FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[gridiron]

Frank, please share with us your predictions for the coming weekend's slate of games.

[PistachioX]

In addition to getting at the Midd QB for sacks and to force bad throws with hurries, Trinity will also need to do a better job controlling personal fouls/penalty yards....and doing a better job in general on special teams.  They can't afford to miss any more PATs / FGs, or to give up big yardage on kickoff & punt returns.  The contest will be too tight to give the other team any help.  Lots of room to button things up in practice this week.

[frank uible]

You have your correspondent's prognosis for Trin/Midd - otherwise, "loose lips sink ships".

[lumbercat]

I'll kick it off with my picks early in the week......maybe others will follow-

Middlebury 28 Trinity 27- Could go either way but I'll take Foote. The underated thing about Foote is how he responds to pressure and blitzes. Pressure him and he'll screen/draw you to death or throw the quick out. Trinity great ground game will score as usual so I predict a very close one. Key may be Burgess- if he can throw effectively it will be a big plus for Trinity's already dominant ground game and may make the Bants unbeatable.

Amherst 38 Tufts 17- No quit in the Jumbos but Amherst at home is too much.

Bates 34 Colby 17- Bates will continue to pound it on the ground. A warm day is expected. Colby using some of their best players both ways- that won't fly this week.

Weleyan 27 Bowdoin 10- Wesleyan pass rush will pressure Romero. Not sure of Drew status- if he's healthy Wes will score 35.

Williams 24 Hamilton 17- Hartwell has been pretty much held down all year but will break out big this week. Wolwender rushes for 100 yards. Eck will keep it closer than expected.

[Pat Coleman]

While Moores is still a long way from making an NFL roster or playing in a regular season game, he has clearly gotten the attention of at least one NFL team (http://www.middlebury.edu/athletics/sports/football/archive/2011-2012/news/node/358574) and my guess would be that more will follow, given how he's bulked up since last season. His coaches believe he has a chance to play at the next level and I think his combination of height, size, athleticism and football IQ make playing in the NFL a real possibility.

We wrote about this in Kickoff this year as well. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

[gridiron]

We both did pretty well picking last week.  Here are my picks for this week.

Middlebury 31 Trinity 24.  Trinity will need turnovers to win and with nice weather in the forecast, Middlebury prevails.
Amherst 34 Tufts 6.  Amherst is just too strong for Tufts whose luck will not turn around this week.
Colby 23 Bates 20.  Colby has been mistake prone entire season or would have more than one win.  This week Bates is disappointed at home.
Wesleyan 19 Bowdoin 12.  Wesleyan is far from invincible, but Bowdoin just doesn't have enough to get it done this week.
Williams 26 Hamilton 9.  Williams is trending up while Hamilton let one slip away last week.  The trend continues for both.

Looks like we only differ on the Bates/Colby outcome.

[maineman]

Where is the best place to park for the Trinity football field?

[frank uible]

In Suffield.

[lumbercat]

Gridiron-
Good picks-We are close again but to me other than the Amherst and Williams games, which seem pretty one sided, the Bates pick would be my strongest. They are better than folks think in my estimation and are at home- but who knows....
However, the big one is in Hartford this week but I'll enjoy em all.

[gridiron]

I would agree with you that the Bates/Colby could go the other way too.  That's my underdog pick of the week.  More certain of the other games for sure.

[amh63]

Frank.......really?  Where does one catch the bus?

[lumbercat]

Frank's point may be that you are better off in Suffield than you may be in some areas adjacent to the campus.

[gridiron]

I plan to catch a Tufts game before the season is over.  I've heard the tailgating area is very limited compared to the other venues around the league.  Anyone tailgated there before and have any advice??

[maineman]

Frank's point may be that you are better off in Suffield than you may be in some areas adjacent to the campus.

I think he was pulling my chain, but seriously, is there a tailgate area?

[frank uible]

Arrive early or suffer a parking ticket from the Somerville gendarmes - otherwise you will be forced to park in Suffield along with the Trin tailgaters who choose to park there.