FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

Started by admin, August 16, 2005, 04:58:09 AM

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westcoastDad

GREAT WIN FOR TUFTS! WOULD BE NICE TO SEE THEIR PROGRAM RISE TO THE TOP.  EXCELLENT LOCATION.  EXCELLENT FACILITIES.  CLOSE TO BOSTON VERSUS BEING FAR AWAY IN THE STICKS. HIGHEAT STUDENT POPULATION.  EXCELLENT ACADEMICS.   AND, MY SON TOLD ME (ON HIS JUNIOR YEAR VISIT) THAT THE GIRLS WERE THE CUTEST. 

LOL

nescac1

Rte27Driver, that's awful about the situation in the bleachers, and a good reminder that even here, we are talking about kids, not professional football players.  Moaney really was in a tough situation changing positions and not having any experienced targets out there to really bail him out, plus with a green offensive line.  I do think the speed of the offense is the right way to go but this early in the season it seemed to cause as many problems for Williams as for the opponents.  Moaney did an excellent job running the option, snaking through a lot of defenders for tough yardage and making good decisions.  He is a great athlete, just not a traditional drop-back passer, and I think he can be really valuable if used right but maybe was (by necessity) asked to do a bit too much.  Hopefully Dunham can play a bigger role going forward as he did look good in his limited action.  Williams was not the total disaster I was half-expecting based on pre-season observations and while the competition will get better, I think their caliber of play will improve as well.  And again a ton of young guys are earning valuable experience for the future.  They shuttled in a lot of different guys on the Oline, and at WR, TB and QB, every guy who saw action on the field was a non-senior.  Defense is more experienced but even still, two sophomores and one frosh played a ton at DB, some young LBs seemed to get some time, and the DL looked quite good despite playing only one senior, and he off the bench.  The team is thin and green but Williams fans need to exhibit patience because in a year or two, the trajectory of the team is really going to change. 

As for Tufts, what an incredible job by Jay Civetti as coach over the past five years.  He will be coaching D1 at some point in the relatively near future, I predict -- the next time there is an Ivy opening, I would have to think he would get a LONG look for that job.  Being in Boston makes his success higher-profile than it would be at any other NESCAC school. 


PolarCat

"In the sticks"????

Tufts is a great university and Boston's a vibrant town, but many alums are grateful they had the the chance to spend 4 years on an idyllic,  postcard-pretty campus at Middlebury, Williams, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Colby, etc.  Most of us spend our entire careers in big cities like Boston, New York and Chicago and will remember fondly the four years we spent NOT dealing with traffic, pollution and crime.

frank uible

And enjoying the natural beauty to be found at one's doorstep.

mariner75

Obviously it all depends on what you're looking for. When my son was on his recruiting trips, his comment after visiting some of the campuses was "too many trees"!  Once he saw Tufts, that was it.

That's coming from a Jersey kid though!  ;)

IslandTime

I agree with the comment above regarding Amherst needing to get more running backs involved. Hickey is a great power back but has no break away speed. There are 2-3 running backs on the sideline in my opinion, that if they ran more multiple back sets, with some mis-direction, that would take that offense to another level.

Thought Berluti threw the ball well and scampered for yardage when it was too good to pass up. Despite the score, I never felt like the offense hit their stride. The defense on the other hand.....

The 2's that came in later in the game were just as swarming. The Amherst D is legit.

Hamilton shot themselves in the foot with penalties and missteps early in the game, that if they correct, bodes well for them.

College football is a crazy world, especially in the shortened season of the NESCAC where if you want to win the title outright, you can't lose a game. Wonder what that does to the psyche of a team with such high expectations as Wesleyan had. also stated above, Tufts fans, enjoy Civeti. Doubt he is there much longer if he is so inclined to move up the ranks.


