FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Monty]

Can anyone explain why Bates went for a PAT when trailing by 2 with a few minutes left?  Hell of an effort by the Bobcats.  The players deserved a chance to tie it.

I think that question was asked by just about everyone in the stadium. Just makes no sense whatsoever. If you are down by 1 due to a missed extra point and have blown two of your timeouts then why not put yourself in a position to tie the game because the result is the same if you miss the 2 point conversion... down by 2 or vs down by 1 with the PAT. You are either tied or win with a FG. Your D has shut down Midd the entire second half. You also have to ask yourself why not go for two the TD before this TD. A little bigger gamble but since he did not take it the last TD should have been a no-brainer. Coach Hall first stint as a HC so have to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that he reevaluates this decision and learns from it. He is the right choice for Bates and given time and support will create a winning program.

What was impressive is that Bates finally put together a complete game and really came within a point of knocking off Midd. If they can do this the rest of the way then they might be able to win out and position themselves well for next year when Hall can finally recruit players that complement his system.

[Nescacman]

Can anyone explain why Bates went for a PAT when trailing by 2 with a few minutes left?  Hell of an effort by the Bobcats.  The players deserved a chance to tie it.

I think that question was asked by just about everyone in the stadium. Just makes no sense whatsoever. If you are down by 1 due to a missed extra point and have blown two of your timeouts then why not put yourself in a position to tie the game because the result is the same if you miss the 2 point conversion... down by 2 or vs down by 1 with the PAT. You are either tied or win with a FG. Your D has shut down Midd the entire second half. You also have to ask yourself why not go for two the TD before this TD. A little bigger gamble but since he did not take it the last TD should have been a no-brainer. Coach Hall first stint as a HC so have to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that he reevaluates this decision and learns from it. He is the right choice for Bates and given time and support will create a winning program.

What was impressive is that Bates finally put together a complete game and really came within a point of knocking off Midd. If they can do this the rest of the way then they might be able to win out and position themselves well for next year when Hall can finally recruit players that complement his system.

With all due respect to HCOF Hall, that's an amateur mistake....if you get an HCOF spot in the NESCAC you shouldn't be making mistakes like that IOO...

[Nescacman]

A lot of interesting personnel changes going on around the league...

One of the more interesting developments is going on at Hartford State with FY QB Lambert playing well in place of Vazzano....not sure if this change was injury related but it appears Mr. Lambert had his Wally Pipp moment for the Staters...albeit against the woeful BOW defense

[lumbercat]

The Cadillac transfer from URI really underperformed against Williams......the Ephs defend the pass very well..... but 14 for 40??  I haven't seen the kid play since the Bates game where he lit it up but actually missed a lot of easy throws which kept Bates in it in the first half. Sonny Sixkiller would have put the lights out a lot sooner.

I've said it before but I'll say it again for the last time- how the hell did Williams beat Trinity???

Lord Jeffrey maybe having second thoughts about the URI guy.

Sonny Sixkiller certainly maximized his eleigbility with the Bants....seems like he was at Trinity for 7 years. He became a recurring nightmare in the NESCAC because he was so damn good.

6 games into the current year.....we are seeing the worst Wesleyan team in recent memory and the same goes for Middlebury.....This would have been a chance for the "Nescac second division" to make a move but the the bottom teams, CBB and Hamilton, are not ready and may possibly have regressed further. Who knows if any of those 4 lower level teams can make the leap in the foreseeable future.

[Nescacman]

The Cadillac transfer from URI really underperformed against Williams......the Ephs defend the pass very well..... but 14 for 40??  I haven't seen the kid play since the Bates game where he lit it up but actually missed a lot of easy throws which kept Bates in it in the first half. Sonny Sixkiller would have put the lights out a lot sooner.

I've said it before but I'll say it again for the last time- how the hell did Williams beat Trinity???

Lord Jeffrey maybe having second thoughts about the URI guy.

