FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[amh63]

Was at the Amherst vs. Hamilton game in Hamilton.  Some observations.  The game was played under changing crosswinds that may have impacted the game a little.  The field was good, though Amherst's last TD was the result of a Hamilton pass defender slipping/falling down
Amherst's offensive line is quite young and it impacted the running game but again it was also the Hamilton defensive front seven.  Amherst was down on the goal line in the first quarter and couldn't score.  Amherst missed a field goal from close in...wind conditions?  More likely just a bad kick.
Hamilton's freshman QB was quite impressive.  He has quickness and can scrabble out of trouble and still complete passes. Hamilton's score is due to two missed attempts for two-point tries.  After the first half with the score 7 to 6, Amherst dominated the game.  Amherst's defense started to wear down Hamilton's offensive line.  Hamilton's QB was sacked 6 times and avoided at least 3-4 more because of his feet.  With less than two minutes to go, on a 4th and 16 yards to go, the QB released a pass as he was hit and completed a touchdown pass.  This was during  a chase down of the QB by Amherst.  The defensive backs let a good receiver get behind and away.
The last Hamilton drive included at least two fourth down tries that were successful.  Amherst also attempted several 4th down plays to keep drives going.  
Hamilton's defense is very good on running plays.  Both team's featured backs could not run for more than 40 yards.  Amherst needs to get their running game going,  with the Polar Bears coming into town.  I think that Hamilton may win more than two games this year, especially at home.  They may surprise people with their defense.  Hamilton's 12 points are more points scored against Amherst since 1992 in a game...7 being the highest.

[Trin9-0]

Nice work nescac1… those are some great figures especially considering the penchant for streak-breaking when these two get together.  Could this could be the weekend the Bantams finally lose in The Coop…? 

If it is, the Williams defense will need to continue to force Trinity to turn the ball over.  The Bantams lost 5 fumbles against Bates, while Trin still managed to win by three touchdowns; they will struggle against the Ephs if they continue to put their defense in tough spots.  Considering all the rain predicted for Saturday, turnovers should be a HUGE factor in this game.

Under Jeff Devanney (and O.C. Chris Rorke) Trinity has had a more wide-open passing attack that has often resulted in some high scoring shootouts.  However, this year’s Bantam squad reminds me more of the Priore coached Trinity teams; they have a strong running game with two capable backs and a punishing defense that gives up nothing on the ground. 

The Ephs have a senior laden offensive line that will need to play an outstanding game in order to open holes for Ryan Lupo (who wasn’t overly impressive against Colby) and slow down a relentless Trinity pass rush. 

I have a feeling that if the Bants can score at least 17 points and protect the ball they’ll be able to pull out a win. 

Week 2 in the NESCAC may be my favorite of the season because all of the match-ups are so good.  I was 5-0 last week against the point spread offered at www.nescacblog.com. This week I’m going with:

Hamilton (+6.5) over Wesleyan - The Continentals play great defense, especially at home. I think Wes will struggle to score points.  The Cards could get a close win but won’t cover.

I like Tufts (-3.5) as a road favorite at Bates - Yes, the Jumbo's offense looked terrible last week but they always play solid defense and their schedule doesn’t get any easier. If they can’t get a win over Bates it’s going to be a long season in Medford.

Give me Trinity (-4.5) against Williams in the Coop – This one scares me because the games in this rivalry have traditionally been very close (especially the last two years). However, I think Trinity will break a few big plays and their defense will shut down the Eph running game and force them to throw against a very experienced Bantam secondary in wet conditions.

I’ll take Amherst (-6.5) at home against Bowdoin – The Polar Bears won’t find the same success they did while put up 50 points against Middlebury last week.  The Jeffs defense is far superior to Middlebury’s and I think Bowdoin comes back down to earth with a big loss on the road.

I love Middlebury (-3) over Colby – The Mules played Williams tough last week and nearly pulled the upset to christen their new field.  However, Middlebury plays great at home and Colby struggles on the road. The Panthers will put up a ton of yards and points and win this one easily.

Finally, I just had to post this article about a bizarre policy at Tufts:
http://www.buffalonews.com/260/story/811833.html

Enjoy the games and stay dry!  If anybody is heading to Hartford for the game send me a message, maybe we can meet up for a beer. GO BANTAMS!

[nescac1]

I think that is good analysis on Trinity-Williams. Usually the underdog prefers bad weather as that can be an equalizer, but here, I think Williams would rather it be a high-scoring passing affair than a slug it out in the trenches type game, which would favor Trinity for sure. 

Liveblog of the game at Ephblog, Trinity folks should post as well:

http://www.ephblog.com/2009/10/01/liveblogging-the-trinity-williams-football-game/

[frank uible]

When the field  is wet but it is not raining, generally it is easier to throw than run.

[Trin9-0]

That's true frank, but they'll be playing the game on field-turf which plays nearly identical wet or dry and the forecast is calling for rain throughout the game.

