FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[maineman]

Does anybody know if Midd QB Jernigan practiced on Monday?

Dude, what is with your obsession w/this? You have money on the game or something?

Well, I'm not a Dude and I have something more than money on the game.  I do bleed Midd blue.  I certainly would like to see them win the game on Saturday as I have seen the first 8 wins.  When Midd played poorly against Colby, I inquired about the availability of some of the injured players and someone close to the action replied.  It worked last time and no one thought it was creepy.  If Jernigan is practicing then it is optimistic that he might be playing on Saturday.  If he isn't available then the uphill battle to beat Tufts will get much steeper.

[Nescacman]

Call me naive, even a sloppy reader, but I'm interested to see quotes of nescacman claiming not to be a 100% Wes booster in anything other than tongue in cheek.
I mean, really.  Dude picked a soph from Wes to be his ROY at midseason.
Granted, nescacman claims imaginary sources but in today's world, that falls within the normal range.
And, let's face it.  He takes a lot of time to entertain us, puts up with plenty of written abuse and comes back a few days later putting out his ratings and predictions in spite of our criticism.
I'd be somewhat more entertained if he teamed up with AlDavis, weekly. 

The imperfect balance to nescac1's always informed missives.

As we have said many times over the last 6 or 7 years, NESCACMAN is an amalgamation of contributors from many schools in the league, including Hartford State, TTUN, Amhurst, Tufts, Hamilton (and yes, he is also surprised by the success in Clinton this year), Middlebury and of course, Wesleyan...you don't have to believe us but those are the facts...We have always been big fans of Coach Whales and Coach Dice at Wes (and think they have done an amazing job against the odds at Wes) just as we are of Coach Mills (yes they are down this year, but we all know they will be back), Coach Raymond (great job turning around this program) , Coach Devaney (except when he runs up the score), Coach Civetti (another great turnaround), Coach Ritter (except for occasional head scratching play calls but boy can he recruit QBs), and now, Coach Murray (time will tell if they are one year wonders)...and yes, what we do does take a lot of time but it is a labor of love...despite the barbs, jabs, trash-talking, etc., we love every contributor on this board and we would welcome every single one of them to our tailgate at game during the season (and some of you have joined us in ther past)....yes, even Hs5-3  ...the passion that we all show for the NESCAC (and whatever team you root for) and football is unbelievable...we may not always be right with our predictions, game scores, spreads, and news items, but we think if you go back over the last 7 years, we have been right more than we have been wrong...and yes, we do have sources in the coaching ranks, players, parents, school administration, alums, even the NESCAC office...sometimes we do get things wrong no doubt, but most of the time we think we are fairly accurate...as far as Al Davis is concerned, he is a friend but has been a bit pre-occupied the last few years....perhaps we will hear more from him in the future...we'll close with wishing everyone a terrific final weekend of NESCAC football (we can't believe it is already over) and hope that whatever team you are rooting for plays hard, is safe,  and plays their best game of the year on Saturday... 

[JoeBag]

Does anybody know if Midd QB Jernigan practiced on Monday?

Dude, what is with your obsession w/this? You have money on the game or something?

Well, I'm not a Dude and I have something more than money on the game.  I do bleed Midd blue.  I certainly would like to see them win the game on Saturday as I have seen the first 8 wins.  When Midd played poorly against Colby, I inquired about the availability of some of the injured players and someone close to the action replied.  It worked last time and no one thought it was creepy.  If Jernigan is practicing then it is optimistic that he might be playing on Saturday.  If he isn't available then the uphill battle to beat Tufts will get much steeper.

It is not uncommon for many players to be banged up this time of year and miss practice for much of the week. Monday is typically film and walk thru's anyway, hence the snarky comments. Football "Dude's" understand this....

[Bucket]

Does anybody know if Midd QB Jernigan practiced on Monday?

Dude, what is with your obsession w/this? You have money on the game or something?

Wanting to know if the starting QB of the first place 8-0 team is going to be healthy enough to play in the season finale? Seems fair.

