Category: Football

Hamilton Team Preview – There’s a New Chief of Staff at Hamilton

2013 Record: 0-8

Number of Returning Starters: 14 (7 offense, 5 defense, 2 specialists)

Offensive Overview:

New head coach Dave Murray inherits a Hamilton offense that showed very few positives in 2013. The Continentals were second-t0-last in the NESCAC in points per game and yards per game, eighth in passing yards per game and seventh in rushing yards per game. Unfortunately, Hamilton’s top two offensive threats from last year are gone. Running back James Stannell was lost to graduation, and receiver Joe Jensen ’15 has decided to focus on his track and baseball careers. The area with the most experience will be the Hamilton offensive line, where as many as 10 players have played in the past and are battling for starting jobs. New coordinator Rich Puccio, a former player of Murray’s and a colleague for 10 years, will have his work cut out from him as he transitions the offense to a multiple-I system.

Defensive Overview:

Hamilton has work to do on defense as well, as the Continentals allowed the most yards per play of any team in the NESCAC in 2013, and even though the offense was second in the league in time of possession, opponents still scored 34.0 points per game. Murray will be more hands-on with the defensive unit and will be aided by his assistant at his last coaching stop, Josh Miller. Defensive tackle Michael De Percin ’15 is the cornerstone of the defense, and Zach Klein ’15 is back to aid his classmate at defensive end. Safety Alex Mitko ’16 and middle linebacker John Phelan ’16 are the defense’s biggest playmakers, but big plays were a rarity for the Hamilton defense last season. The Continentals had just four interceptions and six sacks in 2013, though they managed seven fumble recoveries, tied with Wesleyan for the second-most in the NESCAC. A few more lucky breaks resulting in turnovers and better pressure on the opposing QB could make all the difference for this defense.

Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics
Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics

Three Big Questions

1. Is QB Chase Rosenberg ’17 ready?

Rosenberg started most of 2013 over his elder, Colin Pastorella ’16, though he never showed a consistent level of high quality play. In six games where he had more than 12 pass attempts, Rosenberg threw two interceptions in each. His best stretch came during the middle of the season when he managed completion percentages of better than 62 percent in three straight contests. Rosenberg also used his legs quite a bit in 2013, even running for 90 yards in the season finale, but he will likely be held more in the pocket in 2014, given Murray’s offensive scheme. Rosenberg will have to fight off Pastorella and two athletic freshmen in order to maintain his job.

2. Who steps in at running back?

Expect the Continentals’ pass/run ratio to lean a bit more towards the latter in 2014, meaning that someone will have to pick up where Stannell left off. Rico Gonzalez ’16 is the top returning back, having rushed 65 times last season, third to Stannell and Rosenberg. Lashawn Russell-Ware ’17 brings speed and quickness to the backfield, but injury limited him to one game in 2013. The dark horse for the Continentals is converted-safety Jeffrey Hopsicker ’16. The high school quarterback had 23 tackles at safety for Hamilton last season, but Murray believes a move back to the offensive side of the ball will be good for the junior, and the Hamilton offense.

3. Can Murray revamp the defense?

There’s not a ton of starting experience on the defensive side of the ball. In addition to those listed above, cornerback Jimmy Giattino ’17 saw lots of time in 2013 and led the team in pass breakups. Others saw the field in every game, but there are still holes to fill. It’s going to take an attitude change in order for this defense to be effective.

Team MVP: Chase Rosenberg. It better be if Hamilton hopes to turn the corner this year. A big improvement from the quarterback position, and in particular better ball security, will make all the difference for the Continentals. The prediction here is that Rosenberg makes strides in his second season.

Best Tweet of the offseason: This one goes to QB/DJ/producer Chase Rosenberg.

Hopefully Coach Murray can get the Continentals moving in the right direction starting this season.

Tufts Team Preview – The Jumbo Herd is Ready to Rumble

Editors Note: Today we start our team previews. We are releasing them in order of expected finish and will do two every day of this week.

2013 Record: 0-8

Returning Starters: 21 (10 Offense, 10 Defense, 1 specialist)

Offensive Overview:

A unit that at times looked very good returns practically everyone who made an impact last season. Tufts will again be running the spread offense that relies on a lot of West Coast passing concepts of short to intermediate throws. The QB position is a question mark as Jack Doll ’15 and Alex Snyder ’17 are in an open competition. Doll was the starter to begin the 2013 season before he was injured. Snyder struggled with accuracy but had some good moments as well. When Doll returned from injury against Middlebury in the final game of the year he saw the majority of the snaps. The running back tandem of Zach Trause ’15 and Chance Brady ’15 was actually pretty effective averaging a combined 4.6 yards per carry last year.

Whoever wins out at QB will have plenty of returners at his disposal. At receiver, Greg Lanzillo ’15 is the number one guy on the outside with Jack Cooleen ’16 on the other side. In the slot Ben Berey ’17 and Mike Rando ’17 are the starters. An offensive line that was pretty inexperienced entering last season now features two seniors in center  Landon Davis ’15 and captain guard Kyle Duke ’15. Tackles Akene Farmer-Mikos ’16 and Justin Roberts ’16 were both starters as well. The final spot is up for grabs in a unit that has to do a better job in pass protection after letting up 26 sacks.

Defensive Overview:

Again, much like the offense, a young unit from last season has to make major strides. The secondary welcomes back safety Mike Defeo ’15 to pair with Pat Glose ’15. Junior Arroyo ’16 mans one corner position while Mike Stearns ’17 enjoyed a great freshman year at the other corner finishing third on the team in tackles. His hard nosed style is what Tufts is looking to do at every position in order to match up with the run heavy offenses in the NESCAC. Linebackers Matt McCormack ’16 and Tommy Mead ’15 are now in their third year starting with each other.

