Quote from: Trin9-0 on October 03, 2026, 04:59:54 PMLooks like there might only be one team who's a cut above... 

Wesleyan was about to pull another Wesleyan and Hamilton, who had moved the ball at will all day long, punted the ball away on a 4th & 2 near midfield with less than 2:00 to play. Just an absolutely brutal loss for the Continentals but the Cards somehow find a way to win another one.

We'll call it a draw on this week's debate

I was about to tell you to take your victory lap until I saw that box score from Clinton. So close to a great 'any given Saturday' game.

On another note, I was happy to be wrong about a close game in Middlebury. Blowout from start to finish. Not sure I've ever seen a 32-2 scoreline before.

Quote from: Trin9-0 on October 01, 2026, 02:54:55 PM

Quote from: MapleBBQChicken on October 01, 2026, 01:26:30 PMFor my money, Trinity wins this weekend. But was a 20 point home win against Colby so much more impressive than Williams' 12 point win in Waterville? And how much credit do you get for beating the Lynskey-less Bobcats? I'm just not seeing where the collective confidence is coming from.

On a separate note, if bold predictions are what you want, how about OT in Vermont? I hope I'm wrong, but I think that one will be a very close game.

Colby's first score against Trinity came on a play where the defender fell down in coverage. Sure, it still counts but it isn't exactly a strategy teams can count on replicating. Their second score came with 1:46 left in the game against Trin's 2nd/3rd string defense. The Bants rolled up 473 yards of offense and held Colby to 291 (75 of which came on the busted play). Trinity dominated the game start to finish.

Against Williams, Colby led into the 2nd quarter and it was a 6 point game with 1:56 left to play. The Ephs had just 54 more total yards than the Mules. Williams was the better team but those two games were vastly different contests.

Add in the fact that Williams has lost their best player and the game is being played in The Coop (where Trinity has only lost 6 times in the past quarter century) and I'd say that's likely where the collective confidence is coming from.

Fair enough. I stand by my critique of the discourse (and I've had some supporters), but I at least respect the analysis in this post. To me the math adds up to a 7-10 point Trinity win, which in my opinion would not signify that the Bantams are a "cut above" or that the league is already a "two-horse race." If you beat 'em by 30, obviously that would have stronger implications, particularly if Wesleyan does the same and/or Amherst and Middlebury are in rock fights with the Maine schools. You can take your victory lap then.

Good luck this weekend; I've certainly been wrong before.

Quote from: Trin9-0 on October 01, 2026, 10:49:46 AMIf we're not going to talk honestly about who the best teams are then what are we discussing here, the U.S. News rankings, great spots to eat in Clinton, NY? Kudos to Ephsfan1 for making a bold pick. Anyone else willing to agree?

Okay, I'll bite. I wasn't trying to say that we can't comment on who is playing the best.

But just as you are welcome to state your opinion, I was simply adding mine. I disagreed with the many comments about a "clear" top 2 (see below). Yes, upsets could mean someone closes the gap, but I also think it's simply too early to say that there is a gap in the first place. Four teams are 2-0, and two of them are being pushed into a second tier.

Quote from: NEfootballfan999 on September 28, 2026, 06:00:34 PMWesleyan and Trinity are a cut above, players, coaching, schemes.

Quote from: TheJeff on September 28, 2026, 10:15:20 PMI agree Trinity and Wesleyan are clear interchangeable 1/2

Quote from: Trin9-0 on September 29, 2026, 09:58:43 AMFor further illustration of how the NESCAC appears to be a two-horse race after just two weeks

Quote from: Charlie on September 30, 2026, 11:39:07 AMI watched Wesleyan over the weekend and clearly Trinity and Wesleyan are 1 & 2 in the league.

For my money, Trinity wins this weekend. But was a 20 point home win against Colby so much more impressive than Williams' 12 point win in Waterville? And how much credit do you get for beating the Lynskey-less Bobcats? I'm just not seeing where the collective confidence is coming from.

