FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[bison22]

While I don't engage in the dialogue much, I have sure enjoyed the give and take of all the contributors.  Your correspondance adds a nice dimension to CCIW football.   Thanks.   

[usee]

Well, I was hoping by this time we would not be looking at 2007 yet, but the CCIW football slate is over.  Time to look ahead at 2007.  First and foremost, I think 7 teams have a shot at the title this year, as in last year.  I think all 8 will be involved in the puzzle somehow.  No more big 4/little 4 etc.  because parity is widespread.
Augie- CCIW champs 20th time, and I think they will be extra hungry seeing as how one might think the Vikings were "gipped" this year.  NC/Wheaton in Augie out
Carthage- Has a great team returning, just needs to stay healthy and gel
Elmhurst- Lots of big gaps to fill and will be questioned hard by everybody to prove that their 6-4 almost 7-3 season was not just a 1 hit wonder
IWU- Has a great offense returning and Panno is sharp
NC- Big gap to fill at QB but what a great pickup in Sulo.  Still should be decent to great next year
NPU- Pethtel has a lot, a lot of work to do with these guys, but there is only 1 direction they can go.  The Park should be much better next year.
Millikin- (I know should have been before NC), this was the most physical group I saw in the CCIW last year, and their overall record is misleading.  Replacing Wallick will be tough.
Wheaton- My early favorite for 2007.  Ullrich will pick up where Chupp has left off, Studebaker and the defense are monsters, should be a strong 2007 Thunder squad.

Can we start the 2007 next week? 

I think any discussion of 2007 title runs has to start with Wheaton. they have 5 of their 6 1st team all conf players back and basically 10 starters on defense. Tim March is the significant loss at db and there are very capable backups. On offense wheaton needs to find a tailback, fullback and 1 WR and they are set for another run. I don't know who the underclassmen are but I wouldn't bet on much of a falloff, if any. I haven't looked at the other teams but IWU has some good skilled guys returning and Augie had some young guys play quite a bit. Also, NPU played a lot of young guys and with Scott Pethel at the helm, I would look for some serious improvement from them.

[FormerCard]

Just heard through the grapevine that Ittersagen's injury is more severe than initially thought.  He will be having surgeries to repair broken bones in the ankle and leg. 

Best of luck to him and hopefully a speedy recovery for his sake and the Thunder.

[Mugsy]

I think any discussion of 2007 title runs has to start with Wheaton. they have 5 of their 6 1st team all conf players back and basically 10 starters on defense. Tim March is the significant loss at db and there are very capable backups. On offense wheaton needs to find a tailback, fullback and 1 WR and they are set for another run. I don't know who the underclassmen are but I wouldn't bet on much of a falloff, if any. I haven't looked at the other teams but IWU has some good skilled guys returning and Augie had some young guys play quite a bit. Also, NPU played a lot of young guys and with Scott Pethel at the helm, I would look for some serious improvement from them.

Seems like Wheaton has a reasonable replacement tailback in Andrew Hershey, who only averaged 100+ yards in the 2 games he started (granted one game was against NPU).

[JK]

As a former Cap player, long time Cap and OAC fan, and long time OAC poster, I just wanted to offer my congratulations to NCC on a fine season and great game this past Saturday.  I don't think the final score was indicative of how NCC played, particularly in the first half.  NCC had the opportunity to make the score a bit closer than it was, but Cap's D did a great job of rising to the occasion with their backs to the wall.  Kniss did a nice job of making plays and taking what Cap was giving him.  He is a fine QB and I am sure many of you are sorry to see him go. Capital will be in much the same situation, losing Rocky.  Hopefully we can both reload and do it again for a third year.

Also, kudos to all the NCC fans who made the relatively long trip from the Chicago area down to Columbus.  You had a really great turnout.  It is nice to see that many fans out supporting their team, especially their D3 team.  If nothing else, it was great weather to sit and watch a football game.

Best of luck next year, and to Kniss in the Gagliardi voting.

[79jaybird]

Sorry to hear about Ittersagen's injury being more devastating than initially thought.  What exactly was the break?  I was never informed of the exact injury, just that he left the Mt. Union game.
Hoping for a speedy return to the field for Pete.

[bison22]

As for CCIW 2007, I am liking Wheaton but wondering about the QB situation.   Ullrich doesn't look like the answer.  Could a sophomore like Norris surprise everyone?  And, Augie will always be in the hunt.  Their program may not be able to win outside of the CCIW, but it has proven it can compete for the title year-in and year-out.     After that, IMO, its a battle for the 3rd place.   

[Son of Tailgater]

I was wondering if anybody had any website that would have any information on D3 recruiting?

