FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

SEVEN INTs, you say?  I'll have to keep that in mind for next Saturday!

Tough loss for the RedMen after a great comeback.  Good luck to you starting AFTER October 4th!

[WLCALUM83]

Wow!  That's 2 first-year programs making a statement in 2 weeks. Last week, St. Scholastica played its' first ever gridiron game and gave WLC all the Warrior squad could handle before losing, 36-29.

Props to both St. Scholastica and Campbell coaches for preparing/getting their personnel off on very respectable footing!

[Gregory Sager]

GS probably the only time I've heard of this in NP football history.  Not going to use that phrase so cherish it

Not only has NPU called off the dogs before, it's happened twice prior to yesterday just during Scott Pethtel's tenure. This was, however, the first time that NPU has had the chance to do some dog-calling-off under Pethtel against someone other than hapless Eureka.

[usee]

Quoting Coach Tim Rucks on the Sept. 27 Campbell Loss:  "It's impossible to win a football game with eight turnovers.  I've never heard of such a thing and never seen it happen.  I didn't see this one coming.  We were out of synch and just couldn't get into a rhythm in the first half.  I told our offensive guys at halftime that the problem was in our heads.  I didn't yell at them.  I just told them we had to get it right.  We didn't make any adjustments at all.  Campbell was ready for our passing game.  We made some bad decisions, and it was just one of those nights.  We're young, and we're going to go through times like this.  We'll come back hard against Illinois Wesleyan this week.  We're a good team, we have a long ways to go in this season, and we're capable of being a very good team."

[79jaybird]

Elmhurst wins 27-6 over Chicago.  Not the "ideal" game I was looking to see from Elmhurst heading into the CCIW slate.  Elmhurst had close to 200 something yards in penalties and none of the personal fould variety. Just the flat out lack of concentration penalties in offsides, holdings, etc.   Similar to Carthage's youth in their turnovers, the mistakes yesterday have to be corrected for EC to compete the rest of the way.
Chicago did not seem to be the same team (strength wise) as they have been in the past.  Kiernan (QB) was decent despite having no O-Line in front of him.   I thought the Bluejays' defense played solid in the first half, and their Offense converted the UC turnovers into points.

Overall, both teams were pretty sloppy and did not execute as well as they could/should have.   

Great to see about 30-50 Elmhurst football Alums at the game as the school recognized the 1963 Wendell Harris coached team that at the time, was one of the winningest groups in Elmhurst history.  They were also recognized at halftime and overall, it was a nice outing at Langhorst.  Elmhurst runs their record non-conference winning streak to 17 games.  NOW just need to start winning more consistently in the CCIW!

[Carthage Fan]

Quoting Coach Tim Rucks on the Sept. 27 Campbell Loss:  "It's impossible to win a football game with eight turnovers.  I've never heard of such a thing and never seen it happen.  I didn't see this one coming.  We were out of synch and just couldn't get into a rhythm in the first half.  I told our offensive guys at halftime that the problem was in our heads.  I didn't yell at them.  I just told them we had to get it right.  We didn't make any adjustments at all.  Campbell was ready for our passing game.  We made some bad decisions, and it was just one of those nights.  We're young, and we're going to go through times like this.  We'll come back hard against Illinois Wesleyan this week.  We're a good team, we have a long ways to go in this season, and we're capable of being a very good team."

Obi Wan, where did you find this quote?

[tricksnaps56]

What kind of offense and defense is North Park running this year?

[usee]

CarthageFan,

Carthage website.

[Mugsy]

New poll is out...

Wheaton moves up to #6
North Central moves up to #8

[Mr. Ypsi]

New poll is out...

Wheaton moves up to #6
North Central moves up to #8

Looks very much as I expected.  I was pleased that IWU went from 2 to 5 points - I feared our shutout of 'bye' would not gain us anything!

[BTW, don't forget on the pickems that I had IWU for my 7 point game. ]

The North region now has 5 of the top 8 places (6 if you count 2007 playoff import UWW ) - I wonder if any region has ever had such dominance?

[usee]

What a difference a year makes. Walt Whitehead is back as the Wheaton OLine coach and the early results are pretty impressive. While he is working with a young group that isn't incredibly talented here are the ytd results:

2007:
134.7 yds per game
3.2 yds per rush
33 sacks (3.3 per game)

2008:
214.7 yds per game
5.2 yds per rush
0 sacks so far

And we are still playing with the same quarterback after 3 games (it is yet to be determined if that's a good thing!  )

[Tailgater]

Carthage Fan:

Quote found in Carthage Football website. Go to "Schedules/Results" in the left column. Click on "Press Releases". Scroll all the way to the bottom and Coach Rucks always has a comment about the game just played.

