FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

Hmmm, I'm not sure the deal.  He was at least listed on their website at one point, but obviously didn't see any game action:

http://www.brownbears.com/sports/m-footbl/2009-10/bios/foote_mccallum

It will be interesting to see if he plays today ... the QB spot at Midd is certainly wide opening after losing the top two guys there.

[Trin9-0]

Based upon the halftime scores it looks like all of the NESCAC games are nail-biters:

Amherst 14
Bates   7   

Middlebury   8
Wesleyan 7   

Trinity 14
Colby 10

Williams 24
Bowdoin 14   

Tufts 10
Hamilton 17

[LiveforSaturdays]

Foote looks like the real deal. I would not want to play them later in the year when he gets comfortable. QB play in the NESCAC is key.

Wes looks like they did last year. Not enough skill players to make a play. Coyne is inaccurate passing and a good runner. Needs to improve decision making. Looks like the Yale offense through their losing years.

[quicksilver]

Polar Bears make it interesting falling to Williams, 24-21, holding the Eph scoreless in the second half and with Williams intercepting a Bowdoin pass in the end zone as time runs out . .

[nescac1]

Ugly, ugly win for Williams, but a win is a win.  Ephs as always really struggled with Bowdoin.  Williams will have to play much better at Trinity or it will be ugly.  The worst news for Williams is that starting TB Scyocurka left the game after two carries, no word on what happened, but obviously some sort of injury, hopefully not too serious, but who knows.  The three back-up tailbacks all played well (Williams still managed well over 200 yards rushing), but still, he would be a huge loss. 

Williams totally dominated the first half, but gave up two really big plays for Bowdoin TD's.  Williams also hurt itself with the kicking game, missing an XP and a chip shot FG, so Bowdoin was in striking distance when it should have been over because the Ephs were really pushing them around. 

In the second half, Bowdoin was easily the better team.  Williams' running game was much less effective, and they got REALLY conservative allowing Bowdoin to stack the line.  I know they have a new QB but they have weapons and have to open it up. Williams consistently killed itself with mistakes all half, fumbled snaps, penalties, etc., leaving a lot of 2nd and 15 or 2nd and 20 situations.  Finally, they had a great drive going which could have put the game away, but Hartwell (who otherwise had a great all around game, including an interception playing D on the last play of the game) fumbled the ball out of bounds and out of the end zone at the one, for a TB, with about two minutes left.  Fortunately the defense came up big with a stop, as they did most of the half.   

By the way, just an utterly bizarre call by Williams -- at midfield, up three, with 55 seconds left, third and ten, and Bowdoin with no timeouts, and they called a pass!  A running play would have left Bowdoin with about 10 seconds to go 80 yards.  Crazy.  Bowdoin almost got into field goal range after that.  But the Ephs hang on, luckily for them.  Very, very strange decision, especially after being conservative all game. 

Hopefully Scyocurka is OK but really the back up TB's played well so that wasn't the issue.  The defense needs to stiffen against the run for sure to beat Trinity.  In terms of pass defense, Bowdoin's WR's made some great plays, Williams played OK despite the stats, but credit to the Bowdoin receiving core which was tremendous all game, Goldin had some sick catches and Noone (along with Hartwell) is the most dangerous player in NESCAC, easily.  Also, Grant White is a very good QB, can both run and throw, uber-athletic.  Bowdoin will be tough this year.  Williams needs to open up the playbook a bit too and look for other receivers besides Hartwell.  And also has to stop killing itself with sloppy play. 

[nescac1]

I see that Amherst's projected starting QB did not play.  His back-up threw for under 100 yards and three INT's vs. Bates, which is probably not going to help him hold onto the job.  I assume there is some sort of injury?  Amherst may have found a new defensive star in soph LB Mike Aldo, who, despite not being listed as a starter, had six tackles including three sacks plus forced a fumble that was returned for a TD by
all-American lineman Kevin Ferber, and was probably the difference in the game.  I'd say he is a likely bet for NESCAC DPOW.

I forgot to mention, Williams' second string TB Lapoint did not play in the fourth quarter either, I believe.  Although the other two TB's were both effective, losing Lapoint and Scyocurka (or even one of them) would be a big blow for the Ephs.  Hope it is not a situation like Trinity experienced last year ...

[amh63]

The only thing that I can add to nescac1's remarks is that Amherst need to cut down on their mistakes, and Amherst won the kicking game.  They have the best kickers in the conference.  Do not know what happened to the projected QB.  Saw a bit of the game on-line and one of the Amherst's turnovers was the QB's fault.  The WR had beaten his man, but the QB did not have the arm to make the throw....under threw it and was picked off.  Often his deep WRs ere open but he made the choice to go underneath for shorter passes and missed first down yardage.  Hope the QB situation gets settled....or just pound the ball with the run.

[frank uible]

Foote's Saturday numbers are less good (from a passing efficiency standpoint) than Coyne's.

