FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

Ephs cruise to another win, up 38-7 before Bates added two late TDs vs. the Eph backups.  The Williams defense was absolutely fantastic, giving up basically two plays of any significance (one a brilliant just-about hail mary TD by Costa) before the starters were pulled, completely shut down Bates all day despite an up-and-down day from the Eph offense.  Rothmann continues to be a leading candidate for defensive player of the year, the stats just do not reflect his impact, it seems like he's all over the field and always in the center of the action on defense, whether rushing the passer of covering the middle of the field, he just plays so smart and fast, he, like Maimaron, has an incredible understanding of where to be on the field.  Coleston Smith and Ian Devine are the other two stand-outs on the front seven, Devine has blocked (I think) three FG / XP attempts this year in addition to being the top Eph pass rusher on defense.  Coleston Smith has been blowing guys up all over the field.  The Ephs certainly miss Wesner, but the overall defense keeps playing tougher and tougher even without him.  Still, would be great if he could come back for these last three games ...

The Eph offense, despite putting up 38 points, was just OK today, but stellar considering who was missing.  Stola and Burke were both out, as was the starting center, leading to a bit of a re-shuffle on the offensive line (three guys playing in different spots).  The Bates pass rush was effective, sacking Maimaron three times, against the re-jiggered line.  Maimaron other than the INT was stellar in the passing game, placing the ball beautifully to back-up receivers, and also had a gorgeous running TD.  Joel Nicholas was flat nasty on the ground, once he sniffs the end zone it's over for a defense.  He's been playing better and better as the season went along.  The plus side about missing Stola and Burke was that Lee (good speed) and Loffredo (tremendous size) both had some nice moments in the passing game over the last few weeks, both look like they are capable of being good WR3s going forward this year and WR2s next season. But, obviously, Bates is not Trinity and the Ephs desperately need both Stola and Burke back to have their full complement of weapons as Stola, and Burke / Degasperis in that order, are clearly Maimaron's favorite targets, and for good reason.

The Ephs continue to play things very close to the vest.  Since the Middlebury game, Maimaron has barely looked to run on designed plays, and Williams has utilized very few trick or gadget plays.  It's been, really, a lot of running the three TBs up the middle with the occasional deep pass to keep the defense off balance.  While during the next three weeks we will still see a steady dose of the Ephs' bread and butter, I expect that Maimaron will carry the ball a LOT more (he certainly should have fresh legs) and the Ephs will have some trick plays in the hopper for what is effectively a round robin NESCAC championship between Trinity, Wesleyan and Williams.  I also think we will see a bit more hurry-up from the Ephs, which has been effective in catching defenses off-balance as a change from the usual very deliberate pace.   Should be fun!

For Bates, Costa is really impressive and deserves to be on an all-NESCAC team.  The Ephs were pressuring him massively all game and he had zero help from his TBs.   Yet he still made a handful of really good plays.  He would put up huge numbers with more talent around him, he's a really good QB. 

[xPolarDadx]

Bowdoin vs Tufts was a game (for Bowdoin) of near misses and costly penalties.  Bowdoin had the chance to put the game away in the first half, but Boel and Pream were just not quite timed up.  3 plays on different drives where Pream had the DB beat for a TD did Boel slightly overthrow him.  Bowdoin extended 3 drives by Tufts with a roughing the kicker (in the end zone...), roughing the passer, and personal foul penalty, all that happened just after or negated great plays by the defense.   You could feel the frustration building and the wind come out of their sails as Tufts capitalized. Ultimately, these mistakes and some timely run stops by Tufts kept their defense on the field way too long. 

Berluti started out rough, but got sharper and sharper as the game went on.  2nd half adjustments by Tufts vs Bowdoin's some defense were highly effective.  Bowdoin got away from the run too fast (despite the yards by Eden, they really weren't running the ball as much as they should.  Credit the Tufts LBs for making good plays on Eden when it mattered, and Tufts outside run game for negating Bowdoin's 3-3-5 stunting defense, which is way better against inside run.

Another missed FG for Bowdoin (0 for their last 3).

One weird play was Tufts not kicking a FG on 4th and 9 from the 14 when they were only up 6 after a missed xp.  It didn't cost them since Bowdoin let up a big punt return on the ensuring possession, but I don't know what statistics would say not to get a 2 score lead at that point (late 3rd Q). 

