FB: Midwest Conference

[wc2viking]

What the heck, I'm up late and procrastinating so I'll try to pick a few scores.

KC @ SNC - SNC caught look ahead to their showdown with MC next week, still manages to charge to a verdant victory, 21-10.

LFC @ BC - LFC caught looking ahead to their showdown with LU next week.  BC plunders a win 35-31.

GC @ MC - GC overconfident after overcoming LU juggernaut, MC bravely heartened to a 55-10 triumph.

CC @ RC - RC relieved to not be playing LU, soars to a 45-21 victory.

IC @ LU - MWC game of the week because....ummm....I'll be there!  LU deploys its secret weapon, the kicking game.  LU kicks 5 FGs including a 54-yarder with time running out to pillage a 15-14 upset.

OK, back to work for me.....

[Maverick]

I would like to see more non-conference games as well, but how do you draw up the schedule fairly? The team who misses St. Norbert enters with a huge advantage...do you add a title game?

From 1983-1997, there used to be a title game.  Teams were able to play a couple non-MWC games, a couple crossover MWC games (north vs. south), and then the remainder of the schedule was against division opponents (and those were the only 5 games that counted towards your MWC record)...at least that's how Monmouth's schedule was, and of course that was easier when Coe and Cornell were still around to make each division an even 6 teams.  Another negative was teams were able to play only 9 regular season games rather than 10 because of the possibility of making it into the MWC championship game. 

Well, gotta pretend to work for awhile...will be back later to make my picks. 

[Maverick]

Week 4 MWC Games:

Illinois College at Lawrence - IC, rebound from last week to win big in the Bowl
Carroll at Ripon - RC, Pio D showed they're tough but gonna go with the Hawks at home
Lake Forest at Beloit - LFC, Foresters finally pick up their first win
Grinnell at Monmouth - MC, Scots cruise in a tune-up for next weekend
Knox at St. Norbert - SNC, Knights roll in a tune-up for next weekend

[SNCOLDAD]

I would like to comment on the topic of visiting off campus by coaches. As a freshman father I still remember some of the thoughts my son had. He was called, a lot, by almost every school in the MWC. All they wanted was for him to visit the school. At the time he was pretty set on another school in DII already but my wife and I convinced him to have a backup. We are from Illinois by the way. He looked at Illinois State and Northern Illinois but was not real enthused about either. Football season came and went and the calls were still coming in. He would not even consider anything south of us so Wisconsin or the U.P was where he wanted to go. He applied and was accepted to Carol but had not visited the campus yet. He talked to coaches when they called and he considered it his backup if he did not go to NMU. It was time to make a 2nd visit, this one official to NMU in February. I told him that SNC was right on the way. What if we go a day early and pay them a visit. At the end of the day he felt SNC was where he wanted to go. A portion of the decision was the campus and location, so he had to see that. But a portion was meeting the coaches face to face. They made him feel wanted, not just another piece of meat. I am sure other schools in the MWC has coaches that are the same as Coach Purtill and Coach Dewitt, but they did a real good job of "recruiting" once they had my son face to face.
So, do I think that the MWC allowing visits to recruit would improve the conference overall?  ABSOLUTELY! Some of these coaches know what it takes and I firmly believe that at least SNC would get 3 more GOOD players on each side of the ball each year if off-sites were allowed. As far as where they would come from, maybe you are right on the UW factor, but I bet you would get a lot more from Illinois.  I can't speak to other locations. Just my 2 cents.

[SNCOLDAD]

Hey Mav, do you mean week 4?

[Maverick]

Hey Mav, do you mean week 4?

You got me SNCOLDAD!   Got it fixed now.

[The Roop]

Beloit Fans:

Was forcing DeGeorge out really the right move?

Any signs of life at Bel Wah?

Certainly there is no sign of scoring or moving the ball.

I find it hard to believe that he was forced out as the man had been in coaching for nearly 40 years. Perhaps he just wanted to retire. Besides, if he was forced out I doubt he would still be seen at so many events.

Their upper classmen were all recruited for a running game yet they are now in a completely different scheme. I think that has influenced their performance. For example in the Carroll game they had 5 freshmen on the field at one time. It's hard to have success when you do that. They will get better but it may involve a step back.

I had lunch at Domenicos when I got to town Friday and for the first time in going there for over 30 years my pizza was cut in slices, not squares. This proves the universe is aligned properly for a Beloit win Saturday. You heard it here first.

[bball312]

Just got back from the Carroll Ripon game. This was a hell of a game! Ripon took the early lead, then Carroll came back, later to have ripon come within 2 with roughly 7 minutes to go in the game. Ripon had a shot at the win in the end, but came up short. Guys from both teams played well, Crocker had some good cut backs against ripons defense. It seemed that carroll kept trying to run outside but couldnt get outside of #11 for ripon. He seemed to cause problems for the big tight end for carroll. (however he did come back to get a td catch) #47 from both defenses played extremely well, along with 22 from carroll's secondary. This game seemed to be an equal match up, and was more defensive minded unless the ofenses got the ball in scoring range for their first play. Ripon is probably thinking what should have been when they missed an extra point, then later had to go for two. Carroll seemed to be happy with a small lead in the fourth and didnt attack. Overal, both teams are equally matched, and im interested to see if either can upset the powerhouses of the conference.

