FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Nescacman]

2015 Week #6 NESCAC Preview and Predictions

Welcome to Week 6 in the NESCAC..."the league where they pay to play". We went 4-1 last week and now stand at 12-3 for the season. This is the week of streaks....

Wesleyan University at Bowdoin College: The good news is Bowdoin typically plays better at home. The bad news is that Wes has not lost to Bowdoin since 2010, the last time they last to a C-B-B team. If this Wes plays like they did against Amherst, this will not be a close game. At some point, Wes puts it all together including converting in the red zone.

Wesleyan 31 Bowdoin 14
Weather: Not a factor (weather courtesy of the Weather Channel).

Hartford State at Middlebury College: This is a battle of a primarily run oriented offense (State) versus a primarily pass oriented offense (Middlebury). We think State's "best in league" defense is the difference maker here as they win on the road in Middlebury.

Hartford State 28 Middlebury 21
Weather: Not a factor.

Bates College at Colby College: Huge game for those C-B-B fans out there. Interesting fast fact...Mark Riley has caught more than half of the total Bates College completions this year. We don't have a great feel for this game. Both of these teams are fairly equal. Bates offense is better than Colby's offense while Colby's defense is better than Bates defense. Despite Colby being the home team we just think Bates is due for a win.

Bates 21 Colby 17
Weather: Not a factor.

Hamilton College at Williams College: If the HCOF loses this game, we think he will be run out of town. As much as we would love to see a Hamilton win, it's not going to happen on the road in front of 500 people in Willytown. Hamilton will hang in for awhile but inexperience will get them in the end. Coach Murray will have to wait for another week for win number one.

Williams 28 Hamilton 14
Weather: Not a factor.

NESCAC Game of the Week

Amherst College at Tufts University: Amherst's bend but not break defense will be under a lot of pressure this week against the Jumbos. Tufts scores a lot of points, has the number one RB in the league (Chance Brady) and the best kicker. Tufts plays very well at home but we don't think it is enough to overcome an experienced and confident LJ squad.

Amherst 34 Tufts 21
Weather: Not a factor.

NESCACMAN's Picks
Last week: 4-1 (2015 season to date: 20-5)
2014 Season: 30-10
2013 Season: 32-8
Career: 82-23 (.780 winning percentage)

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin is the least-penalized team in the conference (5.0 penalties/game) and will look to improve on third-down, where they are ninth in the conference at just 33% (23-69) this season.

Two interesting statistics from the pre-game summary on the Bowdoin athletics website.  Last year Bowdoin finished with 5.5 penalties per game so not much of an improvement there.  However, last year that was good for only 5th in the conference (tied with Amherst).  Unfortunately, I'm not surprised that we are 9th on 3rd down conversions.

Good luck to the Polar Bears as they take on the Cardinals today.

GoUBears!!

[NewtoNescac]

Looking forward to a fun and safe day of games for everyone. Enjoy this great game of football!

[Nescacman]

Looking forward to some interesting games today, in particular, HS/MID and Tufts/AMH. As an aside, since we have som many PBear fans here, do you know if they are wearing those awful home silver uni's today or will they be going back to the traditional black and white?

[PolarCat]

Getting a little "pre-gaming" in, I watched the cliffhanger Dartmouth - Harvard battle of Ivy unbeatens last night on NBCSN.  Fabulous game, and superb camera work and editing.  Makes you wish NBCSN would broadcast a CAC game or two.

At halftime, they interviewed Harvard's President.  Surprised to hear that Harvard fields more varsity teams than any other university.

Even more interesting to hear her say how important student athletes are to Harvard .  She sees them as a role model for other students, particularly their work ethic and time management skills.  I wish all the NARP's at Bowdoin and elsewhere could have heard her message.

Good luck to all the CAC teams today.  Except Colby.  (Sorry, RetiredMule).

[P'bearfan]

Just tuned into the Bowdoin - Wes game.  It's 0-0 early in the first.  Interesting development - Bowdoin has started Nelson at QB.

[P'bearfan]

End of the 3rd and Bowdoin has pulled to within 3 of Wes; the P'bears trail 14-17!

Let's GoUBears!!

[Nescacman]

We were able to watch all 5 games today..a few observations:

- Middlebury's 1 dimensional offense caught with to them today.
- Trinity needs to be able to run the ball better to have a shot against Amherst next week.
- Wes needs to stop killing themselves with penalties and the kicking game. They should have won by at least 3 TD's.
- Bowdoin's QB Nelson is going to be a good one.
- Tufts, although much improved, is still not among the elite in the conference.
- Colby needs to get much better on the O-line.
- Bates could win the C-B-B with those wins being their only wins of the year.
- Williams O-line might be the worst in the league and one of the worst I have ever seen in the NESCAC.
- The HCOF should be fired right now. Hamilton breaks the streak in Willytown...wow.

[AmherstStudent05]

Well, today couldn't have been a good day for those of us who wanted to see Coach Kelton extend his tenure at Williams.

