FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[LinemenRathletes2]

not to mention the fact that most teams will run only their base plays on both sides of the ball, especially now that some of the teams play the team they scrimmage in the regular season.

[tmerton]

Who are the NESCAC teams facing for their mid-September scrimmages?  I was talking to the father of a kid who is heading off to Middlebury who told me the Midds are scrimmaging Dartmouth. 

[cruiser]

colby scrimmages bates in waterville

[Trin9-0]

To the best of my knowledge NESCAC teams now scrimmage their final opponent of the season, but I may be mistaken. I do know that Trinity scrimages Wesleyan.

Also, I heard through the grapevine that the leading QB candidate for the Bants, Chandler Barnard, has decided to focus on his baseball career and will not be playing football for Trin this season. Eric McGrath, who is not athletic as Barnard, but a more accurate passer will most likely become the preseason starter.

[cruiser]

colby doesnt play bates in the final game of the season, so out goes that theory. i think, in most cases, teams scrimmage other teams closest in proximity to one another... does barnard not playing football hamper the bants at all this season? how does this affect the outlook in hartford, if at all?

[mariner75]

NESCAC teams used to scrimmage the teams they didn't meet during the regular season (tufts scrimmaged either wes or hamilton) but that was changed in recent years to play someone closer.  I believe the jumbos scrimmaged williams the last two year but i'm not positive.

[tmerton]

Based on the initial responses, it seems pretty rare for a NESCAC team to scrimmage a D1AA team, even an Ivy.  Is that accurate?  Has Middlebury done this before?  I believe Ithaca and Cornell scrimmage every year, so it's certainly not unheard of for D3 and D1AA teams to do this.

Edit: From the Big Green Alert:

JULY 25
With players reporting on Aug. 23, the countdown has begun until the start of practice for the 2005 season. One notable change under new coach Buddy Teevens: There will be no preseason scrimmage against a future Ivy League opponent this year. Dartmouth has scrimmaged Brown at Phillips Exeter Academy in recent years and before that used to line up against Columbia in Connecticut. The only outside action Dartmouth will see this preseason will be a "junior varsity" scrimmage against Middlebury.

I presume this means the scrimmage, at least from Dartmouth's perspective, is for their younger and less experienced players.

[LinemenRathletes2]

It would be extremely rare for a nescac varsity team to scrimmage anyone other than another nescac ( I don't even know if the league allows it), let alone a d1AA, I suppose it could be possible... maybe they are scrimmaging Dartmouth JV or something?? In other news: Amherst will be scrimmaging UMASS, Trinity vs. UConn, Colby vs. UMaine, Tufts vs. BC, and Hamilton vs. Colgate

[tmerton]

Tufts versus BC - the thought of that one made me really laugh.    Austin Murphy, the SI writer, wrote a book called The Sweet Season about spending a season living at St. John's in MN.  In it, he included a number of stories about his brother's experience playing at BC that were, shall we say, not exactly the type of experiences one would expect to have in a D3 program (which admittedly was his point).

[LinemenRathletes2]

My favorite is Hamilton vs. Colgate... it would probably be about as bad as Tufts vs. BC, but everything about Hamilton amuses me at this point.

[LinemenRathletes2]

espn.com is reporting that there will be some rule changes in college football this year regarding the game clock:
The first one has to do with instant replay, and obviously only effects D1-A (although NESCAC ref's could really really really benefit from instant replay)

The second one has to do with kickoffs and first downs: "According to Rule 3-2-5, the game clock will start as soon as the ball is kicked in a kickoff situation. Previously, the clock would only start once the receiving team touched the ball. In addition, Rule 3-2-5-e states that, after a team gets a first down, the clock will begin running again on the ready-for-play signal. Previously, the clock did not resume until the team snapped the ball."

Also, halftime will apparently be shortened.

I am assuming these rules will take place throughout NCAA (including nescac).... as an offensive player, I personally don't like these rule changes, especially the first down rule.... it completely changes the two-minute-drill (my favorite part of football). What do you guys think? The rules committee says they did this to shorten 4 hour games, but the nescac doesnt play 4 hour games! instead of changing the game, they could have cut some tv timeouts. Personally I see this as yet another indication that NCAA football isn't about the game or the student/athletes, its all about the endorsements. It makes me proud to be affiliated with D3.

[Pat Coleman]

LOL, espn.com is reporting ...

This is somewhat old news. Been out a while. And yes, it applies to all levels of the NCAA, even untelevised games. I too think it's somewhat unfortunate.

[LinemenRathletes2]

just checking my websites.....

I actually wanted to read about Roger Goodell and stumbled across that. Also, its sad that Clarrett is making top headlines with yet another arrest..... once again I am proud to be affiliated with D3.

[Jonny Utah]

To the best of my knowledge NESCAC teams now scrimmage their final opponent of the season, but I may be mistaken. I do know that Trinity scrimages Wesleyan.

Also, I heard through the grapevine that the leading QB candidate for the Bants, Chandler Barnard, has decided to focus on his baseball career and will not be playing football for Trin this season. Eric McGrath, who is not athletic as Barnard, but a more accurate passer will most likely become the preseason starter.

Ha.  Guys first name is Chandler.  Thats a nescac name if Ive ever heard one...........

[Trin9-0]

Ha.  Guys first name is Chandler.  Thats a nescac name if Ive ever heard one...........

That's nothing... my freshman year at Trinity there were THREE guys who played named "Skip"