With the beginning of October on the horizon you can take certain things for granted this time of year. First of all, bet on your gas bill spiking as the weather drops below 50. Secondly, my Chicago Cubs not participating in the playoffs after
another disappointing season (Quade needs to go by the way, but that's a little off topic). And finally, WIAC's conference play will kick off on October 1st, as teams begin to jockey for position early in the standings. This will actually be Platteville's and La Crosse's second game since they opened up against each other last week.
The match up that most interests me this week is
La Crosse (0-3, 0-1) hosting
Stevens Point (2-1, 0-0). These are two big named programs in the WIAC that probably haven't start the season they way they wanted to.
Stevens Point Pointers
Point started the season ranked 23rd team in the D3football.com poll. Despite losing a lot of talent from last season expectations were high this season for the Pointers. Many thought Point would once again be
that team that challenges Whitewater for the top spot in the WIAC. Or at very least separate itself from the rest of pack as the solid No. 2 team, which would put itself in prime position for a Pool C bid. Despite being 2-1 it has been a hard-fought start for the Pointers and its offense. After making the long trip to Willamette, they were able to escape with a 8-6 defensive-battle win. Stevens Point then came home for their home opener against Platteville, a team that typically finishes at the bottom half of the conference.The Poineers had no business winning this game (on paper at least), but came into Goerke Field and lit up Point 26-3 in this "non-conference" matchup. Now, all of a sudden things were looking kind of bleak for the coach Miech's squad. They barely beat an unraked Willamette team, then got embarrassed at home by what-was-suppose-to-be a weaker Platteville team. Worst of all, in two games, they had yet to score a touch down. Finally, in week three, their offense was able to find the end zone and beat a winless Albion team 14-3, in Albion. With conference play starting, Point will undoubtedly HAVE to get their offense clicking to compete. They will have a great opportunity to do so as they open up their WIAC season on the road against a winless La Crosse team.
La Crosse Eagles
The Eagles are a team in transition. After his first full year as Athletic Director,
Josh Whitman, was forced to replace
head football coach Larry Terry, who announced his retirement after 11 seasons with the Eagles. Whitman handed the keys over to Joel Dettwiler, previously an assistant coach at Wartburg College. Dettwiler then did some hiring of his own by adding three new assistant coaches under him. Since 2006, this once very prominent football program has yet to finish at or above .500 in conference play. So needless to say some serious change were in order, and that's exactly what happened. They even built a new stadium last year (which is very nice from what I've heard). So far into the season Dettwiler has ran into some growing pains as head coach as he's off to a 0-3 start. However, you want to talk about being thrown to the wolves? How about Dettwiler's first duty as head football coach: Open up against a pair of top five teams, Whitewater and Mary Hardin-Baylor.....aka. murderer's row. I dare anyone to show me a tougher non-conference schedule, if so then I'll eat my shoe. Then after a much needed bye week to catch their breath, the Eagles dropped a gut-wrenching game (17-14) at Platteville to start its WIAC season. After the rough start the Eagles find themselves beginning a three-game home stand, which begins against a very vulnerable Point team. This is a great opportunity for Dettwiler to get his first win under his belt, in an attempt to return this program to glory.....one game at a time.
Other games around the WIAC:
Eau Claire Blugolds (2-1, 0-0) @
Stout Blue Devils (2-1, 0-0)
For a team that predicates its program on very tight defense, there's no doubt that Stout is extremely eager to get back on the field and prove to everyone they are better than its 56-10 mortifying loss at home against Oshkosh last Thursday. The only good thing that came out from that game for Stout, is that it didn't count in the WIAC standings. It's tough to tell how good Stout is because its two other games were against non-DIII schools. The Blugolds is a team I think will turn some heads in the WIAC this season after going 2-5 in conference play last year. They had a very impressive win earlier in the year at St. John's, 47-19. Even though St. John's program seems to be on the decline, nobody goes into Collegeville and smacks them around like that. Their only loss was on the road to a scholarship offering Bethel (Tenn.) team.
Platteville Pioneers (3-1, 1-0) @
Whitewater Warhawks (3-0, 0-0)
The "first place" (when was the last time that was said???) Platteville Pioneers has to be the surprise team in the WIAC so far. Their only loss has came at home against a top 10 Wheaton team. In fact, the Pioneers were leading that game at the end of the first quarter (7-0), and were only down 13-7 to start the fourth before Wheaton went on to win 23-14. They will have more than their hands full this week against the top ranked Warhawks. Whitewater has only lost one conference game since 2004 (Stevens Point). As expected Whitewater has been taking care of business in it first three games. Its offense is averaging over 41 points per game, while the defense has been giving up an average of seven.
River Falls Falcons (0-3, 0-0) @
Oshkosh Titans (2-1, 0-0)
On paper unfortunately this a game doesn't match well at all for River Falls. Oshkosh is a high powered offense (just ask Stout), while the Falcons have been surrendering an average of 41+ points per game. In River Falls defense they have had a tough non-conference schedule in playing two ranked teams (St. Thomas and at Trine) to start the season. Then followed by a trip to Eau Claire which resulted in a 38-17 defeat. Their offense revolves around one of the most explosive running backs in the WIAC in Taylor Edwards. But like the three previous games, it probably won't be enough. Oshkosh is my other team that I think will give a serious run for a Pool C bid. Their only loss came against Mount Union, in Aliance a few weeks ago. The only way I can see UWRF winning this game is if Oshkosh gets caught looking ahead when they travel to Eau Claire next week.
Best of luck to all teams, and here's to everyone staying healthy......cheers!
Starting in 2009, each year, Stout and Eau Claire play for the rights to hoist up the War on 94 Trophy. This rivallry hangs its hat on the two school's close proximity of each other. It's less than a 30-mile drive that seperates these two universities, right down I-94. So far the Blue Devils have won each of the first two meetings heading into Saturday's game. So....if Stout would win again Saturday would they be considered "Road Hogs" then??? Sorry, I told this blog wouldn't be immune to bad jokes. 
Even though this has nothing to do with the WIAC, I felt obligated to include this story on this blog post. Mostly because the trophy looks like something you'll find hanging in my father-in-law's garage. Every year, for the past 23 years, Case Western Reserve and Wooster have battled it out for the covenant Baird Brothers Trophy. The trophy dates back to 1984 when Bob Baird, a professor at Case, and his brother Bill Baird, a professor at Wooster, came up with the idea. The winner of the game keeps the stringer for the year, and then adds a new fish to it for that year's contest. Each added fish represents how that year's game was played out, with the score and winner engraved on the side. The original fish is a four-inch blue gill symbolizing the narrow last second Case victory, 21-14. A big northern pike denotes the Spartans 37-0 victory over the Scots in 1985. Other fish included are a flounder, a carp, a walleye, a catfish, a rainbow trout, a sturgeon, a sucker, a crappie, a muskie, a sheepshead, a gar, a large-mouth bass and a small-mouth bass. So far Wooster holds a slim 13-10 game advantage in the series. The 24th game of the series will be played on 10/24.
