FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[ncc58]

Here's another question for those more familiar with the Wheaton program. How often do they practice on grass, and how often have they practiced on wet grass?  With more and more teams installing the field turf, they may be doing most of their practices on the game fields and less on grass. Will they be at a disadvantage if the field is muddy and wet? IWU and Millikin are the only CCIW teams with grass fields.

[diehardfan]

Based on the first 3 weeks of the season, has anyone changed their opinion on who they picked to win the CCIW?
Or who the favorite is? 
Or who the dark-horse is?
What is surprising to this point?
Which teams still have some serious questions going into CCIW schedule?

I went from thinking in my head that NCC would probably win it, but in my heart never believing that anyone but Wheaton could win... to straight up being sure Wheaton would take it with my mind and heart.

Thus, my favorite is now Wheaton, not NCC.

My dark horse is IWU... Before the season I was pretty well content to believe they were going to finish in that #7 spot they were predicted. I think they may have a shot to finish in the top half which is pretty amazingly different. Millikin was my dark horse before the season, and I think they could still be it. Incidentally, I don't think that Carthage is going to do anything special this season... especially with there seeming lack of ability to generate offense. But I may be affected by the fact that every Carthage game I've ever seen, they were blown out by an extremely dominant Crusader/Thunder team.

Most surprising is NCC losing... and making me look dumb for picking them as a favorite.

I think there are serious questions for all the teams.

My questions for

Wheaton
1) Pass defense... Obviously Ittersagen and March are studs, but we're only 80 right now the country in this area... given our oponents that stat is making me worried... hopefully unnecessarily so?
2) Further development of our kickers who are already showing improvement. 
3) I think we could probably up our run game a little...

Augie
1) what they're going to do with their offense... do they really need a varied game...
2) how do they recover after losing the game to BW, a game they really, really should have won

NCC
1) Kniss seems a little off to me. Obviously this still means he's still a relatively good QB, but I dunno... some plays I heard on the radio, and comments by the NCC broadcasters have made me nervous since NCC's offense is so centered around him.
2) they haven't been as dominant as I've been expecting... it's hard to say what it is given how far away I am, but from the stats, it looks like they definitely need to work on run defense. They've given up 414yrds in only two games.

Elmhurst
1) how does new QB do against the better defenses in our league...
2) their sluggish game starts will be much more dangerous in the CCIW than against Chicago...

Carthage
Has been able to pull out wins despite generating hardly any offense... can they do it against stronger competition? Mmmm...

NPU
Has upgraded facilities 1000 times over... they're going to have a break out year at some point, but when will it be? is this year too soon? Yeah, probably, but they might be fun to watch anyway every so often.

IWU
Has shown that they're better this year... what games will they be the spoiler in, and how will it affect the league title?

Millikin
Can they ever play with the amazing intensity they did in the end of their games thus far in the beginning? If so they could be dangerous...

[ncc58]

People wonder why the NCC baseball program sucks so bad! 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060922players-suspended,1,629314.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Hamen said the party included freshmen playing baseball in their underwear, dressing in women's lingerie and drinking alcohol — violations of school policies that prohibit underage drinking and conduct unbecoming to the college.

Wow! Does NCC really have school policies against playing baseball in your underwear and dressing in women's lingerie? That ranks up there with the Wheaton "4 on the floor" rule.  Just to be gender fair, is there a rule that forbids women from dressing in men's underwear?

[Mugsy]

I believe Wheaton practices at least twice a week over at Lawson (Lauson?) field on natural grass - typically Tuesday and Wednesday.  Thursday and the Friday walk through typically take place at McCully Field on the turf.

Since Wheaton practices on both, I don't see them having trouble playing on either surface.

[TitanBacker]

Mugsy and Diehardfan-

Personally I disliked playing on the field turf.  There's something about picking little shreds of rubber out of your nose and ears for a day or two after a game to really make you want to play.    Plus, my major college injury (broken fibula, tibia and heel) happened on turf.  I still to this day believe that it wouldn't have happened on grass because of the way grass and dirt will move.  I also think Carthage's turf is too long, which is possible.  Sorry redmen.  

I guess i just harken back to the days when i played Pop Warner football.  There was something great about football when I played on all grass fields.  As much as fields get torn up and turn into a dirt parking lot, it was still fun and i wouldn't trade it for Astroplay.   

As a sidenote, Washington U recently turned to Astroplay after having what looked like grass for golf greens (whatever type that is) on its field.  That grass was great to play on but i'm sure it must have been hell on the groundskeepers year round.

On a sidenote, anyone going to the UWP- Augie game?  I have a good friend that plays for UWP and i'd like to see if he gets some time and how he played.

I may not get to go to the NCC- Wash U game now.  Friends from out of town may require entertaining.  How dare they get in the way of CCIW action!

[usee]

Im sorry I couldn't figure out how to pull quotes and paste but I'll keep trrying...
To debate the point that "Hope will be the first real test for Wheaton this year...."
I would have agreed if the opponents were like last year Greenville and GA.  but Albion and Washington I believe are on the same par as Hope and I think the first real test wheaton will run into will be at Millikin. 
Maybe the test will be the weather issue but Hope doesn't scare me as much as they did 2 years ago when they had a prolific passing offense, and Wheaton still won. 

I totally agree with this. I cannot imaging Hope is as good as Albion. i think they will be better than WashU but i have to believe Albion wins the MIAA this year. the biggest difference between the albion/wheaton and hope/wheaton game is that this one is in Holland and thats a tough place to play. that should make this closer but wheaton should still win fairly handily.