Great game!

[wc2viking]

OK, I know it this time.  Congratulation to the LU Vikings on their first win of the season.  LU used a balanced offensive attack and a suffocating defense  to beat IC 22-18.  The play of the game was an interception returned for a touchdown by 275 lb. defensive lineman Jeremy Reider.  It was great to see the nifty footwork by the big guy.

After a rocky start to the season, this hopefully signals a turn-around.  A winning season is still possible!

[The Roop]

In a game in which neither defense could get off the field much Lake Forest topped Beloit 44-36. The wind may have influenced this one slightly as 77 of the 80 points were scored in the north end. Beloit connected on a 38 yard field goal at the south end to close the first half that may have been good from 39. Then opened the 4th quarter scoring with a school record 46 yarder that is still going I believe. Good from 60+ in any event.

Beloit may have had quicker scoring drives, jumping out to a 14-0 lead, but Lake Forest was able to move the chains with more consistency. Fun game to watch despite the lopsided score at one point. Would have been nice if Beloit had the time outs left at the end for one more chance but.

Not sure why Lake Forest put in a freshman QB up only two scores in the 4th, when they had not been able to do anything into the wind, but their starter did  return to finish the game. Does anyone know if this was injury related ??

Both teams recorded safeties on penalties so the defenses did get into the act on occasion.

[Duck Duck Goose]

OK, some thoughts....

Carroll coming through with a HUGE win at the rockpile.  Wow, I guess they DID pack their lunch after all.  I can't wait to see CCAlum's post regarding this!!!!!!!

Congrats to Lawrence on their first win.  IC, um, what the heck?  I can't say I saw the GC beating LU, then LU beating IC sequence coming this year, but thats why they play the games.

Overall thoughts on the state of the conference race.  SNC and MC are on top as was expected going into their Uber showdown next week.  Carroll has shown both through this win and through their nail-biter against Monmouth that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with.  RC remains alive with consecutive showdowns against MC and SNC coming up after their game vs. Beloit (a win, I assume, though anythings possible in this year's wild and wacky MWC).

One more thing.  Can the mixed up nature of the MWC be interpreted as a sign of increased strength overall in the league?  A few years ago when I was in my prime it seemed much more uniform, i.e. Team A beats Team B, B beats C, and A crushes C.  Now things seem much more balanced.  Any Thoughts?

[The Roop]

The Main Event is coming so we will soon know who "A" is. After that point "B" through "J" wont' really matter.

"A" will then hit the road in the play-offs and prove once again how D3AA that MWC football is. I wish that aspect would change but football just doesn't seem to be a high priority in the MWC. Small enrollments and less than D3A facilities do make it difficult however.

Where fore art thou alumni donations................................

[CCAlum23]

Well NO one believed in CCAlum that Carroll could go up to Ripon on there homecoming and beat them!! 

Duck Duck- Carroll was very hungry on Saturday, they feasted on RedHawks!!!  But seriously it was a good game but Carroll is for real!!!

This week IC comes into Carroll's house and guess what? It's Carroll's Homecoming!!!!!!!  I am gonna tell you one thing its not gonna be pretty!  Carroll will roll over IC and be ready for St.Norberts at Home the next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And to that Carroll Alum that picked Ripon! What were you thinking?

1 game at a time Carroll will contend for the conference championship!!!!Keep it going PIO"S

All games went as predicted for last week except for IC losing to LU!!!! Man IC can play bad!!!!

[1morefan]

CCAlum23 – your right should never have picked against the pios! Glade to see them get a big win up in ripon! Looking at the stats it looks like the game went back and forth.

Nice to see that the Offense moved the ball well and seemed to be pretty balanced:
Crocker – 178 rushing and a TD, Rogers – 114 passing throwing for one and running a TD!

A Little, well...shocked that LU went down to Jacksonville and beat the blue boys! Nice win for the Vikings

Really surprised that Beloit put up such a fight against LFC...was anyone there to give an insight?

Looks like Norberts and Monmouth were tuning up for their big game this weekend, any early thoughts on this one?

[Maverick]

Both St. Norbert and Monmouth did great jobs last week of taking care of business against Knox and Grinnell...and definitely not looking ahead to this week's game.  I'm looking forward to see how the match-up goes and expect to see a great game from both sides.  Just have to make it through the stinkin work week!  Want to see alot of Scots red at the game and be able to hear everyone nice and loud along with the bag pipes.  Gotta drown out the noise from the Knights fans; I doubt that there will be a ton of them on Saturday, plenty for sure, but not as many since it's a long road trip; but they're always gonna be loud...even if it isn't a large group.