FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

Yeah, GroundandPound, the Trinity QB is legit as a dual-threat option.  He keeps a lot of plays alive with his legs, and while he missed on 1-2 deep balls, as those highlights reflect, in the short and medium range he was right on the money every time. 

[Nescacman]

Please, please, anything but this Trinity discussion. There is simply no chance that ANYTHING that can be said about Trinity's football program that doesn't relate to actual players on the field has not already been said many, many, many times already.  For a "football" board it's amazing how devoid of actual discussion of football this place is.

So on a football note, Nolan O'Brien has to be the fastest player in the league.  Yeah, Williams' pass coverage was less than stellar, but looking at these highlights the dude is just a flat burner - the guys he is roasting in open space are not slow.  Not sure if he was always like this or has taken a leap this season, but dang, he is a tough cover.  Trinity is (like last year) using him at PR, KR, and receiver, and once he gets into space, he's a threat to break one every time:

https://x.com/FrankRossi/status/1840111551011008543

https://x.com/FrankRossi/status/1840092159157882942

https://x.com/FrankRossi/status/1840111551011008543 

Very, very hard to contain both O'Brien and Clapp, you have to pick your poison.  And DiNapoli very tough too, really shifty runner.   

Amen nescac1, we completely agree.

As far as speed in the NESCAC, we'd put Chase Wilson in the conversation with Nolan O'Brien as the fastest player in the league. Would love to see a race between those two...they both can fly.

By the way, your "pick your poison" quote relating to choosing between Clapp and O'Brien was actually echoed by Coach Raymond on our podcast last week.

[lumbercat]

Aww, you guys I'm disappointed... it usually takes until much later in the season for you to start whining that"Trinity only wins because they cheat". 

I've shared this before but it's worth resurfacing the facts when the baseless allegations start flying. The U.S. Department of Education produces an Equity in Athletics Data Analysis. Feel free to do your own research, but I've listed below the data relevant to NESCAC football program expenses and the percent of the overall athletics expenses that are allocated to football:
                 

School	Football Expenses	% of Overall Athletics Expenses
Tufts	$962,949	15.7%
Trinity	$988,685	15.6%
Hamilton	$789,895	15.2%
Amherst	$816,390	13.1%
Bowdoin	$731,065	12.3%
Wesleyan	$718,959	12.1%
Colby	$852,876	11.5%
Bates	$599,090	10.9%
Middlebury	$598,816	10.9%
Williams	$596,176	9.5%

As you can see Trinity is toward the top echelon of schools who invest in their football program, but they're certainly not an outlier. Furthermore, despite the frequent accusations by posters on this board, no one has ever produced any evidence that Trinity uses a larger percentage of their allotted tips for football than other sports. They follow all NESCAC and NCAA rules.

Are there kids who get into Trinity that don't get into other NESCAC schools? Yeah, of course. Does Trinity also frequently win recruiting battles for kids who were accepted to other NESCAC schools? Also, yes. There is a negligible (if any) difference between the overall quality of student on any football rosters in the NESCAC. As for their dismal career prospects; Trinity ranks 6th among NESCAC schools in mid-career median salary at $146,900 annually so you can spare them your pity.

Regarding the claim that kids should chose another NESCAC school so they have a chance to play more. Go for it. We used to joke that all the kids who quit or were cut from our Trinity teams would finish no worse than 5th in the NESCAC if they fielded a team. However, I wonder what someone like Zander Zebrowski would have to say about this. Sure, he sat on the bench for three years behind one of the greatest statistical QBs in league history (and picked up two rings along the way). But now he's the runaway favorite for OPY leading the only undefeated team in the league. Would he have been happier as a starter the last three seasons going 6-21 for Bates? Maybe... but I doubt it.

Finally, I applaud the NESCAC for the strong showing of its member schools in the Director's Cup standings. However, having a nationally ranked field hockey team, or swimming & diving program, or women's golf team, etc. is irrelevant to a NESCAC football board. I say this one year after Trinity had both it's men's basketball team in the Final Four and men's hockey team in the National Championship game. Now, would anyone like to comment on the games or just more whining about big bad Trinity?

