FB: American Rivers Conference

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Duhawks fell to Benedictine on Saturday night. Once again, "being balanced" did not work for the Duhawks as they rushed the ball for 38 yards on 25 attempts... One sure would hope that at a certain point, the staff diagnoses the run game as not being a strength of this team. The defense looked slightly better, but BenU was no Hope that's for sure. Late in the 3rd quarter, the Duhawks turned to Sophomore QB Will Phillips as they had seen enough from the starter, and he proceeded to go 10-15 for 100 yards and a TD in a failed comeback effort. The sophomore is a tall kid with a bit more zip on his throws, and he showed some decent promise. If he is the starter this week, he is going to have to be a bit more polished on his decisions.

With the Duhawks playing a late game, I was able to tune into a few other conference games. I saw Central get a few stops on its way to a win against RMC. That defense looks stout. Wartburg's performance at Stout was very impressive, and it is clear that the Knights will be a force this year. Just because Stout has public money to afford multiple cameras doesn't mean they have to use them if the view is worse, just my opinion. Coe put up many more points than I figured they would. I'm sure most feel that way, but it's tough to win football games giving up 59 points. UWRF's QB and offense are elite, but that is still a tough showing.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Division III is not just for "small private colleges." 

I think the sentiment is fair to have. I certainly understand how most D3 fans feel this way toward the WIAC, as they have certain advantages that most D3 schools simply are not afforded. That being said, the conference plays by the same rules as everyone else, and it is totally fine that they are D3. I think it's equally fine to point out the fact that, as a conference, they were born on 3rd base while some other conferences are still in the on-deck circle.

[Schipper Strong]

Division III is not just for "small private colleges." 

I think the sentiment is fair to have. I certainly understand how most D3 fans feel this way toward the WIAC, as they have certain advantages that most D3 schools simply are not afforded. That being said, the conference plays by the same rules as everyone else, and it is totally fine that they are D3. I think it's equally fine to point out the fact that, as a conference, they were born on 3rd base while some other conferences are still in the on-deck circle.

Thank you for more appropriately stating what I was trying to get across.

[doolittledog]

Will be getting to Dubuque about 11am tomorrow.  Mrs Doolittle thinks it would be better to stay home and put up Halloween decorations than risk sitting through the predicted rain tomorrow.  Not sure how many of our kids will be there.  They're all in Dubuque but not sure about job schedules and what not. 

So since it was 2010 for the last victory in the series for Loras...

There's a man sitting on a park bench with his dog.  Another man sits down and says "hey, does your dog do any tricks?"
The man with the dog says sure, watch this.  "Hey Rusty, UD beat Loras in football"  the dog then does a back flip.
The other man says wow! What does your dog do if Loras beats UD?
The man with the dog says "I don't know, my dog is only 14 years old!"

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Will be getting to Dubuque about 11am tomorrow.  Mrs Doolittle thinks it would be better to stay home and put up Halloween decorations than risk sitting through the predicted rain tomorrow.  Not sure how many of our kids will be there.  They're all in Dubuque but not sure about job schedules and what not. 

So since it was 2010 for the last victory in the series for Loras...

There's a man sitting on a park bench with his dog.  Another man sits down and says "hey, does your dog do any tricks?"
The man with the dog says sure, watch this.  "Hey Rusty, UD beat Loras in football"  the dog then does a back flip.
The other man says wow! What does your dog do if Loras beats UD?
The man with the dog says "I don't know, my dog is only 14 years old!"

How do I dislike a post Pat?

[Schipper Strong]

Tough picks this week. That point spread makes it challenging. Thanks for doing this Driftless. I think Central will try to play a lot of subs if the games goes as most expect, but on an away game they can only go so deep. It may not be enough to stay under the spread.

Simpson appears to be improved as one would expect with a Wartburg grad leading the team. Have they improved enough to not be monkey stomped? Would Coach Winter be less likely to stomp a WB grad? Not so far.

Loras and UD seem to have switched positions. I think the change at UD started with Coach Canfield and gained a bit more momentum with each change. I always thought Coach Birie was pretty competitive at Loras, but if I remember right people were glad he retired. Be careful what you wish for?

Luther and BV both used to be talked about in the top 3 when I started watching Central football. That was a long time ago! Back when William Penn and Upper Iowa were in the conference. Do we still all play Luther next year, but not as a conference game or is tomorrow the end?

