FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Nescacman]

Middhoops-
Will will the Oklahoma rifle tomorrow--or will it be Willy Jernigan ?

Our MID sources say it's Jernigans team now...

[Nescacman]

2018 Week #6 NESCACMAN Preview

Welcome to Week #6 in the NESCAC...in "the league where they pay to play". We were 4-1 in week 5, are 20-5 on the season, and are 179-51 in our career (.778 winning pct.). Our only loss last week was not picking MID to upset TTUN. This week, the highlight is Wes hosting undefeated Amhurst in the NESCAC game of the week...

University of Bates (Lewiston Campus) at Middlebury College: UBates took a step back last week against Wes while MID too a step forward against TTUN...this is not the MID squad we are used to; they actually run more than they pass..."How MID Wins": Limit the turnovers, run the ball well and control Costa who is UBates only real offensive threat..."How UBates Wins": Their offense shows up for a change, shut down the MID run attack and force Jernigan to win with his arm forcing a few INTs...this is not the week for UBates as MID cruises to their 2nd win in a row.

Mid 28 UBates 14
Weather: Weather not a factor. High of 57.

Hamilton College at Colby College: HAM coming off a big win against BOW has won 2 of their last 3...not as great match up for HAM offense as Colby does a pretty good job against the pass...Hersch for Colby completing almost 60% of his passes has looked good...Schwern 4th in the NESCAC in rushing..."How Hamilton Wins": Kenny Gray and his talented receivers Buddington and Schmidt have another big day...force the young Colby QB to turn the ball over... "How Colby Wins": Force Hamilton to run the ball...Schwern and Hersch have big day ...We think HAM's offense is too much for Colby, but it could be a close game. HAM gets back to .500 with the win...

Hamilton 24 Colby 17
Weather: Not a factor. High of 60.

Hartford State College at Bowdoin College: Yikes, records could be broken...Best offense in the NESCAC against the worst defense...HS put up 63 on the PBers last year in the Coop, could be worse this year...we're seeing why transfer McCrum was like 6th string at Lafayette... "How Bowdoin Wins": Other than the Hartford State bus breaking down, Polars need Richam to play in the worst way...Bowdoin defense shows up..."How Hartford State Wins": Play the first team for a half and then get them out of there...We give Bowdoin less than 0% chance of winning this game....we're banking on HCOF Devanney to go easy on BOW on the road, the problem is the 2nd and 3rd string are better than BOWs first teamers and will keep playing hard until the end of the game.

Hartford State 45 Bowdoin 7 
Weather: Not a factor. High of 62.

TTUN at Tufts University: Back-up game of the week...both teams coming off first loss of the year...one of these teams will be in the catbird seat for the league title, the loser will have an uphill fight..."How TTUN Wins": They need Dozier and Rothmann to play and play well...need to contain McDonald..."How Tufts Wins":  Control the clock...run the ball...defense stops Dozier running the ball and forces TTUN to try and win through the air. Even if Dozier and Rothmann play, they are banged up...we like the home team in a close game.

Tufts 21 TTUN 17
Weather: Not a factor. High of 64.


NESCAC Game of the Week

Amhurst College at Wesleyan University: Great GOTW...Amhurst has gone 5-0 playing less than stellar competition...this is a good test for them...Wes coming off a good win at Bates ..."How Amhurst Wins": On offense, run the ball effectively and avoid the turnover...Defense contains QB Pic for the Cards..."How Wes Wins": On defense, force Eberth to pass, shut down the running game and force turnovers....On offense, run the ball effectively to set up the pass...This is a very even match-up...we give the edge to the home team who win the Little 3 game in a mild upset.

Wesleyan 24 Amhurst 20
Weather: AM showers. High of 62.

NESCACMAN's Picks
2018 Season: 20-5
2017 Season: 35-10
2016 Season: 32-8
2015 Season: 30-10
2014 Season: 30-10
2013 Season: 32-8
Career: 179-51 (.778 winning percentage)

[gridiron]

Coach Cosgrove and the Mules first victory. Congrats to the program!

[middhoops]

Can anyone explain why Bates went for a PAT when trailing by 2 with a few minutes left?  Hell of an effort by the Bobcats.  The players deserved a chance to tie it.

[Vandy74]

Can anyone explain why Bates went for a PAT when trailing by 2 with a few minutes left?  Hell of an effort by the Bobcats.  The players deserved a chance to tie it.

Agreed.

[The Mole]

Jumbo Win for Tufts over Williams. Showdown next week of Amherst vs Tufts. Ephs lose two in a row after knocking off Trinity (then Bates). Gonna come down to the wire again.

Can anyone explain why Bates went for a PAT when trailing by 2 with a few minutes left?  Hell of an effort by the Bobcats.  The players deserved a chance to tie it.

Agreed.

[NBC93]

Another all around game from Amherst. Held Wesleyan to 101 total yards of offense and -3 rushing for the game. Wesleyan's best offensive plays were Amherst penalties on 3rd downs. Amherst looms like a very good defense that makes offenses uncomfortable and on the offensive side they are controlling the game with smart plays.
I think NESCACMAN quoted someone that said they were the "worst 5-0 team in the history of the NESCAC". Now they are 6-0. They remind me of the 1994-95 NJ Devils facing my Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals. Fans in the West predicted the high-powered Detroit offense would dispose of the Devils in 4 or 5. But people that actually watched the Devils play understood how great their defense was and they swept the Wings in 4. You can't win if you can't score. And if you hold your opponent scoreless then you only need 1 to win. In the offensive stat box it may not look impressive, but when you watch a good defense with a don't make mistakes offense you appreciate more than you can see on a stat sheet.
Amherst looked good, but their toughest opponents are yet to be played.

