FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[gordonmann]

The Hartford State shade made me laugh.

[Nescacman]

Several comments on fields.
Yes, the grass field at Wesleyan does not DRAIN well!.  Been there when it was not raining...but had rained sometime earlier.  The area in front of the visitors stand was sloppy and muddy.  The draining problem , IMO, was enhanced by the addition of the fine dining facility built on the former Cage end.  There is a courtyard and a retaining wall on that end too.  Note the Cage was like the one at Amherst and UMass-Amherst...all former Basketball facilities.
Yes the "mudball" Amherst-Williams game was also played on a field that did not drain well.  To correct that problem for William's new field was expensive.  Was AD Whalen the Williams' HFC coach in '95?  Too lazy to look up.

Come on amh63....everyone knows HCOF Farley was the head man in '95...

[OldCardinal]

Several comments on fields.
Yes, the grass field at Wesleyan does not DRAIN well!.  Been there when it was not raining...but had rained sometime earlier.  The area in front of the visitors stand was sloppy and muddy.  The draining problem , IMO, was enhanced by the addition of the fine dining facility built on the former Cage end.  There is a courtyard and a retaining wall on that end too.  Note the Cage was like the one at Amherst and UMass-Amherst...all former Basketball facilities.
Yes the "mudball" Amherst-Williams game was also played on a field that did not drain well.  To correct that problem for William's new field was expensive.  Was AD Whalen the Williams' HFC coach in '95?  Too lazy to look up.

The coach in '95 was Dick Farley.

Fun fact:  Whalen had the same number of undefeated seasons at Williams as Coach Kelton (1).  Whalen had a bunch of 6-2 records surrounding an 8-0.  Kelton started at 8-0 and it was kind of downhill after that.

[Nescacman]

Several comments on fields.
Yes, the grass field at Wesleyan does not DRAIN well!.  Been there when it was not raining...but had rained sometime earlier.  The area in front of the visitors stand was sloppy and muddy.  The draining problem , IMO, was enhanced by the addition of the fine dining facility built on the former Cage end.  There is a courtyard and a retaining wall on that end too.  Note the Cage was like the one at Amherst and UMass-Amherst...all former Basketball facilities.
Yes the "mudball" Amherst-Williams game was also played on a field that did not drain well.  To correct that problem for William's new field was expensive.  Was AD Whalen the Williams' HFC coach in '95?  Too lazy to look up.

The coach in '95 was Dick Farley.

Fun fact:  Whalen had the same number of undefeated seasons at Williams as Coach Kelton (1).  Whalen had a bunch of 6-2 records surrounding an 8-0.  Kelton started at 8-0 and it was kind of downhill after that.

Historical footnote...HCOF Kelton's "8-0 team" was really HCOF Whales 8-0 Team since he recruited every starter on that Team....to quote Whales to one of our correspondents..."(Jim), you could have coached that Team and gone 8-0"...in fact, knowing how strong that 2010 was going to be, Whales almost didn't take the Wes job...true story...frankly, the footnote in the TTUN record book next to HCOF Kelton's name is insulting to anyone affiliated with the Ephs or Whales...

[amh63]

Thanks all wrt the head coach of Williams in '95.  Plus K to both OldCardinal and Nescacman for the info...and being nice to an old poster.  When Whalen departed Williams to take the job at Wes, he not only was coaching but also fundraising.  Thought he coached awhile before becoming AD.  Boy time flies when you are having fun.

[Nescacman]

Thanks all wrt the head coach of Williams in '95.  Plus K to both OldCardinal and Nescacman for the info...and being nice to an old poster.  When Whalen departed Williams to take the job at Wes, he not only was coaching but also fundraising.  Thought he coached awhile before becoming AD.  Boy time flies when you are having fun.

He sure did....was HCOF and Associate AD for a few years before handing over the wheel to HCOF Dice and becoming just FT AD...i think he was AD and HCOF for one year...this is Dice's 4th year...Whales coached at Wes from 2010-2014...