A wealth of returners on the defensive line headlined by James Brao ’15 and Corey Burns ’16 return. The line is undersized with no player over 250 pounds listed on the roster from 2013. They try to make up for that by rotating players in to keep everyone fresh, and the defensive staff also has to get a little inventive in terms of stunts and blitzes. Whether it was through the air or on the ground, Tufts struggled to stop teams last season, but the athletes they return should help.

Courtesy of Tufts athletics
Courtesy of Tufts athletics

Three Big Questions

1. Can Tufts score in the red zone?  Tufts had the lowest rate (42%) of touchdowns after reaching the red zone last year in the NESCAC. While they were able to move the ball OK, the spread offense got bogged down in the most important part of the field. A common complaint of the spread is that it doesn’t work as well in the red zone. To combat that an offense has to either run the ball very well or have receivers who can win 1-on-1 battles.

2. Can the defense improve?

The Jumbos allowed a shocking 99 more yards per game than any other team. They simply struggled to get off the field as Tufts held the ball for only 25:29 per game. While they played well in certain games (against Bowdoin and Amherst, for example), games were often over by halftime as the Jumbos allowed an average of 24.5 points in the first half of games. Another year of getting stronger and faster should yield better results for what was a very young group. It is hard to pinpoint what needs to improve the most, but garnering more than the seven sacks they had all of 2013 is a good place to start.

3. Is this a make or break year for Jay Civetti?

Head Coach Jay Civetti is now entering his fourth season, and his record at Tufts is 0-24. Judging him by that record is a mistake given how little he inherited when taking over and how young a team Tufts was. Civetti brings great energy and has worked hard to position the team for improvement, but now some results have to follow given all the players returning for this season. Even though Civetti’s job is not in trouble, a breakthrough win or two would prove the progress the Tufts program has been making.

Team MVP: The two linebackers McCormack and Meade get the nod because of their work in the middle of the defense. Though their numbers are inflated somewhat because of how many plays the Jumbo defense is on the field for, these two represent the best hope for improvement on that side of the ball. Unlike the NFL where corner and defensive end are now the most important positions on defense, good NESCAC teams build from the middle out. Having those two to anchor the defense is a huge advantage.

Biggest Game of the Year: Sept. 20 against Hamilton

Consider this for a second; no current player on the Tufts roster has won a football game as a Jumbo. Their best chance for a victory in 2014 comes in the very first game of the year against a Hamilton team that was also winless last season. One worry for Tufts is that they come out too excited and try to do too much. Penalties or a costly turnover at the wrong time are a big reason why Tufts has endured such a long losing streak that looks like it should end this season.

Best Tweet of the Offseason:

The Jumbos have the experience and desire to turn their losing streak around this year. Is this the season they break through?

10 Biggest Games of 2014

Make no mistake, even though coaches say every game is important, certain ones mean just a little bit more. If the NESCAC had a TV deal, these would be the games that would be on national television.

10. September 20: Hamilton at Tufts

When these two teams meet in Week 1, you can be sure that they will both be hungry for a victory. Tufts of course has the longer losing streak, but Hamilton has endured a tough couple of years as well with all the turnover in the coaching staff. Both teams bring back a wealth of starters (14 for Hamilton and an astounding 21 for Tufts). The edge goes to Tufts because of the long trip Hamilton has to take and that Hamilton is installing a new offensive system.

9. September 27: Trinity at Williams

This is a benchmark game for these two teams. Trinity will have to prove they can replace all the talent they lost on offense while Williams tries to convert their close loses into real wins. Last year Trinity won on a touchdown pass to AJ Jones ’14 with 18 seconds left. How settled each quarterback situation is could be the difference. If Trinity still hasn’t settled on someone to replace Sonny Puzzo then Williams could use this game to jumpstart their season.

8. September 20: Bates at Amherst

Another season opener that offers intrigue all over the place. Expect this one to be very low scoring because of the loss of Ryan Curit ’14 and Shawn Doherty ’14 for Bates. The Bobcats have reason for optimism because of their wealth of seniors and the questions around the Amherst offense. The Jeffs will have the advantage of having multiple weeks to prepare for Bates triple option so Bates coach Mark Harriman might have to throw more often in order to keep Bates unpredictable.

7. September 20: Wesleyan at Middlebury

On paper this is the best week 1 matchup given that both teams went 7-1 last year. While we were robbed of seeing Mac Foote face off against the Wesleyan defense, this game has promise as well. We still don’t know who the starting QB will be week 1 for Middlebury, but we expect them to still throw the ball a lot. The other side of the ball is where the game will be decided. The Middlebury defense has been very young the last couple of years, but players like Tim Patricia ’16, Matt Benedict ’15, and Nate Leedy ’17 are out to prove the defense is now the strength of this team.

6. November 1: Wesleyan at Williams

We already wrote about how last year’s game could effect the showdown in November. Last year Wesleyan might have taken the Ephs somewhat lightly, but this year the game is circled on calendars everywhere. Depth is where Wesleyan really differentiates themselves from other NESCAC teams, and at this point in the season that could be the difference. If James Howe ’16 or Alex Syocurka ’14 gets hurt, Williams doesn’t have the players to replace him, but Wesleyan is much more of a next guy up situation if there are injuries.

5. October 25: Middlebury at Trinity

Trinity gets the chance to avenge their first loss of last season at home. While we do think Middlebury is destined for a slight downturn this season, their talent and scheme makes them a dangerous opponent for anyone. Middlebury will make defenses sweat again even if they are as proficient in the passing game. Trinity only gained 3.3 yards per rush in last years game, and a repeat performance of that type will keep the game close.

