FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[GroundandPound]

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

Thank you to whomever publishes nescacfootballreport. Each week you did a thorough and accurate report on the league. As a fan and parent I greatly appreciated your outstanding work.

[muleshoe]

Bowdoin guesses on most Defensive plays. They may think they have the downside covered but they don't. The numbers don't work. Roll the dice. It works in some games and they look like the '85 Chicago Bears but it all plays out in the long run.
3-6.

That approach produces great D stats but they they get burned on the other side...those bad plays don't show up in individual defensive stats.

Following the Bates game with 350 yards rushing allowed on plays where Bears  stunted. gamed and blitzed with less than cover zero I think Coach Cosgrove took a look at the film and said we got these guys which he did. No contest in Brunswick on Saturday.

Agree with you again lumber! Cos and OC Clements had a really good sense of when Bowdoin was going to gamble in bad situations and were able to take advantage of it with enough chunk plays to keep the ball moving. Best example of this was in the 1st quarter, Colby had 3rd and goal from the 10, motioned Smart out to empty, exposing Bowdoin's Cover 0. Drake walked up the middle for a TD on a QB power where the pulling guard had nobody to block because Bowdoin's 5 DL all ran up the field without discipline.

On the DPOY conversation - I think it's clearly between Carbeau, Price and Young. The coaches all watch the film and prep for each of these guys, and I think the decision will come down to who was the toughest to game plan against and contain on gameday. My biased opinion is that Julian Young leads in these categories. He played mostly MLB, but moved around on D and was a top run stopper, pass rusher, and could cover on the backend when asked to do so. Knowing how highly the Colby coaches talk about him too, I would imagine they made a big push at the league meetings for him to be DPOY.

Lumber, it seems like you did not watch the Colby v. Bowdoin game. This game was not won by Coach Cosgrove exploiting the defense with his gameplan. Colby's run game was almost completely shut down all game. In reality, Bowdoin's defense only allowed Colby to score on one long, full field drive, which according to Muleshoe's expert analysis happened because " Bowdoin's 5 DL all ran up the field without discipline". Great touchdown by Drake, but the TD was not due to a lack of discipline.  Again, this was the only full field drive of the game.

Due to an unfortunate 7 turnovers by the offense (credit to Colby's defense, kids played their hearts out),
Here is how Colby's drives went:
Start at own 37= 9 plays, TD
Start at BOW 22= 3 and out, FG
Start at BOW 21= 6 plays, TD
Start at own 21= 6 plays, PUNT
Start at own 25= 4 plays, PUNT
Start at BOW 21= 3 plays, FG
Start at BOW 47= 9 plays, Stopped at the 1
The entire second half resulted in Colby punts, with the sole exception being a 5 play TD drive starting from Bowdoin's own 40.

Bowdoin's "undisciplined" defense allowed one touchdown all game when Colby started from their own side of the field.

I hate to put myself in a defensive position, but as a Bowdoin football alum it bothered me seeing Lumbercat (Bates fan?) and Muleshoe teeing off on these kids who have worked their tails off all year (I also don't understand how Bowdoin's defense became the topic of discussion, I just wanted to express my case for Koy Price for DPOY). Last thing I will say is if you're gonna make blanket statements, at least do your research first.

Here's to hoping Bowdoin brings that CBB back home next year!

Didn't mean for it to come across as "teeing off" on your Polar Bears, and I'd never question their work ethic or dedication. They played tough for all 60 minutes last weekend, when it would have been easy to check out after the half. I was much more critical of the Mules on this message board last year after the opposite result.

FWIW - I reviewed the TD in question, and my vantage point from the first row of the bleachers was clearly distorted... Bowdoin was in fact in Cover 0, but had a double-team on Nye outside, leaving no 2nd level defenders in the middle. Bowdoin only brought 3 as one DE dropped. More of a questionable defensive call, leaving the whole middle of the field wide open in that situation.

Ok - that's too much analysis for one play, was just among my favorite of the night!

[203Nescac]

Didn't mean for it to come across as "teeing off" on your Polar Bears, and I'd never question their work ethic or dedication. They played tough for all 60 minutes last weekend, when it would have been easy to check out after the half. I was much more critical of the Mules on this message board last year after the opposite result.

FWIW - I reviewed the TD in question, and my vantage point from the first row of the bleachers was clearly distorted... Bowdoin was in fact in Cover 0, but had a double-team on Nye outside, leaving no 2nd level defenders in the middle. Bowdoin only brought 3 as one DE dropped. More of a questionable defensive call, leaving the whole middle of the field wide open in that situation.

