FB: American Rivers Conference

[Schipper Strong]

Well Central did unleash a previously unknown passing attack and the freshmen did step up. Thank you Dutch! If I had only known all I had to do was ask.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Duhawks handled business up in the Twin Cities against a bad UNW team.

The conference is currently 8-14 in nonconference games and does not have a signature win.

Completely outclassed by the WIAC...

Going to be a one-bid league this year.

[Schipper Strong]

I think you are right DD. I thought Central had a great freshman class and that there were enough returning players to pretty much at least stay where we were. Gustavus we couldn't execute on either side of the ball. It was a disaster against a team I expected to beat. We lost bad. Then we started out strong against a bad NWC team and jumped to a 16-0 lead in the first only to let them come back in the second. We played better the second half, but again my expectations were too high. Then we go to Belhaven and I really thought three road games and the heat would do us in. We barely stayed a score behind in the first half, but played well the second half. We had two freshmen on defense step up big and a technical freshman QB played very well. He was put in when our second starting QB went out with an injury and even though it sounded like the starter could have come back he stayed in. Against NWC and Gustavus we were one dimensional on offense. Against Belhaven we started one dimensional and balanced out by the end of the game. It gives me hope, but time will tell. I think we still have something to prove, but we made a big stride. It is a timely bye week, then we finally get a home game! We need it!

[doolittledog]

Dubuque beats McMurry 35-28
Dubuque scores first 21 points, McMurry scores the next 28, Dubuque scores the final 14.
On to conference play now!

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Conference play getting underway this week!

Loras takes on Coe and we will all get to see if the changes in Dubuque are going to make any difference in the conference race this year. Coe has struggled against some stiff competition this year (although that 7 point first half against Cornell makes me wonder...) but they will still be the most talented team the Duhawks will have played this year.

Wartburg heads to Lincoln for a get right game. If they don't beat the prairie wolves by 28+ I will be quite shocked.

Simpson will head to Storm Lake and should handle the Beavers easily. BV has looked very very bad.

Central vs Dubuque I think is the game of the week. I'm not exactly sure what both teams will be this season. Central had a very disgusting loss to Gustavus to start the year but they appear to have maybe steadied the ship? ud hung with Stout and just couldn't finish the game, and then went to UWP and got beat down (without their starting qb). But then battled through adversity last week and found a way to win. I think that the spartans go to Pella and come home with a win.

[doolittledog]

No school off for the next 8 weeks.  Driftless with a nice analysis of the conference for this week.  Would love to see Dubuque get a win at Central.  UD and Central went 5-5 head-to-head from 2010-2019.  Would like to see the Spartans getting back into the W side of the column again. 

For the senior classes with one more year to leave their marks.
Wartburg 24-0...3 straight 8-0 campaigns
Coe 21-3...3 straight 7-1 campaigns
Central 18-6...3 straight 6-2 campaigns
Dubuque 14-10
Simpson 11-13
Loras 9-15
BVU 6-18...3 straight 2-6 campaigns
NWU 5-19

Luther 0-18...loving life over in the Midwest Conference...sitting at 3-1 on the season

[Schipper Strong]

I hope DriftlessDuhawk and Doolittledog are wrong on the outcome of the Central/UD game. If there is a season you might be right it is this one. I do think the Dutch have righted the ship a bit. Is it enough? That remains to be seen. We have a very young team, but they are gaining experience. Lots of early injuries unfortunately. The only thing I feel confident about saying is that Wartburg will sadly go 8-0 the rest of the season. I don't like a year with only 3 home games. This year for a change I wish Wartburg wasn't one of them.

Go Dutch! Beat the Spartans at homecoming!

[Schipper Strong]

Congratulations to UD on completely outplaying us on offense and defense today. I was prepared for possibly not coming out on top, but I thought we would at least be competitive. I knew when UD hired Coach Mauri that they had made a really good hire. Today it paid off big time. Central won the kickoff returns and I guess field goal stats since they didn't have to settle for any, but otherwise it was all Dubuque. Once again Central was unable to make any adjustments at halftime. In the second half our best defensive play against the run was when UD tripped their runner.

I don't like settling for field goals when we are behind. When we are down 17 in the second half it is even more frustrating. We have definitely been hit with a lot of injuries to key players and we lost at least our fifth starter of the season, but with over 140 guys on the team it should be next man up. I think we may be looking at our first losing season since 1960 or somewhere around there. Time to get to work Dutch. Take some chances, open the playbook and show us what you are capable of at least trying.

Congratulations again to Dubuque! They played an excellent game with the exception of kickoffs. Even with ground kicks and us fumbling two attempts to pick up the ball we still started in great field position all but once. Congratulations Doolittledog. I hope this isn't a trend.

[doolittledog]

Just sitting down to watch the game now. Easier to take when you know the outcome!
Will be fun to see how this season plays out.
Any news on this possible bowl game or any expansion candidates?

[MediaGuy]

I have some questions for the coaching staff at Nebraska Wesleyan...
1. Down 49-7 at half and leave your starters in against Wartburgs 2's and 3's until the 4th quarter?
2. Onside kick 3 times while down 40+ in the 2nd half?
3. Call 2 timeouts in the last minute with your 3rd offense on the field down 40?
4. Have your head coach telling players "its time to tear some ACLs" out loud for everyone to hear?

No class...this coaching staff doesn't deserve to win a college football game.

No wonder your PA announcer called you the "Prairie Dogs" all day

[BLynn]

You play to win the game! How else were they going to do it? Not a NWU fan, but saw a lot of games there when Wolves were in the GPAC

[doolittledog]

Just finished watching the Central/UD game.  At one point in the 2nd half the announcers noted there was only one Central WR playing that has any receptions, all other WR's are injured.  There were 2 RB's with receptions on the season.  Take that with a young QB and that is a tough assignment. 

Was happy to see Dubuque with both a strong passing and running attack today. 

Plan to watch the Coe/Loras and BVU/Simpson games tomorrow.  Not sure I can take much from the NWU/Wartburg matchup, but NWU does make the trip to Chalmers Field next week to take on UD, so maybe I will watch that one as well. 

[MediaGuy]

You play to win the game! How else were they going to do it? Not a NWU fan, but saw a lot of games there when Wolves were in the GPAC

Had Wartburg played the same way they would have scored 100+ points.  I understand playing hard for 60 minutes, but theres a point when extending the game is just inviting injury and the chances of someone losing control and doing something stupid.  Its obvious when Wartburg put in the 3rd and 4th string skill players that they're calling off the dogs...Wartburg had 6 different running backs take a carry and 7 interceptions...NWU ran 2 running plays all game...if Wartburg had been at home with a full roster, you would have seen 5th or 6th stringers.

Wartburg has played some lopsided games in the past and there is usually a gentleman's agreement that once a team gets down 6-7 possessions in the 2nd half, you put in backups, run the ball, get some backups some reps and try to shorten the game...and that process usually starts when the winning team puts in the backups against the losing team's starters for a series or two and then all the backups hit the field.

Pardon me for sounding arrogant, but have some class, when the other team calls off the dogs, put in the 2nd string, dont try to hurt anybody, and shorten the game quickly and safely.