FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[JEFFFAN]

I am not as shocked at the lack of running game but, as you note, at the desire to just keep chucking the ball up there for three quarters when it was clear that your third-string QB was lacking today, the weather conditions were bad, and your defense was exhausted.  I am not sure who does the play calling - I don't think it is Mills because he focuses on the defense - but someone has some serious explaining to do in terms of how they called this particular game.   

By the way, I thought that the defense played just fine considering that they were on their heels ALL day.

[westcoastDad]

Just walked off the field.

Exposed is all I will say right now.

Congrats to the Cardinals.  Well coached and well played.  Their 5'8 QB seemed 6'3 as he picked apart our secondary

[Ephpapa20]

What QB is Amherst on now? Hats off to Coach Raymond. The team has been competitive in every game besides the Trinity game. My pick for QB Cahill played a lot. I think he's the QB of the future for the team. Would I be going out on a limb predicting a win next week? Overall, the kids are playing and Raymond seems like the right pick.

[RetiredMule]

Congrats to the Cardinals.  Well coached and well played.  Their 5'8 QB seemed 6'3 as he picked apart our secondary

But is he a real football player? Does he get concussions? I love that metric considering CTE

[westcoastDad]

Wesleyan was who we thought they were:  well balanced running attack and passing.   Their QB, whom I was told by one of their fans was top 3 player in Connecticut as a hs senior.  He played a good game mixing in short 5-7 yards passes over the middle (that were usually wide open) with a physical running game to #23 or he kept it himself for positive yards.

Their defense basically played man all day and kept theit linebackers in the passing lanes.  They stymied our running game until our coaches decided to play Hickey in the 2nd quarter. 

On our side, I will say that our QB tried.  But, our offense doesn't help his strengths.  He got hit hard early and seemed to let that get to him.  He was staring down his 1st reads and their defense made us pay for that as they had many opportunities to intercept.

The board loves the read option.  I will say that Hickey ran hard and physical and had numerous good gains.  But, for some unknown reason neither he nor Nick Kelly are getting much action these days.  It hurt us today as our smaller back provided little help as a blocking back.  Several times linebackers just ran right thru to the QB.

Island Time is right in that we lack speed on the edges but that's always been our M.O.  We got away with it because we could run the rock. 

Our defense did play well considering they stayed on the field most of the day.  We still are vulnerable in the secondary.  Wesleyan thru under and over the top of us today.   

It was an all around butt kicking.  And the roar of their crowd when the final second ticked off the clock said it all.  They wanted us bad. 

I saw BEAT AMHERST tshirts all over the place.  They were ready.  We weren't today. 

Hard fought loss.  Glad to see no major injuries from either side as conditions were slippery.

[Old Guy]

Hope you're all aware of the really nice work of student journalists on "Nothing But NESCAC": covers football particularly well (then basketball season!): http://nothingbutnescac.com/?cat=10

[Grabowski]

 wcD, nice post, solid reporting on Little Three game one.  Not much to add except luck the rest of the way to the purple.

[lumbercat]

ColbyFootball-
What do you mean about Hurdle-Price being ruined, I don't get it.
Care to elaborate?

[RetiredMule]

LC - I will elaborate a bit on the Hurdle-Price issue. I think there has been a confluence of things to hurt his production. His sophomore year when he stepped onto the scene following the Lipani injury, he had a veteran offensive line of 3 seniors and 2 juniors who had all been starters since their sophomore or junior seasons. He continued to excel behind those juniors turned seniors who held the left side of the line down for another year. This year, his offensive line is young and it shows dramatically. I do not believe in the athletes that they have and the young nature accentuates that. On top of that, Michaeles teams struggle to find an identity between power and zone running teams. Yes it is a positive to have a balance and a mix of the two but it limits the offensive lines ability to excel in either. Being able to excel in one or the other is key to a good offense. Thirdly, we are on our third QB. Try to find a team that hasn't loaded the box against us to limit him and force the game into either the freshman or 3rd stringer's hands; and I would fault them if they did not. I could go on. But I feel these are three of the major factors limiting JHP. Not his talent, but factors beyond his control.

[RetiredMule]

And if you need further proof that Michaeles should be fired. They run the victory formation from the shotgun. That alone would have gotten Bear Bryant fired.

[amh63]

