FB: American Rivers Conference

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Duhawks found their way into the win column this week in Lincoln. And while the game was pretty exciting, it would be much more accurate to say that NWU lost the game. NWU was up 28-14 in the second half and proceeded to miss a 38 yard field goal and fumbled the snap on the Loras 1-yard line to squander multiple chances to go up three scores and put away any chance of a comeback. The Duhawks then played the fourth quarter as, in my opinion, they should play every game and just started airing the ball out to try and catch up. After scoring once to cut the score to 28-21 the Duhawks kicked off with the ball landing at the NWU 15 yard line, where somehow the ball just didn't move (very similar to a Jared Abbredaris fumble in the Rose Bowl against Oregon in 2012, a play that me and other UW fans replay in our minds often). The Duhawks recovered, scored a TD, got a stop, and then drove again to kick a game winning 38-yard field goal that was maybe good from 39 yards. Great fight from a winless team, but again the process does not exude confidence to Loras fans and alumni.


The sophomore Phillips played at QB, and the kid has a great arm with good zip, but made some incredibly bone-headed throws, resulting in 2 INTs where he was throwing across his body on the run. He also lacks pocket presence and took 7 sacks (I would put about 3-4 of them and not on the oline). Despite this, his stat line was 31-40 for 305 yards with 2 TDs. He shows promise but has a long way to go.

With Wartburg coming to the Rock Bowl next weekend, I think Logan's formula giving the Duhawks a 2% chance of winning is giving the Duhawks too much credit.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

I did not make the trip to Lincoln and was able to catch some of the other ARC games.

Simpson seems to have upped the talent level, but were still way outmatched when it came to their matchup with Coe. Coe was able to avoid making mistakes and capitalize on the mistakes of the Storm. While the eye test tells me Simpson is more talented than they have been in previous years, the Coe defense has not exactly put up great numbers and their only score coming in garbage time says that they still are not great. Coe looked great and efficient with a well-balanced attack.

Wartburg took care of Dubuque to break the all-time conference win streak record and did so off the back of its fantastic defense. Wartburg, from the limited viewing, looks as true to form as ever. Great players all over the field, but more importantly, it just feels like they do not make any mistakes. I do not know what is in the water in Waverly, but the ability to have 11 18-22 year olds all doing their jobs correctly on almost every single play is something incredible to watch. The question for Wartburg is whether their offense is going to be able to move the ball the way they did this weekend or will it revert back to what it looked like against their more stiff competition in the nonconference?

BV and Luther were much more evenly matched than I would have thought. Neither team looked impressive but did appear rather evenly matched in the first half. They were tied at the half at 7-7 and I was impressed how Luther looked on the road (not a high bar to get over). BVU then leaned on Luther for the whole second half and showed me that Luther still has a long way to go before they can start playing consistent football. Not much to gain from this game imo.

[MediaGuy]

Watching some tape for the Loras game this weekend and I think a 1-4 record is pretty deceiving.  Hope is a legitimate playoff team, Benedictine still has a shot to win the NACC and the Dubuque and Central games were way closer than the final scores would indicate.  Loras is a team who looks like they've gotten better each week and Wartburg cant just sleepwalk through this game.  Loras has some weapons on offense and an unpredictable defense...and a Wartburg alum running the offense, so they'll have some new wrinkles for Wartburg to deal with.

And to answer the question about what's in the water...Nitrates...look it up...Bremer county also has one of the highest cancer rates in the state so maybe that's the price we pay.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

MediaGuy, I don't disagree that the Duhawks played a pretty rough schedule through their first four games. Hope is a legit top 20 team, BenU could win the NACC, ud is a rivalry game where anything can happen, and Central is also ranked in the top 25.

I can understand losing those games, ud/BenU are games that were very winnable and I think a few different play calls/ball bounces they do win them, but going on the road to a struggling NWU and almost being down 21 points in the 3rd quarter is very troubling.

Could Loras beat Wartburg for the first time since 2004? Sure.

But Wartburg's defense is one that is going to force teams to be physical and grind out drives while not making mistakes. There is a reason they have consistently been one of the best teams in the country for the last 4+ years. I would love to see a competitive game on Saturday, but it may involve the team in Waverly missing the bus to Dubuque.