FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[ITH radio]

NARP, eg? Feels like 2005 all of a sudden.

[PolarCat]

For reasons unknown, Bates has given Midd the "home" sideline, and has taken the away sideline for their own.  The away stands are completely empty.  A curious decision for the first home game of the year. 

A curious decision.  Whatever the reason, it isn't working.  Midd leads 21-0 at the half.

Other random observations:

• It's a flag fest at Garcellon today.  Not as bad as the Jaguars-Titans game, but a lot of yellow laundry being aired out.
• Carter Massengill looks like the next NESCAC kicker to head to D-1
• Bobcat QB Costa out of the game in the second quarter.  Replaced by FY Liam Foley

Looks like another long, frustrating season for the 'Cats.

[middhoops]

watching Tufts vs Williams.  ouch.

[SpringSt7]

Wow--what a difference a week makes for both Tufts and Williams, as the Ephs ran the Jumbos off the field 44-8 at Farley-Lamb. The story of the game will obviously be Frank Stola and for good reason. He broke the single game school records for receptions (13, tied), receiving yards (233) and TD catches (4), while also tying the all time school TD catch record with 21, in just 19 games. If he stays healthy, he will comfortably shatter every receiving record in Williams history. The scoreline was a little misleading (Tufts pretty much quit in the second quarter after a number of bad self-inflicted wounds, namely an errant snap on a punt that gave Williams the ball at the 1) but I want to focus on the much improved run game for Williams. Maimaron had 102 yards and a score on 15 carries, and Dan Vaughn looked like a different person today with 94 yards on 16 carries, following his 31 yard debut last week at Middlebury. The Eph O-Line was rock solid and they truly looked like a different team. If they can continue to pick up yards like that on the ground, they will remain in contention for a championship.
l

[SpringSt7]

Also one additional note--seems pretty cruel that one of Stola or Trinity WR Devante Reid (6 catches, 246 yards, 4 TDs) will not be Offensive Player of the Week.

[bhm390]

LOL I posted this in the NEWMAC board earlier....I was wondering why the confuse responses


Tufts vs Williams "game of the week" (according to NBN)

https://nothingbutnescac.com

I'm only worried about the "high from the Trinity win" and "0-2 is a death sentence" in the prediction below

Although I'm not sure if the writer/staff understands the injury situation with Williams

Predictions:

Tufts @ Williams, 1:30pm, Williamstown, MA

I'll keep this one short because it's our Game of the Week, but no one could have predicted Tufts to knock off the three-time defending champions in Week 1. What an awesome feeling that must have been for first-year starter in senior Jacob Carroll, who waited his turn behind Ryan McDonald and finally got his chance on the big stage. Tufts has everything going for them heading into Williamstown, but my gut tells me the high from beating Trinity won't last past Saturday. After stumbling on their own feet against Middlebury, Williams knows this game is a must win. Starting the season 0-2 is essentially a death sentence, so expect Maimaron, Frank Stola and co. to set the tone early and grind out some yards against a solid Jumbos defensive front.

Also shoutout to OJ Armstrong for the Jumbos, Go Raiders*

MK: Williams 20-13
RM: Williams 23-17
SS: Tufts 17-7
HC: Williams 30-24
CC: Williams 24-16

Writers' Pick: Williams

NBN are definitely "NARPs"...ITH might be a NARP too...

We are not...which is why we are almost always right with our picks...the smart money is on the Jumbo's...the ghost of the HCOF will haunt Farley-Lamb Field forever...

BTW, RIP Coach Renzie Lamb...one of the top characters of all-time in NESCAC athletics...it was an honor to be his friend (he grew up on Long Island with a NESCACMAN committee member's Dad)...

Looks like NARPs must know a little more than you...your "smart money" just lost 44-8. Great pick NESCACman!

[IslandTime]

WES 2-0

[Nescacman]

LOL I posted this in the NEWMAC board earlier....I was wondering why the confuse responses


Tufts vs Williams "game of the week" (according to NBN)

https://nothingbutnescac.com

I'm only worried about the "high from the Trinity win" and "0-2 is a death sentence" in the prediction below

Although I'm not sure if the writer/staff understands the injury situation with Williams

Predictions:

Tufts @ Williams, 1:30pm, Williamstown, MA

I'll keep this one short because it's our Game of the Week, but no one could have predicted Tufts to knock off the three-time defending champions in Week 1. What an awesome feeling that must have been for first-year starter in senior Jacob Carroll, who waited his turn behind Ryan McDonald and finally got his chance on the big stage. Tufts has everything going for them heading into Williamstown, but my gut tells me the high from beating Trinity won't last past Saturday. After stumbling on their own feet against Middlebury, Williams knows this game is a must win. Starting the season 0-2 is essentially a death sentence, so expect Maimaron, Frank Stola and co. to set the tone early and grind out some yards against a solid Jumbos defensive front.

Also shoutout to OJ Armstrong for the Jumbos, Go Raiders*

MK: Williams 20-13
RM: Williams 23-17
SS: Tufts 17-7
HC: Williams 30-24
CC: Williams 24-16

Writers' Pick: Williams

NBN are definitely "NARPs"...ITH might be a NARP too...

We are not...which is why we are almost always right with our picks...the smart money is on the Jumbo's...the ghost of the HCOF will haunt Farley-Lamb Field forever...

BTW, RIP Coach Renzie Lamb...one of the top characters of all-time in NESCAC athletics...it was an honor to be his friend (he grew up on Long Island with a NESCACMAN committee member's Dad)...

Looks like NARPs must know a little more than you...your "smart money" just lost 44-8. Great pick NESCACman!

