FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[WahooThunder]

And by the way, the squeaking will stop next week, nothing like a home game against North Park to fix that, and not to mention it also gives all of those injuries a chance to mend.

[New Tradition]

The french Thunder LB puts the Augie QB in the guillotine and it's over.  Wheaton wins.

Lol... funny analysis Billy... I LOVE IT!

He looked like Maximilien Robespierre storming the Bastille on that blitz!

Glad someone else on here knows their history!  I'd applaud if i could...   By the way, I haven't been able to figure out which CCIW school you are a supporter of, BP.  Care to enlighten me?

[New Tradition]

Jaybird,
Had a good time hanging out and talking at Fitz's after the game!  Cardinaldad is right, your call was excellent.

[Jim Matson]

TS, never assume a victory.

[usee]

If the Titans can win at home today, I think they become a legitimate CCIW championship contender.

The Titans MUST win this game to keep pace. I don't think it will say much about their ability to contend for the CCIW. The Augie win was the first game that turned heads. There are 3 teams that were expected to compete for the CCIW title (wheaton, augie and NCC). to be considered a CCIW contender you must win 2 of these AND all the other league games handily IMO.

If Wheaton beats Augie tonight, they will be in the driver's seat. NCC and Elmhurst winner will keep pace with a potential 1 loss championship.

My opinion is simply that in a 7-game league where 6 of the 8 teams have at least one loss, a 3-0 team is a "legitimate championship contender."     

I agree with this Q. I was focused on the fact that you pointed out MILLIKIN as a key win. certainly being 3-0 makes IWU legit. Especially since 2 of those were big games at the time.

Yes, my point was not based on what a victory over Millikin would mean, but rather where the Titans would be in the standings with the W (and considering the wins vs Augie and at Carthage).

Understandably, IWU is going to have to keep winning to make believers.  After finishing 1st or 2nd in the CCIW 9 times in the 11 seasons from 1991 to 2001, the Titans are fresh off the worst 5 season stretch in school history (3-4, 3-4, 2-5, 2-5, 2-5 - 2002 through 2006 respectively).  If this same IWU team was 3-0 back in 1999, everyone would assume they were the real deal.  As it is, it looks like a surprising story.

The bottom line is that this is a good Titan football team.  They're led by a real solid defense and an offense full of dangerous weapons.  The Titans have several 1st Team All-CCIW candidates on both sides of the ball.  IWU's achilles heal has obviously been the punt team, but this past week they revamped everything they do in punt situations and executed very well for once yesterday vs Millikin.  If those problems are behind them, I think the Titans can play with anybody in the league.

What I like is that the Titans have to be in one-game-at-a-time mode.  Based on their 2 non-conference losses and how good Wheaton is, they don't have any margin for error in terms of making the playoffs and/or winning the CCIW.  They seem to genuinely just focus one week at a time.

I agree Q. The only question I have on IWU is their Offensive line. with the skills they have on offense i would expect more consistency in their production. The stats tell me they are not controlling the LOS on offense and that will be a problem against good fronts like Wheaton and NCC. Clearly they are dominating the LOS on defense and that has carried them. I have not seen them play so this is a hunch more than a belief. It will be interesting to see how they fare against Elmhurst and NCC the next 2 weeks.

[WahooThunder]

TS, never assume a victory.

I'm not assuming anything, merely holding a rational expectation.  In case you've forgotten, Wheaton won 73-26 at North Park last year.  Nothing in the CCIW is a gimme of course, but that is as close as it gets.

[themadswede]

Wheaton's Kick off coverage has been really suspect. Augie was a guarantee 40 yd line starting point every time. This has been a strength and must be weaker because of the injuries is my guess.

Until the kick coverage team angles down or lengthens their strides and then attacks the blockers instead of pussy footing around, this is going to continue to happen.  If you chop your feet and let the blocker get both hands on you, you're not probably going to make a play and definitely not going to blow anything up or take the ball carrier's head off.  Nothing's more frustrating than watching this happen.

[usee]

Wheaton's Kick off coverage has been really suspect. Augie was a guarantee 40 yd line starting point every time. This has been a strength and must be weaker because of the injuries is my guess.

Until the kick coverage team angles down or lengthens their strides and then attacks the blockers instead of pussy footing around, this is going to continue to happen.  If you chop your feet and let the blocker get both hands on you, you're not probably going to make a play and definitely not going to blow anything up or take the ball carrier's head off.  Nothing's more frustrating than watching this happen.

prophetic words from one of the great kick off cover guys the CCIW has seen. Thanks for stopping by Swede.

[usee]

Wheaton drops to #6 in the new poll.

NCC only other CCIW team recieving votes.

[wheels81]

Always good to hear from TMS.  My key frustration was with kickoffs getting to the 6 yard line then having Augie run it out to the 40+ really hurt.  Even on the squib kicks they still were able to run it out to good field position. 
I think the most dangerous game for Wheaton will be the one bloomington. 
Good to see Q has something to talk about on this board always good with the commentary on his team. 
Q, I'm not sure,  do you do football broadcasts as well?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Hmmm... Elmhurst threw 5 INTs vs. NCC; IWU had 5 picks vs. Millikin.  I suspect Titan DBs cannot wait for Saturday!

More seriously, I think Kudyba is too good a qb to have consecutive 5-pick games, but I'd imagine I'm enjoying contemplating the possibility more than Jays fans!