4.  October 18: Amherst at Wesleyan

Both teams should be 4-0 if they beat Middlebury in their respective early season matchups. Suddenly Wesleyan turns from the upstart into defending Little 3 champion. The top four games on this list are all very close, and an argument could be made for any of them deciding the NESCAC race. Amherst will have to force turnovers in this game to have a chance. They would like a low scoring game where kicker Phillip Nwosu ’15 can have a big impact. The matchup between the Wesleyan running game and Amherst front seven will be a treat as well.

3. November 1: Amherst at Trinity

Trinity felt like they gave this game away in 2013, and Amherst will have a tough time competing on Trinity’s turf. At this point of the season, Trinity should have figured things out and resemble the Trinity teams we are accustomed to. Amherst will have to possess the ball for a good majority of the game in order to slow the game down. If Trinity is going to lose any home game, this is probably the one, but the odds are that the vaunted home winning streak will continue.

2. November 8: Williams at Amherst

The Biggest Little Game is still the most important game on these rivals’ calendar, no matter what their records are. The big change this year is that the game will start at 4 PM and finish under the lights. The normally large crowd should be even louder because of that. And of course in a rivalry game like this one, you can throw most common sense out the window. Current Williams seniors have never won against Amherst so there are sure to be some emotional pregame speeches before the game.

1. November 8: Trinity at Wesleyan

Yes, this game is now the highlight of the NESCAC calendar, and it could become the premier event year in and year out. Williams vs Amherst will always beat this game in terms of sheer pageantry, but these two teams have the most talent. If Williams-Amherst is Ohio State-Michigan, then Trinity-Wesleyan is Florida-Florida State. It’s hard to say exactly how this game will look since it is two months way, but it will be close. The fact everything builds to the final week of the NESCAC schedule is great. It’s like a de facto bowl season and rivalry week rolled into one crazy Saturday.

20 Stats from 2013 that You Need to Know

2013 is over and 2014 is here. Some will say that last season doesn’t mean anything. We beg to differ. Of course, some of the players (and coaches) from last year have changed, but oftentimes we can use past performance to help predict the future. Here are the 20 statistics from 2013 that you need to know.

1. 15:3. We start with the preseason favorite Wesleyan Cardinals. 15:3 was quarterback Jesse Warren’s touchdown-to-interception ratio, and for what it’s worth, Warren ’15 had zero interceptions in the season’s first seven games. His poise and ball control are what keep the Cardinals’ churning on offense.

2. 137.8. Speaking of quarterbacks, 137.8 was how many more passing yards per game that Middlebury had than the second-best passing team, Amherst. Of course, Mac Foote ’14 was responsible for 99% of that production, but rest assured the Panthers will continue to air it out with whomever is behind center.

3. 6.4. Another Wesleyan tid bit. The yards per offensive play recorded by the Cardinals in 2013.

4. 43. That’s how many years it had been since Wesleyan won a Little Three title. Despite averaging only 4.8 yards per offensive play against Amherst and Williams, Wesleyan captured that crown last year.

5. 51. The number of games in a row that Wesleyan’s in-state rival, Trinity, has won at home at Jessee-Miller Field. The Bantams last home loss came on Sept. 29, 2001 against Williams, and Trinity has not lost since the old grass surface was replaced with turf in the early 2000’s.

6. 31. At the other end of the spectrum are the Tufts Jumbos, who haven’t won a football game since the 2010 season opener on Sept. 25 against Hamilton. That’s 31 straight losses. The good news for Jumbos’ fans is that the team opens 2014 against a Hamilton squad that has lost 12 straight games in its own right.

7. 4.2. You’ll see a lot of love for the Ephs in this space over the next couple weeks, despite their 2-6 record in 2013. Part of that is due to the fact that the Ephs lost a lot of close games last season, and the 4.2 yards per defensive play allowed by the Williams’ defense, ranking them third in that category and just 0.2 YPP behind the league-leading Amherst defense, speaks to a unit that was better than its sixth-place ranking in points per game allowed. If the offense improves and opponents stop getting the ball with short fields to go, Williams will improve mightily this year.

8. 163. The number of tackles over the last two seasons by rising junior Tim Patricia of Middlebury, most in the NESCAC. Middlebury’s no-huddle offense creates more plays on both sides of the ball, so the Panthers’ tackle numbers are inflated somewhat, but there’s no denying this California native’s nose for the ball, and his ability to be this productive in his first two collegiate seasons is impressive.

9. 26.8. Trinity led the entire country in kickoff return average (28.1), and a large part of that was the 26.8 yards per return averaged by freshman Darrien Myers. Junior Ian Dugger boosted that averaged with a 99-yard touchdown return, but watch out for Myers again in the return game in 2014.

10. 7-7. Bowdoin sophomore Andrew Murowchick was the only kicker in the NESCAC to be perfect on field goal attempts. Though he did muff two extra points…

11. 35%. The percentage of receiving yards that were accrued by Hamilton wideout Joe Jensen ’15. Unfortunately for first-year coach Dave Murray, Jensen is hanging up the football cleats, which we noted back in mid-August.

12. 72%. The percentage of total yards Colby quarterback Justin Ciero accounted for in Colby’s offense. Ciero is no longer on the team after transferring to the University of Rochester. Gabe Harrington ’16 and transfer Michael Ecke are battling for the starting position this year.

13. 51%. Bowdoin QB Mac Caputi ’14 had the lowest completion percentage of qualifying quarterbacks. Caputi, son of head coach Dave Caputi, should see this percentage go up as his two top receivers (Ethan Drigotas ’15 and Dan Barone ’16) return.

14. 101. Amount of rushing yards for Bates running back Ivan Reese ’17 in his only start against Middlebury. That was the only game Reese had more than 10 carries, but with Ryan Curit ’14 gone, Reese will see the majority share of the carries.