Just seems to be taking D3 football fandom to an extreme: "Did he practice Monday?" (And this wasn't the first post about this either.) Either the kid plays or he doesn't. We'll find out on Saturday.

I think it's totally appropriate to discuss how the game changes whether Jernigan plays or doesn't play or plays hurt, etc. But to be seeking knowledge about whether the student practiced or not seems creepy to me.

Oh come on old friend Bucket-
You're passion for Panthers basketball is no different than that- seems different for you because it's football.

Fair point.

[Bucket]

Does anybody know if Midd QB Jernigan practiced on Monday?

Dude, what is with your obsession w/this? You have money on the game or something?

Well, I'm not a Dude and I have something more than money on the game.  I do bleed Midd blue.  I certainly would like to see them win the game on Saturday as I have seen the first 8 wins.  When Midd played poorly against Colby, I inquired about the availability of some of the injured players and someone close to the action replied.  It worked last time and no one thought it was creepy.  If Jernigan is practicing then it is optimistic that he might be playing on Saturday.  If he isn't available then the uphill battle to beat Tufts will get much steeper.

I stand corrected.

[maineman]

Does anybody know if Midd QB Jernigan practiced on Monday?

Dude, what is with your obsession w/this? You have money on the game or something?

Well, I'm not a Dude and I have something more than money on the game.  I do bleed Midd blue.  I certainly would like to see them win the game on Saturday as I have seen the first 8 wins.  When Midd played poorly against Colby, I inquired about the availability of some of the injured players and someone close to the action replied.  It worked last time and no one thought it was creepy.  If Jernigan is practicing then it is optimistic that he might be playing on Saturday.  If he isn't available then the uphill battle to beat Tufts will get much steeper.

I stand corrected.

No problem, Bucket.  I enjoy your posts here too much to let it affect me.

[footballluv]

[/quote]
Location is a serious, serious challenge for the Maine schools - no doubt about it - but not an insurmountable one or those schools would stink at everything.   They don't and are in reality highly competitive in a number of sports.  So let me pose this question, one that I have posed to a good friend from Bowdoin - what are realistic goals for the Maine schools in football given history, location, etc?  In my view, CBB should aspire to be somewhere around .500 almost at best every year with a few outlier 7-2 years and maybe 2-7 years littered in the mix.   Maybe even a .400 winning percentage is a reasonable goal, again with an outlier or two along the way.   Setting long-term goals much higher than that is, IMHO, patently unrealistic and subject to great levels of disappointment.
[/quote]

The Maine schools will be better when they decide to recruit like Trinity. Diversifying both the locations and recruited player population. No need to seek forgiveness for being in beautiful Maine. Sell the location, education and opportunity to play and rock the boat. There are great students and borderline D1 players from my neck of the woods riding the benches at programs that have little to offer above the NESCACS  save their D1 status. Many of those guys could get the equivalent of full rides in Financial Aid and have no idea what they are missing. Cost more to deliver that message and build the network on HS coaches at player rich private schools in NJ, Md, Virginia, Delaware and DC. Many of these guys go on to play D3 Ball after riding the benches anyway and many meet and exceed NESCAC academic requirements but are hesitant to use ED status. A plan with focus is all that is needed. Reducing the academic standards is not needed. Some don't play after not getting scholarship offers. The 411 in the right hands is all and this league will change and get faster, bigger and stronger. I suspect "Hartford State" kinda labels that are thrown around on this board will accompany the 1st school that pulls this trigger. It is low hanging fruit in my informed opinion. There is not much of a D3 football tradition in my region. hit ADs and HS coaches and get the 411 out there and have a plan.  Some have played in HS programs that have teams that could compete in the NESCAC and  some can boast Hs teams with size talent and speed I I don't see in this league. Lots of motivated smart kids don't play because they don't know there is a place for them in this league. It would mean less opportunities for ME, VT, NH, MA, CT and RI boys.

[SpringSt7]

Checking in again with award predictions now that we have just one week to go. This is one of the crazier years in terms of individual awards that I can remember. For OPOY I don't think I have much of a clue now that Stola has vanished for the last three weeks but I'm going to throw out some names for each spot and then we can go from there.

