FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Thorne for CCIW Coach of the Year ... that is all.

Ain't gonna happen. Eash is going to win it ... and deservedly so.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Thorne for CCIW Coach of the Year ... that is all.

Co-champ NCC was picked 3rd in the coaches pre-season poll; co-champ IWU was picked 7th ... that is all.

[augiefan]

As I said when NCC hired him Thorne is a great coach. This year was another stellar coaching job. The guy is proving to be the premier FB coach in the CCIW.

[Titan Q]

Congratulations to Norm Eash, his staff, and the Titans on a very impressive victory today.  The Titans won't make the playoff field, but this share of the CCIW title is big for the program and big for all of those players who fought through some extremely difficult times.  As an alum, I am very proud of all of those young men.

As far as the game, IWU's defense was just outstanding once again.  Wheaton struck on three big plays that standout -- the 79 yard TD pass from Bradley to Pokorny early in the 2nd quarter, the 39 yard pass from Norris to Pokorny late in the 3rd, and the 23 yard pass from Norris to Dreyer just after that, setting up the TD that put the Thunder up 14-6.  Those three plays accounted for 141 yards, which was a huge chunk of Wheaton's total offensive yards (316).  The Titans run defense was terrific - Wheaton had just 60 yards on the ground.

Offensively, IWU moved the ball a little bit early, but a couple holding calls killed drives, and then Kraig Ladd threw an INT.  Ladd did not have a very good game today - his passes were off - but I have to give him credit for making some huge plays when it mattered.  On 4th & 4 with about 6:00 to play and IWU down 14-12, he found Matt Sandrik.  (Dunlop's 30 yard go-ahead TD was the next play.)  Then after Wheaton punted it to IWU's 10 yard line, on 2nd & 11, Ladd found Rick Podkowa down the middle for a huge 28-yard gain to the 38.  This play allowed the Titans to keep the ball on the ground the chew up a bunch of time.

Senior Marcus Dunlop had one heck of a memorable last game for the Titans - 26 carries for 161 yards (5.3 yards per), including the 30-yard TD run in the 4th quarter.  Wheaton never could stop him consistently.  For a long while in this game, he was all that working offensively for the Titans.  Freshman Bo Lanter was not available today (he has mono), so it was all on Dunlop.  Looking back to the North Central game, it sure would have been nice to have him.

Once IWU got up 18-14, even though there was 5+ left, as a Wesleyan fan, I felt very good about things.  I just did not see that defense, with all of those seniors, giving up a touchdown...and they didn't.

An impressive win for the Titans.   Congrats to Wheaton for a great season and for playing well through a lot of tough adversity.

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/fb2007/iwufb10.htm

[Titan Q]

As far as predictions, I have found that if you allow yourself a huge margin for error, they turn out better.  This from September 16 after IWU fell to Mount St. Joseph...

Once again, turnovers and special teams mistakes kill the Titans.

I suppose a lot of losing football teams make this statement, but if IWU could just limit turnovers they'd be pretty good.   I think the Titans have enough talent to play with everyone in the CCIW.  They could finish anywhere from 2nd to 7th.

2nd to 7th...way out on a limb, huh?  Glad to have been wrong...the Titans don't have the AQ, but they did finish with a share of 1st.

I give the Titans a lot of credit for solving their early season punt team problems.  They didn't have any problems the final 6 league games.

[Mugsy]

As I said when NCC hired him Thorne is a great coach. This year was another stellar coaching job. The guy is proving to be the premier FB coach in the CCIW.

I've posted again and again about how good a coach Thorne is... but to call him "the premier" coach is going a bit far.  There is another coach in the DuPage county who has won 5 of the last 8 CCIW titles who I'd argue is just as good, if not better.  There are other outstanding coaches as well.  "The premier" is over stepping it a bit.

[ncc58]

Congrats to Wheaton on a strong season. You were the class of the CCIW for most weeks of the season, and that was shown by the high national ranking Wheaton had all year.

Congrats to IWU for surprising people all season long.

Congrats to NCC for persevering through the season. They looked to be in trouble after losing to Washington and then to Wheaton. At that point, the offense was looking for a leader and the pass defense appeared to have some holes. 2nd CCIW championship in a row and the 3rd straight trip to the playoffs.

Congrats to the 5 people who answered the poll question correctly,

[Mugsy]

Congratulations to Norm Eash, his staff, and the Titans on a very impressive victory today.  The Titans won't make the playoff field, but this share of the CCIW title is big for the program and big for all of those players who fought through some extremely difficult times.  As an alum, I am very proud of all of those young men.

