FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Panthernation]

The Difficulty of Preparing for Hamilton: http://sites.middlebury.edu/panthernation/
6 Things to Watch Around the NESCAC Today: http://sites.middlebury.edu/panthernation/2013/11/02/1146/

[amh63]

Amherst beats Trinity at Pratt Field 17-16!   In an overview, it was a defensive battle  between two great defensive teams...yet it was also a game of big plays.  Amherst won the battle of mistakes/turnovers..3-1.  Amherst had two picks in the first quarter.  Amherst led at the half 10-3.  Both teams had fumbles during scoring drives...Amherst's fumble was in the red zone, while Trinity had a fumble around the 25 to 30 yard line.  It was scoreless in the third quarter.  In the 4th quarter, Trinity scores around the l0 minute mark to tie the game.....set up by an long pass.  Amherst quickly strikes back to go ahead 17-10.  Amherst missed a field goal on another drive.  With about 4 minutes to go, Bunker scores a TD...short run.  Trinity misses an extra point by either a deflection or bad kick caused by CB Spears.  Amherst goes 3-out.  Trinity starts their last drive with about two minutes to go....but loses yards in 4 tries to advance the ball.  Amherst runs out the clock with about 40 seconds in the game on kneel downs by Lippe.
Another hard game to watch.....but a great win this time.

[Vandy74]

What's wrong with this board.  Where is everybody?  This was a great Football Saturday.  Only PN and Amh63 give evidence that there's even a pulse here.  Amherst and Trinity play a classic contest between 5-1's.  A missed PA being the difference.  Much maligned Williams showing anyone who has been really paying attention since their ugly opening loss to Colby that they are a good team which simply hasn't caught a break this season.  Colby, who handed Williams that first loss and then lost the next three to the three top teams in the conference winning #3 in a row.  Good teams win handily against the teams they are better than.  Colby is a good team en route to a 5-3 season.  Middlebury finally playing an easy opponent and Mac doing in the 3 Qs he was allowed to play what very good QBs are happy to do in 4.  A healthier Bates finally playing back to the standard they had set earlier in the season.  Where's the noise??  Is the game really secondary to the tailgate party?

OK, a few predictions. boldly made because obviously even if all are proven wrong nobody will be inclined to even come on board and point it out. 

Williams beats Wesleyan (Did that wake you up Big AlD)  Trinity beats Amherst.  (Everyone on the hoops board knows when Middlebury is out of the picture the Lord Jeffs are my team)    OK, Williams over Amherst.  Williams was left for dead by Colby in the season opener but you have the entire preseason to aim for the season opener, not just an injury recovering week.  The Ephs went on to lose three straight games by a TD each.  Bates at home and Middlebury and Trinity on the road.  They handle the next two much lesser foes easily enough, then they let their untested QB of the future experience baptism under fire against the best team in the NESCAC.  With no running game backing him up he finds no fewer than 9 receivers en route to a 2 point loss.  On the road.  The Ephs are pissed.  They have not embarrassed themselves since week 1 but have nothing to show for it.  Amherst is THE GAME and it's at home.  Gut feeling but I think Williams gets their street cred back on Saturday.  I don't believe that anyone who has strapped on a helmet is in total disagreement with me on this.

There is similar reasoning behind my Trinity over Wesleyan pick.  (If the final results of this season don't inspire the outrage to make NESCAC play a legitimate 9 game conference schedule shame on us)  I think Wesleyan is the best team in the NESCAC.  I wish Middlebury had a shot at them but I would expect the Panthers to lose in a close contest.  That said Trinity is pissed.  They are also a very good team coming off a 2nd consecutive tough loss.  And they are at home.  Wesleyan is Little Three but this is also the battle for bragging rights in Connecticut.  That is why this is Trinity and Wesleyan's season closer.  People familiar with the rhythm of sports know that the kind of success story Wesleyan is trying to write this season most often doesn't get written until the year after it could have and should have happened.  Trinity will refuse to lose 3 in a row.  Wesleyan goes down for the first time.

OK I've said it.  Call me a damn fool.  I heard it before.  But at least let me hear it should the facts a week from now reveal it as such.  The silence HEAR is deafening. 

[FourMoreYears]

DON BEST SPORTS

Bowdoin          - 1 1/2
Bates                 42

Tufts                  44
Colby               - 8 1/2

Hamilton             45
Middlebury       - 23 1/2

Trinity               43 1/2
Amherst            -  3

Williams               50
Wesleyan           - 40 1/2

Al I know you are a man of numbers and logic and reason but have you lost your freaking mind?

