FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

The Titans will be without starting QB Kraig Ladd (bruised throwing hand) again today.  It's quite a luxury to have a backup as capable as junior Brien Rooney.

[FormerCard]

Wheaton and North Central should fear IWU in coming weeks.  Their defense was suffocating.  And we all know what defense does for you!!!

I doubt either team is that concerned with IWU's defenese today.   Maybe the week before we play them, we will look at their film, but fear is not the word that comes to my mind...more like...be prepared for their defense.

[robertgoulet]

7-7 at half in Naperville. Both offenses kept under wraps so far.

[Titan Q]

Final:

IWU 20
Elmhurst 7


The Titans move to 3-1 (all 3 wins coming on the road) with three to play...

vs North Central
vs Wheaton
@ North Park


Would like to have that Millikin game back.

IWU's defense has been outstanding.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Final:

IWU 20
Elmhurst 7


The Titans move to 3-1 (all 3 wins coming on the road) with three to play...

vs North Central
vs Wheaton
@ North Park


Would like to have that Millikin game back.

That's for sure - though it likely won't matter.

If we win out (a mighty big IF), we get the AQ anyway.

(But without that stumble, 2 wins would probably mean a Pool C; now it's almost certainly AQ or stay home.)

[Mr. Ypsi]

One VERY worrisome thing for the Titans.  Their kicker was 0-2 on PATs and 0-2 on FGs (and 2-8 for the year).  That WILL cost them a game sooner-or-later.

Surely there must be a reserve soccer player who could do better!

[NCC.2008]

This game is not even close ncc dominates both sides of ball 27-7

[robertgoulet]

Final

NCC 27
WC 7

[New Tradition]

If you don't know it by now...

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Decatur:

Millikin 35
NPU 7

[AndOne]

The Thunder was silenced today in Naperville. A thorough beat down by the Cardinals in all phases of the game.

I think the Cards have had a chip on their shoulders since their opening game loss, and that helped carry them to the victory today. Also, while the competition hasn't been the strongest since that opening game I think they were frustrated at their inability to attract more votes in the weekly polls despite the mind boggling number of points they posted which was surely suggestive of what probably should have been a higher ranking than #13.
Lastly, it should be emphasized that the Cardinals not only won today, but beat one of the best teams in the country without their preseason 1st team All-American linebacker, 2nd team preseason All-American DB, and the overall leading rusher in the CCIW. I think they may have also been missing another starter or 2. All in all, a very impressive showing by the NCC Cardinals. Ring The Bell!

[izzy stradlin]

The three most important parts of a football team to me are the o-line, d-line and quarterback play.  North Central showed they have the edge on Wheaton in all three, making them clearly the better team.  I don't think there is too much else to take away from today's game.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Final from Rock Island:

Augie 42
Carthage 20

[Wags]

No "Homecoming Spoiler" in Naperville today! 

Congrats to NCC on another "bell" ringing game!

[Mugsy]

Well I was essentially right on how many points I thought NCC would score, I even gave them an extra point.  With the loss of Wenger and Sulo, I thought Wheaton had a chance if they could hold NCC to 28 points.  What I did not expect was how well NCC played on defense.  The Wheaton D played a very good first half, but gave up nearly 300 yards in the 2nd half.  Ouch!  

Coming into the season I thought NCC was clearly the best team in the CCIW and definitely the team to beat.  I thought Wheaton had some very solid players returning, particularly on offense.  With the nature of the injuries to NCC and the apparent maturation of the Wheaton defense, I thought it might be possible for Wheaton to give NCC a surprise.  My pick was mostly from my heart... my head was telling me NCC was probably a better team.  Turned out to be true...

Hats off to NCC.  Scary to think what they would have done if Wenger and Sulo were healthy.   Norris started off 5-6 for 63 yards, but then went 7-21 for 48 yards the rest of the way.  6 sacks?  Wow...

I also said in my "keys to the game" post that 2nd half adjustments in this game over the past 5 years have proven huge.  Today... 7-7 game with a Norris INT on the NCC 4 yard line to keep Wheaton from a half time lead. 2nd half... Wheaton virtually no offense, NCC nearly 300 yards.

What has worried me all year with Wheaton has been the inability to establish a potent running attack.  Wheaton's OL has not been getting it done as well this year, and Gingg is just too nicked up. The most dangerous Wheaton teams over the past decade have been the ones with over 250 yards per game through the air, but more importantly they pound you for 230+ yards on the ground.  Wheaton has only been averaging 160 yards on the ground.  That is ok against most teams, but not NCC and other upper echelon teams.  Ironic... it is the NCC offense that exhibits that perfect balance on offense that will prove very, very difficult to beat from here on out.  

Oh yeah... 2 redzone turnovers and the inability to score on 4 downs from the 5 yard line just isn't going to get it done against the likes of NCC.

As much as it pains me to say... the better team won.  <Sigh>  I don't want to have to say that again next year.