Quote from: Trin9-0 on October 28, 2024, 09:22:38 PMNot to look past their respective games against the Mammoths and Ephs, but if the Bants and Cards both take care of business this weekend it would set up just the fifth time that Trinity and Wesleyan entered the final game of the year with two or fewer combined losses since the NESCAC was formed in 1970.

The Bantams have faired well in those contests, winning each game by an average of nearly 28 points; twice completing undefeated seasons and winning three titles. Despite their perfect season being spoiled in 2013, Wes still ended up sharing a tri-championship with Amherst and Middlebury.

Year  Wesleyan    Trinity    Result 2016 6-1 7-0 Trinity Wins 45-21 2013 7-0 5-2 Trinity Wins 40-10 1993 6-1 7-0 Trinity Wins 32-8 1978 6-1 6-1 Trinity Wins 43-10

In all fairness to to Trinity I believe they were the best all around team so far this year. Despite loosing to Middlebury which if anyone viewed the game was lost on Coaching and personal moves. Having said that they still could have won the game. I think this week against Amherst is a great game for Trinity to see what the younger cklassman can do and get them game experience but trinity should win this game by 17.

Trinity has Wesleyan's number and the fact that Trinity is defintely more skilled despite Wesleyan constantly returning players every year speaks volumes to the talent that Trinity has on there roster. The scary part of the Trinity team is that they are a young team for the most part not graduating too many seniors. The seniors that are graduating have back ups that could start on any NESCAC team now. If they can manage the Senior losses and stabilize the QB position for next year this team is posed for another championship run.

However will be interesting to see how the potential roster limits that may come into effect next year effect the recruiting.

I totally agree that Trinity has been the best team this year. Watching how Wesleyan has won games this season doesn't make me think that week 9 will go their way.

Quote from: Trin9-0 on October 28, 2024, 09:22:38 PMNot to look past their respective games against the Mammoths and Ephs, but if the Bants and Cards both take care of business this weekend it would set up just the fifth time that Trinity and Wesleyan entered the final game of the year with two or fewer combined losses since the NESCAC was formed in 1970.

The Bantams have faired well in those contests, winning each game by an average of nearly 28 points; twice completing undefeated seasons and winning three titles. Despite their perfect season being spoiled in 2013, Wes still ended up sharing a tri-championship with Amherst and Middlebury.

Year  Wesleyan    Trinity    Result 2016 6-1 7-0 Trinity Wins 45-21 2013 7-0 5-2 Trinity Wins 40-10 1993 6-1 7-0 Trinity Wins 32-8 1978 6-1 6-1 Trinity Wins 43-10

Hs8-1....shhhh, don't touch the money....

See you Friday and/or Saturday...

Quote from: Charlie on October 28, 2024, 09:08:35 PMI am real happy for Bates College and even though they only have 2 wins to show for it this team has played hard all year. I think Coach Coyne has them going in good direction. They lost to Trinity which I beleive many thought they would but played hard despite the score. They should have beaten Amherst , Colby and Williams. I think they have a great deal of postivity moving forward. I think this and some more good recruiting classes and they can make a hard push for the middle to upper eichelon of the League

Happy for Bates as well, but I'm going to stand up for Colby here. Colby outgained Bates by nearly 160 yards in that game, punting only twice all night. To say Bates *should* have won that game is certainly a stretch... It was a highly competitive rivalry game that nearly went to OT, but Colby was the better, more consistent team that night.

With that said - Bates has a great opportunity to win 4 games, which would be their best record in 10 years. Kudos to Coach Coyne and the players for righting the ship after last season.

Similarly, I'm hopeful Colby can continue its recent momentum and finish off its first winning season since 2005. Hopefully the collapses down the stretch the past two seasons focus this group to finish the season strong.

Quote from: muleshoe on October 29, 2024, 09:38:49 AM

Quote from: Charlie on October 28, 2024, 09:08:35 PMI am real happy for Bates College and even though they only have 2 wins to show for it this team has played hard all year. I think Coach Coyne has them going in good direction. They lost to Trinity which I beleive many thought they would but played hard despite the score. They should have beaten Amherst , Colby and Williams. I think they have a great deal of postivity moving forward. I think this and some more good recruiting classes and they can make a hard push for the middle to upper eichelon of the League

Hoping my polars take care of business saturday and we have another CBB under the lights to look forward to.

Happy for Bates as well, but I'm going to stand up for Colby here. Colby outgained Bates by nearly 160 yards in that game, punting only twice all night. To say Bates *should* have won that game is certainly a stretch... It was a highly competitive rivalry game that nearly went to OT, but Colby was the better, more consistent team that night.

With that said - Bates has a great opportunity to win 4 games, which would be their best record in 10 years. Kudos to Coach Coyne and the players for righting the ship after last season.

