FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[westcoastDad]

Incredible camera angle!  Feel bad for #2 for the Midds but amazing concentration by the Ephs receiver

[ColbyFootball]

Trinity is very beatable.

I'm not sure they'll lose this season, but they are very beatable. I've taken a lot of heat for saying I don't think the spread between the two tiers. This season illustrates it IMHO.

[nescac1]

A few thoughts.

(1) Regarding the decision by Midd to run the ball late, I was initially thinking the same thing, as I wrote here, that Middlebury was being too conservative late in the game.  Normally you want to run out the clock in that situation, but Williams had a great run defense, Lebowitz is the best player in the league, and he'd been very accurate all day without any real ability shown by Williams to stop him, so I'd say, put the ball in his hands.  But Midd actually DID give Lebowitz a chance to throw on a third down in that drive, the play was unsuccessful, and Midd only got a first down because of an Eph penalty.  In the succeeding series of downs he was sacked for a loss of six yards, setting up the 3rd and 13.  The odds of making a first down there, even with such a great quarterback, vs. the odds of an incomplete pass giving Williams another 30 seconds (high) or worse yet a turnover (significant enough) makes running the ball the right call.  In short, I was so relieved to NOT see Lebowitz throw that I forgot that Midd was not as conservative as most teams would be in that scenario, and actually gave him that chance; but on 3rd and 13, the risks outweigh the rewards even with an elite QB.  The Midd coaching staff did the right thing. 

(2) A few other interesting plays to note on Williams' last drive.  Williams did a huge amount of shifting pre-play to set up a halfback pass by Rashad Morrison, a play the Ephs hadn't (I believe) ever used before.  Midd was not fooled at all, and was all over it, ultimately forcing Morrison to run, forcing a fumble, and nearly ending the game right there.  Kudos to Midd for being prepared.  The third-to-last play of the drive was in my view Maimaron's ballsiest play of the day.  With about 30 seconds left and and no timeouts, on 1st and ten Maimaron ran 17 yards up the middle to give the Ephs two shots to win it through the air.  If he is tackled short of the first down, and the clock doesn't stop,  the game is very likely over right there.  Incredible to have the vision and confidence to make that play in that situation.   

(3) The Eph offense is more decimated by injuries than I realized.  A post-game article noted that Patrick Watson, the mammoth frosh RG, is hurt and didn't play.  Two of the top four receivers were both hurt last week, and neither played this week.  As I previously noted TB Harris left after two runs, I'm not sure how badly he is hurt but he has been a very key player for the Ephs all year.  And his top back-up headed into the season has been injured all year, although I think he is expected to see action at some point.  The Ephs have (HUGE knock on wood) been fairly fortunate in terms of defensive injuries, but the offense -- very thin to begin with -- has been really hit hard by injuries.  And yet, after being shut out for the first half of the game, once the big Burke TD opened up the floodgates, they put up four consecutive TDs in their last four possessions to end the game!  Unreal.  I hope they start to get at least some of those injured guys back in future weeks, as they are key players and now the offense is truly perilously thin at several spots, but to their credit some of the backups like TJ Dozier, Jeff MacArthur and Rashad Morrison have really stepped up and made some big plays. But if some of the injured players don't return, or if a few more guys get nicked up, the Ephs' depth chart may start running out of healthy bodies. 

(4) While as usual the Ephs' dynamic young LB core all made loads of plays, kudos to yet another first-year making a big impression last night -- safety Ed Manzella, who previously had made little impact on the field (I'm not sure if he just earned more playing time vs. a spread offense, or if he was injured previously), had a massive game, with nine tackles, including one for a loss, and the critical blocked FG.  Heading into this game he had only one tackle all season. 

(5) If I'm a WR watching that game, I want to catch balls from Bobby Maimaron for the next three years.  And if I'm an OL, I want to block for him.  I hope recruits are watching closely!!  As a fan, though, every time he gets hit I hold my breath.  His escapability is what makes him so great, and you have to utilize it, but man it puts him in some dicey situations.  He actually did have to leave the game for one play at one point, but was able to come right back in and looked fine. 

[amh63]

A comment wrt the Panthers vs Ephs game that is being overlooked by most....the kicking game by Midd.  Midd went on a drive to around the Williams 10 yd line.  Fine Ephs defensive stand.  Score 12-0, Midd.  Field goal missed.  Announcer mentioned it was the 2nd of the game missed by Midd.  A title favorite needs a solid kicking game.  Just one of the missed kicks would have made the last Williams drive less memorable, IMO.
Kickers are football players!  Amherst scored TWO special team TDs!. 
WCD....thank you for pointing out the blocked punt TD.  That TD was scored under TEAM in the Amherst stats. 
QB Morales of Amherst did enter the game....made the last play for Amherst....he took a knee to end the game.  The last TD by Amherst was on a pick by a FY player, I believe....making the score 40-7, Amherst.  Amherst put in a number of young OL late in the game as well as backfield players. 

