Quote from: Gregory Sager on October 08, 2025, 03:04:14 PM

Quote from: CarollFan on October 08, 2025, 02:18:41 PMWait a minute. You went to Augie and I had to build a case for Augie finishing over IWU?
What is it with you Augie guys underestimating Augie? In the beginning of the season they are predicting 4-6 and they are going 4-1 this weekend.

You have to understand that '80s Augustana football alumni regard themselves as the Roman legionaries who carried the eagle standard into every conquered town when the Roman Empire ruled the world ... and now it's the Middle Ages. Rome has fallen. The barbarians won. The d3 football world has turned into a great big dismal heap of disease, starvation, putrescence, random cruelty, and petty bickering among small men. And Rome itself? Alas, the she-wolf suckles no more heroes-to-be. Mother Rome is a shabby heap of broken stone where ragged peasants haul off one piece of cracked ancient marble after another to form rude shelters.

Some people call it the Middle Ages, and some people call it the Dark Ages, and you see that some people are not like some other people, but those some other people have a reason for their glass-half-empty view of things. You and I look at Steve Bell's 2025 team and we see a pretty good CCIW outfit that has a realistic shot at a top-three finish. The old Augie alumni look at it and see mice nesting in the ruins of Bob Reade's temple.

Hey Greg - I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this NC/Augie discussion and your comments above really do a good job of reflecting what a lot of Augie alums feel about the program today and describing it in a way that most people could not do.  Even if Augie ends up with a winning record this season, 6-4 isn't making any of the 80's Augie alums happy.  Coach Bell's record since he took over at Augie for the 2015 season is 41-53 with 2 seasons with a winning record.  Excluding the 2020 COVID season, he has finished 5th or worse in the conference 8 of 9 seasons.

The sad thing is that despite not challenging for a National Championship every year, Augie was very competitive until the Bob Reade connection was fully cut when Coach Barnes was let go after the 2010 season. Coach Schmulbach (an assistant on all of the Championship teams) followed after Coach Reade's retirement and Coach Barnes played for Coach Reade during his first 2 seasons at Augie.  At that point in time, Augie had gone from 1979 through 2010 with never having a losing record with the worst being a 5-5 season in 2007.  Since then, they have had 11 seasons at 500 or below. So are we excited about the potential to go 6-4? Not even remotely.

Quote from: Crusader92 on September 20, 2025, 10:01:14 PMNo problem for Wheaton in Rock Island - 50 to 7.

Was down in Rock Island for an Alumni golf outing during the day and went to the game last night.  Augie was completely overmatched against a Wheaton team that, while solid, is certainly not one of their better teams in the past 10+years.  Not much to say about Augie, a couple of good drives to start the game, but after throwing the batted pick six and then failing to pick up a first down deep in Wheaton territory on the next drive, despite having it 3rd and 1, it was all over after that.  Didn't bother to stay for the 2nd half as there was no chance of a comeback. 
The transfer QB has some ability and Breyden Smith is a pretty good receiver, but, beyond that, there isn't much there. The defense is just bad.  Augie will be very lucky to win 4 games this year and I'll honestly be surprised if they do. It will be interesting to see how they fare next week against Millikin, who seems to have turned it around, somewhat, this season. 

Congrats to NCC! Great season and great game last night.  Hope the seniors playing their last game get a chance to really soak it in and realize what they have accomplished during their college careers. Pretty special and something they will carry with them the rest of their lives. 

Quote from: Kovo on December 23, 2024, 04:00:03 PMI played against all four of those guys.  Hofer was probably the best, and the most feared as he transferred from Illinois with some fanfare and led them to their 1st National Championship game.  After that, Augie became the destination school in the CCIW.  IMHO though, Penny still stands out in my mind as the best of the bunch.  Of course, running Wing-T left their stats lacking, especially compared to this era.

Didn't get to play with Lance as he graduated the year before I got to Augie, but would agree he was probably the most talented of the bunch.  Jay had actually played QB in the 1980 and 1981 seasons (Lance transferred for the 81 season), and then played some WR in the 1982 season.  Jay teamed up on several key pass plays during the 83 season with his high school teammate (and another Illinois transfer), Norm Singbush, including the winning TD in the 83 Stagg Bowl.

