FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[madzillagd]

Get home from the daughter's soccer game (comeback win 2-1), watch the last 3 quarters of the Williams game almost.  NSN failure with 17 seconds left in the game the screen went black and never came back on for me.  Live stats stopped at 55 seconds left in the game.  Heard through the grapevine there was an INT in the end zone to end it.  Would have been nice to see it.

In the two weeks I've watched I've yet to see a Murphy pass that isn't a foot above the receiver's head.  Maybe time to give somebody else a shot to try and cut down on the turnovers and keep some drives alive.  You've got a great running back, have to be able to complete some passes.  8% on 3rd down conversions.  Yikes. 

[quicksilver]

I had the same experience to, Madz, at the end of the Williams-Bates game. Screen went black on me -- thought I was having a computer malfunction!!. Identical endings to the Bowdoin-Tufts game, with the Maine team also victorious on the road (at 13-10, the score was almost the same too) and an interception in or close to the end zone to end an impressive last-minute Tufts drive, also done without any time outs . .

[amh63]

Amherst beats Middlebury 37-16 at home.  Exciting game in the first half in spite if the score being 20-3.  Foote threw 50 passes in the first half but was picked three times.  Game ended with Amherst running out the clock at mid field.  Foote threw for over 400 plus yards and about 80 times.  Offensive stats may favor the Panthers..much like the the 2011 game at Amherst but Foote threw 5 picks and was sacked three times.  Both sides muffed an extra point attempt.  Amherst had a blocked  field goal attempt by Midd on around the 19 yard line with the score 7-3, Amherst.  Amherst special team dominated as did the defense.  Middlebury kept drives going by going on 4th down....to their credit they made them and kept scoring drives going....scoring two TDs in the 2nd half.  Amherst won the turnover battle and made several early in the first quarter. Foote had a fantastic day statistically....doubling Max Lippe's yardage...both had 2 TDs via passes...but just checking the return yards after picks by Amherst shows one why Amherst dominated this game.  Better recap will be coming on the Amherst website.

[lefrakenstein]

encouraging day from Lippe though. Completed 60% of his passes with no picks and two touchdowns. Also had a higher YPA than Foote at 6.1 vs 5.5.

Not sure it's fair to say Midd won the offensive battle. Amherst had more yds/play. When you throw a lot of picks that either result in instant touchdowns or a very short field for the opposing offense, it's easy to have more total yardage.

[quicksilver]

the Amherst announcers said that the 5 Amherst picks of Foote produced something like 146 yards of return yardage. It seems as though there should be a "net" passing number!!!

[AlDavis]

good job Amh63 helping Wesleyan out hanging the L on Middlebury.....now , be very , very , very afraid in 2 weeks.....as far as Williams , I told everyone in August about strait trash.....now Wesleyan will hang 60 on Williams and then that 50 game winning streak to put to rest....ooooooh snaaaaaap!

[Go Continentals!]

Trinity didn't play well today but they certainly crushed HAMILTON.  The Coach only called a few plays to Jensen who was impressive yet again.  The guy is faster than the fastest track stars at any of the NESCAC schools yet they can't call plays to get him the ball?  All of the Hamilton receivers make great moves and catch anything that is close.  So the decision to run versus pass makes little sense .

Everyone at the game questioned what the Coach was attempting to do.  Intent on establishing a running game that produced a whopping 4 yards per carry, with a lot of those yards coming against the 2nd & 3rd stringers, leaves the Continental Faithful with little hope.  The passing game has produced far more yards per attempt than rushing yards per attempt.  Most Coaches would tend to pass with greater frequency.  Nope, not at Hamilton.

They didn't start the better QB and though Jensen was open all day long, the Freshman QB just wouldn't throw the ball beyond 10 yards.  And, once again, the Hamilton coaching staff was more intent on running out the clock rather than trying to win a game.  Seriously, running out the clock so his team doesn't get to run more plays?  It makes it hard to stay positive and with the play selections being so predictable I find it hard to believe Hamilton will win a game this year.  Then again, they are the coaches and maybe they have a grand plan that a mere spectator may not know or understand.  Yes, that must be it!  I feel much better now.  Go Continentals!

