FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[The Mole]

Excellent recap, Spring. Could have been 21-0 at half, Cards D valiantly kept them out of the end zone. Ephs physically dominated the game upfront on both sides of the ball. Really wore down the Wesleyan D in the second half while snuffing out the O. One concern is that the red and black offense has been shut out for 6 quarters in a row. If you include the second half of the Middlebury game (defense scored the 4th quarter TD) the offense has generated just 2 TDs in the last 10 quarters.

Congrats to Williams on at least a shared title. Amherst can win the Little 3 with a Biggest Little Game upset and, combined with a Trinity W would give the Bantams a share. Hopefully, the boys from Middletown regroup and end the season on a good note.....

A couple thoughts on Williams vs. Wesleyan:

-At some point you just run out of things to say about the Eph defense. For the last 3 seasons they were able to mask underwhelming secondary play and an average D line by building around a stud core of LBs. Now the D Line and Secondary are legitimate strengths and complements the LBs in a way that seemed impossible a few years ago. The result is keeping Trinity and Wesleyan to a combined 3 points in the last 2 weeks.

-Credit to Wesleyan where credit is due. I'm not going to say "the game was closer than the box score indicates" because that's not true---Williams gained 444 yards of total offense and a blistering 6.8 yards per play. But Wesleyan made it tough for them in the red zone and made them fight for every single point---3 of Williams' scoring drives were 11, 12, and 12 plays long and they only got a TD on 1 of those 3 drives. The 25 points they allowed were the least Williams has scored in a game all year. As expected Helbig was an absolute force in the middle and kept his team in the game in the first half. If it wasn't for the coverage blunder on the Burke TD the game could've potentially tightened up.

-With that being said it was pretty obvious early in the game that Raymond and co. had Estevez figured out and that Wesleyan was going to have a really hard time moving the ball. It was a little surprising to see him only run the ball 14 times. Like all games this year he was their best offense and while they were behind for much of the game, it wasn't like the game was out of reach early and they had to abandon the run game.

-I'm a huge fan of his but it seemed like Dice got a little cute in this one for Wesleyan. They went back to the Estevez pooch punt after having success with it against Amherst but he punted the ball off of one of his OL and gave the ball back to Williams at around the 40 yard line. Furthermore, they did a poor job of disguising the play as Estevez was significantly further back in the shotgun than he normally would be and was lined up with his right foot back, very clearly punting the ball. Additionally, the Estevez/Scott duo seemed to lack any real plan on a play by play basis, and it seemed like a weird time to go back to Scott and not go down with Estevez.

-Speaking of Ashton Scott, what a bizarre year. After being arguably the best QB in the league as a sophomore in 2019 he just looked totally lost this year. What a difference it might've made for Wesleyan if he was even 75-80% of his former self this year and they were able to play him together with Estevez.

-I'm probably the biggest Bobby Maimaron fan on this board but at some point when does Joel Nicholas start to get his due? It feels weird to watch him rush for 180 yards a game and keep giving all the credit to the QB for placing the ball in his chest. I would have no problem with Nicholas as POY.

-I'm not really into the best team ever talk, and even if I was I would definitely wait until after the Amherst game to have that conversation. But there was a lot of talk yesterday afternoon and night in Williamstown from a lot of people that have seen a lot of football that feel like this might be the best Williams team they've ever seen.

[VoodooDoc]

polebear73  - I suspect that Coach Hammer would not disagree with you.  There were a lot of freshman and red-shirt freshmen (thanks to the year off for COVID) who are playing this year. With time in weight room in the off season, you will see members of the current defense a lot stronger next season and with a lot of experience.  I suspect that recruiting for the defense is focusing on filling some of the holes as well as building additional depth.

At Allegheny, the defense really began to gel with the third recruiting class in place.  At Allegheny, they also had a spring practice session which was used primarily for teaching skills for the various positions.  At Wabash, the program was geared to a 12 to 15 game season including the playoffs.  Younger players usually gained experience during the season so that they could spell the starters later in the season on step in for an injured player.

At Wabash, the defense was generally in the top 5 in many categories, and lead all of college football, DI included, in a couple of categories. 

[D3FLETCH]

polebear73  - I suspect that Coach Hammer would not disagree with you.  There were a lot of freshman and red-shirt freshmen (thanks to the year off for COVID) who are playing this year. With time in weight room in the off season, you will see members of the current defense a lot stronger next season and with a lot of experience.  I suspect that recruiting for the defense is focusing on filling some of the holes as well as building additional depth.

At Allegheny, the defense really began to gel with the third recruiting class in place.  At Allegheny, they also had a spring practice session which was used primarily for teaching skills for the various positions.  At Wabash, the program was geared to a 12 to 15 game season including the playoffs.  Younger players usually gained experience during the season so that they could spell the starters later in the season on step in for an injured player.

At Wabash, the defense was generally in the top 5 in many categories, and lead all of college football, DI included, in a couple of categories.

I am beginning to think the Bowdoin defense is primed to look like the 2006-2010 Whittier Defense.

[PolarCat]

It's apparently not just the NESCAC Scoreboard; there appears to be a pandemic of stupid in SIO's across the CAC.