[maineman]

Can anyone explain why Bates went for a PAT when trailing by 2 with a few minutes left?  Hell of an effort by the Bobcats.  The players deserved a chance to tie it.

Agreed.

That was a strange one!  Bates scored with just over 8 minutes left in regulation and they only had 1 time out left.  Midd's offense had been sputtering since late in the 3rd quarter and I can only assume the coach thought his defense was going to get the ball back from Midd.  If so, he was right because the D got the ball back multiple times from Midd since the Panthers were unable to make a first down.  Still, if he had confidence in his D, why not try for two because if you miss it you are still only field goal away from a win.  Both teams had missed earlier field goals and Bates had the PAT blocked so that may have entered the coach's thought process, but Bates was going with the wind in the 4th quarter so that would have helped the FG effort.

Does anybody know why the muffed fair catch by Bates that was recovered by Midd was negated when they made Midd kick off again?   There was no penalty assessed to Midd on the play.  Was there an inadvertent whistle?

[GovCat]

Maineman, one of the Bates parents spoke to the refs and the ref said it was an inadvertent whistle. We are still confused.
Midhoops and Vandy, as a father of a Bates player, this was the main topic of out post game tailgate. Hall told the players he would rather go for a win than a tie. Apparently, he didn't figure out even if he missed the 2 pointer, he would still need a FG to at least win/tie.
Here is his tweet after the game: Never chase points, it's a sign of desperation! Believe in your ability to play a full game.

[gridiron]

The Hamilton Colby game was a refreshing change of pace in that it was a competitive game with several lead changes--including  a game  winner with seconds to go. Hope there are more games like that for all teams in the league. A little more parity would make the NESCAC a whole lot more fun to follow.

[JEFFFAN]

NESCACMAN - love your enthusiasm and great involvement with this site, but your credibility vis a vis my Jeff's this year is staggeringly low.  Today's performance against Wes was by far the team's most dominant of the season.  The QB had more freedom to throw so we saw a more versatile offense.  Not sure whether Hickey will get back but the junior from Loyola was dynamic. Just tough as hell to run on this defense right now.  Not sure how it'll play out but they looked very good today. If nothing else, EJ's teams always play hard. 

Great to see Colby get aW and some good close games.  Makes the NESCAC that much more interesting.

[Nescacman]

A few comments on our GOTW...

Great job game planning by HCOF Mills and executing by the Lord Mammoths today at historic Andrus Field in Middletown...

Although we believe the Cards matched up talent wise v the LMs, they just didn't get it done today...HCOF Mills exploited the young Cards secondary, stifled the Wes ground game (Wes had something like -2 yards rushing for the day), and put constant pressure on QB Pic (6 sacks and a very large number of hurries) which caused him to constantly miss his targets...

This was the worst loss to Amherst of the HCOF Whales/Dice era, worst loss to Amherst since they lost to the Lord Jeffs 37-0 in 2005, and largest Little 3 loss for Wes since losing to TTUN 45-7 in 2010. Not a happy day in Middletown for the Card faithful all the way around...

[Nescacman]

Maineman, one of the Bates parents spoke to the refs and the ref said it was an inadvertent whistle. We are still confused.
Midhoops and Vandy, as a father of a Bates player, this was the main topic of out post game tailgate. Hall told the players he would rather go for a win than a tie. Apparently, he didn't figure out even if he missed the 2 pointer, he would still need a FG to at least win/tie.
Here is his tweet after the game: Never chase points, it's a sign of desperation! Believe in your ability to play a full game.

Rookie HCOF mistake...

What HCOF Hall should have tweeted is "I screwed up...that's on me and won't happen again...my job as HCOF is to put our players in a position to be able to win".

[amh63]

Hope others got to hear the broadcast of the LJs vs Cardinals yesterday.  The AD Whalen and his good friend's....the former coach of Yale and Amherst..running comments were very informative.  Examples include how both Amherst and Wes should proceed in the game,  offensive formations...to mentioning that Amherst was still the Jeffs .  Once a head coach of football, always a HFC.
Whalen also plugged the other sport contests going on....in particular the upset of the Amherst women soccer game.  Must note that Amherst won all the other ones this weekend.

[Nescacman]

NESCACMAN - love your enthusiasm and great involvement with this site, but your credibility vis a vis my Jeff's this year is staggeringly low.  Today's performance against Wes was by far the team's most dominant of the season.  The QB had more freedom to throw so we saw a more versatile offense.  Not sure whether Hickey will get back but the junior from Loyola was dynamic. Just tough as hell to run on this defense right now.  Not sure how it'll play out but they looked very good today. If nothing else, EJ's teams always play hard. 

Great to see Colby get aW and some good close games.  Makes the NESCAC that much more interesting.

MAMMOTHFAN...we admittedly underestimated the LMs...after seeing them in action yesterday, we are now believers...not sure the LMs will run the table but they looked capable yesterday...