FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Jim Matson]

Too lazy to read back  (but you should at least be consistent and stick with your choice)

But I do commend you for getting around to using caps and punctuation in your posts!  It has been several long years...

[usee]

Too lazy to read back  (but you should at least be consistent and stick with your choice)

But I do commend you for getting around to using caps and punctuation in your posts!  It has been several long years...

Jim,

When is the last time I used different terms to describe the school 8 miles south? Oh that's right, too lazy to read. Well I'm too lazy to tell you then. And thanks for the report card.  8)

[79jaybird]

Any thoughts on the IWU/Elmhurst game?  I think this is going to be a close contest.  Carthage beat IWU in Bloomington,  Elmhurst beat Carthage in Kenosha, Elmhurst was beat soundly by Augie at home, and IWU gave Augie a good fight at home.  Both have good defenses and some playmakers on offense, so I do think they match up pretty well.   While I picked IWU mostly because Elmhurst hasn't won in Bloomington since 1985, I do think Elmhurst has a good shot to fight against the Titans.  As has been the case all year 1) Turnovers 2) Penalties and 3) a present running game have to be either established or controlled for Elmhurst to get the road win.
I know about some of the IWU offensive playmakers, but who are some of the big names on defense?

[Gregory Sager]

Division III's version of the Devin Hester factor? How about the flip side of that? Wheaton's punter V. the NCC returner?

If North Central returns punts like they did last week, add 10 yards to every Crusaders punt for the holding or block in the back call that will result.

Wheaton's put big $$ in PR with the name change and all, we don't need anyone thinking we're anti-Muslim   
It would be like referring to North Park University as North Park COLLEGE

I must've missed the memo about North Park changing its moniker because "North Park College" was considered to be an anti-Muslim name.

[Gregory Sager]

Too lazy to read back  (but you should at least be consistent and stick with your choice)

But I do commend you for getting around to using caps and punctuation in your posts!  It has been several long years...

Now if we could only get him to use the term "preseason" properly ...

[CardinalAlum]

51-36-3. 

This was a very close series until the late 80's, 90's and early this decade.  Obviously it has become an all out fight over the past 5 years.

I block it all out except 1987!! 

[usee]

Any thoughts on the IWU/Elmhurst game?  I think this is going to be a close contest.  Carthage beat IWU in Bloomington,  Elmhurst beat Carthage in Kenosha, Elmhurst was beat soundly by Augie at home, and IWU gave Augie a good fight at home.  Both have good defenses and some playmakers on offense, so I do think they match up pretty well.   While I picked IWU mostly because Elmhurst hasn't won in Bloomington since 1985, I do think Elmhurst has a good shot to fight against the Titans.  As has been the case all year 1) Turnovers 2) Penalties and 3) a present running game have to be either established or controlled for Elmhurst to get the road win.
I know about some of the IWU offensive playmakers, but who are some of the big names on defense?

Jaybird, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is Elmhurst has never beaten a Norm Eash coached team in Bloomington. In fact you have to go back to Don Larsen in the mid 1980's to find a Bluejay win @IWU. The further bad news is IWU has a playmaking offense with the best reciever in the conference on their team.

Now the good news: you lead the league in sacks with 19 and the IWU offense hasn't been the same since Kraig Ladd was helped off the field at the end of the Aurora game. In the Carthage game the IWU offense had only 1 turnover and couldn' t put together a drive to seal the game. They were up 21-20 and had the ball 3x in Redmen terriority (2x in redzone) and came away with no points. This IWU team knew they would have an average defense this year and was counting on their offense to score in bunches but in conference play so far they haven't delivered. It seems to me Ladd is not right.

Statistically these teams are very evenly matched. It seems IWU has a slight edge in special teams. I also know the Titans got Alex Holmberg back on their Dline which should help. They have a stud LB in Nick Nikolich who was every bit as good as Naperville's Wenger last year. Beauchamp is their leading tackler at corner so those are the 3 to watch for. Elmhurst seems to be playing a pretty aggressive style of defense with Randy Wright making plays. If IWU can protect Ladd they may have a big play day with single coverage on their recievers. IF Elmhurst can get to Ladd and rattle him, advantage Bluejays.

In the end I think its as simple as O-for Eash. That's a tough stat to get past.

[Mr. Ypsi]

USee, you know these Titans a lot better than I do - I am (as usual) impressed!

Just one quibble - having seen Ladd at Hope (and reading the boards), if Elmhurst counts on 'rattling' him, they're in for a long day.  They may get to him, they may even knock him out (God forbid!), but I'm not sure even an NFL team could rattle him.  He reminds me of Steve Laub (my freshman year, his senior - 1966).  A series that I will never forget: 1st and 10, sack.  2nd and 16 (exact yardages subject to memory distortion!), sack.  3rd and 23, sack.  4th and 29, touchdown.

[Mugsy]

51-36-3. 

This was a very close series until the late 80's, 90's and early this decade.  Obviously it has become an all out fight over the past 5 years.

I block it all out except 1987!! 

ARRGGHH...  My eyes!!!  It burns!

Wheaton loses 10-6 on Mugsy's mistake!