Can anyone explain this math to me?  I mean, I love Costa but how do you score 25 points on 4 TD's?

From the Bates Football website:

BRUNSWICK, Maine -- Senior Brendan Costa threw for four touchdowns in the second half and the Bates football team twice erased a 10-point deficit to win 25-24 at Bowdoin Saturday night at Whittier Field, in the 123rd meeting between the rivals.

[SpringSt7]

6 x 4 = 24. 24 + 1 Extra Point = 25

[JEFFFAN]

Love it - only in the NESCAC could 25 be achieved that way, with three missed extra points!!

6 x 4 = 24. 24 + 1 Extra Point = 25

[xPolarDadx]

Love it - only in the NESCAC could 25 be achieved that way, with three missed extra points!!

6 x 4 = 24. 24 + 1 Extra Point = 25

Bates went for 2 once on purpose, had a missed xp and a bad snap that resulted in a missed 2pt.  It made sense when they tried to go for 2 to get a 3 point lead up 25-24 at the end.

Maybe 7 of Costa's incompletions were dropped balls in the flat by the Bates receivers / RBs.  Kinda crazy that the contested deep balls were largely caught, but the underneath check downs were all over the turf (most not on Costa).

[lumbercat]

Yes 1 missed extra point.
Yes there were a few drops but Costa was off in the first half throwing the ball-he couldn't really drive the ball with the injured leg and being hurried on most throws didn't help either. Several balls sailed high on him.
More like himself in the 2nd half.
Facing a rabid, blitzing D he found a way to make big plays and throw 4 TDs.

[Nescacman]

We think nescac1, Spring, and our friend Mole did a good job of summing up some of the details of the Cards/Purple Cow game on Saturday. We'd like to add some additional color:

1. Beautiful fall day in Billville for the annual Little 3 tilt between the Ephs and the Cards. 2. Nice to have some good weather after the drenching we all endured the prior week.
3. This rivalry has really kicked it up a notch since Whales & Co. left the friendly confines of northwestern Mass and headed south to Middletown. We think the Whales/Dice/Ludwig/Coyne dynamic really adds to the fun of the rivalry and has taken it to a completely different level the last 11 years. Definitely makes the games much more fun.
4. Nice crowd for the game...btw, way more than the "official" 1,500 listed in the box score. We would conservatively estimate there were 3,000-4,000 in attendance (both stands were filled) as well as a large crowd in the end zone closest to campus and all around the fence surrounding the field. The actual crowd could have been double our estimate, in fact.
5. Great game-day atmosphere and as close to pre-Covid conditions (tailgating, crowd, parking, etc.) as we have seen this year in the NESCAC.
6. Great seeing Coach Farley and purchasing a copy of his book ("Why I Never Left Williams College...")(including getting it signed and having a picture taken with Coach) pre-tailgate. Always enjoy bantering with him, remembering our mutual friend, Coach Renzie Lamb, and discussing how his former player, Dice, was going to once-again take it to his alma mater....hahahaha!
7. Onto the game...hats off to the Ephs for kicking Wes' butt on Saturday. The better team definitely won in impressive fashion. Congratulations to the presumptive 2021 NESCAC and Little 3 champs. We can see no scenario where the Lord Jeffs come within 3 TDs of the Ephs. TTUN is just that superior this year. By far, the best team in the NESCAC this year (but with all due respect...not the best all-time, in our opinion). 
8. We will say this, hats off to the Cards defense who valiantly kept the game close in the first half. In particular, their red zone D was exceptional and kept Wes in the game. Game ball goes to DPOTY candidate Nick Helbig who consistently blew plays up against the excellent Purple Cow O-line (8 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks) . Exceptional play for the third straight week by the Card defense.
9. In order for Wes to have had a shot at the win, they needed to play their best game and despite the effort of their defense, the offense could not get it going against the stout Eph defense. Although Wes did mix in some trickery on offense (which as noted by others, occasionally worked), we thought they were a bit predictable at times. We watched the Eph defense earlier in the season and they have definitely cranked it up the back half of the schedule.
10. The Ephs played pretty much flawlessly. Minimal penalties (same for Wes as opposed to the debacle penalty-wise the week before against Lord Jeffrey....2 for each team total). No turnovers (same for Wes). Converted third down after third down many in crucial situation (9 of 16). Shut down the Wes playmakers. Eph defense is about as good as we have seen in the NESCAC over the years. They all fly around and all pursue very well to the ball. Exceptional team speed on defense.
11. On offense, the Eph playmakers (Maimaron, Nicholas, Burke, Stola) got it done. Maimaron is not the flashiest player in the league but his leaderships skills appear to be stellar. He will be missed in the future regardless of whomever the next stud QB is at the helm in Billville.
12. Not upset about this loss...Purple Cows were clearly the better team and it would have taken a huge effort by Wes to beat them. Last week against the Lord Jeffs....completely different story. Wes will be back next year with 18-19 returning starters including most of their studs as well as all-league injury returnees like Simco and Von Jess. Next year might be the year of the Card.
13. We commend the classiness of HCOF Raymond and his coaching staff who, despite having the opportunity, did not run up the score on Wes at the end the game. Contrast that with what HCOF Devanney and the Hartford State thugs did against Amhurst and that pretty much sums up the difference between Devanney v. Raymond in terms of character. Keep it up Jeff, what comes around goes around, especially in the NESCAC where the coaching fraternity is very tight.
14. The officiating was excellent. Best we have seen in the NESCAC this year. For a change, the officials let the men play and did not get involved in the outcome of the game. Wish we had that officiating crew every week.
15. This week, the Cards go for second place in the NESCAC against the Hartford State C*cks  at home ...the Purple Cows wrap up their first league title since 2010 (and the Little 3) this weekend in Amhurst.   