Similarly, I'm hopeful Colby can continue its recent momentum and finish off its first winning season since 2005. Hopefully the collapses down the stretch the past two seasons focus this group to finish the season strong.

Welcome to the Week 7 Power Rankings for October 28, 2024.

NESCACMAN goes 3-2 with our picks for week #7. We now stand at 30-5 for the year. We lost the upset win by UBates over Middlebury (although we did predict a close game) and Tufts close win over Williams (which we correctly predicted would be a close game).

Wesleyan continues to be in our top spot based on their big win over the Lord Mammoths. Meanwhile, Middlebury supported why we didn't have them in the top spot last week and they moved down the rankings with their 2nd loss of the year at the hands of the Frisky Kitties. Hartford State moves into the 2nd spot in our rankings as a result of another win at home coupled with Middlebury stubbing their toe in Lewiston.

Some details on "NESCACMAN"...we share a love for all things NESCAC, but especially football, with our fellow boardsters. We love everything about NESCAC...the history, traditions, rivalries, quirky rituals, passion, student-athletes, coaches, students, parents, alumni, tailgates, fields of play, et cetera. Each week, we will present our power rankings and then later in the week overviews, predictions, and spreads on every NESCAC game every week. There will also be some special reports along the way. Please note, we try to be as objective and honest as possible (maybe with a slight tinge of red and black). Our opinions stated here are solely those of NESCACMAN and are not the views or opinions of any institution in the NESCAC or the League itself.

We also co-host a podcast titled "Nine Weeks: A NESCAC Football Podcast"  along with Chris Grace, the longtime play-by-play voice of the Wesleyan Football Cardinals. Available weekly, the podcast is available on YouTube and Spotify. Please follow us and take a listen. Episode 7 is available now (featuring interviews with Middlebury Head Football Coach Doug Mandigo and Williams QB Owen McHugh). Episode 8 will be available later this week and will feature Colby Head Football Coach Jack Cosgrove, Bates Head Football Coach Matt Coyne, and Bates RB/NESCAC Rushing leader Ryan Lynskey. Should be another great watch/listen. Our weekly show features coach and player interviews, game analysis, rankings, weekly game previews, and predictions. We encourage you to check it out.
   
1). Wesleyan Cardinals (Record: 6-1; Last Week Rank: 1; 8  first place votes): Wesleyan beat rival Amherst for their 6th win of the year. Wesleyan has now won 4 games in a row, and it was the Cardinals 3rd straight win at Amherst.  The Wesleyan defense held the Lord Mammoths to only 211 yards of total offense and no points in the final 53 minutes of the game and 27 yards of total offense in the 2nd half. The offense got untracked with 31 unanswered points. RBs James McHugh and FY Matt Diaz (2 TDs) were very good for Wes. Interesting factoid...Wes is tops in red zone defense and last in red zone offense (based on %). Wes hosts the Ephs this week as they attempt to win their 3rd Little 3 Championship in a row.

2). Hartford State Bantams (Record: 6-1; Last Week Rank: 3 ; 2 first place votes): The Bantams beat the Polars at home to keep pace with Wesleyan in the NESCAC title race. The Bants had 467 yards of total offense on the day. Sean Clapp caught 2 TDs passes and QB Zander Zebrowski threw 3 TD passes (and his first interception of the year). Interesting factoid...Hartford State is 29 for 29 on XPs and 5 for 5 on FGs this year. This week, Hartford State travels to Amherst to face the Lord Mammoths.

3). (tie) Middlebury Panthers (Record: 5-2; Last Week Rank: 2): Middlebury loses at UBates making their road to a 2nd straight NESCAC Championship very difficult. MID only had 23 mins of possession time on the day. Although Zach Levy kicked 2 FGs on the day setting the all-time Panther record, he also missed 3 FGs. Interesting factoid...QB Brian Moran is second in the NESCAC in passing TDs. Middlebury hosts Hamilton in their final home game of the year. 

3). (tie) Tufts Jumbo's (Record: 5-2; Last Week Rank: 5): Tufts wins a close game over Williams on the road. Tufts picks off 4 Eph passes on the day. QB Michael Berlutti only throws for 146 yards and tosses only his 7th TD pass on the year. RB Christian Shapiro and WR Cade Moore were the heroes of the day for the Jumbo's each scoring a TD and going over the century mark rushing and receiving, respectively. Interesting factoid...Tufts is first in interceptions and last in fumbles recovered in the league this year. This week Tufts travels to Waterville to face the upstart, Colby Mules.

5). Williams Purple Cows (Record: 4-3; Last Week Rank: 4): Williams loses a heart breaker to the Jumbo's at home. Loss pretty much eliminates Williams from the NESCAC title hunt in 2024. 4 interceptions on the day were not helpful. 4th close game of the year for the Ephs and they are 2-2 in those games.  Interesting factoid....Williams is first in rushing offense and 9th in rushing defense so far this year. Williams travels to Middletown to face Wesleyan this week in a Little 3 battle.

