Bowdoin OC Layer to Dayton.  Makes some sense as he's from that area, and they just had their first child.  O-Line coach Cochran (who has been with Layer and Hammer for years) is the new OC. 

Quote from: SpringSt7 on December 12, 2021, 03:27:13 PM
Assuming when he says similarly sized rosters he means relative to the field.

Football is also a game of attrition unlike most other sports.  Injuries and roster size makes a massive difference.  Take 2021 Bowdoin for example... Other than QB and LB, every other position saw multiple games with 2nd, 3rd, or (for CB) even the 5th guy in the depth chart playing in critical game situations. 

How many soccer or hockey teams have a great 4th string goalie?

Quote from: JEFFFAN on November 07, 2021, 05:42:32 PM
Love it - only in the NESCAC could 25 be achieved that way, with three missed extra points!!

6 x 4 = 24. 24 + 1 Extra Point = 25

Bates went for 2 once on purpose, had a missed xp and a bad snap that resulted in a missed 2pt.  It made sense when they tried to go for 2 to get a 3 point lead up 25-24 at the end.

Maybe 7 of Costa's incompletions were dropped balls in the flat by the Bates receivers / RBs.  Kinda crazy that the contested deep balls were largely caught, but the underneath check downs were all over the turf (most not on Costa).

Quote from: lumbercat on November 06, 2021, 10:43:53 PM
In the second half Bates made some adjustments and started to chip away. At the end of the day the game was decided by several big plays that Costa was able to pull off.

Two 1-6 teams, I get it, pillow fight etc etc

Costa is a huge playmaker on an undermanned team and the kid is as tough they come.

That Bowdoin missed short FG as time expired for the loss really hurt.  Great last drives by both teams. 

And that is the end of a sloppy one.  Bowdoin can't quite tie it up as Boel throws an INT on the 2 yd line after the Polar Bears recover the onside kick with 1:04 to go.  Middlebury wins 42-35.  Lots of miscues by both teams... there were a combined 5 dropped INTs, Bowdoin had an xp blocked and returned for 2 pts, both teams had several PIs that went uncalled, and not good block protection or eye discipline by either teams' LBs (big holes and/or missed tackles in the backfield that ended up being huge gains). 

Bowdoin had 3 corners go down in the game, including Hugee on the first or second drive, that really made it rough for them to hang with Middlebury's top WR when blitzing. 

Quote from: lumbercat on October 28, 2021, 06:47:14 PM
Nesacac recruiting top to bottom needs to be overhauled. Too easy to manipulate-they should adopt the Ivy system or maybe a hybrid with features from both. Nescac recruiting getting sloppy with all the twitter and social media hi jinks.

I'm not sure where you think the Ivies are somehow not involved with social media, Twitter, and making lots of offers to try to fill their rosters out (even with the band system).  Case in point: the 262 Yale offers for 2021 listed on 247 sports: https://247sports.com/college/yale/Season/2021-Football/Offers/
Columbia: 209
Harvard: 153
Dartmouth: 280

Quote from: VoodooDoc on October 28, 2021, 03:59:56 PM
Charlie
So Bowdoin went crazy with their recruiting?  There certainly seems to be a method to their madness.  The cupboard was pretty much bare, and the coaching staff has done a good job in restocking it with the top running back in the conference and a top notch quarterback not to mention quite a few others.  Perhaps they went crazy for not staying put as a ne'er do well.  With what is already on the team for the next few years, and a new group being added for next season, Bowdoin seems well on the way shedding it role on the bottom rung.

I think some people get confused with how all this works. If you look at the twitter feeds of some of the NESCAC recruits, you'll see a decent number of kids that get offers from 3 to 5 NESCACs... and that might not be counting Tufts (who runs late) or other schools that aren't as active recruiting / advertising via social media.  Top kids (borderline Ivy recruits) likely have their pick of the NESCACs.  With ~25 recruits per class, if you aren't offering at least 75-100 kids, you aren't getting 25.  If you are a coach competing with NESCAC programs that are better academically, financial aid, and/or football-wise, probably more.

This only gets tricky if the coaching staff isn't upfront with the recruits during the process about where they stand and the ultimate slots available (25 - less if they need a TIP based on pre-reads).  Our experience was the NESCAC school coaches all seemed to be extremely open.  Example: "We have 5 slots for X position - we really want you and have 3 guys committed and applied ED, but if we get 2 more guys committing ED from our list, we aren't going to be able to support your application." 

Being aggressive and offering a larger number of kids doesn't have to be impersonal or scattershot, so long as everyone's expectations are managed and communication is clear.

Also, kids a coach recruits, once they arrive on campus, don't have to play football.  There's no 'losing a scholarship'.  We've seen that from several solid recruits or players this past year across the NESCAC.

Quote from: Charlie on October 27, 2021, 05:42:55 PM
Curious on an off topic what is percentage of players who stay on football teams in NESCAC during their four years. In addition which school has the highest attrition rate of players ?  just curious to know peoples opinions and hunches

This is actually an interesting question if you are familiar with D3 football.  Many smaller D3 schools use sports/football as a way to attract students to come to the school in the first place, often having more than 100 freshman football players, who whittle down to ~20-30 by senior year.  One of my son's HS coaches was one of 130 freshman players at a non-NESCAC D3 football program.  By his senior year, I think he said 23 were left on the team (but most were still at the school).

