FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

Congrats to Bates, clearly a stronger team than in past years and good to see that program turned around.  Of course, I'd rather the resurgence come at someone else's expense other than Williams ...

At the same time, Williams has really underperformed this year.  The offense has been able to move the ball about as well as expected, considering the QB position is not nearly what it was last year, and they have had a lot of injury woes in the running game at the TB and center positions.  But they have killed themselves with mistakes: case in point, two turnovers at the goal line vs. Bates, and a pick six -- that is a potential 21 point turnaround right there. 

More mysterious is the defense, bringing back 8/11 starters from an 8-0 team that dominated the conference last year (and yes, the team was basically unstoppable on O, but D played a role as well), including FIVE first team all-NESCAC guys, you'd think the defense would be able to carry the team.  But the Ephs keep giving up big plays, just too many long receptions three games in a row, despite 3/4 guys back from a secondary that played much better last year.  Not sure if it is guys not playing up to last year's level, schemes, just breaks that went the Ephs way last year not going their way this year, who knows, but the Ephs have the talent to turn things around on defense and better do so quickly if they hope to salvage the season.  Special teams has been a disaster all year (and really for two years) and there is no indication that it will perform much better as a unit going forward, although it could hardly be worse.  But if the Ephs can get their top RB's back and get some semblance of a running game going, it will really help with Marske's maturation -- he has played well but made too many rookie mistakes, which is a product of being asked to do too much too soon.  And the defense simply has to play up to its talent level, or else the Amherst game this year (not to mention potentially the Midd and Wesleyan games) could be very ugly.   

[banfan]

Nice recap uno.  I admit that I did not see the Willies last year so I cannot tell whether they were over achievers then, or were carried by their QB or something else.  But this year's talent seems to be too good to play this poorly.  Not taking anything away from Bates.  I think Bates story is great.  I like the guys at Bates and I think the atmosphere is great there and too exciting for the school to hire a new prez who would pull the plug on all the positive waves, Moriarity.

So, the team at Trinity this year, that I did see, was not very good at executing and the kicking game was poor.  They had no running game in part because of Trin but as much because of poor execution.  For them to lose at home to Bates allowing 35 points is a shocker.

I think that one has to look at the coaching.  There is plenty of talent.  Last year with the overall talent and the all world QB, the new staff just had to stay out of the way.  They still have talent but they have to manage it differently.  It does not appear that they know how to.  It is a process.  We will see how much the staff improves as the year progresses.

[amh63]

Follow-up comment on last Sat.'s game.  LB Aldo who was selected a player of the conf. in week 1 and had his "bell" rung in a special team play in week 2......appeared in the game in week 3 and had a tackle.  Nice to see he is ok.

[amh63]

For those interested, Amherst vs Colby preview is now on the Amherst website.  The SID is earning his/their keep since the post are coming out on Wed. this season.   Many of the students will be up in Maine this weekend to play against Colby and Bowdoin in other sports.  They will miss the festivities at Amherst as the new president is formally "crowned"...with delegates/presidents from all the conference schools expected.

[Trin9-0]

Nice article on the Bunker brothers:
http://www.d3football.com/columns/around-the-region/northeast/2011/bunkers-unbeaten-with-a-date-on-the-slate

Here's the Trinity Sports Network preview of the Trinity-Tufts game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbSJrP5iyF4&feature=player_embedded#!

[hamfan88]

Never too early to get some predictions up, looks like there are some good matchups this week:

Hamilton @ Bowdoin- Hamilton in a tight one. That drive to Maine is always tough, but I like our matchup offensively if the starting QB plays

Bates @ Wesleyan- Never thought I say this, but this may be the matchup of the week. Expect ALOT of plays to be made on the ground. I like Bates with the upset. They have a strong defense and its always tough to learn how to defend that option attack in one week.

Amherst @ Colby- Amherst in a close one. Colby is always tough at home and they are hungry for their first win. The Jeffs are on upset alert this weekend.

Trinity @ Tufts- Trinity will run away with it. Tufts is still adjusting to a new coach/scheme. If Trin plays mistake-free they shouldnt have any problems. A very good team.

Williams @ Middlebury- All Williams all day. No way the Ephs drop 2 in a row. Kelton will have the team ready to play. The verdict is still out on the Panthers as to if they are for real or not this year, this game will be a real test.


Good Luck!