I personally feel this weekend's game will be the biggest challenge for the Bants all season. Tufts has athletes that can match Trinity and the game is in Medford where each of the past four match-ups have been decided by a touchdown or less:

2022: Trinity 26 - Tufts 23
2019: Tufts 14 - Trinity 8
2017: Trinity 23 - Tufts 16
2015: Trinity 34 - Tufts 27

Here's how ESPN's Bill Connelly SP+ computer projections (which now has Trinity as a Top 25 ranked school) see things shaking out in the NESCAC this week:

Colby 20.5, Bates 13.9
Middlebury 19.7, Amherst 14.6
Trinity 28.6, Tufts 12.9
Wesleyan 34.2, Hamilton 6.1
Williams 31.3, Bowdoin 15.5

9-0
That NCAA website you rely on doesn't take into account accounting and departmental differences as to how expenses are are accrued, assigned and recorded at all schools. Huge accounting differences among the schools.
I know first hand that Bates spends a lot more than the number you posted so I believe all the numbers are probably not reliable. The Trinity numbers are not accurate either. Trin spends well over 1 mill on football but there is a lot of accounting deception on how they account for college spending as they hide in the veil of outside contributions and how they report expenses.

[Nescacman]

Coming later tonight (Thursday)...

Nine Weeks: A NESCAC Football Podcast

Episode 4 featuring Bates College Head Football Coach Matt Coyne and former Trinity College All-NESCAC DL Cooper Mandel. Please join us for our objective weekly game analysis, previews, picks, and more!

The podcast is available on YouTube and Spotify. Search for "9 Weeks NESCAC"...the first and only podcast of its kind.

If you have questions, feedback, ideas or are a player or a coach and would like to appear on our show, please email us at: 9weeksnescac@gmail.com

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[GroundandPound]

https://nescacfootballreport.com/weekly-previews/

[Pat Coleman]

That NCAA website you rely on doesn't take into account accounting and departmental differences as to how expenses are are accrued, assigned and recorded at all schools.

Not denying your basic assertion (and certainly not trying to support your use of the term "deception"), but just pointing out that the Equity in Athletics data is on the U.S. Department of Education website, not the NCAA's.

[unionpalooza]

So funny how defensive the Trinity guys get when challenged. The entire Nescac football community, potential recruits and future employers all know that Trinity compromises the academic standards that the rest of the programs adhere to. Further, the amount of "over-accepting" every year, followed by extensive "cuts" to their existing roster guys is somewhat disingenuous. They never admit it openly, and it just amazes me that incoming recruits don't see it.
Sure is a great formula to "buy the wins & championships"!

It's funny, as a neutral observer who sometimes reads this board, it's never the Trinity guys who strike me as defensive. 

[Trin9-0]

9-0
That NCAA website you rely on doesn't take into account accounting and departmental differences as to how expenses are are accrued, assigned and recorded at all schools. Huge accounting differences among the schools.
I know first hand that Bates spends a lot more than the number you posted so I believe all the numbers are probably not reliable. The Trinity numbers are not accurate either. Trin spends well over 1 mill on football but there is a lot of accounting deception on how they account for college spending as they hide in the veil of outside contributions and how they report expenses.

So much for moving on... 

You know what lumber; I give up. YOU'RE RIGHT! Trinity cheats and they always have. They also cover up their crimes with illegal accounting to trick the D3 football message board posters. Their players are all stupid and should have never even gotten into college. But it doesn't matter since they'll never get a job anyways because Trinity is just a community college handing out worthless degrees. Also, Devanney stinks and only wins because of the aforementioned cheating.

Now that we've cleared it all up; how do you like the Bobcats chances to start a winning streak with a CBB win over the Mules in Waterville on Saturday!?

[Nescacman]

9-0
That NCAA website you rely on doesn't take into account accounting and departmental differences as to how expenses are are accrued, assigned and recorded at all schools. Huge accounting differences among the schools.
I know first hand that Bates spends a lot more than the number you posted so I believe all the numbers are probably not reliable. The Trinity numbers are not accurate either. Trin spends well over 1 mill on football but there is a lot of accounting deception on how they account for college spending as they hide in the veil of outside contributions and how they report expenses.

