Quote from: lumbercat on October 23, 2024, 09:27:21 PMI'm a distant but long time observer of Athletics at both Purple schools. From the bleachers I will say I've always felt a different vibe when attending random Football, Basketball and Baseball games at Amherst and Williams over the last 35 years.
Williams is a much more friendly and supportive Athletic environment.
Seems like there is often a distraction at Amherst or some counter group(s) that just isn't totally supportive of athletics and specifically Football.
Reminds me of Bowdoin in that regard.


The Williams administrative and academic community seems to embrace Athletics as great supplement to the overall student experience. They seem less intimidated by Athletics and helmet sports  which, to me, is the litmus test of a school with truly open and diverse offerings for the students as a whole.

I have written about my son's choice to attend Williams over Amherst in this forum before, but Lumber I think you hit the nail on the head.  Williams embraces athletics as part of the overall college experience, from the coaches, to the administration/faculty, and students. 

Quote from: lumbercat on October 13, 2024, 11:12:33 AMTough times at Amherst. On paper and under the eye test they have clearly not had quality players for the last 2-3 years in my estimation. Such a departure from the past when they were usually loaded especially at the skill positions.

No doubt they actually would have been worse in the last few years if Mills was not there. If they switched Head Coaches with their arch rival Ephs they would be worse off too.

I'm not close to the situation but Mills must be going out of his tree. He's not a guy that will tolerate a losing program following many fine years in the great Amherst tradition. I don't understand what looks to be an overflow of apathy in Amherst as the Ephs outperform. EJ will probably keep "The Game" somewhat respectable this year though they will be big underdogs again.
 
Maybe the best thing for the program would be for the sleepy administration to sustain a big time blowout in "The Game"---something like 42-10.  Maybe that might wake them up to the fact that Williams is doing a far better job with their Football program and maybe in athletics as a whole.

Mills is a very good coach, but not a good recruiter.  He over-relies on the prestige of Amherst to do the work for him.  More than 2-3 years ago, my son (who went on to become an ALL-NESCAC player) had offers between Amherst and Williams.  Amherst was clearly in the poll position for my son's interest, but Mills barely remembered him when sat down in his office.  And in our previous visit, Mills and his regional recruiter did not show up and we had to wait for a last minute replacement to give us a tour. 

Meanwhile Raymond and Company were aggressively recruiting him.  It was no surprise when he decided to play for Williams (and eventually start on the 2021 undefeated team). 

Simply put, Mills does not have the hustle and organization to recruit well.  And several recent losing seasons will not help him. 

Quote from: nescac1 on October 13, 2024, 09:17:54 AMAnother really tough loss for Williams vs. Middlebury.  In the last five games v. Midd, there has been one blow out each direction and Williams has lost three very winnable games by a total of eight combined points.  Midd loses an absolutely loaded senior class this year which no Eph fan will be sad to see leave.  The Ephs just could not get off the field on several critical third and fourth and longs yesterday, the brutal one being a fourth and eight conversion that Midd converted very late in the game in its own territory with two guys bearing down on the Midd QB.  The teams were dead even in every way but in the OT a very conservative Eph offense got stymied at the five and Midd ran in it and that was the difference.

For Williams, Owen McHugh had a mostly good day but threw two critical interceptions on ill-advised deep passes into a lot of traffic.  The Ephs could not connect on the long ball all day (including a few drops of very tough but potentially catchable balls) but were doing great in the short and intermediate passing game, and I think the Ephs went a bit TOO conservative late in the game after the two interceptions and should have tried a bit more to mix it up with a short, safe passing to Bobo, Kennedy, and especially Johansen, who seems to catch everything thrown his way. The offense late in the second half and overtime was basically all Mario "Overrated" Fischetti, who had 131 yards on 19 carries despite being the focus of the defense, and added some nice punt returns as well. 

For Williams, Ivan Shuran had an incredible day with five field goals including a 43-yarder, but that of course reflected a lot of missed opportunities for a Williams offense that moved the ball at will between the 20s but struggled to figure out a plan in the red zone.  The Ephs had a ton of missed opportunities inside the 20. 

The Williams defense had a fairly rough day overall, didn't give up a ton of big plays but also didn't make enough of their own.  Williams started FIVE FY players (don't go by the participation report which listed on both sides of the ball several injured players as starters) as a lot of guys continue to be out with injuries on the defensive side of the ball, and the lack of experience showed especially on the first drive of the game.  The defensive line was not as stout as it typically is against the run and definitely missed all-conference DE Cam Smith.  Jack Wallace, Zakkai Moore, Will Gale (who's just a monster up front) and Ethan Scott (definitely the Ephs' defensive MVP this year) all made some standout individual plays, and Calvin Pedetella was a tackling machine, but the D forced no turnovers, got torched up the middle against the run through the entire second half in particular, and accrued as many roughing the passer penalties as sacks (one of each).  I think the secondary actually held up pretty well today after totally losing Vashel on the first drive of the game, guys were generally pretty well covered, but Moran had too much time to throw and Midd's very impressive FY back Connor McClellan absolutely torched Williams all day.  He's gonna be a keeper, big, shifty, and explosive, by far their most effective TB.

Vashel and Jamin both had good days for Midd offensively as well, although McClellan was their POTG.  Ozolin picked off McHugh twice and Kenary, Stola and Shaw also had strong days. The Ephs did a nice job on Filias.  The Midd defense was not great especially against the run but they did a good job of bending and not breaking stopping third down plays just short over and over again in the red zone. 

Hopefully the Ephs rebound with three of the next four games at home.  And hopefully some of the missing defensive players start to return from injury.  Williams needs to be focused on defense from the opening snap and obviously better vs. the run against Bates. 

