FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[redtail]

admitting i'm complete Hamilton suckup and our program needs lots of help - was at trinity on Sat - very good defense and special teams - but they have serious issues at the QB spot - he can not hit a running back out of the backfield with a pass.  He misses 10 passes and then hits a great throw and all act like the world is great.  I'm not sure if there is a team out there that can beat them, but if the trinity people on this board dig deep deep down, they will admit QB is an issue

does Hamy have a chance at Bowdoin this week - we are pretty much jeckel and hyde at QB too!!!

enjoy the week.

[cottage]

Considering the fact that Eric McGrath threw about 400 passes and Connor Wells and Mcdowell the TE caught over 100 of them and all are graduated now I would think 6 TD passes and 1 interception (by a Pre-Season All-American LB pick) in the 1st 3 games with averaging 30+ a game really isn't a bad start. A need to improve and be more consistent early in the game would be a given for any 1st year QB. Knowing that most players go to Trinity to win I am sure 8-0 is on the QB's mind more than what the stats tell.

[mariner75]

Considering the fact that Eric McGrath threw about 400 passes and Connor Wells and Mcdowell the TE caught over 100 of them and all are graduated now I would think 6 TD passes and 1 interception (by a Pre-Season All-American LB pick) in the 1st 3 games with averaging 30+ a game really isn't a bad start. A need to improve and be more consistent early in the game would be a given for any 1st year QB. Knowing that most players go to Trinity to win I am sure 8-0 is on the QB's mind more than what the stats tell.

And players go to others schools not to win?

[Trin9-0]

admitting i'm complete Hamilton suckup and our program needs lots of help - was at trinity on Sat - very good defense and special teams - but they have serious issues at the QB spot - he can not hit a running back out of the backfield with a pass.  He misses 10 passes and then hits a great throw and all act like the world is great.  I'm not sure if there is a team out there that can beat them, but if the trinity people on this board dig deep deep down, they will admit QB is an issue

does Hamy have a chance at Bowdoin this week - we are pretty much jeckel and hyde at QB too!!!

enjoy the week.

I wouldn't classify Drusbosky's play as "an issue" for Trinity.  He's tied for 2nd in the NESCAC in TD passes, 3rd in pass efficiency and total offense. He also has only 1 interception.

He may not be playing as well as McGrath did for Trinity last year but with a strong running game and a great defense he doesn't necessarily have to do the things that McGrath did for the Bants.

Whether Drusbosky can play well enough to beat a good team on the road remains to be seen but if he can continue to protect the football and make the occasional big play he could do something McGrath never did... quarterback an undefeated team as a junior.


I too was at the Trinity-Hamilton game and based on what I saw. No, Hamilton has no chance at Bowdoin this week.

[cottage]

There are players (at any level of competition) that go to schools where winning is a tradition and getting playing time early in their career is not there #1 priority. If playing time came over winning they would be playing at the 2nd tier schools 3-4 years versus 1 to 2 years at a Trinity or Williams. My point was more to Saturday's actual game scenario.  A few dropped passes. a holding call on a 10 yard completion and about 5 inches on 2 overthrows in the 1st quarter were also part of the game. As the other post says Drusbosky needs to lead Trinity to a win against Tufts on the road by continuing to not making mistakes. What he did against Williams in the 4th quarter is what he will draw on when that time comes again.

[mariner75]

Players don't go to a so-called winning school expecting to sit for one or two years so they can absorb a "winning tradition"...they all want to play and will if they're good enough.  Trinity has played plenty of frosh over the years as has every other school.  Amherst's best defensive player on the field this year is a freshman & I'd say their "winning tradition" is pretty good.  I understand the point you're trying to make but disagree with the premise.

[cottage]

Fair enough - Time to move on.

[LiveforSaturdays]

Hamilton
Bowdoin  - Boowdoin easy

Bates
Wesleyan - Wesleyan in a close one

Amherst - Amherst easy
Colby

Williams - Williams close one
Middlebury


Trinity - Trinity easy
Tufts

The weather this weekend should make it interesting. Wes could be playing at Trinity due to the weather as they did 4 years ago

[Trin9-0]

Looking to rebound after a miserable 0-5 week against the spread at www.nescacblog.com (8-7 overall).

I'm going with:
Wes -3.5 over Bates.
Tufts +9.5 over Trin.
Bowdoin -5.5 over Hammy
Midd +3.5 over Williams
Colby +10.5 over Amherst

Stay dry and GO BANTS!

[mariner75]

As usual, another tight one in Medford....Trin 10 Jumbos 3.

[cottage]

Tufts plays hard nosed football. Two years ago Trinity was went to Tufts 3-0 and got beat in the 2nd half with a veteran defense. Winning on the road is a major step and cog in the wheel. 4 more games - 1 at a time I am sure will be the focus.

