FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Nescacman]

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.

Maimaron is great and his impact goes way beyond the stats...however, what if Costa were the Ephs QB? Would they have been even better? What would Costa's stats look like?   

[nescac1]

I don't think any Eph fan would trade Maimaron for Costa, or any other QB in the league.  It's a hard thing to envision because the entire offensive system would no doubt be different with any other quarterback (even Estevez or Costa).  The Williams offense, this year, depends on a QB who can disguise every play, which can either be a QB keeper or a hand-off, and Maimaron is an absolute wizard handling the ball.  I really do think his ability to disguise plays and keep defenses off balance might be worth, I don't know, .5 yards per carry extra for the running backs?  I don't know, it's impossible to quantify.  But also, the offense depends on keeping defenses honest with the threat of the deep ball, which Maimaron can throw better than most guys in the league ... Maimaron leads the league in yards per attempt, and leads by a dramatic margin in yards per completion, so the Ephs, when they do pass, are passing deep down the field more than any other team.  And Maimaron has done that this season despite two of this three really dependable downfield targets each missing a decent amount of time. 

More generally, look at the guy's career.  Yeah, he has a loaded team around him this year.  But he played, and played effectively, as a frosh without much talent at all surrounding him.  Remember, the Ephs were 0-8 the year before Maimaron arrived.  In his very first year, with one class of Raymond recruits, he turned that around to go 6-3.  That team, which had a very thin roster, was really not all that talented around Maimaron and a few other key guys, and certainly was not terribly experienced.  And for his career, he now has a total of 53 passing TDs and 24 rushing TDs, with one game still to go, which I think is the most combined for any NESCAC QB other than the super-human McCallum Foote (who got to 79 in only three years with an 8 game schedule, hard to argue against him as the best NESCAC QB of this century at least and likely ever).

[SpringSt7]

Costa has thrown more INTs this season than Maimaron has thrown since his freshman year. Maimaron's ability as a runner is the headliner but his TD:INT ratio since 2018 is 41:9. Absurd.

[JEFFFAN]

I think the Eph fans on the board should purchase a copy of this for all of the rest of us:

https://today.williams.edu/books/why-i-never-left-williams-college/

[Nescacman]

I think the Eph fans on the board should purchase a copy of this for all of the rest of us:

https://today.williams.edu/books/why-i-never-left-williams-college/

We already have ours....if Spring or nescac1 do buy them for the board, can they reimburse us the $25 we spent? Please?

[Nescacman]

Costa has thrown more INTs this season than Maimaron has thrown since his freshman year. Maimaron's ability as a runner is the headliner but his TD:INT ratio since 2018 is 41:9. Absurd.

We think part of the reason Costa has thrown so many INTs is the quality (or lack thereof) that he has around him...the kid just tries to do way too much...with that being said, he accounts for more than 85% of the team's total offense, so we get it...

Prediction, UBates will miss Costa way more than the Purple Cows will miss Maimaron IOO...

[polbear73]

I think the Eph fans on the board should purchase a copy of this for all of the rest of us:

https://today.williams.edu/books/why-i-never-left-williams-college/

We already have ours....if Spring or nescac1 do buy them for the board, can they reimburse us the $25 we spent? Please?

We had to put up with Farley when he was coaching. Sure don't want to read about it.

[Jonny Utah]

Costa has thrown more INTs this season than Maimaron has thrown since his freshman year. Maimaron's ability as a runner is the headliner but his TD:INT ratio since 2018 is 41:9. Absurd.

We think part of the reason Costa has thrown so many INTs is the quality (or lack thereof) that he has around him...the kid just tries to do way too much...with that being said, he accounts for more than 85% of the team's total offense, so we get it...

Prediction, UBates will miss Costa way more than the Purple Cows will miss Maimaron IOO...

I saw Costa in High School.  I figured he went to Bates when they were running option and was recruited specifically for that system?  Or spread option?.  Not sure when Bates switched over but he was a runner, not a thrower.

[lumbercat]

Jonny

I scouted Costa at Case HS. They didn't throw much in that program but this kid always had tremendous arm strength. Little known fact is that he was SE Mass HS Javelin champ.

Mark Harriman and Skip Capone did a great job recruiting him to Bates. Original projection was DB because nobody really knew about his arm.

I attended The Shriners in June of his senior year. He was projected as a DB in that game and issued a jersey number in the 20's.
Sometime during practice leading up to the game a QB was hurt or withdrew from the game and they moved Costa to QB.
He was to back up a heralded Trinity QB recruit whose name I cannot recall.

In the game, the South team stalled on a couple of early drives so off the bench came Costa. He took over the game. With his arm and his legs. You could see very clearly speed, toughness and leadership. He was voted offensive MVP in the game.

