FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CardinalAlum]

Come on JB, 2 more posts to get to all conference status!

[79jaybird]

OK CardinalAlum you twisted my arm. 

[79jaybird]

 

[79jaybird]

Hehe, wow!  Pretty neat to see the All-Conference title and 1 more star under the screen name. 

[TitanBacker]

Hey all, finally made it back after going into a short coma when IWU got its first CCIW win this season in a 12-6 shootout to regain the Corn Belt Trophy!    Seems i've missed alot of banter over the past few days.  What are the key matchups this week?  Obviously the IWU/Elmhurst game is a must win for the birds to keep any hopes alive right now.  IWU has clearly moved into the spoiler role and hopefully will make a few bad days for other teams as the season goes on.

Congrats to Augie for beating a Wheaton team that sounds like they were lulled to sleep for three quarters in Rock Island. 

[Comet 14]

I don't have any insight on why they are rotating QB's I just know that 99.9% of the time it is a horrible idea. The only time I feel it is a good idea is if your season is over and you are trying to get 2 underclassmen some snaps.

[Comet 14]

I was reading an earlier post about if 9-1 Wheaton would get in the play-offs. I think the conference as a whole is better that is why teams are not dominating. IMO a 9-1 Wheaton team ( or any other 9-1 CCIW team ) would make the play-offs.

[Comet 14]

What is the IWU offense like? Pass or run oriented?

[79jaybird]

"Obviously, the IWU/Elmhurst game is a must win for the Birds to keep any hopes alive right now"
Titanbacker-- Even if Elmhurst wins out  their playoff hopes would still be on life support.  A lot of "ifs" have to happen. While I think on paper Elmhurst is the favorite in the IWU/Millikin/NPU games,  Wheaton is a strong favorite next week.  Anything can happen and there is still a lot of football left.  Plus, with rain in the forecast for Saturday, I am reminded of what I call on the air "Monsoon Game"  where IWU spoiled our Homecoming.

[TitanBacker]

What is the IWU offense like? Pass or run oriented?

IWU runs a pretty balanced offense on the whole.  They have a very Barry Sanders-esque running back in Marcus Dunlop.  They also have some well rounded receivers and what seems to be a pretty decent QB in Panno.  I believe that the ability of their offense is limited by the O Line, not the skill players. 

Plus, with rain in the forecast for Saturday, I am reminded of what I call on the air "Monsoon Game"  where IWU spoiled our Homecoming.

Probably one of the best games ever played at that field.  I'm still petitioning ESPN Classic to play that game every year before IWU/ElmWOrst.    They haven't gotten back to me yet, but I know i'm annoying the heck out of them. 

For those of you that don't know, this game was played in a downpour (no lightning or THUNDER  , just heavy rain).  There were places on the field with 6-10" of standing water and both centers had to hold the ball off the ground to snap it.  IWU was losing 3-2 in the 4th quarter when a string of fade passes (or shotputs) to Eric White led IWU to an 8-3 victory.  Easily one of the greatest games I've ever played in.

[RedmenFB44]

Easily one of the greatest games I've ever played in.

I would say the best game that YOU ever played in was in 1999 Central @ Grayslake. That OT win by Central where there was a missed tackle and we scored the winning TD.  I'm just playin 

[matblake]

Make or Break Games:

Carthage v Augustana:  A loss doesn't rule out the Vikes from winning the conference title, but their extremely slim Pool C bid chances go poof.  Carthage gets the chance to show they are a team to be reckoned with.  A loss means they can just barely beat IWU.

IWU v Elmhurst:  This is the Jays chance.  If they lose, they drop out of top of the conference consideration.  I believe this will be a hard fought game.  IWU also has the chance to build on last weeks win.

[TitanBacker]

Easily one of the greatest games I've ever played in.

I would say the best game that YOU ever played in was in 1999 Central @ Grayslake. That OT win by Central where there was a missed tackle and we scored the winning TD.  I'm just playin 

Or maybe the other 3 games against CLC?    I do remember winning 40-20 our senior year.   

[Tailgater]

Now you have an idea what the Carthage comeback over IWU was like. Very similar circumstances.

There are some similarities in terms of the respective scoreboards, but the circumstances within the two games were very different. In fact, the Bears' comeback on Monday night was totally unlike any other comeback I've ever seen or heard of before. Carthage forced turnovers and got an onside kick to key their comeback win over Illinois Wesleyan, but it was their offense that actually pushed the ball over the goal line. The Bears' offense was so wretched against Arizona that it played no role whatsoever in that comeback in the fourth quarter (and the last play of the third). Whoever heard of a team coming back from a 20-point deficit in which all of the points that constitute that comeback were scored by the defense and special teams?

That comeback win on Monday night was a totally unique animal as far as football is concerned.

To clarify for you, the circumstances I refer to include the emotions we fans experienced watching our team, which appeared to be dead and done with 9:43 remaining in the game miraculously breath life back into a dead corpse. Yes the way each team scored was different, but I refered to the time remaining in the game when Carthage/Chicago put each of their scores on the board and the desperation of the situation.  A 19 point deficit was errased in approx 6 minutes by an offense that was not finishing for three qtrs. 2 more TD's were called back (one was an interception return for a score). The defense created turnovers to give the offense opportunities and special teams came up with a big play to make the come-back possible. I witnessed both and each was equally spectacular.

[79jaybird]

Titanbacker-- that particular game stands out as the most memorable broadcasting  and now I am in my 6th year!  For no football reason, that game just stands out.
Literally, you could start sliding at the 30 and go all the way to the other 30 yard line.  IWU's white jerseys were black!  The field was still grass at that time,  and you could literally step at midfield and sink to your knees. 
Were you playing or watching in the stands?  The reason I ask is because the heavy rain started about Friday Night around 8:00 and didn't stop raining (heavy) until Sunday around 2:00ish.
My roommate was still on the team and one of EC's running backs.  Even after he showered at the football locker room, he still had mud covering him all over.  I remember his girlfriend made us some hot cocoa  in our dorm room (ah, the ladies took care of us like 2nd mothers  ),  and he was real sore too. 
Obviously with the Astroplay surface there won't be any turf monsters.
Keys to the game
A) First and foremost,  Elmhurst has to get their offense going and that starts with production from the QB.  Freund/LaFleur have struggled for 2 weeks.  I think they get it back together at home this week.
B) Marcus Dunlop-- He is the main workhorse for IWU  and is a great running back.  If he gets holes on offense, watchout b/c he can take over a game.  IMO, Dunlop is going to have trouble getting through the line because EC's D-Line is better than IWU's O-Line.
C) IWU's WR's vs. EC's DB's  during EC's 4-0 stretch the secondary was sharp, hitting hard, and there was nothing downfield.  In their 2 losses both Augie and NC found opportunities throwing the ball deep.