Sonny Sixkiller certainly maximized his eleigbility with the Bants....seems like he was at Trinity for 7 years. He became a recurring nightmare in the NESCAC because he was so damn good.

6 games into the current year.....we are seeing the worst Wesleyan team in recent memory and the same goes for Middlebury.....This would have been a chance for the "Nescac second division" to make a move but the the bottom teams, CBB and Hamilton, are not ready and may possibly have regressed further. Who knows if any of those 4 lower level teams can make the leap in the foreseeable future.

Lumber...thought provoking post by you (as usual)...we have a few thoughts..

With regard to Vazzano, we were speaking with a HS coach that played against him and said that his accuracy even back then was an issue...in high school his completion % was in the 40-50% range, which as we all know, is not great....to quote the coach we spoke to, "the kid always had a strong arm, a really strong arm, but as far as accuracy, we felt he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn". We took the quote verbatim.

We agree with you...how did TTUN beat HS? We think it was a combo of HS not taking TTUN that seriously and great game planning by HCOF Raymond. Plus, when TTUN has all of their horses (which they do not have right now but did when they played HS), they could play with anyone in the league. Unfortunately, as we have been talking about all year, there is a current depth problem with the Ephs (which we will guarentee will be 100% rectified with the next two recruiting classes) that will challenge them over the next 3 weeks.

We recruited Sonny when he was in HS (from NJ...where else would he be from with a name like Sonny Puzzo...haha)...he was actually at Hartford State for 5 years because he missed a year due to some "academic"  issues (not appropriate to get into the details here). When he was at HS playing he was one of the best in the NESCAC year after year. Partially because he was really good and partially because he was surrounded by some serious talent, including year after, one of the best o-line's in the league. We will note that the school we were recruiting for had him as a "low c-band" and we just could not get him in, while of course, Hartford State did. We assume he graduated, his HS degree is serving him well and he is having a positive and productive post HS life and career experience.

WES and MID are definitely having down years (who knew that when they squared off week 1?), no question. I am not all that surprised that we have not seen progress from the C-B-B teams yet. Give HCOF's Cosgrove and Hall a few years to recruit and then we can better assess. They were both hired way too late to make any meaningful impact for 2018. After HAM's performance against COL, especially after all of the traffic WRT them over the last week or two on this thread, we were extremely dissappoiniting. We thought they had turned a corner and actually had a shot at a winning 2018. We need to reassess their progress offer they laid an egg last Saturday. The jury is out on the C-B-B-H.

[nescac1]

Thoughts on the Ephs:

Hopefully Rothmann, Dozier and Barber start getting healthy for Williams soon as those guys are badly missed.  As I see it, along with Anthony, Wesner, Burke, Maimaron, Apuzzi, Subjinsky and Stola, those are the most indispensible guys for the Ephs.  Fortunately, other than Barber, none are seniors.  Rothmann is almost certainly number two after of course Maimaron.  A few other guys have been missing time as well which has not helped the situation.  I do think next year things will be dramatically different with one more year of Raymond recruits, but this roster is of course set up to peak in 2020. 

Rothmann is the biggest loss -- the defense is just so different without him.  Williams has been relying more and more on true frosh on defense.  Several of those guys - O'Mahoney (who did a very solid job filling in at ILB last week), Coleston Smith, Rocco G., Devine - have bright futures, and the early experience will help them going forward, but obviously especially for dudes playing up front they need time to develop as players and to get physically stronger.  The Williams D was built around a Dline that just held its ground while the corners locked down receivers and the LBs and safeties served as the main playmakers.  But with a few key guys going down the inability to own the line of scrimmage on D suddenly becomes more glaring. 

