FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[maineman]

If Colby does go looking for a new football coach, I wonder if Dave Caputi might apply?  I believe his youngest daughter goes there and it would get him back to Maine.  Either that or apply for the head coach at UNE which is starting football.  Maybe he is happy as OC at Middlebury?

[amh63]

Bowdoin fans.....this Fall Sport of Football maybe down this year...But it seems that the Polar Bears are "whipping butts"in almost all the other Fall sports...playing for conference championships this weekend!  Hope I did not offend anyone here.

[quicksilver]

Not football but does help a little bit with the pain of this weekend on the gridiron. Bowdoin managed to win 3 NESCAC championships today, all in  tight games and in impressive fashion: 1-0 in OT over Wesleyan in men's soccer, 2-1 over Middlebury in field hockey, and 3-2 over Williams in volleyball (after Williams won the first 2 sets).

[lumbercat]

Some observations on tha Bates-Bowdoin game

Bates played an almost flawless game in all 3 phases and did not hurt themselves with mistakes. They finally put it all together. They are much better than their record. They handed victories to Tufts and Williams on a silver platter and made more mistakes at Wesleyan that cost them that game also.

Was surprised that Wells stuck with FY QB all day. The kid was getting pounded having never experience that kind of pressure. Would have thought he should have gone to the more experienced Drakely who may have handled the pressure a bit better. Don't beleive Wells helped the kids development by staying with him that long under those circumstances.

I was surprised how he Bates O line handled the big BC transfer Montgomery. Bates RT Mitch Hildreth 6'4" 285 has emerged as an elite offensive lineman in the NESCAC. Only a Soph.

Bowdoin is a big young team that will only get better. The difference yesterday was Bates team speed especially on Defense with their fast, athletic LBs and DBs.

Gotta say one more time- no LB in the league has more range or a nose for the Football better than Bates' Upton.

Bowdoin's 2 big tight ends Porter and Thompson along with young WR Vailas bode very well for the Bears aerial attack in the future. Wouldn't give up on Drakely if I were Wells. If healthy would start him next week against Colby.

Bowdoin was without their 2 top RBs and Bates rotating between the 4th and 5th on their depth chart. Bates was well positioned for the injury bug that struck them unusually hard at the position with a lot of depth. Sad to see Bates' best back Shaun Caroll lost to injury early in the season in his senior year. He was the go to guy and big play back for Bates lost early in the year.

Same tough injury year for Grant at Bowdoin though, unlike Carroll, still has his senior year to look forward to.

[polbear73]

Agree on all counts, lumbercat.  Good post 

[jumpshot]

Also noticed the excellent success Bowdoin had today in three NESCAC Championship competitions. Bowdoin seems to have it together as to academics, culture, finances, alumni, rankings, etc. Williams won women's soccer over the Polar Bears to go with men and women's cross country championships for the Ephs. The Moose was off somewhere else in these competitions ....probably still having two-a-day football practice.

Look for one or more NESCAC schools to drop football in the foreseeable future ---could be among Maine schools with the Little Three among the last to go.

[lumbercat]

Jumpshot-
Given the Bowdoin success in Field Hockey and Soccer and their lack of success in Football are you suggestng that they may take their Football and go home?

[Rte27Driver]

Ephs lost a good player yesterday for good, he's out. #38

Fall 2015 recruiting game is also rife with rumors of no one knowing what's going on. Several players who were recruited heavily early on had coaches fall silent. Not sure whether this is is the usual sifting out or a sense of a coaching staff that is in flux.

[PolarCat]

Great summary, lumbercat. 

The future looks bright for Bates, as Harriman has been able to play some of his 2018's and 2019's, and they have acquitted themselves well.  Joe Frake had a great game, including a gorgeous pick, and Arthur Churchwell laid on a MONSTER hit on a return. I hope someone got that on tape for his parents' highlight reel.

Unfortunately, we saw some Mickey Mouse stuff from Bowdoin, like their team coming out at halftime and taking both halves of the field for their warm up.  I can't imagine Dave Caputi tolerating that nonsense.    And the Bowdoin Baseball team took over a big chunk of the Bates tailgate area (already tight because of the Senior Day setup, and all the alumni who made the trip), then just hanging out getting drunk and obnoxious without ever actually coming into the stadium to watch the game. 

My daughter PolarKitten brought 3 of her Bowdoin teammates up for the game, and they were all embarrassed by their classmates' behavior.

Stay classy, Bowdoin.  How's that boiled owl taste?

[lumbercat]

Polarcat-
Thanks for solving the mystery of the Bobcat tailgate on Saturday.......There was a large and enthusiastic group of Bates Alums in the tailgate. We got over to the high levels of the Garcelon stands and during the game we looked back into the tailgate and observed a number of tailgaters who did not leave the tailgate area.......lame Bobcats?   No way, now that I think back they were clad mostly in Black.....You are correct- intruders from Bowdoin! This didn't dawn on us as they were so quiet in the post game tailgate.
Wells boiled owl and feed the bamboo along with him making the Bears face the Bobcats victory celebration on Garcelon following the game is fodder for bulletin board motivation which may work for him, who knows- I would think the best approach would be to talk a little less and minimize some of the bamboo stuff until you assimilate into managing the program and getting it moving in your drection. Too many moving parts in Brunswck this fall and alawys....believe it unfolded quicker and easier for JB at Endicott.

[PolarCat]

If Colby does go looking for a new football coach, I wonder if Dave Caputi might apply?  I believe his youngest daughter goes there and it would get him back to Maine.  Either that or apply for the head coach at UNE which is starting football.  Maybe he is happy as OC at Middlebury?

Dave has 3 daughter's in the CAC:  a WLAX player at Midd (teammate with HC Ritter's daughter), a sophomore at Bowdoin (playying WBB and WLAX), and a FY at Colby (a stud at both fockey and lax in prep school- not sure which she's playing for the Mules).

Dave looked so relaxed and happy when the Panthers came to Lewiston, I can't imagine him making the move to Waterville to take over a struggling program.  But I guess anything is possible.

[JEFFFAN]

I am sure that Dave Caputi is a fine gentlemen, but what about his record would suggest that any NESCAC program would want to hire him to turn a program around?   He has knowledge of the NESCAC but Bowdoin is an excellent school and he should have had every opportunity to be successful there ... and he wasn't.   There is absolutely no reason why any NESCAC school should think that he would be an attractive candidate for a vacant HFC position.

[PolarCat]

Well, his record at Bowdoin was better than JB Wells'.  Maybe the problems in Brunswick weren't due to the coaching

[NewtoNescac]

As I've mentioned with respect to a possible Williams HC opening, Joe Early would be a great selection for any NESCAC opening. He's a quality coach, quality recruiter and a really good guy. But I'm not sure he'd want to uproot his family so soon after his move to CT.

[JEFFFAN]

As one of the Eph followers noted earlier, Williams will have the opportunity to attract a very good coach to this position.   The unwillingness of NESCAC to go the playoffs in football will narrow the audience down significantly, but for those coaches looking to combine the educational component with the athletics ... the football history of Williams will be a strong attraction.