FB: Northwest Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Pat,
Is there a breakdown somewhere concerning the number of private colleges and public colleges in DIII football (or DIII in general)?

Thank you. 

I don't have a list anywhere but the general breakdown is 80% private, 20% public. That's for all schools, not just ones with football.

[Former Player/ Former Coach]

CAWCDAD:
              You say you were at all of menlo's games.  How was there game this weekend -vs- Chapman.  Was the game as close as the score or what??

[woufan]

Did anyone here go see WOU play against Kingsville.  I just read that there were 5 personal foul calls against the Wolves.  Old habits die hard, eh?

Texas A & M-Kingsville had five personal fouls, not the Wolves. Kingsville fans even apologized for their team's behavior.

[spiritof86]

Disappointing weekend, but that may have had as much to do with spending 48 hrs in Abilene as it did with the game. A few random thoughts-

1) Benzel may be the future (or at least the next 3 months), but he needs to learn to see the field better. The 1st pick he threw was terrible- it appeared he may have thought he was throwing to a Linfield receiver. Also, he has had more passes knocked down this season than completions over 20 yards. Scherer being tall is an advantage in that regard.

2) Not going for that field goal was a terrible call, no matter how you slice it.

3) Rehashing- the tackling was terrible. The defense just couldn't get off the field, it was 8 yards a play, every play, for hsu.

It is a bad feeling to know that even though the game is close, it really doesn't matter because the O has shown know ability to score.

Nice fans at hsu and very decent playing conditions. I did have this great convo with a local fan though:
hsu fan: "You're from Oregon? I thought you guys were from Maine. Wow- it must be snowing a ton at your house".
Me: "Snowing in Oregon? I live in Saint Louis, but I think it is in the mid-70's in Portland."
hsu fan: "Nope. Sorry to tell you, but I saw the news this morning and it is snowing tons in Montana."
me: "Montana is not really very close to Oregon. AT least not close enough to share weather."
hsu fan: "yes it is. I saw it on the news. Snowing in Montana."
me: "Whatever."

Yes. That conversation is true.

['Cats Fa Natic]

SOU always plays us hard, the 'Rats will come for a fight, and even though Willamette, by all accounts, is in complete disarray at the moment, they always seem to find a way to make things tough. Last season's complete distruction of them being the exception rather than the rule.

SOU hasn't scored an offencsive TD in 2 games and from what I've seen (against Menlo and heard of WOU) they won't get one this week. They only got past midfield twice against Menlo.

My observation was more along the lines of traditionally SOU always plays us hard.

Of course, if you're saying that we shouldn't be concerned about a game where the opponent has given us problems in the past because their offense hasn't scored any TDs in two games and ours has scored all of two, then that's logic that's hard to argue with.

And yes, I am being facetious.

facetious - adjective. not meant to be taken seriously or literally: a facetious remark.

['Cats Fa Natic]

...
me: "Montana is not really very close to Oregon. AT least not close enough to share weather."
hsu fan: "yes it is. I saw it on the news. Snowing in Montana."
me: "Whatever."

Yes. That conversation is true.

Hey, you're in Texas. From their perspective, every other state in the nation is the size of Delaware.   

Maybe he meant Mount Hood and just got his names confused?  It actually did make news that Mt Hood received snow.

Mt Hood, Montana. Eh. They kinda sound alike if you tip your head sideways or something.

[calhsu]

As I read some of the Linfield posts I was shocked to hear them complain at all about offical's calls.  Considering what happened at the Oregon--Okla game, no one in the state can say anything about horrible calls this year.

[Foss]

spirit - I got a chuckle out of that convo.

Bluenote – To answer your question, I believe the Pool A auto bid is effective in 2008 which means NWC teams will still be Pool B (and technically Pool C, as well) this year and next.

Regarding the present strength of the conference, the NWC still has two top 20 teams, which not many D3 conferences have (some don't have any ranked teams). That said, we haven't had that third horse like we have many other seasons. PLU and Willamette have been down the last couple of years. However, Whitworth and UPS have improved. Since 2004, UPS has a 9-1 out of conference record. Whitworth is undefeated since 2004 against their out of conference foes and 9-1 overall (they split a series against NAIA Eastern Oregon). Menlo is 2-0 against its out of conference DIII competition this year.