So much for moving on... 

You know what lumber; I give up. YOU'RE RIGHT! Trinity cheats and they always have. They also cover up their crimes with illegal accounting to trick the D3 football message board posters. Their players are all stupid and should have never even gotten into college. But it doesn't matter since they'll never get a job anyways because Trinity is just a community college handing out worthless degrees. Also, Devanney stinks and only wins because of the aforementioned cheating.

Now that we've cleared it all up; how do you like the Bobcats chances to start a winning streak with a CBB win over the Mules in Waterville on Saturday!?

We will have a full analysis on the Frisky Kitties v. Colby C-B-B battle tomorrow when we post our picks, however, we see a close, relatively low scoring game. We're going with the home team and the better defense. Mules win a close game at home. Wouldn't be shocked if UBates were to come away with a win. They need to avoid an emotional letdown after a big win at Wesleyan last week. As far as win probability, 60% Colby/40%UBates.

[lumbercat]

9-0
That NCAA website you rely on doesn't take into account accounting and departmental differences as to how expenses are are accrued, assigned and recorded at all schools. Huge accounting differences among the schools.
I know first hand that Bates spends a lot more than the number you posted so I believe all the numbers are probably not reliable. The Trinity numbers are not accurate either. Trin spends well over 1 mill on football but there is a lot of accounting deception on how they account for college spending as they hide in the veil of outside contributions and how they report expenses.

So much for moving on... 

You know what lumber; I give up. YOU'RE RIGHT! Trinity cheats and they always have. They also cover up their crimes with illegal accounting to trick the D3 football message board posters. Their players are all stupid and should have never even gotten into college. But it doesn't matter since they'll never get a job anyways because Trinity is just a community college handing out worthless degrees. Also, Devanney stinks and only wins because of the aforementioned cheating.

Now that we've cleared it all up; how do you like the Bobcats chances to start a winning streak with a CBB win over the Mules in Waterville on Saturday!?

Not sure where you came up with all this stuff you are pinning on me. I didn't say Trinity cheats and I made no comment about Trinity Football player intelligence, the value of a Trinity diploma or any of the other recent disparaging posts directed at Trinity. I wasn't involved in any of those exchanges so your wrath should be directed against those boardsters.

As I said in a post a while back Trinity is a great program so why let yourself get bogged down with the negativity towards Trinity that has existed over the years which has resurfaced in the past week.

Again, I was not involved in the recent dialog only made a comment about the accuracy of financial figures on the referenced NCAA website. I used the word deceptive in my post. I apologize for that choice of words. I will take that back and call it creative but acceptable accounting of Football costs and expenses which is also the case at other NESCAC schools as well. That being said, I don't think  differences in accounting has any influence on winning or losing football games at any school. There is no limit on Football spending at any NESCAC school.

Check the record on my past comments. Ive said I admired the success of a great football program. I've always said at Trinity they are very strongly committed to winning Football games and there is more done in that winning quest at Trinity than any other NESCAC program. Never called them cheaters.

Others would kill for those rings but with excellence come the negative slams and comments from others which seem at times to get into some Bantam heads.


As for this week in Waterville it should be a good one. Colby has a better team than the record shows. They are a much more experienced team but it's a great rivalry game. Hoping the Bobcats can find a way to pull out a victory as they continue Coach Coyne's rebuilding process.

[Trin9-0]

Fair enough, lumber. That response should have been levied at the broader group of Trinity bashers beyond just you. I admittedly included the gamut of falsehoods spewed about the school and the football program into a single tirade and you're far from responsible for all of them.

Best of luck against the Mules. For what it's worth, I think Coyne is very smart to shift his program to more of an option style attack which was used successfully by Mark Harriman the last time the Bobcats were respectable. I'm sure you recall they had a four year stretch from 2011-2014 where they played .500 football, including their last winning season in 2012 where Bates finished 5-3 winning the CBB in addition to wins over Tufts, Williams and Hamilton).

