Another gem...

October 23, 2024, 09:13:46 AM
Amherst beat Bates. And Bates beat Wesleyan. So by your "collective's" transitive logic, Amherst is better than Wesleyan, right? I think having eyes (yes my "collective" watches the games too), will tell you that Wesleyan is not the top team in the league. Even with the loss, it's Trinity. And even with their game 1 loss to Wesleyan, Middlebury is #2. Wesleyan came out the first week after having a month to prepare and had a great game vs Midd. Since then, they've been average against the softest part of their schedule. Again I get being a homer, and I generally like your commentary, but you do your "collective" no favors in the credibility column when you put out ludicrous stuff like that.

Scoops, where are ya buddy? Thanks for all the ammunition:

I agree with Nescac1 on Wesleyan/Middlebury. It's a pick em. The only real reason I call it that is because Midd will be playing a new QB. To say that the Wesleyan defense is "too strong" is laughable. They were in the bottom 3 of the league in almost every statistical category last year. Neither team can run the ball. Midd plays good defense, and has equal offensive weapons.

It will be interesting to see the All NESCAC team later this week

Anyone from the Wesleyan secondary being named an all-american of any type is an absolute joke. They were the 9th best pass defense in the league, behind only a Bates team that started numerous freshmen.


Tufts was the best pass defense and brings back an all conference corner, shouldn't they be ranked higher? Particularly over the sieve that is the Wesleyan pass defense

Great atta boy here, but with a back handed slap. Did ya see his 52 yard run Saturday? Damn, this is fun

They also brought in talented Choate RB Matt Diaz. But if they can't block for him then it's a waste. The major issue they did not address was their porous secondary. I'm sure opposing OC's are hoping they run that group back out there though.

Was told by someone close to the program today that there is a certain level of panic starting to form up in lewiston that star running back Ryan Lynskey will opt to test the waters of the transfer portal. While in past years it has been grad transfers who are making the jump. Now that the covid eligibility train is over,  I would not be surprised to see a few underclassmen attempt to try and make jumps.

First - congrats to the Cardinals on winning their first championship! Well deserved for a gritty team that had a unique knack for winning tough games all season.

It's been about 24 hours since the Mules hoisted the CBB trophy again, and what a glorious night it was in Brunswick!
The Mules defense controlled the game for 60 minutes, overpowering Bowdoin's O-line and QBs in all night, landing 7 sacks and forcing 7 turnovers. Bowdoin crossed midfield just twice in the last 40 minutes of the game and never got inside the 35 yd line. Julian Young capped off his prolific career with 7 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 FF and 1 Int - I can't remember a better Colby defender. Would be head scratching if he's not named DPOY.

On offense, Drake continued to show his progress in his first full season at the helm. I think he'll be one of the top QBs in the league next year. He threw the ball great all night, taking advantage of Colby's clear size advantage on the outside. He also escaped a handful of pressures to extend plays and get positive yards. Seniors Jack Sawyer and Duke Ferrara both caught TDs in their final game. The O-Line was also stout in pass protection against all of the games and blitzes that Bowdoin ran. No small feat against a defense that was averaging over 4 sacks/game.

Just a great performance from Colby in all 3 phases, playing disciplined, physical football.

Congrats to the Colby seniors for a great finish to their career with 2 CBBs. I believe they have reset the culture in the program and laid a strong foundation for continued growth. Feels like we're a play or two away from contending.

Go Mules!

Quote from: muleshoe on November 10, 2024, 08:18:30 PMFirst - congrats to the Cardinals on winning their first championship! Well deserved for a gritty team that had a unique knack for winning tough games all season.

It's been about 24 hours since the Mules hoisted the CBB trophy again, and what a glorious night it was in Brunswick!
The Mules defense controlled the game for 60 minutes, overpowering Bowdoin's O-line and QBs in all night, landing 7 sacks and forcing 7 turnovers. Bowdoin crossed midfield just twice in the last 40 minutes of the game and never got inside the 35 yd line. Julian Young capped off his prolific career with 7 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 FF and 1 Int - I can't remember a better Colby defender. Would be head scratching if he's not named DPOY.

