FB: Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference

[Boxer7806]

I think the number 1 thing the Endicott and Hobart results tell us is the Liberty League isn't really head and shoulders above the NEFC or MASCAC. Worcester has been beating up on WPI recently, WNEC took down Springfield earlier this year and in the past Salve has taken down Union. If anything I think Hobart is actually most likely overrated in terms of the national polls, especially considering their playoff results from last year.

I know ECoast loves Framingham, but I think the MASCAC winner is going to come down to West Conn versus Bridgewater in 2 weeks. I think those are the 2 best teams in the MASCAC. I really like what Bridgewater has going on and the Willy P win looks better now after they beat Salve this week. It should be interesting. I think BSU is getting better every week, while Framingham has shown no real imporvement, and seem to have a real achilles heel in turnovers. I don't think Rowan was necessarily better than them, I think Framingham just beat themselves.

[ECoastFootball]

I think the number 1 thing the Endicott and Hobart results tell us is the Liberty League isn't really head and shoulders above the NEFC or MASCAC. Worcester has been beating up on WPI recently, WNEC took down Springfield earlier this year and in the past Salve has taken down Union. If anything I think Hobart is actually most likely overrated in terms of the national polls, especially considering their playoff results from last year.

I know ECoast loves Framingham, but I think the MASCAC winner is going to come down to West Conn versus Bridgewater in 2 weeks. I think those are the 2 best teams in the MASCAC. I really like what Bridgewater has going on and the Willy P win looks better now after they beat Salve this week. It should be interesting. I think BSU is getting better every week, while Framingham has shown no real imporvement, and seem to have a real achilles heel in turnovers. I don't think Rowan was necessarily better than them, I think Framingham just beat themselves.

I don't think the LL is on the same level as the E8 or NJAC, but the top of the league is clearly better than the top of the NEFC or MASCAC. That Hobart team has been VERY good lately. They won 2 playoff games before falling to St Thomas two years ago and last year lost to a very, very good Fisher team.

As far as the Bridgewater State thing, you'll see my rankings later today, but I don't think they've passed Framingham yet. I believe that all 3 teams Fram has played are better than anyone that Bridgewater has played. I think BSU could lose to Westfield or Fitchburg very easily. Is Bridgewater a good team? Absolutely, but I still think that if Fram doesn't win the league, West Conn does.

[ECoastFootball]

MASCAC POWER RANKINGS FOLLOWING WEEK 3

1.   (LW 1) Framingham State Rams (2-1)
Tough, hard fought win for the Rams. Some may say the Rams have fallen off, and offensively, they have a little. Defensively? Not so much. Framingham is still home to what I believe to be the best defense in New England. I have seen flashes from this passing attack, and as soon as it starts clicking, watch out. Also, the Rams have faced BY FAR the toughest 3 team stretch to open the season out of everyone in the conference.

2.   (LW 2) Western Connecticut State Colonials (2-1)
I think Arndt just threw another TD pass. Absolutely huge showdown this week. September date with November implications. This Framingham team is much better than Hartwick, but the Colonials should have the benefit of playing this one all at once. I think this will be a great game.

3.   (LW 3) Westfield State Owls (2-1)
What a nail biter for the Owls. Saved by a missed extra point. I think the Owls got too conservative too early and it almost came back to bite them. They also benefited from the Corsairs starting Q sitting this one out. Won't learn much about the Owls for two weeks now, as they have a bye week before facing Plymouth.

4.    (LW 4) Bridgewater State Bears (2-1)
A tight first half turned into a rout when Green caught a bomb down the left side and then returned a punt to the house in the first four minutes of the 3rd quarter. On that big TD Green was single covered and the Safety was helping on the other side. Worcester... I thought we talked about that already . Bridgewater has a huge test this week when they host Fitchburg Friday night. If not for WCSU-Fram, this would be the game of the week.


5.   (LW 6) Fitchburg State Falcons (2-1)
The Falcons impressed me this weekend. I can honestly say that they could finish anywhere from 3rd to 6th, and I wouldn't be surprised. Fitch stood toe to toe. They sputtered offensively in the Second half, but Framingham will do that to you. Late in the fourth with the ball on the 50, Dellechieia hit is WR in the chest on a short route, but the ball deflected off his WR into Manganos hand for the deciding pick 6. They head to Bridgewater Friday for a big one.