When you aren't able to get the same type of athletes (for whatever the reasons) as your competition, you need to get creative. The service academies have used this method to stay competitive in FBS for decades.

[Charlie]

Lets not loose sight of the fact that Williams came into the game with a solid game plan run North South ground and pound with short high percentage passing. I think this game while taking nothng away from Trinity shows the superior Coaching of the Bantams staff. Willims got away for some reason on what worked. Again some head scartching calls by Williams. I do not know why they tried to start throwing the ball when they were averaging around 4.5 yards per carry.I think we are giving HC Raymond from Williams a pass. Williams offense was not giving anytime their QB anytime  to throw and Trinity was relentless on pressure. Why no call some screens to slow down pass rush ?

Trinity was punched early and answered the call with 45 unanswered points nothing was said about that. In fact had they connected on a long pass play the score would have been higher. For a few seasons Williams was blaming their young team and lack of depth or talent. How about too many men on the field on a critical play. These are all coaching errors.

Lets not forget injuries have taken its toll on Trinity but they have the next man up philosophy. We can only keep giving Williams a pass for so long. These teams were equally matched in several categories but the better team was prepared and stepped up.

The Same can be said for Wesleyan how long are we going to keep giving Wesleyan a pass for their head scratching losses. We even discussed this prior to the weekend. Wesleyan came through and threw up another head scartching loss at home mind you.

I think instead of throwing accusations and trying to discredit the program we should be praising the Coaching staff for the job they are doing. Perhaps more schools should be trying to emulate them instead of trying to discredit there success.

The arugument about the schools athletics is also crazy. Basketball , hockey both in girls and Boys has been extremely successful not to mention there squash program. I think any of these schools can be successful if they choose. Trinity puts out a great number of athletes and students and every school has the opportunity to be sucessful and hire Coaching and attract athletes lets not fault a school who puts an emphasis on their sports programs.We ere not having this conversation when Amherst had those winning football programs for many years.

Trinity while winning also gets many younger classman involved and prepares them for future years. All the signs of a great program.

[Nescacman]

2024 NESCACMAN Week 3 Power Rankings

1). Hartford State Bantams (Record: 3-0; Last Week Rank: 1; 10 first place votes): The Bants come away with a big win in the Coop taking sole possession of first place in the NESCAC. The Ephs jumped out to a 14-0 lead before Hartford State responded with 45 unanswered points. Ephs would have needed a lot more than 10 points to cover the spread against HS. Bants were led by QB Zander Zembrowski who tossed 4 TD's and Nolan O'Brien who had over 200 yards receiving and 3 TDs. The Bants amassed almost 500 yards of total offense against the Eph D. Meanwhile, the HS defense had 4 sacks and an interception. Hartford State travels to Medford this week to play the Jumbo's in an important week #4 match-up.

Charlie, please review our rankings above from Monday. We clearly discussed and noted the 45 point unanswered barrage by Hartford State. I believe some of our fellow Boardsters also mentioned it...FYI.

We also discussed Wesleyan at length on the Board. No one gets a pass here.

Where were you all week?

NM

[Charlie]

Sometimes gets old when everytime Trinity wins people just want to go back to same line items. Williams , Wesleyan should be berated for the Coaching blunders and not preparing there teams. Just appeared to be a pass to these schools

[Nescacman]

Episode 4 now available!

Nine Weeks: A NESCAC Football Podcast

Episode 4 featuring Bates College Head Football Coach Matt Coyne and Former Trinity College All-NESCAC DL Cooper Mandel available now! Please join us for our objective weekly game analysis, previews, picks, and more!

The podcast is available on YouTube and Spotify. Search for "9 Weeks NESCAC"...the first and only podcast of its kind.

If you have questions, feedback, ideas or are a player or a coach and would like to appear on our show, please email us at: 9weeksnescac@gmail.com

Follow us on X (aka Twitter): @nineweeksnescac
Follow us on Instagram: @nineweeksnescac
Facebook: Nine Weeks: A NESCAC Football Podcast (https://www.facebook.com/share/g/141Ru3gKgk/)