amh63

#10476
Mariner75.....being near a more urban area is an attraction for many recruits.  Having said that, some more random comments.
First, announced 6500 at the Tufts night game??.  During the three quarters of the game I watched, I saw a good crowd on the Wes side...with cheerleaders, but could not be more than a 1000..  The home crowd stands holding 5000!?.  Never saw much of any sideline crowd...it was dark....did like the purple sky.  Anyway, brings me to the last quarter of the game...the one I missed.  What happened?  Tufts finally getting its running game going?  obviously!  Cardinal defense was watching the cheerleaders?
Meanwhile, another story of missing the end of a game.  It was Williams teams at Amherst this weekend....women soccer at noon (Ephs defending national champs), field hockey at 11am, and men's soccer at 2:30pm.  The Ephs men's team was undefeated and Amherst ranked no. 3.  Watched the men's soccer game and it was tied 2-2 with about 23 minutes to go.  Could not watch the rest of the game.  Amherst scores 2 goals soon after.  Overall, less stress for me :).  Good crowd..about 300 watchers...not counting the crowd at the new dorms, I believe. 
Now some more Amherst football notes. 
Hamilton has a good QB and a fine WR.  Early in the game the WR caught a 40 yard pass...beating the Amherst CB.  Amherst's DL pressured the Hamilton QB and that may have caused a number of overthrows.  Was told that Amherst was still evaluating players...especially in the defensive backfield.  Amherst does like to rotate defensive players...often DL players in groups and CBs in pairs, etc.
Sam Hart, the Amherst all-American LT was in the booth and provided some nice comments...in particular about the OL.  The right side of the line with two returning starters is the preferred side for the RBs...the go to side.  Mr Hart pointed out that when Hamilton would make a threat, they would make a mistake.." Shoot themselves in the foot" .  First game mistakes that should be corrected soon.
The left side of the line is still a work in progress, especially the new LT....my comment here.  The new LT was a DL last season as a FY player!  Amherst was running more plays off the left side later in the game.  Liked the fact that when the OL got beat...for a sack...or made an error, the lineman who got beat would point to himself.
The new punter did well....the FY punter even got in to see what he could do in game condition.  The fine kicker however missed an extra point.  Hart pointed out that there was pressure from the left side on the extra point kick. The new center did fine.
All in all, it was a good first game....more work to be done.  No injuries, I believe. 

PolarCat

#10477
After action report from the Coop.

Since Bates has not played the Bants in recent years, yesterday was my first chance to see Sonny Puzo in action and WOW is he good!  He threw a couple of beautiful long strikes with deadly accuracy, showed good decision making, and ran the ball like a DI RB.  The tandem of Chipouras and Golon were outstanding, grinding out plenty of yards after initial contact.   It's hard to believe they are both sophomores, and the future looks bright for the Trinity running game.  Their air assault is strong, too, with senior Darrien Myers making some gorgeous receptions, plus averaged over 20 yards per attempt on his six punt returns.

Trinity kicker Eric Sachse was perfect on the day (as was his Bates counterpart), though Sachse got the benefit of a "mulligan" on his first FG attempt, when a Bobcat player lined up offsides.  Bates won the punting battle though, as Justin Foley averaged 39 yards on his 14 punts, while Trinity's punter averaged under 30 yards on his 6 attempts, including one that went straight up and came straight down, for a loss of 3 yards.

The Bobcats' D looked great in the early going, with Frake and Upton each finishing with 11 tackles, and Trevor Lyons finishing with 9.  Unfortunately, the unit was on the field for too much of the game (the box score says the time of possession was almost equal, but it sure didn't feel that way watching from the stands).

With the exception of a sweet first drive, the Bobcat offense just couldn't get going.  I don't know if I have ever seen an offense that is so predictable: run the option on first down, run the option on second down, be forced to pass on third and 8, punt the ball away, then rinse and repeat.  The triple option offense was marginally effective in 2014, with Iron Man Matt Cannone behind center, but doesn't seem well suited to the current personnel.  I was reminded of Charlie Brown and Lucy yesterday: if you know what you're doing isn't going to work (i.e. the first 100 times Charlie goes to kick the ball, Lucy pulls it away), why do things exactly the same way on the 101st attempt?

Couple that with some strange calls (when you have 4th and 2 at midfield with 19 seconds on the clock, why punt the ball away instead of airing it out?) and it was a tough day to be a Bobcat fan.  The best that can be said for Bates is that there were some fine individual performances, the boys never gave up, and no one got hurt.  Trinity has a legitimate chance to run the table, so hopefully our season will get easier from here on out.

lumbercat

Colby Folks-
Was Harrington injured or benched?

elburro

My understanding is Harrington has a knee injury and will be undergoing MRI soon

lumbercat

El Burro
Thanks- wish him the best
After all the QB competition thought Sparacio would be next man up but maybe he's injured also.

mariner75

amh....

Going by the official box score.....it states 6432.  The write-up says 6500 in attendance.  Are the box score stats incorrect?

amh63

Box score attendance numbers were generally more accurate when tickets were required in the past and present during NCAA events.  Who knows these days in free admission games.  My comment is based on the belief the home stands cannot hold 5000 fans...both small and large.....what is the "offical" seating capacity??

Pat Coleman

Quote from: amh63 on September 25, 2016, 03:42:28 PM
Box score attendance numbers were generally more accurate when tickets were required in the past and present during NCAA events.  Who knows these days in free admission games.  My comment is based on the belief the home stands cannot hold 5000 fans...both small and large.....what is the "offical" seating capacity??

http://www.d3football.com/teams/Tufts/2016/index says 6,000 and we haven't seen anything to contradict that.
Publisher. Questions? Check our FAQ for D3f, D3h.
Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

lumbercat

Off the top of my head I say Tufts home stands are the biggest in the league with the possible exception of Middlebury, which has no visitors side stands.
Tufts also has ample seating on the visitors side so I would think their attendance numbers are fairly accurate.