Jabari Hurdle-Price – Page 3 – Nothing But NESCAC

Previewing the Player of the Year Races

If you have a better picture from the paper, by all means use that Joe — Matt Milano ’16 looks to defend his POY title (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)

Yesterday we tackled all the players who have a chance to rise from relative obscurity into stardom. Now it’s time to talk about the ones who already are big names and might take home the shiniest hardward at the end of the season.

Offensive Player of the Year Race

The question is whether a non-QB will be able to win this award. Eight of the last nine Offensive Player of the Year Awards have gone to a QB with Amherst’s Evan Bunker the only running back to win in 2011. In the six years from 2000-2005, non-QBs won the award in four of the six years. As you will see below, among our five favorites, only one is a QB, Matt Milano ’16. Of course, Milano is the odds-on favorite to win the award provided he stays healthy, but if for some unforeseen reason he does not put up amazing statistics, there does not appear to be another QB ready to win the award. While it is possible someone like Austin Lommen ’16 (Williams) makes a big jump, it is probably Milano or bust in terms of QBs, so that is something to keep in mind.

Running Backs LaDarius Drew ’15/Lou Stevens ’17 (Wesleyan): Stevens enjoyed a strong end to the 2014 season to earn First Team All-NESCAC honors in 2014, and Drew was First Team All-NESCAC in 2013 before missing all of last year because of a foot injury so both of these guys are very talented. In the end, these two might be each other’s worst enemies. There are only so many carries to go around. However, in 2013 with Drew and Kyle Gibson ’15 splitting carries, Drew still finished second in the NESCAC in YPG. If these two were one player, LouDarius Drevens would be the favorite to win the award.

Running Back Tyler Grant ’17 (Bowdoin): The league’s leading rusher from 2014, and the only player who averaged more than 100 YPG, Grant racked up an incredible amount of carries over eight games. He finished the year with 226 rushing attempts, 76 more than the next highest total by Trinity’s Chudi Iregbulem ’15! Grant surely will not run that much this year, but he could benefit from a more open scheme that will put him in space more often where he is best. Health is a definite concern after all of the carries a year ago. He was banged up for much of the offseason and is out of practice now, though he is expected to be fully healthy by the time Week 1 rolls around.

Quarterback Matt Milano ’16 (Middlebury): Milano is the reigning co-Offensive Player of the Year (he split the award with Wesleyan QB Jesse Warren ’15 a year ago) so he is an obvious choice for this list. We are pretty sure that he will be starting Week 1 over transfer Jared Lebowitz ’17 because Milano has more experience with the offense. Make no mistake, Milano was amazing last year. After an uneven first start against Wesleyan, he threw 22 TDs against one INT over the final seven games of the season. He does have to play more consistently against the top defenses in the league, as he had average or subpar games against Wesleyan, Amherst and Williams. Middlebury will rely on him even more than they did last year with the team’s leading rusher from a year ago, Drew Jacobs ’18, out with a Lisfranc fracture.

Running Back Nick Kelly ’17 (Amherst): Kelly entered 2014 splitting carries with Kenny Adinkra ’16, but with Adinkra injured for the final five games of the season, Kelly became the feature back. A tall back, Kelly is somewhat in the mold of a Derrick Henry from Alabama who possesses breakaway speed once he gets moving downhill. His 59-yard touchdown against Middlebury last year was the difference in that game, and he had a run of at least 20 yards in each of the first five games of the season. Kelly did struggle mightily down the stretch averaging less than 3.0 yards per carry in his final three games. He will also have to fight off a lot of talented backups including a healthy Adinkra.

Wide Receiver Mark Riley ’16 (Bates): Having a wide receiver from Bates, a school known for their triple option running attack on offense, as a preseason favorite for this award is unusual. Then you have to realize that Riley has the statistics to more than back up his inclusion. He led the league in receiving YPG and was second in catches. He has the speed to run past defenders and also runs good routes underneath. With no other clear passing option, he will have to overcome a lot of double teams. New QB Patrick Dugan ’16 is known as a good passer so I’m not worried about a big drop in targets for Riley. Winning this award as a wide receiver is hard, but Riley has a lot of the ingredients to make it happen.