OPOY Nominees (alphabetical order): Jernigan, Maimaron, Maldjian, Roche, Scott, Stola,

DPOY Nominees (alphabetical order): Apuzzi, Gowetski, Huggins, Kelly, Pistorius,

ROY Nominees (alphabetical order): Maldjian, Michalek,

COY Nominees (alphabetical order): DiCenzo, Murray, Ritter

I'll take Maimaron, Pistorius, Maldjian, and Ritter. OPOY I could really be talked into almost anyone listed. I think it should/still could be Stola but the narrative is going to hurt him--if he had these same numbers but they were more spread out throughout the season it would be a different story. The numbers never tell the full story on defense but Pistorius seems to have the best out of the guys listed--the LB position is so damn deep this year without one or two guys really standing out. Giving it to a guy on the 3rd/4th best defense seems kind of off but he has the best numbers and the guys at Williams and Trinity will split the vote. Maldjian is the runaway for ROY but Michalek deserves some recognition--will be really special at the back end of the Eph defense for a long time. Whoever wins Coach of the Year will be incredibly deserving, and so too will the two listed that don't. I'll take the guy who's about to go 9-0.

[ITH radio]

Has the Nescac ever put a player forth for the Gagliardi?

[ColbyFootball]

Location is a serious, serious challenge for the Maine schools - no doubt about it - but not an insurmountable one or those schools would stink at everything.   They don't and are in reality highly competitive in a number of sports.  So let me pose this question, one that I have posed to a good friend from Bowdoin - what are realistic goals for the Maine schools in football given history, location, etc?  In my view, CBB should aspire to be somewhere around .500 almost at best every year with a few outlier 7-2 years and maybe 2-7 years littered in the mix.   Maybe even a .400 winning percentage is a reasonable goal, again with an outlier or two along the way.   Setting long-term goals much higher than that is, IMHO, patently unrealistic and subject to great levels of disappointment.
[/quote]

The Maine schools will be better when they decide to recruit like Trinity. Diversifying both the locations and recruited player population. No need to seek forgiveness for being in beautiful Maine. Sell the location, education and opportunity to play and rock the boat. There are great students and borderline D1 players from my neck of the woods riding the benches at programs that have little to offer above the NESCACS  save their D1 status. Many of those guys could get the equivalent of full rides in Financial Aid and have no idea what they are missing. Cost more to deliver that message and build the network on HS coaches at player rich private schools in NJ, Md, Virginia, Delaware and DC. Many of these guys go on to play D3 Ball after riding the benches anyway and many meet and exceed NESCAC academic requirements but are hesitant to use ED status. A plan with focus is all that is needed. Reducing the academic standards is not needed. Some don't play after not getting scholarship offers. The 411 in the right hands is all and this league will change and get faster, bigger and stronger. I suspect "Hartford State" kinda labels that are thrown around on this board will accompany the 1st school that pulls this trigger. It is low hanging fruit in my informed opinion. There is not much of a D3 football tradition in my region. hit ADs and HS coaches and get the 411 out there and have a plan.  Some have played in HS programs that have teams that could compete in the NESCAC and  some can boast Hs teams with size talent and speed I I don't see in this league. Lots of motivated smart kids don't play because they don't know there is a place for them in this league. It would mean less opportunities for ME, VT, NH, MA, CT and RI boys.
[/quote]
I agree with you 1,000%. It's called building a program, and part of building it is selling it.

[The Mole]

Some great points made here. I will draw a parallel to the Ivy League, which has similar academic standards. The Patriot league used to beat them up 20-30 years ago. Now, even though the PL has 60 full equivalencies, most Ivy teams handle them head to head. There are a few exceptions like Brown, Cornell and Columbia, but for the most part it holds. Look at the head to head scores over the last 10-15 years. The Ivy is using the playbook described below to steal FCS and many times FBS players. I know its a bit different, but the approach is identical. It can be done. Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale and Penn have gotten REALLY GOOD at it. This was mentioned in a prior post, but I am curious to see what Hammer does at Bowdoin. Wabash recruited hard in AZ. I think its "hitting them where they aint" in certain geographical areas. With the use of social media, you do not need the huge travel budget as much anymore. None of these institutions should cry poor. Makes you wonder is the "lack of commitment" a real factor or not--or does it just applt to certain schools in certain sports? Really good and thoughtful topic. 

