FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Congrats to the D3football.com second team All-Region selection.

[Col. Partridge]

God forbid a D-I coach come to a different conclusion than the d3football all-region voters (especially when it concerns a NESCAC athlete).

[Pat Coleman]

Don't know what that was all about, but OK ...

[Jonny Utah]

Im going to say there are 10 d3 starting kickers that would start at the 10 d1 schools that have the worst 10 kickers....

[Pat Coleman]

I'm sure -- I would think in general the top two kickers in any region could kick D-I.

Still trying to figure out what the snarky comment was about in response to my congratulations. Was the first-team All-Region kicker in N.C. State's camp, too? Did they have D-III All-American kickers trying out? How did N.C. State "come to a different conclusion" than we did?

[Col. Partridge]

My snarky comment was in response to what I construed to be a backhanded compliment of Hauschka (who I don't know from a hole in the wall).  If you were sincerely congratulating him, mea culpa. 

[bant551]

Kicker is probably the one position in D-III where you'll find a fair number of guys who could be playing at top-flight I-A schools. 

Remember how bad Florida's kicker was the past few years?

BC's kicker walked on, and I'm sure there are D-III guys who are at the same level, if not better.

There are plenty of other examples.  Basically, I know for sure that there are D-IA kickers who consistently miss 40-yarders, and there are D-III'ers who can consistently make them.

Not going to find that at any other position, I don't think.  I've always thought that a lot of D-III kickers could hack it at the higher levels.

[frank uible]

The primary reason for that condition is that not infrequently some DIA colleges do not provide grants-in-aid to placekickers and/or punters. You get what you pay for.

[nescac1]

Amherst football preview is up:

https://cms.amherst.edu/athletics/teams/fall/football/preview

Looks like a pretty young squad.  Apparently, according to the preview, this monster is now a Lord Jeff (although odd that he is still listed on Cincinnati's roster, and odd that he is a first year after a year of college):

http://gobearcats.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/fugett_reggie00.html

If he was a scholarship player at a Big East school, I imagine he will terrorize the NESCAC.  I posted awhile back that Amherst also has a 6'6 receiver coming in who was recruited by D-1 schools.  Hard to imagine how NESCAC defensive backs will stand a chance once those guys get experience and start to share the field.  Amherst apparently brought SIX frosh QB's in, according to that preview, so I imagine they'll find someone better-than-decent to toss them the football with NINE underclassmen QB's on the roster. 

By the way, this may be a crazy conspiracy theory, but it does seem that NESCAC schools (at least Williams and Amherst) seem to bring in dominant football recruiting classes right when they are gearing up for a fundraising campaign.  The scheduled conclusion of the last two Williams campaigns coincided with periods of football dominance (1993/1994 and 2006/2007).  Amherst's most dominant teams in recent memory coincided with its last campaign in 1997-1998.  Amherst is about to launch another huge campaign, so I wouldn't be surprised if this frosh class (plus the current sophomores, who also seem like an unusually talented group) go on to great things over the next few years.  Maybe I'm nuts, but it is a fun theory to consider ...  when Amherst goes 8-0 in two years, remember where you heard it first. 

Just checked, more evidence: Middlebury had a huge capital campaign that concluded in 2001.  Fall 2000, football had its best record in years, going 7-1, after a 6-2 season in 1999, before that, Midd had a spate of .500 or below .500 seasons .... hmmmm

[gordonmann]

Not only does Reggie have nice credentials, but he also has a strong Amherst connection.  His brother plays center and his dad was a stand-out for the Lord Jeffs.

Incidentally his brother went to Trinity where he did a nice job as a college basketball broadcaster.   Can you guess where I got some of this information?

[Col. Partridge]

Brief  Tufts-centric preview of "rock 'em, sock 'em" (not my words) NESCAC in Boston Herald.

[fells]

Kicker is probably the one position in D-III where you'll find a fair number of guys who could be playing at top-flight I-A schools. 

Remember how bad Florida's kicker was the past few years?

BC's kicker walked on, and I'm sure there are D-III guys who are at the same level, if not better.

There are plenty of other examples.  Basically, I know for sure that there are D-IA kickers who consistently miss 40-yarders, and there are D-III'ers who can consistently make them.

Not going to find that at any other position, I don't think.  I've always thought that a lot of D-III kickers could hack it at the higher levels.

In the case of Haushka, he walked on at North Carolina State where he is a graduate student. He has one more year of eligibility left as he only played for three years at Middlebury. Good solid kicker who I thought was going to send a few balls into Canada on kickoffs.

[redtail]

Did Hamilton bring in enough kids to get the program going in thr right direction or is it going to be another long year?

[Col. Partridge]

Did Hamilton bring in enough kids to get the program going in thr right direction or is it going to be another long year?

Hamilton's website isn't much help, with a 2006 roster and no mention of incoming recruits in the overview.  The final 2006 roster only had 57 players.

[nescac9]

is a small roster typically a result of the staff or of admissions?