[warriorcat]

Made the trek to Williamstown with the family this afternoon.  We were treated to a nail biter that wasn't over until the Bates  intercepted the final pass of the day on a jump ball in the end zone.  The first quarter was dictated by Bates's outstanding field position.  Bates's offense killed every possession with penalties that their short running game could not overcome.  Williams's offense was stopped cold as they could not establish the run against a stout Bates defense that forced three-and-outs on nearly every possession.  On the final possession of the period, Bates's offense finally cleaned things up and marched to the Epf one yard line as the time expired.  on the first play of the second quarter, Junior Matt Cannone starting the first game of his career ran in the game's first TD.  On the ensuing possesion, the Bates defense stripped the Williams QB and presented their offense with the ball inside the 10 yd line.  Once again, a penalty for an illegal block took the Bobcats out of range and the kicker missed a long field goal.  That sequence seemed to  wake up the Williams offense and the finally began to move the ball.  A great punt return gave them a short field and they scored at the 5:50 mark at the end of a five play 18 yard drive from on yard out.  After the Bates offense failed to move the ball on a couple of possesions, Williams had their best drive of the day moving into position to allow Joe Mallock to kick a Williams record 46 yd field goal with three seconds left in the half.  The Bates defense was the story again in the second half.  Williams never threatened to score until the very end of the game.  Bates's offense was not much better and it appeared that the three point lead might be enough until early in the fourth quarter when Bates finished a 14 play 66 yard drive on a Ryan Curit 2 yd run.  The big play of the drive was a 16 yd pass completion on 4th and 11 that put the Bobcats on the Eph 14 yard line.  Williams began to throw more as the quarter wore on but an interception ended one of their final possesions.  They got the ball back one more time with less than a minute to play and they ran a hook-and-ladder play with two laterals that took them down inside the Bates 15.  A penalty at the end of the run pushed them outside the 25 yard line set up the final passing attempt thrown into the end zone with 3 seconds to play. 

As a Bates supporter it was a euphoric moment of relief.  This makes three victories in a row for the Bobcats over the Ephmen after three decades of futility (2-22 before 2011).  This is not the Bates team of the past 30 years.  Congratulations to Coach Harriman and his staff for bringing this program out of the NESCAC cellar into a team that can compete on a week in week out basis. 

[AlDavis]

October 19th  0 - 4 Tufts  at  0 - 4 Williams.........really , really ...LOL.

[AlDavis]

....then , just maybe then October 26th  Hamilton 0 - 5  at Williams  0 - 5........then November 2 Williams at Wesleyan and a 130 years of pain and suffering will be unleashed on Williams.....There Will be Blood.

[Vandy74]

encouraging day from Lippe though. Completed 60% of his passes with no picks and two touchdowns. Also had a higher YPA than Foote at 6.1 vs 5.5.

Not sure it's fair to say Midd won the offensive battle. Amherst had more yds/play. When you throw a lot of picks that either result in instant touchdowns or a very short field for the opposing offense, it's easy to have more total yardage.

the Amherst announcers said that the 5 Amherst picks of Foote produced something like 146 yards of return yardage. It seems as though there should be a "net" passing number!!!

I'm not sure why the final score of a game well played by the winning team isn't enough for some people.    The fact that the Panthers "won" some meaningless statistical battles doesn't have a single Middlebury fan dancing in the streets tonight.  Trust me on this.

Btw, net rushing stats include yards lost as a result of the ball carrier being tackled behind the line of scrimmage because those negative yards are a part of the aggregated offensive total.  Return yardage off intercepted passes does not apply in the same way.  (And with a clear head you don't need to have this explained to you.) I expect that given the chance Foote would trade his 54-85 and 459 yards passing stats in a losing effort today for Lippe's 21-38 and 213 yards and a W in a heartbeat.

Congratulations to the Lord Jeffs for being the best team on the field today.

[quicksilver]

Btw, net rushing stats include yards lost as a result of the ball carrier being tackled behind the line of scrimmage because those negative yards are a part of the aggregated offensive total.  Return yardage off intercepted passes does not apply in the same way.  (And with a clear head you don't need to have this explained to you.) I expect that given the chance Foote would trade his 54-85 and 459 yards passing stats in a losing effort today for Lippe's 21-38 and 213 yards and a W in a heartbeat.

Congratulations to the Lord Jeffs for being the best team on the field today.

Just joking about the "net" passing yards but the interceptions and the yardage in the other direction do diminish the significance of the gaudy passing stats more than a little as is reflected in the decisive final score in favor of Amherst.