On offense, Drake continued to show his progress in his first full season at the helm. I think he'll be one of the top QBs in the league next year. He threw the ball great all night, taking advantage of Colby's clear size advantage on the outside. He also escaped a handful of pressures to extend plays and get positive yards. Seniors Jack Sawyer and Duke Ferrara both caught TDs in their final game. The O-Line was also stout in pass protection against all of the games and blitzes that Bowdoin ran. No small feat against a defense that was averaging over 4 sacks/game.

Just a great performance from Colby in all 3 phases, playing disciplined, physical football.

Congrats to the Colby seniors for a great finish to their career with 2 CBBs. I believe they have reset the culture in the program and laid a strong foundation for continued growth. Feels like we're a play or two away from contending.

Go Mules!

Enjoyed the game but it was over too early. Thought the Mules were the better team going in but what a dominating win. The P Bears love to guess on defense with their undersized D. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. Cosgrove stuck to his guns and Hammer wasn't sure what to do except continue to gamble, cross his fingers and hope it might work. It's a philosophy that will get you to 5-4 with good personnel and 4-5 or less with a challenged roster.

Quote from: The Mole on November 10, 2024, 02:33:10 PM

Quote from: BigKat on November 10, 2024, 05:59:33 AM

Quote from: Bucket on November 09, 2024, 07:37:43 PMCongrats to the Cardinals. After seeing them struggle mid-season—after the epic beatdown of my Panthers—I gave them no shot of winning a title.

Hats off to Wes.

[quote author=Bucket

Agreed, saw them play twice on live feed with the brutal homer crew . Mediocre at best would be how I described them. Clearly a down year in league with no " great" squad  and they took advantage of their opportunities .

Just brutal Berluti couldn't snatch a title during his time . Hats off to a generational player.

I do love the "mediocre" trolling and "down year" rationale. Totally clownish, clearly a comment by a non-player. I will now berate all with some more relevant stats about the senior class from Wesleyan. Went 26-10 (3-1 records versus 7 teams, 4-0 vs Hamilton and 1-3 vs Trinity). First consecutive Little 3 Titles since 1970 and first 3-peat since 1946-48 in addition to the school's first outright football title. And a shout out to BantChamp as well--how does it feel to lose 2 of the last 3 at The Poop? This class helped take the program up another level. I have to somewhat agree with Charlie that the "Big 3" are now Trinity, Wesleyan and Middlebury. Cards and Pants have supplanted Williams and Amherst in the hierarchy based on recent results. However, given the competitive balance in the NESCAC that has been discussed here, things could change quickly next year as there are no easy victories. Now that my son's playing career is over, the gloves are off....

Easy there fella. What a perfect moniker for you by the way with all your petty below ground chirping now. Cards were mediocre when I saw them in the beginning of the year. They clearly improved and kudos on a championship. I'm in the any one but Bantams camp.

My point was there were 3-4 teams from last year that would have beat this squad. I'll stick with my down year comment but it doesn't take away the title. Congrats! just act like you've been there before .

Small Cat, thanks for admitting you were wrong, tough to swallow, but much appreciated. The extra motivation for the players that read the board to prove you and the other naysayers wrong is sweet. BTW, we have not been here before, but I suspect that changes going forward. Thank You.

Crickets from Trin7-2...

Quote from: nescac1 on November 10, 2024, 07:59:34 AMCongrats to Wesleyan.  Like Middlebury last year, it often wasn't pretty, it certainly wasn't easy, but they found a way to pull through late in games and grit out wins.  I seriously doubt the league champion has ever before lost to the league's ninth place team, that's just wild.  They graduate a very impressive senior / grad student class, a lot of guys who have seemingly been playing in the league forever.

A few other parting thoughts on the season:

1. OPOTY still has to be Zebrowski.  He had a ridiculously good statistical season for the second place team.  I'd say Zebrwoski - Lynskey - Wilson - O'Brien - Candido in that order.  With so many senior skill position stars graduating, Lynskey enters next year as the clear favorite for OPOTY, and Bates should be much better as a team around him.

