FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Carthage Fan]

Carthage Fan
What is your thoughts of the game this week? Does Lakeland have a chance or is the spread to great? I understand the last several games have been competitive. I saw the UWW and Lakeland game last week and it was preety one sided. As one of the top programs in the CCIW I hope Lakeland will be able to stay competitive. Lakelands non-conference schedule is a meat grinder but should get them ready for their conference battles. Good Luck to your Red Men this week and the rest of the year.

I can imagine playing UWW would be a tough go, even for a lot of DII and maybe some DI AA schools.  I am new to Carthage and I do not know Lakeland so I will defer to veterans on the CCIW board for comment.   Good luck to you as well.     

[HScoach]

Usee:  I know Milly is bad and ONU is probably MUC's biggest battle in the OAC this year, but ONU is built on a great running game and a solid D.  And not the most likely team to hang a 50 spot on anyone, even Millikin.  Assuming Millikin doesn't turn the ball over a ton, I'd expect this game to be in the 38-7 range, but with the game much more lopsided on the field than the score indicates.

On the Augie/BW spread, I'm very curious to see where that one ends up.  I expect most of the OAC folks to pick BW simply because of conference loyalty.  My first guess was to make that game an even pick-em, but then everyone in would have chosen BW.  What makes me nervous about BW covering is that Augie has already played a game whereas this is BW's opener.  And most coaches feel the biggest improvement is made between weeks 1 and 2.  Based on BW's win last year, this game being played on the rock that is Berea, and with BW supposedly being better this year, I'm OK with setting Augie as a 6.5 point dog

I'm also curious to see how well the BW defense handles the Augie running game as BW probably has the OAC's 2nd best defense behind MUC.  What separates BW from MUC and ONU is the lack of a real offense.  First team to 14+ points wins.

[FormerCard]

No word yet on the DE's from NC...

[Mugsy]

fyi for the Carthage faithful...

A prognosticator over on the IBC board has Lakeland beating Carthage - I'm sure there will be more later this week.  Not too surprising to pull for the home team or conference team, but I'm expecting a Carthage win.

Not as much confidence in CUW chances against NCC.

[usee]

Usee:  I know Milly is bad and ONU is probably MUC's biggest battle in the OAC this year, but ONU is built on a great running game and a solid D.  And not the most likely team to hang a 50 spot on anyone, even Millikin.  Assuming Millikin doesn't turn the ball over a ton, I'd expect this game to be in the 38-7 range, but with the game much more lopsided on the field than the score indicates.

On the Augie/BW spread, I'm very curious to see where that one ends up.  I expect most of the OAC folks to pick BW simply because of conference loyalty.  My first guess was to make that game an even pick-em, but then everyone in would have chosen BW.  What makes me nervous about BW covering is that Augie has already played a game whereas this is BW's opener.  And most coaches feel the biggest improvement is made between weeks 1 and 2.  Based on BW's win last year, this game being played on the rock that is Berea, and with BW supposedly being better this year, I'm OK with setting Augie as a 6.5 point dog

I'm also curious to see how well the BW defense handles the Augie running game as BW probably has the OAC's 2nd best defense behind MUC.  What separates BW from MUC and ONU is the lack of a real offense.  First team to 14+ points wins.

I think Millikin has a few good players in their front 7 on defense. I think they may go 2-8 this year. they barely beat Illinois college last weekend. IC is not very good. this won't be a close game in Ohio. I think the spread is 40+.

On Augie/BW, I agree the intrigue is high. I am not convinced Augie will win but it will likely be close. Augie is also a better team than they were a year ago. their running game goes when they either have 2 studs in their 4 backfield set (wing, tb, fb, qb) or 3 decent rbs and a good qb. their qb is back and he will be a lot better than he was a year ago. Augie's defense I am not certain how good they are but they have 8 starters back I believe. I agree the first team to 14+ is the likely winner.

[NCC_alum62]

fyi for the Carthage faithful...

A prognosticator over on the IBC board has Lakeland beating Carthage - I'm sure there will be more later this week.  Not too surprising to pull for the home team or conference team, but I'm expecting a Carthage win.

Not as much confidence in CUW chances against NCC.

That really surprises me.  Carthage winning 35-7 over Carrol was a very good win.  The Redmen faithful have praised the play of the OL (A question mark heading into the season considering none of them got significant playing time behind the 5 seniors).  That makes the Redmen very dangerous in my opinion and Lakeland plays a team in Kenosha that returns alot of talent and guys that have been in the system.  Whitewater put up 41 with a QB that transfered in (albeit a very good QB) and hasn't had alot of time like O'Boyle has in Coach Ruck's system.  I gotta pick Carthage to win this game.

I would have expeceted more talk from CUW if they had won thier game against Simpson.  But like last year its CUW's second game to NCC's first and the big improvement facter betweeen week one and two makes me believe this will be a good game.  Hopefully the injury rumors are indeed rumors for NCC.

Edited because I forget to preview these things.

[Mugsy]

fyi for the Carthage faithful...

A prognosticator over on the IBC board has Lakeland beating Carthage - I'm sure there will be more later this week.  Not too surprising to pull for the home team or conference team, but I'm expecting a Carthage win.

Not as much confidence in CUW chances against NCC.

That really surprises me.  Carthage winning 35-7 over Carrol was a very good win.  The Redmen faithful have praised the play of the OL (A question mark heading into the season considering none of them got significant playing time behind the 5 seniors).  That makes the Redmen very dangerous in my opinion and Lakeland plays a team in Kenosha that returns alot of talent and guys that have been in the system.  Whitewater put up 41 with a QB that transfered in (albeit a very good QB) and hasn't had alot of time in Coach Ruck's system.  I gotta pick Carthage to win this game.