Others to Watch: Wide Receiver Matt Minno ’16 (Middlebury), Quarterback Austin Lommen ’16 (Williams), Quarterback Sonny Puzzo ’17 (Trinity), Running Back Jabari Hurdle-Price ’17 (Colby)

Defensive Player of the Year

The past winners of this award exhibit a lot more variety than the QB-heavy Offensive award, but the most common position to win it is linebacker because of the big tackle totals. This season there are more than a fair share of worthy competitors for DPOY, and we left off a lot of players who will make a run at it.

Cornerback Jaymie Spears ’16 (Amherst): The best corner in the NESCAC, no questions asked. A year ago Spears was second in the league with six interceptions, tied for first with eight pass breakups, and blocked two kicks, just because he can. One worry for Spears’ candidacy? That teams simply ignore his side of the field and target other receivers. You see that in the NFL for corners like Richard Sherman and Darrelle Revis. NESCAC teams haven’t done that yet, but if Spears’ numbers drop precipitously it might be because he simply isn’t getting opportunities.

Linebacker Mark Upton ’17 Bates): The presence of multiple senior linebackers on Bates couldn’t keep Upton from racking up 84 tackles a year ago. Now, as the centerpiece of the Bates defense, he could have eye-popping numbers from the middle linebacker spot. He is more than just a steady player in the middle too. He led the league with four forced fumbles and had the most sacks on Bates with 3.5. A severe drop in the overall talent of the Bates defense could spell trouble for Upton, but he has a very good shot if he plays at a similar level to what he did last season.

Linebacker Tim Patricia ’16 (Middlebury). Patricia is just one of several Middlebury defenders who could make a run at this award. He gets the nod because of his job as the middle linebacker. He is nothing if not consistent with three NESCAC Second Team honors back-to-back-to-back years. Some might worry that Patricia has hit his ceiling as a player already, but he improved his play-making ability by doubling his TFL total from 2013 to 2014. Patricia’s greatest skill is a nose for the ball. He just knows how to make tackles. And even if he doesn’t win the award, one of his teammates, the Pierce bros (they’re not actually brothers), S Dan and LB Addison, just might.

Safety Mike Stearns ’17 (Tufts): Nobody had more solo tackles than Stearns’ 60 in 2014, and the fact that they came from the corner position makes it all the more impressive. Now at safety Stearns should have even more opportunities to make tackles. A great instinctive player, Stearns will be all over the field as a safety. Of worry is a significant tapering off of production as the year went along. He had only 18 tackles in his last four games. At safety, Stearns will have to show that he can make plays in the air and not just on the ground.

Defensive End James Howe ’16 (Williams): Joe and I talked about this in our video on Monday (Williams part begins at 3:40), but there is no bigger enigma than Howe entering this season. After totaling 10 sacks as a sophomore, he had zero all of 2014. He still had 38 tackles, a good amount for a defensive end, but a year ago I was ready to call Howe the JJ Watt of the NESCAC. I put him on this list because he obviously has the talent to make a ton of plays. He might not be quite as much of a focus for opposing offenses this season, which could give him more opportunities to get into the backfield.

Others to Watch: Linebacker Alex Daversa-Russo ’16 (Wesleyan), Safety Dan Pierce ’16 (Middlebury), Linebacker Addison Pierce ’17 (Middlebury), Linebacker Frank Leyva ’16 (Trinity), Linebacker Thomas Kleyn ’16 (Amherst)

20 Stats from 2014 That You Need to Know

MIDDLEBURY, VT (October 17, 2009) - Aerial images of the campus of Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont. (Photo © Brett Simison) — An aerial view of the Middlebury field. (Photo © Brett Simison)

The time has come, football season is finally upon us. FBS college teams begin games tonight, meaning we will get football non-stop for months now. While teams throughout the NESCAC have turned the page on the 2014 season, we want to take one last look at last year and tell you what stats will be crucial to know heading into the 2015 campaign.

