Aside from Clemson beating BC on Friday, the biggest college football upset of the weekend happened in Vermont, where Middlebury was able to topple Amherst in an absolute thriller on Saturday. Obviously, Middlebury wasn’t considered a weak team, but the fact remained that the Panthers were up against an Amherst team that had won 21 straight games and was allowing 5.0 PPG coming into this tilt. Well, Jared Lebowitz ‘18 and his comrades showed no fear on Saturday, and they fended off the Purple and White for a 27-26 win.
Huge win for Middlebury as they snap Amherst’s 21 game win streak 27-26. pic.twitter.com/loitrBoO7W
— Nothing But NESCAC (@CACSportsBlog) October 8, 2016
The rest of the league action consisted of a number of blowout wins by Trinity, Tufts and Wesleyan, and a solid win for Bates against Williams. It feels like there really haven’t been a ton of close games this year so far as 2016 is really highlighting the talent gap between the two tiers in the NESCAC. Through 15 game, only 4 have been decided by single digits, and 10 games have ended with score differentials of 20 or more points. I expect these large margins of victory will become fewer and far between as we continue through the season, but you never know. In any event, your Tuesday morning stock report can be found below.
Stock Up
Wide Receiver Devon Carrillo ‘17 (Wesleyan)
Carillo had 3 touchdowns, but surprisingly not one came on a reception. Displaying his athleticism, Carrillo lined up in the wildcat formation and rushed for 26 yards and 2 touchdowns. Then, in a flash of versatility, he threw a 48 yard touchdown pass to Mike Breuler ‘18. Maybe we just found ourselves a NESCAC version of Terrelle Pryor?
Wide Receiver Darrien Myers ‘17 (Trinity)
Myers led the Bantams in receiving on Saturday, hauling in 8 catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns. The senior wideout has time and again proven that he is Sonny Puzzo’s favorite target, especially as Trinity approaches the end zone. Through the first three weeks, Myers leads the league with 7 receiving touchdowns, and he will continue to be a prime option for Puzzo in the red zone against Tufts this weekend.
Quarterback Sandy Plashkes ‘19 (Bates)
Sandy must have been clicking around on the NESCAC website last week and noticed that Bates ranked last in most passing categories because he absolutely torched Williams this weekend. The Bobcats are still last in passing yards, but they have moved into a tie for 3rd in passing touchdowns after Plashkes threw for 4 of them on Saturday including this beautiful throw and catch:
Are you kidding me? Bates’ Marcus Ross TD catch from Sandy Plashkes #greatcatch @CACSportsBlog #NESCAC @Bates_Football pic.twitter.com/YAT0b7CxE9
— Bates College (@BatesCollege) October 8, 2016
Shout out to Marcus Ross ’19 for coming down with that one as he got his Antonio Brown on. Heck of a weekend for Plashkes and the Bobcats as they grabbed their first win against the Ephs.
Stock Down
Mascot-less Teams in the NESCAC
Losing to Middlebury definitely doesn’t crush Amherst’s stock – the Panthers are definitely a title contender this year. However, this weekend proved that Amherst isn’t indestructible and that is something that will give other teams hope as they face off with the ex-LJs. Even though Amherst was right in it until the final whistle, the interception at the end was a very bad turnover, and in an 8-game season, it is plays like that that can decide the season for NESCAC teams. Amherst is by no means out of the hunt, but they now have to rely on Middlebury faltering against someone else, something that the Panthers just proved you cannot count on.
Quarterback Consistency at Tufts
We’re three weeks in and it’s just impossible to tell who is going to start under center for the Jumbos. Against Wesleyan in Week 1, Alex Snyder ‘17 started, got pulled, and then came back in to help lead the Jumbos to victory. In Week 2, Ryan McDonald ‘19 got more action as the Blue and Brown struggled to move the ball through the air and relied more on McDonald’s feet from the quarterback spot. Now in Week 3, McDonald goes 9-9 for 92 yards and a TD as well as 2 rushing TDs, but Snyder goes 3-6 including a 77-yard touchdown bomb to Mike Miller ‘18. Your guess is as good as mine, but I’d say the Jumbos will just take the hot hand approach moving forward.
Williams
You’re not taking advantage of your opportunities guys!! Two of the first three games Williams has played have been against bottom half teams (Colby, Bates), and they have come out 0-3. Now, Williams’ schedule consists of the following 5 opponents in order: Middlebury, Tufts, Hamilton, Wesleyan, and Amherst. Take into account that the Ephs are traveling to Tufts, Hamilton and Amherst and things are not looking great for Coach Raymond’s squad. If the Ephs are going to turn things around, they’re going to need to make improvements across the board, because they do not have a very favorable remaining schedule.