6). Colby Mules (Record: 3-4; Last Week Rank: 6): The Mules beat Hamilton for their 3rd win in the last 4 games. They now have a shot at their first winning season since 2005. Colby scores with 1:18 remaining on a Drake to Smart 19-yard TD pass. Smart went over the 100-yard rushing mark and WR Jack Sawyer had 10 catches for the Mules. Interesting factoid...Colby is second in the NESCAC in sacks. The week the Mules host Tufts as they try to get back to .500 on the year.

7). (tie) Bowdoin Polar Bears (Record: 2-5; Last Week Rank: 7):  Bowdoin loses to Hartford State on the road. The game was a 7-point game late in the 3rd quarter. Hartford State scored the final 13 points of the game to pull away. Bowdoin only mustered 212 yards of total offense and 12 first downs. The Polars played their 3rd QB of the year, FY Peter Macaulay, as teams start to look towards the future (see Amherst). He threw 2 TDs but also threw 2 INTs. Interesting factoid...Bowdoin leads the NESCAC in sacks with 30 and is second in forced fumbles with 6. Bowdoin travels to UBates this week in a C-C-B battle.

7). (tie) University of Bates Bobcats (Lewiston Campus) (Record: 2-5; Last Week Rank: 8): The Frisky Kitties upset the Pants and are the first NESCAC team not named "Wesleyan" to beat MID since 2022. Colton Bosselait tossed 3 TDs and was 13 of 15 for 173 yards. NESCAC Rushing Leader RB Ryan Lynskey ran for over 100 yards (again). UBates O-line neutralized the vaunted MID D-line and did not allow a sack. Interesting factoid...UBates has only kicked 1 field goal all year. The Kitties host Bowdoin in a C-B-B battle this week under the lights in Lewiston.

9). Amherst Lord Mammoths (Record: 2-5; Last Week Rank: 9): The Lord Mammoths give up 31 unanswered points to rival Wesleyan in front of their homecoming crowd. It was Amherst's fifth straight loss of the year. The loss guaranteed Amherst their 3rd losing season in a row. It also marks another year that the Lord Mammoths will go without winning the Little 3, which they lost won in 2018. Wesleyan has beaten the Lord Mammoths at Amherst the last 3 times. Despite leading 14-0 at the end of the 1st quarter, the LM offense struggled again this week with 211 yards of total offense and 12 first downs. Amherst, however, does appear to finally have found a QB in FY Marek Hill who looked more than capable both throwing and running the football. We think he could be a good one. Now all they must do is surround him with some talent. Interesting factoid...Amherst does not have a single RB or WR in the top 19 in the NESCAC leader rankings. It does not get easier for Amherst this week as they host Hartford State and try to play spoiler in the NESCAC race.

10). Hamilton Continentals (Record: 0-7; Last Week Rank: 10): The Continentals drop their 7th game of 2024 with a loss to Colby at home in a game that they could have won. The Conts have held a lead in the second half of all 3 of their home games this year. Penalties killed Hamilton at the end of this game giving Colby two crucial first downs on the final, winning drive of the game for Colby. Hamilton's lack of a consistent running game hurt them. WR Chester Boynton tied the Hamilton single season reception record with his 55th catch. Interesting factoid...P/DB Tighe Hoey is 2nd in the nation in D3 in punting with a nearly 45-yard average. This week, Hamilton travels to Middlebury to face the Panthers.

NESCACMAN Offensive Player(s) of the Week: WR/RB Sergio Beltran, UBates; RB Matt Diaz, Wesleyan; Christian Shapiro, Tufts; QB Colton Bosselait, UBates

NESCACMAN Defensive Player(s) of the Week: DL Koy Price, Bowdoin; LB Matt Shaw, Middlebury; DB Charlie Cooper, Hartford State; LB Matt Juneau, UBates

NESCACMAN Special Teams Player(s) of the Week: K Christos Tzoumakas, Colby; K Vaughn Seelicke, Tufts

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Quote from: Scoops on October 28, 2024, 08:40:54 PMHe had 2 legitimate division 1 receivers for the start of his career. It's pretty obvious that they made him, not the other way around. Berluti is certainly no slouch, but I'm sure if you gave Amherst's QB (whichever one they choose to play) Richardson and Lutz, they would have the same kind of success. Those guys were just better than everyone else.

Quote from: NESCACFball24/7 on October 28, 2024, 07:30:04 PMPersonally I think this is about the lack of explosiveness on the offense for tufts this year. They still have tons of talent but they seem to be lacking the GUY that they have 2 or 3 of each of the last couple years. I expected Berluti to be able to make up the difference but he was much more productive the last two years.