[Nescacman]

Our assessment of the Wesleyan/Middlebury tilt played on Saturday, 10/24 on historic Andrus Field:

1. Impressive effort by Wesleyan as they played their most complete game of the year. Cards seem to be peaking at the right time. Defensive effort was impressive.
2. Wesleyan wins their 9th straight game and 14 of their last 15.
3. Wes dominates time of possession with over 40 mins compared to 19 minutes and change by the Pants.
4. 24-0 and it wan't even that close. MID seemed completely out of synch and Wes dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage. Great pressure on QB Jernigan all-day.
5. Wes amassed 265 yards rushing with both RB McPhee and QB Estevez going over the 100-yard mark.
6. Middlebury 2 for 14 on third down and 0 for 6 on 4th down. Wes yet to allow a conversion on 4th down this year (0 for 12).
7. Not sure what is wrong with Joe Willie Jernigan but definitely not even close to the same player he was in 2019. Maybe the worst quarterbacking we've seen this year in the NESCAC as he consistently missed his receivers and made ill advised throws (13 of 35 with 2 INTS and a fumble). Even his mobility did not seem the same. MID pulled him in the 4th quarter either due to a hard hit that he took when he fumbled for Wes TD or due to poor performance.
8. Middlebury running game was non-existent (42 yards on 23 attempts).
9. Defense seemed to play very soft; Middlebury front 7 was completely dominated by Wes offensive line.
10. Very suspect coaching decisions by Middlebury all day. HCOF Ritter and Co. were completely out-coached. For example, 4th down and 13 on the Wes 31 and rather than go for it (as they did numerous other times during the game), they punted. Of course, touchback on the punt for a net 11 yard punt. Maybe time for Coach Ritter to consider hanging it up. Reminds us of the Amhurst Lord Jeffs circa '90 and '91 under legendary HCOF Ostendarp.
12. Really trying to figure out what's gone so wrong for Middlebury this year. Is it:
     A). Poor coaching.
     B). Loss of key players.
     C). Subpar play of existing players.
     D). Better talent in the league.
     E). Unrealistic expectations based on 2019.
     F). Some or all of the above.
13. Whatever the problem, 2019 is a distant memory as the Pants will have to finish strong to stay out of the NESCAC basement.
14. Wes moves on to the Little 3 and the NESCAC play-offs 6-0 with a ton of good momentum.

[SpringSt7]

In regards to Middlebury's struggles, the reality is that they were a good team playing in a league that year which also consisted of other good not great teams. They caught Williams and Trinity early (and at home) before either team had hit their stride and then took out a subpar Amherst team in 2OT thanks to some Jernigan heroics and a struggling Ollie Eberth. Their best win of the year was a blowout of Wesleyan who was a good team in their own right, but a team that was 5-0 at the time in large part due to their soft schedule in the first half of the season. The Cardinals proved down the stretch that they were a good team but they certainly were not the champion test that the recent Trinity and Amherst teams have had to face to win the league.

If Middlebury played their schedule in reverse it would've been a much different story as they beat Hamilton, Tufts, and Colby in 3 of their last 5 games by one score or less, and should've lost to Colby (27-26 W) if not for some poor offensive play calling and kicking. Stats aren't everything because of the way different teams treat garbage time but they were 2nd in scoring offense and 4th in scoring defense (19.8) , allowing nearly twice as many points as 1st ranked Williams (11.4).

If I'm a Midd fan I would read this post and laugh in my face because that banner is going to fly forever and they played 9 games and won all 9. Hats off to that. But that season came out of nowhere and they look very far away from that right now.

[nescac1]

I think it's a bit crazy to compare Ritter, after one bad year, and one season removed from going undefeated, to late-era Ostendarp, who was supposedly suffering from dementia or something like that at the very end of his career.  For Middlebury's system to work they need really good QB play.  Most years they get it, this year, it's been brutal.  But honestly Midd is just one McKillop or Foote or Milano from being a really tough out once again.  I think they have some fairly talented young skill guys who should be better with experience.  But what they really need is an elite trigger man for that offense and if Ritter can dig one up -- and more often than not, he does -- they will be just fine. 