2. DPOTY has a slew of good candidates.  I'll go with Carbeau - Harmon - Price - Young - T. Richardson.  HM to Kenary, Rowan, Romain, Connors, Atkinson, Gering, and probably forgetting someone.  As with OPOTY, a very senior-heavy list.  Harmon is clearly the top defensive player in the league headed into next season, his range and instincts are unreal, and he would be a reasonable choice this year if Amherst hadn't had such a rough season.

3. Speaking of Amherst, I think they may well have had the worst running season for any team in NESCAC history, certainly in recent history - 36.9 ypg and 1.7 ypc are ridiculously bad.  Especially when you consider they should have been able to amp those stats up in the fourth quarter against some second string defenses in their blow-out losses.  Both their offensive line and running backs just seemed very small out there, every designed running play got immediately swallowed up.  Amherst is fortunate to have played Bates and Hamilton to start the year as I don't think they would have won those games the way they closed the season.  Again, just so weird to see from an E.J. team with an (increasingly ancient) history of big, ferocious running backs pounding the ball down teams throats behind physically imposing offensive lines. 

4. Ivan Shuran had one of the best, if not the best, years ever for any NESCAC kicker - 29-29 on extra points, 9-9 on field goals, including three over 40 yards and a long of 47.  He would have had several game-winning kicks if the team could have closed out games on defense, but the man was simply money in critical situations.  The Ephs will really miss him.   As I've said before great year overall for kickers and punters in NESCAC. 

5. ROTY has a lot of candidates - the Ephs finished the year with four of their six leading tacklers as first years (Mangini, Moore, Kreakie and Gale) and all those guys certainly passed the eye test.  McClellan from Midd and Nye on Colby are strong candidates on the offensive side of the ball, both those guys are gonna be elite players going forward.  I'll go with Mangini - while Gale had more eye-popping plays for the Ephs, he was only a rotational player, and it's hard to pass up the leading tackler and very solid nine-game starter for a credible team, who had an especially good game against the league champion.  Nye for OROTY. 

6. It's going to be a wild year at QB next season in NESCAC. Tufts, Wesleyan, Trinity, Bowdoin, and Bates all graduate strong leaders at the position, in some cases with no clear heir-apparent.  Williams and Amherst rotated guys at the position to the point where there is no clarity heading into next season (although I assume Marek Hill, at least, has very likely won the starting job at Amherst, he has to figure out a way to throw fewer INTs when he goes away from the short passes that are his bread and butter).  Hamilton, Middlebury and Colby are the only teams with clearly entrenched starters who their teams can count on to be the guy heading into 2025. 

7. Bates is clearly the team with the most potential to rise in the standings next year.  Wesleyan, Tufts, and Midd seem to lose the most to graduation, but all have been consistently good for awhile now, so should not drop much if at all.  As bad as Bowdoin's defense was this year, they could be absolutely shredded next year if they play the same style with all the defensive stars they lose.  Hard to see Amherst and Hamilton getting out of the basement next year especially with Bates likely to improve a lot, although Bowdoin may join them if it can't figure something out defensively.  Trinity will be Trinity assuming they have an answer at QB and I think goes in as the presumptive favorite considering all of Wesleyan's losses to graduation.  Colby loses a lot of guys on defense plus some good skill guys but at least brings back the Drake-Nye connection on offense. 

As for Williams, it comes down yet again to QB. Early in the year it seemed like they had an answer in McHugh, who undoubtedly has the arm and leg talent, but he made far too many critical mistakes as the season went along to the point where the coaches lost faith over the past few games.  Can McHugh shake it off and live up to his talent?  If not he could be a really good WR or TB.  Can Johansen, who is clearly an alpha athlete and leader (but not clear at all if he's really a full-time QB) be the QB?  Is there someone else on the roster who can emerge?  The Ephs have the rest of the pieces they need to be really good - a huge, experienced offensive line, a good TB (although depth at RB is a concern), lots of big and talented targets returning in the passing game (especially if Johansen is playing slash again), the entire two-deep in the secondary back, and all those star rising sophs on defense (I also expect Nate Rosner to joint that group next year, he really flashed on special teams as a FY) plus Anthony Scala, who looked like a force at DT at times. But man, QB just continues to be a crapshoot ever since Bobby M. graduated ...   