15. 9.5. Tackles for loss by Tufts defensive lineman James Brao, the most of any Tufts player. The Tufts defense has to make more big plays if they want to see improvement, and Brao will have to be a big part of that.

16. 3. Number of fumbles, all of which were lost, for Kenny Adinkra ’16. The Amherst running back will have to cut down on those mistakes in order to stay on the field ahead of Nick Kelly ’17.

17. 5. Although Justin Sanchez ’17 can be overlooked with stars Donnie Cimino ’15 and Jake Bussani ’14 (granted another year of eligiblity) in the secondary, but the ball-hawking Sanchez accounted for five turnovers himself, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions.

18. 7.2 and 6.7. The yards per rush for Trinity running backs Chudi Iregbulem ’15 and Jacob Rivers ’15 respectively. The two have been stuck behind Evan Bunker ’14 and Ben Crick ’14, but will step into the spotlight especially with the unsettled quarterback situation.

19. 15.4. Yards per catch for Williams tight end Alex Way ’16. Expect more targets for Way who only caught 15 balls last year. His production slowed as the year went along, but he could be a dynamic playmaker for the Ephs.

20. 16. Number of days until the NESCAC season starts. It can’t come soon enough.

What the Best Games of 2013 Could Mean for 2014

Obviously the best place to start when prognosticating for 2014 is last season. We don’t really have anything else to go on. Yet remember these games can only tell us so much. A large amount of randomness is at play especially with 18-22 year olds.

Without any further ado, here are the five most important games of last season along with what stories and statistics carry importance into this season.

5. November 2: Williams 14 (2-6) at Wesleyan 16 (7-1)

Wesleyan survived a major scare in this game as their offense had major struggles against Williams. The only Cardinal touchdown of the game came on a one play four yard drive after a freak series of events led to Williams punting from their one yard line. Donnie Cimino ’15 returned the punt all the way to the four yard line, and LaDarius Drew ’14 ran it in the very next play. A late Williams rally fell short when Jake Bussani ’14 intercepted a pass with less than three minutes remaining.

What it means: People point to the improvement Williams made each week when they talk about a possible rebound this year. This game stayed close mostly because Wesleyan could not convert in the red zone settling for three field goals. Still Williams got nothing from their running game and lost the turnover battle by 2. Combine that with the game being at Williams this season, and this could be the hardest game on Wesleyan’s schedule.

4. October 19: Wesleyan 20 (7-1) at Amherst 14 (7-1)

People still didn’t quite believe that Wesleyan was for real when they faced off against Amherst. After this game everyone knew the Cardinals were a threat to run the table. Though Amherst slowed down Drew and Kyle Gibson ’15 a good deal, Jesse Warren ’15 played flawlessly while his Amherst counterparts at QB struggled. Wesleyan was up 20-7 before Amherst scored a touchdown in the fourth, but Max Lippe ’15 threw an interception to seal it for Wesleyan.

What it means: The same reason why Wesleyan should worry about the Williams game should comfort them for the Amherst one: it will be in Middletown. A lot of other factors however, point to Amherst having a better shot in 2014. The 2013 game is a hard one to figure out. Wesleyan won the turnover battle 4-0, time of possession 35:56-24:04, and had three fewer penalties for thirty less yards. Yet Amherst won the first down battle 19-14, third down efficiency (Amherst 7-14, Wesleyan 3-15), and total yardage 355-310.

This was the game where Amherst’s quarterback struggles were most apparent, and it cost them the game. Head Coach EJ Mills has said he hopes and expects one of Lippe or Alex Berluti ’17 to grab the reins this year. If they do that, then the Amherst offense will be able to offset any possible drop in play from what was a fantastic Jeff defense in 2013.

3. October 26: Trinity 24 (6-2) at Middlebury 27 (7-1)

This was another wildly entertaining game that came down to Mac Foote ’14 making all the throws in the final drive before Nate Leedy ’17 sealed the win with an interception as time expired. The game appeared to be over when Middlebury turned the ball over on downs with less than three minutes remaining. The Panther defense stood tall and forced a punt before Foote took over. The two teams combined for eight attempted fourth down conversions. It took Foote 64 attempts to throw for his 310 yards because he only completed 29 throws. Evan Bunker ’14 had one of his worst games as a Bantam rushing for 28 yards on 13 attempts.

What it means: The biggest reason Trinity lost was ten penalties for 115 yards including four that lead to first downs for Middlebury. They controlled the line as 23 of Middlebury’s 100 rushing yards came on a broken play where Middlebury punter Michael Dola ’15 rushed for a first down. Middlebury will have to rely much more on their running game, but they will struggle against the best defenses in the NESCAC.

Another big takeaway was that Puzzo really carried the Trinity offense in this game. He made plays with his arm and legs accounting for 287 yards of offense. With him, the 2014 Trinity offense could have been very good, but now there a lot of questions surrounding that side of the ball for the Bantams.

2. November 2: Trinity 16 (6-2) at Amherst 17 (7-1)

Trinity had just lost a heartbreaker to Middlebury, but this was even more devastating. The Bantams allowed only 56 yards rushing, had seven more first downs, and held the ball for 36:44. Yet this was a close game that, in the words of Lee Corso, came down to special teams. Amherst converted a short field after a poor punt into a 44 yard Phillip Nwosu ’15 field goal. Then after Trinity scored a touchdown to go down one, Ben Rosenblatt ’17 missed the extra point to give Amherst the stunning victory.

What it means: 2013 was a down year for Trinity, but the two games that they lost were by the thinnest of margins. Consider the fact that Trinity only went 3-15 on third down conversions yet still outgained Amherst by 113 yards. Trinity did just about everything you want to do when you are on the road except win the turnover battle.