Kirk had a great sophomore year and was a pretty talented passer, although probably not as athletic as Lance or Jay.  Would have loved to see what he could have done his JR and SR years if he had stayed healthy. Greg didn't even play his freshman year (84), instead playing basketball and baseball. He stepped up in a big way when Kirk went down in 85, throwing the winning TD against Mt. Union in the 85 Quarters and helping us to win our 3rd and 4th championships.

All were very smart QBs and understood how to effectively run the wing-T.  Of course, both Lance and Jay played for Coach Reade at Geneseo, so they had a pretty good headstart coming into Augie. 

Quote from: Pat Coleman on December 22, 2024, 08:01:23 PM

Quote from: CarollFan on December 22, 2024, 07:53:29 PM

Quote from: Nate Riley on December 22, 2024, 06:58:54 PMA question to any D3 football historian,
Luke Lehnen is scheduled to start at Qb in his 4th consecutive stagg bowl. Is he in rarified air or has this been done before?

No historian here but I'm guessing UWW and Mount Union may have had that happen as they met every year except 1 from 2005-2014.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_III_football_championship

Kevin Burke started at QB in 2012, 2013 and 2014 but not in 2011. I don't think there's much likelihood anyone else did in that span. I also don't know much about those 1980s Augustana teams.

We had 4 different QBs start in the 5 straight Stagg Bowls we played in.  Lance Hofer in 82, Jay Penney in 83, Kirk Bednar in 84 and Greg Wallace in 85 and 86.  Kirk Bednar was a sophomore in 84, but blew out his knee early in the 85 season and was out of the rest of the year.  He came back in 86 and was splitting time with Wallace, but had another knee injury which knocked him out for the rest of the season.

Quote from: Jbothe on November 03, 2024, 11:12:06 AMWatched entire IWU-Augie game. Great one to watch, literally came down to last drive.

Beautiful day to play.

I think IWU ability to run the ball and stop the run was the difference in the game. Titans looked more physically developed in both lines.

What happened to original Augie QB that started last year?  Bhardwaj?

Hey John - Pretty sure he has been benched.  The Crawley kid played against Carroll, and then they split time last week vs NCC.  If you have given up on the season, not really sure why you bring in a senior to replace a 5th year senior, I would think you would see what you have that could help you next year. 

Unfortunately, the results this season are what I thought was very likely to happen, coming off of last year's 8-3 record.  Augie had at least 10 5th years seniors playing last year, which was a big part of why they experienced the success they did.  Now we are back to what has become the norm at Augie under the last two coaching staffs, covering 14 seasons.  Assuming we beat Carthage and lose to Wash U (although who knows if we beat Carthage), this will be another losing season for Augie.  We have had 2 winning seasons at Augie during the last 14 seasons and, based on the players they currently have on the roster and this staff's inability to recruit the players necessary to build a strong program, I'm not expecting things to improve any time soon.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on October 26, 2024, 07:53:01 PMI've watched several hundred football games over the course of my lifetime, and I don't ever remember seeing a DB make three interceptions in a quarter before at any level

Mike Gray accomplished that feat in the 4th quarter of the 86 Stagg Bowl vs Salisbury State.  Wasn't necessarily with the game "on the line" but it allowed us the extend our lead and win comfortably.

Congrats to Ben Butler on his play today and to the NPU program on getting to 5 wins on the season.  I hope that next week is the end of "The Streak" for NPU and the program can put that in the rear view. 