[Fannosaurus Rex]

Will be getting to Dubuque about 11am tomorrow.  Mrs Doolittle thinks it would be better to stay home and put up Halloween decorations than risk sitting through the predicted rain tomorrow.  Not sure how many of our kids will be there.  They're all in Dubuque but not sure about job schedules and what not. 

So since it was 2010 for the last victory in the series for Loras...

There's a man sitting on a park bench with his dog.  Another man sits down and says "hey, does your dog do any tricks?"
The man with the dog says sure, watch this.  "Hey Rusty, UD beat Loras in football"  the dog then does a back flip.
The other man says wow! What does your dog do if Loras beats UD?
The man with the dog says "I don't know, my dog is only 14 years old!"

How do I dislike a post Pat?

Don't "dislike." Fire back. Tell the story about the guy who walked into a bar with a crocodile. He says, "do you serve alums from the University of Dubuque in here? The bar tender says, "of course we do." So the guy says, "good. I'll have a beer and my friend will have a UD grad."

[Schipper Strong]

Central up 42-6 over Luther at the half. Wartburg and Simpson are tied at the half. What the what?

[Schipper Strong]

Central plays the entire second half with subs on offense and defense and leaves Decorah letting Luther feel good about a big comeback in the second half. The announcer talks about the points Luther is able to score against a defense that shut out a ranked team last week. Not quite, but you did get one score against them in the first half.

Simpson played a great game against Wartburg down by only 7 at the two minute warning before giving up an insurance score.

UD And Loras closer than I thought.

[doolittledog]

Had a great time in Dubuque yesterday.  Great time tailgating before the game, the final score of the game was a little too close for comfort.  Had a great time talking football and about life in general with DriftlessDuhawk afterwards.  Then we were off to our typical post game fun at the Dog House.  Suspect my kids stayed there well after we tapped out and headed home!

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Duhawks came up just short for what just now feels inevitable in this game each year. Loras jumped out to a 14-0 lead, the first time they have led ud by 2 scores in the last decade, only to give it all away and be down 27-17 at halftime. The defense looked much better in the second half, but the offense could only muster 10 points. This included 7 plays from inside the 10-yard line with about 6 minutes to go in the game, down by 7, which was just a gut punch. The offense flowed a bit better during the game, but Loras again mustered all of 17 rushing yards. Hopefully, the offense and defense looking a bit better is a good sign of things to come.

Really enjoyed meeting with doolittledog afterward, even though the score was not what I would have wanted. Some great drinks and times were had.

[Schipper Strong]

Tough picks this week. That point spread makes it challenging. Thanks for doing this Driftless. I think Central will try to play a lot of subs if the games goes as most expect, but on an away game they can only go so deep. It may not be enough to stay under the spread.

I may not have expected 20 points in the 4th, but I did call out the possibility of lots of subs and if it would be enough to stay under the spread. Key starters were not playing the second half. Lots of freshmen getting playing time on varsity. Once McMartin commits to subs he would have to feel the game was at risk to change it. He cares more about getting experienced replacements than keeping us in national stats. Yes, it would be nice to have both but this was an opportunity to keep key players healthy and gets reps for the new ones. I liked most of what I saw. There is a bigger difference between first and second string defense than offense. Hoffman is a senior QB and he played well again, but sat out the entire second half. It was nice seeing we have a good freshman option for backup. They kept it simple for his first few series, but when they let him try a few things he came through with a rushing and passing TD.

[doolittledog]

Dubuque leads 16-7 at the half @ Central

A tale of two halves

Central wins 35-16

[Schipper Strong]

I agree a tale of two halves. Remember when I said I am old and cranky and sometimes thought I knew more than the coach? That was halftime.

I don't know more than the coaches, but I do feel like I can read the coach at times. I think McMartin knows how good Mauri is and greatly respects him from years of working together. The defense I thought we were playing early was a prevent defense. We were willing to give up the short passes, but didn't want to be burned. So we gave them short passes up and down the field without ever stopping them. Meanwhile we didn't seem willing to play our game offensively. We wanted to milk the clock and I did not think we would heft a first down until the second half.

The second half we played our game better.

[doolittledog]

I just saw a tweet a UD player is in critical condition with a head injury. Did this happen in the game? I only followed live stats on here