6.    (LW  7) UMass Dartmouth Corsairs (1-2)
UMD should find out if Aborishade or Tarpey can kick and extra point. I bet on of them can. That aside, the defense played awesome and the offense fought like hell in the 2nd half. You can say Westfield got conservative offensively (they did), but you still have to stop them (they did). Offensively, hopefully the backup QB can build on his 4th quarter heroics. They definitely missed Barneys. If he plays this game is more of a 28-27 type game, as the UMD O puts up points, and the Westfield O is forced to stay more wide open. It will be interesting to see if/when they get him back.

7.   (LW 5) Worcester State Lancers (2-1)
Bumpus may have set the school record for passing, but Kemani Jones was held to 44 yards rushing. For Worcester to beat good teams, they need to be less 1 dimensional, and they need much much better defensively. They have Maritime this week, and they should be able to pull out a more comfortable win than their 64-63 heart pounder from last year.

8.    (LW 8) Plymouth State Panthers (1-2)
Tough one for Plymouth, West Conn is very good. Plymouth must think they have a mirror image coming to visit on Saturday, a 1-2 team with a win over Ida. I would argue with them that UMD would have slapped Castleton State, and that Plymouth would not have hung with SC or WeSU. That being said, if the Panthers can catch a maybe Barneysless Corsair team and steal a win, the Panthers would be feeling real nice at 2-2.

9.    (LW 9) Massachusetts Maritime Buccaneers (1-1)
The bright side is Bennet is back. Had they won this game in regulation I would move them above Plymouth, but I can't reward beating Maine Maritime in OT. I picked Maine and I thought they had them. I didn't watch much of this game, but I can't think of a logical excuse for why an uptempo offense with the best WR in the league can't score more than 20 points in regulation on Maine.

[Boxer7806]

I think the number 1 thing the Endicott and Hobart results tell us is the Liberty League isn't really head and shoulders above the NEFC or MASCAC. Worcester has been beating up on WPI recently, WNEC took down Springfield earlier this year and in the past Salve has taken down Union. If anything I think Hobart is actually most likely overrated in terms of the national polls, especially considering their playoff results from last year.

I know ECoast loves Framingham, but I think the MASCAC winner is going to come down to West Conn versus Bridgewater in 2 weeks. I think those are the 2 best teams in the MASCAC. I really like what Bridgewater has going on and the Willy P win looks better now after they beat Salve this week. It should be interesting. I think BSU is getting better every week, while Framingham has shown no real imporvement, and seem to have a real achilles heel in turnovers. I don't think Rowan was necessarily better than them, I think Framingham just beat themselves.

I don't think the LL is on the same level as the E8 or NJAC, but the top of the league is clearly better than the top of the NEFC or MASCAC. That Hobart team has been VERY good lately. They won 2 playoff games before falling to St Thomas two years ago and last year lost to a very, very good Fisher team.

As far as the Bridgewater State thing, you'll see my rankings later today, but I don't think they've passed Framingham yet. I believe that all 3 teams Fram has played are better than anyone that Bridgewater has played. I think BSU could lose to Westfield or Fitchburg very easily. Is Bridgewater a good team? Absolutely, but I still think that if Fram doesn't win the league, West Conn does.

I agree Hobart is better than anyone in the NEFC or MASCAC, I just think Hobart is not a top ten team in the nation like the polls have them (or close to it) this past year and last. If Hobart was truly a top ten team, then they would of beaten up Endicott by more than ten. I'm just saying I believe Hobart is more of a late teen / early twenties team in terms of national rankings. When comparing the majority of both leagues, obviously Hobart withstanding, I think the NEFC/MASCAC match up pretty well with the rest of the Liberty.

Obviously to stay true to my prediction before, I think West Conn beats Fram this week and BSU takes down Fitchburgh this week to set up a big time matchup in 2 weeks between those schools. ECoast, did you catch the Framingham/Fitch. game live or did you watch it on the live stream?

[lewdogg11]

Let's not get too crazy.  Historically, Hobart has never been a team to blow the doors off opponents on the scoreboard.  What they do is consistently win year after year after year.  Are they a top 10 team?  Even if they go undefeated, we probably wouldn't know that answer until the playoffs which is just how it goes in the East, but I wouldn't leap to judgement based on their final scores.  I would say they are just about right at 11 at this point in the year and their history has earned them that ranking.

