Preseason award predictions?

Berlutti and Kenary seem like obvious favorites. Any freshman to look out for?

Quote from: Back2BackBantam on December 02, 2023, 03:07:38 AM

Quote from: TheFlock on December 01, 2023, 11:25:25 PM
Excellent points by G&P, but then you also have to take into account how many teams left their starters in and scored on the Trinity Defense's 3rd string and First Years.  In fact the Co-OPOTY was racking up his stats against 3rd stringers. I'd be curious if anyone knows how many TD's were given up by Trinity in this unbalanced manner.  I also saw a post that Trinity is the only team in College Football (all levels) to give up 0 rushing TD's the whole season.  We all must admit that this is pretty impressive.

I can say with some confidence that 33 of the 115 points allowed by Trinity this year were allowed once the starter was pulled (another 6 were on a blocked punt), which would bring that total of 115 down to 76 points total, divided by the 9 games would be 8.4 ppg allowed by Trinity's starting rotation. Obviously, the same math can be done for Middlebury's defense to a somewhat lesser extent.

However, I would like to argue G&P's conclusion of Middlebury having the better defense in other ways. First off, the Trinity defense allowed nearly 100 less yards per game than the Pant's, and sported a 36% RZ Def compared to Middlebury's 53%.  Trinity also allowed merely 2.3 yards per carry on the ground compared to Midd's 3.3, and as stated, 0 total rushing TDs on the year. As for G&P's ToP argument, I wish there were a stat for number of 3 & out's produced by a defense. I think that would be a manor factor in that statistic.

Another interesting stat is that Midd opponents had the most penalties called against them in the league, compared to Trin having the second least opponent penalties. Similarly, Trin was called for the second most in the league whereas Midd was called for the 3rd least. Now, some say this is discipline or skill based, others may call it luck or just simply NESCAC refereeing. I simply just found it to be an interesting stat, especially that of the penalties against.

Either way, I think it would be very nitpicky and would require a whole lot of explaining and reasoning to argue that Midd has the best defense in the conference this year, especially when nearly every single defensive stat would say otherwise.

If football games were played on paper, Trinity would be outright champs. Unfortunately for Trinity, they are not. I believe an important point to consider this that Middlebury's defense won them games. When the pressure was on and Middlebury needed a play, the defense made the plays that needed to happen. To Trinity's credit, in all but one game their offense was able to put teams away to the point where they did not need to rely on their defense. However, in the one game Trinity's offense needed their counterpart to get a stop, what happened... Trinity let up a 68-yard double move for the go-ahead touchdown. The next drive when Middlebury needed a stop, they picked off the OPOY. Bad call or not, when Middlebury needed a stop on the one-yard line, they got it. When Middlebury was up by two points against Tufts, with their third-string quarterback, and needed a stop, they forced a fumble. When Tufts got the ball AGAIN later in that game, Middlebury came away with a pick-six to win the game. In the Williams game, which Charlie says the Panthers should have lost, Middlebury's defense held Williams to 1 passing yard and 3 points, in a game where Middlebury gave up SEVEN turnovers. Statistically, Trinity may have had a better season, but when the bullets were flying Middlebury's defense made plays to win them games, and eventually the NESCAC championship. On another note, the Offense that was undeniably the best in the league this year was held to ZERO touchdowns against Middlebury. I don't think people talk about that feat enough, the offense that everyone has unanimously hailed as one of the best we have seen in recent memory in the NESCAC did not find the endzone against Middlebury's defense. When we look back on this season, whose defense will we talk about?

I understand how Trinity dominates the conversation due to their longevity, but I feel it's time to give Middlebury more credit for their recent success.

Over the last four seasons:

Championships
   Middlebury 2x Champion 1x Runner-up
   Trinity 2x Champion 1x Runner-up
   Williams 1x Champion
   Wesleyan 1x Runner-up

Record
Trinity 30-6
Middlebury 27-9
Wesleyan 26-10
Williams 22-14
Tufts 20-16

All-NESCAC Selections
Trinity 47
Middlebury 38
Wesleyan 35

End-of-Season Awards (POTY, ROTY, COTY)
Middlebury 6
Wesleyan 3 (All Helbig lol)
Trinity 3
Tufts 2
Williams 2

I feel Middlebury is a hell of a lot closer to Trinity than any other team is to Middlebury right now.

Vote for Kenary for the Gagliardi Trophy!

https://d3football.com/notables/2023/11/gagliardi-voting

Quote from: Charlie on November 21, 2023, 04:02:30 PM

Quote from: NE Football Fan on November 21, 2023, 02:07:03 PM
Coaching staff of the year? Could it be Bowdoin? Does Tufts deserve recognition or does the loss to Hamilton do them in?.... Any rumors around HC changes? The one I know of that is swirling is HCOF Jeff Devaney as a top candidate for Columbia.

Colby Coach is going to step down after medical procedure and Trinity HC Devanney not going anywhere.

I would have given Bowdoin Coach a vote but the only team they really beat this year that they were not picked to was the inept Williams squad. Other than that they beat whom they were suppose to beat.

The only other Coach worthy of this would be HC Mandigo but hard time picking this because he lost against a weak Wesleyan team and should have lost against a weak Williams squad. In addition if Trinity made the right call would have lost against them. But still have to give him his props for a great season in his first year. He would be only other candidate.

i still think that Trinity broke about every statistical record this year and HCOY should be Devanney but if not Him HC Mindigo from Middlebury

To be fair, Trinity didn't make the right call at the end of the game and if anything that should reflect on Devanney more than anyone. If anything I feel that Mandigo's ability to find a way to win even in the most dire situations (First two string QBs going down against Tufts, putting together a touchdown drive to win against Williams in a monsoon, holding Trinity to zero touchdowns) should give him more credit, especially as a first year HCOF.