Amherst relied so heavily on their defense in 2013 to make plays in big moments. Landrus Lewis ’14 and Max Dietz ’14 are both gone after snagging three interceptions apiece, but a lot of talent remains including corner Jaymie Spears ’16 and safety Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn ’16. If Amherst is once again hard to throw on, then their defense should be elite given the amount of returning talent in the front seven.

1. November 9: Wesleyan 10 (7-1) at Trinity 40 (6-2)

Trinity blitzed Wesleyan in what many expected to be a crowning day for the Cardinals as the only undefeated team in the NESCAC. Instead, Trinity dominated in all facets of the game on their way to a blowout. The Trinity defense held Wesleyan to under 100 yards on the ground while intercepting Warren three times. Meanwhile, Trinity ran at ease against the Wesleyan front seven averaging over five yards a carry and 249 in the aggregate.

Warren proved many of his detractors right as he failed to rise to the occasion when Wesleyan needed him. The back-breaking sequence for Wesleyan came late in the second quarter down 16-3. After a Trinity field goal, Wesleyan had the ball on their 37 with 3:07 left. Since Wesleyan would get the ball back to start the second half, a score here would have put them right back in the game. The play sequence went incompletion, completion for loss of a yard, interception on third down. Trinity converted the short field into a touchdown on a trick play pass from Evan Bunker to QB Puzzo. They never looked back after their 23-3 lead at half.

What it means: This game, like most others, was won in the trenches where Trinity just walloped Wesleyan. Drew didn’t have one run of more than ten yards and averaged only 2.9 yards in the game. Both Amherst and Williams got close to beating the Cardinal earlier in the year by completing half of the equation and slowing down Wesleyan’s run game. Trinity was the only team that was also able to run the ball up the gut for consistent gains. A large part of the running success came from the ability of Puzzo to rush for 53 yards, but obviously Puzzo is no longer on the roster. Presumed starter Henry Foye ’15 barely ran in 2013.

Unfortunately most teams don’t have the players in order to compete with Wesleyan in a slug ’em out fight. Trinity might not even be able to this year. In fact one of the biggest questions entering the season is just how much we should take away from this game. It’s pretty clear Trinity was ready to play, and they executed their game plan to perfection, but we just don’t know if Wesleyan was over-matched or simply didn’t show up. If it was only an off-game for Wesleyan, then we should expect the Cardinals to run through the NESCAC this season.

Welcome to 2014

Suddenly the calendar has flipped to September, and that means football is everywhere all at once. The NESCAC football seasons starts later than every other conference which makes the wait just a little bit harder. And once it gets here we only get eight Saturdays before we have to wait for 2015. So cherish it and get ready.

The last images of the 2013 season included Trinity running wild over a previously dominant Wesleyan defense, Mac Foote throwing for a bajillion yards, and Amherst’s triumph over Williams for the third consecutive season. The Panthers, Jeffs, and Cardinals ended up splitting the NESCAC title three ways. Bowdoin made it onto ESPN again with their Hail Mary against Colby, and in the process they snatched the CBB away from the Mules and gave it back to Bates for a second straight year. And despite the loss at Trinity to finish the year, Wesleyan enjoyed their first Little 3 title in over 40 years after beating Amherst and Williams.

2014 promises to excite yet again given the wealth of returning talent across the conference. No team is more stacked with returners than Wesleyan and they look like the most talented team entering the season. And yet, the thumping that Trinity put on them to close out the 2013 season makes us pause before anointing Wesleyan the king of the ‘CAC. Middlebury will try to cement its place as a top-tier program despite the loss of star QB Mac Foote behind a defense ready for the spotlight. Williams looks to return to the the upper echelon, and they might do it because of a transfer at QB. The Maine schools Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin will battle for supremacy up north after an offseason that saw the teams get closer to each other in talent level. Finally, Tufts and Hamilton look to get off the losing skid, and one of them will do just that when they face off in Week 1.

The biggest offseason news surrounded the quarterback position. Way back in July we sent this tweet out.

That turned out to be not quite right. Three QB’s who ought to have been returning and who saw time in 2013 are not on their team’s respective roster this fall. The 2013 NESCAC Offensive Rookie of the Year Sonny Puzzo (Trinity), arguably the best QB besides Foote last year, Justin Ciero (Colby), and formerly highly recruited prospect Nick LaSpada (Bates) all have left school for a variety of reasons. LaSpada was the backup last year so his loss is not so significant, and Henry Foye, who played in all eight games last year, returns for Trinity. Colby joins Middlebury as the two schools with no significant experience in their returners.

Two fresh faces arrive on the NESCAC quarterback scene after transferring from Division 1 schools. While transferring down does not automatically mean success in the NESCAC, Michael Ecke at Colby (via UConn) and Austin Lommen at Williams (via Boston College) both inherit situations where they could easily start immediately.

Wesleyan, with the ultra-efficient Jesse Warren, might be the only team without at question at quarterback heading into camp in 2014.

As mentioned above, one such team with a fluid quarterback situation is Williams. The Ephs tried both underclassmen Tom Murphy and Mark Pomella at QB last season, but the pair combined for two touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Hence the door appears wide open for Lommen. Better quarterback play could be the only thing holding Williams back from competing for a conference title.

Williams has historically been one of the conference’s best programs, but a 4-4 season in 2012 and a disastrous 2-6 record last year has Ephs’ fans searching for answers. But there’s reason for hope. RB Alex Scyocurka, the workhorse of the NESCAC, is back for a fifth-year. The receiving corps is experienced. The entire offensive line has starts under its belt. The Ephs’ 4-3 defense, fourth in the NESCAC in yards per game allowed last season, should improve. Three All-NESCAC caliber players return on the defensive line (DE James Howe was a First-Teamer in 2013). Likewise, the entire battery returns at linebacker. And All-NESCAC Second-Teamer Tom Cabarle is back at safety to solidify the back four.

