FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[The #802]

Strength of Schedule - Opponents Combined Record
Bates: 22-3
Colby: 21-4
Ham  : 18-7
Bow  : 15-10
Midd : 14-11
Tufts: 11-14
Trin : 8-17
Will : 7-18
Wesl : 6-19
Amher: 3-22

Strength of Remaining Schedule
Amher: 17-3
Wesl : 14-6
Will : 14-6
Trin : 12-8
Tufts: 11-9
Bow  : 10-10
Midd : 9-11
Ham  : 6-14
Colby: 4-16
Bates: 3-17


I can easily see a scenario where Amherst finished 5-4.

[TheJeff]

Could Amherst go 5-4? Yes, but I don't think they've played their best football yet.

The offense is yet to piece together a complete game and Marek Hill has proved to be a legit QB with serious weapons at receiver. I felt offensive play calling restricted him vs Colby as they never went for the deep shots like they did in Middlebury. The lack of run game will hurt them against teams like Trinity and Wesleyan, but I think they can manage against Williams and Tufts.

The defense has been great to the run for the most part and seems more susceptible to the pass (concerning with Wesleyan on the horizon). As an alum, I trust Coach Mills and Coach Bussard will be able to game plan for the stronger offenses the next few weeks. With all that being said, I don't see Amherst winning a rock fight in the back half of their schedule.

Overall, they have not played a complete game on their way to 5-0. Question is: can they? Time will tell... my prediction is 7-2

[Nescacman]

Could Amherst go 5-4? Yes, but I don't think they've played their best football yet.

The offense is yet to piece together a complete game and Marek Hill has proved to be a legit QB with serious weapons at receiver. I felt offensive play calling restricted him vs Colby as they never went for the deep shots like they did in Middlebury. The lack of run game will hurt them against teams like Trinity and Wesleyan, but I think they can manage against Williams and Tufts.

The defense has been great to the run for the most part and seems more susceptible to the pass (concerning with Wesleyan on the horizon). As an alum, I trust Coach Mills and Coach Bussard will be able to game plan for the stronger offenses the next few weeks. With all that being said, I don't see Amherst winning a rock fight in the back half of their schedule.

Overall, they have not played a complete game on their way to 5-0. Question is: can they? Time will tell... my prediction is 7-2

Very fair and balanced assessment of the Lord Mammoths. We concur.

NM

[Nescacman]

For those of you that missed them, at the historical mid way point of the NESCAC season, here are the NESCACMAN midseason grades:

Wesleyan-Grade of "A": Offense has played well behind a much improved offensive line. Other than a hiccup against the HAM offense, which has some talent, the defense has been solid as well. Big games ahead.

Hartford State-Grade of "A": Probably has been the best all around team in the NESCAC through 5 games. Last game's turnovers are a bit concerning, but we will give them some wiggle room on an otherwise great start to their season. Leading the league in point differential doesn't hurt.

Amherst-Grade of "B+": 5-0 despite 2 near losses. Could easily be 3-2 at this point in the season. Still, compared to the past few years, we're sure the Lord Mammoths faithful are happy where they sit right now. As noted on the Boards, they have a tough back-end to their schedule.

Williams-Grade of "B+": Only blemish was to an undefeated Hartford State squad. Now that they have seemingly found their future at QB, they could make things interesting over the next 4 weeks. Still in the hunt for a NESCAC title and a play-off birth.

Tufts-Grade of "B": Inconsistent. They will beat the weaker teams in the conference but struggle against the upper echelon.

Middlebury-Grade of "C+": We feel like this team should be better. At the onset of the season, we were concerned about the QB and the passing game but that has been fine. Defense needs to be better.

Hamilton-Grade of "C": Oh, if only they had a defense. One of the best (and most exciting) offenses in the league. We're sure lots of teams wish they had Luke Kurzum and his cast of receivers.

Colby-Grade of "D+": After last season's 6-3 campaign, expectations were probably unrealistically high. Still trying to figure out how to play offense (that seems to be a theme in Maine).

Bowdoin-Grade of "D": A mess off the field (and on offense). Fortunately, their defense has stepped up. If only they could combine with Hamilton. What a team that would be!

