FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[robertgoulet]

Everyone predicted a defensive battle, right?

[CarollFan]

3rd NCC turnover leads to TD and UWRF with 24-14 lead in 4rth. They said something early on about UWRF D having the most take always in college, I believe.

[CarollFan]

Announcers questioning NCC not punting on 4rth and 22 from their own 37.
About 6 minutes left.

[CarollFan]

UWRF passed on 3 FG's in second half.

[robertgoulet]

NCC can't win in Canton apparently!

Congrats to UWRF!

[CarollFan]

Congrats to UWRF.

The first turnover seemed to change the early momentum NCC had. NCC's offense in 2nd half seemed out of sync.

[GusD]

Halftime NCC 14-10

Not as high scoring so far as people expected.

NCC with 2 turnovers.
Should they have gone for FG at end of half?

There was enough time for a quick throw into the end zone and then a FG if the pass was incomplete. But not THAT throw. 🤯
I think the Cardinals have reached their limit as far as allowable turnovers. Any more and chances for a 4th national championship will be severely diminished.

And there you have it.
Turn out the lights, the party's over. ☹️

* Fabulous game by River Falls

[Nate Riley]

We can talk about the TOs and we can talk about NCC being out of sync. The bottom line is UWRF was the better team tonight. Especially when it mattered most in the second half.
When was the last time our cards have been shutout in a half? We were out coached and we were outplayed. RF was better on offense and defense. They had the best player and the best team on this day. In the words of KGB, "He beat me straight up. Pay that man his monies!"

[robertgoulet]

One thing that completely missed me when I was thinking about this matchup was that Wilson is in his 1st season as starting QB, is only a true sophomore and has not really been tested for more than 1/2 a game. Should have expected some growing pains, I guess.

Going to take a look at the NCC 2 deep and see what they lose going into next year, at some point.

[NCC2010]

Congrats to UWRF! Great game plan and execution, deserved the win and the trophy!

Tough one for the Cardinals...difference in the game was obviously losing the turnover battle 3-0.  I thought the defense played exceptionally well.  Offense...Wilson just never seemed comfortable after the zone read fumble going into to possibly make it 14-0.  This is basically what he looked like against WashU, made one early turnover and then lost confidence and kept trying to make up for it which lead to more turnovers.  The pick into the endzone before the half just cant happen, I assume the coaches told him not to throw it unless absolutely wide open.  The last pick was just a great play by the UWRF defensive lineman, kudos to him.


Also, this had no outcome on the result whatsoever but how was the field in such poor shape? Guys were slipping all over the place, especially in the redzone and near the sidelines.  The athletes deserved a better playing surface for the biggest game of the season.

[Ralph Turner]

One thing that completely missed me when I was thinking about this matchup was that Wilson is in his 1st season as starting QB, is only a true sophomore and has not really been tested for more than 1/2 a game. Should have expected some growing pains, I guess.

Going to take a look at the NCC 2 deep and see what they lose going into next year, at some point.

The earlier portal comment made me think. In D1 CFP, depth chart changes via the portal are the name of the game. How many players across D3 decide to access the portal in hopes of "moving up"?

[DriftlessDuhawk]

I have the utmost respect for Coach Spenser as I think he's the best coach in the division. But man the TO usage and the way he fumbled the clock management to end the first half were not good. It looked like a guy who hasn't had a lot of end of half opportunities/didn't know how to use his TOs effectively when losing late. You just can't use a TO down two scores to get an offensive play call right. All of those TOs need to be saved for when the other team gets the ball back. And it looked like NCC was so worried about not giving UWRF the ball back before the half that they forgot to try to score themselves.  This is an issue of NCCs success for sure as they are not in many 4th quarter games. But I would think a guy might want to look into that over the summer instead of planning out practice plans for the two weeks before the Stagg Bowl.

[CHUBBS PETERSON]

I have the utmost respect for Coach Spenser as I think he's the best coach in the division. But man the TO usage and the way he fumbled the clock management to end the first half were not good. It looked like a guy who hasn't had a lot of end of half opportunities/didn't know how to use his TOs effectively when losing late. You just can't use a TO down two scores to get an offensive play call right. All of those TOs need to be saved for when the other team gets the ball back. And it looked like NCC was so worried about not giving UWRF the ball back before the half that they forgot to try to score themselves.  This is an issue of NCCs success for sure as they are not in many 4th quarter games. But I would think a guy might want to look into that over the summer instead of planning out practice plans for the two weeks before the Stagg Bowl.

Noticed all this too; reminded of a schoolyard bully who just got punched in the face for the first time and didn't answer the bell after that. The NCC players' collective response to second half adversity was a let down, but the coaching staff appeared to handle it no better. That said, probably just means they'll boat race everybody on the way to another title next year...LOL.

Picked the wrong night to have a collective nightmare; it happens. As a Bethel fan and alum, it was frustrating because the NCC team last night bore so little resemblance to the one that deservedly beat us. Oh well...

Funny how often games that go this way flip in the second half. NCC was on top enough to be ahead as much as 28-10 at half, but at 14-10 with a player like Blaha on the other side the game was primed for a momentum flip and that's how it went. Thought the NCC plan to slow the pace of the game made tons of sense, but the side effect of that is it puts an even greater premium on getting points on each good drive. With the way NCC mashed the ball in the first half, getting shut out in the second half seemed all but impossible.

Happy for all associated with Falcon Football and those that love it! Cheers particularly to Fred!

[Marmac]

One thing that completely missed me when I was thinking about this matchup was that Wilson is in his 1st season as starting QB, is only a true sophomore and has not really been tested for more than 1/2 a game. Should have expected some growing pains, I guess.

Going to take a look at the NCC 2 deep and see what they lose going into next year, at some point.

It's really challenging to win a Stagg Bowl without a seasoned QB. Lehnen didn't win a title until his 3rd academic year. Wilson is in his 2nd academic year while Blaha is in his 6th. Experience matters a lot. I hope Wilson won't be too hard on himself, as he had an excellent season overall and has great potential. NCC's wide receiving corps lacked depth and (outside of Skokna) explosiveness. It will be a big question mark in the fall, with Skokna and Rummell graduating. Maybe Ashiru can convert to WR.

[CCIWFan69]

On to 2026.... do we have 2 non-conference games this year?  Anything scheduled yet?  Is Wheaton playing Mount Union again and is NCC playing Oshkosh again?