Spent half a day avoiding a post on the game.  Maybe avoiding to be overly critical, etc. or appearing to be clever.  Not enough football insight for either approach.  After reading the other posts, I will make my comments. 
First....yes OLD GUY, your son writes well and with humor on NBN.  Anticipating his "unbias work" during the basketball season.
Congrats to The Cardinals!  They  put a beating on Amherst.  Expect the same outcome on a dry field.  How did they lose their first game? 
Several kudos to Wes on their broadcast.  They join Tufts with REPLAY and had AD Whalen to add commentary.  The "old head coach" kept remarking about field position importance and was cautious about the score until mid 4th quarter.  Gave insight to the seniors and other key players.  Example...The CB Sanchaz?sp who had two int.  Remarked that the CB made two ints as a freshman in 2013 when Wesleyan last beat Amherst...at the new Pratt Field.  "Bookend play".   I was at the game and shook HC Whalen's hand then...as a number of Amherst alums did..in front of Coolidge fieldhouse. 
Announcer/colorman Whalen was excited by the win, chance to win the Little Three...it was in his voice.  Excited for his football HC, etc.  no mention of Trinity ahead and a Nescac title.
Now to my take of the game.  Yes, the number of TO's....ints...was the cause of the O-20 score.  Did the wet conditions contribute...yes, but both teams played in the rain and wind.  Two top defenses limited any run offenses.  Two Soph QBs played against each other and the the better QB won.  Limitation and "inexperience " of Amherst's QB was exposed...decision making under pressure.  Actually, there were a number of Amherst "weakness" revealed by a good defense.  The rebuilt left side of the line showed it has more work ahead.  The new LT was overcome by a DE that caused  a negative Amherst play.  One of the Interception was due to a tipped throw at the line..Amherst left side linemen pushed back.  Even the new steady center made a bad snap that caused  another Non productive Amherst play.  With no real run offense, Wes's defense put steady pressure on the QB.  Yes, the Amherst QB was looking at his first read WRs too much and the Wes experienced DBs took advantage.  When Amherst did run, I felt it was primarily to the right side with two returning starters. 
It should be noted that AD Whalen remarked more than once that he was glad that RB Kelly was not in the game...that Kelly always had big games against the Cardinals.
Too much info?  I wanted to add comments that previous posters made; in particular those at the game.
Reported live audience at the game was over 3000.  From limited stands shots, it appeared to me many alums must have left early.  Seems the students are on a break...those not playing varsity sports.

[frank uible]

Whalen deserves his success, but I am saving my congrats to him until the end of the season. At any rate he knows he has it

[JEFFFAN]

Spent half a day avoiding a post on the game.  Maybe avoiding to be overly critical, etc. or appearing to be clever.  Not enough football insight for either approach.  After reading the other posts, I will make my comments. 
First....yes OLD GUY, your son writes well and with humor on NBN.  Anticipating his "unbias work" during the basketball season.
Congrats to The Cardinals!  They  put a beating on Amherst.  Expect the same outcome on a dry field.  How did they lose their first game? 
Several kudos to Wes on their broadcast.  They join Tufts with REPLAY and had AD Whalen to add commentary.  The "old head coach" kept remarking about field position importance and was cautious about the score until mid 4th quarter.  Gave insight to the seniors and other key players.  Example...The CB Sanchaz?sp who had two int.  Remarked that the CB made two ints as a freshman in 2013 when Wesleyan last beat Amherst...at the new Pratt Field.  "Bookend play".   I was at the game and shook HC Whalen's hand then...as a number of Amherst alums did..in front of Coolidge fieldhouse. 
Announcer/colorman Whalen was excited by the win, chance to win the Little Three...it was in his voice.  Excited for his football HC, etc.  no mention of Trinity ahead and a Nescac title.
Now to my take of the game.  Yes, the number of TO's....ints...was the cause of the O-20 score.  Did the wet conditions contribute...yes, but both teams played in the rain and wind.  Two top defenses limited any run offenses.  Two Soph QBs played against each other and the the better QB won.  Limitation and "inexperience " of Amherst's QB was exposed...decision making under pressure.  Actually, there were a number of Amherst "weakness" revealed by a good defense.  The rebuilt left side of the line showed it has more work ahead.  The new LT was overcome by a DE that caused  a negative Amherst play.  One of the Interception was due to a tipped throw at the line..Amherst left side linemen pushed back.  Even the new steady center made a bad snap that caused  another Non productive Amherst play.  With no real run offense, Wes's defense put steady pressure on the QB.  Yes, the Amherst QB was looking at his first read WRs too much and the Wes experienced DBs took advantage.  When Amherst did run, I felt it was primarily to the right side with two returning starters. 
It should be noted that AD Whalen remarked more than once that he was glad that RB Kelly was not in the game...that Kelly always had big games against the Cardinals.
Too much info?  I wanted to add comments that previous posters made; in particular those at the game.
Reported live audience at the game was over 3000.  From limited stands shots, it appeared to me many alums must have left early.  Seems the students are on a break...those not playing varsity sports.

Have I missed something - what is wrong with Kelly?  He has been a phenomenal back for Amherst.  Is he hurt?

[westcoastDad]

Just had breakfast at Johnny's Tavern with several players. 
There is nothing wrong with Kelly or Hickey. 

This has more to do with a coach playing who he wants versus the better talent and scheme.

Lots of insight from those lads but won't compromise their takes. 
I will say these kids are going to have lots of fun studying abroad next spring!  Oh my, to be 21 again.  These kids are definitely student athletes. 

Tufts is huge.  It's their best chance to finish with a winning record.  They know Trinity is loaded and healthy.  The numerous knee injuries (another starter may have a meniscus tear) are unprecedented for this program.   Better lay off those squats in the off-season smh. 

I also heard about the telecast being excellent.  My father mentioned it even though he stopped watching after halftime.  Said he couldn't watch stone age football anymore.

Anyone just see that attempted tackle by Blair Walsh (K) for the Vikings? 

[gridiron]

In fairness to Coach Michaeles, he hasn't had much experience running the victory formation.

Based upon the box score, Colby must have had someone else calling the plays (as reported by the ColbyFootball). Spread the ball around to many different receivers and many different ball carriers. Great to see since 2015 was completely one dimensional with Jabari right, Jabari left, Jabari screen pass...lots of other wasted talent last season. 

Surprised some are still looking for HC Michaeles' head, given he apparently handed off play calling to the OC, and the Mules had a big win. Isn't that what was being hoped for???