FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[lumbercat]

Nice report NM

2 things- if it rains like hell will they move the game from the old yard to the best practice facility in the NESCAC?

You accurately point out that Boel can sling it.....but only when he's been allowed to sit in the pocket and set his feet by teams who don't respect the Bowdoin passing attack and either refuse to bring blitz/stunt pressure or are just incapable of doing so.

When Bowdoin senses blitz pressure they might bring in FY #24 Luke Watson, a promising guy in Bowdoin future (who Wes passed on). The kid has not run the ball beyond 5 attempts all year but they love to throw him a screen, usually to the left with righty QB Boels. He's broken a few big runs on that play, one for a TD at Hamilton.

Bowdoin has a very fine receiver in King who flies under the Fahey/Hoggard radar. He runs underneath routes from the slot. He's listed as a TE (maybe for all conference consideration) but he seldom lines up on the line of scrimmage. He a big slot receiver who takes a lot of teams by surprise. Not a TE, but a fine 5th year player for the Black and White.

[Nescacman]

Nice report NM

2 things- if it rains like hell will they move the game from the old yard to the best practice facility in the NESCAC?

You accurately point out that Boel can sling it.....but only when he's been allowed to sit in the pocket and set his feet by teams who don't respect the Bowdoin passing attack and either refuse to bring blitz/stunt pressure or are just incapable of doing so.

When Bowdoin senses blitz pressure they might bring in FY #24 Luke Watson, a promising guy in Bowdoin future (who Wes passed on). The kid has not run the ball beyond 5 attempts all year but they love to throw him a screen, usually to the left with righty QB Boels. He's broken a few big runs on that play, one for a TD at Hamilton.

Bowdoin has a very fine receiver in King who flies under the Fahey/Hoggard radar. He runs underneath routes from the slot. He's listed as a TE (maybe for all conference consideration) but he seldom lines up on the line of scrimmage. He a big slot receiver who takes a lot of teams by surprise. Not a TE, but a fine 5th year player for the Black and White.

Thanks Lumber...feel free to come by the best TG in the 'CAC tomorrow if you are so inclined. Look for the guy with the gag on and the Polar Bear suit. 

As of 5:21 PM, our sources tell us we are a go on Ole' Andrus...only 1/2" of rain expected in Central CT so we should be fine...

We like the players you mentioned as well, but don't want to go too deep for our casual viewers...surprised you did not mention your wildcat QB, Robbie Long, who has been effective at times for the Polars...King has been good and obviously, due to his size, presents match-up problems for opposing DBs...Wes will get some of their walking wounded back and we expect that may help them clean-up some of the problems over the last few weeks....If the last few years are any indication, should be a great battle in this week's only decent match-up in the NESCAC.

[lumbercat]

Prior to last week against Bates Long ran the ball 95% of the time between the tackles- Bears wisely threw a new wrinkle in the mix against Bates letting him throw a few last week. A key to the game will be the Wes pass rush. Send our old Bobcat friend Carmichael on a blitz or two.

[Nescacman]

Prior to last week against Bates Long ran the ball 95% of the time between the tackles- Bears wisely threw a new wrinkle in the mix against letting him throw a few last week. A key to the game will be the Wes pass rush. Send our old Bobcat friend Carmichael on a blitz or two.

Brian is a fine LB and a future Oscar winning filmmaker...we thank you for letting us have him!

[lumbercat]

His experience was evidently a negative one...no longer the case since the arrival of one Matthew Coyne.

[Nescacman]

His experience was evidently a negative one...no longer the case since the arrival of one Matthew Coyne.

As we have said before, we believe the coming out party for the new look Kitties is 2025...our only caveat to that is they will be have a new QB in '25 after Bosselait graduates and we know how new QB's generally work out in the NESCAC in their inaugural season...by '25, 2/3rds of the C-B-B may be headed by ex-Cardinals which will also be interesting to watch.

Good luck today vs. the Pants...we're big Kittie fans today!

[Scoops]

Interesting comment NM. Care to shed some more insight into it? 

by '25, 2/3rds of the C-B-B may be headed by ex-Cardinals which will also be interesting to watch.

[muleshoe]

Interesting comment NM. Care to shed some more insight into it? 

by '25, 2/3rds of the C-B-B may be headed by ex-Cardinals which will also be interesting to watch.