I was thrilled that he was already committed to Bates--the secret was out and he was no longer under the radar. If that performance occurred a year earlier there would have been exponentially more recruiting interest.

He was voted MVP of the Bates offense as a freshman. Had some injures sophomore years but you could see he had "IT".

As for the 9 INTs this year there were at least 3-4 bobbled balls that were coughed up and another INT against Williams when a DT grabbed his arm as he was throwing and the ball fell into another lineman's hands. More of a fumble. I know an INT is an INT but I think the stat this year is a little misleading.

No secret that I am a big supporter of this kid and thrilled to see him getting some recognition. I thought it would be sooner and it surely would have been if not for the overall recent issues within the program. 

[Jonny Utah]

Jonny

I scouted Costa at Case HS. They didn't throw much in that program but this kid always had tremendous arm strength. Little known fact is that he was SE Mass HS Javelin champ.

Mark Harriman and Skip Capone did a great job recruiting him to Bates. Original projection was DB because nobody really knew about his arm.

I attended The Shriners in June of his senior year. He was projected as a DB in that game and issued a jersey number in the 20's.
Sometime during practice leading up to the game a QB was hurt or withdrew from the game and they moved Costa to QB.
He was to back up a heralded Trinity QB recruit whose name I cannot recall.

In the game, the South team stalled on a couple of early drives so off the bench came Costa. He took over the game. With his arm and his legs. You could see very clearly speed, toughness and leadership. He was voted offensive MVP in the game.

I was thrilled that he was already committed to Bates--the secret was out and he was no longer under the radar. If that performance occurred a year earlier there would have been exponentially more recruiting interest.

He was voted MVP of the Bates offense as a freshman. Had some injures sophomore years but you could see he had "IT".

As for the 9 INTs this year there were at least 3-4 bobbled balls that were coughed up and another INT against Williams when a DT grabbed his arm as he was throwing and the ball fell into another lineman's hands. More of a fumble. I know an INT is an INT but I think the stat this year is a little misleading.

No secret that I am a big supporter of this kid and thrilled to see him getting some recognition. I thought it would be sooner and it surely would have been if not for the overall recent issues within the program.

I have friends who coach at Millis and ORR (old Rochester). Saw him play Millis twice.  I don't think he played quarterback until his senior year and Case changed up their offense to suit him.  Lots of QB draws.  I think they were a wing T before his senior year and couldn't  waste his talent at QB in that system.  Good to see him turn out like he did.

[Charlie]

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!

Agree on many of these points and word has that Trinity has a blue chip recruiting class coming in as well as DL who had 30 Sacks Senior year. Will be interesting how these schools re stock.

[The Mole]

Surprised how quiet things are given it is rivalry week. I love nescacman's predictions and preview as much as anyone, but I cannot wait until Friday.

Can the Mammoths make it a game vs the Ephs? If the chalk holds, will they get a clean sweep of OPOY, DPOY, COY and ROY?

Will the real Cards team please show up vs the Bantams in what has been a lopsided affair? (last time Wes won two years in a row was 97-98)

Can the Polar Bears Hammer out a win in the CBB finale? (fun stat--all three CBB squads have -74 point differential--if my math is correct)

Will the Bobcats win two in a row to garner some momentum in a roller coaster season?

Midd vs Tufts could be a high scoring shootout--both coming in having won 7 of last 8 combined, which QB carries them to the W?

Let's get some chatter going here.....let the shenanigans begin

[nescac1]

I think Berlutti has ROY locked up. What's Tufts gonna do at QB next year?   They will likely have three of the top ten QBs in NESCAC ... I assume Woodson could be a nasty WR/TE if he's willing ...

[SpringSt7]

There's really nothing to think Amherst/Williams should be a game. If they could only muster 100+ yards against Trinity's defense Ic cant imagine how much they will struggle on Saturday. With that being said, Williams has not won at Pratt Field in a while (2012 or 2014, can't remember).

As of right now I have Maimaron/Rothmann/Raymond for awards. I think they deserve it to say the least. I think Rothmann is probably the most debatable but he's been so good for so long and there aren't a ton of other real standouts on defense around the league this year. As for ROY, I don't really know if they've said what they're doing in terms of the two classes of newcomers but if it's only true freshmen I think Berluti has it locked down pretty comfortably. If not, Boel enters the conversation. Williams has had a pair of impact freshmen in RB Mario Fischetti and K Ivan Shuran but Fischetti hasn't done enough and Shuran is a kicker (the best in the league this year, with all due respect).

[The Mole]

3 of the top 10 QBs? please flush that out. Not trolling here, what are you basing that upon. 2 of the "backups" could start on other teams,  essentially?

I think Berlutti has ROY locked up. What's Tufts gonna do at QB next year?   They will likely have three of the top ten QBs in NESCAC ... I assume Woodson could be a nasty WR/TE if he's willing ...