QB in the conference as someone was saying earlier, especially with that O-line.

[Brass Bell]

Hey..........Zorbadagreek............How bout them Cards.........Pretty sizable Grapefruits.....wouldn't you say?

[Tailgater]

couchqb:
Many Carthage possessions started at or near mid-field, so there wasn't much real-estate to capture (no 90, 80, 70 yd drives) The offense was patient and disciplined allowing the play clock to run all the way down before putting the ball in play. After re-reading your question in post #715 the answer is yes to your first assumption. Much of the game was played in Millikin's half of the field. On few occassions Millikin was able to place a punt inside the Carthage 20, but the offense moved the ball back to or past midfield each time before a change of possession back to Millikin. Penalties were the reason for many Carthage drives stalling. This will need to be corrected in order for the Redmen offense to maximize it's potential. Turnovers were not an issue as you can't get better than "zero". Don't look past the Millikin defense. They played well, but not nearly as well as the Redmen "D"

[Tailgater]

I think Augie will handle them again for sure. 

Not sure you should proclaim that Augie will "handle" Carthage. You can bet the house that Carthage will not use the modified defense they employeed against Augie last year (the only game of the year Carthage changed their defensive set). The game will certainly be defined at the line of scrimmage between Augie's O-line and Carthage D-line. No amount of talk will predict the outcome of that battle. I think the Carthage offense will continue to show improvement against what seems to be a questionable Viking defense (as stated by Augie posters earlier this season). And NEVER underestimate the magic that happens in Kenosha!!

[zorbadagreek]

Hey Brass Bell, I stand corrected. I listened to the game and NCC made a great comeback. They are for real. My picks for next week:
Wheaton over Millikin
North Park over Elmhurst(for their 1st conf. win in 4ever)
NCC over Wesleyan
and the game of the week: Auggie over Carthage