For OPOY I have to give to Candido of Wesleyan over Dembrowski of Trinity. I know it is a team game and not one person can be blamed for the losses. You have to consider that against the Top three teams he went 0-2 and did not look good in either game. Candido pulls off the game winner against Williams and played exceptionally well against a tough Trinity Defense. Debrowski did not get a single point scored in second half of game. I think OPOY should be predicated on Wins and stats and how players lift the team and I think Wesleyan QB did all of that this year.

Quote from: lumbercat on November 10, 2024, 10:50:58 PM

Quote from: muleshoe on November 10, 2024, 08:18:30 PMFirst - congrats to the Cardinals on winning their first championship! Well deserved for a gritty team that had a unique knack for winning tough games all season.

It's been about 24 hours since the Mules hoisted the CBB trophy again, and what a glorious night it was in Brunswick!
The Mules defense controlled the game for 60 minutes, overpowering Bowdoin's O-line and QBs in all night, landing 7 sacks and forcing 7 turnovers. Bowdoin crossed midfield just twice in the last 40 minutes of the game and never got inside the 35 yd line. Julian Young capped off his prolific career with 7 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 FF and 1 Int - I can't remember a better Colby defender. Would be head scratching if he's not named DPOY.

On offense, Drake continued to show his progress in his first full season at the helm. I think he'll be one of the top QBs in the league next year. He threw the ball great all night, taking advantage of Colby's clear size advantage on the outside. He also escaped a handful of pressures to extend plays and get positive yards. Seniors Jack Sawyer and Duke Ferrara both caught TDs in their final game. The O-Line was also stout in pass protection against all of the games and blitzes that Bowdoin ran. No small feat against a defense that was averaging over 4 sacks/game.

Just a great performance from Colby in all 3 phases, playing disciplined, physical football.

Congrats to the Colby seniors for a great finish to their career with 2 CBBs. I believe they have reset the culture in the program and laid a strong foundation for continued growth. Feels like we're a play or two away from contending.

Go Mules!

Enjoyed the game but it was over too early. Thought the Mules were the better team going in but what a dominating win. The P Bears love to guess on defense with their undersized D. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. Cosgrove stuck to his guns and Hammer wasn't sure what to do except continue to gamble, cross his fingers and hope it might work. It's a philosophy that will get you to 5-4 with good personnel and 4-5 or less with a challenged roster.

Totally agree on Cos sticking to his guns and continuing to run the ball despite limited success. The Mules were able to do just enough on the ground to make Bowdoin respect it, which opened up the passing attack. I do think Colby could have made some minor adjustments to make the occupy the backside C gap defender to open up more on the ground inside the tackles (more read option or split zone with TE/H blocking backside). Price or #0 flying down the line with no regard stopped most of the runs that went for no gain.

With losing so many seniors off their D going into next year - can Bowdoin continue to run such a blindly aggressive scheme?

First off Charlie. What in the hell is this spelling? Second, Cadidio over Zebrowski is an absurd take. The numbers do not lie my man! Zebrowski finished with nearly 500 more yards passing, fewer interceptions, more completions, a much better QBR, oh and not to mention 10 MORE TOUCHDOWN PASSES! Quite literally outperforming Candidto in every single category. Congrats to the Cards on their championship but Player of the Year goes to an individual, not a team.

Did I read correctly that Wes went for and converted a 4-17 on their 48 with 8 minutes left in the game? Wow!!!
Congratulations to Wes and their coaches on an outstanding season.

YES! G&P, they were trying to get them to jump and intended to punt it away for better field position. When the left end encroached into the neutral zone, they snapped it and took the free play which lead to the first down. They scored a few plays later to take the lead for good.

Quote from: GroundandPound on November 11, 2024, 11:14:16 AMDid I read correctly that Wes went for and converted a 4-17 on their 48 with 8 minutes left in the game? Wow!!!
Congratulations to Wes and their coaches on an outstanding season.