Congratulations Fred and the Falcons! A very special team this year.

Congratulations Fredfalcon. You stood by your guys through thick and thin. Enjoy the rest of the ride!

I have no idea how much the bitter conditions will affect the midwest games, but to me (irrespective of Hansen Ratings type data), there is about a 20% chance NCC will be eliminated in the playoffs before Wheaton. I do think River Falls will win, but that's probably because I saw them play in person and have not seen Wheaton. They are big and fast, but more than that their execution was brilliant when I saw them. I'm probably the only one, but I truly think Bethel/NCC is a toss up.

Quote from: USee on December 09, 2025, 02:53:01 PMWhen you can run the ball and are focused on stopping the run, you can be competitive in most games.

A truth that transcends every level of ball!

Quote from: emma17 on December 09, 2025, 12:00:02 PM

Quote from: bleedpurple on December 09, 2025, 08:20:08 AMInteresting discussions for sure. 

Since we are kind of opening this up to "all things football" on this board for now, I'm going a bit further off the rails.

I know we have some Bears fans among our brethren. Since you won't see many fans of either team acknowledge that the other has any redeemable value, for whatever reason, I'm prompted to break the trend: The Bears are good. They aren't just a future threat. They are good right now. Excellent coaching, excellent running game, a defense that turns teams over and a dynamic quarterback that is getting better.

Fred Falcon please reel us back in. I clearly need guardrails!

Excellent secondary topic.
Thanks for the acknowledgment of the Bears' improvement. GB played terrific and Love made some great throws to beat the blitz/man coverage. I felt the return of J Johnson to the Bears' secondary was detrimental- he looked unwilling to make contact and somewhat lost.
Loved the commitment by both teams to run the ball (w a running back). Only 4 carries in first quarter by Bears, then they made the commitment. Hard hitting on both sides- seemed like a great atmosphere.

Go Falcons.

Agreed. It was a great game. Both teams played well. The Packers/Bears rivalry may have huge NFC relevance for years to come!

RobertGoulet: I don't think anyone would want to play them in the playoffs. Not saying they'd be the favorite. But, at this point, I think every possible playoff game they'd be involved in, there would be a world in which they could win it.

Interesting discussions for sure. 

Since we are kind of opening this up to "all things football" on this board for now, I'm going a bit further off the rails.

I know we have some Bears fans among our brethren. Since you won't see many fans of either team acknowledge that the other has any redeemable value, for whatever reason, I'm prompted to break the trend: The Bears are good. They aren't just a future threat. They are good right now. Excellent coaching, excellent running game, a defense that turns teams over and a dynamic quarterback that is getting better.

Fred Falcon please reel us back in. I clearly need guardrails!

Quote from: Fido0650 on December 06, 2025, 07:31:37 PMTime to contact a crime scene clean up company to clean up the inside of the Mount Union house. What happened today at Kehres Stadium was nothing short of criminal.  GD gets more out of his stinking piece of gum than he tries to get out of his players.  I am hoping that this will be the song that people will be singing to GD after the first of the new year.
Nah,nah, hey, hey good bye!

He has had enough time to prove to everyone that he deserves to be the head coach of Mount Union.  Starting at the top and working down, get that crime scene cleaning company to really scrub down the Mount Union house. Any  head coach that was not part of the Kehres family household, would be gone by now.  Do not prolong what needs to be done.

This might be the first time in history there is this much calling for the firing of a coach that is 67-5 with 0 conference losses.

Quote from: 02 Warhawk on November 28, 2025, 01:33:41 PM

Quote from: emma17 on November 25, 2025, 05:58:07 PMSo UWW vs DePauw. I saw a bit of their game vs. Wabash- they sure looked like they know their way around a football field- pass and run. QB w awesome numbers.

I have to/like to believe the UWRF experience will help UWW in this game.

Yeah, this would be a layup for UWW back in their hey day. Nowadays, this is very winnable for DePauw. No longer taking UWW wins for granted.

Just hope UWw comes to play.

Even if this would have been a layup back in our "hey day", I'm pretty sure you would have talked yourself into being nervous by kickoff! 

Quote from: olddog on November 26, 2025, 11:55:17 AMFred....how many point favorite do you have RF over CU?

You are correct about the size issues it is a huge delta, CU is smallest good team on the west coast, always have been. In watching a little tape on RF, the only thing that will be interesting is CU speed, how much faster are they then RF...RF should win this one. Will CU team speed give RF an issue and how will RF coaches adjust, most teams try to run straight at them, play action etc.

I don't think UW-RF will have to adjust much. They do what they do. The burden is on CU to try to stop them. Trust me, it won't be easy.

Quote from: MUC 2008 on November 25, 2025, 10:33:56 PM

Quote from: Dr. Acula on November 25, 2025, 10:02:46 PMAt a minimum VK is on deck to be paid 7 figures to be a DC at a P4.  People can make nepo jokes but VK can flat out coach.  Toledo sucked on defense before he got there.  And as has been mentioned for Thanksgiving purposes he has a ring so gets a prime seat at the main table.

