FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[nccfac]

I, too, was surprised that the Titan D didn't play better.  I don't blame only Norm and I surely didn't mean to imply that the outcome would have been greatly different had Gallik been healthy.  But, surely the Titan O would have played better, been on the field longer, perhaps kept the NCC O off the field a bit more, esp. in the early blitz period of the 1st quarter.  But, basically this was a blow-out, as Ypsi and several others predicted.  I think Tyler Hook will be a good QB in future.  Sad to see him have this kind of rude introduction, but that's life in the CCIW at the obvious top program in NCC.  Have to wonder what kind of "state of mind" and confidence the Titans had going into this one . . . as they seemed not to be ready to compete at all in the early going.  Many D errors, plays where there seemed to be no defensive player in the area, in the proper positiion.  I give NC all its due with its powerful offense, tremendous speed, and excellent coaching, but surely hoped the Titans would give a better effort than this pasting.

Guess it's best to just try to forget this one, move on quickly and get ready for Augie next week and the important final game with ECC.  Hope the Titans can pull it back together and play for pride, for 2nd place in the CCIW.  Seems not much more to play for now, as 8-2 will not likely get you to the post-season this year.  EC will have much more to play for if they are going for 9-1 and winning out for a post-season berth.

Disappointing. 

IWU70

I agree that I thought the Titan defense would be stronger, but from the opening drive they never gave much resistance. As far as Tyler Hook goes, I think he has a bright future. He was running for his life most plays or trying to setup in the pocket. He had a number of passes dropped by his receivers and would have helped to keep his team on the field a little longer (or more). A tough situation to start against the top team in your conference, but he showed the ability and pose that will make better with experience. I also noted that the usual 4 - 3 defense NCC plays was often switched to a 3 - 4 probably just to confuse the freshman.

[ncc58]

I thought IWU would be a tougher opponent. I did think that North Central needed a 30 point win to send a message to the CCIW and the other teams in D3. It took NCC two plays to score, and had 3 TDs in 8 minutes. The IWU defense wasn't able to slow down NCC, until the score reached 38-0.

Congrats to Joey Michals on his interception return for a TD. He's been a solid player for four years and is a first class person.

Wheaton is next.  Ding. Ding. Ding.

Josh Mitchell was looking to the WR challenges against IWU and Wheaton. He's passed one test, now Hiben is next.

[bluejay4ever]

Wow.  UWW goes down, again, to a 1-6 UW Stevens Point, 17-14.  UWSP blocked a 47 yd FG try with about a minute left.

Congrats to Point. I believe former Jays head man Journel is leading them now. Hopefully a win they can build their program on

[bluejay4ever]

I attended the game today in Elmhurst and I give North Park credit for playing hard and coming up with a couple stops in the first half keeping the score close. Although it was obvious the jays could really do what they wanted when they wanted against them though. I hope their streak ends soon as the guys on that team deserve to see hard work pay off and get the monkey off their back.

That being said it looks like my Jays really do control their destiny down the stretch. I already can't wait until next week to see what the next chapter unfolds. I do not remember an Elmhurst team with 8 wins in my lifetime.

Go Jays and congrats to this weeks winners.

[NCF]

I thought IWU would be a tougher opponent. I did think that North Central needed a 30 point win to send a message to the CCIW and the other teams in D3. It took NCC two plays to score, and had 3 TDs in 8 minutes. The IWU defense wasn't able to slow down NCC, until the score reached 38-0.

Congrats to Joey Michals on his interception return for a TD. He's been a solid player for four years and is a first class person.

Wheaton is next.  Ding. Ding. Ding.

Josh Mitchell was looking to the WR challenges against IWU and Wheaton. He's passed one test, now Hiben is next.

I'll 2nd that.

[CardinalAlum]

Hiben is at a whole different level.   Better get ready! 

[NCF]

Hiben is at a whole different level.   Better get ready!

They'll be ready!

[blue_jays]

You do realize that no one in Division 3 can cover Hiben one-on-one. Mitchell is gonna need help on double coverage all day, which I'm sure will happen. NCC is gonna roll everyone in CCIW by 20+ points anyhow. Only Elmhurst has a shot now at getting a Pool C.

[blue_jays]

And BTW, why do [a couple prognosticators on this site] keep picking North Central to lose a CCIW game these days in their weekly predictions? They've owned the CCIW pretty much lock, stock and barrel since 2008 and aren't getting weaker...

Edited

[Patrick Coleman]

And BTW, why do Pat, Keith and others keep picking North Central to lose a CCIW game these days in their weekly predictions? They've owned the CCIW pretty much lock, stock and barrel since 2008 and aren't getting weaker...

You should reconsider whether my name belongs on that list.

[matblake]

Ding. Ding. Ding.

It's going to be fun to watch the Thunder ring that bell again.

[Titan Q]

Looking towards the Wheaton @ North Central game...

When you consider that Wheaton has played extremely tight games with IWU and Elmhurst (splitting those two games), while North Central has defeated IWU 52-0 and Elmhurst 44-10, there just isn't much reason to think that Wheaton has a great shot to win this game.  I do realize it's an intense rivalry, but here are the results of that intense rivalry the last four years:

2011 - North Central 33 Wheaton 7 (Naperville)
2010 - North Central 28 Wheaton 6 (Wheaton)
2009 - North Central 27 Wheaton 7 (Naperville)
2008 - North Central 44 Wheaton 21 (Wheaton)

North Central has now won 21 consecutive CCIW games by 14+ points -- they are completely in a league of their own.  If Wheaton is going to win Saturday in Naperville it will have to be in an enormous upset.

Early line: Wheaton +18.5

[NCF]

Ding. Ding. Ding.

It's going to be fun to watch the Thunder ring that bell again.

Yea, someday it will happen again, but not this year!

[NCF]

It"s Wheatie Week!  Fire away!

[Langhorst_Ghost]

EC gets it done again.  Certainly not one that the EC faithful will want to frame and hang over the mantle, but a win's a win - and the 'Jays move to 7-1.  Vikes played with good effort, and i give them credit for battling, but the talent gap is between the two programs is incredibly wide - even on a down day for the EC Offense, the 'Jays were just too much.

'Jays continue to control their own destiny as there are 6 other coaching staffs in the CCIW that would switch spots in the standings with Coach Letser and his crew if given the chance.  EC guarantees another winning record in conference play with their 4th CCIW victory and will look to tie the school record for total wins in a season (8) next week in Kenosha.

Big boost for the D Saturday to right the ship and build some confidence moving forward with a shut-out.  Granted, NPU was last in the CCIW in most offensive categories, but the 'Jays hold the Vikes to 100 yards less than their season average and take the ball away 3 more times (that's +16 turnover margin for the year if you are scoring at home).  2nd teamers and youngsters carried most of the 4th quarter for the 'Jays on D and held their own - that's certainly a positive sign.

To be noted, and a topic that has not really been recognized by those outside of the program thus far this season, is the resolve of the EC Defense.  While it's easy to see the box score and make assumptions, the reality is that the 'Jays have been banged up all year long on D.  For all the injury excuses made for Wheaton and Wesleyan over the course of the season, few have noticed the training room trips for the 'Jays.  5 fall camp starters have been out for the better part of the season, and only 6 defensive players have started all 8 games.  The defensive line has been decimated, and the coaching staff has had to convert two or three offensive lineman into regular D-line contributors - learning on the fly (in fact, All-Region OG, Stamos, was on the field at nose for the last drive of the Wheaton game).  With a combination of freshmen, offensive defectors, and a few steady regulars, the D has battled through.  Proud of those guys.

It's a Great Day to be a Jay!