Nice people or not, how can Bowdoin be favored over Bates?  I'll take Bates and the 1 1/2.
Yes, Wesleyan is good but they're not THAT good.  I'll take Williams and the 40 1/2.
Colby will be sky-high in the middle of their CBB sandwich, I'll take the Mules minus the 8 1/2.

The other two games I will stay away from ... uncertainty does not mix well with money.

Hey Al, where do I collect my money or are you still hurting from the Red Sox?

Re: Wesleyan - Williams: Al.  A win is a win. Take it. Enjoy it. 
Re; Amherst - Trinity: Mills always finds a way ... albeit that missed XP ... ouch
Re: Bates - Bowdoin: Play-calling and personnel decisions continue to haunt the Polar Bears
Re: Colby - Tufts: The Mules are the single biggest surprise to me this season, well done.
Re: Middlebury - Hamilton: The Hamilton HC should have stayed in Brunswick as DC, why rise above your competency level?

[frank uible]

Vandy: Trinity? Williams? If you are declining to take points (and it appears that you are), you are picking against the Smart Money. Do so at your risk - be prepared to pay when you lose, or your kneecaps will suffer.

[amh63]

Enjoyed the two posts today.  Both contain wit, insight, and even a touch of passion.  Always a recipe for good Sunday reading
Some responses.  To be taken with a grain of salt.
4more years...the HFC of Hamilton needs time to recruit talent to Clinton.  Like Bowdoin, the college is located in a lovely, but somewhat isolated location...a tough sell for young people these days.  Even with social media.
Vandy, my friend...I hear you and understand/respect your logic.  Still, in the strange world of football where smart people call it a game of inches...as if baseball is not?...there are so many unaccounted factors that are not controllable...by coaches. Some thoughts on those...but first, want to post here that HFC Mills won his 100th Game at Amherst..in this his 16th year.
After the win over Middlebury, Coach Mills stated in his interview that it was a game that he had targeted...after being out coached, etc. in the lost in VT.  I also felt that Trinity was another targeted game...hinted at it in my Tufts pre game post.  Last year, Amherst lost only to Midd and Trinity...with the Trinity game in the Coop being a heartbreaker.  EJ Mills and his staff gets their players focused.
There are a number of players sidelined...but Amherst gets others to step up. FY RB Kelly had a breakout game last week, but was even better in the Trinity game...taking a pass and running for a long gain to set up WR Garay's TD.  Nov. 9 is the Williams game in Willy Town.  Last year, FY CB Spears had a break out game after being burned by WR Hartwell for a TD.  Last Year then FY RB S. Wilson had a 100 Plus day.  The Amherst team will be ready for Williams in the last game on a grass field!  This year,  CB L. Lewis will be playing and WR G. Garay, a favorite target of QB Libbe, will be playing.  Most of all, there will be 15 seniors focused..players that know how to win games and beat the Ephs.  They want to go out with the 101 win for Coach Mills.  Why?  In the Trinity game, in a tight game with every series important, a Senior QB was given a series..it was Family Day.

[AlDavis]

...I'm here and have a crippling hangover as I can't hang like I did in my port of call days....the win was EPIC , the pressure was immensely of the charts and quite unfair for the Wesleyan student athlete FOOTBALL players as before the game I could see the pressure and weight of over 40 years was a burden they where faced with as losing was not an option for what was expected , of course Williams is a good team with great coaches and I caught quite hell before the season stating that they would be 4 - 4....the way I write this script now is the extremeley close loss hurts Williams more than a 40 point blowout as they desperately just needed the ball back and get into field goal range but instead of a season saving drive and win ,  Wesleyan just took a knee as the Ephs bleed out , I see that as a more excrutiating  painful way to give up their reign ....The celebration after the game and up to 3:00 AM was epic....I am just a low man on the totem pole here , but got to partake in great joys of accomplishment and met many prominent people and listened to every story....This Wesleyan thing is strait EPIC and the NESCAC will never be the same because this ain't going away , this is the way it will be now on .....so we just talking football here people.....the other NESCAC schools will have to pound the pavement harder and everything that goes with it......Amhurt63 I will take my Swagg over your money every day all day , and Stanky Franky your old timer knee-cap bullshiitte don't fly with me , I am a man of upmost integrity and conduct my business with a manly handshake and when I have shown up at those bullshiitte sitdowns its always at least 5 of them yahoos against me and I always walk out with knee caps intact because I am the Smartest Guy in every room and that most definitely includes all Amhurt Rooms and Williams Rooms.....and we just talking football here people.....Frank I will one more last  time speak Indian to you as I now have to gear up for this off the charts game this week at the Walled Off Ghetto Slum.....in Indian tone of voice...."Meee BIG ONE , uuu tooo LITTLE TOOO......I will chime in later as I have to deal with this NFL now and hurting big time as I can not drink with the Big Boys who are the Whalen Mafia fo real , fo real , tru dat.