[amh63]

Ham88.....so you joined the "game" of guessing the outcome of conference games.  Agree that an away game vs. home game can make a difference....when teams are even in talent level, coaching, etc.  This year, the teams in the conferences appear more even as injuries, inexperience QB's play tend to "level the playing field" so to speak.  Your predictions seem ok to me except for the Williams vs. Midd. game.  First, I am somewhat bias that is true, but the Midd. QB can really throw the ball and have outstanding WR.  They also have a good front line and an ok running game.  Williams has already lost two games in a row!  I agree, it is hard to fathom the Ephs losing three straight games.  Still, in spite of having a good defensive front, Williams need to "fix" their offensive game and their special teams.  I watched their game online against Trinity....the "powerhouse" of the conference this season.  Williams can be hurt by long passes.  Their kicking game is in a shambles and their running game needs work.  Williams' defensive line has to date kept the team in games.
Anyway, your post helps keep the season interesting and this board fun.

[banfan]

Bowdoin over Hamilton-  Sorry but what is the status of your QB?  No Eck, no chance of win.

Bates over Wes-  Bates is not used to winning but they will if they don't lay an egg.

Willies/Middlebury-   a toss-up.  Kelton and this team have already lost 2 in a row and if Midd starts fast, look out.  The Willies could go down hill fast.  Midd is not a bad team.

Amherst over Colby-  Colby needs this win to salvage the season but I don't expect things to turn.  They may have one win in Maine this year, against Tufts.

Trinity over Tufts-  I like Coach Civetti and wish him well.  The team and staff need to improve over the course of the year.  They are obviously not as bad as the Bowdoin score suggests.

[quicksilver]

Bowdoin-Hamilton got the early noon start and is now over with!! Bowdoin 20 Hamilton 7

Eck played but was not particularly effective. Continentals do not have a running game (or didn't have one today anyway).

Polar Bear QB, Grant White, is injured early in the game (with Bowdoin up 10-7) and his back up, Tommy Romero was injured a couple of games ago, handing the QB duties to the coach's son and raw freshman, Mac Caputi. Caputi passed for 1 TD and led the team to a FG but the story of the game was a very strong defensive performance by Bowdoin. 

[amh63]

Amherst beats Colby 31-7 in Maine.  The online video was off and on all game  and the two broadcasters lost interest in the game and was joking around, complaining about the officials being bias, etc.  Am awaiting the official stats as the game was up and down for Amherst.  Amherst's running game sputter and E. Bunker had a "bad" day as he was caught behind the line and could have had three fumbles.  Amherst's defense was the difference in my view of the game.  Amherst scored first with a field goal as Colby stopped Amherst. 
The kicking game gave Amherst good field position all day.  Amherst scored on a interception off a screen pass by Colby.  Amherst 10-0.
Amherst scored on a very long play near the end of the first half to go up 17-0 at the half.  It was 24-0 when Colby scored in the third quarter on a pass play.  Amherst made it 31-7 on a big pass and run play.
Both teams missed a field goal wide left  on the same end of the field.....Amherst's kicker on a chip shot.  Amherst was picked off near Colby's goal line as it went through the receiver's hands.  E. Bunker also fumbled in the red zone in the first half.  The game ended on Colby's 10 yard line as Amherst new QB took a knee to run out the clock.
Amherst's uneven play may have been partly due to the lost of Amherst's center, a 1st team all conference center, in the first half as it was a knee injury.  In Amherst's offense, the center is critical...I understand that the center controls the snap count in the "blur" offense or whatever Amherst plays. Looking for the stats and may make some sense of all the turnovers by Amherst.  Colby also fumbled alot but recovered three of them that I am aware of.

[nescac1]

Good to see the Ephs get back on track with a nice 48-28 victory.  After sputtering badly the last two weeks, HUGE day for the running game, with the Ephs pounding it down the Panthers' throat all game, two backs (neither of whom were in the top two on the depth chart to start the season) going over 100 yards and combining for five rushing TD's.  The Ephs solved (hopefully for more than one game) some of their recent woes: the kicker hit 6/7 XP's, they didn't turn the ball over and were barely penalized, they were able to establish the run, and they didn't give up a ton of big plays in the passing game.  Williams is just not as explosive offensively as in recent years so ball control, avoiding penalties and missed XP's, and getting consistent yardage in the run game is crucial for the Ephs going forward. 

The Ephs were far from perfect: the Panthers were able to march down the field consistently and the Ephs didn't get enough pressure on the QB, and the passing game was still erratic, although Hartwell finally had a break-out game.  A good win over a talented offensive team on the road.  The Ephs now hit the soft spot of their schedule and benefit with 3/4  remaining games at home.  Hopefully they can take care of business vs. Tufts and Hamilton at home and start building towards the two tough little three games, both of which figure to be wars this year.  Still hoping the Williams defense can get closer to reaching the level expected in the pre-season ...