Congrats to the Hamilton program for persevering and finding the win column.  As Tufts has proved, just because you are down, doesn't mean you need to stay down. Nicely done, Conts. 

[Nescacman]

Well, today couldn't have been a good day for those of us who wanted to see Coach Kelton extend his tenure at Williams.

Congrats to the Hamilton program for persevering and finding the win column.  As Tufts has proved, just because you are down, doesn't mean you need to stay down. Nicely done, Conts.

Say goodbye to Coach K. Nice knowing you.

[Saxon73]

Congratulations to Coach Murray and his team. !!

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin falls to Wesleyan 14-20 in a game that was much closer than many expected.

I wasn't able to watch much of the game but after the looking at the box score there is only one question: "How did Bowdoin stay so close?"

Wesleyan out rushed Bowdoin 187 to 51 yards;  they also ruled the air with 242 yards of passing to Bowdoin's 172 yards.  While Bowdoin's QB Nelson kept the P'bears in the game, his stat line was less than impressive:  16-36 (44.4%) with 1 TD and 3 INT. 

I realize there is a great deal of buzz around this young player and he has a bright future but when you look at his stats I'm not sure he's the best option for Bowdoin right now.

[amh63]

Watched the whole Amherst-Tufts game.  Turning point was when Amherst went ahead before the 1st half...Tufts was backed up near their goal and their QB threw a short pass to his left......Amherst SS Fairfield- Sonn made his 2nd pick6 of the season  In my opinion, it turned an otherwise close game into one that got out of hand for Tufts in the 2nd half.

Watched the last quarter and a bit of the Williams-Hamilton game.  Williams was ahead 17-14 after going for a 2 point conversion.  The Williams team seemed to fold under the pressure......getting around 7-8 big penalties...most unsportsman penalties.  It helped keep Hamilton last drive alive...penalties... got the go ahead TD.....missed the extra point to make the last 10 minutes interesting.
The celebration of the Hamilton players with around 42 sec left.....on the field and the sidelines was great.  Players pounded the field, etc.....their lost streak was OVER.  This is what D3 football games is all about.  Effort extended to meet a goal!

[polbear73]

Bowdoin falls to Wesleyan 14-20 in a game that was much closer than many expected.

I wasn't able to watch much of the game but after the looking at the box score there is only one question: "How did Bowdoin stay so close?"

Wesleyan out rushed Bowdoin 187 to 51 yards;  they also ruled the air with 242 yards of passing to Bowdoin's 172 yards.  While Bowdoin's QB Nelson kept the P'bears in the game, his stat line was less than impressive:  16-36 (44.4%) with 1 TD and 3 INT. 

I realize there is a great deal of buzz around this young player and he has a bright future but when you look at his stats I'm not sure he's the best option for Bowdoin right now.

Quite simply, Wesleyan killed themselves with penalties and three missed makeable field goals. Also, a lot of credit should be given to an opportunist Bowdoin defense.

Tyler Grant may be out for the year and Bowdoin continues to struggle with the run. Tevin Montgomery switched over to DT  and seemed to help.

[lumbercat]

Gutty win by Bates in a typical rivalry game in the Maine State Series.
A hard hitting, emotional game. Bates played without their top 4 RBs. They started a 5th stringer and later used a FY who is behind that on their depth chart- both played well. Soph Sean Peterson looks like the prototype Bobcat slot back- not big, but tough and has hands to catch it in traffic.

-The story of the day was DC Kempton's undersized, swarming D. They play like Pitbulls with reckless abandon.
-The play of the day was a Pic 6 by CB Trevor Lyons who sat back in coverage with the the play in front of him giving Mules QB the look of an open passing lane- Lyons broke on the play before the Colby receiver. 6 points and a big time play. Lyons has flown under the Nescac star search radar all year despite making big plays all year. Lyons and his protege, Brandon Williams, who leads the league in Ints are unknown to most.
-Bates LB Luke Keichiely....err.....I mean Mark Upton had another great game. 10 stops (and I disagree with Colby stats- I had him with 9 solos and 7 assists) not to mention 2 sacks and a blocked pass. I agree with the Amherst scout who called him the best in the league- he proved it again today.
-Bates D blocked or deflected 4 passes today- they were in Harringtons grill all day.
-Kudos to Colby back Hurdle-Price. He and Tufts Brady are the best in the league. Despite his usual good stats The Garnet was able to keep Hurdle-Price from doing any real damage.
-Michaeles pulled Harrington who struggled with Bates D schemes for  Sparacio who seemed to handle the pressure a bit better. Afraid coach Michaeles is faced with the dreaded QB controversy which is a challenge for any coach.
-Mules have one hell of a back on the bench in Lapani.
-The Blue and Grey will give Tufts a handful next week. I'm on record right now predicting a Colby win.
-Tufts fans- bring one of the following to Alfond Field
next week:  a ladder, a scissor lift or binoculars  or you are better off staying home and watching a bad internet feed. The worst stadium and most frustrating venue in the league to try and maintain any sight line on the game.