The NESCAC schools don't 'need' sports to attract students that want to go there, so attrition would more likely be due to injury or decisions related to playing time or being able to keep up with the academic workload.

Bowdoin vs Tufts was a game (for Bowdoin) of near misses and costly penalties.  Bowdoin had the chance to put the game away in the first half, but Boel and Pream were just not quite timed up.  3 plays on different drives where Pream had the DB beat for a TD did Boel slightly overthrow him.  Bowdoin extended 3 drives by Tufts with a roughing the kicker (in the end zone...), roughing the passer, and personal foul penalty, all that happened just after or negated great plays by the defense.   You could feel the frustration building and the wind come out of their sails as Tufts capitalized. Ultimately, these mistakes and some timely run stops by Tufts kept their defense on the field way too long. 

Berluti started out rough, but got sharper and sharper as the game went on.  2nd half adjustments by Tufts vs Bowdoin's some defense were highly effective.  Bowdoin got away from the run too fast (despite the yards by Eden, they really weren't running the ball as much as they should.  Credit the Tufts LBs for making good plays on Eden when it mattered, and Tufts outside run game for negating Bowdoin's 3-3-5 stunting defense, which is way better against inside run.

Another missed FG for Bowdoin (0 for their last 3).

One weird play was Tufts not kicking a FG on 4th and 9 from the 14 when they were only up 6 after a missed xp.  It didn't cost them since Bowdoin let up a big punt return on the ensuring possession, but I don't know what statistics would say not to get a 2 score lead at that point (late 3rd Q). 

Just heard that Colby is up 12-0 at the half over Trinity.  What's going on in that game?

Quote from: nescac1 on October 21, 2021, 03:27:08 PM
I think Trin8-0 basically nailed it.  I DO think Wesleyan could beat Trinity or Williams, just because their offense, especially Estevez, is just that good ... with a bit of good fortune and/or winning the turnover battle, Wes could certainly squeeze out a high-scoring win vs. either Trinity or Williams, even if they are likely to have a very difficult time stifling either of those offenses.  At the same time, I think that at this point, Wesleyan's results dictate that it is clearly behind the big two, which are dead-even with one another. 

Having seen all three teams, two in person, I don't think Wes has any chance of beating Trinity or Williams, unless Williams has significant injuries to their offensive studs, or Trinity turns over the ball 3 or more times.  Wes doesn't have anyone that can cover either Reid or Girard... and Trinity has them both on the field at the same time.  Maimaron is as good a runner as Estevez (personal opinion), and a significantly better passer, with way more weapons if everyone is healthy.  I see Stola and Burke (he has wheels for a big dude) putting up huge numbers for Williams against the Wes D.

Quote from: VoodooDoc on October 17, 2021, 12:03:29 PM
Nescacman

Adding an out of conference game and participating in the Division 3 playoffs may not be as unrealistic as they might seem.  Colleges around the country are facing tight budgets and are competing for a shrinking pool of students wanting a college education.  While many of the schools that are a part of the NESCAC have strong endowments and excellent scholastic reputations, the winds of change will eventually bring these problems to their doors.  Football recruiting does bring students through the door.  There may come a day when a football player (with strong academic credentials) being recruited by Kenyon, Clairmont, and a NESCAC school may be influenced in their decision by the opportunities.  Sometimes economic realities will overtake long standing traditions.   While it may seem unrealistic and naive now, the winds of change are blowing.

While I doubt it will change in the next several decades, I see a couple top academic+athletes from our area a year that are being heavily recruited by the NESCAC go Clairmont, Kenyon, Johns Hopkins, or UChicago, all of whom are academically rigorous and make it work to participate in the D3 playoffs.  Anyway, talk for after the season. 

Quote from: D3FLETCH on October 16, 2021, 04:30:14 PM
Another outstanding effort from the Civetti Jumbos.

Given the nearly identical scores versus Wesleyan, the Bowdoin / Tufts game next weekend is shaping up to be pretty interesting.

Quote from: D3FLETCH on October 16, 2021, 01:01:35 PM
Fingers crossed that Bowdoin has some type of plan on defense.

Seems like the plan is not to have to play defense.  Bowdoin with over 24 minutes of possession in the first half.  FG blocked one drive, stopped on the 1 inch line another, and turnover on downs just outside the red zone on a 3rd.  7-0 at the half.  They've been moving the ball well.  Defense with 2 takeaways - 1 FF by Freshman Koy Price, 1 INT by Soph Jack Havener.  Run defense is solid, pass defense continuing to give a lot of room in zoen coverage.

I can't tell if you are joking or not.  The picture here is from last week's Williams / Bowdoin game.

The Bowdoin locker room is behind the metal stands (where this picture is taken from).  The visitors go out the gate to somewhere else.  The building below the historic stands is currently closed.