[Nescacman]

2018 Week #7 NESCACMAN Preview

Welcome to Week #7 in the NESCAC...in "the league where they pay to play". We were 3-2 in week 6, are 23-7 on the season, and are 182-53 in our career (.775 winning pct.). Last week we lost the Colby upset over Hamilton and the big Amhurst win over Wesleyan. This week, the highlight is undefeated Amhurst hosting Tufts in the annual Battle of the Elephants...

Bowdoin College at Wesleyan University: Bowdoin comes to town riding a 23 game losing streak and haven't won a game since 2015...they are giving up a NESCAC worst 502 YPG which ranks them 241st out of 247 D3 defenses...Wes comes in licking their wounds after a beatdown at the hands of Amhurst last week 33-3...game wasn't even that close...weather conditions will not be good and will be a factor in this one...game is being played on turfed Citrin Field instead of grass Andrus Field..."How Bowdoin Wins": On offense, if Richam plays, try to get him going, run the ball effectively regardless and avoid 3rd and long which has lead to many BOW INTs and sacks in 2018...Defense needs to show up and try to contain Piccirillo..."How Wes Wins": On defense, shut down the run, force the pass, and get turnovers....On offense, run the ball effectively in the rain to set up the pass...Wes has played well historically against the C-B-B and Bowdoin....we don't expect tomorrow to be any different as Richam watches from the sidelines.

Wesleyan 34 Bowdoin 14
Point Spread: Wesleyan giving 17 points.
Weather: Heavy rain and wind. High of 50.

Colby College at University of Bates (Lewiston Campus): Round 1 in the C-B-B...Bates nearly came away with the win last week in Middlebury and Colby won their first game of the year with a mild upset over Hamilton..."How Colby Wins": Continue to ride the arm of Hersch and the legs of Schwern...the young QB has looked very good and is on track to win NESCAC ROTY...the defense needs to control Costa..."How UBates Wins": The offense needs to do whatever they did against Middlebury...the defense needs to play a complete game (they have given up 31 points or more in every game this year except for one) and force young QB Hersch to make some mistakes in his first C-B-B game...Colby has won a game and been in others...Bates has only been in a few games all year...we think Colby has more talent, is better coached and comes away with the win...Hopefully HCOF Malik doesn't face any complicated 2 point conversion calls...

Colby 24 UBates 21
Point Spread: Colby giving 1 point.
Weather: Rain and wind. High of 37.

Middlebury College at Hartford State: Middlebury barely escaped with a win last week against Bates....meanwhile, Hartford State cruised against Bowdoin...Both teams have made successful QB changes this year...key for HS is not looking ahead to next week's big game against Amhurst conceivably for all of the marbles in the NESCAC...weather will be a factor in this one too..."How Middlebury Wins": Get the running game with Scibilia and Jernigan...defense contains the dynamic HS offense..."How Hartford State Wins": Run Chipouras to set up the pass...stop the Middlebury running game and force Jernigan to win through the air....HS has too much talent and they almost never lose at home...won't happen this year to a Middlebury squad having an off-year.

Hartford State 38 Middlebury 17
Point Spread: Hartford State giving 17 points. 
Weather: Heavy rain and wind. High of 47.

TTUN at Hamilton College: HAM laid an egg against Colby last week...injury plagued TTUN riding a two game losing streak badly in need of a win in advance of 2 big games against their Little 3 rivals..."How Hamilton Wins": Kenny Gray needs to have a better day than he had last week... defense needs to contain Eph QB Maimaron... "How TTUN Wins": Force Hamilton to run the ball...Maimaron has big day as the Ephs rest Dozier in preparation for Wes and Amhurst...We think TTUN even with the injuries has more talent this year than HAM....TTUN breaks the losing streak with the win...

TTUN 28 Hamilton 17
Point Spread: TTUN giving 10 points.
Weather: Rain. High of 39.

