FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[SpringSt7]

Nescac1,

Two quick notes before turning towards next week. Burke in fact dressed yesterday and was on the field for special teams, but not offense, as Speizio got the nod there. I can't say for sure whether or not this is a coaching decision, but only putting a guy in on plays where he runs full sprint down the field and crashes into other players does not seem like a move that would be made if they were waiting for him to return to 100%. As we've seen, this coaching staff has made some puzzling personnel choices in the past.

Secondly, and I could be mistaken on this, I'm pretty sure that this Ephs offensive line that has received its fair share of credit this weekend was the same unit that took the field last week against Middlebury: Zapf, Watson, MacArthur, Subjinski, and Pruss (in no particular order or arrangement). So yes they certainly deserve credit for the much improved run game and pass protection yesterday, but it doesn't appear to have been due to any lineup changes.

[bantamweight]

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"...

How many of you are there who are making these picks?

[nescac1]

SpringSt7, interesting info.  On the one hand the offensive line (currently) has three new starters from last year, and that was a bit unexpected.  But on the plus side, one is a tough-as-nails senior, one is a Junior returning from injury who was a starter before he got hurt, and one is a highly-regarded frosh, so it could be a lot worse.  Hopefully they continue to adjust to their new roles.  And maybe the game previews will start to reflect the actual lineups one of these days! 

That is strange re: Burke, although I'm surprised he did not play on offense, I'm glad at least that he is healthy.  Hopefully we start to see him out there more after he gets reacclimated, as he can be a big weapon.  Raymond and his staff try a lot of unorthodox things, but many of them seem to work.  The best example I can think of was when, two years ago, they made Pruss the starting TB (over a few traditional TBs) and let him be a battering ram vs. Amherst clearing the way for Maimaron.  That ended up working brilliantly.  I'm sure the staff has reasons for whatever moves they've been making, and I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Speaking of Raymond, after inheriting a total train wreck, he has now beaten every NESCAC opponent at least once over the past two seasons (and two games) - except for Wesleyan.  That's the lone remaining long losing streak for the Ephs.  The Ephs over that stretch ended seven, six, five, and five game losing streaks vs. Trinity, Amherst, Tufts and Midd, respectively.  But there is still the Wesleyan monkey on the back (currently a six game losing streak). 

Oh, and I see the league coaches did the right / logical thing and named offensive co-players of the week!  Both well-deserved, of course.  Maimaron would ordinarily have been a great candidate as well after has massive game as both a runner and a passer, but obviously Stola stole his thunder a bit ...

Perhaps NESCAC will be a hit harder to predict (at least in any games features two of the top six in the league) this year, which would be a very good thing.  I thought Trinity would roll over everyone but unless week one was a bit of a aberration for some reason that seems not likely to be the case.  Week three features some really intriguing match-ups, including Amherst at Tufts and Trinity at Middlebury.  Midd has certainly been more impressive than Trinity thusfar this year, but even so, and even at home, I think they are a slight dog.  As for Amherst at Tufts, it depends on which Tufts team shows up ...

[Nescacman]

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

"We're?!?"

Those that have been on the Boards for awhile know the answer to that question but we will repeat it since you appear to be a relative newbie (and welcome aboard!)...we are a consortium of former NESCAC players and coaches representing most of the NESCAC football playing schools (at one point or another, every school has been represented)...our comments/picks/rankings are an amalgamation of our collective thoughts and opinions...with that being said, you may not always agree with our thoughts and opinions, however, please keep in mind that they are meant to provoke discussion and entertain...while often our comments are opinions (sometimes a bit snarky), in most cases, they are based on facts and research we have obtained from our numerous, often inside, sources around the league...since the NESCAC is often notorious for misinformation/limited information/no information, we will not always be right but we do TRY to be right way more often than we are wrong...every week we will post our weekly NESCAC rankings (Monday or Tuesday), our picks for the week (winners and spreads, typically Friday), and various special features during the season (for example, we have ranked the following in the past: NESCAC coaches, best game day experience, best food near NESCAC campuses, etc.)...we hope you enjoy our posts and please feel free to give us any and all feedback... 

As in "we are"...

How many of you are there who are making these picks?

[Nescacman]

SpringSt7, interesting info.  On the one hand the offensive line (currently) has three new starters from last year, and that was a bit unexpected.  But on the plus side, one is a tough-as-nails senior, one is a Junior returning from injury who was a starter before he got hurt, and one is a highly-regarded frosh, so it could be a lot worse.  Hopefully they continue to adjust to their new roles.  And maybe the game previews will start to reflect the actual lineups one of these days! 