The downfield passing game is nonexistent right now for a few reasons.  First, it's not Maimaron's main strength, although he can get the ball down the field if receivers are open and he has plenty of time.  Unfortunately, the pass blocking the last few weeks has been a problem and Maimaron has been running for his life on just about every passing down.  His scrambling is a massive weapon and he has an uncanny ability to make guys miss but that can't be the whole offenses.  The offensive line, with simlar personnel, had its ups and downs last year as well, and it has the ability I think to play a bit better.   Dozier is badly missed as he has developed into an explosive playmaker out of the backfield as well.  Begel has developed into a solid number two but Dozier adds a different dimension.  An issue that won't be resolved this year is that Stola is the only consistent playmaker catching the ball down the field.  Due to injuries and I imagine production about 5-6 guys have cycled through the other two starting receiver spots but none has developed into a consistent weapon.  Right now two frosh are starting at WR and while, again, this experience will help in future years, that is never an ideal situation, especially relying on guys who didn't see much playing time in the first few games to now be go-to players.  If one of the young receivers can break out over the next three weeks, that would add an entirely different dimension to the offense, which right now is getting no big plays and therefore has little margin for error. 

Thoughts on the rest of the league: seems like the title will come down to Amherst and Trinity.  I'd be surprised if either picks up another loss other than in the game they play one another.  Tufts with a healthy McDonald could I think beat Amherst but his running seems severely limited right now (although his passing was very impressive vs. Williams).  After those two, I feel like Midd/Williams/Wesleyan/Tufts can all beat one another on any given day, with Tufts probably the best of the bunch, and then there is Hamilton and the Maine teams. Colby and Bates at least do seem to be showing signs of life ... 

[Spartans]

Yea this Williams o line really stinks. Let's see... 5 games with 100+ yard rusher, 5 sacks given up in 6 games, 2 of those sacks we coverage sacks- only Trinity has fewer with 3, 3rd in the league rushing yardage-1st until starting TB went out with injury. God they suck.

[nescac1]

Uh, Spartans, overreact much?  I don't think the Williams offensive line sucks, far from it.  You seem to be reading stuff into my post that I never said.  I said that the PASS blocking the last few weeks has been a problem, and that the line has had its ups and downs (much like last year, when the line struggled vs. Tufts and Wesleyan) and has the ability to play a bit better (as basically the same unit showed in last year's Amherst game, when the line dominated).  Not sure where you got "sucks" from this.  The line I think is much stronger at run blocking than pass blocking, the unit has indeed been able to blow open big holes in the running game consistently all year.  It matters also that Williams has two elite weapons in the running game in Dozier (when healthy) and Maimaron, while the currently-healthy receivers don't have the same level of talent.   But the reality is that in Williams' two straight losses, Maimaron has had very little time to throw and has been scrambling around like crazy far too early in far too many passing plays for the team to have an effective deep passing attack, especially with young receivers thrust into unexpected roles. 

Last week, Williams did not have a completed pass of longer than 12 yards.  Against Middlebury (not exactly an elite defense in the league this year) Williams completed only one pass of longer than 20 yards.  That is not all on the pass protection - the deep throw isn't really the specialty of the skill talent on this offensive unit - but part of the reason, in my view, that the coaches have been conservative on offense is that guys are swarming Maimaron in the offensive backfield in passing situations.  Maimaron would have been sacked a lot more often if he had less escapability and if he hadn't thrown a lot of balls away with pass rushers right in his face.  Part of the reason his completion percentage is lower this year is because he's been throwing the ball away when defenders are in his face rather than risk sacks or interceptions. 

[Spartans]

Nescac1 if you say so I guess I am wrong.

[nescac1]

My football analysis could absolutely be way off, it's really hard to judge offensive line play on a tiny screen in real time without replays and such.  But it's not fair to claim that I said the offensive line play "sucks" or "stinks" or anything remotely close to it. 

