FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

No surprising results week one in NESCAC.  Bates is either really bad, or Amherst really good, or likely a combination of both.  Trinity's frosh RB's lived up to the pre-season hype.  In fact, it looks like a very strong year for frosh RB's in NESCAC, overall.  Wesleyan-Midd as expected was the game of the day. 

Congrats to Aaron Kelton for winning his first game against a fiesty Bowdoin team.  Williams couldn't stop Bowdoin's passing game all day, and Bowdoin for much of the game couldn't stop Williams on the ground, but the plethora of turnovers forced by the Williams front seven made the difference in the game.  LB's Cameron, Schultz, and Barren in particular seemed to be all over the field.  RB and LB is definitely the Ephs' strength. 

Williams will have to clean up a lot of problem areas quickly to have a good chance against Trinity.  On the plus side, the offensive line looked solid (albeit against a VERY small Bowdoin front, things will be tougher against the likes of Trinity).  In the second half, Bowdoin started stacking eight in the box to stop the run which did slow the Ephs down for awhile, but Williams finally wore Bowdoin down.  Lupo is clearly the premier back in NESCAC and there seemed to be very little drop off when much-hyped frosh Scyocurka entered the game.  Both guys have great vision and can break some tackles.  The Williams offensive philosophy has changed to a more physical run-oriented game, using a FB, unlike last year, and keeping one or two tight ends in to block.  Bowdoin did almost nothing running the ball against the Ephs front seven, which looked VERY physical and very fast to the ball.

On the downside, Williams' inexperienced secondary got pretty much shredded by Bowdoin's passing offense.  The Bowdoin QB missed a few open guys, but also made some great throws.  They have really stellar WR's.  Noone got the bulk of the defensive attention leaving Brendan Garner (a senior baseball star playing football for the first time, and a HUGE addition to the team) in one-on-one coverage.  I don't see other teams making that mistake going forward, as he is outstanding and will force teams into tough choices on defense.  Williams' pass rush was also a bit disappointing; they hit the QB a lot, but always seemed to be a split second late.  Williams' biggest issue was the punting game.  They are asking a lot of Cleary, as he kicks FG's and extra points, is the back-up QB, and also the punter.  It would be nice if they could find someone else to handle punting, but he may be the best option. 

Williams' passing game needs to improve a bit.  They dropped a lot of catchable balls which slowed them down some, although later in the game they picked things up with some clutch completions.  When Bowdoin loaded up against the run Williams didn't try to open things up, and I expect other teams will do the same to force Williams to look downfield.  I think (or at least hope) Williams is saving some creative plays for Trinity as they basically rammed it down Bowdoin's throat without any sort of attempts at trickery.  Bennett is a star and Griffin made some big plays (he was able to get wide open all day, but had a few drops, hopefully just early season jitters), so they have the talent there.  I'd like to see Hartwell get more looks as he is big and fast.  The conservative game plan won't work against Trinity or Amherst. 

[amh63]

Comments from someone who missed all the games, even those on the web.
All the host schools won.
The two blow outs by Amherst and Trinity show by looking at the stats only...that the winners had strong/balanced offensive attacks with well balanced passing and rushing numbers.
Looking at the other three games indicate that the teams had either a strong running game(i.e. Williams, Wes) or a strong passing game(Midd, Hamilton) but not both.   Looking at the stats, several of the games could have gone the other way if the game was hosted by the loser (i.e. Wes/Midd game)...indicating to me that there is a significant home field advantage.
More trivia....Was at the Cornell/Yale game and saw a Williams ex-football player in attendance.  Went over to say hi.  He was rooting for Cornell (Cornell lost.) because of his brother-in law.  His cap indicated that in 2007 he attended the 50th reunion of a football team.  Frank U. is he a team mate of yours.  Sorry, did't get his name.
On the drive back today at a stop in PA, said hi to another Williams rooter.  She wore a Williams shirt but was too old to be a graduate.   More likely a wife or a mother.  Anyway, one cannot avoid Williams fans.

Are there any Midd football posters?