That is strange re: Burke, although I'm surprised he did not play on offense, I'm glad at least that he is healthy.  Hopefully we start to see him out there more after he gets reacclimated, as he can be a big weapon.  Raymond and his staff try a lot of unorthodox things, but many of them seem to work.  The best example I can think of was when, two years ago, they made Pruss the starting TB (over a few traditional TBs) and let him be a battering ram vs. Amherst clearing the way for Maimaron.  That ended up working brilliantly.  I'm sure the staff has reasons for whatever moves they've been making, and I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Speaking of Raymond, after inheriting a total train wreck, he has now beaten every NESCAC opponent at least once over the past two seasons (and two games) - except for Wesleyan.  That's the lone remaining long losing streak for the Ephs.  The Ephs over that stretch ended seven, six, five, and five game losing streaks vs. Trinity, Amherst, Tufts and Midd, respectively.  But there is still the Wesleyan monkey on the back (currently a six game losing streak). 

Oh, and I see the league coaches did the right / logical thing and named offensive co-players of the week!  Both well-deserved, of course.  Maimaron would ordinarily have been a great candidate as well after has massive game as both a runner and a passer, but obviously Stola stole his thunder a bit ...

Perhaps NESCAC will be a hit harder to predict (at least in any games features two of the top six in the league) this year, which would be a very good thing.  I thought Trinity would roll over everyone but unless week one was a bit of a aberration for some reason that seems not likely to be the case.  Week three features some really intriguing match-ups, including Amherst at Tufts and Trinity at Middlebury.  Midd has certainly been more impressive than Trinity thusfar this year, but even so, and even at home, I think they are a slight dog.  As for Amherst at Tufts, it depends on which Tufts team shows up ...

TTUN1, the early line has both Hartford State and the Lord Mammoths as slight favorites on the road....say HS at -3 and LMs at -1...looks like HCOF Jeff has righted the ship and we like HCOF Mills against the 2 Jumbo FY Q's in a (very) low scoring affair at the Oval... 

[Hawk196]

OMG.....I guess it's welcome to the NESCAC football for me. One week world beaters, next beaten down like dogs. I was following it online....God everytime I hit refresh another Williams score.

Only positive (for me at least) is my son got some playing time.

What was the crowd like? My son said it was empty (disappointing), he didn't play Friday night lights in Texas, but his high school on a bad day had 2K fans on a good day 10K+....all I tell him is it's all about the education.....but come on. 1800 Williams students, how many actually went to support their football team?

[lumbercat]

Traditionally weak student support at Williams and Amherst.
But they do come out for THE GAME.

[Nescacman]

OMG.....I guess it's welcome to the NESCAC football for me. One week world beaters, next beaten down like dogs. I was following it online....God everytime I hit refresh another Williams score.

Only positive (for me at least) is my son got some playing time.

What was the crowd like? My son said it was empty (disappointing), he didn't play Friday night lights in Texas, but his high school on a bad day had 2K fans on a good day 10K+....all I tell him is it's all about the education.....but come on. 1800 Williams students, how many actually went to support their football team?

Of course they are too busy....ummm....studying. 

[JEFFFAN]

Traditionally weak student support at Williams and Amherst.
But they do come out for THE GAME.

Pretty much always been that way although the new stadium makes it even worse with the distance from the field.

[middhoops]

Don't know about students, but the Eph alumni made an impressive showing on the road in Vermont.  And the leaves hadn't started to turn color yet.

[nescac1]

I'd say football has never been massively popular among Williams students (again, except for when Amherst is the visiting team), and certainly hoops is the primary athletics draw for the student body, but a lot more students used to attend games back when tailgating was essentially unrestricted.  Once booze was no longer part of the experience, sadly, folks became less inclined to spend their Saturday afternoons down at Weston.   It also doesn't help that, typically, the other Saturday games are wayyyyy across campus at Cole Field, so there is no bleed-over between soccer fans making their way over to the football game (although this past Saturday football was the only game in town, so that played no role). 

[JEFFFAN]

I'd say football has never been massively popular among Williams students (again, except for when Amherst is the visiting team), and certainly hoops is the primary athletics draw for the student body, but a lot more students used to attend games back when tailgating was essentially unrestricted.  Once booze was no longer part of the experience, sadly, folks became less inclined to spend their Saturday afternoons down at Weston.   It also doesn't help that, typically, the other Saturday games are wayyyyy across campus at Cole Field, so there is no bleed-over between soccer fans making their way over to the football game (although this past Saturday football was the only game in town, so that played no role).

Nor Amherst!  And you are spot on about the change when unlimited tailgating was "outlawed".   They have a decent tent arrangement that many of the other sports teams sponsor, so to speak, but in the whole scheme of things it is not a stellar level of support.

[lumbercat]

They have great support at Bates and a very enthusiastic , but small tailgate area.....Gane day is a lot of fun at Bates but they would trade it all for the W's of the Purple schools......the NESCAC elite.

[SpringSt7]

Would be curious to hear from the rest of the board if they felt that the streaming services have hurt non student attendance as well. Why drive 35 minutes when you can watch online? Look no further than an Amherst Williams b-ball game now as compared to 10 years ago attendance wise.

[Nescacman]

The first New England D3 coaches poll of the season is out:

https://newenglandfootballwriters.com/d-iii-coaches-poll