[SpringSt7]

I think it's been a bit lost this year on just how good Williams has been running the ball because of their conversation of Maimaron. It hasn't been their ABSURD 5.9 yards per carry as a team from 2019 but they still lead the league in rushing by a fair margin and the YPC leaders look as follows:

1. Mario Fischetti (7.1)
2. Bobby Maimaron (5.9)
5. Dan Vaughn (4.9)
6. Joel Nicholas (4.5)

To have that type of depth and those types of options in the running game is insane. Especially when you consider both the fact that their best OL in Pat Watson missed the first 3 games and also that Maimaron's numbers are affected by his taking sacks, those are really, really impressive.

The fun part? They play Trinity in 6 days, who leads the league allowing an arguably more impressive 2.1 yards per carry.

[Zlax45]

Photos of the Amherst and Hamilton game

https://www.foley-photography.com/Football/College-Football/2021-Season/Hamilton-at-Amherst

[Nescacman]

I think it's a bit crazy to compare Ritter, after one bad year, and one season removed from going undefeated, to late-era Ostendarp, who was supposedly suffering from dementia or something like that at the very end of his career.  For Middlebury's system to work they need really good QB play.  Most years they get it, this year, it's been brutal.  But honestly Midd is just one McKillop or Foote or Milano from being a really tough out once again.  I think they have some fairly talented young skill guys who should be better with experience.  But what they really need is an elite trigger man for that offense and if Ritter can dig one up -- and more often than not, he does -- they will be just fine.

Eph1, our friend...obviously our comment was more than a bit tongue-in-cheek regarding Ritter (although we do believe that coaching is more and more becoming a young person's game), however, the play calling and coaching decisions by the MID coaching staff did leave us scratching our heads a bit...as far as MID, the problem is way more than a Jernigan/QB issue (not sure we totally agree about the talent of their young skill guys)....not that we are astute enough to be "Sideline QB Club" members, but we know enough about football to make that sort of assessment...

As far as quarterbacking in the NESCAC, isn't every team in the league an "elite trigger man" away from being just fine? A few examples:
1. Hartford State: Fetter (2021) v. Lambert (2019)
2. Bowdoin: Boel (2021) v. Stalcop (2021) and McCrum (2019)
3. Hamilton: Gray (2019) v. Cairns (2021)
4. Middlebury: Jernigan (2021) v. Jernigan (2019)

And we're not even throwing in the Lord Mammoths since we considered Ollie more of a "game manager" but he was certainly more competent than what they have in 2021...

We're anxious to see how UBates and the Ephs make the transition from longtime, 4-year starters in 2022...should be interesting...   

[Nescacman]

Photos of the Amherst and Hamilton game

https://www.foley-photography.com/Football/College-Football/2021-Season/Hamilton-at-Amherst

Maybe the Amhurst defenders should learn to tackle with their eyes open...just sayin'....

[nescac1]

Nescacman, certainly, QB is the biggest single determinant of success of any position, and I'm not meaning to minimize its importance anywhere in NESCAC.  But Trinity and Amherst have had great success in years they've had good-but-not-spectacular QB play, and Hamilton and Bates have struggled lately even in years in which they've had really good QBs. 

Middlebury to me stands out for two reasons, first, year after year, Ritter and Caputi find great talent at the position -- nearly every year from 2011 to 2019 Middlebury had a first-team all-league QB!  But also, the system relies almost entirely on a QB who can efficiently spread the ball around the field to a large number of targets and Middlebury just can't seem to compensate when getting mediocre or worse QB play the way other top-tier teams in NESCAC can usually manage to survive. Heck even Amherst, which has had MASSIVE QB problems this season with three different guys taking turns at the position, has somehow managed to find away to a .500 record behind defense and running the ball.  So I do think that there is reason to believe that Midd could bring in an elite QB transfer (as it did twice over the past decade) or find a star first year who can quickly turn things around there, that offense is very tough to defense so long as the right guy is at the controls. 

[amh63]

Good discussion going on here wrt offensive keys to success.  Amherst has had winning teams when the QBs had great receivers and or solid runners.  Need a balanced offense.  Amherst's runners...other than the QB...are improving...receivers ??.  Amherst's defense....called by the HC...is improving fast.  Should be great games/battles ahead for Amherst...three undefeated teams ahead!

[The Mole]

Panther offense is very reliant upon timing. Losing those receivers and that big TE in addition to giving up the most sacks in the NESCAC does not help that dynamic. The synchronicity is not there.