[nescac1]

Thoughts on Williams mid-season:

(1) the loss to Trinity was just brutal.  They really controlled the first 3/4 of the game, but needed to open up a bigger margin.  Trinity QB suddenly found his groove, Galligan is best WR in conference, and the wildcat with a very fast running back combined with Starnes who is very tough gave the Ephs fits.  Also, the defense ran out of gas late which is understandable considering that the offense got WAY too conservative and predictable and stopped what was working early on resulting in several 3-and-outs, plus they were missing quite a few guys to injury, and just didn't have the depth they needed to compete.  Hopefully next year at home the Ephs can finally turn it around, three straight years they have played Trinity dead-even and lost, very frustrating.  I'd say the two teams are equally talented, Trinity just came through in the clutch and the Ephs tightened up a bit / ran out of gas.  Still should have won, but if ifs and buts were candies and nuts.  And that was the most bizarrely reffed game I've ever seen, not only the intentional grounding weirdness but also an apparent fumble recovery by Ephs that was mysteriously reversed, I guess each team got one so it evened out ...  Trinity's defense is great overall but Fallas really stood out.  Only a soph?  Wow.

(2) The Ephs' front seven is going to be REALLY nasty next year; already solid this year.  On d-line, their rotation has two juniors, four sophomores, and one frosh, and they've been shutting most teams down in the running game.  The LB's (who have been really banged up) feature one senior, two juniors, two sophomores, and one frosh.

(3) Ryan Lupo is the real deal at RB.  Not as physical as Morrissey but can still break some tackles, and a lot shiftier.  Very smooth runner.  He'd better stay healthy though as the Ephs have NO depth at RB.  He has been a workhorse getting every meaningful RB carry.

(4) Ephs have the best CB combo in the league if Zanedis and Iheoma are healthy.  Unfortunately, Iheoma has missed a good chunk of the year and I am not sure when (if?) he is expected to return.

(5) Bennett is a really explosive player for the Ephs, finally found his niche at WR after starting at QB.  He will be an all-leaguer next year if he keeps improving at this rate.

(6) Ephs need to mix it up a bit on defense.  Against Midd, they basically used the same four man front the entire game.  Almost no blitzing or mixing it up to try to confuse the offense.

(7) Ephs frosh to watch: Chris Cameron, Tom Foote, Hunter Lent will all be big-time contributors on defense, especially Cameron who may be the best frosh NESCAC defender -- he is all over the field.  No frosh are getting any PT on offense so who knows on that side of the ball.

(8) Matt Coyne can really run from the QB spot -- not clear how good a passer he is.  Moffitt is also a good runner and a very solid passer, though maybe not spectacular at either.

(9) Potential all-NESCAC guys this year: Lupo, Caro (locks if healthy), Kloeckner, Carroll, Rose on offense, Bennett, Sobolewski on ST, Iheoma (if he gets healthy), Zanedis, Schultz, Cameron, Canina on D. 

Looking to the competition, Amherst has two guys who have already lodged 3 or more sacks in a game (!!) including the D-I transfer who is putting up monster stats, and two others among the league leaders in sacks.  Lots of speed on the outside on defense I gather.  But Amherst's rushing attack is pretty damn anemic (and they haven't even played the best rushing defenses yet) -- what happened to Rauh??  I know they have four new o-linemen including one frosh starter, so maybe that is the issue ...

[cottage]

Who is the D-1 Transfer from Amherst and what D-1 College did he come from?

[TheHerst2and4]

D1 transfer is Jeff Katz from Lafayette, they are playing him at the Rock position (OLB) in the 3-4 it tends to be a glorified stand up DE.
Amherst has switched over to the spread and has really bought into the idea of letting the ball fly. They have a slew of good WRs and apparently two of their top guys aren't even playing right now (Kettering and Gray). They probably have been leaning towards throwing the ball because of the young offensive line. Last I checked they are starting a sr, three sophs and a freshman. They might be a bit undersized and are looking to get in the shotgun and get the ball out quickly.
I agree that they will need to establish more of a running presence to compete with Williams and Trinity. I was able to check out the Biggest Little Scrimmage in America (worst idea ever by the way) and it seemed like Amherst controlled the game and was the better team. However that seems to be the case the last couple years and Williams hands it to Amherst every second week of November.
We'll see

[cottage]

Then it is probably the same  Katz who was an All-State pitcher for Cheshire
in 2003. Not that it matters but at 25 or 26 years old he should be well ahead of the curve. He had 3 years of Major League Baseball before going to Lafyette. Certainly a solid catch by Amherst. His atheltic ability, size and maturity would make it easy for any of the higher level education based athletic programs (Ivy-Patriot-NESCAC) to use a support band or slot on him "if" need be. I give him credit for knowing that his baseball career is over and to come back to a good school and play football again. I believe he was a stud tight-end at Cheshire. If he is the game on punt, field goal or extra points don't be surprised to see a pass going his way in a critical spot.