[Mr. Ypsi]

I was wondering if anybody had any website that would have any information on D3 recruiting?

This topic has come up before, and I think the conclusion was that posters on d3football.com were as good as it gets.  Since there are no scholarships, there are no 'letters of intent', so it is pretty much word of mouth (and see who actually shows up once school starts)!

[cardinaldad]

As a former Cap player, long time Cap and OAC fan, and long time OAC poster, I just wanted to offer my congratulations to NCC on a fine season and great game this past Saturday.  I don't think the final score was indicative of how NCC played, particularly in the first half.  NCC had the opportunity to make the score a bit closer than it was, but Cap's D did a great job of rising to the occasion with their backs to the wall.  Kniss did a nice job of making plays and taking what Cap was giving him.  He is a fine QB and I am sure many of you are sorry to see him go. Capital will be in much the same situation, losing Rocky.  Hopefully we can both reload and do it again for a third year.

Also, kudos to all the NCC fans who made the relatively long trip from the Chicago area down to Columbus.  You had a really great turnout.  It is nice to see that many fans out supporting their team, especially their D3 team.  If nothing else, it was great weather to sit and watch a football game.

Best of luck next year, and to Kniss in the Gagliardi voting.

JK, Thanks for the kind words. I too feel that the score was not indicative of the game. A few things happened and things started snowballing. As I stated on your board, on Saturday, CU out played us, out hit us and were better coached than us. The team was very prepared. I was very impressed with the team. Good luck on Saturday. Can we see each other three years in a row?

[Gregory Sager]

Also, NPU played a lot of young guys and with Scott Pethel at the helm, I would look for some serious improvement from them.

I spoke with him briefly at tonight's NPU basketball game, and it sounds like he's really hit the ground running in terms of recruiting. He has thirty-something applications already in the pipeline, with eight student-athletes accepted as early admits at this point. I don't know anything about their quality, of course, but he's certainly not wasting any time in trying to mold a roster to his specs.

[usee]

As for CCIW 2007, I am liking Wheaton but wondering about the QB situation.   Ullrich doesn't look like the answer. 

Bison,

what is the basis for this assessment? I am not sure how anyone can make that judgement based on what we have seen from Ullrich. if anything he throws a much better ball than anyone I have seen at wheaton in a long time. I don't know if he is the answer because we haven't seen enough to decide. we have certainly seen enough to know he has a chance to be really, really good.

I don't know anything about Norris but I suspect if he is good enough to play, he will get some time, just like Ullrich did this year.

[79jaybird]

I agree with Usee here about the Wheaton QB issue.  Chupp was your #1 guy this year and Ullrich found pt in a secondary role.  I believe the IWU game?  Ullrich was 7 of 7 passing?  Too early to make a call that Ullrich can't/won't get the job done. 

Somebody mentioned IWU earlier and I think this could possibly be a sleeper team for 2007.  Panno impressed me this year when I saw him at EC and their Defense came up and hit you hard.  Losing Dunlop will hurt, but if IWU can get a good rb, I think the Titans will do well in 2007.

[redman04]

I think any discussion of 2007 title runs has to start with Wheaton. they have 5 of their 6 1st team all conf players back and basically 10 starters on defense. Tim March is the significant loss at db and there are very capable backups. On offense wheaton needs to find a tailback, fullback and 1 WR and they are set for another run. I don't know who the underclassmen are but I wouldn't bet on much of a falloff, if any. I haven't looked at the other teams but IWU has some good skilled guys returning and Augie had some young guys play quite a bit. Also, NPU played a lot of young guys and with Scott Pethel at the helm, I would look for some serious improvement from them.

Well said.... I agree!  As much as I don't want to!

[Mugsy]

As for CCIW 2007, I am liking Wheaton but wondering about the QB situation.   Ullrich doesn't look like the answer. 

Bison,

what is the basis for this assessment? I am not sure how anyone can make that judgement based on what we have seen from Ullrich. if anything he throws a much better ball than anyone I have seen at wheaton in a long time. I don't know if he is the answer because we haven't seen enough to decide. we have certainly seen enough to know he has a chance to be really, really good.

I don't know anything about Norris but I suspect if he is good enough to play, he will get some time, just like Ullrich did this year.

I agree with usee here...  Ullrich has a much better arm than Chupp and throws better on the run. 

IMO, I look for Ullrich to have a better year in 07' than what Chupp & Ullrich combined for in 06'.  Ullrich performed quite well this year despite not having the opportunity to get into the flow of the game.  He'd come in for a series here and there and would only get 20 or so snaps a game.  It is a challenge for QB's who only play for one series at a time to get a feel for the game.

We will see as this is speculation at this point.