Location is a serious, serious challenge for the Maine schools - no doubt about it - but not an insurmountable one or those schools would stink at everything.   They don't and are in reality highly competitive in a number of sports.  So let me pose this question, one that I have posed to a good friend from Bowdoin - what are realistic goals for the Maine schools in football given history, location, etc?  In my view, CBB should aspire to be somewhere around .500 almost at best every year with a few outlier 7-2 years and maybe 2-7 years littered in the mix.   Maybe even a .400 winning percentage is a reasonable goal, again with an outlier or two along the way.   Setting long-term goals much higher than that is, IMHO, patently unrealistic and subject to great levels of disappointment.

The Maine schools will be better when they decide to recruit like Trinity. Diversifying both the locations and recruited player population. No need to seek forgiveness for being in beautiful Maine. Sell the location, education and opportunity to play and rock the boat. There are great students and borderline D1 players from my neck of the woods riding the benches at programs that have little to offer above the NESCACS  save their D1 status. Many of those guys could get the equivalent of full rides in Financial Aid and have no idea what they are missing. Cost more to deliver that message and build the network on HS coaches at player rich private schools in NJ, Md, Virginia, Delaware and DC. Many of these guys go on to play D3 Ball after riding the benches anyway and many meet and exceed NESCAC academic requirements but are hesitant to use ED status. A plan with focus is all that is needed. Reducing the academic standards is not needed. Some don't play after not getting scholarship offers. The 411 in the right hands is all and this league will change and get faster, bigger and stronger. I suspect "Hartford State" kinda labels that are thrown around on this board will accompany the 1st school that pulls this trigger. It is low hanging fruit in my informed opinion. There is not much of a D3 football tradition in my region. hit ADs and HS coaches and get the 411 out there and have a plan.  Some have played in HS programs that have teams that could compete in the NESCAC and  some can boast Hs teams with size talent and speed I I don't see in this league. Lots of motivated smart kids don't play because they don't know there is a place for them in this league. It would mean less opportunities for ME, VT, NH, MA, CT and RI boys.
[/quote]
I agree with you 1,000%. It's called building a program, and part of building it is selling it.
[/quote]

[Nescacman]

2019 NESCACMAN Weekly Power Rankings-Week 8

Weekly highlights:

-Middlebury clinches at least a share of the NESCAC title...will Middlebury be the first undefeated/untied team in NESCAC history?
-Wes beats the Ephs in OT to win their 3rd Little 3 title since 2013... Wes has a shot at a piece of the NESCAC title with a win in the Coop on Saturday and a MID loss at Tufts..
-HCOF Hall gets his first ever HCOF win under the lights at Bowdoin....
-Hartford State wins the consolidation game for 4th place at Amhurst...
-Colby has a chance to wrap up their 2nd straight C-B-B title....

Here are the coaches New England rankings for this week:

https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/q/d/an5bxg9nl58pfm/Grinold_Chapter_New_England_Division_III_Football_Poll_Release_-_11-04-19.pdf

And here are this week's NESCACMAN rankings:

1). Middlebury (2019 record: 8-0; LW Rank: 1):  MID clinches at least a share of the NESCAC title..can MID beat the Jumbo's??? /Will Joe Willie play?...Next game: @Tufts.

2). Wesleyan (2019 record: 7-1; LW Rank: 2-tie):  Wes wins the Little 3 title, their third since 2013....1st time ever the Little 3 winner has won both games in OT...great game and atmosphere as 8,000 strong showed up to chear on the Cards on historic Andrus Field...Wes' 4th come from behind win and third time they have either won or tied the game on their last drive...really great D3 football...watch it on NSN if you have a chance...1st half was a push....Williams dominated the 3rd quarter and early 4th quarter....Wes got it done in the latter part of the 4th quarter and in OT....Wes QB/WR/RB/KR/Punter David Estevez is the NESCAC OPOTW and the Golden Helmet winner...he accounted for all 4 of Wes' TDs on the day...Next game: @Hartford State. 