Ok - that's too much analysis for one play, was just among my favorite of the night!

It is discourse like this that makes NESCAC football so engaging to follow and talk about. Congratulations to you and the mules, looking forward to next year's matchup!

[lumbercat]

Bowdoin guesses on most Defensive plays. They may think they have the downside covered but they don't. The numbers don't work. Roll the dice. It works in some games and they look like the '85 Chicago Bears but it all plays out in the long run.
3-6.

That approach produces great D stats but they they get burned on the other side...those bad plays don't show up in individual defensive stats.

Following the Bates game with 350 yards rushing allowed on plays where Bears  stunted. gamed and blitzed with less than cover zero I think Coach Cosgrove took a look at the film and said we got these guys which he did. No contest in Brunswick on Saturday.

Agree with you again lumber! Cos and OC Clements had a really good sense of when Bowdoin was going to gamble in bad situations and were able to take advantage of it with enough chunk plays to keep the ball moving. Best example of this was in the 1st quarter, Colby had 3rd and goal from the 10, motioned Smart out to empty, exposing Bowdoin's Cover 0. Drake walked up the middle for a TD on a QB power where the pulling guard had nobody to block because Bowdoin's 5 DL all ran up the field without discipline.

On the DPOY conversation - I think it's clearly between Carbeau, Price and Young. The coaches all watch the film and prep for each of these guys, and I think the decision will come down to who was the toughest to game plan against and contain on gameday. My biased opinion is that Julian Young leads in these categories. He played mostly MLB, but moved around on D and was a top run stopper, pass rusher, and could cover on the backend when asked to do so. Knowing how highly the Colby coaches talk about him too, I would imagine they made a big push at the league meetings for him to be DPOY.

Lumber, it seems like you did not watch the Colby v. Bowdoin game. This game was not won by Coach Cosgrove exploiting the defense with his gameplan. Colby's run game was almost completely shut down all game. In reality, Bowdoin's defense only allowed Colby to score on one long, full field drive, which according to Muleshoe's expert analysis happened because " Bowdoin's 5 DL all ran up the field without discipline". Great touchdown by Drake, but the TD was not due to a lack of discipline.  Again, this was the only full field drive of the game.

Due to an unfortunate 7 turnovers by the offense (credit to Colby's defense, kids played their hearts out),
Here is how Colby's drives went:
Start at own 37= 9 plays, TD
Start at BOW 22= 3 and out, FG
Start at BOW 21= 6 plays, TD
Start at own 21= 6 plays, PUNT
Start at own 25= 4 plays, PUNT
Start at BOW 21= 3 plays, FG
Start at BOW 47= 9 plays, Stopped at the 1
The entire second half resulted in Colby punts, with the sole exception being a 5 play TD drive starting from Bowdoin's own 40.

Bowdoin's "undisciplined" defense allowed one touchdown all game when Colby started from their own side of the field.

I hate to put myself in a defensive position, but as a Bowdoin football alum it bothered me seeing Lumbercat (Bates fan?) and Muleshoe teeing off on these kids who have worked their tails off all year (I also don't understand how Bowdoin's defense became the topic of discussion, I just wanted to express my case for Koy Price for DPOY). Last thing I will say is if you're gonna make blanket statements, at least do your research first.

Here's to hoping Bowdoin brings that CBB back home next year!

Don't know how you interpreted my post as a slam on any Bowdoin players- take another look. I know how hard these kids work and I have a lot respect for some fine personnel on that Bowdoin D.
My comments apply to the gamble guess Defensive scheme Bowdoin runs and the mixed results it delivers.

For the record I've said all along Koy Price is the best Defensive weapon in the conference. He would be my candidate for DPOY also.

[Razorback]

There clearly were lot of talented specialists this season.  But wanted to call out the Tufts kicker, Junior Vaughn Seelicke, who had a very strong season:  Leading scorer in the NESCAC and tied NESCAC record for FGs in a season with 14;  Set Tufts records for FGs in a season with 14, FGs in a career with 27; Broke Tufts record for PATs in a career with 92.  He know holds or shares every FG/PAT record, and he has a another season to add to these totals.

[Hogz]

Any ideas of what O linemen and D linemen will make the all NESCAC team? I know forth from Williams and Perry from Middlebury are guaranteed selections.