In other action, another HUGE game for Wesleyan's frosh RB, that guy has pretty much locked up the newcomer of the year (unless the Midd QB is eligible but I don't think so as a Soph, but the Midd QB barring injury will almost definitely be first-team all-NESCAC), and Trinity winning despite only THREE yards passing, that HAS to be some sort of record in a modern-era NESCAC victory.  The Bants D remains dominant but they will have to diversity the offense a bit as their schedule is MUCH tougher in the second half of the season, in particular a road game against Amherst, but Bowdoin, Midd and Wesleyan are hardly pushovers, and Midd has shown they can be explosive on offense (stopping anyone on D is another issue entirely). 

[oldhamfan]

Bowdoin-Hamilton got the early noon start and is now over with!! Bowdoin 20 Hamilton 7

Eck played but was not particularly effective. Continentals do not have a running game (or didn't have one today anyway).

Polar Bear QB, Grant White, is injured early in the game (with Bowdoin up 10-7) and his back up, Tommy Romero was injured a couple of games ago, handing the QB duties to the coach's son and raw freshman, Mac Caputi. Caputi passed for 1 TD and led the team to a FG but the story of the game was a very strong defensive performance by Bowdoin.

When score and time of poss don't matter, Eck's unstoppable with the five yard pass.  At this point he's about 80% completion rate for the season. On their one TD drive, I think he was 7-7, all short passes. He has a strange snap count, not a count, just saying "ready......go" every single pass.  But when they get behind, when the clock matters, they need more than the short pass.  And running game, as quicksilver noted, was innefective.
Stupid penalties, esp unsportsmalike conduct, killed HC and helped BC, although it was an undisciplined game on both sides.  by second half, with lead, Bowdoin ran the play clock to zsro most plays, happy to sit on the lead.
I was at the game for part of it, and a HC parent yelled at the officials so often, and with such gusto, the P.A. guy asked him, over the speakers, to stop. Never heard/seen that before
HC beat Tufts and lost to Trinity by 5 tds, yet Trinity beat Tufts 9-0.  They should eke out a win against 0-4 Colby bext week.

[amh63]

Back again....saw the box stats of the game.  Amherst had only 5 more plays than Colby.  Some telling stats.  Amherst had three fumbles and lost two...both by Bunker (Colby's announcers made comments such as fumbling Bunker and gave him 3-4 fumbles and other nonsense).  Colby had three fumbles but lost only one.  In the red zone, Amherst was 2 of 5.....one missed field goal, one fumble and one interception.  They scored on a field goal and a 10 yd. TD pass.  Amherst's QB had 284 yds passing!.....almost twice as much as Colby's record holder QB.  Amherst had about 180 plus net yards while Colby had a net yardage of 48.  Amherst had three sacks led by Ferber with 2 and Aldo with 1...both are the sack leaders on the team.  In short, Colby did not have a good offensive game.  Amherst was ok and had an even but average offensive day....made too many mistakes (maybe it was Colby's defense?).
nescac 1....enjoyed your summary!  Still, I have to point out several things......Midd.'s QB Foote again threw over 400 yards  but in 20 fewer passes.  Williams did not have to copy Amherst's 20 point win.  I will give you that Williams did it in an away game.

[quicksilver]

When score and time of poss don't matter, Eck's unstoppable with the five yard pass.  At this point he's about 80% completion rate for the season. On their one TD drive, I think he was 7-7, all short passes. He has a strange snap count, not a count, just saying "ready......go" every single pass.  But when they get behind, when the clock matters, they need more than the short pass.  And running game, as quicksilver noted, was innefective.
. . .

I didn't see the early part of the Bowdoin-Hamilton game but watched most of the last quarter (on-line where the video quality was mediocre to poor). I noticed the excellent short-passing game on the part of Eck but it was thoroughly predictable and easy for Bowdoin to defend, since there was no long-ball option and no running game.  (And there were a few untimely drops too, which prevented Hamilton from even getting into Bowdoin territory for most of the 4th quarter.) The Bowdoin announcers speculated that perhaps Eck was injured and could not throw long but it sounds like, from what you are saying, is that Eck's passing game is almost entirely short.

[creekboy]

Since the two wins, Hamilton has not had a key starter in the game on offense. Last week it was Eck and this week it was leading rusher Stanell (not sure why he was out).  Stanell should be back next week, and Eck should be getting better and more agile each week.  When those two are in, they have a lot more balanced offense.  They defense played well, except for a couple of big plays.

Hamilton really lacks depth, and this single thing needs to be the focus of this coming off-season. They need to get the roster up to 75 players.