FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mugsy]

Just got back from the Wheaton/Wabash scrimmage...

With 30 seconds left in the 3rd quarter it was Wheaton 31 - Wabash 0.

Thoughts on the game to come...

[Mugsy]

Halftime in Wheaton:

Wheaton 10, Wabash 0

Ullrich 16-21, 185 yds, 1 INT

Jackson 13 car., 33 yds. 1 TD

Pokorny 4 rec. 53 yds.

Ittersagen, INT, TFL, 1 PR for about 10 yds.

McKenney, TFL, FF, several tackles

Studebaker has not played

Ellingsen 41 yd FG 1-1 XP

Final stats to come after game.

Studebaker played the first 2 snaps of the game...

[WahooThunder]

Studebaker played the first 2 snaps of the game...

Thanks Mugsy, guess I missed that somehow.

[WahooThunder]

Final Score:  Wheaton 31, Wabash 3

I will compile my stats and post them along with thoughts later tonight.

[dansand]

Augie scores on their first 10 possessions (except when they took a knee to end the first half), including nine touchdowns, and beat MacMurray 65-0. Augie had 18 different players carry the ball and all eight players in their first and second string backfields averaged over 11 yards a carry.

It's kinda hard to tell too much from this one beacuse MacMurray is really, really bad. Needless to say Baldwin Wallace will be a much bigger challenge.

[Mugsy]

First I like to say I hope Wheaton and Wabash continue to scrimmage every year.  It is of huge benefit to both teams - high quality football, strong relationships between coaching staffs.  I think it really helps both sides going into the season.

General comments about Wheaton:

1. Zach Ullrich looked great, IMO.  Great pocket presence, quick, smart decisions... In the first half he dispersed the ball to TEs, WRs, RBs, you name it.  If there wasn't anything available he got rid of the ball.  Only one bad play and it was more of an incredible play by a Wabash defender.  After driving 50+ yards and down inside the 15 yard line, Ullrich tried to get a pass over a defender right in front of him and it was tipped and intercepted by a DE, I think.  Overall I'm looking for a big year from Ullrich.

2. Any concerns about Pete Ittersagen's ankle should be put to rest.  He looked fine.  He was playing CB, he was returning punts, they had him on a corner blitz once... They obviously weren't concerned about "protecting" him.  He was his usual self making solid tackles in the flat and he had one interception.

3. The CB who will be replacing "Mr. Ambercrombie & Fitch" had 2 interceptions for over 100 yards, including a TD. Tyler Langs is his name.  

4. I had heard that Geoff Rowson had hurt his knee and might miss sometime, yet he played the entire first half.  Good news for Wheaton.  The only starting lineman who didn't dress was Thomas Christner.

5. Steve Pagh didn't dress either, so that's 2 starting LB's who are out - though he appeared to be jogging around so I don't know how serious his injury is.

Thoughts on the scrimmage:
The format of the scrimmage was much closer to a "real game" than I was expecting.  The first half was primary 1's against 1's, with live special teams.  The first few series of the 2nd half were 1's against 1's with a few 2nd teamers mixed in.  Basically a real game in the first half.  I'm sure there were some limitations imposed by the coaches to limit blitzing.  But by in large... it felt like a real game.  As I understand it, 4th quarter was going to be 12 minutes and primary 2's & 3's playing.  After the 4th quarter they were going to run a few 2 minute drill series for each team and then some special teams work.

Wheaton took the opening kick and drove 85+ yards in 9 minutes.  Very impressive, especially against the likes of a Wabash D.  I was impressed by Wabash's front 7, particularly their MLB's.  They can move and they bring it - very disruptive.  Not much action from the secondary... in terms of big plays.  Wheaton receivers were running open and Ullrich got the ball there.

At first Wabash was getting great pressure on Ullrich from their d-line, but as the game went on the Wheaton o-line looked better at pass protection.  That may be in part to Wabash having one of their better DT's getting ejected from the game.  Not sure what happened... it looked benign enough.  There wasn't any pushing or shoving, the ref just threw a flag for an unsportsman like right after the play and then tossed him.  

Wheaton's running attack needs a bit of work, though I believe it had a lot to do with how well Wabash was playing on the line.  Not much movement off the ball by Wheaton's o-line in the 1st quarter and when you don't have a big brushing back, that can lead to a lot of 1 to 3 yard runs.  Wheaton o-line got better as the game went on though...