Wesleyan had four turnovers vs Middlebury. One was a pick in the end zone (bad throw). Two lost fumbles--one after an interception and the other a muffed punt. Both deep in the Cards side of the field. The other turnover was an interception which was also deep in Wes territory. Panthers had many chances to be in the game and did not execute.

Wesleyan dominated the game but Pants seemed to hang around.

Nescacman, certainly, QB is the biggest single determinant of success of any position, and I'm not meaning to minimize its importance anywhere in NESCAC.  But Trinity and Amherst have had great success in years they've had good-but-not-spectacular QB play, and Hamilton and Bates have struggled lately even in years in which they've had really good QBs. 

Middlebury to me stands out for two reasons, first, year after year, Ritter and Caputi find great talent at the position -- nearly every year from 2011 to 2019 Middlebury had a first-team all-league QB!  But also, the system relies almost entirely on a QB who can efficiently spread the ball around the field to a large number of targets and Middlebury just can't seem to compensate when getting mediocre or worse QB play the way other top-tier teams in NESCAC can usually manage to survive. Heck even Amherst, which has had MASSIVE QB problems this season with three different guys taking turns at the position, has somehow managed to find away to a .500 record behind defense and running the ball.  So I do think that there is reason to believe that Midd could bring in an elite QB transfer (as it did twice over the past decade) or find a star first year who can quickly turn things around there, that offense is very tough to defense so long as the right guy is at the controls.

[SpringSt7]

Middlebury is definitely reliant on QB but the OL and WR pipeline has certainly dried up over the last couple of years. The most impressive part about Middlebury's 2019 season was that they weren't airing it out 45-50 times a game like Ritter prefers to do, he pivoted away from that to a more balanced and honestly more run heavy attack. It's pretty impressive. But it leaves them in a weird spot going forward in terms of long term planning.

[Charlie]

Middlebury is definitely reliant on QB but the OL and WR pipeline has certainly dried up over the last couple of years. The most impressive part about Middlebury's 2019 season was that they weren't airing it out 45-50 times a game like Ritter prefers to do, he pivoted away from that to a more balanced and honestly more run heavy attack. It's pretty impressive. But it leaves them in a weird spot going forward in terms of long term planning.

You are exactly correct loosing one of the best WR/TE to graduation and your starting RB for unknown reasons is extremely tough. I think Ritter is a good Coach but rumor mills are swirling that Middlebury is really going to tighten their admissions standard for athletes and become more like Bowdoin. If this does occur or is occurring going to find it difficult to attract the athletes. This is NESCAC football you can have good coaching but you won't win longevity wise without the athletes. Look at Amherst good coaching but they are talent laden. Consequently they are a middle of the pack team. Curious to see what these schools like Williams are going to do when these Seniors graduate especially at QB.

I think Tufts is suited well with there Freshman QB , Bates could be in Trouble at QB , Bowdoin potentially found some answers and only question will be if the QB's can stay healthy. Hamilton has a Freshman QB that does not look bad. Amherst , Colby yes Wesleyan could face problems at the position.Trinity always seems to find the answer and I believe that there QB has another year plus an option year from COVID.

[Trin9-0]

I intermittently watched the Trinity-Colby livestream. Basically I started watching once I saw they were down 12-0 late in the first half until they took a 28-12 lead. It seems likely that the Bants fell prey to looking ahead to their match-up with Williams and didn't show up ready to play. As a (not so) wise man once said "it's never easy to win in Maine"

Credit to Coby for making them pay early, but Trinity showed they can turn it on when needed. The Bantams scored touchdowns on five consecutive possessions to end the game (including drives of 72, 78, 54, and 69 yards) using up nearly 18 minutes of clock to put the Mules away.

This Saturday's Trinity-Williams clash should be another one for the ages between the league's two most historically dominant programs. The Bantams and Ephs have similarly manhandled the rest of the NESCAC thus far, winning by an average score of 25.7 and 23.8 point per game, respectively.

The contest pits strength against strength on both sides of the ball as Trinity leads the league in passing (316 yards per game) while Williams leads the league in pass defense (allowing 156 yards per game). Williams averages a league-best 214 yards per game on the ground while Trinity has allowed an average of just 61.8 yards per game (tops in the NESCAC).

Playing at home should provide a boost to the Ephs in what should be a very close game. A handful of big plays will likely determine the outcome of this game which could very likely come down to the final possession. The winner awaits Wes with a league championship at stake.