Endicott is big enough and fast enough to compete with many top quality teams, same goes for Framingham and Bridgewater, so it doesn't surprise me that Endicott gave Hobart a good game, but Hobart did win so that is really what came out of it.  St. John Fisher does the same thing and has some headscratcher games every year, but then they perform when the quality of opponent gets better in the post season and that explains where they are in the Top 25 as well.

[ECoastFootball]

New DIII New England Poll:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/athletics/football/link-resources/poll.html

1. WNEC
2. Wesleyan
3. Framingham
4. Amherst
5. Trinity
6. MIT
7. Bridgewater St.
8. Springfield College
9. Western Connecticut
10. Williams
11. Endicott
12. Fitchburg St
13. Middlebury
14. Salve

IMHO, again, this poll is ridiculous. Bridgewater, Springfield and West Conn would all beat MIT badly. BADLY. Like, 21 points if there aren't too many turnovers. Salve will beat MIT this weekend. Endicott will beat MIT by 30 on Nov 1st. There are many issues with this poll, but that is the obvious, easy, ridiculous ranking.

P.S. Boxer, I went to the Fram-Fitch game. Did you watch it? How bout that trick play/1 handed grab by Fitch early in the game. That was awsome.

[lewdogg11]

New DIII New England Poll:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/athletics/football/link-resources/poll.html

1. WNEC
2. Wesleyan
3. Framingham
4. Amherst
5. Trinity
6. MIT
7. Bridgewater St.
8. Springfield College
9. Western Connecticut
10. Williams
11. Endicott
12. Fitchburg St
13. Middlebury
14. Salve

IMHO, again, this poll is ridiculous. Bridgewater, Springfield and West Conn would all beat MIT badly. BADLY. Like, 21 points if there aren't too many turnovers. Salve will beat MIT this weekend. Endicott will beat MIT by 30 on Nov 1st. There are many issues with this poll, but that is the obvious, easy, ridiculous ranking.

P.S. Boxer, I went to the Fram-Fitch game. Did you watch it? How bout that trick play/1 handed grab by Fitch early in the game. That was awsome.

This is awful.

[ECoastFootball]

This is awful.

Agreed. BTW, spot on in your earlier post on Hobart/Fisher.

[ITH radio]

I give Hobart a pass at 11 given the fact they've made the playoffs every year since 2011 and have gone 32-4 over that same period. Losses to #10 Fisher, #2 UST and #3 Wesley in each respective season isn't a "bad thing" IMO.

I do agree that this year's team appears more "vulnerable" given the lack of a "star" skill player like Webb (although if you watch the highlight clip of FY WR Brandon Shed that might all change real soon). The QB play has been average at best, which you don't expect from a Top 15 team. Even w/o Worthington, the defense hasn't really lost a step, save for allowing more points late in games when practically all but FY and SOs are getting some work.

Honestly I think the jury's out on Hobart until late October / early November.

In defense of the LL vs. E8, the 0-3 mark was decided by 15 total points. RPI got a bad call that helped the Saxons and missed a FG. That one could have gone either way. Union (currently in dead last in the LL standings based on overall record) was killing Utica then had a meltdown for the ages. The Dutch played IC tough too in Wk 1 and IC is a legit #2 (or #1) E8 / pool C (or A) team. I do agree the 0-5 vs a combo of NEFC/MASCAC/ECFC raised eyebrows but those games were all close too.

[D3MAFAN]

New DIII New England Poll:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/athletics/football/link-resources/poll.html

1. WNEC
2. Wesleyan
3. Framingham
4. Amherst
5. Trinity
6. MIT
7. Bridgewater St.
8. Springfield College
9. Western Connecticut
10. Williams
11. Endicott
12. Fitchburg St
13. Middlebury
14. Salve

IMHO, again, this poll is ridiculous. Bridgewater, Springfield and West Conn would all beat MIT badly. BADLY. Like, 21 points if there aren't too many turnovers. Salve will beat MIT this weekend. Endicott will beat MIT by 30 on Nov 1st. There are many issues with this poll, but that is the obvious, easy, ridiculous ranking.