Scoops, have you seen the Lord Mammoths play in person the last several years?!?

NM

Big win for the Bants this weekend!!! Zander "The Polish Hammer" Zebrowski (lock for OPOY) with another excellent performance. Looking forward to seeing the Cards vs Bants final week of the season as it seems to be building up as an exciting Championship matchup. We will see if the Cards have a "Vietnam flashback" of the 58-6 embarrassing beatdown they received last year courtesy of the Bants. Lets see if Zander "Johnny Manzhell" Zebrowski and friends can lead the Bants to yet another NESCAC championship.

Quote from: westcoastnescac on October 29, 2024, 09:42:05 AM

Quote from: muleshoe on October 29, 2024, 09:38:49 AM

Quote from: Charlie on October 28, 2024, 09:08:35 PMI am real happy for Bates College and even though they only have 2 wins to show for it this team has played hard all year. I think Coach Coyne has them going in good direction. They lost to Trinity which I beleive many thought they would but played hard despite the score. They should have beaten Amherst , Colby and Williams. I think they have a great deal of postivity moving forward. I think this and some more good recruiting classes and they can make a hard push for the middle to upper eichelon of the League

Hoping my polars take care of business saturday and we have another CBB under the lights to look forward to.

Happy for Bates as well, but I'm going to stand up for Colby here. Colby outgained Bates by nearly 160 yards in that game, punting only twice all night. To say Bates *should* have won that game is certainly a stretch... It was a highly competitive rivalry game that nearly went to OT, but Colby was the better, more consistent team that night.

With that said - Bates has a great opportunity to win 4 games, which would be their best record in 10 years. Kudos to Coach Coyne and the players for righting the ship after last season.

Similarly, I'm hopeful Colby can continue its recent momentum and finish off its first winning season since 2005. Hopefully the collapses down the stretch the past two seasons focus this group to finish the season strong.

I was referring to in this game that BAtes played tough and had if my memory serves me the ball on like the three yard line or maybe they were going for two and missed the play to win it or tie. But played hard but yes you are correct Colby did win the statistical battle. I really like Colby all year play hard every game and just seem to find ways to loose rather ways to win. They are a very competitive team though.

Quote from: Charlie on October 29, 2024, 07:08:20 AM

Quote from: Trin9-0 on October 28, 2024, 09:22:38 PMNot to look past their respective games against the Mammoths and Ephs, but if the Bants and Cards both take care of business this weekend it would set up just the fifth time that Trinity and Wesleyan entered the final game of the year with two or fewer combined losses since the NESCAC was formed in 1970.

The Bantams have faired well in those contests, winning each game by an average of nearly 28 points; twice completing undefeated seasons and winning three titles. Despite their perfect season being spoiled in 2013, Wes still ended up sharing a tri-championship with Amherst and Middlebury.

Year  Wesleyan    Trinity    Result 2016 6-1 7-0 Trinity Wins 45-21 2013 7-0 5-2 Trinity Wins 40-10 1993 6-1 7-0 Trinity Wins 32-8 1978 6-1 6-1 Trinity Wins 43-10

In all fairness to to Trinity I believe they were the best all around team so far this year. Despite loosing to Middlebury which if anyone viewed the game was lost on Coaching and personal moves. Having said that they still could have won the game. I think this week against Amherst is a great game for Trinity to see what the younger cklassman can do and get them game experience but trinity should win this game by 17.

Trinity has Wesleyan's number and the fact that Trinity is defintely more skilled despite Wesleyan constantly returning players every year speaks volumes to the talent that Trinity has on there roster. The scary part of the Trinity team is that they are a young team for the most part not graduating too many seniors. The seniors that are graduating have back ups that could start on any NESCAC team now. If they can manage the Senior losses and stabilize the QB position for next year this team is posed for another championship run.

However will be interesting to see how the potential roster limits that may come into effect next year effect the recruiting.

Hey Chas,

We know you are affiliated with Williams via your Dad. Does he happen to be an English professor? Just curious...

NM

Easy NM,

You risk becoming a lose cannon...keep that up & we'll loose respect for you.

Quote from: LochNescac on October 29, 2024, 08:04:17 PMBecoming

Quote from: LochNescac on October 29, 2024, 08:04:17 PMEasy NM,

You risk becoming a lose cannon...keep that up & we'll loose respect for you.

 

NM - genuinely curious as to why Wes over Trin in the rankings? Head to head vs Mid? Obviously will be settled week 9

At this point, whats the difference if Trinity is ranked 1 or 2, with the H2H matchup in week 9. We can assume Trinity will be favored against Amherst to make it to the battle of I-91 with only 1 loss. Wesleyan either wins and week 9 decides who is the champion, or the Cardinals lose and Trinity is ranked #1 in NM's weekly poll (which we can all agree is the real prize)