On a separate note, if bold predictions are what you want, how about OT in Vermont? I hope I'm wrong, but I think that one will be a very close game.

I think as a group we need to pump the brakes on the whole 'two horse race' conclusion. It is true that Wesleyan and Trinity have been the most impressive teams so far, but everyone who has ever watched NESCAC football knows that all it takes is one Saturday to completely shake up the narrative.

A couple examples from recent years in case we've forgotten how quickly things change...

Week 5, 2023
The 3-1 Middlebury Panthers travel to Hartford to face the 4-0 Chickens. To date, all of Midd's wins have come against teams with losing records, and their most recent result is a super ugly 12-10 win in Williamstown. Trinity, by contrast, has not yet played a close game and has scored with ease on everyone they've faced. Board veterans Lumber and Nescacman set the line at Bantams -17 and -14, respectively.
Midd wins 20-15 at the Coop, keeping the home team out of the end zone completely. They go on to win the NESCAC title.

Week 6, 2024
Middlebury is 4-1 coming off a big win over the Bantams and is traveling to Lewiston for what we all assume to be a much easier game. Wesleyan is also 4-1, having lost to Bates and just squeaked by Colby in OT. Boardsters who are not loyal to either team call Nescacman a homer for keeping the Cardinals at #1 in his power rankings, and praise for the Panthers' rapidly improving passing offense is abundant. The line is set at Midd -17.
Middlebury loses the game outright to Bates, and the Wesleyan squad that was nearly universally considered to be leaking oil wins out for the NESCAC title.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. My point is that we just don't know. And those were midseason misconceptions; we've only played two games this year. From my perspective, the league (and the autobid) are very much up for grabs beyond just Connecticut.

An interesting offseason update from Vermont – Middlebury is installing lights at Youngman Field. I think all of the game times for the upcoming football season are set in stone, but we could potentially see some home night games for the men's lacrosse team in the spring and for the football team in 2027.

Quote from: Trin9-0 on July 22, 2026, 11:28:56 AMMy guess is that Middlebury views Williams as their biggest rival. Hamilton may feel that way about Middlebury but you can't really be rivals when you've lost to them for 30 consecutive years.

Does Tufts have a NESCAC rival?

If there was one thing I could change about Middlebury sports, it would be having a clear rival where both teams circle that game on the calendar. While playing, I would probably have considered Williams our biggest rival, with Amherst close behind. That was a tricky situation though, as the two clearly cared more about beating each other (and maybe even Wesleyan) than they did us. The tradition with the Old Rocking Chair against Hamilton was fun, but as you said it was tough to get fired up about a game that we always won.

There is a low key rivalry (if such a thing exists) between Middlebury and Tufts, based mostly on the fact that they play each other in the final week of every season. There is a Middlebury tradition of alumni gathering in Boston (where many former players are from and/or live now) for that game every two years. On those weekends the Middlebury fans sometimes outnumber the Tufts fans in Medford.

What's up MIAC board...

I'm a long-time D3Boards reader and a somewhat experienced poster on the NESCAC board, having played football at Middlebury College in Vermont. I moved to Minnesota in the summer and recently accepted a (non-football) job at Carleton. I am planning to adopt the Knights as a second D3 team, and I am looking for some info from you all.

First, does anyone have realistic hopes to win the conference in the future other than St. John's and Bethel? Second, I understand that this was a solid season for Carleton, and I am aware of Jack Curtis's incredible story. What else should I know about rooting for the Knights? And is there anything else I should know about the conference as a whole?

Thank you, and I look forward to joining the discussion.

Quote from: lumbercat on November 18, 2025, 11:00:18 PMMcClellan is an all conference player but not OPOY. Ryan Lynskey had a better RB year last year before injury this year and he got very little attention for OPOY.
The OPOY should be Fitzsimmons who carried the NESCAC champs all year long. He made their RBs and receivers better. Never saw other skill position guys get so much better as the season advanced than they did at Wes this year. Fitsimmons was the glue, the offensive leader that made that team so good.