3). TTUN (2019 record: 6-2; LW Rank: 2-tie):The loss they incurred on Saturday to Wes will sting for a long time...how do we know that? We have friends from Wes that played in the '82 game (Wes "lost" on the last play of the game in Willytown) and they still talk about that game as if it was yesterday....TTUN was up 21-14 with 2:36 to play and Wes had the ball on their own 11...89 yards and 2:19 later the score was tied at 21...Wes had some crucial plays in that drive including a crucial 4th and 9 conversion and QB Estevez throwing the ball away on an errand snap on 1st and goal as Wes was trying to to score the tying TD...TTUN is a very good football team and they are tough defensively...Maimaron is a leader and talented runner....we think his passing is very average, although he did face a very good Wes pass D...TTUN has lost 7 straight to the Mysterious Ministers and we hear a rumor out of Little 3 HQ in Middletown that Wes and AMH might vote the Ephs out of the Little 3 and call it the Little 2...applications being accepted to replace the Ephs...haha...Next game: Amhurst in Willytown.

4). Hamilton (2019 record: 4-4; LW Rank: 4): Hamilton played Middlebury tough on the road in Middlebury...our question for 2020, will WR Joe Schmidt come back for one more year as a medical redshirt...Next game: UBates in Clinton.

5). Tufts (2019 record: 4-4; LW Rank: 6): Rolled v. Colby....biggest game of the year for the Jumbo's in the Oval...the Junbo's are normally very good at home, 2-2 thus far in 2019...Tufts was finally able to move the ball on the ground against Colby which helped their passing game and take some the pressure off Carroll...they will need to be balanced on offense to have a shot against Middlebury...Next game: Middlebury in Medford.

6). Hartford State (2019 record: 5-3; LW Rank: 7): HS clinches a winning season on the road at Amhurst...they will try to salvage the season with home win in the Coop this Saturday against Nutmeg State rival Wesleyan...beat the Lord Mammoths by being +2 in turnovers, being less penalized than their opponent, and getting much better O-line play...Next game: Wesleyan in Hartford.

7). Amhurst (2019 record: 4-4; LW Rank: 5): Will have to play very well this week to avoid the losing season in the Little 3 consolation game...our assessment is that due to the lack of a consistent running game, QB Ebert's is trying to do too much on his own...he is a good player but not good enough to rescue an entire offense...Next game: @TTUN.

8). Colby (2019 record: 1-7; LW Rank: 8):  Back in the losing column against Tufts...playing for all of the C-B-B marbles this week....Next game: @Bowdoin.

9. University of Bates (Lewiston Campus)(2019 record: 1-7; LW rank: 10): Congratulations to HCOF Hall on his first career college HCOF win and breaking the 17 game losing streak for the Bobcats...congradualtions to 1,800 hearty soles who braved it out in Lewiston for the night game...Next game: @Hamilton.

10. Bowdoin (2019 record: 0-8; LW Rank: 10): We would like to see the NESCAC adopt Premier League rules and have the hapless Polars relegated back to high school football...we're taking nominations on who should be added to the NESCAC in Bowdoin's place...WPI? Union? MIT? Bergen Catholic HS?...Next game: Colby in Brunswick.

[Vandy74]

Has the Nescac ever put a player forth for the Gagliardi?

Middlebury QB MacCallum Foote was a Gagliardi finalist in 2013. 

[PBPOP20]

Some great points made here. I will draw a parallel to the Ivy League, which has similar academic standards. The Patriot league used to beat them up 20-30 years ago. Now, even though the PL has 60 full equivalencies, most Ivy teams handle them head to head. There are a few exceptions like Brown, Cornell and Columbia, but for the most part it holds. Look at the head to head scores over the last 10-15 years. The Ivy is using the playbook described below to steal FCS and many times FBS players. I know its a bit different, but the approach is identical. It can be done. Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale and Penn have gotten REALLY GOOD at it. This was mentioned in a prior post, but I am curious to see what Hammer does at Bowdoin. Wabash recruited hard in AZ. I think its "hitting them where they aint" in certain geographical areas. With the use of social media, you do not need the huge travel budget as much anymore. None of these institutions should cry poor. Makes you wonder is the "lack of commitment" a real factor or not--or does it just applt to certain schools in certain sports? Really good and thoughtful topic. 

