FB: Midwest Conference

gbpuckfan · October 13, 2012, 05:00:24 PM

Final
Grinnell 21
Ripon 37

I think that's what it said as the stream ended just as I clicked on it.

gbpuckfan · October 13, 2012, 05:47:21 PM

Final
IC beats Beloit 31-9

Ash Park · October 16, 2012, 09:06:29 AM

Pretty quiet this week. What is the game of the week? I would imagine there are a few teams cheering for Cornell to knock of Lake Forest this week. It won't be easy but I have confidence in my team.

TitanPride · October 16, 2012, 10:12:16 AM

Just looking at the schedule, this doesn't portend to be all that interesting of a week in the MWC. Both IC and Monmouth should win would relative ease (one would think). St Norbert is off. That leaves Cornell's trip to the Forest as the potential game of consequence. Ash, you have to fill me in on Cornell. From some of your game stats, it looks like you guys have some trouble establishing a running game. If that's the case, your QB is going to need to make plays with his feet and arm all day. The LF d is tough. Also, Cornell will really have to work hard to shut down LF's rushing attack -- multiple good backs.

My advice: fall behind early but keep it close. Don't take the lead until the very end because the Foresters have established that they are the "Cardiac Kids" and love the thrill of a dramatic comeback.

Ash Park · October 16, 2012, 10:29:41 AM

Quote from: TitanPride on October 16, 2012, 10:12:16 AM
Just looking at the schedule, this doesn't portend to be all that interesting of a week in the MWC. Both IC and Monmouth should win would relative ease (one would think). St Norbert is off. That leaves Cornell's trip to the Forest as the potential game of consequence. Ash, you have to fill me in on Cornell. From some of your game stats, it looks like you guys have some trouble establishing a running game. If that's the case, your QB is going to need to make plays with his feet and arm all day. The LF d is tough. Also, Cornell will really have to work hard to shut down LF's rushing attack -- multiple good backs.

My advice: fall behind early but keep it close. Don't take the lead until the very end because the Foresters have established that they are the "Cardiac Kids" and love the thrill of a dramatic comeback.

Yeah our running game has not been our strength. I briefly looked over some conference statistics and it looks like LF's pass defense is their "weak" spot. They ranked near the top in rush defense and down towards the bottom in pass d. I know they have a solid defense though so I'm not buying too much into the that stat! Our QB is definitely capable of making plays with both his feet and his arm. He is first in passing and is a very athletic kid but I don't think they can only rely on him to win this game. They have plenty of good receivers and their two backs are really good too from what I have watched. The oline is young and inexperienced.

We have also had some trouble stopping the run...last week vs Knox for example so that makes me really nervous about LF's backs.

fulbakdad · October 16, 2012, 12:12:47 PM

Looking forward to the game at Lake Forest this week. It should be another good game. The Lake Forest running attack has been getting better and better each week. The Freshman back (Valdivia) is now much more confident than at the begining of the season. Which is understandable. He's a very powerful runner which is different than Mitchell (the senior back) who is more of a slippery runner.

The Lake Forest D should be tested Saturday. I think they will be comming after the QB. They did that earlier in the year with pretty good success, but have been more focused on the run after Bates went out two weeks ago and with Monmouth last week. This is a pretty good Defense. What's pretty impressive is there are 10 starters that will be back next year on it.

The cell phone jammers have been removed by the Secret Service so I should be able to provide in game reports.

TitanPride · October 16, 2012, 12:33:04 PM

Quote from: Ash Park on October 16, 2012, 10:29:41 AM
Quote from: TitanPride on October 16, 2012, 10:12:16 AM
Just looking at the schedule, this doesn't portend to be all that interesting of a week in the MWC. Both IC and Monmouth should win would relative ease (one would think). St Norbert is off. That leaves Cornell's trip to the Forest as the potential game of consequence. Ash, you have to fill me in on Cornell. From some of your game stats, it looks like you guys have some trouble establishing a running game. If that's the case, your QB is going to need to make plays with his feet and arm all day. The LF d is tough. Also, Cornell will really have to work hard to shut down LF's rushing attack -- multiple good backs.

My advice: fall behind early but keep it close. Don't take the lead until the very end because the Foresters have established that they are the "Cardiac Kids" and love the thrill of a dramatic comeback.

Yeah our running game has not been our strength. I briefly looked over some conference statistics and it looks like LF's pass defense is their "weak" spot. They ranked near the top in rush defense and down towards the bottom in pass d. I know they have a solid defense though so I'm not buying too much into the that stat! Our QB is definitely capable of making plays with both his feet and his arm. He is first in passing and is a very athletic kid but I don't think they can only rely on him to win this game. They have plenty of good receivers and their two backs are really good too from what I have watched. The oline is young and inexperienced.

We have also had some trouble stopping the run...last week vs Knox for example so that makes me really nervous about LF's backs.

