FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Hawk196]

Hats off to Hamilton! Played a tough game and kept it close. The 0-5 Amherst game from last year was on my mind.....

[The Mole]

I think you mean 7-2. It can happen. Not sure NESCAC has ever had "quad-champs". Time to revisit tie-breaker rules....

The rescheduled November 18th games will factor in as well. It is up for grabs.

How likely is this to happen?  Wes beats Trinity, Midd loses to Tufts.  The teams win out on their other games and there are four 5-2 teams atop the NESCAC standings at season's end. 
Could it even happen?

[GroundandPound]

Congratulations to Hamilton on the huge, I mean Jumbo, win over Tufts.  I just watched the game.  A freshman QB, an Oline that averages about 250 pounds, a Dline that averages about 230 pounds, and an entire team that battled to the last whistle to earn a glorious win.  Congratulations to the coaches as well :-)   

[Nescacman]

How likely is this to happen?  Wes beats Trinity, Midd loses to Tufts.  The teams win out on their other games and there are four 5-2 teams atop the NESCAC standings at season's end. 
Could it even happen?

Definitely could happen. Is it likely to happen, we hope so. And as we have discussed in the past, we would then have a 4-way league champion as our good friend, Mole, alluded to.

[Nescacman]

Easy fella. Unfortunately,the littlest game will be just that this year. NM don't be upset your tradition is strolling through a sea of purple hair ,inhaling the effervescent stench of doobie all whilst watching a game on a glorified hs venue. You do have that clothing optional dorm so I guess that's another proud tradition there.

Hats off to the Conts for winning that pillow fight where D and special teams were optional most of the day.

BK, nice description of Wes circa 1972. Just in case none of you have visited the "glorfied hs venue" recently (or ever), here's what you are missing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC2iPOGGOdk

Easily the best game day experience in the NESCAC and possibly, the best D3 game day experience in the country (and yes, we have experienced quite a few outside of the NESCAC)...all of our friends are invited to join us for the Turducken Bowl on November 11th when the Cardinals host Hartford State on Andrus Field (where we've won our last 8 games in a row and 14 of our last 16)...#rollcards

[maineman]

I think you mean 7-2. It can happen. Not sure NESCAC has ever had "quad-champs". Time to revisit tie-breaker rules....

The rescheduled November 18th games will factor in as well. It is up for grabs.

How likely is this to happen?  Wes beats Trinity, Midd loses to Tufts.  The teams win out on their other games and there are four 5-2 teams atop the NESCAC standings at season's end. 
Could it even happen?

Whoops, l blew the math.  7-2!

[Nescacman]

2023 NESCACMAN Week 7 Power Rankings

We are down to the last 2/3 weeks of the season...Hamilton threw a monkey wrench into the best laid plans of the Tufts Jumbo's with the biggest upset in the NESCAC in recent memory...we have a four-way battle for the 2023 NESCAC title between Middlebury, Tufts, Hartford State, and Wesleyan all still with a legit shot at the title.

This week, as we said, we had a huge upset when the Jumbo's lost to Hamilton...in the only other game on the schedule this week, we saw Wesleyan put a wet blanket on the Lord Mammoths. UBates, Bowdoin, Colby, Hartford State, Middlebury, and Williams were all off because of the tragedy last week in Maine.

NESCACMAN goes 1-1 with our weekly picks...We are now 24-8 on the year.

Here are our NESCAC rankings for Week 7 based on our poll of league wide correspondents:

1). Middlebury Panthers (10 first place votes)(5-1; Last Week Rank: 1): Middlebury stays in our top spot as their trip to Colby was postponed to Week #10. It's Middlebury's turn to take on the suddenly "hot" Hamiltonians this week in Clinton, who are riding a modest two game win streak.

2). Hartford State Roosters (5-1; Last Week Rank: 2): Roosters remain in the 2nd spot back Roosters after their bye week...interesting trip to Brunswick to face the Polars has been moved to Week #10. Hartford State hosts the UBates Kitties this week.

3). (Tie) Tufts Jumbo's (5-2; Last Week Rank: 3): Tufts suffers one of the bigger upsets in recent memory losing to Hamilton...Jumbo's relinquished a 17-0 half-time lead on their way to a 5 OT loss...penalties (including a key facemask that led to game tying FG late in the 4th quarter) and special team failures led to the upset..Tufts o-line played well again only allowing 2 TFLs and did not allow a sack (again)...Tufts hosts the up and down Colby Mules this week as they try to keep their title hopes alive.