[Matilda]

one point that i would like to make that has been danced around but not fully discussed is the weather.  Now from what the forcast says, there is only roughly a 30% chance of rain in the am.  But then again, meteorologist is latin for lair. 

So hypothetically, if it were to rain, ncc would have to find some way to reverse the curse of rain and the offense (in rain games in past years) to stay into this one.  For some reason--whether it be that it's "too wet", "too cold", or any other excuse that the skill players could make up--whenever there is even a hint of rain the north central offense closes up tighter than a lid on a pickel jar. 

[AndOne]

So a pickle jar is what beat the this year's preseason #16 team (even though they haven't played like it) in the rain to open the season?

[Gregory Sager]

Looking at the game notes for Saturday's Millikin @ NPU tilt is downright depressing. Millikin leads the all-time series, 44-4, and the last time that North Park managed to beat the Big Blue was back in 1971 (20-17). Richard Nixon was in the White House; Marcus Welby, M.D. was the top-rated show on television; "Go Away, Little Girl" by Donnie Osmond was the number-one hit on the charts; and Barack Obama was in fifth grade. Oddly, the other three Vikings wins over Millikin (1965, 1967, and 1968) have all been shutouts.

It gets worse. Over the course of that 36-year winning streak Millikin has shut out the Vikings 14 times, including three straight seasons (2001-03) in which the Big Blue outscored NPU by a total of 195 to 0. Only nine times during that 36-year streak has North Park managed to reach double digits on the scoreboard, and over the course of the 48 years that the series has been played North Park has only scored in double digits 16 times. Only four times since that magical year of 1971 have the Vikings broken 20 against the Big Blue; three years ago, in an uncharacteristically tight game, Millikin came out on top, 31-24, and that '05 nailbiter was the only contest between the two schools over the past quarter-century in which Millikin won by fewer than three touchdowns.

Overall, the Big Blue has scored 1,702 points in this series (35.46 per game), while NPU has scored 419 (8.73 per game). During Millikin's 36-season streak over North Park the Big Blue have scored 1,408 points (39.39 per game), while the Vikings have only managed to tally 254 points (7.06 per game).

Why have I posted all of these dreary numbers? To present you all with a sense of just how much history is weighing against the Vikings when they take the field on Saturday. If they are somehow able to pull off a win over Millikin, regardless of where the two teams stand this year it will be an event of epic proportions.

[79jaybird]

Usee good points and I agree.  Last year in Bloomington, things were pretty close with the exception of Ceisel vs. (whomever) the Elmhurst Corner was.  I did not like the "loose" coverage that EC CB's were giving Ceisel.  AND to top matters, EC did not make changes at the half despite the fact that Ceisel was their go-to-guy on 3rd down.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Well... I saw all four of North Park's wins in the series.  and yes most of the losses have been severe blowouts.  Art Anderson's field goal was the only points in a 3-0 Homecoming win in 1965.  The Big Poo lost at North Park 12-0 in 1967, in pre-game release calling the game a "breather" after losing to Tennessee-Martin 70-0 the week before.  In 1968 on the dirt field at St. Teresa in Decatur North Park won 30-0, for its only road win ever against the downstate schools in the CCIW.

there were several notably close games - in 1969 North Park blocked two Big Poo field goal attempts and returned them for touchdowns - and then lost 30-28 on a late field goal.  The 1970 game was played in 95 degree heat on St. Teresa's dirt field and Millikin won 34-26 to open the season.

In the 1971 win Harvey King scored on a late TD run to win the game 21-17 for NPC.

In 1973 the Big Poo completed a perfect pass in the northeast corner of the endzone with just seconds left to beat the Vikings by a couple of points in a high scoring game.

In 1977 North Park lost 7-0 in Chicago.  A game in which North Park had only one first down and punted 19 times.  The defense led by all-conference linebacker John Korbel played heroically, but the offense gave up something like 16 sacks.  The Big Poo put two linebackers over the center and North PArk could not or would not adjust.  Most of the time the Vikings QB Harry Orians got sacked before he took his 2nd step back from the center.  We called a lot of them sacks even though Orians was probably just trying to turn around to hand the ball off on a running play.

My favorite game in the series - even though it wasn't close - was the 1972 game in Decatur.  It had rained all week, yet when I got to the field at two hours early the sprinklers were on full force.  The groundskeeper explained to my question "that the coach thought the field looked a little dry".  North Park had an outstanding passing duo of QB Gary Duesenberg and WR Greg Nugent - and they had to slosh around in ankle deep mud all day which limited their effectiveness in a 34-14 loss.

THere have been a good number of North Park teams that have just "crapped down their leg" at the physicalness of the Big Poo play.  And if mentally you think you're going to get the crap kicked out of you before you enter the game - chances are you will.

dgp

[CardinalAlum]

51-36-3. 

This was a very close series until the late 80's, 90's and early this decade.  Obviously it has become an all out fight over the past 5 years.

I block it all out except 1987!! 

ARRGGHH...  My eyes!!!  It burns!

Wheaton loses 10-6 on Mugsy's mistake!

You're way too hard on yourself!   The sun was in your eyes, there was a flood, an earthquake, your suit didn't come back from the cleaners.