P.S. Boxer, I went to the Fram-Fitch game. Did you watch it? How bout that trick play/1 handed grab by Fitch early in the game. That was awsome.

I watch the game and it was awesome. It was very competitive. Fitch has a nice receiver that could play on any team.

[Boxer7806]

Ecoast I didnt see it live. I saw them live last year about three times including the bridgewater game at the end of the year which was a great game. Im thinking of heading to their game this weekend against west conn. Both teams should be pumped up for it and I believe its fram. Homecoming game so the place should have some atmosphere. I still think west conn has the edge because their more balanced than fram. And take care of the ball better. Should be a good one and a true indicator of west conn because this is the best team they have played to date.

As for the new england poll..... Its a joke and has no reflection of the actual d3 scene till the end of the year when everyone has played each other and its obvious who the best teams are. Well except for the nescac as we already know, whose winner will usually be in the top 2 in the poll at the end of the year regardless.

[ECoastFootball]

Week 4 Predictions for the MASCAC
(4-1 last week, 15-6 or 0.714 for the year)

Friday September 26th
FITCHBURG STATE – 28
@ Bridgewater State – 24
I don't know why I see this happening, but I have a feeling the Fitchburg bounces back in a big way and stuns Bridgewater here. If the Falcons can run the ball and protect Dellechiaie, points will not be an issue. The real issue here is can Fitch contain Green and the base run game. What happens to the Bears if Higgins is forced to throw the ball elsewhere to engineer a drive?

Saturday September 27th
West Conn – 21
@ FRAMINGHAM STATE – 24
I am more nervous about this pick than any pick I have made in awhile. The absolute key to this game is the Ram defense. West Conn has the best offense in the conference. If Framingham can hold them to 21ish, the Rams win the game. If they get in some type of a shoot out, I don't think they hold up. This also may be gut check time for the Ram offense. Are they going to try to throw the ball, or feed the run game as they have in the past?

WORCESTER STATE -37
@ Mass Maritime  - 28
If Bumpus was able to throw the ball the way he did against BWater last week, I shudder to think of what he does against Maritime. Also, I can imagine that the Lancers won't be leaving Bennett single covered on the outside after they saw Green score 42 touchdowns against WooState in the last two years. Last week aside, here's a chance for WooState to be in a great place, 3-1, to start the season. Much better than last year.

UMASS DARTMOUTH – 30
@ Plymouth State – 14
What I'm interested in here is to see if Barneys plays. If he does, this game should be like last year and in the 40's range. If not, either of the two quarterbacks the Corsairs played last week should be able to manage the offense to some points, but UMD may take the air out of the ball if they get up. For Plymouth to keep it close they'll need a big day out of Hennessy, for Perron to hit a deep play action pass or two, and for UMD to turn it over.

[D3MAFAN]

Great game between BSU and Fitchburg State, it appears it came down to the last minute. Enjoyed every minute, I thought BSU was going to have one of those last second heroics and come out on top, but Fitchburg defense held strong.

[Jonny Utah]

New DIII New England Poll:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/athletics/football/link-resources/poll.html

1. WNEC
2. Wesleyan
3. Framingham
4. Amherst
5. Trinity
6. MIT
7. Bridgewater St.
8. Springfield College
9. Western Connecticut
10. Williams
11. Endicott
12. Fitchburg St
13. Middlebury
14. Salve

IMHO, again, this poll is ridiculous. Bridgewater, Springfield and West Conn would all beat MIT badly. BADLY. Like, 21 points if there aren't too many turnovers. Salve will beat MIT this weekend. Endicott will beat MIT by 30 on Nov 1st. There are many issues with this poll, but that is the obvious, easy, ridiculous ranking.

P.S. Boxer, I went to the Fram-Fitch game. Did you watch it? How bout that trick play/1 handed grab by Fitch early in the game. That was awsome.

That poll looks a little less ridiculous this week I think.  Although I'd probably put Norwich in there now. 

[D3MAFAN]

Framingham State pulled off an amazing 4th quarter performance against West Conn, I really thought West Conn played well throughout the whole game, momentum just took the turn for the worst for them and the better for Framingham State. I think if Fitchburg can run the table and on the 18th of October take advantage of home field advantage against Western Conn, the MASCAC may have a chance for two playoff teams (maybe that's to early).