[LiveforSaturdays]

You needed to see the game to see the difference in the two. Foote reminded me of Librizzi at Wes a few years back. You live by the sword you die by the sword. 50 tosses! He was very poised and stood in the pocket well. Showed some rust. Glad that Wes pulled it out and is off to a 1-0 start for the first time in a while. Finally pulled out a tough win.

[banfan]

Well, guys and gals Trinity, I guess, did exactly what it wanted to do and that is win on the road without showing Williams much on offense.

We had all three soph tb's get plenty of time and we played two QB's.  Only threw the ball 12 times.  Colby scored on a "trick" play.  The front seven were pretty much in complete control.  Fallas only had one tackle.  I think that tells you that the down linemen played well.  The D subbed in all three of our front on a fairly regular basis.  I think that means we have depth.

Colby had a couple of big plays but never really was a threat.

We lost our kicker with a significant leg injury.  I have no facts just a twisted gut reaction.  The frosh back up did just fine with the next extra point and had a strong kick-off, if you were worried about his replacement.

Colby showed good school spirit and the tailgating was fine and dandy.  Gloomy weather.  Don't know what else to tell you but if there are any questions, I will do my best.

[46Hawk]

Nescac 1, not sure what game you were watching but the Bates  defense dominated the Amherst offense....the Q had no idea where he was going with the ball. Other than 2 runs the offense got nothing vs a very good Bates defense who forced forced....4 turnovers....give credit where credit is due!

[nescac1]

Umm, I didn't say anything about the Bates defense as I did not see that game.

[creekboy]

Just checking in from Hamilton...it was parent's day and a big crowd was on hand for a very exciting game.  I'm not going to go into deep analytical details, but just offer some high-level points as I saw them. I don't want to get too excited at this point in the season. 

The offense and QB Jordan Eck looked very nice and balanced. Eck was superb on the day, and I just read was selected as NESCAC Offensive player of the week. He made nice throws, was very elusive in the pocket, but more importantly made good choices. I am talking about just throwing the ball away if nobody is open. He showed some real maturity. RB James Stanell pounded away the whole game. Big TE Kevin Petrick caught some tough passes in the middle - great hands. Solid effort by the O for sure.

On defense, they had their moments, most notably the last play of the game. Tufts was driving to tie, and maybe win the game. On fourth down, they tried to thread a pass in the middle at the goal line. DB Dylan Iseberg made a heck of a play and knocked the pass down. Game over. The freshman LB Iam Milne was all over the place - what a player he is! In the middle, Jr. LB Mike MacDonald really played tough.  The Hamilton D, looked good, but they can get better, as their young players get more experience.

Special teams performed well also, with the exception of allowing Tufts to get a first down on a muffed punt snap. Punter/Kicker Garret Hoy was excellent all day as he made a 33 yard field goal and rolled one punt down to the five (plus he caught a few passes too).

In summary, it was a great first game for Hamilton to start to build on. A lot of folks in the stands were waiting for Tufts capture the win, as the script usually plays out - but it didn't happen! And the crowd went wild.  This was the first season opening win since 1992. There is a small buzz starting to build about this team that Buff and Blue loyalists have not felt in a while.  It was a great win, and there's a lot of football still to play in 2011.   

[nescac1]

Curious to hear from any Ephs about the RB situation -- I hope Scyocurka and Lapointe are not seriously injured, no update on either's status yet ... also curious to hear from Jeff fans what the story is with their starting QB. 

Another Williams note: I noticed two frosh OL getting playing time, Alan Felix (in particular) and A.J. Walsh.  They were the only frosh I noticed seeing the field (other than on special teams) for the Ephs.  Not sure if the guys listed as starters ahead of them got injured, or if they played well enough to beat out established vets for time. 

Seems like both Trinity and Williams were very conservative on offense this week.  I imagine both will open it up a bit on Saturday, with some more creative play-calling.  Cleary looked capable enough to be trusted with a bit more responsibility.  And Williams will certainly need to if the top two TB's are out.  I don't think Kearney played vs. Bowdoin, but the Ephs really need to utilize the size of Kearney (if healthy) and Stickney vs. the Bants, as you know they will be all over Hartwell after he destroyed them last year. 

Also, the Ephs' front seven on D needs to assert itself more against Trinity.  They certainly have the experience and talent, and you know they will be fired up after Bowdoin was able to run the ball successfully (Bowdoin has more talent in the passing attack than Trinity, but Trinity has a substantially stronger running game).  They had a particularly hard time containing QB draws, they need to be ready for what Jennings brings.   

[quicksilver]

NESCAC1 -- what about the Williams kicking game?? Did the kicker just have an off-day? His 30-yard chip shot field goal (the margin of victory) hit the upright and barely crawled over and he also kissed a PAT. Williams was able to make up for the PAT with a 2-point rush. With a little less luck, the kicking game could easily have cost them the game . .