FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[LiveforSaturdays]

Wesleyan
Bowdoin - Bowdoin in a rout. Wes cannot score


Hamilton
Williams - Williams in a rout


Amherst - Amherst in a close one
Tufts


Bates
Colby - Colby big


Trinity - Trinity in a close one
Middlebury

[nescac1]

Amazing Boston Globe story on Nick Caro:

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/articles/2009/10/31/williams_receiver_caro_writes_feel_good_story/

[nescac1]

Speaking of Caro, I guess he wasn't joking around about being pumped up for this game -- first three touches went for 97 yards and three TD's.  I'm guessing with Williams up 35-0 at halftime, he's done for the day.  Williams seems to be improving each week this year ... hopefully that trend will continue as they approach little 3 season.  Obviously, Hamilton isn't the caliber of competition of Amherst or even Wesleyan. 

Trinity down by 10 to Middlebury -- the streak is in jeopardy!  If Midd, Williams, and Amherst all win today, it would set up a pretty wild race for the conference crown, with no clear favorite.  Actually, so long as Williams wins, the last two weeks should be pretty wild. 

[MulesBallgame]

Wow at least 4 QBs - Middlebury's, Trinity's, Bowdoin's, and Wesleyan's (couldnt see stats for the other games) with 50 pass attempts or more WOW.  Not too long ago this used to be a defensive league and a running dominated league.

[Ephmen1991]

Mules,

Good comment.  It makes NESCAC a little more fun to watch too.  Although the team that is 6-0 right now still plays "old fashioned" football with awesome D and the running game.  Next couple of weeks should be interesting.

[nescacsfty]

Although Amherst has an outstanding defense, the offense is mediocre at best. They certainly don't have a strong rushing attack, ranked 7th in the nescac with a 2.5 yard rushing average. Their pass offense isn't much better, as they are ranked 6th in the league with less than 200 yds passing a game. With all of the talented skill players Amherst has, its a shame that their offense is so mediocre.

[cottage]

From what I understand from people at the Trinity-Middlebury game the Trinity QB had throws to Tuggle that ended up at the 1/2 yard line with Starnes then taking it in, Galligan getting shoestringed at the 4 with Starnes taking it in again and a dropped TD in the end zone right before the field goal. You can't get closer to 3 more TD passes in a game than that. 2 of the interceptions were tough with one bouncing off a reciever pads and another was a pick barely off the ground as he was trying to throw it away as he was going down. Couple that with the holding penalty off the reverse TD by Tuggle on the 1st play of the game and Sherry gets stopped on a fake punt for rhe 1st time in 2 years one series later the day may not have been Trinity's from the start. Take nothing away from Middlebury though as there Offense was moving most of the day. If there was ever a game for Trinity to go into with a chip on the pads - it will be Saturday.

[nescac1]

So I gather the NESCAC championship race goes as follows: if Trinity wins out and Williams wins out, Trinity and Williams tie (no tie-breaker in NESCAC even though Trinity beat Williams).  If Trinity wins out and Amherst beats Williams, Trinity and Amherst tie.  If Amherst wins out, they are alone at the top.  If Amherst beats Trinity but loses to Williams, Williams and Amherst tie so long as Williams can take care of business at Wesleyan (although that would hardly feel like much of a tie to Amherst).  Should be a crazy last two weeks of the season ...

The Ephs are finally just about healthy (although still missing all-conference defensive back Iheoma, not sure if he will be back at all), but most of their key guys missing in the first half of the season were on the field and productive last game, and they seem to be hitting their stride at the right time, dominating the last few games completely.  Amherst clearly has the top defense in the conference, putting up ridiculous sack and turnover numbers, but they have the toughest road facing a motivated Trinity team and then on the road vs. Williams; they will need a little more from their offense to top either of those teams.  

[LiveforSaturdays]

Bowdoin - Bowdoin by 10 at least
Bates

Trinity
Amherst - Amherst in a close one. Should be a great game!!

Tufts
Colby - Colby in a close one

Hamilton
Middlebury - Middlebury by 10+


Williams - Williams by 10+
Wesleyan

[cottage]

There are 2 that matter. Williams should not look past Weleyan as they are much more improved than one would think. Trinity wins at Amherst as they have the last 2 years at Amherst and Trinity. No doubt it will be a brutually physical game. It will come down to who has been there before and who wants it really early in the fight.

[MulesBallgame]

One of the reasons this league is great is because you really never know what is going to happen in any game, this year has proved that. Is it just me or is Bowdoin the most inconsistant team ever, I can never figure them out.  They drop 50 on Midd the 1st game and seem like they are going to be a challenger this year, then they lose to Tufts, and Wes and Bates, teams they should beat and score against easily.  Cant figure them out. I guess they dont travel well, they are 0-4 on the road this year. 

Good for Bates getting a win.  Which means a lot coming from a former Mule.

Kinda awesome that the league title comes down to the biggest little game in America.

[lefrakenstein]

Great season so far for Amherst, but it would all go down the drain with a loss to Williams. Everyone at Amherst knows 1-7 with a win over Williams is a successful season, but 7-1 with a loss to the Ephs is a failure. Got to go get a win in Williamstown for the first time in ages.

[colbyfan13]

Good job by Amherst.  Should be a terrific game next week. 

Colby looks to be in the drivers seat for the CBB this year.  Certainly its advantage Mules anyway.  While I don't think their Defense is quite as good as its been, offensively they are way better than they've been over the last few seasons. 

Anyone know Kell's status?  I heard he was hurt on Saturday. 

[MulesBallgame]

Tough to say Colby's D isnt as good as it usually is when they are 3rd in the nation in run defense or were before Saturday, regardless they are a top 10 run defense in the country. Thats a pretty going D, I think i saw some stat saying they held Hammy and Bates to a combined -1 yard rushing! Pretty absurd if that is true. I kno  those teams arent great but still you figure they could get 1 yard.

[cottage]

At 7-0 Amherst has done a great job of holding offenses when they had to and scoring the go ahead when they needed it. In addition what they got so far this year is the same luck and breaks Trinity got last year against Hamilton, Tufts and Middlebury when they went 8-0. Against Bowdoin they shut down Kell 4 or 5 times inside the 10 and against Trinity they escape without a safety in the 1st half with the Amherst QB's neck to his toes in the end zone, knees down half way in the endzone with a spot on about the 1 inch line, a Trinity fumbled punt (1st of the year) on the Trinity 8 yard line and the Trinity QB out of practice all week with a bad ankle sprain. My hats off to Amhesrt period because in the 2nd half they scored 16 points but unbeaten seasons carry equal doses of good talent, good coaching and catching luck and breaks that you need. A war on Saturday for sure.