UBates-Grade of "D": Almost an incomplete grade. Tons of injuries have hobbled the Kitties. Another team that has to figure out the QB position.   

[lumbercat]

Could Amherst go 5-4? Yes, but I don't think they've played their best football yet.

The offense is yet to piece together a complete game and Marek Hill has proved to be a legit QB with serious weapons at receiver. I felt offensive play calling restricted him vs Colby as they never went for the deep shots like they did in Middlebury. The lack of run game will hurt them against teams like Trinity and Wesleyan, but I think they can manage against Williams and Tufts.


The defense has been great to the run for the most part and seems more susceptible to the pass (concerning with Wesleyan on the horizon). As an alum, I trust Coach Mills and Coach Bussard will be able to game plan for the stronger offenses the next few weeks. With all that being said, I don't see Amherst winning a rock fight in the back half of their schedule.

Overall, they have not played a complete game on their way to 5-0. Question is: can they? Time will tell... my prediction is 7-2

Pretty easy schedule so far for Amherst. They were lucky to beat Bates and Bowdoin. Williams is the better team but anything can happen in The Game. If Shapiro is healthy they will struggle with Tufts.
By the way, what happened to Coach Ballard?

[Former CAC Coach]

Coach Ballard and his family moved to Cape Cod, and is now on the coaching staff at (the undefeated) Massachusetts Maritime.

[TheJeff]

Could Amherst go 5-4? Yes, but I don't think they've played their best football yet.

The offense is yet to piece together a complete game and Marek Hill has proved to be a legit QB with serious weapons at receiver. I felt offensive play calling restricted him vs Colby as they never went for the deep shots like they did in Middlebury. The lack of run game will hurt them against teams like Trinity and Wesleyan, but I think they can manage against Williams and Tufts.


The defense has been great to the run for the most part and seems more susceptible to the pass (concerning with Wesleyan on the horizon). As an alum, I trust Coach Mills and Coach Bussard will be able to game plan for the stronger offenses the next few weeks. With all that being said, I don't see Amherst winning a rock fight in the back half of their schedule.

Overall, they have not played a complete game on their way to 5-0. Question is: can they? Time will tell... my prediction is 7-2

Pretty easy schedule so far for Amherst. They were lucky to beat Bates and Bowdoin. Williams is the better team but anything can happen in The Game. If Shapiro is healthy they will struggle with Tufts.
By the way, what happened to Coach Ballard?

Amherst had no trouble on defense against Bates and Bowdoin. Let's keep in mind, Amherst had to start their backup QB against Bowdoin and started off down 10-0 minutes into the first quarter. Props to the backup, Livatino, for filling in, but let's not act like it wouldn't have been a different game with Hill. I have acknowledged their easy schedule thus far.

Williams will always be a tough game, but I can't agree that Amherst will have trouble with Tufts just because of Shapiro. Their run defense is #1 in the league (easy schedule, top 3 regardless) and I don't see them having trouble scoring on Tuft's defense. Shapiro was a non-factor against Amherst last year and if he's already dealing with injuries, I think they can contain him.

[lumbercat]

Shapiro is probably one of 2 or maybe 3 of the most explosive offensive weapons in the league. He makes a huge difference in that offense when healthy. They are different team with him.
Not sure of the extent of his current injury.

[Ephsfan1]

Why have we not seen Patrick Miller at QB for Colby this year? Led the Mules to a few wins at the end of the season last year and was efficient in doing so. Thought he looked solid through the air and added an aspect of fear through the running game that Colby could certainly use. Maybe I'm overlooking something, but I can't find a reason as to why he's not QB1 for the Mules, especially after a disastrous start to the season.

[lumbercat]

Colby took 2 QB transfers in the off season. One from Trinity (Tx.) and one from D1 FCS Monmouth (NJ), both felt to be better than Miller. Believe Miller has been converted to WR.

3 Milton Ma QB's who were/are good QBs have been converted to other positions in the Nescac this year. Miller WR at Colby, McHugh WR at Williams and Chase Vaughn DB at Wes.

