FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[jumpshot]

One would think that the NSN/Bates announcer of today's Bates-Williams football game would know how to pronounce "EEEPHS" rather that "FFFPHS"!

[JEFFFAN]

The results and manner in which Amherst defeated Middlebury today was, iin my humble opinion, a clear victory for AMH63 over NESCACMAN.   I hope that whatever they wagered was sufficent to get AMH63 a nice meal for he and his bride!

[Nescacman]

The results and manner in which Amherst defeated Middlebury today was, iin my humble opinion, a clear victory for AMH63 over NESCACMAN.   I hope that whatever they wagered was sufficent to get AMH63 a nice meal for he and his bride!

Not sure there was an actual wager, but we would gladly meet AMH63 anytime for the early bird special at Cracker Barrel...

[amh63]

NescacMEN...will the wager?? Meal be at the Cracker Barrel at the Holyoke Mall just off the "intersection " of the Mass Turnpike and Route 95??.  Just kidding around.  Only CB I been at in New England. 
My early invitation at the Amherst Homecoming to posters is open to you'all Too.
Several comments wrt the Midd vs Amherst battle in VT.
NBC93 points were again very perceptive, IMO.  I did notice that Hickey was not dressed but on the sidelines.  Hope he will get into the last three games of the season...in particular the Williams game. Last year's game, he was held out when the ball was on the goal line and in OT.  A pass was called and failed.  I was informed that Hickey was injured and Coaches' decision was based on Hickey's health.  Amherst's come back in the 2nd half was stopped by Eph's fine Fy QB and defense in OT. 
In the 2nd half of yesterday's game,  it seemed to me that Amherst was inserting a lot of younger players on offense and defense.  Refreshing the defensive players...linemen in particular...allowed Yarmin and Sommers to harass and sack Midd's QB, etc.  Midd's choice of using a QB that could run and pass was Well countered by Amherst's defense.

[JEFFFAN]

It has become apparent that the posts of the two Amherst guys - me and AMH63 - have done an effective job of boring everyone else.   Sorry about that.

Any thoughts on last weekend?

[CardCoachMac]

Wes v. Colby

For anyone that cares...Wes won, but ended up winning ugly. Final ended up 28-20, with Colby scoring twice in last 2 minutes (60+ yard TD pass, recovered onside kick, drove and scored again). They actually recovered a second onside kick with 14 seconds left, but drew a flag for touching ball before it went 10 yards.

Wes was up 14-0 late in 1st half and driving. Ended up throwing an INT in endzone that Colby returned to Wes 27. Receiver ran wheel route that looked wide open. IMHO Piccirillo threw ball a beat late, and with too much air beneath it allowing Safety, who was playing CF, time to track ball and make interception. Colby drove 73 yards quickly to make it 14-7 @ half. Wes scored again with about 6 mins left in 3rd and once late in 4th to increase lead to 28-7 before the drama that ensued in the last 1:45 of the game.

Observations: 

Colby - Schwerm is a very tough kid. Runs hard and catches ball well out of backfield. QB was a bit shaky to start, missing some open receivers, but settled in and did a decent job.

Wes - Simply not that good. Piccirillo is an extremely talented athlete, and one of the toughest players at that position that I have seen in my 40 years of observation. Oddly enough, it's exactly these qualities that, again in my opinion, have adversely impacted his performance of late. I think he's listed @ 5'10", but that is charitable, which makes it difficult for him to see the middle of the field when he's in the pocket. Consequently, he's much more comfortable rolling out and throwing on the move, as he has better vision of the field. He threw more INT's last year than he's accustomed to, and I think he's conscious of that this season, which has caused him to hold on to the ball a bit too long. His receiving corps has made some nice catches, but have also dropped way too many catchable balls. Defensively they have been great early on, but have not played that well the last two weeks. Not coincidentally, ILB Captain Brandon Morriss has not played the last two weeks (except for two series late in Ham game). If I didn't witness with my own eyes, I would never have believed that one player could have that much of an impact on a team defense. Morriss is healthy, and scheduled to play vs. Bates Saturday. Interested to see how the Cardinal defense reacts.

