NESCACMAN I'm usually a big fan of your weekly breakdowns but these week the Wesleyan bias is peaking through. To have Wesleyan who should've lost to Hamilton and Trinity who have dominated every team they've played tied is such a bad call. Not saying Wesleyan is a bad team at all they are comfortable #2 but having them tied with Trinity after that performance just doesn't make sense.

Quote from: Nescacguymaine on October 04, 2026, 12:15:37 AMWatching Bowdoin games are just incredibly painful. So much talent across the field and so many bright moments but the team just can't seem to figure it out. I wonder if it has something to do with the CULTURE?

Bowdoins offense is just horrible, theres a lot of talented kids on the defensive side of the ball, but even with a pick 6, and a strip sack leading to a field goal the offense wasn't able to execute at all. I think with all the rumors around Hammer and his absence has definetly impacted the culture, but it would be a stretch to say they aren't getting out played and out coached by the teams they are playing

Quote from: Ephsfan1 on September 30, 2026, 07:39:13 PM

Quote from: MapleBBQChicken on September 30, 2026, 05:22:27 PMI 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.

Completely agree. I like the Ephs this weekend to pull off the upset @ Trinity.

The path to winning for Williams is steep, don't see how they can beat Trinity if Trinity puts up 2+ scores.

Don't know what this model sees in Amherst's offense, but would be very surprised if they put up 30 points even against a weak Hamilton team. I was also curious about where the discrepancy is between the NESCAC and top D3 teams, is it size, speed, top-end talent, overall talent?

I was under the assumption that Smith had graduated last year. If that's the case he should be in these discussions

I just want to throw Amherst running back Michael Dunmore into the mix. The mammoths have run the ball very ineffiecently in the last 5 years but continue to try to establish a run game. I saw on this board that he had multiple d1 looks and on an Amherst offense which seems short on talent he should be a bright spot. As for leaving Carroll off the first team list seems like Bantams fatigue. The quarterback on the best team in the league should always be on an all nescac team (Besides Williams "passers").

Does anyone have predictions on All Nescac teams?

I don't understand the williams hype at all. I feel like every year people are saying this is the year and every year injuries seem to derail them. At this point it seems kind of expected for them to have an underwhelming season. Owen McHugh isn't the guy we think he is, and Montesano isn't going to play the role NESCAC1 is saying he had 92 in 9 games.

As expected things got chippy towards the end of the Amherst vs Williams game, Coach Raymond was seen yelling and instigating Amherst players who were storming the field after the win. I know there is deep history between the Mammoths and the Ephs but this is just unacceptable from a coach.

Speaking of Williams QBs, Sophomore Mikey McGrath may be out for the season with an injury during pratcice. Just adding to the unfortunate amount of injuries for the Ephs this season

A guy to look out for is Kemit Fisher. I believe he's the best interior DL in the NESCAC right now, and is a big reason The Mammoths run defense has been performing so well this year. Just a guy to watch as we get to the end of the year.

I was looking through Amhersts roster and they seem so small compared to the rest of the players in the NESCAC. Is it a recruiting philosophy issue? I would think that Amherst could land some of these bigger players but they don't. Anyone from this board have any insight?

Ty Richardson from Tufts just hit the portal. Any guesses where he lands?

Just caught the highlights from yesterday's game, and Ty Richardson was absolutely on fire for Tufts! The sophomore cornerback snagged two crucial interceptions against Bowdoin, talk about a game-changer. It's clear he's stepping up big time this season. He is Jaden Richardsons younger brother, The Richardson family's football legacy is seriously impressive.

Only 1 Linebacker in Middleburys incoming class?