You can tell Wabash was missing 2 or 3 of their key receivers.  The offense moved the ball well on the first few drives, but Wheaton made some big plays to end the drives - 1 INT, 1 fumble in first half.  I don't think it was one of Huff's better games... I think he had 3 INT's.  At least I think that was Huff, he's #4 right?  You can tell he's a great QB but he didn't have all his weapons today and it showed.

Wabash was very effective in the first half running the ball between the tackles.  They had several 8-10 yard runs.  However... as effective as they were inside, they were bad on runs to the perimeter.  The fumble that stalled the first drive was a badly executed option play were the pitch man was nailed as the ball arrived.

To me the key to the scrimmage was turnovers.  Wheaton had 5 takeaways through 3 quarters - 1 TD and 1 other resulting in a drive starting inside Wabash's redzone (long interception returns by Langs).

Overall it appeared to be injury free for both teams, except for the first play of the 2nd half.  One Wabash o-line went down with an apparent knee injury and had to be carried off the field.

If Wabash can get healthy, they clearly have a lot of talent and could have a great year.

I feel better about Wheaton after the scrimmage than going in, as I was concerned about some injuries.  

[fightintitan]

IWU   6
Coe   24
Final

The Titans outgained Coe 256-170, but three INT's (one for a TD) and a punt return for a TD killed their chances.

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/09/01/sports/doc46d9d3b9b294b798740083.txt

[Mugsy]

great article by the way in the daily herald on friday about wheaton's studebaker.  Couldn't find it on line to link.  anyone else read it. 

I didn't see it, so hopefully someone can find the link.

[usee]

Mugsy,

great summary of the scrimmage. I was also there and will add a few more comments:

-I don't put much weight on scores of scrimmages. circumstances like playcalling and injuries have a big impact on the outcomes.

-The wabash defense is really good, particularly up front. their front 4 is athletic and physical and their linebackers come downhill and make plays. they play with a passion and get after it. Pynenberg is fun to watch.

-Wheaton had a hard time running the ball but I give most of the credit to the wabash front 7. Wheaton's Ullrich is the real deal. He made the wabash db's look bad and they aren't that bad. Ullrich releases the ball so quickly guys look more open than they are. He made one throw from the left hash on a 17 yd out cut to the far sideline that is a D1 arm.

-I know Huff is a good qb. he has put up some unreal numbers against good competition. for whatever reason he was not a good qb today and I think that's as much the fault of his recievers as it was him (mugsy noted their best 2 recievers were not playing).

-Wabash plays with more spirit than any team in D3 I have ever seen. their celebration (on the road I might add) after the interception of Ullrich would have made someone think they just won a playoff game on the last play. I love it. We should all learn from their passion.

-Wheaton looked a lot better than I would have expected without the defensive player of the year as well as their leading tackler.

-wabash will be fine if they get their WR's back. their OLine is athletic and strong. Two very good teams IMO

[Mugsy]

Mugsy,

great summary of the scrimmage. I was also there and will add a few more comments:

-I don't put much weight on scores of scrimmages. circumstances like playcalling and injuries have a big impact on the outcomes.

-The wabash defense is really good, particularly up front. their front 4 is athletic and physical and their linebackers come downhill and make plays. they play with a passion and get after it. Pynenberg is fun to watch.

-Wheaton had a hard time running the ball but I give most of the credit to the wabash front 7. Wheaton's Ullrich is the real deal. He made the wabash db's look bad and they aren't that bad. Ullrich releases the ball so quickly guys look more open than they are. He made one throw from the left hash on a 17 yd out cut to the far sideline that is a D1 arm.

-I know Huff is a good qb. he has put up some unreal numbers against good competition. for whatever reason he was not a good qb today and I think that's as much the fault of his recievers as it was him (mugsy noted their best 2 recievers were not playing).

-Wabash plays with more spirit than any team in D3 I have ever seen. their celebration (on the road I might add) after the interception of Ullrich would have made someone think they just won a playoff game on the last play. I love it. We should all learn from their passion.

-Wheaton looked a lot better than I would have expected without the defensive player of the year as well as their leading tackler.