[nescac1]

Big game this week in Trinity vs. Williams.  Williams struggled a bit the first week, while Trinity looked dominant, but Ephs get the game at home and they will be super motivated after suffering three straight heartbreaking, come from behind losses at the hands of the Bantams.  Both teams have a superb group of senior stars and are led by very experienced QB's, so it should be a real battle.  I expect it will be yet another toss-up game going down to the wire.  Williams will need to force turnovers from Trinity's inexperienced backs, and really clamp down on the run in order to turn Trinity into a one dimensional team, then hope the secondary learned from its mistakes against Bowdoin.  On offense, I expect Williams to be a bit more creative than it was last week, as it surely won't be able to run the ball down Trinity's throat, the way it managed to against a very small Bowdoin front seven.  Guys beyond Bryce Bennett will need to really step up in the passing game.  I see it being a fairly low scoring game, something in the 17-14 or 20-17 range.

[amh63]

Preview of Amherst/Bowdoin game on the Amherst website. 

[nescac1]

Video of Aaron Kelton coaching here (see the Aaron Kelton phone link):

http://athletics.williams.edu/video/index

Intense hombre. 

[Trin9-0]

 [/quote]

I don't know if anybody else noticed it but right after Coach Kelton says "a good Trinity team is coming in here" the film appears to be edited. I can only imagine what was said that got cut out.

Video of Aaron Kelton coaching here (see the Aaron Kelton phone link):

http://athletics.williams.edu/video/index

Intense hombre. 

I don't know if anybody else noticed, but right after Coach Kelton says "a good Trinity team is coming in here" the film appears to be edited. I can only imagine what was said that got cut out. 

As always the Trin-Wlms game will be one of the most important NESCAC games of the year. Sadly, I'll be missing it for the first time since before I enrolled at dear old TrinColl. 

I would expect both teams to try and establish the run because of the success both teams had on the ground last week. You would think the advantage goes to Lupo and the Ephs in that department. 

However, Colby had a much more ground oriented attack than Bowdoin and I think Trinity's defense will force Williams into third and long situations. In order to score points I think Williams will have to rely on Moffitt to make some big-time plays in the air. 

For Trinity we get to see if, freshman, Ben Crick can repeat his performance from the first half of last week against a top tier NESCAC defense.  I'm also curious to find out how Devanney uses Drusbosky and Jennings at the QB position.

It's always tough to beat a team four years in a row (especially a program with such a strong tradition like Williams). Add to it that the game is in Williamstown and the Bants are probably underdogs heading in.

I just have a feeling that Trinity is going to break the Ephs hearts once again in another classic Trinity-Williams thriller.

In the other games I like Wes big over Hammy.
Tufts big over the Bobbies.
The Jeffs will have too much for Bowdoin .
Middlebury takes down Colby on the road.

I'll be following the updates on twitter. Enjoy all the games this weekend.

Oh, and here's a great story from the Hartford Courant about Trinity cornerback Harry Melendez:
http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc-jacobs-trinity-football-column-20101001,0,3134275.column

[nescac1]

One thing to note, it is pouring in Billsville and will be through the morning, and Weston Field does not handle rain terribly well.  It could be a mess.  I don't think it really cuts in favor of either team, but could affect the style of play out there. 

[frank uible]

The passing game is usually substantially adversely affected by a wet ball; the running game by muddy and otherwise slippery footing.

[nescac1]

A few days ago I said, "I'd like to see Hartwell get more looks as he is big and fast."  I'd say 208 receiving yards and three TD's (two over 80 yards!), plus another 90 return yards qualifies .  Sounds like another wild and crazy Eph-Trinity game in Williamstown, but at long last Williams managed to hold on to a big lead (up 29-7 and Trinity STILL made it interesting) and come out on top.  Congrats to the Ephs on finally knocking off the Bantams!  If they can continue to improve the pass defense and get the kicking game figured out, they'll be very tough to beat.  Williams seems to be very tough vs. the run and they have a LOT of weapons on offense.  Impressive that, even despite four interceptions, two blocked punts, a missed XP and missed FG, and tons of key penalties, they still controlled the game against Trinity.  But those sorts of errors will key the Ephs eventually, if they don't clean them up.  Huge, huge win for new coach Aaron Kelton.  

Interesting boom-or-bust game for Melendez, after being featured in the article: beaten for three TD's, but made two INT's. 

Amherst looking nasty as well, after a second straight blow-out win.  They look, surprisingly, better than last year's 8-0 team despite all the guys they lost.  Looking like Williams and Amherst are now the co-favorites, although I wouldn't count Trinity out either ... shocker of the week is Bates beating Tufts.  Midd going down is a surprise too, although Midd's defense looking VERY suspect after two weeks.  Looks like NESCAC games will be tough to handicap this year. 