Location is a serious, serious challenge for the Maine schools - no doubt about it - but not an insurmountable one or those schools would stink at everything.   They don't and are in reality highly competitive in a number of sports.  So let me pose this question, one that I have posed to a good friend from Bowdoin - what are realistic goals for the Maine schools in football given history, location, etc?  In my view, CBB should aspire to be somewhere around .500 almost at best every year with a few outlier 7-2 years and maybe 2-7 years littered in the mix.   Maybe even a .400 winning percentage is a reasonable goal, again with an outlier or two along the way.   Setting long-term goals much higher than that is, IMHO, patently unrealistic and subject to great levels of disappointment.

The Maine schools will be better when they decide to recruit like Trinity. Diversifying both the locations and recruited player population. No need to seek forgiveness for being in beautiful Maine. Sell the location, education and opportunity to play and rock the boat. There are great students and borderline D1 players from my neck of the woods riding the benches at programs that have little to offer above the NESCACS  save their D1 status. Many of those guys could get the equivalent of full rides in Financial Aid and have no idea what they are missing. Cost more to deliver that message and build the network on HS coaches at player rich private schools in NJ, Md, Virginia, Delaware and DC. Many of these guys go on to play D3 Ball after riding the benches anyway and many meet and exceed NESCAC academic requirements but are hesitant to use ED status. A plan with focus is all that is needed. Reducing the academic standards is not needed. Some don't play after not getting scholarship offers. The 411 in the right hands is all and this league will change and get faster, bigger and stronger. I suspect "Hartford State" kinda labels that are thrown around on this board will accompany the 1st school that pulls this trigger. It is low hanging fruit in my informed opinion. There is not much of a D3 football tradition in my region. hit ADs and HS coaches and get the 411 out there and have a plan.  Some have played in HS programs that have teams that could compete in the NESCAC and  some can boast Hs teams with size talent and speed I I don't see in this league. Lots of motivated smart kids don't play because they don't know there is a place for them in this league. It would mean less opportunities for ME, VT, NH, MA, CT and RI boys.

I agree with you 1,000%. It's called building a program, and part of building it is selling it.
[/quote]
[/quote]

I never understood/agreed with the often cited Location is an issue for the Main schools....  Tufts is the only one with a real advantage location-wise.   Willy Town, Amherst, Clinton got nothing on Brunswick...  the CT schools may have a "closer to home" advantage, but alot of the players are far from home anyway.... 

[Hawk196]

I recently went through the recruiting process with my son and the goal was Ivy or Patriot league, but the NESCAC schools (Maine schools, Hamilton & Williams) were interested at the camps. But the locations...OMG, then we dug deeper into the NESCAC schools and we started to focus on Ivy & NESCAC (PL was looking for 300lb lineman). Its always been about the education and if some school with a 60% acceptance rate was interested, we weren't, so we targeted schools with sub 25%(preferred in the teens). Being in Northern NJ, 6 hours to a Maine school was too far away(they should really focus on kids from the Boston area). We went to a camp at Brown(one of the interested Ivys) and met coach Civetti. Because of location and student population (he wasn't thrilled with 1800 students in God's country) we pursued Tufts. Location was great (15 min. to downtown Boston) and safe(some great schools are really in crappy areas), 5000 students and a pretty successful program.  We headed out for our official visit at Tufts and on the drive up the Brown Oline coach called and was talking about an offer. Now with one son at Yale, I knew about Brown's non winning program(facilities were great, etc...), so we had a decision to make. Tufts offered him that weekend and we were thrilled but wanted to see how things turned out with other schools.
Then the axe fell at Brown(timing is everything  ) and we weren't waiting for the new regime and their position needs, he really liked the location & student population, so he committed to Tufts and it was a great decision (and only 3 hours away  )