Yup, we pretty much whiffed on the Tufts/TTUN game...we are very good at picking games but not totally perfect...forgot to factor in how bad the Tufts secondary is capable of playing...looks like the Jumbo's officially have a two headed monster at QB btw....

Despite missing on the game in the Willytown, we did go 4-1 yesterday and pretty much nailed the Wes, Lord Mammoth and Hartford State wins so all in all, not a bad day for the good guys...at the end of the day, we'd say chalk one up for the jocks....Jocks 1-NARPs 0...sorry NARPs...   

[amh63]

Watched the Amherst win online and peaked in on a number of games.  The Amherst writeup and the stats sums up the win.  Defense in the 2nd half carried the day.  The new starters are growing up fast.  The kicking game adjusted in the 2nd half after two field goals were blocked and an extra point in the first half. Amherst went for two points after a TD in the 2nd half.  The stats supported the win.
However, the stats in several other games were somewhat misleading/confusing, IMO.  Going by the stats, those games should have been closer.
The Amherst vs Tufts game should be interesting....besides the expected mascots comments .
Boy...too early in the morning for me to post.  How do you do it Nescacman?

[Canvas Hightops]

Hmm.  Don't think I'm a NARP.
Where is the application form for NARPism, just in case I'm wrong?
Guessing there's an age limit and I can't dunk anymore. 
Concerned......

[nescac1]

I have a feeling, SpringSt7, that Stola and Reid will be co-players of the week.  But if the coaches only pick one, it HAS to be Stola.  First, consider the competition, Tufts was fresh off a win over Trinity.  But also, Reid benefits from playing alongside two all-NESCAC receivers, so he will always have a lot of room to operate (even if what he did yesterday was still remarkable).  What Stola has done this year is beyond incredible considering just how devoid of other major playmakers Williams seems to be right now, with all the guys who are missing.  Stola right now has 384 of the Ephs' 494 receiving yards, and all six of their receiving TDs.  He also handles all the punt and kick returns. Stola has 501 all purpose yards on the season -- the rest of the team combined has 433.  That is simply nuts (and unsustainable).  If you look at his four TDs vs. Tufts, the first was a fairly easy completion off a ballsy 4th-and-1 call.  But the other three were VERY difficult catches with a corner draped all over him, including one where the guy was grabbing his jersey as he caught the ball anyway.  None of those plays could have worked if Maimaron didn't put the ball right on the money and Stola didn't have incredible focus in tracking the ball. 

At some point, teams are going to put two dudes on Stola every play and dare anyone else to beat them.  The Ephs were still missing a WR, two TBs, and the top TE last week, so if a few of those guys return, it would really help to make the team more diverse in terms of its offensive targets.  And hopefully the guys playing now will benefit from their time as unexpected starters.  Although great to see Dan Vaughn, who is certainly very talented, have a break-out game ... what's nice is that he can also occasionally split wide to give the offense another WR option if the other two TBs return (and i have no idea as to their status) so that multiple playmaking threats can still be on the field together.  I'd love to see what this offense could do, for example, with Dozier, Stola, Vaughn and Burke all out there together. 

Kudos to the reshuffled offensive line, which apparently started a first-year at LT and a converted TB/TE (Pruss) at RT yet still was able to control the line against maybe the best defensive front in NESCAC, or certainly one of them.  Raymond brought in a nice pair of massive bookend tackles  for the future in this recruiting class, it seems, assuming Freeman can return healthy next season.  I thought Pruss would be a big asset as a blocker this year, just didn't expect him to have to do it as an undersized tackle! 

Also of note is that the Ephs seem to be starting two frosh in the secondary, Josh Wax and Drew Michalik.  They have held up pretty well so far and hopefully will only improve. 

[JEFFFAN]

Only one surprise in two weeks - well, maybe two.   First surprise obviously was the Tufts win over rinity.   No one saw that coming.   Second surprise, perhaps, was Middlebury beating Williams last week.   Other than that, chalk.

Re yesterday, great comeback/statement win for Williams over Tuft.  Not shocked at the result but definitely shocked by the blowout.   Amherst with a sleepy win over Colby including a pretty serious running game with the rookie leading the way.  As always, Mills has the best athletes on the team on defense and they are getting better.  Like the Schiano twin connection.   Nice 2-0 start of season for Wesleyan.   Trinity with a not-at-all surprising blowout win over a Bowdoin team undergoing yet another rebuild.  (Although with Hammer's background I contend that this rebuild will have considerably more success than prior rebuilds.)

So other than Trinity being 1-1, I think that the first two weeks have been pretty much what we thought they would be.

[bantamweight]

Yup, we we pretty much whiffed on the Tufts/TTUN game...we're very good at picking games but

"We're?!?"

[Nescacman]

Yup, we we pretty much whiffed on the Tufts/TTUN game...we're very good at picking games but

"We're?!?"

As in "we are"...

[Nescacman]

Only one surprise in two weeks - well, maybe two.   First surprise obviously was the Tufts win over rinity.   No one saw that coming.   Second surprise, perhaps, was Middlebury beating Williams last week.   Other than that, chalk.

Re yesterday, great comeback/statement win for Williams over Tuft.  Not shocked at the result but definitely shocked by the blowout.   Amherst with a sleepy win over Colby including a pretty serious running game with the rookie leading the way.  As always, Mills has the best athletes on the team on defense and they are getting better.  Like the Schiano twin connection.   Nice 2-0 start of season for Wesleyan.   Trinity with a not-at-all surprising blowout win over a Bowdoin team undergoing yet another rebuild.  (Although with Hammer's background I contend that this rebuild will have considerably more success than prior rebuilds.)

So other than Trinity being 1-1, I think that the first two weeks have been pretty much what we thought they would be.

We concur, although how some teams got there and who with is surprising in some cases....