NESCAC Game of the Week

Tufts University at Amhurst College: Really interesting game as the Lord Mammoths put their undefeated record on the line against the Jumbo's in Blanketville...both defenses are really good (1st and 3rd in the NESCAC) and their offenses are 2nd and 3rd in the NESCAC....we think Amhurst's superior rushing offense (1st in the NESCAC) will carry the day in the slop..."How Tufts Wins": Run the ball effectively against the tough LM D...control the clock...stop the LM rushing attack and force Eberth to pass..."How Amhurst Wins":  Contain McDonald...run the ball well as they have all year...defense stops the run and forces Tufts to try and pass in the rain. Should be a tough, hard fought game played in some difficult conditions...we like the home team in a close game....sets up a big game next week for Amhurst against HS.

Amhurst 24 Tufts 20
Point Spread: Amhurst giving 4 points.
Weather: Rain. High of 44.

NESCACMAN's Picks
2018 Season: 23-7
2017 Season: 35-10
2016 Season: 32-8
2015 Season: 30-10
2014 Season: 30-10
2013 Season: 32-8
Career: 182-53 (.775 winning percentage)

And to summarize the spreads for those of you still sleeping...

Wes -17
Colby -1
Hartford State -17
TTUN -10
Amhurst -4

[Nescacman]

and an early congrats to everyone on this board on 1000 pages!!!Job well done... 

[Nescacman]

2018 Week #7 NESCACMAN Preview

Welcome to Week #7 in the NESCAC...in "the league where they pay to play". We were 3-2 in week 6, are 23-7 on the season, and are 182-53 in our career (.775 winning pct.). Last week we lost the Colby upset over Hamilton and the big Amhurst win over Wesleyan. This week, the highlight is undefeated Amhurst hosting Tufts in the annual Battle of the Elephants...

Bowdoin College at Wesleyan University: Bowdoin comes to town riding a 23 game losing streak and haven't won a game since 2015...they are giving up a NESCAC worst 502 YPG which ranks them 241st out of 247 D3 defenses...Wes comes in licking their wounds after a beatdown at the hands of Amhurst last week 33-3...game wasn't even that close...weather conditions will not be good and will be a factor in this one...game is being played on turfed Citrin Field instead of grass Andrus Field..."How Bowdoin Wins": On offense, if Richam plays, try to get him going, run the ball effectively regardless and avoid 3rd and long which has lead to many BOW INTs and sacks in 2018...Defense needs to show up and try to contain Piccirillo..."How Wes Wins": On defense, shut down the run, force the pass, and get turnovers....On offense, run the ball effectively in the rain to set up the pass...Wes has played well historically against the C-B-B and Bowdoin....we don't expect tomorrow to be any different as Richam watches from the sidelines.

Wesleyan 34 Bowdoin 14
Point Spread: Wesleyan giving 17 points.
Weather: Heavy rain and wind. High of 50.

Colby College at University of Bates (Lewiston Campus): Round 1 in the C-B-B...Bates nearly came away with the win last week in Middlebury and Colby won their first game of the year with a mild upset over Hamilton..."How Colby Wins": Continue to ride the arm of Hersch and the legs of Schwern...the young QB has looked very good and is on track to win NESCAC ROTY...the defense needs to control Costa..."How UBates Wins": The offense needs to do whatever they did against Middlebury...the defense needs to play a complete game (they have given up 31 points or more in every game this year except for one) and force young QB Hersch to make some mistakes in his first C-B-B game...Colby has won a game and been in others...Bates has only been in a few games all year...we think Colby has more talent, is better coached and comes away with the win...Hopefully HCOF Malik doesn't face any complicated 2 point conversion calls...

Colby 24 UBates 21
Point Spread: Colby giving 1 point.
Weather: Rain and wind. High of 37.

Middlebury College at Hartford State: Middlebury barely escaped with a win last week against Bates....meanwhile, Hartford State cruised against Bowdoin...Both teams have made successful QB changes this year...key for HS is not looking ahead to next week's big game against Amhurst conceivably for all of the marbles in the NESCAC...weather will be a factor in this one too..."How Middlebury Wins": Get the running game with Scibilia and Jernigan...defense contains the dynamic HS offense..."How Hartford State Wins": Run Chipouras to set up the pass...stop the Middlebury running game and force Jernigan to win through the air....HS has too much talent and they almost never lose at home...won't happen this year to a Middlebury squad having an off-year.