As far as the game, IWU's defense was just outstanding once again.  Wheaton struck on three big plays that standout -- the 79 yard TD pass from Bradley to Pokorny early in the 2nd quarter, the 39 yard pass from Norris to Pokorny late in the 3rd, and the 23 yard pass from Norris to Dreyer just after that, setting up the TD that put the Thunder up 14-6.  Those three plays accounted for 141 yards, which was a huge chunk of Wheaton's total offensive yards (316).  The Titans run defense was terrific - Wheaton had just 60 yards on the ground.

Offensively, IWU moved the ball a little bit early, but a couple holding calls killed drives, and then Kraig Ladd threw an INT.  Ladd did not have a very good game today - his passes were off - but I have to give him credit for making some huge plays when it mattered.  On 4th & 4 with about 6:00 to play and IWU down 14-12, he found Matt Sandrik.  (Dunlop's 30 yard go-ahead TD was the next play.)  Then after Wheaton punted it to IWU's 10 yard line, on 2nd & 11, Ladd found Rick Podkowa down the middle for a huge 28-yard gain to the 38.  This play allowed the Titans to keep the ball on the ground the chew up a bunch of time.

Senior Marcus Dunlop had one heck of a memorable last game for the Titans - 26 carries for 161 yards (5.3 yards per), including the 30-yard TD run in the 4th quarter.  Wheaton never could stop him consistently.  For a long while in this game, he was all that working offensively for the Titans.  Freshman Bo Lanter was not available today (he has mono), so it was all on Dunlop.  Looking back to the North Central game, it sure would have been nice to have him.

Once IWU got up 18-14, even though there was 5+ left, as a Wesleyan fan, I felt very good about things.  I just did not see that defense, with all of those seniors, giving up a touchdown...and they didn't.

An impressive win for the Titans.   Congrats to Wheaton for a great season and for playing well through a lot of tough adversity.

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/fb2007/iwufb10.htm

Not to take anything away from the IWU defense, but stopping Wheaton's running game has not been a tough thing to do this year.  Most quality teams have.  Wheaton's pass offense has carried them.  Today they were hindered by having to play a 3rd string QB and then a injured 2nd string QB, without their 5th year senior WR.  But in the end I'm not sure it would have mattered...

[usee]

For you NCC fans I would be willing to bet a trip to Franklin is in your 1st round plans.

[Titan Q]

Not to take anything away from the IWU defense, but stopping Wheaton's running game has not been a tough thing to do this year.  Most quality teams have.  Wheaton's pass offense has carried them.  Today they were hindered by having to play a 3rd string QB and then a injured 2nd string QB, without their 5th year senior WR.  But in the end I'm not sure it would have mattered...

And I'm not sure it would have either.  IWU had the league's best pass defense this year and a big part of that was the pressure the Titans put on opposing QB's.  Today they applied a ton of heat to Wheaton's QB's and really had them scrambling.

[Titan Q]

Here is the audio from the Norm Eash Show on WJBC a couple days ago...obviously the primary focus was on the IWU/Wheaton game.

http://www.wjbc.com/wire2/podsports/00633_NormEash110807_200933.htm

Very interesting bit Q, thanks for sharing it. a few observations:

Marcus Dunlop is an extremely well spoken young man. He was very impressive in his part of the interview. You can't help but like a kid like that. (except for today of course!).

Stormin Norm had some good bits. They talked about matchups and the interviewer primed him for "a defensive back that is a big play guy and a great punt returner" to which Norm went on to say how Wheaton really didn't have any outstanding players on offense or defense.

Norm Eash quotes from that interview:

"What has hurt them (Wheaton) the most is their injuries...they were going to be a real special team if they kept their quarterback Zach Ullrich healthy and Andy Studebaker is a tremendous defensive lineman...and I know they lost a linebacker and a couple other kids..."

---
"Ittersagen is the one kid that does a great job on punt returns and he is special...if there is one name person we have to look out for it is Ittersagen and he is also a defensive back and he leads the team in tackles and interceptions."


After listening to that again, and listening to all of his comments, I think it comes across much differently than you framed it in your post. 

[usee]

I respectfully disagree Q. The interviewer specifically mentioned ittersgen as a db and punt returner and norm went out of his way to describe at length there are no name offensive or defensive players.only at the end he mentioned him as a punt returner.he was deliberate about it. In my opinion.

[Titan Q]

I respectfully disagree Q. The interviewer specifically mentioned ittersgen as a db and punt returner and norm went out of his way to describe at length there are no name offensive or defensive players.only at the end he mentioned him as a punt returner.he was deliberate about it. In my opinion.

Come on, usee.  I just provided direct quotes.  He clearly doubled back in that answer specifically to mention Ittersagen.  He called him "special."

This is a case where you can hear what you want to hear I guess.

[usee]

You certainly do.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Do not abandon hope just yet.  SOS has been updated with today's finals, and Wheaton has THE HIGHEST scores of any 8-2 pool C candidates!  Rumors of their 'death' may be somewhat exaggerated!