FB: Midwest Conference

[fmrredwarmer]

The word is that QB is not a problem.  There is a freshman who looks pretty good, but I am not sure which of the 4 freshmen in camp it is.

McGuire is hurt but should be back for the red and white; Burshbach is out for the year, Fehley at CB is out for the year and Murphy the other corner did something to his arm and is out for 3 - 4 weeks.

Those are the starters from last year that are injured as of yesterday.

The Oshkosh game should be a better game than last year just because of the better depth that Ripon has.  The numbers that any state school can throw at a private liberal arts college are overwhelming.  100 players, sophomores - seniors, since they grayshirt most of  the good freshman, will be more than Ripon can handle in the second half.

I will finish your thought on state schools in D-III, it is a joke.  There is NO private school in Wisconsin that can compete facilities wise, with the state schools.  Their ability to "Grayshirt" their freshman is another issue. When parents are paying $30,000 dollars + to educate their kids per year; they are not paying another year just so their kid can play football.  Won't happen and shouldn't happen. 

[warthog]

OK, now that more of you MWC fans are awake and posting I'll once again ask my earlier question.

Wartburg opens at Monmouth this year.  The Knight fans enjoy a good pregame tailgate party.  How do the powers to be view such activities on the Monmouth campus grounds? 

[Maverick]

OK, now that more of you MWC fans are awake and posting I'll once again ask my earlier question.

Wartburg opens at Monmouth this year.  The Knight fans enjoy a good pregame tailgate party.  How do the powers to be view such activities on the Monmouth campus grounds? 

There are usually people tailgating in the parking lot to the west of Bobby Woll Field (the one by the tennis courts).  Obviously there are more tailgaters for the big games each season, Homecoming and the Turkey Bowl, since alot of alums come to these games; and there will probably be a big crowd for the Wartburg game to kick off the season...just not sure how many will be tailgating since the community, rather than former football players and alumni, makes up a large percentage of the first game each year.  As of now, I'm planning on being there for next Saturday's game!    Any of you other former Scots gonna be around?

[mwcfbdad]

Sounds like Ripon has caught the injury bug.I thought they had a shot at winning the conference this year.It's hard to lose key starters and still come out on top.Look what happened to Carroll last year.Ripon has a couple of teams early in the schedule  that like to throw the ball.They better not be to concerned about Norbert until they take care of the first part of their schedule.

[Hawk Sighting]

mwcfbdad - I agree that getting hit by the "injury bug" is never a good thing, however that is why coaches recruit, if you only have one person that can play at each spot you would be a lawrence football program.  These coaches know how to recruit, thus have great back ups, thats whats nice about a program like thiers every day is a competition for starting.  If you don't have some one breathing down your neck for your position you don't get better.  Plus the guys that are out with an injury are there very day coaching on the others and helping, so technique and reading of blocks/routes wont be lost. 

I can assure you that Ripon only looks at the team they are playing that Saturday, they never look a head, that is something that is stressed the first day of camp.  This is going to be an exciting season for all and I am excited to get this season launched.  Good Luck to all!!!!

[fmrredwarmer]

Hawk Sighting (mc)

I agree that Ripon has the talent, what they lack is any game experience.  I have been told that some of the freshman and sophomores that are being asked to step up are MORE talented than the players they are replacing the big question  is can they do it when it matters on Saturdays.  I would guess that after a few games, Ripon will be better than they were last year, will they still have a shot when that time comes.

[fmrredwarmer]

I attended the Red and White this past weekend and the kids look pretty good.  I didn't have a roster and haven't looked up any numbers for the freshman online so some comments will be with numbers only.  If you want to know the kids name you will have to look it up yourself.

Offensively, 2 qb's stood out; Tygh Walters who is a junior and #15 who is a freshman, both ran the offense consistently and well.  Scott Perkins and John Larsen are both quality fullbacks, Scott is elusive, Larsen is a bull.  At running back I didn't recognize anyone; #20 and #30 started with #39 looking pretty good all the way around.  I didn't see McGuire or Burschbach suited up at all.  Receivers blocked well and caught what was thrown to them; but most importantly they blocked well.

Defensively, #63 and #77 are large guys who clog the middle.  Raselinger looked good at end.  Secondary played alot of people at corner and nobody caught my eye; good or bad.  Kellet and Kramer at the force safety position are both good and Spratty at the free safety position is solid also.  Linebackers looked solid, with #47(Krause I think) at Middle looking very comfortable, the weak and strong, not sure which is which since the offense is balanced, also looked good with #42 catching my eye with his speed.

