FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[neathDelms]

Fair enough.  It is time to put this topic to bed.  It's nice to hear the insight of those with a say.

Any thoughts on POYs with 3 weeks remaining?

[nescac1]

Offensive player of the year looks pretty clear:  (1) McGrath  (2) Forde  (3) McKillop  (4) Morrissey, depending on what happens the final few weeks ... defensive player of the year, on the other hand, seems pretty wide open.  I guess Eck if healthy has to be ROY favorite ...

[Trin9-0]

Congrats to NESCAC Draddy Award semi-finalists:

Tyler Berry (Trin)
Greg Smith (Amherst)
Andrew Matson (Midd)


I'm really looking forward to the Trin-Midd game this weekend.

It's interesting that despite their 5-0 record Trinity leads the league in only two statistical categories; 4th down conversions and opponents 4th down conversions (and of course the most important statistic of all wins).

Hopefully the Bantams can slow down McKillop and the Midd offense which leads the NESCAC in:
- total offense
- scoring offense
- pass offense
- red zone offense
- first downs
- 3rd down conversions
- and punt returns

Should be another barn-burner in "The Coop".

[eclinchy]

Offensive player of the year looks pretty clear:  (1) McGrath  (2) Forde  (3) McKillop  (4) Morrissey, depending on what happens the final few weeks ... defensive player of the year, on the other hand, seems pretty wide open.  I guess Eck if healthy has to be ROY favorite ...

Seems like a bit of a down year for quarterbacks -- look at the interception totals for McKillop (10) and McGrath (7). Forde's a better OPOY pick.

As for DPOY... Tyler Berry? Kevin Zikaras? Not sure.

[MulesBallgame]

Week 6 picks (wow already week 6)

BOWDOIN over WESLEYAN - I think Bowdoin is better than they're record and wesleyan isnt

MIDD KIDS over TRINITY-  Oh yea im calling it, The Streak in the Coop ends Saturday, if it doesnt Trin will go undefeated, good QB battle, if Midd can go up early maybe they can sneak it out, but their defense sucks so not likely they can hold Trinity. My Game of the Week (oh and McGrath is my POY forget stats the kid gets the job done in the clutch, whats more valuable than that? No one is more valuable to their team, no team would have worse drop off losing that one player)

THE JUMBOS over AMHERST - Gotta say the Tufts win last week shocked me, how did they lose to bowdoin? I've always thought they never played up to their potential.  Forde is good tho, Golden Helmet winner this week

COLBY over THE BOBKITTENS - First leg of the CBB, How about the Mules Mr. Johnny-on-the-Spot SS Tom Daley leads THE NATION in fumble recoveries, with a pick and leading his team in tackles too, gotta toss his name in the defensive POY talk, one time d3football national team of the week honors, two time nescac player of the week, and an ECAC player of the week to boot, strong resume

WILLIAMS over HAMILTON - No surprise here, i dont think, Williams should be pissed after last week and looking to beat up on somebody

[Col. Partridge]

Captain's Week 6 Picks
Home teams in CAPS.

FAVORITE        SPREAD        UNDERDOG

WESLEYAN            1                Bowdoin
TRINITY                3                Middlebury
Tufts                 pick 'em          AMHERST
Colby                   14               BATES
Williams                 4               HAMILTON

FWIW Wesleyan is 2nd in the league in scoring defense and best in the league in passing defense.   No one has scored more than 20 points on them this season.  This week at home they pull out a win against a team that got blown out last week.

Trinity seems to be hitting their stride.  I don't see them breaking their home winning streak against 3-2 Middlebury.

After seeing Amherst in person I didn't really think they were the best 4-1 team I've ever seen.  If Tufts shows up to play they should take this game.

For Bates, the beatings will continue until morale improves.

Williams seems hot and cold this year.   It wouldn't shock me if Hamilton pulled an upset this year.

[Trin9-0]

There should be a ton of close games this weekend (again!).

I like Wesleyan at home over Bowdoin. The Cards have had a disappointing season thus far and realistically this is their last real chance to win a game.  The Polar Bears have been able to score but as the Capt mentioned the Wes defense has played pretty well all year.

Amherst may be 4-1 but they were blown out by the only good team they played (Middlebury).  Tufts showed me a lot last week in beating the Ephs after back-to-back devastating losses. I think they keep the win streak going today and get a HUGE win on the road.

Colby will beat Bates, but I'll take the Bobbies with the points. CBB games are usually tightly contested regardless of the records and Colby doesn't score enough points to warrant being a 14 point favorite over anybody.

Once again I find myself wanting to pick Hamilton. I'm not sure if it's because the Continentals are a lovable loser or because I'm always rooting against Williams. Unfortunately, I don't see the Ephs losing back-to-back games.