Could not have written it better - agree

Been meaning to do this for a while - ranking the NESCAC tailgate locations from a visitor perspective with 3 key criteria: 1) proximity to the field 2) availability of parking and 3) quality of the location.

1. Middlebury - right next to the field, easy parking, great views and on grass.
2. Williams
3. Hamilton
4. Colby
5. Amherst
6. Tufts
7. Bowdoin
8. Trinity
9. Bates
10. Wesleyan  - long walk to the field and limited parking

Looking forward to the start of the NESCAC season!  And already seeing some rankings.  So here are my rankings of the top NESCAC football stadiums/venues.  FWIW, I have been to all of them at least twice.  One of the key components for a good ranking is the absence of a track around the field:

1. Williams - best elevated stands for the visitors with great mountain views
2. Middlebury - no stands for the visitors (among 3 in the conference), but great mountain views
3. Wesleyan - worst actual playing field in the conference, but being surrounded by academic buildings makes it unique
4. Bowdoin - gotta love that grandstand
5. Hamilton
6. Bates
7. Amherst
8. Trinity
9. Tufts
10. Colby - worst visitor stands in the league.  Need to be on the top row to see anything

Quote from: nescac1 on September 06, 2024, 05:45:55 PMMiraculously, Williams has updated a good number of positions and heights and weights on its roster.  Although I don't THINK DL Ryan Levault is 5'5 245! But a few of the QBs are now listed at other positions. 

I expect the Ephs to be very big in the trenches on both sides. My guess is that the DL will start seniors Smith, Vilfort, and Osayimwen, who go 6'4 260, 6'1 275, and and 6'1 285, with a very experienced back-up group behind them.  I know the Ephs always go with a 3-4, but DL seems a lot more stacked than LB (after Scott and Landolfi, a bunch of guys in the mix but no sure things) and I wonder if they will consider mixing up the alignments to get more DL on the field. 

On the OL, 6'3 295 Tartaglia, 6'5 280 Forth, and 6'6 305 Ngnombouowo are veteran returning starters.  Other returning vets who should challenge for time are 6'4 275 Takvor, 6'2 275 Sheskey, 6'3 285 Maguire (injured all last year after playing as a FY), and 6'2 290 Shames.  And perhaps some of the MASSIVE FY group who seem fairly highly touted get an early shot. 

Oh and to respond to an earlier comment I was not trying to suggest that for Williams to be validated or have a successful season they need to go 9-0 and even 8-1. Notwithstanding legit questions about offensive explosiveness, I do think the team has enough talent to get into the 6-7 win range, and I think that would be a very successful season.  But at a minimum, anything less than 5-4 would be a disappointing year with such a veteran group up front on both sides of the ball.   

It's very possible that the Williams defense may line up with a 4-3 vs. 3-4 given that they are stacked on the DL and light on LBs (something unthinkable in prior years)

Kossick is now back in his hometown of Ridgewood, NJ.  The same hometown of Eph LB Coleston Smith and committed Eph Cameron Smith.

About 75% of seniors (and juniors + sophomores) at Williams have deferred at least a semester to hold on to their eligibility, whereas about 75% of the overall student body has returned to Wtown to take classes.   Correspondingly the Ephs  '25 recruiting class will be smaller than previous years- around 15 commits.

Which begs the question if the same thing is going on at Bowdoin.  I can see why some Polar Bear players may not defer, given their record, but Hammer may not have much more than 14 tips anyway.

Heard that about 75% of current Williams players will defer fall semester to play another year.   So their next season may have still many of the top seniors like Maimaron.   Have to think that will restrict this year's recruiting class size somewhat.  Maybe they take 15 recruits give or take a few.

Yes, I think that is the key question now - will there be a fall sports schedule?  One option may be that all of the athletes are tested upon return to school and in advance of each game.  This presumes, of course, that tests are readily available and that the NCAA has some guidelines developed.  Very possible that fans would not be allowed or only limited seating with social distancing would be available with the push for everyone else to watch the games on NSN.

Quote from: Nescacman on November 29, 2019, 12:18:31 PM
Questions for the Ephs going into 2020:


Will HCOF Raymond be back for another year?

Why would Raymond leave?   Yes, he has turned the program around, but 3rd place is not exactly optimal.  And where would he go?   

Williams has its own weekly football show: https://vimeo.com/361888366

Do other Nescac schools have something similar?

Also - great video just released on YouTube for Ephs fans:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdmkYjmpO_w

Quote from: harlequinfarm on August 25, 2019, 06:17:07 PM
Beautiful evening in Willytown last night.  They had a fine bbq dinner for the young men and their families, out on the lawn behind the stands.  What a wonderful welcome to the entire football family, and a family it is. 

We are blessed to be in the local area (by Nescac standards).  A couple of families were in from afar, and returning there shortly.  If they are like us, they have been at their son's every game his whole life.  Now, he's 1000 miles away and some of the games, they just aren't going to be there. That's a gut punch to be sure.

Our extended family, unfortunately, will be following along from a distance, too. 

What are the best options for remote people to stay on top of games?

Agree, it was a delightful night in Williytown on Saturday.   The BBQ was great, but too short - so many people to see. 

The new Williams Inn, BTW, is fantastic.

Re staying in touch, get the NSN (Northeast Sports Network) app for streaming.   If you do not have it readily available, you can get it with an Amazon Fire stick.  All NESCAC FB games are broadcast via NSN

Was Reinkemeyer a scholarship player?    Based on his size, he looks like he may have been a walk on.  And the "Ordinary People" town of Lake Forest is more in line with Middlebury than Champaign.

I think Raymond  may be secretive about divulging who his players are for scouting purposes.  Last year the rosters came out only a few days before the beginning of the season.    On the weekly Williams Football TV show, Raymond rarely provides details on their game plans or schemes.