-wabash will be fine if they get their WR's back. their OLine is athletic and strong. Two very good teams IMO

Excellent recap... you touched on some intangibles regarding the passion of Wabash.  I have to say I was a bit embarrassed with how much noise the Wabash faithful and team made incomparison to Wheaton.  I know it was a scrimmage so most of the student body didn't bother showing up, but you almost didn't know it was a home scrimmage.  Well put.

[WahooThunder]

Here are my stats for the Wheaton/Wabash scrimmage:

Ullrich: 16-21, 185 yds, 1 INT and 5 rushes for 7 yds.

  Like Mugsy and Usee said Ullrich looked very sharp throwing the ball and also made some outstanding plays with his legs as well.

Jackson: 16 carries, 47 yards, 2 TDs and 2 rec. for 9 yds.
 
  Looks like Jackson is definitely going to be the #1 TB from what I saw today.  I was impressed with how nicely he has made the transition from receiver.  He runs hard and it looks like he has good rushing instincts as well.  His receiving skills also make him another pass cathing threat out of the backfield. 

Hershey: 8 carries, 36 yards, 2 rec. for 25 yds.

Pokorny: 4 rec, 53 yds.

  I think Pokorny is poised for a breakout year at wide receiver.  He showed his 4.34 speed and good hands.  Another great target for Ullrich along with Dreyer and Fossum.

Dreyer: 4 rec. 64 yds.

Ellingsen: 41 yd FG, 4-4 XP, 1 TB

Ittersagen: 1 INT, 1 TFL, looked good on punt return.  Like mugsy said the leg appears to be a non-issue and he should be back to All-American form.

McKenney: 2 TFL, 1 FF, all over the field in the first half, made a couple of big tackles in the backfield including the forced fumble, and deflected the pass Ittersagen picked off.

Langs:  Like Mugsy said, if today's performance is any indication, the Thunder aren't going to miss Burns at all.  Consecutive picks in the second half with great returns on both put the game away for Wheaton.  Also had another pass breakup.

The Wheaton defense gave up a lot of yards, but also forced turnovers and made stops when they need to.  This performance was especially impressive given the absence of Pagh and McKinney and the very brief appearance of Studebaker. 

Overall, it was a very encouraging day as Wheaton fan.  There are some injury and other issues that need to be taken care of before the CCIW season starts, but the Thunder looked strong today, and should be ready to take care of their non-conference slate without too much difficulty.

[old 40]

JayBird75

Congrats on the win over Benedictine. Your QB will take you guys a long way this year. It looks like the Offense put up big numbers againt them. Good Luck next week.

[Red Reign]

Heard from the grapevine last night in naperville that both starting DEs for the cards are out for a few weeks. Anyone know any info on this or can even comfirm it?

[formerd3db]

jaybird:

Congrats on your Elmhurst's win yesterday.  Hope you had a good time at the game.  I'll reply to your email soon.  What's the scoop on Elmhurst's next game?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Going solely off the Pantagraph article, box score, and the 'Kickoff' predictions (anyone have a first-hand account of the Coe-IWU game?), I'm VERY cautiously optimistic that the Titans will beat the 7th place coaches' poll prediction and  challenge strongly for 4th or (dare I dream?) even higher.

Playing AT (Kickoff's) #50 Coe (in comparison, Wheaton [13], NCC [18], and Augie [20] were well above, but Elmhurst [58] and Carthage [66] were slightly below), it appears that IWU (at least the defense) more than held their own.  The 24-6 score appears to be rather misleading.  Coe scored first on a fg after a 6-play, 10-yard 'drive'.  They then had tds on a 51-yard punt return, a 92-yard interception return, and (with 30 seconds left in the game) a 7-play, 29-yard 'drive'.  Sounds like NONE of this is really the fault of the defense.

Overall, IWU led in first downs (16-11) and offensive yardage (256-170).  As has been the pattern at least since IWU fell out of 'the big 4', special teams play stunk.  In addition to the punt return td, they gave up 252 yds on their 5 kickoffs - talk about the defense having to fight a short field!  IF these problems can be corrected, I think the Titans will be a threat to anyone.  If not, it's gonna be another long season in Bloomington.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, IWU also had a punt blocked in the second quarter, giving the Kohawks the ball on the Titan 8 yard line - the defense held them for no score!  With our defense, we could challenge for the title; with our special teams, we could challenge for the basement.