3). (Tie) Wesleyan Cardinals (5-2; Last week Rank: 4): Wes beats Amwurst in front of 5k+ strong on the oldest continuously used college gridiron in America...largest margin of victory in 31 years versus the Lord Mammoths...Wes clinches their 11th consecutive winning season, the longest streak in the NESCAC amongst schools with below a 35% acceptance rate...Stellar game for Gold Helmet winner Chase Wilson who wins the award for the second time this year (9 catches for 146 yards and 2 TDs)...2 more defensive TDs for the Cards (thanks to Dylan Connors, NESCAC DPOTW, and Wesley Abraham, who should be in the running for NESCAC DPOTY)...Wesleyan has a chance for their third Little 3 title in four years this week...Wes forced 3 turnovers and held the LMs to less than 50% passing ...Wes travels to Williamstown to face the Ephs in their annual Little 3 game this week.

5). (tie) Colby Mules (3-3; Last Week Rank: 5): Mules will host the Panthers in week #10. This week they travel to Medford to face Tufts. Which Mule team shows up?

5). (tie) Bowdoin Polar Bears (3-3; Last Week Rank: 5): Polars will host Hartford State in Brunswick in Week #10. The Polars host the Lord Mammoths this week in Brunswick.

7). Hamilton Alexander Hamilton's (2-5; Last Week Rank: 9): HAM wins their second game in a row in an upset of the Jumbo's...The Alexander Hamilton's QB Luke Kurzum did it all on the ground and through the air and was this week's NESCAC OPOTW...Back-up QB Matt Banbury did an excellent job filling in at TB...Alexander Hamilton's host the Panthers this weekend as they look for their 3rd win in a row.

8). Amwurst Lord Mammoths (2-5; Last Week Rank: 7):  Lord Mammoths lose to Wesleyan on the road in a Little 3 rivalry game...Clinch their 3rd losing season in the last 4 years...Amwurst offense sputtered again...Our first time seeing them in person in 2023 and we must say, this team is completely devoid of playmakers on both sides of the ball...If we were a recruit looking at Amwurst, why would we go there given the trajectory of this program and the college's rumored negative attitude towards athletes (yeah, yeah, we know it's a great school but one that seems disinterested at best in excelling in athletics)?...LMs turned the ball over 3 times; two of those turnovers were returned for TDs (another sure pick 6 was dropped by a Wes defender)...Clearly, the QB of the future for the LMs was not on the field on Saturday...This week they travel to Maine to face Bowdoin.

9). Williams Purple Cows (2-4; Last Week Rank: 8): Ephs had the week off and will face UBates in Week #10. This week, they face Wesleyan on their annual Senior Day and last home game of 2023.

10). University of Bates Bobcats (Lewiston Campus)(0-6; Last Week Rank: 10): UBates will host the Purple Cows in Week #10. This week they travel to the Coop to face Hartford State.

[BigKat]

NM...Keep the Halloween humor coming-good stuff. You do know the Jumbo scoreboard operator was checking to see if it went to triple digits a few weeks ago vs the wingless Red Birds, right? thank G the 2's and 3's got all the 4q reps.

[GroundandPound]

How many defensive touchdowns has Wesleyan scored this year?  Five?  I suspect if that stat were kept Wesleyan would be in the top few in college football for defensive points per game.
On the other side of the coin, I believe defensive touchdowns are counted in offensive points per game for league stats.  If so, how would their offense rank in points per game if defensive touchdowns are not included?  Likewise, how would NESCAC defensive points per game allowed rankings change if points from offenses giving up turnovers for touchdowns were not counted against the team's defensive points per game allowed stats?  I happened to watch the first half of the Wesleyan v. Amherst game in person.  The tailgate/game scene was terrific. 

[BigKat]

Always a great tailgate vibe there, night games especially.

[Jonny Utah]

How many defensive touchdowns has Wesleyan scored this year?  Five?  I suspect if that stat were kept Wesleyan would be in the top few in college football for defensive points per game.
On the other side of the coin, I believe defensive touchdowns are counted in offensive points per game for league stats.  If so, how would their offense rank in points per game if defensive touchdowns are not included?  Likewise, how would NESCAC defensive points per game allowed rankings change if points from offenses giving up turnovers for touchdowns were not counted against the team's defensive points per game allowed stats?  I happened to watch the first half of the Wesleyan v. Amherst game in person.  The tailgate/game scene was terrific.

They have scored 5 defensive TDs, which puts them at #2 in the country tied with 3 other teams.  William Paterson leads the country with 6 defensive TDs.

And defense touchdowns should not be counted as offensive points.  Points for yes, but offensive points no.

[Nescacman]

NM...Keep the Halloween humor coming-good stuff. You do know the Jumbo scoreboard operator was checking to see if it went to triple digits a few weeks ago vs the wingless Red Birds, right? thank G the 2's and 3's got all the 4q reps.