[nescac1]

Williams has had the ball four times, late in the fourth quarter, with a chance to drive for a victory or at least a tie (vs. Midd, Bates, Trinity, and Wesleyan).  I think that all four drives ended in interceptions, coming from three different QBs.  That one line pretty much sums up Williams' season.  Just not the Ephs' year.  They can redeem a lot with a huge upset at home vs. Amherst.  I'm sure they will come to play, but once again, they will be substantial underdogs, and justifiably so. 

[Vandy74]

Vandy: Trinity? Williams? If you are declining to take points (and it appears that you are), you are picking against the Smart Money. Do so at your risk - be prepared to pay when you lose, or your kneecaps will suffer.

I spent the day helping a brother accept the fact that he is another year older.  Good to see that there is some life here on the board. 

Frank....you're correct.  I don't take points.  I bet like I played.  Either you win or you lose.  Loser buys the first round.  I've bought my fair share.   As for the knees, they've been shot to hell for so long now that nothing scares 'em anymore. 

And if I lose it's my treat at Two Brothers' Tavern although you can take your time getting there because from 5-7 on Saturday I'll be an hour's drive south on route 7 in Rutland watching 10-0 Middlebury High School win the D1 championship.  Smart Money is on the Tigers.

[AlDavis]

....ok I just brushed my teeth and unlike Stanky Franky I have good fresh breadth and I am at BDL and have to go home for a couple of days and cut the grass and catch up on some money laundering....I have recovered from my crippling hangover headache and did not make too many mistakes yesterday with the Terd Burglars and got lucky with the Indy comeback.....I hope coach Kubiak is all right as the pressures Head Coaches face I could not equate or relate....I still haven't gathered myself to what kind of verbage assault I will do onto The Bantams as they are not an Inherited Enemy and Trinity humans like Coopster 8.0 seems to be an OK human....would wish someone could set me off so I can go off....but these are the facts , The Cardinals are playing with House money as Little 3 Champs and guaranteed NESCAC champs....50 game home winning streak is EPIC as it gets and anyone that knows me as if you met me you would like me ( I asked Amhurt63 ten times that week of the Amhurt game where can I meet him , so as you where , as you was ) knows that I need this Streak to end and be in my pocket so I can then put this Streak Stoppage in my storage locker with all my many stuff......Listen to me Student Athlete Football Cardinals that might read this as I speak Al Davis to you "JUST WIN BABY"

[Trin9-0]

It's sure to be a classic in The Coop on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Bantams losing consecutive games on a last minute touchdown pass and missed extra point respectively has taken a little bit of the luster off this game. However, with Wes going for their first undefeated season since 1969 and Trinity's trying to protect the 50 game/12 year home winning streak there is no shortage of story lines. CPTV will be broadcasting the game live. It's the first live telecast of a Trinity game since 1999.

I did make it to Middletown for most of the second half and watched, from the end zone hill with several of my Cardinal buddies. They were very well lubricated and quite anxious towards the end of the game. I had a feeling the Ephs would make it interesting. As nescac1 pointed out turnovers at crucial times have ruined Williams this season. I was watching the Bantams failed extra point attempt on my cell phone at roughly the same moment that Pomella's ill-advised pass was intercepted.

Sorry we didn't connect Al, but I'll be set up in Hartford around 10:00am on Saturday. Look for me under the Trinity flag in the parking lot at the north end zone.

[nescac1]

Sounds like a tough one for Trinity as well, Trin8-0.  And it also seems like Trinity has suffered a bit of growing pains at the QB position with some young and talented guys, but inexperience at that position will almost always hurt you. 

