FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[BigKat]

Fair enough on their tough schedule so far...But they are a 4-5 maybe 5-4 squad which is exactly the definition of mediocre. Hope they prove me wrong.

[The Mole]

EPHs remaining schedule:

Hamilton
@ Trinity
Bates
@ Wesleyan
Amherst

Will be tough to finish with a winning slate. Did not expect that far of a drop off.

[Doid23]

Ummm, kind of an interesting Twitter exchange here.  However he ends up as a football player, this kid is surely a class act and I say that as a Williams fan:

https://twitter.com/dbagatelle/status/1579189895842926592?s=46&t=f37coF4yQarplPFnVHKePQ

What a strange response from Bagatelle. As far as I can tell, the kid didn't even receive an offer from Wesleyan, or any other school for that matter. Maybe I'm missing something.

[Charlie]

When you're wrong you're wrong. I own my take on this one. After the first series I thought Colby was in a good place, but Wesleyan proved why they were the better team. Makes for a VERY interesting matchup next week against Tufts under the lights. Donuts for everyone!

Checking in to see how this worked out:

Colby keep away plan

20 rushes 21 yards, 17-37 168 yards

189 yard total offense

31-7 @ Half

2 Krispy Kremes, please!

Wesleyans receivers are okay. I don't think the matchup there is as one-sided as you make it out to be. Reid is better than Tomlinson, and the Mules handled him just fine. It's also a question of QB play. Again, against a real defense the Wes Q's went 50% with 3 picks and no TDs. Mudd's defense is elite, but I don't think Colby is a big drop off. Their new DC has improved upon their '21 defense, and I thought their previous guy did a solid job there. I don't see it as a stretch at all to have Colby stifle the Cards offense. If Hersch and the Mules O can play keep away with the ball, this game will be tight. Wes has a chance to prove that they're not pretenders. Excited to see what they do with it.

Scoops what would the defensive game plan be to hold them to 13 points? It is not likely for the Cards to come up that empty in the red zone again. There are mismatches that can be exploited at WR and I am not sure the Mules will be able to close that gap.

I will bet you a glazed donut Wesleyan scores more than 13

Can we make it 2 donuts?!?

I will have to say I was disappointed the game was reminiscent of the old Colby teams  , Coaching and play calling. I thought Colby would have delivered based on this years performance thus far. I have to give credit to Wesleyan a great game  , Coaching and maybe starting to hit their stride as a team. Tufts game against Wesleyan will ceratinly be a good one.

I would love to see that stats on football champions of NESCAC and how many champions had more homes games than away. Without the information I would be shocked that are champions have more home games than away games. The home field in NESCAC is a huge advantage in the league.

[Scoops]

Ephs will win the games there supposed to, and I think I could see them catching a Wes or Trin on a bad day and walking away 5-4 on the year.

EPHs remaining schedule:

Hamilton
@ Trinity
Bates
@ Wesleyan
Amherst

Will be tough to finish with a winning slate. Did not expect that far of a drop off.

[lumbercat]

When you're wrong you're wrong. I own my take on this one. After the first series I thought Colby was in a good place, but Wesleyan proved why they were the better team. Makes for a VERY interesting matchup next week against Tufts under the lights. Donuts for everyone!

Checking in to see how this worked out:

Colby keep away plan

20 rushes 21 yards, 17-37 168 yards

189 yard total offense

31-7 @ Half

2 Krispy Kremes, please!

Wesleyans receivers are okay. I don't think the matchup there is as one-sided as you make it out to be. Reid is better than Tomlinson, and the Mules handled him just fine. It's also a question of QB play. Again, against a real defense the Wes Q's went 50% with 3 picks and no TDs. Mudd's defense is elite, but I don't think Colby is a big drop off. Their new DC has improved upon their '21 defense, and I thought their previous guy did a solid job there. I don't see it as a stretch at all to have Colby stifle the Cards offense. If Hersch and the Mules O can play keep away with the ball, this game will be tight. Wes has a chance to prove that they're not pretenders. Excited to see what they do with it.

Scoops what would the defensive game plan be to hold them to 13 points? It is not likely for the Cards to come up that empty in the red zone again. There are mismatches that can be exploited at WR and I am not sure the Mules will be able to close that gap.

I will bet you a glazed donut Wesleyan scores more than 13

Can we make it 2 donuts?!?

I will have to say I was disappointed the game was reminiscent of the old Colby teams  , Coaching and play calling. I thought Colby would have delivered based on this years performance thus far. I have to give credit to Wesleyan a great game  , Coaching and maybe starting to hit their stride as a team. Tufts game against Wesleyan will ceratinly be a good one.

I would love to see that stats on football champions of NESCAC and how many champions had more homes games than away. Without the information I would be shocked that are champions have more home games than away games. The home field in NESCAC is a huge advantage in the league.

[lumbercat]

I will have to say I was disappointed the game was reminiscent of the old Colby teams  , Coaching and play calling. I thought Colby would have delivered based on this years performance thus far. I have to give credit to Wesleyan a great game  , Coaching and maybe starting to hit their stride as a team. Tufts game against Wesleyan will ceratinly be a good one.