Therefore, I agree with nescac1 that Trinity's apparent advantage at running back and more importantly rushing defense will be a huge factor in the wet conditions.

[frank uible]

Field turf generally gives more secure footing than grass when they both are very wet but not nearly identical to dry grass.

[Trin9-0]

We'll have to agree to disagree on that point frank. Having played on both surfaces in a variety of conditions I can honestly say that the field-turf plays nearly identical to grass regardless of the weather.

[speedy]

Bowdoin dominated everywhere except where it mattered, falling to Amherst 13-12. Bowdoin even foolishly went for the knock-out TD on 4th down when the score was 9-6 (Bowdoin) and Bowdoin was inside the Amherst 5 and could have easily knocked home another FG . . 

[oldhamfan]

Nice win for Hamilton., 26-14.  3-5 is almost certain this season, 4-4 will be harder, and it's a stretch to see them going to Hartford next week and coming away with a W. 
But they came back in the second half today, and if they build on that momentum this week, the Trinity came may be closer than many people expect.

[Trin9-0]

Trinity absolutely stole the game from Williams. Onsides kick recovery with a minute and a half left and a TD pass to win it with 20 seconds left. What an incredible win for the Bants to keep the win-streak in The Coop alive!!

[D O.C.]

Nice win for Trinity.

Sure wish your mother would let you come out to play.

The playoffs DO broaden the student-athlete experience.

[Trin9-0]

D O.C., you won't find very much opposition to a NESCAC football team in the playoffs on this message board.  Unfortunately, it just aint gonna happen.


I hate to even bring this up but when I saw it I was so shocked/disappointed that I figured I'd share it here to see if maybe I'm just overreacting.  Over the weekend I was reading a few articles about the Trinity-Williams game to see how different outlets would cover it. 

I expected a bigger story about the game in the Hartford Courant (especially with UConn having a bye week). http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc-trinfoot1004.artoct04,0,2537792.story 

The Berkshire Eagle had a nice write-up. http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_13485761?IADID=Search-www.berkshireeagle.com-www.berkshireeagle.com.  I was surprised both papers neglected to mention the VERY controversial call to overturn a safety, which would have cut the Williams lead to 6 and given Trinity the ball with 5:46 to go. 

The article on Trinity's athletic website seemed to have the most appropriate title: "Trinity Football Steals 12th Win In A Row With Late Touchdowns Against Williams" http://athletics.trincoll.edu/sports/fball/2009-10/news/Football_G_20910

What really caught my attention however was the story published on the Williams athletics website.  In particular the line that states: "The onside kick was the only option for the Bantams, who had no timeouts left, and thanks to some random stroke of luck or maybe a slippery football, Williams botched the kick."

Now again, I may be overreacting here but I think it's extremely unprofessional to insinuate that only because of "a random stroke of luck" or a "slippery football" was Trinity able successfully executed an onsides kick (something every football team in America practices every week).  I realize it was a heartbreaking loss for the Ephs and I truly felt bad for the Williams kids.  But in my opinion an official release from the college Sports Information Director should be held to a higher standard and needs to show a lot more class and actually acknowledge the tremendous job that the Trinity players and coaches did.  Anything less seems petty and disrespectful.

Here's the full article:
http://athletics.williams.edu/sports/fball/2009-10/News/10-3-09_vs._Trinity

There is no mention of who authored the story but Dick Quinn is the Sports Information Director at Williams.  The Assistant Director of Sports Information is Kris Dufour who also hosts the Williams College football show.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts, especially the Williams folks.

[redtail]

The news out of Hamilton is Junior QB came out of no where to lead them to come from behind win.  This kid is good - no more walk overs for the competition - he is putting up 24-30 points agame and Hamy's D is pretty good - look out Trinity!!!!!

[Rick Vaughn]

Trin8-0...it was a great game and it was too bad to see the Ephs end up on the wrong end.  While Trin did everything right at the end you cannot deny that some element of luck had to come in to win a game in that fashion.  That said - the grainy video feed appeared to show that Trin executed the onside kick perfectly.  Back to back heartbreakers in Hartford for Williams. 

As for who writes the articles for the Williams site - it is usually a student who does the game write ups.  Quinn and Dufour have a ton of class and run what I believe is the best Sports Info Website (most up to date, well written articles) in the NESCAC.  The article was on the Williams website so it should have a Williams swing.  One sentence in one article is not a big deal. 

[Ephmen1991]

Trin 8-0,

I think you are right on with that assessment.  To be able to recover that onside kick when everyone knew it was coming was great execution, not a stroke of luck.  It's amazing how that game was virtually identical to the 1989 Williams - Trinity game.  Williams went for 2 points with less than 2 minutes left to win and didn't make it, we then recovered the onside kick and went in to score for the win.  So I don't think Trinity's win was a steal by any means.