Hartford State 38 Middlebury 17
Point Spread: Hartford State giving 17 points. 
Weather: Heavy rain and wind. High of 47.

TTUN at Hamilton College: HAM laid an egg against Colby last week...injury plagued TTUN riding a two game losing streak badly in need of a win in advance of 2 big games against their Little 3 rivals..."How Hamilton Wins": Kenny Gray needs to have a better day than he had last week... defense needs to contain Eph QB Maimaron... "How TTUN Wins": Force Hamilton to run the ball...Maimaron has big day as the Ephs rest Dozier in preparation for Wes and Amhurst...We think TTUN even with the injuries has more talent this year than HAM....TTUN breaks the losing streak with the win...

TTUN 28 Hamilton 17
Point Spread: TTUN giving 10 points.
Weather: Rain. High of 39.

NESCAC Game of the Week

Tufts University at Amhurst College: Really interesting game as the Lord Mammoths put their undefeated record on the line against the Jumbo's in Blanketville...both defenses are really good (1st and 3rd in the NESCAC) and their offenses are 2nd and 3rd in the NESCAC....we think Amhurst's superior rushing offense (1st in the NESCAC) will carry the day in the slop..."How Tufts Wins": Run the ball effectively against the tough LM D...control the clock...stop the LM rushing attack and force Eberth to pass..."How Amhurst Wins":  Contain McDonald...run the ball well as they have all year...defense stops the run and forces Tufts to try and pass in the rain. Should be a tough, hard fought game played in some difficult conditions...we like the home team in a close game....sets up a big game next week for Amhurst against HS.

Amhurst 24 Tufts 20
Point Spread: Amhurst giving 4 points.
Weather: Rain. High of 44.

NESCACMAN's Picks
2018 Season: 23-7
2017 Season: 35-10
2016 Season: 32-8
2015 Season: 30-10
2014 Season: 30-10
2013 Season: 32-8
Career: 182-53 (.775 winning percentage)

And to summarize the spreads for those of you still sleeping...

Wes -17
Colby -1
Hartford State -17
TTUN -10
Amhurst -4

We are ready for the pot shots....

[Nescacman]

It's a lil early and lots football to be played, but how many point ya given' us???

Aww, c'mon... the man who has literally never picked Trinity to beat Wesleyan and who weekly boasts about his prowess picking games without a spread now wants us to give him points?

Wesleyan 17 Trinity 14

Wesleyan 24 Trinity 14 

Wesleyan 24 Hartford State 21

Wesleyan 24 Hartford State 21

Wesleyan 28 Hartford State 24

Fine, but if Trinity covers the spread then you'll need to triple your Wesleyan Fund gift. As you said, it's a little early so let's wait until game week and we can negotiate a fair number.

Let's start the next 1000 pages with this homage to our favorite state school:

http://www.wesleyanrejects.com

[GoBlue61]

I agree...I always get a kick out of the Hartford State and U of Bates (Lewiston Campus) references in the Power Rankings...hoping the weather is playable at Wesleyan on Saturday...

[JEFFFAN]

My picks:

Wes -17 (Wesleyan - Bears too beat up)
Colby -1 (Colby - playing better football right now)
Hartford State -17 (Trinity, because they love to run it up)
TTUN -10 (Williams, to keep alive)
Amhurst -4 (Amherst, because I am a Jeffs fan)

[ColbyFootball]

Colby Bates should be a hard fought battle today, but something tells me Colby will pick up their first win against Bates in a few years. This would be a nice step for Cosgrove. Go Mules!!!

[gridiron]

In recent years Bates always seems to figure out a way to prevail over Colby.  I agree I think the tide turns this year in Lewiston for Cosgrove's Mules.

[JEFFFAN]

Come on, folks, pick by the spread ... add a little energy to this site!