Wes has to improve in all facets if they want to compete with Amherst, Williams and Trinity this season.

[ColbyFootball]

Wes v. Colby

For anyone that cares...Wes won, but ended up winning ugly. Final ended up 28-20, with Colby scoring twice in last 2 minutes (60+ yard TD pass, recovered onside kick, drove and scored again). They actually recovered a second onside kick with 14 seconds left, but drew a flag for touching ball before it went 10 yards.

Wes was up 14-0 late in 1st half and driving. Ended up throwing an INT in endzone that Colby returned to Wes 27. Receiver ran wheel route that looked wide open. IMHO Piccirillo threw ball a beat late, and with too much air beneath it allowing Safety, who was playing CF, time to track ball and make interception. Colby drove 73 yards quickly to make it 14-7 @ half. Wes scored again with about 6 mins left in 3rd and once late in 4th to increase lead to 28-7 before the drama that ensued in the last 1:45 of the game.

Observations: 

Colby - Schwerm is a very tough kid. Runs hard and catches ball well out of backfield. QB was a bit shaky to start, missing some open receivers, but settled in and did a decent job.

Wes - Simply not that good. Piccirillo is an extremely talented athlete, and one of the toughest players at that position that I have seen in my 40 years of observation. Oddly enough, it's exactly these qualities that, again in my opinion, have adversely impacted his performance of late. I think he's listed @ 5'10", but that is charitable, which makes it difficult for him to see the middle of the field when he's in the pocket. Consequently, he's much more comfortable rolling out and throwing on the move, as he has better vision of the field. He threw more INT's last year than he's accustomed to, and I think he's conscious of that this season, which has caused him to hold on to the ball a bit too long. His receiving corps has made some nice catches, but have also dropped way too many catchable balls. Defensively they have been great early on, but have not played that well the last two weeks. Not coincidentally, ILB Captain Brandon Morriss has not played the last two weeks (except for two series late in Ham game). If I didn't witness with my own eyes, I would never have believed that one player could have that much of an impact on a team defense. Morriss is healthy, and scheduled to play vs. Bates Saturday. Interested to see how the Cardinal defense reacts.

Wes has to improve in all facets if they want to compete with Amherst, Williams and Trinity this season.

Excellent breakdown. Please keep more of the pure football analysis coming in the future. Much enjoyed.

[amh63]

Went looking at other football websites trying to gleam some info as Amherst enters their 5th game of the season...against a Colby team that cannot be overlooked in a Home game.   Some bits of info and some confusion/puzzling observations. 
Seems the Polar Bears have THREE sets of uniforms!  See game photos of the Tufts game.  The PB uniforms looked like a Jumbo mascot grey...blend of black and white?.....practice uniforms?  imho, should donate them.
Tufts is putting some impressive stats up in their win.  Their passing and running numbers are balanced and scary.  Their shut out victory is also impressive.
I had eye surgery recently...old age type condition.  I see particular players....like No.76 of Amherst who has great potential playing LG in two games...the last game being the Midd game.  I look up the participation listing and he is absent??.  NBC93...if you get to review the Midd game, could you check if L. Puller was in the game.....thanks.  Strange.
I noticed that SR Defensive Back Rak has been "missing in  action".  A top player for three years as a safety and part time kicker, he is not on the field...not listed as participating in 2 games at all.  Rak's Majors include physics.  If he is doing a thesis in physics..to graduate with honors...it is very, very, time consuming....period.  Listed as a kicker in the preview and NOT as a DB.  Rak has been a starter the past two years!  Strange.  Did I say I has eye surgery recently .