[New Tradition]

I'm very excited to see what will happen between Carthage and IWU this weekend!

On one hand, I know Coach Rucks will address the turnover situation that played very prominently into Carthage's defeat this weekend.  He should have his boys ready to go, and I do not believe that they will have 2 down weeks in a row.  We've seen that the offense has the potential to be electrifying if they play their game.

On the other hand, IWU, who is supposed to be on the upswing, had to come from behind to get by Aurora.  Aurora has historically been a solid team, albeit from the former IBFC, but should have been handled by an upper echelon CCIW squad.  I'm sure that this does not sit well with Coach Eash, and he should have his boys fired up as well. 

Furthermore, this week is IWU's homecoming.  I've seen homecomings be both inspirational and a total distraction.  While its good to go out and get one for the alumni, sometimes players get too caught up in the hoopla.  Also, from Carthage's perspective, there is nothing better than coming in and wrecking another school's homecoming by dealing them a crushing defeat. 

As I have not seen either team play yet, I can only speak based on what I've read and what I've seen others post.  For those of you who are more knowledgeable on either team (or both): how do you think these teams match up?

[Tailgater]

I'm very excited to see what will happen between Carthage and IWU this weekend!

On one hand, I know Coach Rucks will address the turnover situation that played very prominently into Carthage's defeat this weekend.  He should have his boys ready to go, and I do not believe that they will have 2 down weeks in a row.  We've seen that the offense has the potential to be electrifying if they play their game.

On the other hand, IWU, who is supposed to be on the upswing, had to come from behind to get by Aurora.  Aurora has historically been a solid team, albeit from the former IBFC, but should have been handled by an upper echelon CCIW squad.  I'm sure that this does not sit well with Coach Eash, and he should have his boys fired up as well. 

Furthermore, this week is IWU's homecoming.  I've seen homecomings be both inspirational and a total distraction.  While its good to go out and get one for the alumni, sometimes players get too caught up in the hoopla.  Also, from Carthage's perspective, there is nothing better than coming in and wrecking another school's homecoming by dealing them a crushing defeat. 

As I have not seen either team play yet, I can only speak based on what I've read and what I've seen others post.  For those of you who are more knowledgeable on either team (or both): how do you think these teams match up?

I think the game hinges on Carthage turnovers. 15 turnovers in the first 3 games. That'll kill a lot of drives and/or put your defense in bad situations. There is no question that the Red Men offense has the potential to move the football. Averaging almost 500 yds a game and 124 points in 3 games (even with all the turnovers). In 2006 Carthage staged one of the most exciting comebacks I have ever witnessed to spoil an IWU homecoming. I'm hoping Carthage can continue the roll as spoiler.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'm very excited to see what will happen between Carthage and IWU this weekend!

On one hand, I know Coach Rucks will address the turnover situation that played very prominently into Carthage's defeat this weekend.  He should have his boys ready to go, and I do not believe that they will have 2 down weeks in a row.  We've seen that the offense has the potential to be electrifying if they play their game.

On the other hand, IWU, who is supposed to be on the upswing, had to come from behind to get by Aurora.  Aurora has historically been a solid team, albeit from the former IBFC, but should have been handled by an upper echelon CCIW squad.  I'm sure that this does not sit well with Coach Eash, and he should have his boys fired up as well. 

Furthermore, this week is IWU's homecoming.  I've seen homecomings be both inspirational and a total distraction.  While its good to go out and get one for the alumni, sometimes players get too caught up in the hoopla.  Also, from Carthage's perspective, there is nothing better than coming in and wrecking another school's homecoming by dealing them a crushing defeat. 

As I have not seen either team play yet, I can only speak based on what I've read and what I've seen others post.  For those of you who are more knowledgeable on either team (or both): how do you think these teams match up?

I think the game hinges on Carthage turnovers. 15 turnovers in the first 3 games. That'll kill a lot of drives and/or put your defense in bad situations. There is no question that the Red Men offense has the potential to move the football. Averaging almost 500 yds a game and 124 points in 3 games (even with all the turnovers). In 2006 Carthage staged one of the most exciting comebacks I have ever witnessed at spoil an IWU homecoming. I'm hoping Carthage can continue the roll as spoiler.

Just a spoiler   Ya mean before the first conference game, you've already thrown in the towel on winning the title?!  For shame!