Quote from: NCC2010 on November 13, 2023, 10:21:15 AM
Just had to give my 2 cents on the bracket as someone who was directly affected by the last time the committee made an undefeated defending champ travel in the playoffs...i played in that game against UWW in 2010 and it still bothers me to this day that we had to play them that early in the tournament, when we easily could've been in another quad and been the first NCC to make the semis or even the championship (we finished 3rd overall in the D3football poll).  We also could've just been the 2 seed and played at the Perk, which i would've preferred as i got to play there in 2007 and think its one of the best D3 stadiums there is.  i regularly read these boards when i was playing and still remember how mad the UWW posters were (rightfully so) and how there would be a "triple monkey stomping" in Naperville when UWW came to town.  I thought the secondary criteria they came up with after that season would prevent this from happening again, but here we are.

mostly just feel for the other teams/kids who will have their careers end a game or two earlier than they should due to the committee applying the criteria with blinders on (both Texas schools, UWL, possibly NCC as well). 

to look at it from a positive standpoint, if NCC is able to do what the 2010 UWW team did and run the gauntlet it will be a legacy defining performance.  UWW made that run in the heart of their 3 peat (Levell Coppage, what a stud) and i regard that team/run of seasons as some of the best ever in D3. Hoping NCC can do exactly what that UWW 2010 team did and prove they are the best team in the division on the field. 

sorry i know this post just comes off as me whining about an imperfect process, (because i am lol) but truly thought it would not happen again nor that NCC would be involved/affected by it again.

Totally agree that it makes no sense to see what the NCAA did to NCC with these brackets, but it is hardly anything new when it comes to how the NCAA has handled the D3 playoffs.  It happened twice to us during our run in the 1980s.  In 1984, we were the defending champs and the #1 ranked team in the country and had to travel to Dayton for our first round game.  In 1986, we were the defending champs (and although not ranked #1 due to our season opening tie with Elmhurst), we had to travel in the first round to a lower ranked, 7-1-1 team in Hope and then travel again in the second round against Mt Union.  It pissed us off initially, but I wouldn't say it was a big motivating factor for us.  We knew we were going to have to beat goods teams to reach our goals, and it didn't matter if it was at home or on the road.  I'm sure that is how NCC will approach it during the playoffs and, if they play to their capabilities, I don't think it will matter much who and where they play, at least until they reach the Stagg.  Based on how NCC and Mt Union have looked this season, I would be shocked if that is not the match up we will see in a few weeks. 

Quote from: Viking Mike on November 05, 2023, 07:21:52 PM
Congratulation to the Augustana Vikings football team that has grinded out a 8-1 campaign so far this year.  Despite their offense sputtering on Saturday, they were still able to play outstanding defense and take the win in Kenosha.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember when Augie last achieved 8 wins in a season.

Its has to be exciting for the team and fans to go into the last game of the season with so much on the line.  A CCIW championship and a berth in the NCAA playoffs for the victor.  Obviously, like so many other opponents over recent years, we have not matched up well with the Cardinals in the past. 

If the Vikings have one advantage, it may be the number of seniors and 5th year players that have played a lot of football over the last 4-5 years.  It will be a matchup of the #1 and #2 rushing offense and rushing defense teams in the conference.  It will also match the #1 and #2 scoring defenses and the #1 and #3 scoring offenses in the conference.

While it looks good on paper, its difficult to see how Augie will be able to slow down this offensive machine that is averaging 64 pts/ game.  They have beaten some good teams by a lot of points!  Hoping the Vikes can prevent the big plays and avoid turnovers.  They have been excellent with protecting the ball all year.  We have a lot of experience in the secondary where the Cardinals will be looking for the big plays.  Our defensive line has been solid all year, but especially last week when they were needed the most.  They have obviously not gone up against a O-line like North Centrals, however. 

The other X factor is the health of WR Bobby Inserra.  His skills and talent will be needed on the field Saturday if the Vikings hope to compete.

Regardless of the outcome this weekend, it has been exciting to watch this team this year and Im hoping this is only the beginning of a string of success in Rock Island!

Go Augie!!!

The last time Augie won at least 8 games in a season was in 2005.  They went 10-2, losing by a point to Central IA in the opener, going 7-0 in the CCIW and then getting spanked by Mt Union in the second round of the playoffs 44-7.  Since the beginning of the 2011 season, this is only Augie's second season with a winning record, the other being at 6-4 in 2019.  It's been very nice to see Augie be, at least, competitive within the CCIW, but I don't see any chance that this team beats North Central and I don't think the game will be particularly close.  That being said, an 8-2 record with losses to only NC and Wheaton (in a pretty close game) can certainly be considered progress.