[Spartans]

OK I am not looking to get into a war of words here. This is my last post. We are both fans of Williams so I am done with this.
You  clearly have not spent a lot of time with linemen. I come from a family full of o linemen and o line coaches; cousins, nephews, brothers, in-laws.
From my experience I can tell you that without question that your statement " Maimaron has been running for his life on just about every passing down." would not be taken very kindly by any lineman. While you may not have intended to insult those Williams linemen, I can assure you that what you wrote was actually as bad or worse than saying that they sucked. Trust me on this.
As far as your assessment of their performance and the team situation, let's just agree to disagree.

[JEFFFAN]

In the spirit of letting the facts maybe answer the questions, after six games Williams is third in the league in rushing yards per game.   They are also, however, second to last in passing yardage per game.   Does this tend to favor one argument or another as it relates to performance of the O line?

[polbear73]

Anyone who has ever coached or played offensive line understands that statistics, by themselves are not indicators of how well a line performs as there are many factors go into rushing and passing per game stats. Grading on a play by play basis produces the only true evaluation.

[Nescacman]

We think it is safe to say the entire Eph Team, including the O-line, is not playing particularly well right now...They are riding a 2 game losing streak and have scored a grand total of 31 points in those efforts...let's see how they do over the last 3 weeks against a HAM team they should beat and their Little 3 rivals.

[Nescacman]

NESCACMAN 2018 NESCAC Weekly Power Rankings-Week #6

Welcome to the 2018 NESCAC Weekly Power Rankings for Week #6 in "the league where they pay to play"!!! 6 weeks into the 2018...at this point in the season, we pretty much know where every Team is...looks like a 3 Team race for the league title...Amhurst and Hartford State have the edge as a result of HS beating Tufts earlier in the season....the Jumbo's will need some help to win it...

1. Amhurst (6-0; LW:1): Amhurst proved us wrong with a drubbing of Wesleyan on the road...game wasn't even as close at the score...huge game this week that has NESCAC title implications...next up: Tufts in Amhurst.

2. Hartford State (5-1; last week's rank:3): They've bounced back nicely since losing to TTUN...went easy on BOW last week...finally made the switch at QB going with the more athletic and accurate FY QB Seamus Lambert (shouldn't he be starting for the Fighting Irish???)...next up: Middlebury in Hartford.   

3. Tufts (5-1; LW:4): Big win for the Original Elephants in Medford over TTUN...in the hunt for the league title after 6 games...huge play-off game this week for the OE's...next up: at Amhurst.

4. That Team Up North (aka Williams)(4-2; LW:2): Another upset loss...riding a 2-game losing streak...rapidly sliding down our rankings...hopefully they get back some of their injured players this week...next up: at Hamilton.

5. Middlebury (4-2; LW:6): Team squeaked by a "game" UBates squad last week...next up: at Hartford State. 

6. Wesleyan (3-3; LW:5): Slipped another spot in our rankings...Complete drubbing at the hands of the Lord Mammoths in Middletown...worst Little 3 loss of the Whalen/DiCenzo era since 2010...those that were there said it felt like a different era for the Cards...need to regroup this week and focus on the task at hand, Bowdoin...next up: Bowdoin in Middletown.

7. Hamilton (2-4; LW:7): The 5 ½ hour bus ride to Colby was just too much...Conts laid an egg in Waterville...very poor effort against a Team they are better than and, IOO, should have beat...next up: TTUN in Clinton.

8. Colby (1-5; LW:8): Congrats to HCOF Cosgrove on his first NESCAC win and the C-B-B as they move to a combined 1-17...the Mules have solidified their position as the front runner to win the Great Northern Pillow Fight...round 1 this week...next up: at UBates. 

9. (tie) Bowdoin (0-6; LW:9): As expected, crushed by a superior Hartford State squad...they will try to upset a reeling Wes squad coming off a devasting loss to Amhurst last week...next up: at Wesleyan. 

9. (tie) University of Bates (Lewiston Campus)(0-6; LW:10): Great effort last week against Middlebury earned them a move up in the rankings...actually should have won the game...next up: Colby in Lewiston.