I would love to see that stats on football champions of NESCAC and how many champions had more homes games than away. Without the information I would be shocked that are champions have more home games than away games. The home field in NESCAC is a huge advantage in the league.
[/quote]
[/quote]


Lumbercat wrote:

Since the transition to 9 game schedule in 2017 the schedules of the League Champions breaks down like this:

2017 Trinity 5 home games
2018 Trinity 4 home games
2019 Middlebury 5 home games
2021 Williams 4 home games

[Charlie]

I will have to say I was disappointed the game was reminiscent of the old Colby teams  , Coaching and play calling. I thought Colby would have delivered based on this years performance thus far. I have to give credit to Wesleyan a great game  , Coaching and maybe starting to hit their stride as a team. Tufts game against Wesleyan will ceratinly be a good one.

I would love to see that stats on football champions of NESCAC and how many champions had more homes games than away. Without the information I would be shocked that are champions have more home games than away games. The home field in NESCAC is a huge advantage in the league.

[/quote]


Lumbercat wrote:

Since the transition to 9 game schedule in 2017 the schedules of the League Champions breaks down like this:

2017 Trinity 5 home games
2018 Trinity 4 home games
2019 Middlebury 5 home games
2021 Williams 4 home games
[/quote]

I asked this because it felt like the champs seem to have a home field advantage on their way to title but appears that is not the case.

I also want to give props to Middlebury on a great game this past weekend. They seem to be be hitting their stride. i did hear the injury bug is plauging Middlebury hopefully these players will be able to play this weekend. I think this year more than past indicates the effects of bad recruiting classes and not planning for the future.

I think NESCAC is going to see some change coming.

[Nescacman]

We've said it before and we'll say it again, ALL of these student-athletes are great kids, no matter what team they play for (yes, even if they play for Hartford State, the Purple Cows and the Lord Mammoths)...as far as Maldjian being injured, that's too bad...seems like he's on track to be the next Frank Stola...btw, as far as being hurt "AGAIN", to the best of our knowledge, he quit the Middlebury football team after his stellar freshman year, he was not injured...

Nescacman:  Why are you so LAZY?  Why would you continue to insist that Alex Maldjian 'quit'. 

A simple conversation with anyone connected to the MIDD program would reveal that he had knee surgery in September 2021 to repair a torn ACL. Sadly, he was injured again while MIDD was beating up on massively overrated Wesleyan in week 2.

I love that you hate MIDD, and I don't care to figure out why as you've been the ultimate reverse indicator, but in this instance, your value judgment about being a quitter is wrong and irresponsible. 

Grow up and do your homework.  You owe Alex Maldjian an apology. .   

We're not talking about 2021. Our (very good) sources tell us that he would not have played had their been a 2020 season having nothing to do with an injury. He may have come back in 2021 but as far as 2020, he would not have played.

We don't hate MID (as some of your other MID boardsters will tell you) or any other NESCAC school (except for Williams, Amwurst and Hartford State...ha-ha). We just call it like it is. MID is fortunate to be 4-0 (we'll present facts to support that when we post this week's rankings) and Saturday will be the true indicator of that.

We respect HCOF Ritter and are rooting for Doug to get the HCOF job (which with his recent promotion, we expect that is pretty much a done deal). Good luck Saturday and Go Pants!

[SpringSt7]

...as far as Maljdian being injured, that's too bad...seems like he's on track to be the next Frank Stola...btw, as far as being hurt "AGAIN", to the best of our knowledge, he quit the Middlebury football team after his stellar freshman year, he was not injured...

As far as I can tell, Frank Stola played in 33 games across 4 years for the Ephs, not to mention rewriting the entire record book

[BigKat]

saw Bates @ Amherst Sat...surprising how physically small they are vs say Trinity and Midd squads. Just an observation.

[Nescacman]

...as far as Maljdian being injured, that's too bad...seems like he's on track to be the next Frank Stola...btw, as far as being hurt "AGAIN", to the best of our knowledge, he quit the Middlebury football team after his stellar freshman year, he was not injured...

As far as I can tell, Frank Stola played in 33 games across 4 years for the Ephs, not to mention rewriting the entire record book

Spring old friend...how have you been? Hopefully, we will see you in Middletown on November 5th...Come by the tailgate for a (free) beer and we can toast to our mutual friend Renzie and have a smoke...we know you like that...

Stola was a beast and not having him around from a talent and leadership perspective is one reason the Ephs have 3 loses...We're surprised that Stola only played in 33 games (only one more game than we played in our career, btw)...out of a possible how many games??? We know he did have some injuries at times...he is definitely missed...

[oxen1999]

Ummm, kind of an interesting Twitter exchange here.  However he ends up as a football player, this kid is surely a class act and I say that as a Williams fan:

https://twitter.com/dbagatelle/status/1579189895842926592?s=46&t=f37coF4yQarplPFnVHKePQ

What a strange response from Bagatelle. As far as I can tell, the kid didn't even receive an offer from Wesleyan, or any other school for that matter. Maybe I'm missing something.