My concern is, and one of the things you point out in giving Augie somewhat of a chance vs NC, is the number of 5th year players that it took to achieve this result.  Clearly, this is not something that will be counted on in the future, and Augie seems to have a lot more 5th year seniors than other programs.  Will Augie be competitive in future seasons, without having what I believe is a pretty significant advantage in having the high number of 5th year, experienced players making up about half of the starting roster? Time will tell, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Augie take a step back, next season.  I hope I am wrong about that. 

Quote from: Pat Coleman on October 02, 2023, 11:49:08 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on October 01, 2023, 01:53:12 AM

Quote from: USee on September 28, 2023, 11:44:32 AM
I haven't seen Carroll but I wouldn't be surprised if Augie rolls this weekend.

Quote from: emma17 on September 29, 2023, 06:19:01 PMI'd sure be surprised if Augie doesn't handle Carroll comfortably.

Augustana had to come back from a nine-point deficit in the game's final dozen minutes to nip Carroll, 23-19, in Rock Island. I kept it to myself, but, having previously seen both teams, I strongly suspected that this was going to be a very competitive game.

It was highly competitive last year, as well.

The last two years.  Augie lost in OT in the 21 season and in double OT last year.  Glad they were finally able to pull out at win against a Carroll program that has been steadily improving over the past few seasons.

Quote from: WUPHF on September 25, 2023, 11:56:55 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 25, 2023, 10:44:40 AM
True, but I'll take it -- because when you hold a really bad team to 100 yards total offense and beat them 38-0, it means that your team isn't itself a really bad team. You're something better than that, regardless of how anyone defines whichever tier your team is actually on.

Agreed, North Park fans have to be pleased with the team so far.

I am curious about that Wheaton-Augustana game if anyone has thoughts.

I was able to go to the Augie-Wheaton game and saw a great game, if you like offense.  Augie is definitely improved and probably has their best team of the Bell era.  Multiple 5th year players, so that certainly helps. Augie has a solid O line and a couple of pretty good backs, that both played well against Wheaton.  I think they have a solid receiving corps and they were able to get open against Wheaton.  I wasn't (and haven't been) particularly impressed with their QB play.  I thought he definitely left some plays on the field, and because of a very unique throwing motion (3/4 sidearm), has a tendency to sail the ball over the heads of open receivers.  For Wheaton, they did a lot of good things on offense, both throwing and running the ball.  Weeks is an excellent RB and I thought Thorson played well, getting the ball out quickly and accurately on short to medium throws.  However, he missed several open receivers on long throws during the game, but don't know if that has been an issue all season.

Defensively, I wasn't particularly impressed with either team. Augie was not able to generate much of a pass rush and the scheme seemed to be to play a lot of soft zone, so Wheaton was able to move the ball at will on the short to medium routes.  For Wheaton, this is not a Top 10 team in the nation defense, or at least it wasn't on Saturday night.  Augie was able to run all over the Thunder D, generating 248 yards on 33 carries, for a 7.5 ypc average.  Even backing out the 72 yard Tyler Rivelli run that led to Augie's first TD, Augie still averaged 5.5 ypc against the Wheaton D. 

I don't know if Wheaton may have been looking forward to their match up against NCC this weekend, but based on what I saw Saturday, I don't see that game being particularly close.  If Wheaton plays the run like they did against Augie, NCC might rush for 400 yards. 

Quote from: New Tradition on September 22, 2023, 08:54:06 AM

Quote from: ncc_fan on September 21, 2023, 03:18:57 PM
I vaguely recall a NCC @ Elmhurst game about 10-15 years ago when several Elmhurst recruits walked over to talk to NCC coaches after the game.