Fair enough, Lumber. I was glad to see McClellan land on the first team.

Interesting that Colby won CSOY. Not sure I would've picked them, but certainly not crazy, and I'm just glad there weren't co-winners

Put me solidly in the anti "everyone's a winner" camp

Quote from: Charlie on November 18, 2025, 12:52:09 PMI still believe despite the hiccups Amherst had and you take away those losses to Bates & Colby they would have been 7-2 and played the top tier teams extremely well. If they do not loose players to graduation they are going to be tough next year. I would put them into Coaching staff of the. year discussion. No one predicted they would end up 5-4 and play this well.

Other then Colby beating Trinity which Trinity gave them they did not beat any top level teams other then first game. At least Amherst beat Williams while Colby was pounded.

At some point the games have to matter, Chuck. We can't base awards off of hypothetical records had certain games gone differently. Colby did beat Trinity, and they beat Amherst too. Wesleyan and Colby are the only coaching staffs that should have a shot, and for my money it's Wesleyan that deserves it with the back-to-back titles.

I would also posit that Middlebury's RB Connor McClellan should be in the OPOY conversation. Fitzsimons had a fantastic year, and would be a deserving winner. I just think that leading the NESCAC with both 959 rushing yards (106.6 per game) and 13 TDs (second most was 9) warrants a discussion. At the very least he should be first team all-conference.

Quote from: Nescacman on October 30, 2025, 09:18:55 PM"The Old Rocking Chair" Game (which sort of sounds like a made-up rivalry to us, but we digress)

That's because it is. The first game for the chair was in 1980, when two friends, Mac Bristol (Hamilton '43) and John Kirk (Middlebury '39), decided the "rivalry" should have an annual trophy. I can't speak to Hamilton's perspective, but as a former Middlebury football player, we never circled that game on the schedule. That might have been in part because of how one-sided the matchup was, but also both purple schools were always considered bigger rivals in football and other sports. Unfortunately, part of being in rural Vermont is that we have no next door neighbors and thus no clear natural rivalries. Middlebury did have a long-standing rivalry in football with fellow D3 Vermont school Norwich until the NESCAC moved to a conference-only schedule. If we ever do see a 10th game for NESCAC teams, I guarantee Norwich will be the Panthers' first call.

Quote from: Nescacman on October 30, 2025, 09:18:55 PMWe'll take MID on the road  since they just don't seem to ever lose to HAM (MID has won the last 28 times these teams have played going back to 1995).

I said it last year and I'll say it again: death, taxes, and Middlebury keeps the chair

For the record, NM, it is MIDD, not MID. I have never been sure if your omission of the second D was an intentional slight, though if it is I respect it. Anyway, we can talk about that and a new nickname in the offseason

Heartbreaker for Middlebury in Hartford, almost three straight years of last minute winners. For those who missed it, Trinity was up 8 trying to ice it with a late field goal, and Midd blocked it and returned it for a TD. The Panthers then missed the two point conversion and subsequently got stopped in the final seconds on Trinity's side of the field.

Lots of missed opportunities again for the Panthers, but a hell of a football game nonetheless. I always thought that 17 point line was way too big. Coach Mandigo knows how to play the Bantams.

The Wesleyan head scratcher is always amusing. Looks like Bowdoin +35 was pretty safe today, and I wonder what I could've gotten on Polar Bears money line.

Sounds like some injuries across the league today which is always horrible news. Wishing everyone a quick and smooth recovery.

It's been a disappointing last two weeks as a Middlebury fan. The Panthers followed up their week 1 loss with two good wins, and they had a lot of success running the ball in those two games, which is important to help open things up for Moran and the strong passing offense. At 2-1 and tied at the top, I had some renewed optimism for the season. Unfortunately, back to back losses since then have essentially eliminated Midd from title contention. Both games were very winnable, but costly turnovers and allowing big plays were the difference.