As for Williams, it just shows the importance of the position.  Over the past three years, since POY Moffitt led the team to an 8-0 season, the team has cycled / alternated through four different QBs (every QB on the roster has gotten an opportunity), none of whom have, unfortunately, played to the level of their predecessors.  I really don't think that Kelton is a bad coach or anything, but if you don't recruit big-time talent (or really, anybody at all -- only a single QB recruit over the past two years) at the key position, well, this is what can happen.  Of course it's not all on the QBs, other facets have hurt in key moments in each game (like when the all-conference kicker mysteriously missed two chip-shot FGs and an XP vs. Midd, which happened to be Midd's winning margin, or some inexplicable defensive breakdowns at a few key times, or some really untimely fumbles and drops).  But ultimately, all you can ask of a team vs. a great team like Trinity, Midd, or Wesleyan is to have the ball late in the fourth with a chance for the win.  The Ephs haven't pulled through yet in that situation, and seemingly haven't pulled through in such a situation for a LONG time.  Fingers crossed that the story will be different on Saturday.  A win vs. Amherst in the last game on Weston would cure a lot of the pain for the Ephs from this season.  A loss, well, a loss will be tough to take but I assure you, Eph football will be back either way! 

On another Eph football note, former star RB Tim Crawley launches (what sounds like a VERY long-shot) campaign for the US Senate:

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/e206aa1c2bbf4c24b81b8996021ecd69/OR--Merkley-Opponent

[lumbercat]

Sorry to the board for a delayed entry on the Bowdoin-Bates game........another great one.....Bates-Bowdoin is, among the very most  intense rivalries in the NESCAC........everybody talks about Amherst-Williams and Wesleyan-Trinity but the Bates -Bowdoin rivalry in the Pine Tree state is classic. No love lost between these 2 perennial rivals.

Bates executed their ball control, grind it out offense very well. Their triple option sometimes ellicits frustration but on Saturday in Lewiston the game was an attest to the commitment of the disciplined Bobcat attack.

The triple option ground game is boring to some and frustrating to others..However,on this particular day, OC Weiss' offense executed the Bates Triple Option to perfection.

Bates made no mistakes and just kept pounding the Black and White...at the end of the day the day then PBears size deficit told the story...The Black and White always compete but they were overmatched this year by a bigger, more physical Bobcat team.

Bates controlled the ball and the overall tempo of the game.....Bates ran 82 plays vs. 63 for the  Black and White.....Bates possession was time was 35 minutes vs 28 minutes for The Cubs......the triple option offense lives with the Bates Garnet.

[PistachioX]

The game changer in the Amherst Vs.Trinity game wasn't just the missed PAT.  The Bantams dominated the Lord Jeffs in time of possession, total offense, first downs...  but they lost the turnover battle ...coughing it with two picks and a fumble.  They also had 3 or 4 dropped catches, that should have been completions, IMO.  The laundry list goes on.... too many injuries, painfully predictable play calling, poor performance by the OL, missed tackles.  Bottom line - it was a poorly executed game.  Amherst deserved to win.

In the preceding loss to Midd... it was penalties, injuries and turnovers that did them in.  Poor officiating and having to play with the equivalent of a JV defense were really non-factors.  All they needed to seal a win late in the 4th quarter, was to convert a first down and hold onto the ball.  Ouch. 

The Bantams must find a way to execute, and put points on the board if they want to have a prayer of beating Wesleyan on Saturday.  It doesn't matter if it's the defense or special teams that generates the points ...but someone needs to make a clutch play or two.  This team is capable of upsetting the Cardinals, if each player focuses on executing his own assignment, rather than getting sucked into the drama of a potential loss at home.  They are a much better team than the last two contests suggest. 

Just a  Mom.

[gridiron]

Lumbercat--agreed, the rivalries between all three Maine schools are genuine and fierce, and tend to bring out the best during their contests. 

Hoping for great weather across the league for the upcoming season finales.  Lots at stake for all--

*Trinity 50 game home streak
*Wesleyan league championship on top of Little Three
*Tufts streak
*Hamilton chance to get in the W column
*Williams chance to salvage something from season by being "King of the purples"
*Bates chance to not have losing record
*Colby chance for 5 and 3 and outright CBB championship
*Bowdoin opportunity to salvage something by beating archrival
*Middlebury chance to stay alive for piece of league title (admittedly with big assist to the 8 game schedule)
*Amherst chance to stay alive for piece of league title and beat nemesis
*Final game for seniors everywhere