[nescac1]

Good point about the officiating Nescacman.  Mostly anecdotal, but it seems like there has been an inordinate number of personal foul / taunting type infractions this year across NESCAC based on, let's face it, fairly minimal levels of misconduct -- these NESCAC kids aren't exactly University of Miami circa the 1980s in terms of taunting or unduly physical play.  Let's just hope the refs don't hear anyone on the Eph sideline pronounce it AmHerst next week! 

So I gather all the seniors on Wesleyan with eligibility are returning?  Does sound like y'all are loaded next year.  I think the Ephs will be pretty much as loaded on defense with far more experienced DL and DB units (everyone back in both units, just incredible depth in each) compensating for the loss of major talent on the LB core, which should still be solid thanks to all the young guys who filled in for injured players this year.  But the offense will be a big unknown with the monumental losses on that side of the ledger -- Maimaron, Watson, Rooney, Stola, Burke, that's five guys who are all-league locks this year, all of whom are four-years starters, and all but one of whom will be multi-time all-league players.  That's a lot of game-changing players to lose from one unit; has any NESCAC unit ever featured such an impactful four-year group of players?  Trinity will also be a force yet again with Fetter back -- especially if Reid returns, and he does have another year of eligibility I believe.  I don't really see anyone who is likely to rise up to challenge those three.  Tufts does have a lot of talent returning on offense so if it can figure out some things on defense, is probably the best candidate.  Bowdoin, not quite yet, and Amherst and Midd both lose a lot of key fifth-year seniors from teams that were pretty up and down.

But first, one more big game to worry about!

[AmherstStudent05]

I'm fascinated by the recent mention of the "greatest team of all time."  While this topic comes up (sparingly) on the men's basketball board, to my knowledge this concept has never been raised at all on the NESCAC football boards prior to this week.

Obviously, without postseason play, it is particularly difficult to winnow the list of potential NESCAC GOAT football teams, but I am curious....even just within an individual program, is there some understanding of what teams are the greatest of all time? I have followed Amherst football very closely for the past 20 years but it's not at all obvious to me what the "best" Amherst team is even from that era (I assume it would have to be a team from the Kelton era!).

[D3FLETCH]

2004 Trinity College Football Team Best NESCAC team in the 2000s.   

[SpringSt7]

I didn't do too much digging on greatest teams as I wasn't really around for a lot of the older teams but statistically there are some Trinity and Williams teams in the 90s and early 2000s that have eye popping defensive numbers. Trinity's 2003 team held opposing offenses to 3.75 points per game!

I bring this up mainly to illustrate that it will probably be impossible to ever make fair comparisons due to the ever changing league and recruiting landscapes. With that 2003 Trinity defense in mind, it's probably unlikely with how offenses are run today that any team will ever come close to sniffing that type of number. There are just too many talented QBs and creative offenses in the world of football and it was inevitable that it would trickle down to the D3 and NESCAC levels. Not to mention the difference between the 8 and 9 game season, although I don't know how much of a factor that would be. But I'm assuming there are some years in which the league champion didn't have to go up against the 2nd best team or something like that. A discussion for a rainy day to say the least.

I do however think this Williams team is as good as any I have seen and it is truly incredible how easy they have made it look when you consider again that this group of seniors committed to Coach Raymond before he ever won a game in Williamstown.

Nice to see some well deserved praise from NESCACMAN and others re: Maimaron. Weird that I believe he has already shattered most school records and yet they won't come close to properly displaying his impact on this team, a phrase I'm sure everyone on these boards is incredibly sick of hearing. If he isn't the best Eph QB ever, he is without a doubt the most important.

[PolarCat]

Love it - only in the NESCAC could 25 be achieved that way, with three missed extra points!!

6 x 4 = 24. 24 + 1 Extra Point = 25

Hey mea culpa.  My kids been out of the CAC for 4 years and I've been watching enough non-CAC games that I forgot that in The League Where They Pay to Underachieve you can, in fact, score 4 TD's with only one PAT.

Of course I remember when the CBB kickers (plus the K's from Midd, Tufts and Wes) had a mutual admiration society and were buds off the field as well.  So I guess I have an excuse for what was, in retrospect, a stupid question.

With this dearth of talent how long before we see our first female K in the conference?

[polbear73]

Probably not at Bowdoin anytime soon as Coach Hammer is being sued by one from his Allegheny days.