[usee]

I went from thinking in my head that NCC would probably win it, but in my heart never believing that anyone but Wheaton could win... to straight up being sure Wheaton would take it with my mind and heart.

Thus, my favorite is now Wheaton, not NCC.

My dark horse is IWU... Before the season I was pretty well content to believe they were going to finish in that #7 spot they were predicted. I think they may have a shot to finish in the top half which is pretty amazingly different. Millikin was my dark horse before the season, and I think they could still be it. Incidentally, I don't think that Carthage is going to do anything special this season... especially with there seeming lack of ability to generate offense. But I may be affected by the fact that every Carthage game I've ever seen, they were blown out by an extremely dominant Crusader/Thunder team.

Most surprising is NCC losing... and making me look dumb for picking them as a favorite.

I think there are serious questions for all the teams.

My questions for

Wheaton
1) Pass defense... Obviously Ittersagen and March are studs, but we're only 80 right now the country in this area... given our oponents that stat is making me worried... hopefully unnecessarily so?
2) Further development of our kickers who are already showing improvement. 
3) I think we could probably up our run game a little...

Augie
1) what they're going to do with their offense... do they really need a varied game...
2) how do they recover after losing the game to BW, a game they really, really should have won

NCC
1) Kniss seems a little off to me. Obviously this still means he's still a relatively good QB, but I dunno... some plays I heard on the radio, and comments by the NCC broadcasters have made me nervous since NCC's offense is so centered around him.
2) they haven't been as dominant as I've been expecting... it's hard to say what it is given how far away I am, but from the stats, it looks like they definitely need to work on run defense. They've given up 414yrds in only two games.

Elmhurst
1) how does new QB do against the better defenses in our league...
2) their sluggish game starts will be much more dangerous in the CCIW than against Chicago...

Carthage
Has been able to pull out wins despite generating hardly any offense... can they do it against stronger competition? Mmmm...

NPU
Has upgraded facilities 1000 times over... they're going to have a break out year at some point, but when will it be? is this year too soon? Yeah, probably, but they might be fun to watch anyway every so often.

IWU
Has shown that they're better this year... what games will they be the spoiler in, and how will it affect the league title?

Millikin
Can they ever play with the amazing intensity they did in the end of their games thus far in the beginning? If so they could be dangerous...

some good thoughts April, from a fan living so far away!!

on Wheaton:
I wouldn't worry about their pass defense. they have played a couple teams that pass quite a bit. that will balance out. I worry more about them going against teams with strong running attacks. they might be fine but their defense is so athletic we just haven't seen how good they are against the run. we will find out a week from tomorrow vs wallick and company.

On NCC: I don't see how they can possibly be as good as they were a year ago. Last year they had 6 of the best players at their position and they lost 5 of those players. you don't recover from that the next season unless you have been doing this a while (muc). we will know a lot about the longevity of the ncc program based on their performance this year and who steps up (read: how deep is their bench and how well they have done recruiting)

My favorite is now wheaton (changed from augie)
my darkhorse is still IWU-if they find some more offense they will beat some people
I think elmhurst will struggle without their qb.
biggest surprise to me is millikin being 0-2. I expected more.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Over on the OAC board there's a discussion going on which players are receiving any attention from NFL scouts.  Got me wondering - any CCIW players on the pro radar?

[usee]

looking ahead to the cciw slate  i think we will know early who is the contenders and pretenders: check these schedules out:

Elmhurst:
@carthage
vs augie
@ncc

augie:
vs IWU
@elm
vs wheaton

and the Thunders schedule is brutal:
@millikin
vs NCC
@augie


Are you ready for some football??

[b4uknewit]

Redman04-- Hey Bro! Yeah I'm still lurking around. Thanks for the kind words. The boy will be fine and things are getting back to normal. Thank God it's football season. My company will be doing some work up your way soon. I'll have to take you guys out for some YAK! Take Care   B4

[Tailgater]

I just remembered why I hate the bye week. I've got no game to go to today!!!! All the CCIW teams in my area are away and Carthage has a bye. Someone want to clue me in on how to listen to any of the games. I assume through broadcastmonster.com?

[lakeshore]

they will have their hands full with Olivet's wing t style.  Coach livedotti will have them up and running.

[Tailgater]

I suppose this would be as good a time as any to offer my evaluation of Carthage following their 3-0 non-conference start. For you Alumni out there I hope this gives you at least a snap shot of what the team looks like.

The offense remains the key as to how far the Red Men can go this year. With 9 returning starters there has been high expectation for their success. After an unproductive start at Carroll the offense has shown signs of being worthy of their expectation. They put up 3 TDs against Lakeland and 3 more against Whittier (also had a 30+ yard TD pass called back & settled for a field goal) and over 300 yards in total offense in each of those games. In my opinion, the key for the offense to succeed rests with the RBs and FBs who both opperate by committee. They are all very good athletes, but are not the Randall Baker or Dante Washington style of runner we have been spoiled with for many years. They need to hit the holes quick & hard. RedmenFB44 was the last BIG fullback who played at Carthage. The importance of that solid lead blocker to your running game is unquestionable. While the Carthage FBs are very capable athletes they are not your prototypical size FB. It becomes a challenge taking on larger LBs, DEs & DL. Brennan O'Boyle (QB) adds another running back in the backfield. He is as effective with his running skill as he is passing. Nice to have the versitility. I have not looked at rushing stats, but O'Boyle is at or near the team top in rushing yards.

[Jim Matson]

Tailgater, you can listen to the Wheaton/Hope game at http://www.wheaton.edu/wetn.  Enjoy!

[Tailgater]

Thanks Hiker. Game time 1:00 p.m.?