17. No better place to start than the defending champs. The steel-curtain defense of the Amherst Lord Jeffs accrued a league leading 17 interceptions last season. Going into this year, three out of the four defensive backs will be returning as seniors – Jaymie Spears ’16, who led the league with six picks last year, Chris Gow ’16 and Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn ’16. Look for this trio to continue to wreak havoc for opposing NESCAC quarterbacks this year.

2,004. While the DBs of Amherst held him to only 67 yards when they played each other last October, Middlebury quarterback Matt Milano ’16 was the only QB in the conference to throw for over 2000 yards in the 2014 season, amassing 2,004 yards through the air. The next closest was Wesleyan’s Jesse Warren ’15 with 1513.

1. On the other side of the spectrum, the Bowdoin offense had a lowly one passing touchdown in 2014. That touchdown went to fullback Jack Donovan ’15, meaning the Polar Bear wide receivers had zero receiving touchdowns all season. With the entrance of JB Wells as the new head coach of the Polar Bears, along with the change in personnel at the quarterback position with Tim Drakeley ’17, look for a drastic improvement from last year’s lowest-ranked offense.

74.6. The number of tackles per game for Tufts. While the Jumbos had the most tackles per game in the NESCAC, they also were the last-ranked team in terms of passing yards allowed (225.1 per game).

34. The Middlebury Panthers, who were among the league’s best offensively, hired a new offensive coordinator in Dave Caputi for 2015. After graduating from Middlebury himself in 1981, 34 years later he finds himself back as a member of Panther football.

33:38. Wesleyan’s lengthy time of possession per game last year, made possible by their second-ranked 18 first downs per game. They will again look to hold the rock for long periods with their talented running back duo of LaDarius Drew ’15 and Lou Stevens ’17.

16. The number of consecutive losses for Hamilton. Although it’s not quite as impressive as Tufts’ 31 straight which ended last year, second year head coach Dave Murray will rest much easier if that 16 doesn’t turn into 24 after this season.

61. Touches for Trinity RB/QB Spencer Aukamp ’18 last season. Expect that number to rise, but it’s unclear whether that will be via the run or passing game. Aukamp is a weapon and will see a lot of snaps for the Bantams, but they most likely won’t take place under center this season.

71.5. Receiving yards per game for Bates’ Mark Riley ’16, who led the league in this category as well as total receiving yards with 572. The Bobcats are also in the midst of a change at the quarterback position, so it’ll be interesting to see how the loss of Matt Cannone ’15 affects Riley’s 2015 numbers.

2. Straight years Williams has been below .500, an occurrence that had not happened for 15+ years.

533. Total yards for Colby RB Jabari Hurdle-Price ’17, who broke out his sophomore year as the Mules’ premiere back. Keeping an eye on Colby, it will be interesting to see how the ground load will be split for Hurdle-Price and fellow classmate Carl Lipani who, although he had fewer carries (37 compared to 131), averaged more yards per touch (4.9) than Hurdle-Price (4.1). Lipani is healthy again after missing the second half of the season.

23. Fourth down attempts were not rare for Middlebury, and they led the league converting 12 of their 23 tries. The next closest team was Bates with 12 attempts. Keep in mind the change at O-coordinator for the Panthers this season, and consider whether that might have an impact on their fourth down strategy.

226. Bowdoin running back Tyler Grant ’17 had his work cut out for him last year, carrying the ball 226 times, the most of any back in the league. In addition to having his number called early and often, he produced, leading the league in both yards (893) and yards per game (111.6). Don’t expect Bowdoin to lean quite so heavily on him this year.

54. That’s how many points top-ranked Wesleyan kicker Ike Fuchs ’17 had in 2014, who was good for 10 out of 13 field goals on the year. With the amount of time the Cardinal’s offense had possession of the football, coming away with points at the end was a big part of their game last season.