[Brady12]

Why have we not seen Patrick Miller at QB for Colby this year? Led the Mules to a few wins at the end of the season last year and was efficient in doing so. Thought he looked solid through the air and added an aspect of fear through the running game that Colby could certainly use. Maybe I'm overlooking something, but I can't find a reason as to why he's not QB1 for the Mules, especially after a disastrous start to the season.

I agree seems like he was off the radar from the get go and switched to WR. Perhaps Colby will put in a double pass or some other trickery come the BBC games.

[Trin9-0]

While reading the NESCAC Player of the Week awards I realized that no Trinity player had received the award so far this season. I started looking for the last time a Bantam had won one and ended up reviewing the past few years. Long story short, I was very surprised to see that the Bantams were tied with Bowdoin and Hamilton for the fewest weekly award winners in the NESCAC (just 7) over the past four and a half seasons.

Before you come at me, this is NOT to say that any of the past winners weren't deserving, nor that Trinity should have won more. I merely found it a bit odd that the team with the best record, most championships, and the most All NESCAC selections over that span also had the fewest weekly award winners. It's also worth noting that nearly half of Trinity's Player of the Week award winners came from special teams; Kicker, Matthew Jumes twice and Nolan O'Brien as a Kick Returner (he also won one as WR).

Here's the breakdown: 
   

Overall  Offensive  Defensive  Special Teams  Wesleyan           25           6           8           11 Middlebury           18           3           6             9 Colby           16           3           5             8 Tufts           14           8           3             3 Amherst           13           4           4             5 Bates           11           5           2             4 Williams           10           5           2             3 Bowdoin           7           3           4             0 Hamilton           7           1           2             4 Trinity           7           3           1             3

Perhaps this speaks to Trinity's depth and ability to distribute carries and receptions around to different players offensively, and/or the fact that their defensive starters typically get fewer snaps and therefore don't rack up as many stats? Of course the same could be said for Wesleyan who's had nearly the same level of success over the past few years, yet the Cardinals account for 20% of all NESCAC Player of the Week award winners since 2022. Anyway, I found it interesting.

[GroundandPound]

Trin 9-0, 
I would take one of these:

NESCAC CHAMPIONS: 1978, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2025 UNDEFEATED SEASONS: 1911, 1915, 1934, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1993, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2022

over a few hundred player of the week accolades.
Sorry but I will shed no tears for Trinity on this.

[Trin9-0]

I had a feeling this would be the reply. It's not a complaint or a claim of injustice. It's merely an observation that it's odd the most successful team by any metric over the past few seasons has received the least weekly recognition. Believe me, I'm not looking to trade weekly awards for titles (especially this season with the league's first playoff berth at stake).

[Nescacman]

While reading the NESCAC Player of the Week awards I realized that no Trinity player had received the award so far this season. I started looking for the last time a Bantam had won one and ended up reviewing the past few years. Long story short, I was very surprised to see that the Bantams were tied with Bowdoin and Hamilton for the fewest weekly award winners in the NESCAC (just 7) over the past four and a half seasons.

Before you come at me, this is NOT to say that any of the past winners weren't deserving, nor that Trinity should have won more. I merely found it a bit odd that the team with the best record, most championships, and the most All NESCAC selections over that span also had the fewest weekly award winners. It's also worth noting that nearly half of Trinity's Player of the Week award winners came from special teams; Kicker, Matthew Jumes twice and Nolan O'Brien as a Kick Returner (he also won one as WR).

Here's the breakdown: 
   

Overall  Offensive  Defensive  Special Teams  Wesleyan           25           6           8           11 Middlebury           18           3           6             9 Colby           16           3           5             8 Tufts           14           8           3             3 Amherst           13           4           4             5 Bates           11           5           2             4 Williams           10           5           2             3 Bowdoin           7           3           4             0 Hamilton           7           1           2             4 Trinity           7           3           1             3

Perhaps this speaks to Trinity's depth and ability to distribute carries and receptions around to different players offensively, and/or the fact that their defensive starters typically get fewer snaps and therefore don't rack up as many stats? Of course the same could be said for Wesleyan who's had nearly the same level of success over the past few years, yet the Cardinals account for 20% of all NESCAC Player of the Week award winners since 2022. Anyway, I found it interesting.

Clearly, there is an anti-Hartford State conspiracy Hs7-2...