FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[JEFFFAN]

Not piling on in asking this ... but what do the Trinity fans believe is happening with their team?   I don't doubt that they might end up 7-2 but they sure haven't looked very good so far.

[bantamweight]

Not piling on in asking this ... but what do the Trinity fans believe is happening with their team?   I don't doubt that they might end up 7-2 but they sure haven't looked very good so far.

The defensive line played poorly against Tufts, and although improved, gave too much ground on some plays this week. Regardless, the defense didn't give up 32 points.

The offense has been subpar. This week the OL had 6 holding penalties and gave up 5 sacks. OL had the same issues last week but they were masked by playing an otherwise inferior team. The running game is almost nonexistent and will only get worse now that Lockwood is gone. Moving your best WR to RB isn't the answer, either. QB play was pretty bad. He clearly doesn't trust his OL and takes off running even when he still has time. QB presnap determines his receiver and then throws into coverage, resulting in 4 INTs including a pick 6.

Special teams aren't good either. Kickoff coverage isn't great and two punt snaps over the punter?!?

To right the ship, the focus should be on the OL and developing a running game. Need a different 4th and 1 play too.

[Trin9-0]

Not piling on in asking this ... but what do the Trinity fans believe is happening with their team?   I don't doubt that they might end up 7-2 but they sure haven't looked very good so far.

The defensive line played poorly against Tufts, and although improved, gave too much ground on some plays this week. Regardless, the defense didn't give up 32 points.

The offense has been subpar. This week the OL had 6 holding penalties and gave up 5 sacks. OL had the same issues last week but they were masked by playing an otherwise inferior team. The running game is almost nonexistent and will only get worse now that Lockwood is gone. Moving your best WR to RB isn't the answer, either. QB play was pretty bad. He clearly doesn't trust his OL and takes off running even when he still has time. QB presnap determines his receiver and then throws into coverage, resulting in 4 INTs including a pick 6.

Special teams aren't good either. Kickoff coverage isn't great and two punt snaps over the punter?!?

To right the ship, the focus should be on the OL and developing a running game. Need a different 4th and 1 play too.

This seems like a pretty fair assessment. I've only been able to watch the second halves of the Tufts and Midd games this season, but it does appear that the problems begin with the offensive line. It'll be interesting to see if Vazzano gets the nod this week as a way to change things up. Lambert is completing a respectable 62% of his throws and leads the league in yards, but those interceptions are brutal. Statistically Trinity out-performed the Panthers but the turnovers (5), penalties (11 for 107 yards), and sacks (5) really killed the Bants.

Defensively, the last time Trinity gave up more points than they did on Saturday was a 35-28 loss at Amherst in 2011. Yuck!

[bantamweight]

Defensively, the last time Trinity gave up more points than they did on Saturday was a 35-28 loss at Amherst in 2011. Yuck!

The defense gave up 24. The Offense, 7 and special teams 2. Honestly, special teams should be tagged with another 7 because the 2nd over-the-head snap put the D in a big hole.

[daoustian]

It may be been posted previously but I just noticed that Wesleyan starts the season with Colby, Hamilton, Bates and Bowdoin.
After that, they travel a very bumpy road to the finish.  Yikes.

This is the old Amherst schedule for many years, essentially (pre 9-game schedule would alternate Bates/Hamilton), with Middlebury thrown in.  In most years, other than Middlebury, it gave Amherst a shot to ease themselves into the season and find their groove before ending with what was often a challenging few games against Wesleyan, Tufts, Trinity and Williams.  I always thought this benefited the Amherst team quite a bit and minimized the odds of throwing in an early season loss that might have been more likely to occur if they had to play Trinity/Tufts in Weeks 1-3, but now they do have to play Tufts early (plus Middlebury looks tough this year and has been tough in many other years), so we'll see whether in future years this has a negative effect on Amherst and/or a positive effect on Wesleyan when compared to prior years.  Just need a calendar reminder to check back in on this post in 8 years or so when we have a large enough data set... 

[amh63]

Nice to hear from you daoustian!  It's been awhile.  Nice points.

[Nescacman]

Not piling on in asking this ... but what do the Trinity fans believe is happening with their team?   I don't doubt that they might end up 7-2 but they sure haven't looked very good so far.

The defensive line played poorly against Tufts, and although improved, gave too much ground on some plays this week. Regardless, the defense didn't give up 32 points.

The offense has been subpar. This week the OL had 6 holding penalties and gave up 5 sacks. OL had the same issues last week but they were masked by playing an otherwise inferior team. The running game is almost nonexistent and will only get worse now that Lockwood is gone. Moving your best WR to RB isn't the answer, either. QB play was pretty bad. He clearly doesn't trust his OL and takes off running even when he still has time. QB presnap determines his receiver and then throws into coverage, resulting in 4 INTs including a pick 6.

Special teams aren't good either. Kickoff coverage isn't great and two punt snaps over the punter?!?

To right the ship, the focus should be on the OL and developing a running game. Need a different 4th and 1 play too.

Sounds very similar to our assessment yesterday...not easy to "fix" o-line play mid-season but we are talking about Hartford State, so you never know who might suddenly show up to play in the Coop...