The Ephs’ played a lot of close games in 2013. But seven-point losses to Trinity and Middlebury, and a two-point heartbreaker at Wesleyan were too much for the Ephs to overcome. If someone can emerge for Williams at quarterback, the Ephs will be a surprise squad in 2014.

If Wesleyan hadn’t squeaked out that two-point victory over Williams in Week 7, they wouldn’t even have had a share of the NESCAC crown. After looking like the conference’s best team for seven weeks, the Cardinals laid a stinker against in-state rival Trinity. The question for 2014 now becomes not whether Wesleyan is the best team in the NESCAC, but whether it is the best team in Connecticut. Despite losing two games in 2013, Trinity clearly showed that at their best the Bantams are a force, especially at home where Trinity has not lost in over a decade (51 games). Wesleyan essentially returns its entire starting roster (more on that in the Cardinals’ preview yet to come), and is the favorite to win the NESCAC. But the Cardinals are not infallible. And they don’t want to be the Buffalo Bills of 1989-1993, dominating through much of the season before crumbling when it really counts. Is Wesleyan the cream of the crop? We won’t be able to answer that question for 11 weeks.

Courtesy of Bates Athletics
Courtesy of Bates Athletics

For those of you who haven’t read us before, welcome. We hope to provide you with the very best NESCAC coverage you can hope for. The NESCAC is a special conference; one where the term “student-athlete” still rings true in that order. As students at NESCAC member schools, we hope to express our love of this amateur game for you in our devoted coverage. We ask for your help in spreading the word about our product and helping us make it as good as it can be. Contact us about great stories, because we know they are innumerable. Follow our coverage of every week’s games, and revel in our committed analysis.

Over the next three weeks we plan to give you every tool you could imagine and hope for in order to prepare you for the NESCAC football season. Team previews, this season’s biggest games, our predictions for the standings and for the end-of-year awards, and heaps of other information and statistics, all leading up to the first Saturday of games. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Thank you.

-Adam Lamont (Bowdoin ’16) and Joe MacDonald (Middlebury ’16), Editors

Football Recruiting Summer Camps

While Division One football recruiting is a ballyhooed process that plays out in the public eye today, NESCAC football recruiting remains one that happens in relative anonymity. More than a million high schoolers play football at their school, and many of them harbor dreams of playing in college. Most of them haven’t heard of NESCAC schools or would not consider playing at the Division 3 level. NESCAC coaches have to identify from this vast crowd of candidates those who qualify academically and athletically. A crucial part of that process happens in the summer at camps all across the country. Coaches spread out over the country to go to as many camps as possible and catch a glimpse of players in action.

Most of the camps happen in the northeast and are hosted by colleges. Every NESCAC school holds a camp over the summer which differ from most of the other camps out there. All of them are one day camps that are usually just in cleats and shorts. The camps are very specific in the sense that there are only coaches there from that particular school. The Amherst camp is run exclusively by Amherst coaches and players, for example. Camps at non-NESCAC schools run for multiple days and have many different college coaches there. Camps at Ivy league schools are multiple day affairs that have many hundreds of kids in attendance.

The amount of football that happens at these camps varies, but given insurance concerns, none of them are full contact. Linemen camps are built around drills and competitions that often carry little relevance to games. Skill players do drills and also play games of 7-on-7 which reward players who are comfortable in space. In general, summer football camps are better as vehicles for recruiting than improving yourself as a football player. Primarily, these camps serve to show off an individual’s athleticism above all else. While the instruction can be very good, most of the camps have too many athletes for the coaches to concentrate for too long on any individual. The amount of repetition is also not nearly as high as at regular practices because of the amount of athletes. In my opinion, based off of personal experience, the NESCAC camps were the best at football instruction. Each position group worked exclusively with one coach so that he could start to get an idea of each respective kid’s strengths and weaknesses. Most NESCAC camps are capped at much lower numbers so each athlete gets to play more than at bigger camps.

While coaches are the ones tasked with finding players, the onus is almost always on individual high schoolers to reach out and make first contact. Even if you go to one of these camps, getting noticed by a coach is hard to do just by your play. Consider that while the New England Elite Camp had 150 coaches there, there were also 1200 players. Unless somebody make an incredible play or possess exceptional speed, a coach is not going to come up to him. In the NESCAC recruiting process self-promotion is crucial. Letting a coach know by email or Twitter that an athlete will be at a camp beforehand will allow him to concentrate on him and gain a fuller perspective of that person’s ability. Talking to coaches after the camp is over is also considered good operating procedure. Coaches are just as interested in how you are as a person as how you play on a hot summer day.

All of this adds up to the fact that camps are not really going to make you a much better football player. Essentially you are paying money for access to coaches. This is truer the bigger the camp. The biggest camps will give each individual almost nothing in terms of instruction, but the benefit of them is that if a kid is proactive, he can meet with many coaches and express his interest. Camps are especially useful for players from around the country who will not be able to visit many colleges during the school year for overnight stays. Being able to go to the school for a day and meet some coaches can tell a kid a lot about a school. For a prospective college student-athlete, these events can help you achieve your goal of playing at the next level. But the preparation for the camp – i.e. notifying coaches – is almost as important as your actual performance on the day itself. So, recruits, do your homework if you want to make the best of your opportunity.

While it sounds funny that camps really aren’t about the actual football, the camp structure makes sense. Football coaches understand games are won not by the best looking athletes, but the best football players. In the NESCAC they know that they have to recruit the best possible person and not simply the best football player. At camps they prefer the kid who shows good attitude, hustles, and comes across as a put-together young man when they have a conversation. Not many kids will become NESCAC students because of their performance running around in July playing something reminiscent of elementary school football at recess, but going to camps is a critical step along the road of recruitment.