[BigKat]

There clearly were lot of talented specialists this season.  But wanted to call out the Tufts kicker, Junior Vaughn Seelicke, who had a very strong season:  Leading scorer in the NESCAC and tied NESCAC record for FGs in a season with 14;  Set Tufts records for FGs in a season with 14, FGs in a career with 27; Broke Tufts record for PATs in a career with 92.  He know holds or shares every FG/PAT record, and he has a another season to add to these totals.

Congrats to him on a great career.  However 70pct FG pct with only two makes over 40 puts him middle of the pack this year.

[ItsATuftSituation]

I'm excited to see the All-NESCAC picks out hopefully next week. I hope Berluti gets 1st Team QB, more for his career honors, but we're obviously biased. I think he's got a pretty good shot, we'll see. Would be surprised if Tufts didn't have a strong contingent on defense honored as well. Should be an exciting end to the NESCAC season!

[lumbercat]

Any ideas of what O linemen and D linemen will make the all NESCAC team? I know forth from Williams and Perry from Middlebury are guaranteed selections.

Bates had an exceptional OL which  was selected D3.Football.com.Team of the Week twice this year and opened holes for the leading rusher in the conference.

I think you will see 2 or more Bobcats on OL selections this Tuesday led by Sr left Tackle Pete Simplicio who was the leader of that unit and only guy on the line who was not a FY or sophomore.

[Ephswatcher101]

Any ideas of what O linemen and D linemen will make the all NESCAC team? I know forth from Williams and Perry from Middlebury are guaranteed selections.

I heard Williams OG Forth has a try out with the Tampa Bay Bucs, has anybody else heard this?

[Nescacman]

I'm excited to see the All-NESCAC picks out hopefully next week. I hope Berluti gets 1st Team QB, more for his career honors, but we're obviously biased. I think he's got a pretty good shot, we'll see. Would be surprised if Tufts didn't have a strong contingent on defense honored as well. Should be an exciting end to the NESCAC season!

Knowing the league like we do, Berluti will probably be named 1st Team QB this year. We believe that there are other more deserving choices based on their 2024 body of work (like Zander and Niko). However, the NESCAC coaches are prone to give "lifetime achievement awards" and awarding him first team in 2024 would fall into that category. No doubt he was a very talented player who is among the all-time greats at the position in the NESCAC (we can debate the top all-time great NESCAC QBs later in the off-season...personally, we'd go with Joe Shield or Bobby Maimaron for what it is worth but we digress). As we have pointed out in the past, Berluti clearly missed having all of his weapons this year and we don't think the Tufts O-line was as good as it has been in the past. With that being said, he was second in the conference in total offense and had a decent but not spectacular season. Congratulations to him on a great NESCAC career.

One other note, other than the top 4 or 5 QBs in the NESCAC this year, we thought the overall QB play was "Meh" in 2024. 2025 will be a changing of the guard at the position with 3 of the top 4 teams in the league transitioning to new signal callers and most of the other teams in the league having huge question marks at the position. MIDs Brian Moran and COLs Miles Drake are probably the top returning signal callers. Too many question marks at both Williams and Hamilton to put McHugh and Kurzum in the same breath as Moran and Drake.

NM

[Nescacman]

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

Thank you to whomever publishes nescacfootballreport. Each week you did a thorough and accurate report on the league. As a fan and parent I greatly appreciated your outstanding work.

We agree G&P, they do a very good job (other than their rankings...haha). We hope to collaborate with them a bit in 2025.

NM

[Nescacman]

Nine Weeks: A NESCAC Football Podcast

Episode 10 available now!

Episode 10 features NESCAC Champion Wesleyan Head Football Coach Dan DiCenzo, Wesleyan WR Chase Wilson, and Wesleyan DL Mike Rowan. Should be another great watch/listen. Our weekly show features coach and player interviews, game analysis, rankings, weekly game previews, and predictions. We encourage you to check it out.

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[MikeJones50]

Any ideas of what O linemen and D linemen will make the all NESCAC team? I know forth from Williams and Perry from Middlebury are guaranteed selections.

I heard Williams OG Forth has a try out with the Tampa Bay Bucs, has anybody else heard this?

I have heard this, as well. Wishing him all the best.

[Brady12]

Any ideas of what O linemen and D linemen will make the all NESCAC team? I know forth from Williams and Perry from Middlebury are guaranteed selections.

I heard Williams OG Forth has a try out with the Tampa Bay Bucs, has anybody else heard this?

Tryout? Isn't there a NFL draft.......