Quote from: 79jaybird on September 21, 2023, 04:18:59 PM
My favorite Elmhurst HC broadcasting on the air was the '01 game Elmhurst vs. IWU in what we dubbed on the air as the "monsoon game".  We had heavy rain for a day and a half.  you could step and sink down to your ankles back when EC has regular grass.   It it is the only game I ever saw that had 4 straight fumbles based on the weather.  The refs would put the ball down to start the play, and the ball would travel (i.e.  like a river current) side to side.        Elmhurst was contemplating getting field turf and after this game,  the decision was made.       

Story related to both of these quotes--as I was being recruited by Elmhurst, as I mentioned, they really wined and dined at my high school.  I was invited to Elmhurst to watch them in the final game of the season in '01 vs. NCC.  It was a back and forth affair on a warm, sunny, gorgeous November day that NCC ended up on top of, but the thing I remember the most was the condition of the field.  I've never seen a field on any level in the condition that Langhorst was in that day--3 yards and a cloud of dust was an actuality that football game.  I have no idea how JB saw the numbers of the players in all that dust in order to have a successful broadcast.  There was grass on that field maaaaaybe on the numbers, but the sidelines and center of the field were bare dirt.  This must've been the aftermath of that IWU game that JB was talking about.  I also asked Coach Krohn where they practiced and he mentioned that it was mostly done on the game field, as well.  Partially because of this and partially because I didn't feel so wined and dined when I got to campus, at halftime, my dad and I walked over to the NCC bleachers and watched the rest of the game from there.  I had just had a nice experience watching a game at NCC vs. Augustana (which they kept close for a half) 2 weeks prior.  It was at that point that I eliminated Elmhurst from my potential college choices.

Back when I played at Augie, our field was typically in very rough condition by the end of the regular season.  Like Elmhurst, most of our practices were held on the game field.  Because it was always in such bad shape by the end of the regular season, we only played one of our playoff games over my four year period at Ericson Field and that was the first game of the 83 playoffs against Adrian.   The rest were played at Rocky Stadium, which was the home field for Rock Island high school and a much better facility than Ericson Field. 

As cardinal773 mentions, I also think it's a little sad that today's players at most high schools and D3 schools don't get to experience playing in muddy conditions that were pretty common back in the 80s.  With the exception of my freshman year in 1983, every game we played against Millikin was in monsoon type conditions and it was a blast.  It was the type of game that, when it was over, everyone walked in to the showers in full uniforms to wash off all the mud from outside to in.  Even though it wasn't a rainy game in 83, the field was still a mess because our maintenance crew left the sprinklers on all night at Ericson field.  So despite it being a partly sunny day, the field was still a muddy mess. 

Quote from: mwunder on May 15, 2023, 10:46:48 AM

Quote from: Augie6 on May 10, 2023, 10:50:45 PM
I know there are not a lot of posters on this board, but can someone explain to me how Augie drops out of the Central Region rankings this week?  The are in the 1st set of rankings, are somehow 7th in the 2nd week and then drop out all together in week 3 of the rankings, despite winning the CCIW regular season by 4 games, finishing the year on a 16 game win streak, having the 2nd best record in the Central region behind Aurora, and being the 17th ranked team in the country in the D3baseball poll.  This seems extremely odd to me and really hard to understand.

This did generate some discussion on the board, but Augie made it all moot with their play this past weekend.

I appreciate the responses and, have to admit, I was a little worried if Augie would have lost their final against IWU, if they would have even made the tournament.  Thankfully, that didn't happen.  Good luck to Augie in the post season!!

I know there are not a lot of posters on this board, but can someone explain to me how Augie drops out of the Central Region rankings this week?  The are in the 1st set of rankings, are somehow 7th in the 2nd week and then drop out all together in week 3 of the rankings, despite winning the CCIW regular season by 4 games, finishing the year on a 16 game win streak, having the 2nd best record in the Central region behind Aurora, and being the 17th ranked team in the country in the D3baseball poll.  This seems extremely odd to me and really hard to understand. 

Congrats to NCC on a great game to finish off a great season!  Happy to have the Walnut and Bronze back in CCIW land!!  For those seniors who has finished their eligibility, congratulations on your outstanding careers representing NCC and the CCIW both on and off the field.  Very special way to end your playing careers.