[TheHerst2and4]

Not directly sports related- sorry- but NESCAC related nonetheless

President Marx leaving Amherst College

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/new-york-public-library-will-name-anthony-w-marx-as-new-president/?ref=arts

[amh63]

Amherst-Middlebury game preview is on the Amherst website.  Also there is the e-mail  sent to the Amherst community/alumni wrt to plans of the president.....for those interested.  The president will talk to the local college community at 1 PM on Thursday. I guess I will not be able to pick on him about his Wes. connection next year.

[Trin9-0]

In order to score points I think Williams will have to rely on Moffitt to make some big-time plays in the air. 

I hate being right.   Congrats to the Eph seniors who finally got the better of the Bantams. I'll never forget the feeling of beating Williams after losing to them (badly) for three straight years.

The "never say die" effort by Trin was admirable as they almost pulled off another stunning comeback against Williams.

Another big congrats to Bates for beating Tufts for the first time since 1985 and also the Mules for the upset win over Midd.  If I had the time I'd love to find out the last time Wesleyan, Bates and Colby all won on the same day.


The game of the week looks like Amherst and Middlebury. The Panthers are coming off a tough road loss and the Jeffs have looked unstoppable.  An upset wouldn't shock me but I still like Amherst on the road.

Another interesting match-up is Wes and Colby. Both teams are 1-1 and despite the fact that the Mules are coming off a big win over Midd (who the Cards lost to in week 1) I'm going to take Wes Tech to get the road victory.

Possibly the hardest game to predict this week is Tufts at Bowdoin. The Jumbos are likely furious after losing to the Bobbies at home and Bowdoin has looked terrible. However, the PBears have faced much tougher competition. I still think Tufts wins but it'll be close.

Bates is riding high after their road victory but Williams will unfortunately ruin the dedication of the new Garcelon Field (and it won't be close).

Over the last few years Trinity has really struggled when making the trip to Clinton.  Gruesome injuries and sloppy play has plagued the Bants.  Trin should have their way with Hamilton.  I'm hoping they can put last week behind them and more importantly stay healthy.

I guess I'm picking all the road teams this week. Enjoy the games!

[nescac1]

You can see the highlights from the first two weeks of Eph football here:

http://athletics.williams.edu/video/index

(first video)

You can see all three of Hartwell's TD's from last week -- I had heard he is the fastest Eph, and you can see that speed on display.  He is a heck of an athlete, as supposedly he turned down the chance to play baseball at Harvard to be a two-sport athlete for Williams.  At the 1:30 mark, the second of three TD's is particularly explosive. Watch for the pissed off defender (maybe expecting safety help over the top?) do a flip in frustration. 

I saw on the game preview that star WR Bryce Bennett isn't listed as starting for Williams; I imagine he must be injured.  Hopefully it's not serious and he'll be back vs. tougher competition, as the combo of him, Hartwell, and Griffin together will be very hard to stop, as all have unusual speed-size combos for NESCAC. 

[amh63]

nescac 1,
Thanks for the highlights.  See that Williams' Sr. QB is back in stride.  Having watched him in action as I watch the Amherst-Williams game on video.....over and over again....I was surprised to read about his difficulty in the first game of this season.  I hope Bennett recovers soon.  It appears that Williams and Amherst both have talented Sr. QBs' with talented and fast and large receiving corps.  Hartwell seems to be able to get behind defenders like A. Reed of Amherst.  Both are 6'3" and fast.  Amherst has the benefit of a 6'6" WR who did well his first year but was out last year.   Amherst's running game is improving nicely, but is now not up to the level of Williams with Lupo, etc.   Though still premature, I am looking forward to the last game of the year and expect a shoot out.  Hope by then, the Amherst defense will be ready.  Also hope both teams will be at full strength.
Agree with Tri. 8-0 on his predictions.   Again, best of luck to all the posters so far.

[02 Warhawk]

Hello everyone...I'm sure you get this question at least once a year, but I'm curious as to why the conference doesn't branch out and play non-conference games or participate in the tournament? Is it a money issue? Are all athletics in the NESCAC follow the same guidelines?

I'm just being curious....hope everyone has a good season.

Thanks