[79jaybird]

New Tradition, thank you for your compliments and likewise it was great to spend some time with you at Fitz's after the game also!  Funny how we have some similar backgrounds and interests.  I enjoyed the time with you and look forward to future contacts with you.
Cardinaldad-Thank you for your compliments.  As far as Maple, at first I also thought it was a stinger or (worse case) a separated shoulder.  Kyle is a great competitor and one of the strongest guys (pound for pound) on the team.  I knew he would come back, but it did appear he reaggravated that same shoulder in the 3rd.  I think he will be ok and should play next week at IWU.
WashdupCard- Thank you to you also for your kind words.  I am glad others, besides Jays' fans were able to hear the game.
Comet14- Great to meet you and spend some time with you prior to/after the game.  Yes, Fitz's Pub (on Addison) is where most of us go for eats/drinks after the game.  Win or lose, historically we have had some special times with the Fitz's family.  I look forward to seeing you at the IWU game.  And see,  I am not "bad" and you don't have to have the "shotgun" ready when your Daughter meets me. 

[79jaybird]

As for the game   hmm,  All I can say is that the 4th quarter was hard to watch as a Bluejay fan/commentator. 
For the life of me I cannot understand how/what/why EC had a complete meltdown in that 4th quarter.  As Pat/Keith mentioned, it was an obvious "trapped ball", however you cannot tell me that 1 call is going to make/break the game. At that point it was still close and both teams were right there. 
The officials were poor, however they were making bad/wrong calls all game long for both sides.  There were some pass interference calls against NC that were good defense and should not have been flagged, and it just seemed as though there were many instances when the officials just "missed" the call.  They DID NOT decide the game, so I am happy that the players were able to duke it out on their own.
We have some problems at Elmhurst that need to be addressed ASAP.  I think the Jays (and most on the boards) know what needs fixing, and it is not going to get any easier with a toughy @IWU, and a whopper of an opponent in Wheaton at home in 2 weeks.

Keith and Pat, great to meet you and see you again.  Glad you were able to stop by and hang out.  Keith I love your business card and my compliments on that great photo!  I look forward to seeing you/talking with you in the future during the NCAA sports seasons.

Congrats to Wheaton on their big win against Augustana.  I was watching the webcast of the game and I just find it so neat that you are able to see the live game on the web.  It's like you're right there.  Another year, and Coach Swider has his boys right there for another CCIW title.  Say what you want about Wheaton, but Coach Swider can flat out coach and runs his program in a classy style.  Wheaton is slowly closing the gap in the overall series matchup vs. IWU. 

[SonsofThunder]

The Thunder are looking forward to this week against NPU.  Like Thunderstones says, injuries have piled up and this is the week to heal.  No disrespect meant for Vikings fans on the board, but Millikin, NCC, and Augie in consecutive weeks is tough.  Look for the banged up Thunder to roll at home after an emotional win at Augie.   

Wheaton is now 34-1 at home since the 2002 season.  I like it.



Yes, I know the 1 loss is too Augie.  There...I said it so you couldn't

[Gregory Sager]

Agreed, nice summary of the game. I'm sorry to say I to feel NP will indeed record a donut in the CCIW win column again this year. I was expecting a little better showing from NP, but instead saw a team (sorry to say) that showed little to no improvement from last season.

Actually, there's been quite a bit of improvement by NPU. Again, the stats show that the Vikings have made significant gains from last season in terms of their performance against a particular team:

2007

team	pts	total off yds	1st downs	TOs
Carthage	40	361	18	3
NPU	18	308	16	3

2006

team	pts	total off yds	1st downs	TOs
Carthage	52	364	20	2
NPU	7	153	12	5

As you can see, there's a dramatic improvement by NPU across the board. While the early flurry of points scored by Carthage last Saturday might at first blush appear to skew the statistical results, the fact of the matter is that the first half of this season's game was a carbon copy of the first half of last season's NPU @ CC contest. In the 2006 game, Carthage went into the locker room at halftime with a 35-7 lead; on Saturday the Red Men led at the intermission by an almost identical 33-6 score.

The big question, which AndOne correctly identified last week, is this: What is the source of that statistical improvement? In other words, it's still open to debate as to how much NPU's incremental improvements can be attributed to the Vikings fielding a better team (and a more experienced coaching staff) than they had last season, as opposed to how much those improvements can be written off as indicators of the decline of their opponents. North Central is clearly not as good a team as it was last year, and it's quite possible that the same can be said of Carthage. (I'm agnostic on the subject of Millikin's football fortunes.) My guess at this point remains that it's probably some of both. It's hard to deny the fact that in all five of their losses the Vikings have performed better, both statistically and on the scoreboard, than they performed against the same five teams last season. (This year's and last year's NPU wins over Eureka are immaterial, given how absolutely dreadful the Red Devils are.)

I certainly don't disagree with your statement about NPU's overall talent -- I've actually been the one who has been saying all along that the Vikings have some good football players but not nearly enough of them to compete. And I've maintained that the Vikings aren't going to win a CCIW football game this year; in fact, the scores may get even uglier from here on out. But North Park has improved. The Vikings simply haven't improved nearly enough to be competitive with anyone yet. That will have to wait for another season (if the trend continues to curve favorably for NPU's football program, which I'm still confident will happen).

The Thunder are looking forward to this week against NPU.  Like Thunderstones says, injuries have piled up and this is the week to heal.  No disrespect meant for Vikings fans on the board,

None taken. NPU hasn't done anything on the football field to merit anyone's respect since the Vikings went 4-4-1 under Tim Rucks back in '93. I'll be shocked if Wheaton doesn't win on Saturday by at least five touchdowns.