FB: Conference of New England

[Diablo981]

BSC's defense has been playing lights out this year, shutting down good teams like UMD and Nichols. The Bears lead the league in takeways and are putting up huge numbers on offense. it should be a good game but i think the bears have this one locked.

[waggle09]

I would agree that Bridgewater States defense looks good but the teams that they have faced thus far are young and beat up. Opening game beat  a nichol's team were the starting qb was knocked out in 1st quarter and replaced by a freshman, beat UMD who is down big time this year and beat up on Framingham. THere remaing games will be more formidable and will tell the story. I like BSC because they are balanced on defense and offense.  key to game in fitchburgh  as both defenses have to shut down run game and I give BSC the edge in passing game....
Will see.....remember I do not think any team will run the table in the Bogan division.

[br7o7wn]

I would like to take just a moment to address the Framingham State issue. I was a member of that team from '98-'00 and I played under Coach Stachan. He was a good coach, and would've done much better if he had been a full-time coach. However, we never had the talent required to really compete for a championship. Out of 22 starters there were several of us who were potential All-Leaguers, a core of average players, and then there were always those kids who were thrust into starting action that never should've been on the field! It is difficult to win with gaping wholes in your roster! We had tp play some linemen both ways because they were better at 50% than the 2nd teamers fully rested!!I did play elsewhere, my freshman year was spent at Brockport State, so I do know what a real program is like! I also spent 4 years in the semi-pro leagues in NY before I went back to school at FSC...I know good football and bad football!Luckily I did not play for Coach Sullivan, but I do agree that the program needs to establish a new direction! In all honesty, I feel that the entire conference is a joke! There are so many teams and the talent is so watered down! I believe some of the worst college football in the nation is played on Saturdays between these NEFC teams!!! Maybe if FSC and some other schools dropped their programs, the quality of football would improve in this conference!

[Bomber Backer]

Well said br7o7wn, this conference will always get smoked in the first round of the NCAA's. Look what happened to a Fitchburg team in the ECAC's vs Springfield. The entire Fitchburg (Coaches, players) team though they were the big bad bullies when the ran up the score on Framingham State. Look what happend when they played a real team. I'm not sure if NEFC players know what real division 3 football is.

[63Center]

Yeah, I would agree that BSC looks like a team that could win the NEFC.  They have the No.1 scoring offense, No. 1 scoring defense, No. 1 in turnover margin, and near last in penalties.  So basically they score, stop the opponent from scoring and protect the rock.  Those are pretty deadly combinations.  Of course Fitchburg, and Me Maritime are not too bad either.

One note regarding Bomber Backer and NEFC teams not knowing what a real D3 team looks like,  I think a lot of the reason that EC has been able to get a good program going quickly is that they have played some real D3 competition in RPI the last two years.  Yes, they got smoked both times, but at least they saw what real D3 football is and didn't run and hide from it.

[bearyear]

br7o7wn by any chance did you play while abraham bascon was playing?

[br7o7wn]

I did play with Abe, a good football player! Not an intimidating site on the field, but he could burn past most defenders! He was a good teammate, always positive and a hard worker!

[Gr8Day2BaBear]

Honestly though I don't think Fitchburg has any clue what's coming this week.  Bridgewater State has the best receivers in the league and there is no way that Fitchburg's defense can stop them, let alone Brendan Kavey nationally ranked 5th in Division III football in yards per game and 1st in scoring per game.  Due to the run stopping ability of the Bears defense and the scoring ability of their offense, it forces opposing teams to put the ball in the air and the result has been about 4 interceptions a game.  Let's Get Serious Now!!!

[MOJO]

Admin,
Where has SULLYMUSTGO gone to.  I miss his posts.  I'm tellin ya, he was quite entertaining.  

Bomber,
You mentioned that Framingham State was accepting students with 800 SAT scores and C averages.  Do the bulk of their future alumni aspire to be Walmart associates?  Not many future attorneys or physicians in this group.

SULLYMUSTGO,
Come back!  Forget I told you to punt.  Tell us more about "coach sullivan" and his ongoing success at "The Fram".  Write a book, make a movie, but please keep preaching the gosphel of Sully.

[SullyMustGo]

I'm still here MOJO. I have so many stories of the moronic things he's done while coaching at Framingam, but for some reason I'm gonna get in trouble for saying things about him. I will tell you this though.  Look around at the coaching staff from his first year til now. There is one coach still there and it is the very under experienced O-Coordinator who doesn't know his elbow from a hole in the ground. Sully treats his staff like crap and doesn't listen to any input they have to say unless he already agrees with it. It's no coinsidence that they all leave after one year there.

[bearyear]

pimpingold, i couldnt agree with you anymore. the only competition that will be goin on is to see who will be second behind the bears. the only thing that held the bears back last year was their defense and obv they have fixed that.

[MOJO]

SULLYMUSTGO,
Thanks for responding back.  Glad you didn't abandon the board.  It's amazing, if all things are as you say, that "coach sullivan" is still employed.  That being said, I have seen situations in the other conferences where there are disparidys amongst schools with respect to applicant academic performance expectations and financial aid packages.  These factors can give a school a significant advantage with respect to recruiting.  If this is the situation, then the coach's hands are somewhat tied.  If this is not the case and coach is truly a incompetent, then yes the coach should be canned.  I make this statement based on the fact he's not only hurting the school but more importantly the kids. 

[Bomber Backer]

Give Credit to Endicott for hanging in there with Hartwick and playing RPI, who made it to the NCAA final four in 2003. The experince gained from playing qualitly teams priceless.

[SullyMustGo]

Mojo even though I would love to see a new coach at Framingham, I have to say it's not just his fault. Framingham is one of the tougher state schools to get into. Fram gets no freebee's, meaning someone who would normally get rejected would get accepted for football. From what I've heard Worcestor State gets 10. No one cares about football there, not even the AD's, it's pretty sad. But on the other hand Framingham has always been like that and the pre-Sully era teams were atleast somewhat respectable and could hang in there and win 4 or 5 games a year.
It's very obvious to all the fans and players there that Sully has severly cripled that program.

[br7o7wn]

"Sully", man I feel for you!! Speaking from first hand experience, Framingham football is one of the most frustrating things I have ever encountered!! Even before Sullivan, during the Strachan era, it was not easy to get the guys we wanted into the school. However, I must say that I n ever really bought into the whole "tough school to get into" routine. I was an average student at best, and I know some sub-par students who got in easy also. The truth of the matter is that most quality prospects have no desire to come to FSC, and the ones that do are so discouraged after 1 or 2 years that they quit or transfer. When I enrolled in '98 we had a pretty good lineup, but zero depth! Yet there were at least 10-15 former players still in school that were mature and probably decent ballers, but quit the team out of frustration w/the program...add those extra players with their potential experience and talent and you would've had a real team. I believe the only way to turn that program around is to find a coach that can dedicate himself to the program enough so that he can find a way to get his players to over-achieve and pull some big victories out of their A$$ and then land just a little more talent and depth the next year...and then it will begin to build momentum!! Also, whoever takes control has to be the kind of coach who is willing to adapt his system to what he has in the cupboard...too many coaches try to force players with their own unique talents into a pre-existing and rigid system that doesn't fit...and that usually doesn't work! Successful coaches adapt their system to the talent they have available, that is how you win.