I would have expeceted more talk from CUW if they had won thier game against Simpson.  But like last year its CUW's second game to NCC's first and the big improvement facter betweeen week one and two makes me believe this will be a good game.  Hopefully the injury rumors are indeed rumors for NCC.

Given the banter back and forth between the CCIW and IBC over the past few years... this doesn't surprise me at all.  There is usually a "chip on the shoulder" of a few IBC posters who have an inflated view of their teams - not that we don't have a "homer" view of our teams.

[NCC_alum62]

Yeah.  I even picked NPU to beat Benedictine in the pick 'ems.  I just have to think NPU is going to be better and after seeing the Eagles in person against EC I'm more convinced in Coach Penthel right now than I am in Coach Cooper.

[usee]

Hopefully the injury rumors are indeed rumors for NCC.

we are all in the "hoping" camp right now with key injuries. the reality is the teams that have the depth are going to be the winners at the end. every team will be facing key injuries either now or during this season. This year's CCIW champ will be able to overcome those injuries and other adversity.

By my count Wheaton goes into week 1 without at least 4 starters they were counting on before the season started (TB, OLB, MLB, C). We will see what they are made of.

For NCC I think their biggest risk will be early in the season with a test this week against CUW and an early CCIW contest against the Thunder. NCC is the type of team that will get better as the season progresses IMO.

[Tailgater]

Carthage Fan
What is your thoughts of the game this week? Does Lakeland have a chance or is the spread to great? I understand the last several games have been competitive. I saw the UWW and Lakeland game last week and it was preety one sided. As one of the top programs in the CCIW I hope Lakeland will be able to stay competitive. Lakelands non-conference schedule is a meat grinder but should get them ready for their conference battles. Good Luck to your Red Men this week and the rest of the year.

Old 40
In years past this has been a close battle.
21-14 Carthage in 2006
20-16 Carthage in 2005
18-14 Carthage in 2004
17-16 Lakeland in 2003
I can't think of any good reason why this couldn't be more of the same this year. Lakeland was picked to finish 3rd in the IBFC, Carthage 4th in the CCIW. It seams records don't much matter in this match-up as both teams always fiercely get after each other. After only 1 Carthage game I will say I think Carthage has more of a quick strike offense then they have had in the past few years. The passing game really spreads the field out and their are a variety of viable targets. I think the defense posses the ability to score as well as they will produce turnovers. With the game in Kenosha that will certainly favor the Red Men as they always play well in front of large Home crowds. I would say Carthage is a good pick to cover.

[dansand]

Where's the Augie vs B-W talk?  Isn't Augie still in the CCIW?

They are in fact in this league but by most accounts things are unsettled in Augie Nation. not many posters on here lately from Rock Island (that are worth responding to).

what do you want to talk about? plenty people on here have an interest in Augie/BW. I'll tell you in my opinion I would (and will) take your points and Augie all day from the OAC pickem's. on the other side your spread for ONU/Millikin isn't close to large enough unless ONU is a lower tier OAC team this year and I didn't know that. 

I think it's pretty much just one poster that's been particularly negative about Augie. 

Like I said earlier, it was hard to tell too much from their dismantling of a really bad MacMurray team. The running game looked very sharp and they didn't put the ball on the ground a single time (their only fumble was by their backup punt returner). That's especially encouraging considering it was the season opener. McGinnis looked very good in the ground game, but his passing is still a big question mark. He missed a couple of wide open receivers badly. Interestingly, they ran a series out of the spread/shotgun, although I'm not sure they attempted any passes from it.

Defensively they looked good, controlling the line of scrimmage and forcing four turnovers, but, again, you have to consider the competition.

I would say special teams were also a positive. I was concerned about the loss of Josh Patterson, but both of the guys recplacing him, placekicker Ryan Gibbons and punter Andy Klink, looked good. Obviously Klink didn't get a lot of punting action.

I'm sure most of the "action" will go towards B-W, primarily because of how they handled Augie's ground game last year. Hopefully Saturday will play out differently.

[New Tradition]

where are the NCC scrimmage reports?

NCC did not have a scrimmage last Saturday.  There was originally supposed to be an intrasquad scrimmage, but it was canceled and a regular practice was held instead.  Not sure as to why.

[old 40]

Tailgater;

Thanks for the analysis. I hope it's a good game. I think it might be a long game in time. Lakeland likes to throw and has 3 big receivers and I see Carthage uses the spread and likes to throe also. There is a big difference in the two conferences as the CCIW is a top 3 conference, IMO and the IBFC is a bottom feeder. If the past is any indication it should be a good game. With the Red Men at home, that is an advantage. Good Luck to the Red Men. No injuries as Lakeland can't handle anymore.

[usee]

where are the NCC scrimmage reports?

NCC did not have a scrimmage last Saturday.  There was originally supposed to be an intrasquad scrimmage, but it was canceled and a regular practice was held instead.  Not sure as to why.

iNT,

nteresting. thanks for the response. It was my understanding they were going to hold a scrimmage against somebody to prepare for their first game since last year they did not and Coach Thorne thought it hurt them in their opening loss to CUW. Was this incorrect?

[Smithfan]

All  I can say is Lakeland has never seen the likes of Jake Smith.  Freshman who set all records for Fremd HS last year, worked out all summer, is a great kid and has the drive and talent to be the best in the league.  I will bet he has a great game this coming weekend.  He's strong, fast, and wants to be the best.  Remember his name:  Jake Smith.