Time will tell.

[SNCOLDAD]

New to the site. New to the conference. New to a son in college football. Any suggestions and insights would be appreciated. Also looking for fellow parents of SNC football players. Info on game day traditions, tailgating, stops before the game. Any information is welcome.

[Hawk Sighting]

fmrredwarmer(insert initials here) - I couldn't agree more.  Everything that you said is right on.  Krause is a beast and I am looking forward to seeing him play this season.  I think that Tygh Walters is a stud, I am excited to see someone that can run the option and read the defense.  He also has a decent arm to be a pass threat also.  As for the back field they run hard and the o-line is able to open up holes.  On the defense, they might be young at the line but big, hard to move, and will grow very quickly.  The dbacks will be practicing for playing time every day, I think they have the right people for it.  I am really excited for this season to launch in T-5 days.  Big opener for the Redhawks..  fmred, see you there?  Stop over and introduce yourself!! 

[fmrredwarmer]

Hawk Sighting,

I travel a lot and will be out of town for most of the month of September, I hope to keep up with the Hawks on MWCTV and through this forum.  I played at Ripon years before you or your father got there.  But, I was there during the Ernst era.  I will introduce myself when I get to a game and see you there.  Probably won't be until Monmouth although I may drive down to Beloit. 8)

[fmrredwarmer]

I have too much time on my hands...Thank God for WI-FI hot spots.  Illinois College is the only scholl in the conference that has not posted a roster for 2007 so I can't include their numbers in this post, but, with a little counting and figuring we can discuss the success (or lack thereof) of the schools in the conference as far as recruiting goes.  Before anyone goes off on me, I know that numbers don't tell the whole story about the value of a recruiting class, but I do believe that more recruits is better for the all around health of a program.  the more athletes that you have to choose from, the better your chances of finding and developing some players who can help you.

I will list the schools by roster size with the second number being the number of freshman that were brought in.

Monmouth     113     56 frosh   50%
Carroll           112     48 frosh   43%
St. Norberts  106     45 frosh   42%
Ripon              78     35 frosh   45%
Lake Forest    63     23 frosh   37%
Knox               59     13 frosh   22%
Beloit              51     20 frosh   39%
Lawrence       49     16 frosh   33%
Grinnell           46     15 frosh   33%

I don't know if the percentage of freshmen on the team matters at all, but since I am a statitician...

To me it looks as if the top of the conference is recruiting better and getting more athletes on campus.  Monmouth has more freshmen than Beloit, Lawrence or Grinnell has players.  I do believe that the disparity is part of the difference between winning and losing.  I know that Grinnell will have a tough time recruiting because of the academic standards that they have there.  But what is up with Lawrence and Knox,  Ripon only has 2 full time coaches/recruiters and they manage to get 35 freshman on campus.  Lawrence has to have at least 4 full time people on staff and they can only get 16 freshman.  What is the story there?  I know that winning makes a difference and makes recruiting a little easier, but, I wonder if they are going about it the right way.

This message board doesn't have a lot of posts compared to other boards.  Is anyone interested? Does anyone want to discuss this stuff?  I am trying to get something going here.  Maybe most of it doesn't matter...OK...What does matter?

[SNCOLDAD]

fm, Thanks for the work on this. My son is one of those freshman on one of those teams. I do have to say that he was heavily recruited by 4 teams in the conference. He immediately eliminated 2 of the 4. His final choice was pretty late in the game. I had no idea that there were that many freshman as part of the teams.

[Maverick]

Yeah I do believe that fmrredwarmer does have way too much time on his hands!   But those are some interesting numbers and it does seem to tell the tale of the recent top and bottom halves of the MWC.  Success on the field is definitely a big factor in successful recruiting classes for many of these schools. 

And since I haven't gotten any responses to this yet, I'll ask again...any other former Fighting Scots planning on being in Monmouth for the Wartburg game on Saturday?

[mwcfbdad]

Fm, I think you do have too much time on your hands.I didn't know there was such a big difference in the number of players on each team.How do those numbers add up in wins?Do the freshmen get much playing time at the schools with 100 plus players.
I don't get on this site much but like reading what people have to say about their teams.Once the season starts I will try to be more involved in the discussions.

[UWOTITAN]

Just to be clear, UW-Oshkosh does not greyshirt players. They take the best 100 players that come out regardless of class.