FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[ncc58]

Looking at the limbo with EC/NC/NPU

Yeah, what Mr. B said. What limbo with NPU? Scott Pethtel is starting his third year, and he's not going anywhere. And the continuity of his staff has been fairly average by D3 football standards.

Good point.  Several CCIW teams have been blessed with a long tenured coach and long stable staffs, but that isn't necessarily the norm within D3, especially with the assistant coaching side of things.

You could have added Carthage to that list, with new Coordinators and a few key players from 2007 who are not returning.

You could have added Augustana who is moving to the Spread Offense.

Even, Wheaton has made changes to their staff, but that is seen as a positive.

It all makes for nice discussion before the teams hit the field.

[matblake]

You could have added Augustana who is moving to the Spread Offense.

Elmhurst is the first conference foe for the "new look" Vikings.  Hopefully the Jays can get some scouts out to Rock Island and Platteville during the non-conference portion of the schedule.  Wheaton gets the next crack at them.  After that, enough game tape should exist to aid the rest of the conference.

[usee]

We have Ohio Northern who is a better than average opponent.

I'll say. ONU is ranked in the top 20 in some (less than reputable) preseason polls. I would be surprised if they are not in the D3football top 20. They return 16 starters from a 7-3 (2nd place to Mt Union in the OAC) team and will be this years annual contender to give Mt Union a run in conference. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see ONU come to Naperville and win. That's as tough an opening game as any team will have. Unfortunately for ONU, they have to play Mt Union the next week.

[Gregory Sager]

If you have to face a tough OAC team, I would imagine that the season's best window of opportunity to play them would be the week before they have to play Mount Union.

[Carthage Fan]

Looking at the limbo with EC/NC/NPU

Yeah, what Mr. B said. What limbo with NPU? Scott Pethtel is starting his third year, and he's not going anywhere. And the continuity of his staff has been fairly average by D3 football standards.

Good point.  Several CCIW teams have been blessed with a long tenured coach and long stable staffs, but that isn't necessarily the norm within D3, especially with the assistant coaching side of things.

You could have added Carthage to that list, with new Coordinators and a few key players from 2007 who are not returning.

You could have added Augustana who is moving to the Spread Offense.

Even, Wheaton has made changes to their staff, but that is seen as a positive.

It all makes for nice discussion before the teams hit the field.

Key Carthage players not returning are QB O'Boyle, LB DeBaker and DB Shenault.  Key players who graduated are S/P Moore, TE Bergman and K Denny. 

Key players returning are:

On offense, WR Koeneman, WR Merchut, QB DeBouef and 3 internal OL. 

On defense, LB Hughes, LB Bures (moved from RB),  LB Hernandez, CB O'Donnell,  S Brightwell and 3 DL.

[Mugsy]

Wheaton 2008 season preview posted on school website:

http://athletics.wheaton.edu/News/football/2008/7/16/FB-08preview.asp?path=football

[79jaybird]

I think overall the CCIW's level of competition in the non conference is much stronger than it has been in years past. 
That's a nice profile on the Wheaton website.  Brett always does a nice job of previewing the Thunder and not just the "big name" stars.

[orsky]

I can't wait for the season to get started.  My son will go to Wheaton in the fall and I am anxious to see how good all of the teams are in this conference.  When I was a kid, I knew all about Augustana and Illinois Wesleyen, but never really knew about anyone else these other teams.  I saw one game last year when Wheaton and Carthage played and enjoyed the overall level of play on the field.  Thanks for all the comments and reviews on this board, it only serves to increase the excitement and anticipation.

[matblake]

Welcome aboard, orsky.  I think you'll be very pleased at the competitive level and nature of this conference.  Augustana, Wheaton, North Central, Carthage, Illinois Wesleyan, and Millikin have all been factors on the national stage within the last 10 years.  I hope your son has a good experience at Wheaton, and I hope you enjoy your experience as a D3 parent!  Don't forget to check out www.d3football.com (sometime referred to as the front page) for things on the national level and www.cciw.org for conference information in all conference sponsored sports.

[HScoach]

We have Ohio Northern who is a better than average opponent.

I'll say. ONU is ranked in the top 20 in some (less than reputable) preseason polls. I would be surprised if they are not in the D3football top 20. They return 16 starters from a 7-3 (2nd place to Mt Union in the OAC) team and will be this years annual contender to give Mt Union a run in conference. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see ONU come to Naperville and win. That's as tough an opening game as any team will have. Unfortunately for ONU, they have to play Mt Union the next week.

Not to nit pick, but ONU finished in 3rd place behind Capital.  And is expected to finish in 3rd again.  Capital returns 15 starters from the 2007 team that finished in 2nd place without their starting QB who was lost in week 5.  With him returning, Capital will easily separate themselves from the rest of the OAC. 

If anything, ONU is more likely to be caught by Baldwin Wallace, John Carroll or even Otterbein and finish in 4th place than they are to catch Capital for 2nd.

Overall, ONU is very solid team that will push North Central physically, but I don't think they have the playmakers on offense to score enough. 

Ohio Northern is led by a very good TB that is easily the 2nd best in conference behind Kmic from Mount.  Their O-line is pretty good and the WR core average, but QB has been a serious hole for quite a few years.  They have been winning in spite of the QB instead of because the QB.

They finished dead last in passing offense last season, even behind 0-10 Muskingum.  2006 wasn't much better as they ended with the 9th worst passing "O" immediately ahead of only a Muskingum team running the wing-T who refused to throw the ball. 

The likely starter at QB is sophomore Kyle Simmons who split time last year with a poor senior, but I didn't see enough of him to say what to expect.  He had a good high school career, but he didn't really impress me against Mount.  He's better than the kid that graduated, but I would be an improvement over the last kid.

They are well coached and will play very sound fundamentally, but they aren't flashy.  If you can keep the running game around 4 yards per carry, they're done.



Early line on this one would be:

Ohio Northern (+10.5) at North Central

[matblake]

Ohio Northern (+10.5) at North Central

Very interesting. Thanks for your thoughts on the Polar Bears, hscoach!

[usee]

Ohio Northern (+10.5) at North Central

Very interesting. Thanks for your thoughts on the Polar Bears, hscoach!

Agreed. Great analysis. The only thing I would add is I am pretty sure ONU plays OAC style defense which tends to be a notch above what most teams see and unfortunately is better than the defense we have seen from CCIW teams in the past several years. That will keep a team like ONU in a game a while longer than you may think.

[Mugsy]

Pic of Andy Studebaker on front page of Eagles website related to rookies & some veterans reporting for start of training camp today:

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/index2.html

[FormerCard]

Pic of Andy Studebaker on front page of Eagles website related to rookies & some veterans reporting for start of training camp today:

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/index2.html

Not finding it, is there a direct link or am I just blind?

[usee]

Pic of Andy Studebaker on front page of Eagles website related to rookies & some veterans reporting for start of training camp today:

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/index2.html

Not finding it, is there a direct link or am I just blind?

They changed the pic. it was Andy this afternoon. Now its the "other" Andy.