Q&A with Stephen Bissainthe and Henry Muter, Middlebury Football 2018

I had the pleasure of sitting down at lunch with Stephen Bissainthe from Arlington, Massachusetts and Henry Muter from Lexington, Massachusetts, two members of the Middlebury College football class of 2018, and both are eager to start their college football careers. Bissainthe is a 6’5″, 235 lbs. defensive end, while Muter could employ his 5’11”, 220 lbs. frame either at linebacker or on the defensive line.

Joe MacDonald: What was your high school football experience like?

Henry Muter: I went to Lexington High School. I guess football was not that big. I guess it was just a normal high school. We played in a pretty good league. Competed at a pretty high level.

Stephen Bissainthe: I went to BB&N (Buckingham, Browne and Nichols). It’s a private school, and I think private school ball is a little different. You can recruit a lot of guys, so you get a lot of big guys in that league and a lot of Division-I guys. It’s a competitive league, but at my school in particular football is taken seriously. Our head coach is big on making sure we have a successful program.

JM: What’s your best high school football memory?

HM: My best high school memory is probably Thanksgiving. It’s a tradition in Massachusetts where all the public schools play Thanksgiving morning. So we crushed our rival on Thanksgiving, which was Burlington.

SB: We didn’t have Thanksgiving games in the ISL, but we do have a rival, Belmont Hill. We play them every year, it’s the opening game, and this past year we beat them in overtime. It was the first series in overtime, we were on defense, one of my boys got a pick six to win the game, so it was kind of crazy.

JM: Did you play other sports in high school?

SB: I did play basketball for a little bit. But I don’t anymore.

HM: I played rugby.

JM: What was your recruiting process like and how did you end up at Middlebury?

SB: My head coach has a lot of connections to coaches across the country. I mentioned that I wanted to play college ball but I wanted an academic experience as well. So I talked to a bunch of NESCAC schools, like Bowdoin and Amherst and stuff like that, and I came up to Midd about a year ago. I don’t know, it was just a little different. The coaches gave me more attention here. It was a little more intimate experience than some other schools. I like the campus, I like the state of Vermont.

JM: Was there a moment when you knew that Middlebury was the place you wanted to go?

HM: Yeah, I ended up doing a recruiting trip when it came down to, more or less, Middlebury and Trinity. One of the big moments, Trinity’s usually a dominant team in the NESCAC, but Middlebury came in and beat them at home, so that was a great moment when I was like, ‘Middlebury has both the academics and they’re beating them in football.’ So that was a cool moment.

JM: How do you guys feel about head coach Bob Ritter?

HM: He seems like a great guy. He saw me a lot in the recruiting process. He’s given me routine calls, asking how were holidays and how’s everything going. The program’s doing well, the players like him.

SB: From what it seems, I think he’s a genuine guy. He means very well. He’s really, I don’t know, he took the time to know me personally. A lot of the coaches I’ve talked to, I don’t know, they didn’t really go the extra step like Coach Ritter did. That’s part of the reason I decided to come here, I liked a coach that I could relate to.

JM: Have you gotten to know any of your future teammates?

SB: Not personally, but I’ve met some of the players through overnights and stuff like that. They seem like a really good group of guys.

JM: Do you know anybody who you will be playing against next year in the NESCAC?

HM: Yeah, one of our big rivalries was with Reading High School, and one of their star linebackers is going to be at Trinity. Honestly, the NESCAC has a lot of guys come from Massachusetts. So there’s a lot of guys who I’ve played against that are on the Middlebury football team now or who I’m going to play against in the future.

SB: Yeah, a lot of guys I played against come here, because it’s an [Independent School League] kind of feel. But a lot of my teammates are going to other NESCAC schools. We had a couple kids go to Bates, Amherst and a couple other schools in the NESCAC.

JM: How would you describe yourself as a player?

HM: Fast, tough, ferocious, smart. Kind of like, having to know that you can’t always just crash through. Understanding your skills and technique and playing tough.

SB: Tenacious, maybe? I don’t really know what that even means. I’m just an intense kind of guy. I’ve always liked the banging heads on lockers and things. But I don’t know if that’s going to translate to this level. But I can play with intensity.

JM: What do you think the biggest difference will be between high school and college competition?

HM: I think size. I think in high school you could kind of just use your athleticism to run down someone and knock them over, but you’ve got to understand that with these offensive linemen you’ve got some 300 pounders up there, you can’t just rush them over, you’ve got to be smart. They’re all big.

JM: Which of you two runs the faster 40?

HM: What did you run?

SB: I haven’t run an official 40, but like 4.7, 4.8.

HM: I ran like a 4.8, 4.85 on grass.

SB: So we’re the same.

HM: Yeah, we’re the same.

JM: Well, we’ll see what happens in the fall.

 

Thanks again to Henry and Stephen for taking the time to sit down with me.

Both Henry and Stephen were listed on this Boston Herald report of national letters of intent back in February.

Check out some of Henry’s big hits.

Steve Hauschka Comes Back to Middlebury to Talk about Life as a Champion

Middlebury alumnus Steve Hauschka ’07 returned to campus just over a week ago on Thursday, April 17, to speak in front of hundreds of current students and faculty. The former Panther recently kicked for the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks and inked a new three-year contract worth more than $9 million. After a brief introduction from Director of Communications Brad Nadeau, Hauschka took the stage, ostensibly with the intention of telling his audience a little about himself. After approximately 60 nervous seconds, during which Hauschka thanked the community for bringing him back about a dozen times, Nadeau came to the placekicker’s rescue and welcomed Sports Illustrated Senior Writer Alex Wolff to the stage to begin the interview. Apparently, Hauschka forgot for a moment that he was the star of the show. He looked more skittish in front of 450 college kids than he did on the turf in MetLife Stadium last February in front of a crowd of more than 82,000.