There is a huge out-of-conference game for the NWC this Saturday: Whitworth against UW-Stout. UW-Stout has had a winning season every year since 2000, and they are out of the WIAC – the top ranked conference, per this website. They have some very impressive wins the last few seasons, defeating (get this....) Hardin-Simmons by 10 in 2003, and handing it to UW-La Crosse in both 2004 and 2005. According to their season preview, they are returning 18 starters this season. They are ranked just outside of the top 25 right now.

If Whitworth can defeat the #3 team from the top ranked conference, obviously that would be huge for the Pirates and confirm they are a legit playoff team. But, it would also be great for the NWC, especially since, as mentioned, the usual top dogs are off to an 0-7 start.

[spiritof86]

As I read some of the Linfield posts I was shocked to hear them complain at all about offical's calls.  Considering what happened at the Oregon--Okla game, no one in the state can say anything about horrible calls this year.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Whahhhhh. Like no team ever went to Norman and got homered. Maybe if OK had shored up their pass defense they wouldn't have to complain. The PI call made no difference- on the final td the ducks reciever could have ran to Idaho with the amount of room he had. Scoreboard.

Yeah, the Texas conversation was funny more than anything. I did not mean it to reflect negatively on the anyone or the state as a whole.

[cawcdad]

CAWCDAD:
              You say you were at all of menlo's games.  How was there game this weekend -vs- Chapman.  Was the game as close as the score or what??

The game was fairly evenly played. Mostly Menlo in the first half (20-3 at the half) and Chapman in the second half. Chapman ripped off a huge run on the first play of the game and then didn't get much on the ground after that. They were fairly successful through the air. Having said that the Panthers had 2 long drives one for a FG in the first half and one for a TD at the end of the third quarter. Their other two scores came in the 4th quarter from a short field after a fumble recovery and a INT. They actually had the lead until Menlo forced and recovered a fumble at the Chapman 8 and punched it in for the win.

[Tuxguy]

I've been reading all the post from the last few days, Interesting reading. Sorry I missed the post from our beloved Rowan fan! Must have been a good one to get booted, and dragged (sorry) Dens with him I see. 

The Cats played a very good #6 Cowboys team on Saturday, in their back yard way over yonder in Texas. I had the Dave & Scott show on the radio, and it Sounded like The Cats were moving the ball, just had problems finishing drives. The D seemed to hold their own, but you can only stop a quality team like that so many times. Turnovers are a killer, and maybe this young team has gotten them out of their system.

Now they have 2 weeks to prepare for the Bearcats. Workhard, regroup, learn and BELIEVE!
We still have a lot of Football to be played, and another NWC championship/playoff game waiting. 
                                                LEAVE NO DOUBT '06

by the way,
.........Christmas came early for the Ducks! Even with review they can't get it right.
Right now that "w" looks like all the  other w's ( before I get beat up on here, I have a son at Linfield and a Daughter at the U.O.  It was her Birthday sat. and guess what....... yep............. she left the game with a few minutes to go! )

[pineconefan]

Foss,

I have to agree with you about the Bucs' game in Wisconsin this weekend.  Easily the biggest non-conference game for the program since hosting Bethel in 2002.  And arguably bigger.  I just read the Whitworth press release and Stout is huge.  Their O-line averages 6-4 and 300+ and it sounds like they run a couple of big runners in behind those hogs.

Whitworth played fine on Saturday, but I actually didn't think they were as sharp as I've seen previously.  The team gave up a couple of fumbles and also made a couple of penalties that kept LV drives going.  But LV is not bad either.  The Pirates were chasing their QBs all day, but never got a sack, and both QBs made good throws on the run.  I would be surprised if LV is not a top-half team in the SCIAC this season. 

[Tuxguy]

U.O. vs. O.U. game update!

Refs suspended for 1 game.
Game is being reviewed, Coach Stooooops asking to have games played without Pac10 refs. I guess the pac 10 has a rule that these home games must  use pac 10 refs? More to come of this I'm sure.
L.beancounter, sorry for the use of refs, instead of Referees. 

pinconefan, Good luck against the WIAC this week!

[coco]

Is "refs" a bad term?

[Foss]

pineconefan,

Most of the teams in that league have a reputation for having huge players so get ready to face some big 'ol boys! It will be a tough game I'm sure.

Another nice game for Clark, I see he had 132 yds running and 199 passing (15 for 19).

I hope your boys pull it out. It would be awesome if both the Bucs and 'Cats got on a roll before meeting in November.

Hopefully more Whitworth fans will join the board. I know it's probably kind of intimidating with all the 'Cat posters, but we're not so bad, really.