I think he's implying Shea Dwyer (Colby's OC and Recruiting Coordinator) may succeed Cos when the day comes

[nescac1]

Berkshire Eagle reports that Fischetti is out for the season (but won't need surgery) for Williams.  I imagine something like a broken bone in his knee, which is kind of how it looked when it happened.  Two fluke injuries ended each of his last two seasons in game four, a huge blow for the Ephs and what a tough break for him, a guy who just cannot be tackled in space (and sometimes in traffic) despite his stature.  Such a fun player to watch and a huge bummer.  Hopefully he comes into his senior year 100 percent and finally has some better injury luck so he can be a legit OPOY candidate.  Meanwhile, a chance for a ton of mostly very young skills guys to develop over the next four weeks, and McHugh is the guy who really needs to show the most growth. 

So, Williams will have no choice but to try to open up the offense because with no Fischetti and hyped FY back Marvan yet to make an appearance this year due to injury, they are down to a rotation of three TBs initially projected as depth guys.  Jon Oris has looked better in recent weeks especially last week as a receiver out of the backfield but I'd also like to see what FY Thorbahn can do.  Realistically, though, to be competitive over these next 4 games, McHugh is going to have to get a lot of rushing yards and the team is going to have to find much more of both a quick hitting and down the field passing game.  I'm sure they will turn it over a bunch but they just have to air it out with no Fischetti to carry them.  They finally went to Sam Jaffe last week and he looks like a big target who can actually do some damage over the middle, I'd target him more.  Holden Gehring has barely been seen after his big week one and Williams needs to get him the ball in space to use his speed.  Cam Lee can also get down the field at least.   Against Trinity, no Fischetti, it would take a miracle, but the rest of the schedule does feature some very winnable games, at least.  But it sure won't be easy. 

The Eph defense has featured good seasons from Cameron Smith, CJ Vilfort, Ethan Scott, Tim Landolfi, George Papadopoulos, and Justice McGrail.  Vilfort and Landolfi are seniors with another year of eligibility to it's possible that entire group could be back.  The D has mostly been solid against the run and has made big plays in the passing game (plenty of INTs, PBUs, and sacks) but the achilles heel has been giving up big passing plays down the field, including on too many 3rd and long type situations.  The D will have to carry the Ephs more than it already has going forward and to do so the top priority is tighter downfield coverage without getting penalized (also an issue, a lot of defensive holding and interference penalties in bad spots). 

[Nescacman]

Game is officially on Andrus...raining here in Middletown...may stop soon then start up again around game time. Looks like a sloppy day here. Neither team has particularly looked like good "mudders" so should be interesting to see if who perseveres and prevails today.

Btw, nice to hear from nescac1...we were worried about you. See you in 2 weeks.

#rollcards

[JumboJerry]

PAT WALSH FORCES THE TURNOVER. HE DOES IT ALL!!!!! #PATWALSH

[The Ghost of John Wesley]

I didn't see the Wes-Bowdoin game but was checking the box score periodically. Saw 35-7 Wes lead after the end of the third and figured it was signed and sealed. Checked the league scores later and saw the 35-30 final?! What the hell happened in the 4th and how did Bowdoin nearly claw back the victory? That's a lot of points to give up sitting on a four score lead in wet/rainy conditions.

Glad they held on for the win, but whoa.

[quicksilver]

That was a tough one for my Polars. Wesleyan scored 2 TDs off Boel turn-overs in the 2d quarter (one a fumble and the other an interception). Otherwise, Bowdoin dominated statistically, rolling up more than 500 yards on offense and holding Wesleyan's to something like 250 yards, 30 1st downs to 16, etc. . . . Bowdoin's vulnerabilities were basically as described on this site in terms of Boel making mistakes when rushed but he still managed to throw for more than 400 yards.

[lumbercat]

Boel is a fine QB- spunky and tough- a real competitor.

Bowdoin led 7-0 early and looked to be in total control. Down 7-0 Wes decided to turn up heat on Boels and the Wes D then scored 2 defensive TDs to go up 14-7. That lead was all the Wes offense needed to find their rhythm.  It was 21-7 at the half and 35-7 early in the fourth quarter.

With the big lead Wes decided to drop the QB pressure and sit back in a soft zone. Boels proceeded to pick them apart from that point on. While the game was not quite as close as the final score implies Bowdoin deserves an immense of credit for hanging in the way they did. On the road, in tough weather conditions others might mail it in.

[jumbolina]

Imagine going to Amherst. Haha #Depression #PatWalsh