I said this after the Illinois College game and could be wrong, but I think the LF corners can be attacked. IC had some success throwing to the outside. You do have to get rid of the football because they pressure the QB. What is really impressive is how the rally to the football and gang tackle, especially on short passes.

Fortunately for LF, they can lose this game, win the next two and still make the playoffs. Not that they want to or will...

So far, Cornell has beaten who they should and played the top teams in the conference to close losses. Will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

TitanPride · October 16, 2012, 12:36:08 PM

Fulbakdad - what happened to the team who beat Lawrence by 4 points? Can we get that one back for a couple weeks?

fulbakdad · October 16, 2012, 01:08:41 PM

Lol

I think a couple things since the Lawrence game. First Lawrence itself. When they played us, I was thinking to myself what a small squad it was (numbers). They put up a fight and thier QB was very scrappy. But I was thinking what are they gonna do if they get many injuries. I can only assume they are getting beat up by now. How many of their starters from game one are still out there? Just a question.

The big change is Lake Forest is starting to mature and believe in themselves. The starting line this year is very young. Each game they are getting better and better, plus more confident. The Freshman running back is definately maturing. Early in the year he wasn't too sure of himself. That was to be expected. Now he's running with determination. That was huge in last weeks game. And the Defense is doing the same.

sorry, don't think you'll have the earlier team for the rest of the season.

fulbakdad · October 16, 2012, 01:14:42 PM

One additional thing to add.

Lake Forest is still not a dominant team. If they play any team on the schedule, or replay any team they've played, if they don't play their hearts out they will lose. Each week I dread the thought of this, but it's reality.

Are they good enough to win out the season? They could. But they will need to take each game, a game at a time. I think it's an exciting time for the MWC. Any team can win any game. I like this much better than everyone watching the top two teams all year.

Ash Park · October 17, 2012, 07:08:35 AM

Quote from: fulbakdad on October 16, 2012, 01:08:41 PM
Lol

I think a couple things since the Lawrence game. First Lawrence itself. When they played us, I was thinking to myself what a small squad it was (numbers). They put up a fight and thier QB was very scrappy. But I was thinking what are they gonna do if they get many injuries. I can only assume they are getting beat up by now. How many of their starters from game one are still out there? Just a question.

The big change is Lake Forest is starting to mature and believe in themselves. The starting line this year is very young. Each game they are getting better and better, plus more confident. The Freshman running back is definately maturing. Early in the year he wasn't too sure of himself. That was to be expected. Now he's running with determination. That was huge in last weeks game. And the Defense is doing the same.

sorry, don't think you'll have the earlier team for the rest of the season.

I think you are right about Lawrence. Cornell played them first game of the year and got out of there with a narrow win. While watching that game I could see that LU had some talent especially at QB and their Oline was good and experienced. I know they had a couple guys go down in that game. Along with injuries and not having a deep bench I think losing those close games early in the year has taken a toll on that team.

warthog · October 17, 2012, 10:16:34 AM

Quote from: fulbakdad on October 16, 2012, 01:14:42 PM
I think it's an exciting time for the MWC. Any team can win any game. I like this much better than everyone watching the top two teams all year.

This may be true...........unless you are a fan of one of the top teams.

TitanPride · October 17, 2012, 11:42:37 AM

Massey went 5-0 last week, sorry Maverick. Here are this week's projections:

Lake Forest 31 Cornell 13 (LFC has a 90% of winning)
Illinois College 53 Knox 27 (IC has a 98% of winning)
Monmouth 35 Lawrence 28 (MC has a 74% of winning)
Carroll 23 Grinnell 7 (CU has a 89% of winning)
Ripon 30 Beloit 14 (RC has a 88% of winning)

fulbakdad · October 17, 2012, 05:35:21 PM

So I can see the Cornell QB has put up some nice numbers. And they seem to have trouble with the run. What are the other strengths/weaknesses do they have? Anyone been to thier games?

OhIowa · October 18, 2012, 08:10:14 AM

Quote from: fulbakdad on October 17, 2012, 05:35:21 PM
So I can see the Cornell QB has put up some nice numbers. And they seem to have trouble with the run. What are the other strengths/weaknesses do they have? Anyone been to thier games?

I haven't actually been to any Cornell games, but have watched most of them online (Kind of hard to travel from Ohio on the weekends). I would agree with everyone's evaluation of Cornell this year. A weakness that I will point out is theor kicking game, specifically, kick-offs. Now I am not involved in their special team game plans, but I have seen what seems to be a lot of kick offs go out of bounds. That puts a lot of pressure on your defense with that kind of field position.

From my perspective, if you don't have a kicker that can put it down inside the 5 yard line, your next best option is to try and get the ball rolling on the ground, or pin the return team to a sideline. Again, I don't know what their game plans are, but I would assume Cornell's coaches would like to see this corrected.

A strength that I have seen from Cornell comes again from special teams. They have been very effective coming after punts and getting blocks. I believe they have 2 blocked punts for touchdowns this year. They obviously take a lot of pride in that phase of the game and have guys that are committed to those positions.