4. Number of sacks for Amherst’s 300-pound defensive tackle Paul Johnson ’17. With the graduation of defenders Chris Tamasi ’15 and Max Lehrman ’15, who had five and 4.5 sacks last year, respectively, the pass rushing load will depend even more on Johnson this season.

60. The number of solo tackles for Tufts’ sophomore defensive back Mike Stearns ’17, which put him at the top of the conference in that category. It is incredibly rare for a defensive back to led the league in tackles, and Stearns might shift from corner to safety this year.

3653. The top-ranked average amount of fans in attendance for Amherst. The real question is do championships help bring the fans, or do the fans help bring the championships? Either way, the Lord Jeffs will go into the 2015 season looking to capture their third consecutive conference championship.

299. Hamilton’s LaShawn Ware ’18, who, despite starting in only one game last season, led the Continentals in rushing yards with 299.

50%. Colby’s red-zone touchdown percentage, which was the worst in the NESCAC. Not only could the Mules not get the ball in the end-zone, but also they failed to kick any field goals from inside the 20 as well.

298. Days since the last NESCAC football game was played, only 24 more to go.

Welcome to 2015

Amherst reigned at the end of last year, but 0 promises much uncertainty. — Amherst reigned at the end of last year, but 2015 promises much uncertainty. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

Eight games. The NESCAC football season lasts all of eight games. That is nothing. Eight games is half of an NFL season, at which point we usually think the Giants still have a shot at the playoffs and are also debating whether Tom Brady is no longer an ‘elite’ quarterback. Yet eight games is all we get in the NESCAC, for reasons that extend well off of the playing field. In an average NFL game, only 11 minutes of actual live action happens. So if that holds true for the NESCAC (there are reasons why the NESCAC might have slightly more time per game), a team has less than 100 minutes of actual live football in their entire season. All of the weight room sessions, preseason practices, positional meetings, late night calls by coaches to recruits around the country, and the countless hours of watching tape boil down to less live action than the length of your typical popcorn movie.

That of course is a very reductive way of looking at things, and it makes the amount of time and effort poured into NESCAC football by players, coaches, parents and fans seem silly. Not to mention what it says about us, the people who spend long hours writing about that 88 minutes of actual football. What the short season does mean is that every little thing matters, and things that might appear inconsequential can quickly become season-changing.

Take for example the rainstorm that befell northern Vermont on October 4, 2014, interferring with the Middlebury vs. Amherst game that afternoon. The headline from that game read something like this, “In a big rainstorm, Amherst escapes with win to remain perfect while the loss drops Middlebury to 1-2.” By the end of the season and with 20-20 hindsight, the headline could have read, “Rainstorm grounds Middlebury aerial attack and robs Panthers of share of the NESCAC title.” Scribes of the first title did not foresee that Middebury would end the season on a five-game winning streak that included snapping Trinity’s 51-home-game winning streak to end the season as the hottest team in the league. Amherst went on to finish the season undefeated and won another league title.

Turning to 2015, that same Middlebury team enters the season as (spoiler alert!) our favorite to climb all the way to the top and capture the league title and complete their first undefeated season since 1972. Not that there aren’t questions around the roster. The biggest one is at the quarterback spot where normally one would presume Matt Milano ’16 would remain the signal-caller after a spectacular finish to his first season as a starter. However, the arrival of transfer Jared Lebowitz ’17 from UNLV means Milano is not guaranteed that starting spot. One should still consider Milano the favorite given that he is entrenched as the starter currently. That Middlebury has the most enviable quarterback situation in the league only two seasons removed from Mac Foote ’14, one of the greatest NESCAC quarterbacks ever, is ridiculous. The offensive line has to replace all three interior starters, and the defense lost some valuable contributors. Yet the core of that defensive unit returns in defensive end Jake Clapp ’16, middle linebacker Tim Patricia ’16, and safety Dan Pierce ’16.

