On a different note, I believe this week will be the most telling out of any yet. I agree Trinity and Wesleyan are clear interchangeable 1/2, but this week will show where the rest of the league stands. I think Bowdoin's defense is legit and if Amherst can put up points on them, I don't see any reason why Amherst wouldn't be considered the third best team in the league. Colby vs. Midd and Tufts vs. Bates are two other revealing games this week. The winners of those will show who's in the middle of the league and who's in the bottom. Would be interesting if the Maine teams can pull off some upsets...

Quote from: UfanBill on September 28, 2026, 08:26:05 PM

Quote from: Nescacman on September 21, 2026, 04:13:59 PM

Quote from: ItsATuftSituation on September 21, 2026, 12:31:01 PMWas in Medford to watch the Jumbos play Hamilton. Sad that Hamilton's stud first-year RB got hurt on the final play of the game. He was super dynamic, scored three times in the game. Hope he's okay but he was down for a long, long time.

Never like to hear about injuries. We hope he is OK.

Not sure if 7 carries for 33 yards (and 6 catches primarily on dump passes) warrants the term "stud" but he did score 3x and HCOF Murray was very high on Ace when we spoke to Coach on our season preview 9 Weeks NESCAC podcast. He certainly has one of the better names in the NESCAC so there is that... 

A little research shows that Etienne was previously hurt the final game of his 2024 high school junior season. A broken fibula. That would probably explain why coaches shied away from recruiting him. To his credit he rehabbed religiously and had a solid senior season. Hopefully he can recover from this latest injury. I feel for the kid.

He played against Amherst and appeared healthy. He's fast but I'm not sure if I'd call him dynamic yet. Hard to run with that OL, but he's too small to run between the tackles right now. He'll put on size as he gets older and I could see him as a legit back in the league as an upperclassman.

Quote from: Nescacman on September 24, 2026, 01:42:23 PM

Quote from: Brady12 on September 24, 2026, 12:53:19 PM

Quote from: Nescacman on September 23, 2026, 07:04:48 AMGM NESCAC Nation!

As we prepare for Week2, we are keeping a close eye on the weather. All of this week's games could be affected in some way. In particular, Wesleyan's home opener might be moved from historic Andrus Field to the turf at Citrin Field. Stay tuned...

NM

Any more game (location-start time) updates for this weekend?

We expect some updates potentially later today. We'd be shocked if the Wes/Tufts game is on Andrus. We fully expect that game to be played on the turf at Citrin Field, the home of Weslax and where Wes has playeds to a 2-0 record in recent years in similar situations.

Wesleyan learned their lesson about playing in the rain on Andrus in 2021 against Amherst— the classic mud bowl. Hope to see another edition one day!

I have to agree with NM here. While I do think both Smith and Dunmore will be effective, Amherst tends to platoon backs. McClellan and Lynskey are clear #1 workhorse backs, so obviously they'll have the numbers to be first team guys. However, I am optimistic about Dunmore and could see him in that workhorse role his junior and senior years.

To N1, he may not have stats to show for last year, but he was a freshman getting carries early in week 1. Clearly Mills and the staff see something in him, so I'm gonna side with Trinitydad and say he's got a bright future.

Adding to the offensive conversation, can say it's the first time in years I can say I'm excited about the Amherst offense. The success of their offense this year mainly rests on Marek Hill, but I really think Amherst has found a legitimate NESCAC starter in him.

It will certainly be tough without Jung at wideout, but Moore along with a slew of young guys should fill those roles. Additionally, Matt Diaz was one of the most effective TE's in the league.

For running back: Demitrius Smith will be one of the leaders of the rushing attack. He was a key in revitalizing the rushing layer of the Amherst offense that was dormant for a couple of years (which I attribute a significant amount of their offensive shortcomings to). A name to look out for is Michael Dunmore, a sophomore running back, who I'm assuming was going to see significant time last year, but was injured in Bates to end his season. He supposedly had some serious D1 looks and I think could do some serious damage this year. I'm sure there will be other backs seeing time as the season goes on.

The biggest loss for the offensive line was Coach Ballard, hopefully the group doesn't miss a beat. They return senior Miles Roberts (possible the best lineman in the league), two sophomores: Jack Martin (monster tackle) and Emmett Haughney (could see him player either center or guard), both played well as FY's last year. Additionally, junior Jonathan McLaughlin (started at center first half of '25 season before injury) and senior Ryan McGurn (started '24 season until an early injury and missed all of '25) will be back from injury. Not quite sure where those two will be used, but I'm assuming they will be starters. Amherst has experience up front and I believe will have depth having recruited 5+ OL the past 2 recruiting classes.

Although Amherst may not have the star power of a team like Wesleyan going into the season, some players seem like they could have breakout years. I look forward to week 1 vs. Bates at Pratt, should be a great one.

Hi all! Long time reader, first time poster looking to increase Amherst representation on this forum. Amherst looks poised for another year of improvement with a lot of returners on offense and you can always rely on Bussard and Mills' having a good defense. Other big news I heard is that former Co-DPOY, Kemit Fisher, is back to help out with the D-Line this year.