We're definitely the underdog in Hartford this weekend, but Coach Mandigo is yet to lose to Trinity as the head coach
Give me the Panthers to make it three straight.

Can't start a post today without shouting out the Mules! Always fun to see Trinity with a losing record.

Quote from: Nescacman on September 14, 2025, 09:00:49 AMBeing objective, based on the games we've watched (and we've watched 3+ of the 5 so far) plus analyzing the stats plus speaking with our reporters that were at games we have not watched completely yet, outside of Wes and Colby, that was (by far) the worst weekend of NESCAC football we have ever seen.

Boring/predictable play, bad teams, lack of playmakers, sloppiness (missed tackles, dropped balls, bad turnovers) seemed to rule the day. Maybe it's first game jitters, maybe it's all the new players (definitely a significant number of first time starters), maybe it's no preseason games, but the level of play was not good. Many of our preseason question marks and areas of concerns are still an issue.

I agree with this. I watched much more of the Midd-Wes game than anything else, but I got this impression from the snippets I saw of the games in Lewiston and Brunswick, as well as the 8 turnovers in the Colby-Trinity boxscore.

Quote from: Nescacman on September 14, 2025, 09:00:49 AMWesleyan could have easily scored another 2/3 TDs had passes been on their mark. It was 31-17 but it was not even that close. More on that game later but their defensive front 7 completely manhandled the new MID offensive line limiting them to 28 yards rushing on 24 attempts and constantly pressuring Brian Moran.

I'll congratulate Wesleyan on a win that they clearly earned. I do agree Wesleyan missed some opportunities, but taking advantage of those chances is part of what makes a good team good. I would also add that Middlebury left things on the table as well, starting with their opening drive where 2nd and goal from the 3 only led to 3 points. And then a third quarter pick six was a complete back-breaker when the Midd offense looked for a moment like they had something going for the first time since that opening possession.

Middlebury's offensive line was a glaring issue (not easy to say as a former Midd OL myself). Four of the five up front for the Panthers are new starters, including three sophomores, and the run game was just not there. I do think Middlebury will get better, and their passing offense looked good when Moran had time. Middlebury threw for 261 yards, and despite the poor rushing, Wesleyan actually only gained 7 more yards than Midd on the day.

Wesleyan looks like the team to beat through week 1, but we all know how quickly things change in this conference, and I don't think anyone will be undefeated. Looking forward to 8 more weeks.

Thought it was worth highlighting that legendary Middlebury OL Kevin Woodring '20 is joining the Midd coaching staff this season as the OL coach after two years coaching at Sacred Heart.

Middlebury's previous OL coach, NESCAC veteran Dave Caputi (Midd '81), is shifting to coaching the TEs and RBs. This will be Coach Caputi's 43rd consecutive season coaching in the NESCAC, having spent time at five of the league's ten schools.

St. Clair Ryan, who held the TE/RB role at Midd last year, is now coaching at Bowdoin. Wishing him all the best (except week 2 in Vermont).

Quote from: jumpshot on April 19, 2025, 05:31:40 PMthe academic schedule in November is intense 

This is always the part of the anti-playoffs argument that bothers me the most. Here is a list of the sports where NESCAC teams competed in late November (Nov. 16-30):

• Men's soccer
• Women's soccer
• Volleyball
• Field hockey
• Men's cross country
• Women's cross country
• Men's basketball
• Women's basketball
• Men's ice hockey
• Women's ice hockey
• Men's squash
• Women's squash
• Men's swimming and diving
• Women's swimming and diving

NESCAC student-athletes have proven time and again that they can balance school and sports. Why is the academic workload in late November and early December manageable for these 14 NESCAC sports but wouldn't be for football players? This decision was long overdue and a great win for NESCAC football.