How could that be, I wondered. How could a multi-million dollar professional athlete seize up so obviously with so little on the line, and kick an oblong ball right down the middle of two uprights placed 18 feet 6 inches apart with all of America watching?

Steve Hauschka and SI Senior Writer Alex Wolff talked about Hauschka's Middlebury career, his move to NC State, and life in the NFL. Courtesy of Rachel Frank
Steve Hauschka and SI Senior Writer Alex Wolff talked about Hauschka’s Middlebury career, his move to NC State, and life in the NFL.
Courtesy of Rachel Frank

 

Wolff started out by asking Hauschka about his years at Middlebury, and for a little while Hauschka sounded like any one of the slightly cocky, but ultimately genuine senior football players around campus with their contagious laughs and sly grins. Momentarily, Hauschka almost seemed like a kid to me, and I forgot just how great the separation between us is. For a second, he was a student again, worried about his thesis and what he was going to do that weekend.

Wolff and Hauschka talked about the kicker’s athletic achievements – or should I say “failures” – and the result was hilariously comical. Hauschka was “too slow” for the soccer team his freshman year at Middlebury, and was relegated to the JV squad. Come springtime, Hauschka was among the final cuts from the lacrosse team. While Hauschka made light of these disappointments, keeping the audience chuckling while telling the tale, it was obvious in his self-deprecating tone that the man making more than anyone else in the room just to kick a football still feels a pang of disappointment when he thinks about how he was cut from two teams in one year.

“It was one of those moments, it tested you deep down, because I put a lot into that,” Hauschka said of being cut from lacrosse, “and loved the game. And you cut me,” he said, speaking directly to former head lacrosse coach Erin Quinn, who was in attendance.

Hauschka eventually recovered from these setbacks, earning his BA in neuroscience from Middlebury with a 3.59 GPA and passing up dental school in order to kick for a year at NC State. As it turned out, missing out on varsity athletics his freshman year became a blessing in disguise for Hauschka, who still had one year of NCAA eligibility. Despite setting the record for most career field goals in a Panther uniform in just three seasons, Hauschka had few Division-I offers. He could have gone to punt at Northwestern, but instead opted for the chance to kick for the Wolfpack, where he had an “(Almost) Perfect Season.” Living next to him was a freshman with a natural ability to lead, a diminutive quarterback named Russell Wilson, who would captain Hauschka and the Seahawks to the title five years later. (“[Wilson and lineman JR Sweezy] were on the hallway, and I got to know them well. Even though I was 21 and they were 18. They may have asked me once or twice to buy them some beer. I obviously said no,” Hauschka joked). In that season at NC State, Hauschka went 25-25 on extra points and 16-18 on field goals, including the game-winner in the Orange Bowl over Miami.

“The reason I did this was so that I wouldn’t regret not pursuing it 40 years from now,” Hauschka said at the time. “I didn’t want to regret having a chance to play on the Division-I level and never pursuing it….It’s really turned out to be the coolest thing I have ever done in my life.”

Well, over five years later, Hauschka has finally done something cooler than kick in the Orange Bowl. He has won a Super Bowl championship.

But the life of a kicker never comes easy. In the kicking game, it is often a matter of timing, both on and off the field. Hauschka’s father knew this. The elder Hauschka earned a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys, but before he even showed up to training camp the Cowboys had traded him to the Chicago Bears, who then proceeded to sign another kicker, unbeknownst to Hauschka. And so one Hauschka kicking career ended.

As for Steve, he has worn six different NFL uniforms, and even won a United Football League championship with the Las Vegas Locomotives in 2010, which he called a “low point” in his life. All of his wardrobe changes occurred within a span of three years, until the Seahawks claimed him off waivers on September 4, 2011. In three years with the Seattle organization, Hauschka has improved his field goal percentage every season, posting a career-best 94.3 percent rage last year, and knocking in all eight of his attempts during the playoffs. Hauschka credited his experiences being cut at Middlebury as helping him move past all of the ups and downs in his NFL career.

Possibly the most incredible part of the hour-and-a-half session was the sneak peek of the GoPro video that Hauschka put together with raw footage from Super Bowl week. The kicker wore a camera on his head from the moment the plane landed in New York to the celebration in the locker room after the game (he did take it off to kick, of course). While TV cameras can zoom in to the action on the field during and after the game, they cannot capture every personal moment the way Hauschka did. Though the video condensed more than a week into a few minutes, I felt the anticipation and the nerves and the calm before the storm, the storm itself and the lull during the second half when the game was decided, the jubilation during the celebration after the final whistle, and the letdown that came after it was all over, almost as if I had been there myself.

Usually, I roll my eyes and scoff when I hear professional athletes say that grit and determination is all that is needed to make it to the highest level. The fact of the matter is that there are thousands of kids who work themselves to the brink of collapsing, in every sport, who can never make it to the next level because they lack the talent needed to do so. And yet, here is the story of an athletic failure, a kid that was “too slow,” a self-proclaimed late-bloomer, who went from JV soccer player to Super Bowl champion. Perhaps kicking is one of those few specialized positions in sports where that evolution is possible. Or perhaps not. Hauschka’s story gives hope to every young adult toiling away on a low-level college team somewhere. Not every athlete is a phenom as a 16-year old. Not every kid can be recruited to play football in the SEC. But thanks to Hauschka, whose sports journey materialized later than most, there remains a glimmer of hope that for the rest of us it’s not too late.