The main competition for Middlebury should be the reigning champs, Amherst. The Lord Jeffs have made it a habit of making prognosticators look silly by continually exceeding already high expectations, so I don’t feel comfortable putting Amherst anywhere besides the favorite. The Jeffs have to replace their linebacker duo of Chris Tamasi ’15 and Ned Deane ’15 that led their defense, as well as three offensive lineman and quarterback Max Lippe ’15 who provided a huge spark for the offense last year. Having skill players like running back Nick Kelly ’17 and receiver Jackson McGonagle ’16 around should make things easier, and a straight-up filthy secondary will make throwing the ball a dangerous proposition (look out, Midd). Amherst always plays its backups a decent amount so all the new starters have game experience.

The Connecticut teams, Wesleyan and Trinity, have to answer questions about whether they should still be considered in the elite echelon of the NESCAC. Wesleyan transitions to new Head Coach Dan DiCenzo, though the transition is not a hard one as DiCenzo was the Defensive Coordinator for former HC Mike Whalen. The real transition is on the field where the Cardinals lost more significant contributors than it is possible to count. Having running back LaDarius Drew ’15 return after an injury knocked him out of all of last year will be a huge help, but running back was the only position where the Cards returned any depth. In Hartford, Trinity lost an unfathomable three games and saw that home winning streak turn into a two-game losing streak. The return of several skill players like Sonny Puzzo ’17 after a year away from Trinity will be critical to getting the Bantams back on top of the NESCAC. The defense lost seven starters and will need the back seven to improve mightily by the time the heavy weights at the back end of the schedule come around.

The return of a healthy LaDarius Drew buoys Wesleyan's optimism. Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics) — The return of a healthy LaDarius Drew ’15 buoys Wesleyan’s optimism. (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

Those four represent the teams with a realistic shot at the NESCAC title, but the other six teams have plenty to be excited about. Multiple NESCAC Head Coaches have said they believe the bottom of the league is stronger than it has ever been. The team that for a long time represented that basement, Tufts, will look to reprise whatever alchemy made them go 4-0 at home last year. Alex Snyder ’17 looks to be the new starting quarterback, though he could be pushed by Dartmouth transfer Jonathan DiBiaso ’17. The Jumbos can also get their first road win in forever opening week at Hamilton, but the Continentals will fight hard trying to get second year coach Dave Murray his first win at the helm. Hamilton has almost every starter returning as the program hopes to make strides in Central New York.

Williams was the biggest disappointment a year ago, and a season without clear improvement will make the rumblings for a coaching change in Willy World harder to ignore. The hopes of the Ephs hinge largely on a big season from quarterback Austin Lommen ’16 and a talented and big group of receivers. On defense, defensive end James Howe ’16 has to regain his 2013 form and get some help from those around him.

Finally, the CBB (Colby, Bowdoin, and Bates) appears to be wide open. Bates has been ascendant in the series and has controlled the crown for the past three seasons, but they lose quarterback Matt Cannone ’15 and eight of their starters from a very good defense. Receiver Mark Riley ’16 and linebacker Mark Upton ’17 have to be leaders, and the replacements have to grow up fast on defense. Colby will want to take the pressure off of quarterback Gabe Harrington ’17 by relying on the two-headed attack of running backs Carl Lipani ’17 and Jabari Hurdle-Price ’17. Bowdoin enters a new era with Head Coach JB Wells coming from Endicott College. Wells will have to find other options on offense besides workhorse running back Tyler Grant ’17.

As excited as we are to watch some DIVISION III FOOTBALL!, we have the same level of excitement about the group of writers we have for this fall. We have six people who are some of the most knowledgeable people about the league as a whole. With that being said, that doesn’t mean we aren’t still looking for more. If you are interested in writing, or know someone who might be, or would like to help out in other ways – web design, graphic design, Tweeting games, reporting games, etc. – email us at nothingbutnescac@gmail.com. We are constantly striving to improve our coverage, so if you have any suggestions or article ideas that we should do, please email us also.

Looking forward to a great year – Adam Lamont (Bowdoin ’16) and Joe MacDonald (Middlebury ’16)