[Vandy74]

I expect that given the chance Foote would trade his 54-85 and 459 yards passing stats in a losing effort today for Lippe's 21-38 and 213 yards and a W in a heartbeat.


the interceptions and the yardage in the other direction do diminish the significance of the gaudy passing stats more than a little as is reflected in the decisive final score in favor of Amherst.

Individual passing stats in a losing cause have little if any significance except as part of the final tallies at season's end.  In case you didn't actually see the game, the Panther running attack accumulated all of 25 yards in 16 carries.  That is why Foote HAD to pass 84 times.  That is why he had as many as 54 completions.  That is why his passing yardage was as high as 459.  Rather than being evaluated as "gaudy" Foote's stats, to me at least, seem more like the result of a yeoman's effort borne out of necessity.  (I seem to recall a game played several weeks ago where Eli Manning passed for 450 yards needing only 27 completions out of 54 passing attempts.)   Perhaps you can explain to me how Foote's stats are in any way "gaudy" i.e. "very ostentatious, tasteless, excessively showy, cheaply showy, or definitively tacky".  I never have had much of a way with words.

[FinethyOne]

Made the trek to Williamstown with the family this afternoon.  We were treated to a nail biter that wasn't over until the Bates  intercepted the final pass of the day on a jump ball in the end zone.  The first quarter was dictated by Bates's outstanding field position.  Bates's offense killed every possession with penalties that their short running game could not overcome.  Williams's offense was stopped cold as they could not establish the run against a stout Bates defense that forced three-and-outs on nearly every possession.  On the final possession of the period, Bates's offense finally cleaned things up and marched to the Epf one yard line as the time expired.  on the first play of the second quarter, Junior Matt Cannone starting the first game of his career ran in the game's first TD.  On the ensuing possesion, the Bates defense stripped the Williams QB and presented their offense with the ball inside the 10 yd line.  Once again, a penalty for an illegal block took the Bobcats out of range and the kicker missed a long field goal.  That sequence seemed to  wake up the Williams offense and the finally began to move the ball.  A great punt return gave them a short field and they scored at the 5:50 mark at the end of a five play 18 yard drive from on yard out.  After the Bates offense failed to move the ball on a couple of possesions, Williams had their best drive of the day moving into position to allow Joe Mallock to kick a Williams record 46 yd field goal with three seconds left in the half.  The Bates defense was the story again in the second half.  Williams never threatened to score until the very end of the game.  Bates's offense was not much better and it appeared that the three point lead might be enough until early in the fourth quarter when Bates finished a 14 play 66 yard drive on a Ryan Curit 2 yd run.  The big play of the drive was a 16 yd pass completion on 4th and 11 that put the Bobcats on the Eph 14 yard line.  Williams began to throw more as the quarter wore on but an interception ended one of their final possesions.  They got the ball back one more time with less than a minute to play and they ran a hook-and-ladder play with two laterals that took them down inside the Bates 15.  A penalty at the end of the run pushed them outside the 25 yard line set up the final passing attempt thrown into the end zone with 3 seconds to play. 

As a Bates supporter it was a euphoric moment of relief.  This makes three victories in a row for the Bobcats over the Ephmen after three decades of futility (2-22 before 2011).  This is not the Bates team of the past 30 years.  Congratulations to Coach Harriman and his staff for bringing this program out of the NESCAC cellar into a team that can compete on a week in week out basis.

I streamed in the game yesterday and was pretty disappointed when the video feed blacked out after the hook and lateral play.  It was a decent game, yet sloppily played on both sides with all the penalties etc.   I was very impressed with the Bates defense.  They have a very strong front 8 in that 3-5 they run.  QQ, what happened to the Bates starting QB Dugan?  Was he hurt?

[warriorcat]

Bates soph QB Dugan was hurt with a sprained ankle this week.  The hope is that he will practice this week and be available on Saturday.  Cannone had been playing some before this week. The two take turns in practice with the first group.  Cannone is a little better passer.  Running the triple option takes two quarterbacks because the QB keepers take their toll as the game wears on.  The freshman LaSpada played a few plays yesterday giving Cannone some time off.  I would expect we will see Cannone and Dugan both play during the remainder of the season with LaSpada getting a few reps in a pinch.  He is learning the system.  On the defensive side, Bates played without their top inside linebacker John Durkin.  The defensive line is strong but thin and  yesterday senior nose guard Matt Comstock went out with a knee injury in the first period.  Freshman Nate Friesth (275 lbs) stepped in and clogged the middle adequately.