[NBC93]

Amh63,
Yes. Puller played. And played well. Didn't see Rak tho. Haven'heard his name called much this season. I don't think he is injured. Kicking duties have been split between Ferraro and FY Kennely and Rak is only listed as kicker not DB

[nescac1]

At least for Williams, and I'm guessing for Amherst, you can't always trust participation reports, projected starting lineups, or even listed roster positions.   

Williams has been (huge knock on wood) basically healthy on defense this year and the D has carried the team at times.  But the O has been hit with a ton of injuries which in my view has really hurt the offensive consistency especially the passing game.  RT Watson is I think still out.  I think TE Burke has been out and he is one of three key skill guys.  Really hope he can make it back.  TE/TB Pruss, so key in last year's Amherst game, has not played this year and I don't think the Ephs have any other TEs who really play so with those dudes out it limits some things the O can do. 

Dozier was OPOW despite missing much of the first half vs Bates I think / assume with an injury.  First-year TB Begel got his first real action in his stead and was the fourth guy who Raymond has tried as the primary back-up.  Clearly there isn't an obvious answer there so Dozier really needs to stay healthy.  Lots of WRs have been banged up to forcing two FYs to see a lot of action vs Bates as well.  Williams really needs more depth across the board as others have noted.  When you start preseason with fewer guys than really anyone it's bound to have an impact.

When Maimaron, Burke, Dozier, and Stola are all healthy the offense can score on anyone it seems.  But there is little margin for error because the Ephs have gotten very few offensive big plays from anyone outside that group.  Nelson is a guy who has been especially quiet after looking good as a frosh, would be good to see him more involved.  But really the core four on offense needs hopefully to be healthy for the second half of the season. In the meantime the frosh getting reps will hopefully benefit from the opportunities.  Kingman in particular looks speedy as I think Morrison (another big play threat) may have been out last week too, and he may be in line for some of those fly sweep carries.  It's too bad Loffredo got injured in week 1 since he looked legit. 

[lumbercat]

No disrespect for the Ephs but I came baffled after watching them on Saturday as to how they beat Trinity. From what I saw I think they defend the pass very well and kind of bend don't break defending the run. Only one game but that was my observation.

Then I went back and looked at Trinity-Ephs stats and saw that Trinity big time QB was 14 for 44 which had to be a huge factor in that game.

"On any given Saturday" I guess, but based on observation of both teams this year I think that was a more significant upset by the Ephs than first thought.

[JEFFFAN]

I am curious whether the Williams folks think that this year's team is more of a running offense or a combination?  I read on nothing but NESCAC that the passing game hasn't been as successful as it was last season.

http://nothingbutnescac.com/?p=6498

[DadintheStands]

There's nothing to worry about with the Eph's passing game.  The 1st team skill position players have not played a full game together yet.  Part of it is due to injury - Stola and Burke have missed time but are expected to be back against Midd.  The other factor is competitiveness of the games.  The 1st team O has been pulled during the 3Q against all of their opponents this year except Trinity.  WRT the running game, Dozier is hitting his stride, so to speak, as the primary back.  With Begel on the field now, it will only serve to improve the run game effectiveness.  He is going to be a good one.

Assuming they stay reasonably healthy going forward, the passing offense is poised to come around..and will be needed given the upcoming schedule.

[nescac1]

Thanks for the update Dad!  Glad to hear some guys are getting healthy.  Interesting re: Begel, I'm assuming he was hurt to start the year? Will definitely keep an eye on him as Dozier (who looks damn good this year) has had to carry a heavy load.  The Ephs will definitely need big plays through the air going forward.  That was certainly the difference vs Trinity.  And as for Trinity's QB his completion percentage vs Williams was at about his season average.  The Bantams seem to be eschewing the safe short completion this year ....

[DadintheStands]

I agree with your Trinity about comment nescac1. Coach McDonough drew up a great plan for the Williams D. They worked their tails off to shut down Chipouras (which is damn hard) and dared Trinity to throw the ball. They did 44 times but accuracy was a problem. Many balls sailed high.