[frank uible]

Did Midd effectively call it a day at half time?

[OldCardinal]

In looking at the Trinity-Tufts stats I was struck by the turnovers.  Tufts turned it over 4 times including a 100 yard interception for a TD and Trinity had zero turnovers.  Looks like it was a great game that Tufts could easily have won.  Props to Trinity for finding a way, but they do look vulnerable for teams that can match up to them physically.

[PolarCat]

I think the ref that overturned the Marcus Ross TD in Middletown yesterday was working the NY Jets game today.  Worst call of all time.  I'm a Pats fan for life, but the Jets got robbed.

[lumbercat]

Yes they did- an awful call- the Jets got jobbed on that call.

[PolarCat]

Public Service Announcement:

I've been binge watching "A Season with Navy Football" on Showtime.  Fantastic show.  If you are a college football fan, you owe it to yourself to watch the entire season On Demand.  The personal stories are incredible, it's emotional without being overly dramatic, and the in-game camera work and editing is like what I used to see on NFL Films growing up.  I'm 5 episodes in (Navy just beat the Air Force Academy with a last minute TD to go 5-0), and I am totally hooked.

In the great wasteland that is broadcast TV these days, this show is a breath of fresh air.  When my kid's Bobcats career is done, I'm gonna be a Midshipman fan.

[ColbyFootball]

Stating the obvious, I am frustrated with Colby's 0-5 record, the margins they've lost by, and the boring offensive play. 135 total yards of O against Amherst with 10, yes 10, yards rushing. Rather than give my 2 cents, which is probably worth 1 cent in today's opinion market, I'd like to hear what your solutions are. The roster is what it is, as well as the injuries. So what would you guys do, if anything, to turn things around?

[Hamiltonian]

Nescacman wrote:

And btw, bad job by the University of Bates scoreboard operator for leaving that score up for more than a second after the final gun. -K to him...

Couldn't agree more- quick story......noticeable among the disappointment following a subsequent beating at Garcelon in the next home game against Tufts, we had a laugh. That scoreboard went dark about 5 seconds after the game ended....it actually looked like a power outage.
Not sure if it was the same scoreboard operator but they wised up. I laughed when I read your post.

The Bobcats are limping bad, but they will recover---changes looming for the Garnet.
When you are getting your ass kicked the best, and only thing to do, is shut up and work harder.
The Trinity TD pass with 5 seconds left and the Trinity guys doing the photo op with the scoreboard picture is the kind of thing you get when you get your ass kicked. The Bates program moves on- those things don't happen when you win.

We are never in a position, when we lose, to define how bad losing should be.

Following another tough loss to Williams last week we were crying in our beer but we couldn't help comparing  the way the Trinity program conducts itself with other opponents this year -- Amherst, Tufts and Williams. Much classier programs.

I don't know about Karma and all that stuff but the Bantams will get theirs at some point.

The hard part is winning and I respect the Bantams for that but why can't they win with class....that's easy!

[/quote]

Just want to say that I don't recall any bad behavior by Trinity in their game against Hamilton.  And Hamilton had them down 13-0 at one point.  They rolled up the points in the second half, but not egregiously, as I recall.  Their whole stadium vibe is obnoxious, what with charging for admission, and those annoying highlight clips on the scoreboard.  But the players seemed to be fine in their behavior.  Whereas there are some from the little three who really behave poorly, in my experience.  The Trinity parents are not so great, screaming for more offense and more defense right down to the last second of a 41-13 game.  But, hey, parents are parents.

[Hamiltonian]

tell you what:  If Hamilton can beat Colby next week, the following week's matchup between the Continentals and Williams could be interesting.

[ColbyFootball]

Just want to say that I don't recall any bad behavior by Trinity in their game against Hamilton.  And Hamilton had them down 13-0 at one point.  They rolled up the points in the second half, but not egregiously, as I recall.  Their whole stadium vibe is obnoxious, what with charging for admission, and those annoying highlight clips on the scoreboard.  But the players seemed to be fine in their behavior.  Whereas there are some from the little three who really behave poorly, in my experience.  The Trinity parents are not so great, screaming for more offense and more defense right down to the last second of a 41-13 game.  But, hey, parents are parents.

Hamiltonian - The Trinity coach showed class against Colby this year. They were knocking on the door for another scored (I think inside the 5 yard line) with time running out and they took a knee. So the Bates situation must have been personal for some reason.  As for the admission charge, my guess it is to keep some people out that they think may pose problems because that area is pretty bad. Just my guess.

[Hamiltonian]

that's very possible, ColbyF, because they let visiting players clear people in admission-free.

[ColbyFootball]

that's very possible, ColbyF, because they let visiting players clear people in admission-free.

And they had a table with a list of players, and each player was allowed two free admissions. And, they weren't strict on the two limit either.