Excellent points by G&P, but then you also have to take into account how many teams left their starters in and scored on the Trinity Defense's 3rd string and First Years.  In fact the Co-OPOTY was racking up his stats against 3rd stringers. I'd be curious if anyone knows how many TD's were given up by Trinity in this unbalanced manner.  I also saw a post that Trinity is the only team in College Football (all levels) to give up 0 rushing TD's the whole season.  We all must admit that this is pretty impressive.

Quote from: lumbercat on October 29, 2018, 10:56:14 PM
Joe Bag-
well stated- Mills is a master and the best coach in the league. Lord Jeffrey at Trinity is recruiter, an administrator and a talker....but not a game coach--- as evidenced by the Williams loss this year where an inferior team with a 65 man roster took Jeff to school.  Murray and the Ephs made a monkey out of Devanney with an inferior team.....how did the mighty Bantams lose that game ?

Taking nothing away from Coach Mills, his Lord Mammoths lost to an even more inferior Williams team with less than 65 players, one year and one week ago, in what inevitably was a Championship Game.  Jealousy gets you nowhere, Lumbercat.  We wonder if Trinity didn't recruit your son, thus your animosity towards our Coach Devanney.

Greetings Lumbercat et.al.

We know you have an ax to grind with Coach Devanney because you are a Bates Fan.  We contacted some of our constituants to inform us how Trin can garner such a large recruiting class.  The fact of the matter is Trinity welcomed an extremely small recruiting class last year.  With that being said, there is still a chance some of the "walk-ons" will not make the final season roster.  The student-athletes, within this category, were alerted to the possibility of not making the season roster during the recruiting process.  One of the comments we have heard from Coach Devanney, numerous times, concerns the "stupidity" of a 76 man roster limit.   The "spirit of D3" is kids should be allowed to play.  For this reason, nobody is "cut" at Trin.  If a student-athlete does NOT make the season roster, he is afforded all of the benefits of being a Bantam Gridder except the "on field" aspect of the program.   He is monitored academically which includes access to faculty liaisons, writing tutors, and attending study hall.  He can attend positional meetings, work with the strength coaches, and even still receive a ring for winning a Championship!  He then has the opportunity to make the season roster the next year.  Quite a few have taken this very path to becoming contributing members on the field.  The biggest reason the "non Roster" players stick around is to take part in Coach Devanney's exceptional career program.   There is a revolving door of alumni entering and exiting his office.  Whether they have meetings in NY or Boston, the generous alums stop by and interview players for internships and ultimately jobs.  Most of the "walk-ons" could contribute on the field at the Maine Schools, but choose to be a part of the amazing family we know as Trinity Football.  All in all, this sounds like a pretty good deal to us.  Lumbercat, you have been anti-Bantam because of an RPO that turned into a TD on the last play of a game.  If Bates' OLB made the tackle, then maybe you would not portray Jeff Devanney as some dictator leading "walk-ons" to a guillotine! 

On another note, Trinity has been unveiling their recruiting class all morning.  It looks quite deep, especially at the OL position.  We will get the update on specific players etc at the Football Golf Outing in a few weeks. We can't wait to see what Coach Devanney and his staff have in store for us this coming season.  Based on the tweets, Trinity has found a few capable replacements for Sonny Puzzo, one of them a QB who actually started.

Lastly,  one of our members made a great point regarding the LL vs NESCAC.  Ask Mark Raymond!  Wouldn't he know best?


The Flock

Our correspondents did some research.  There are 14 student athletes who were on the recruiting boards at all of the Ivy League schools.  They were rejected from every school except PENN.  All 14 are on PENN's roster.  Maybe we should refer the the school as PENN STATE!  Oh wait....that would be confusing. 

http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/files/2017/07/Little-Three-ChampsRoth_Williams.jpg

THIS JUST IN!!!!!!  MIDDLEBURY SCORED A TD WHILE BLOWING OUT BATES.  THE STATISITCS SAY MIDD SCORED ON THEIR 78TH PLAY OF THE GAME!  THEY RAN 81 PLAYS.  WHY NO KNEE!!!!!  BLOOD THRISTY?  DOES THIS MEAN THE MIDD COACHING STAFF IS CLASSLESS?  IN FACT MIDD HAD THE BALL AGAIN AND COULD HAVE TAKEN A KNEE BUT ELECTED TO RUN PLAYS.  WHY NO COMMENTS ABOUT THIS LUMBERCAT, POLARCAT, WINTERFELL, WHITE WALKER, AND WHOEVER ELSE IS MAKING A STINK?

The game we saw in The Coop had Trinity taking a knee to end the game.  How many passes did Trinity attempt in the second half? Just because the Bantams scored doesn't mean Decanney ran up the score.  Bench was cleared again.  I wonder what the Participation Reports says? 

POLARCAT,

If you would like to do a little more research, then take a look at the starting line up for Trinity.  There are starters listed on the NON-Participating report.  Trust us, Trinity completely cleared the bench.  If you actually watched the game, then you would know this information.  Trinity scored 6 points in the second half.  If the starters were still playing, then the score would have been much worse.  Now who's comment is Dumazz? 

The phrase "JV Game" was actually coined by a coach from a different Maine school, after Trinity cleared the bench at halftime last year.  No disrespect was meant to Bates.  We are simply stating the young players were given the chance to perform in a game in front of their friends and family. We have one of our boys who actually is seeing more time on special teams because he did well in the Bates game.  Coach Devanney does a tremendous job keeping young players involved and engaged.

For the record, Trinity's starting TE was a non rostered player for 2 years.  He was a QB who stayed with the team and is now an integral part of the offense.  As for "cutting" recruited players, almost every player who does not make the roster was told this information when being recruited.  On occasion a recruited player may not make the roster because he didn't work hard and came into preseason out of shape.  Coach Devanney does an excellent job.  Do you know he is in the top 5 in wins among active HC's in all divisions? 

Hello,

We have been sitting idly talking about these boards at our tailgates.  The reading is quite interesting, not always factual.  Since Polarcat mentions the word dillusional, it is a perfect segue for us to chime in.  The statements being made about Coach Devanney and his program are extremely off base.  The Bates situation is not at all what it seems.  Trinity cleared their bench BEFORE the second half.  The final 30 minutes of football were a perfect time for Trinity to play a "JV Game" allowing some of our sons to play in a game and run the schemes they have been practicing for months, some of our kids, for years.  Lumbercat, we believe, is the one who said the final play of the game was a pass into the endzone for a touchdown.  This is not at all true.  We have brought this question up to some members of the coaching staff.  When you review the play, any football fan who has been watching NESCAC football should know the play was a run play.  The 4th string QB admittedly did not make the right read and threw a SMOKE SCREEN to the WR instead of handing the ball to the RB.  The WR who is a junior made the STARTNG Bates OLB miss and ultimately there was a score.  We feel the young players deserve to at least run the plays they have been working on.  If your son never plays, then wouldn't you want him to at least run a play instead of taking a knee.  We also know Coach Harriman was contacted to be sure there were no hard feelings. 

Coach Devanney has taken a knee every time he has a lead.  However, we feel if teams are going to keep blitzing the 4th stringers with their starters, then maybe he should've instructed his OT to throw the ball in the endzone.  Quite frankly, whoever stated the pass  into the endzone to run up the score is "Dillusional".  Then again, how would you know what an RPO actually looks like when your offense is an archaic, boring mess.

The Flock has spoken