He did the same thing to my son who is a Freshman Defensive lineman at Hamilton. What grown adult trolls a 17 year old kid?

[nescac1]

Raymond is a great coach, and has coached a lot of great talent (Stola being one of the best, of course), so I'm not trying to diminish any of that, but it just shows how critical the QB position, and just how incredibly talented Bobby Maimaron was as a player and a leader (far, far better than his stats reflect, and his stats were great), that Raymond is now 1-12 with someone OTHER than Maimaron as his starting QB, and 27-7 WITH Maimaron as QB (excluding the one loss where he was injured half-way through the game).  Truly one of the greatest winners NESCAC has ever seen. 

That's not to say that's the ONLY reason the Ephs have struggled to start the year, but it's certainly the biggest one by far.  Losing two top receiving targets and two elite offensive linemen, plus losing some great coaching talent on the offensive side of the ball, had really hurt.  The defense has also really missed the elite LBs who graduated but has, frankly, underperformed based on the talent on hand.  At times the D has played well, especially vs. the run, but it has struggled with blown coverages from week one, it's just crazy how open receivers have consistently been at critical points in games.  Three first years (due to a combo of injuries and performance) have gotten more and more time in the secondary which might be a good sign for the unit's future but is generally not where you want to be at this point in the season.  Hopefully the Ephs can figure out who their QB is this week vs. Hamilton and have a bounce-back week. 

One concern for the Ephs long-term is that the last few recruiting classes have been small.  The Ephs have only 54 non-seniors on the roster, so next year's roster (assuming some natural attrition) is likely to be well below 75 guys.  Tough when some other schools have over 90 .... but still, there is enough talent on hand that if the Ephs can develop or find another great QB (easier said than done!), they can be back in the NESCAC mix after what's turning into a disappointing year.  Especially with Amherst still struggling and some absolutely LOADED senior classes departing Tufts, Wesleyan, Trinity, and maybe others after this season ... 

As for Amherst, the Mammoths have also struggled mightily at the QB position the last few years.  But Amherst has rarely had elite QBs (usually more the very solid game-manager type); usually they are, however, absolutely loaded at the OL and TB positions, which no longer seems to be the case.  Amherst seems to have an especially weak senior class, very few senior starters, so not inconceivable they can bounce back, especially if they can improve at QB as well. 

[Nescacman]

Raymond is a great coach, and has coached a lot of great talent (Stola being one of the best, of course), so I'm not trying to diminish any of that, but it just shows how critical the QB position, and just how incredibly talented Bobby Maimaron was as a player and a leader (far, far better than his stats reflect, and his stats were great), that Raymond is now 1-12 with someone OTHER than Maimaron as his starting QB, and 27-7 WITH Maimaron as QB (excluding the one loss where he was injured half-way through the game).  Truly one of the greatest winners NESCAC has ever seen. 

That's not to say that's the ONLY reason the Ephs have struggled to start the year, but it's certainly the biggest one by far.  Losing two top receiving targets and two elite offensive linemen, plus losing some great coaching talent on the offensive side of the ball, had really hurt.  The defense has also really missed the elite LBs who graduated but has, frankly, underperformed based on the talent on hand.  At times the D has played well, especially vs. the run, but it has struggled with blown coverages from week one, it's just crazy how open receivers have consistently been at critical points in games.  Three first years (due to a combo of injuries and performance) have gotten more and more time in the secondary which might be a good sign for the unit's future but is generally not where you want to be at this point in the season.  Hopefully the Ephs can figure out who their QB is this week vs. Hamilton and have a bounce-back week. 

One concern for the Ephs long-term is that the last few recruiting classes have been small.  The Ephs have only 54 non-seniors on the roster, so next year's roster (assuming some natural attrition) is likely to be well below 75 guys.  Tough when some other schools have over 90 .... but still, there is enough talent on hand that if the Ephs can develop or find another great QB (easier said than done!), they can be back in the NESCAC mix after what's turning into a disappointing year.  Especially with Amherst still struggling and some absolutely LOADED senior classes departing Tufts, Wesleyan, Trinity, and maybe others after this season ... 

As for Amherst, the Mammoths have also struggled mightily at the QB position the last few years.  But Amherst has rarely had elite QBs (usually more the very solid game-manager type); usually they are, however, absolutely loaded at the OL and TB positions, which no longer seems to be the case.  Amherst seems to have an especially weak senior class, very few senior starters, so not inconceivable they can bounce back, especially if they can improve at QB as well.

Well put nescac1...we've been saying for years how increasingly important the QB position has become in modern day football whether it is the NFL, D1, D3 or high school...chalk that up to more complex defensive schemes, increased optionality in the offensive schemes team play, speed of play, increased skill of the players or any other reason you can think of...there is definitively a direct correlation between winning and having a good Q, NESCAC being no exception...

As far as Maimaron is concerned, his leadership skills cannot be understated and we don't think #45 TJ Rothmann was too far behind, from what we understand...losing both is huge...we are confidant that HCOF Raymond will figure it out...he's done a stellar job of turning the Program around and they are nowhere near the level of where they were when he came on-board...