Yes, we know all about the game in Medford having witnessed it in person, as well as almost every other Jumbo's game that we have seen in person or on-line. For the record, the 31 yard scamper by Kerzum (on 4th and 31) and the dumb face mask penalty at the end of that play by Tufts at the end of the 4th quarter that put Hamilton into position for the game tying FG were enough to drop Tufts in our poll. And let's not forget, the Jumbo's just lost to a team that Wesleyan destroyed. We'd also remind our viewers, that Wes beat MID, who beat Hartford State. So in sum, not that we need to justify our rankings, we're feeling pretty good about them right now.

[Nescacman]

How many defensive touchdowns has Wesleyan scored this year?  Five?  I suspect if that stat were kept Wesleyan would be in the top few in college football for defensive points per game.
On the other side of the coin, I believe defensive touchdowns are counted in offensive points per game for league stats.  If so, how would their offense rank in points per game if defensive touchdowns are not included?  Likewise, how would NESCAC defensive points per game allowed rankings change if points from offenses giving up turnovers for touchdowns were not counted against the team's defensive points per game allowed stats?  I happened to watch the first half of the Wesleyan v. Amherst game in person.  The tailgate/game scene was terrific.

Interesting premise G&P, but how would you factor into the stats the fact that the offense is losing an opportunity to score because the defense took care of business? Another related stat fact, doesn't the fact that Wes has scored 5 defensive TDs artificially depress their offensive statistics, not only in terms of points but also in terms of yards from scrimmage? We would argue that Wesleyan's total offensive yardage figures were artificially depressed during the game against the LMs due to the defensive TDs. If you add the return yardage of those two defensive TDs (112 yards) to Wesleyan's overall offensive output for the day (359 yards), they would have had 471 yards of total "offense". Paints a different picture and synchs much better with the score of the game.

BTW, let's not lose sight of how Wes finished the game against the LMs, as opposed to how they finished the game against the Polars. Wes got the ball with 10:50 left in the 4th quarter at their own 23 yard line and proceeded to run a 17 play/50 yard drive to run out the clock. The Lord Mammoths never saw the ball again. Game over. Good to see improvement in Game #7. Hats off to the Coaching staff and the Wes student-athletes.

[Bucket]

Lumber, you are taking shots at my coach when you question his preparation and skill directly. And, you give Cosgrove gets a pass for losing at home to the same Hamilton team that Civetti is a bum for getting tripped up against.

We can all question in game decisions and dissect them play by play and contest by contest. Ultimately, the record matters. And you are taking a swing at two guys that have done pretty well. Much better than the teams you support.

If you are going to fire a shot, expect a return volley.

Mole- not sure if you've have had a couple bombs on the weekend- your post seems like an over reaction- let's revisit early in the week.
If you think I'm a Malik Hall guy your'e wrong- opposed his hiring and welcomed his departure.

LOL. Folks, we're talking about NESCAC football. Take a breath. Among the least consequential topics on the planet to get worked up over.

[P'bearfan]

Worst Coaching Jobs in NESCAC last 5 years

Malik Hall, Bates
Jack Cosgrove, Colby

I will gladly post the coaching records again for your entertainment

Can we pile on here?!? You know we can't help ourselves.  And why limit it to just the last 5 years...let's go back 15 years. We'd add the following woeful performances to the list, in order:

1. The OG HCOF Aaron Kelton: His first year in 2010, he won with the Whales-recruited and possibly one of the best top to bottom Eph rosters of all-time. As we were told at the time, "NESCACMAN you could have gone undefeated coaching with that team". Completely, single-handedly trashed a storied program. They are still feeling the effects of the HCOF Kelton legacy to this day.
2. J.B. Wells: Came to Bowdoin after starting/building a program at Endicot. In his less than memorable 4 years with the Polars, went 3-31 for a winning percentage of .088. Actually, made Polar supporters miss Dave Caputi, which is really saying something.
3. Dave Murray: Yeah, we know they just beat the Tufts but let's look at the complete body of work. The guy was a legend at Alfred (and did a nice job at Cortland) but proved how tough it is to recruit student-athletes at a highly selective college with little to no football legacy like Hamilton (no offense to Alfred and Cortland State) compared to his prior places of employ (sounds familiar, right HCOF Cos?).  His record since he came to Clinton in 2014 is 21-55 (.276 winning percentage). Program went 2-7 each of the last two seasons and has not really shown any positive direction, other than a few blips like last Saturday.

And for the record, we concur on HCOF Hall and HCOF Cos as well. Probably time for Colby to move on.

Many Bowdoin fans are nodding in silent agreement....