His 2016 coaching job needs to be studied - Mount had essentially a brand new roster and Mount went to the semis and lost to a team who ended up being ineligible.

VK has always been a great coach who stepped into "impossible to fill" shoes in his dad and kinda filled them. No one is Larry, but he did a great job given all the circumstances. Taking Mount to the semi's in 20116 was really impressive.  The whole "...lost to a team who ended up being ineligible." thing is a bit besides the point. The CRU had a great team that year and I'm pretty sure they would have been just as great had the violation not occurred.

Quote from: art76 on November 24, 2025, 09:04:53 PMI think there are at least two possibilities concerning how the MIAC does this year in the playoffs. Both the Johnnies and the Royals literally rip through their opponents this weekend showcasing how good they are as teams, (and how good the MIAC is), or they squeak out wins and/or are defeated and everyone will jump on the bandwagon of how weak the MIAC is/was this year. Obviously, the supporters of our teams are hoping for the former.

I don't do ESPN+ so I am not able to put eyes on opposing teams to get a gander at how they might fare against BU, but I don't think the Kohawks will have the answer for the Royals multi-faceted offense. Further, I have come around throughout the year on the defensive line play. While anything can happen in a football game, it is my opinion that Bethel and St. John's will both be playing WIAC teams next weekend.

If the Royals and Johnnies are what they usually are, they will roll this weekend. Next week looks to have a lot of fun games all across the board if the favorites take care of business this weekend.

Quote from: '95 Blugold on November 22, 2025, 06:26:59 PMStout wins the Isthmus Bowl today over Wash U 31-23.

Congrats to the Blue Devils on a nice win. Way to represent the WIAC.  Beating the #3 team in the #3 ranked  conference by D3football.com is a good look! Wash U is a good team and had a really nice year, coming into the game at 8-2. Their only losses were to North Central and a four point loss to Wheaton.

Quote from: hazzben on November 20, 2025, 08:43:59 PM

Quote from: USee on November 18, 2025, 05:41:56 PMFor the Thunder this weekend they face Crown who is 7-3. Crown runs the ball 75% of the time and have averaged 5.5 yds per rush for 230 yds per game for the 16th best rush offense in the D3 land. Their pass offense accounts for 835 yds on the season (74-154-5 int, 48%) and 83 yds per game. The Thunder will have to stop the run this weekend.

Defensively they have found their footing in turnovers. 9 fumbles and 14 interceptions and they are top 25 in the nation in Turnover Margin. They are top 15 in getting off the field on 3rd down and 9th in red zone defense.

They lost to a 1-9 team and a 4-6 team and their best wins are over 5-5 Martin Luther (2x). They don't have any wins over a team with a winning record (Simpson is the only team they played that has a winning record).

I was at the game between now 4-6 UNW and Crown that the Storming Thunder lost (don't ask how or why I was, but I was there  ). Incredibly underwhelming is how I would describe it. Two very incomplete teams. Crown's QB is a good athlete, so so arm talent, with an even more meh OL. In any other conference his rushing stats would be significantly deflated. I believe during that game he came into it Top 5 in individual rushing, I was expecting to see Michael Vick from VTech days. It wasn't that.

Not sure the best way to capture it, but at every level on O / D there are guys out there who just don't look like college football players. Certainly guys who'd never see the field in the CCIW. Wheaton will absolutely dominate the LOS.

Not having seen Crown, your description is exactly what I would have imagined. This could have been a great opportunity for Wheaton to reward/develop the back half of the roster if not for the playoff roster limits.

*Hazzbeen, you get HUGE D-III Geek Points for attending that game!

Quote from: USee on November 18, 2025, 05:41:56 PMFor the Thunder this weekend they face Crown who is 7-3. Crown runs the ball 75% of the time and have averaged 5.5 yds per rush for 230 yds per game for the 16th best rush offense in the D3 land. Their pass offense accounts for 835 yds on the season (74-154-5 int, 48%) and 83 yds per game. The Thunder will have to stop the run this weekend.

Defensively they have found their footing in turnovers. 9 fumbles and 14 interceptions and they are top 25 in the nation in Turnover Margin. They are top 15 in getting off the field on 3rd down and 9th in red zone defense.

They lost to a 1-9 team and a 4-6 team and their best wins are over 5-5 Martin Luther (2x). They don't have any wins over a team with a winning record (Simpson is the only team they played that has a winning record).

 

I think this game is a candidate for biggest mismatch of all D-III games this year. Have we ever had a playoff team that lost to a 1-9 team? Congrats to Crown for making the playoffs. I'm sure this is a huge deal to them and I respect the heck out of what they've accomplished. But this draw...yikes!

Quote from: palum on November 19, 2025, 10:20:24 PMPlatteville over comes North Central 66-60 in OT. Bristol Lewis leads Platteville with  13 points. Platteville won the game in the paint and with points off of rebounds

Sounds like a foreshadowing of their quarterfinal football game coming up in a few weeks here.