[JEFFFAN]

Missing the assessment of NESCAC1 ...

[lumbercat]

Defensively, the last time Trinity gave up more points than they did on Saturday was a 35-28 loss at Amherst in 2011. Yuck!

The defense gave up 24. The Offense, 7 and special teams 2. Honestly, special teams should be tagged with another 7 because the 2nd over-the-head snap put the D in a big hole.

Tell that long snapper to move his left hand back on the football.

[Nescacman]

2019 NESCAC Weekly Power Rankings-Week 4

Three undefeated teams still remain....Wes, Amhurst, and MID...that number will go down by one this week, unless somehow the LMs and the Pants tie. Here are this week's rankings:

1). (tie) Amhurst (2019 record: 3-0; LW Rank: 1): Impressive win for the LMs on the road at the Oval...need to get their running game going against the Pants...the LMs have had 5 kicks blocked so far for 243rd in the country...Next game: MID in Lord Jeffville.
1). (tie) Middlebury (2019 record: 3-0; LW Rank: 2-tie):  Despite being outgained by almost 100 yards, the MID defense (5 sacks, 4 INTs, 1 FR) did the trick against Hartford State...leads the NESCAC in sacks with 10...important game on the road this week....Next game: @Amhurst.
3). Wesleyan (2019 record: 3-0; LW Rank: 2-tie):  Continue to do what they are supposed to do against the less competitive part of their schedule..absolutely demolished Bates leading 34-0 at the half and played their 2's and 3's the entire 2nd half...4 rushing TD's are just what the doctor ordered...Wes FY Q is the reigning NESCAC OPOTW...Wes kicker Mason Von Jess may be the next NESCAC player to play on Sunday...Wes leads the NESCAC in offensive PPG scored AND defensive PPG against...+9 in turnovers (3rd in the country in average turnover ratio per game)...4th in the country with 9 ints...Next game: @Bowdoin. 
4). TTUN (2019 record: 2-1; LW Rank: 4): Demolished the Polars..had an incredible 398 yards rushing and 3 Ephs went over the century mark in rushing..converting 48% of third downs...things get only marginally tougher for TTUN this week...Next game: @Coilby.   
5). Tufts (2019 record: 1-2; LW Rank: 5):  Big loss at home to the LMs..2nd to last in the 'CAC in yds rushing and no rushing TDs yet in 2019...they need to start running the ball better...only 20% in the redzone...playing Bates could not have come at a better time for this team...Next game: @Bates.
6). Hartford State (2019 record: 1-2; LW Rank: 6): Sliding in the rankings....they have issues at OL and RB....maybe this team is just not very good???...time will tell...last in the NESCAC in penalty yards and penalties per game...Next game: Hamilton in Hartford. 
7). Hamilton (2019 record: 2-1; LW Rank: 7):  We would love to move this team up in the rankings...here's the deal, win this week and we will move you up...need Joe Schmidt back to have a shot Saturday ...Next game: @Hartford State.
8). Colby (2019 record: 0-3; LW Rank: 8):  Got their first sack of 2019...seem improved in 2019 but way too many TO's....Next game: TTUN in Waterville.
9. University of Bates (Lewiston Campus)(2019 record: 0-3; LW rank: 9): This is just not a good football team...231st in the country in total offense...continue to regress...things were so bad last Saturday in Middletown that they went with Matt Golden at QB and ran their 2017 triple option offense...didn't matter...word out of Lewiston is that HCOF Hall has inquired about getting out of Dodge early and going back to the Ivies as a position coach...UBates admin said no way unless you want to buy out your contract before the 3 years are up...we'll see HCOF Hall through the end of the 2920 season...Next game: Tufts in Lewiston.
10. Bowdoin (2019 record: 0-3; LW Rank: 10):  Defensive problems aplenty for Bowdoin...giving up 46.3 points per game (236th in the country) and 488 yards per game (233rd in the country)....won't get easier this week for the Polars...Next game: Wesleyan in Brunswick.

[footballluv]

E
Not piling on in asking this ... but what do the Trinity fans believe is happening with their team?   I don't doubt that they might end up 7-2 but they sure haven't looked very good so far.

Those Vermont teams must have an advantage in recruiting, talent, and their SAT optional admission standards is what happened. Right? Vermont State(Middlebury) is spending more money on football. It's got to be some off the field advantages that others have over Trinity.  smdh.

[DC 53]

Now this:

https://athletics.hamilton.edu/sports/fball/2019-20/releases/20191001nvko8s

[Nescacman]

9/30/19 New England D3 Coaches Poll:

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

[JEFFFAN]

E
Not piling on in asking this ... but what do the Trinity fans believe is happening with their team?   I don't doubt that they might end up 7-2 but they sure haven't looked very good so far.

Those Vermont teams must have an advantage in recruiting, talent, and their SAT optional admission standards is what happened. Right? Vermont State(Middlebury) is spending more money on football. It's got to be some off the field advantages that others have over Trinity.  smdh.

Or I guess the uber commitment to football must not have been as strong as years past, right?

[monjmafb]

Williams has its own weekly football show: https://vimeo.com/361888366

Do other Nescac schools have something similar?

Also - great video just released on YouTube for Ephs fans:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdmkYjmpO_w