In the Game of the Week Trin beats Midd in another close one in "the Coop". Middlebury has yet to win a road game this year and the Bants success at home has been well documented. Also, the Trinity players/coaches still remember losing in Rutland last year and will have revenge on their minds. The Bantam defense will have to step up big-time to slow down the high powered Midd offense, but in the end I think McGrath and Co. will be great in crunch time and get the 29th straight home win.

Also, if Tufts does indeed beat the Jeffs Saturday the Bantams will earn at least a share of the NESCAC title with a win.

It looks like another great week in the NESCAC, enjoy the games!

[nescacftbl]

I like Wes over Bowdoin. Excellent Defense and additional depth with some healthier players back in action

Tufts over Amherst - Close game. Agree with Capt. that Amherst is overated

Trinity over Middlebury- Dueling QB's

Colby over Bates- Bates cannot score.

Williams over Hamilton - Williams will be to much for a scrappy Hamilton team

[neathDelms]

Week 6 picks

Trinity 31
Middlebury 21

Trinity will find a way to slow the Middlebury offense, but I don't think that the Middlebury's D can stop McGrath and Co. in the Coop.

Bowdoin 21
Wesleyan 20

I think that the Capt.'s statistics are worth noting, but I just don't believe that Wesleyan is good enough to limit Bowdoin's big plays on offense.

Amherst 17
Tufts 14

I have not shown Tufts the love that they deserve, but I am going with a gut feeling on this one.

Colby 14
Bates 7

I'm pulling for Bates to keep it close, but they will need a lot of help from the refs, the weather and Colby!

Williams 28
Hamilton 14

I know that anything can happen in Clinton, NY; that being said, I don't think that it will happen today.

Enjoy the weekend, NESCACers.

[speedy]

Final:

Bowdoin 17 Wesleyan 10

[Rick Vaughn]

Williams 14 Hammy 7

Morrissey beasts his way to 200+ yards

Trin 34 Midd 31

Trin amazingly wins another very close game

[MulesBallgame]

Interesting weekend in the NESCAC i got 3 of 5 wrong although maybe would have covered with my MIDD pick

I guess Amherst is legit, Cant wait for the nescac championship (basicly) in Hartford next weekend i thought Amherst was a long shot but maybe not.....


Love the Rick Vaughn name by the way, jjjjjjjjjust a bit outside

[nescacftbl]

Bowdoin QB accounted for over 342yds of offense out of 392!!
113 Rushing 229 Passing
Wesleyan defense wore down in the 4th as they have all year as the offense cannot sustain a drive. Outscored 46-7 in 4th qtr
Wes outscores 1st 3 Qtrs 76-46
Young team struggling for a win

[Trin9-0]

I don't know how the Bants keep doing it!

Easily their worst played game of the year but they were able to overcame the adversity with big plays at key moments.  I had never seen McKillop play before and I was impressed (though he is a bit whiny to the officials). Despite his 3 picks he was a very accurate passer (especially on 3rd down). I was also impressed with #42 for Midd, Michael Quinn.  He looked like a quality football player.

McGrath looked as if he was trying to do a little too much on his interceptions and made some questionable decisions but he pulled off some big plays (averaging almost 20 yards per completion). These Bants just keep finding ways to win and they are an exciting team to watch!

30-0 in "The Coop" with a HUGE game Saturday against the Jeffs. Expect a big crowd in Hartford to watch Trin try to lock-up the NESCAC title.

Congrats to the Bobbies, I for one didn't expect them to win a game this year. I'm glad they proved me wrong.

The misery continues for WesTech. 5 losses by an average of 7.2 points.

Hamilton is building a strong foundation it won't be long before these 2 and 3 win seasons turn into 5 or 6 win seasons.

Tufts may be the best .500 NESCAC team I can remember but I'm thrilled that Amherst will be fighting for a shot at the league title. It should make for an outstanding game in Hartford.

[nescac1]

Amherst -- Trinity should be a great battle indeed.  Trinity isn't that much better than the other contenders in the league, but they are just good enough to win over anyone (unlike the past Trinity dynasty teams, which just toyed with their opponents) and at home, I wouldn't bet against them -- but it will be close yet again.

Anyone know the injury story with Williams?  It looks from the stats like three of their key players (LB Johnson, WR Powell, WR Caro) either didn't play at all (or in Caro's place just played one or two snaps) ... Ephs injuries are piling up at WR and LB.  Without Caro and Powell, the Ephs don't have much to threaten a defense with besides Morrissey ... still should be enough to be favored against an equally banged up Wesleyan team at home, but on the road vs. an insanely motivated Amherst squad (no one on the roster has won vs. Williams) would be a different story ...