They Are Who We Thought They Were (Pretty Much): Stock Report 10/19

We’re halfway through the season, and for the most part the league leaders are who we thought they were. Yet, there have been a few surprises this season that are keeping things interesting.

After last year’s 4-4 finish, and a 3-0 start this season, it was clear that Tufts had escaped the dungeons of the NESCAC that they had been trapped in for the past four years. This week they took on the Bantams, one of the two remaining undefeated teams in the league, and pushed them to the limit, eventually losing 34-27 in overtime. Up north, Bowdoin captured their first win of the season, beating the still winless Continentals 30-20, while Amherst took care of business as usual, granting Colby their fourth loss, 31-13. Bates’ struggles continued this week with a 24-16 loss to Wesleyan in a game where they led 9-7 late in the first second quarter, and Middlebury erupted in the second half for 27 straight unanswered points.

The biggest story of the day was Tufts threatening the NESCAC hierarchy. The Big Four that have dominated the lower six teams for the past few seasons may have to make room for a developing Tufts team that nearly knocked off one of the league’s top programs. Besides the Tufts/Trinity game, there were few surprises this week as far as results went, and a few players whose stock went up in our portfolio.

Stock Up

Quarterback Noah Nelson ’19 (Bowdoin)

After throwing for 134 yards and a touchdown last week against Tufts when starting QB Tim Drakeley ’17 went down with a concussion, Noah Nelson was named the starter for the Hamilton game two days later. On Saturday’s homecoming game against the Continentals, the first-year was 28-43 for 328 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions – a stat line that granted him co-NESCAC Player of the Week laurels. While one game cannot be the end all be all for quarterbacks in this league, Nelson had complete control of this offense that had been struggling to find some consistence this year. Following this game, it’s more than likely that he will get the start again next week, this time against one of the league’s best in the Trinity Bantams.

Tufts Jumbos

As alluded to earlier, the Jumbos came into this week against Trinity sitting pretty at 3-0, but their legitimacy was questioned given that their three wins came against Hamilton, Bates, and Bowdoin who are a combined 1-11. While Tufts was able to push the game into overtime, they did end up losing on a touchdown pass from Puzzo to Bryan Vieira ’18. Although they couldn’t knock off the undefeated, the way in which Tufts was able to respond after being down 21-13 in the 3rd quarter shows the fight that this team has. They are done finishing at the bottom of the league, and this week showed us that they are close to bridging the long-standing gap that has divided the NESCAC elite from the lower half of the league.

Quarterback Sonny Puzzo ’18 (Trinity)

We’ll stick with the theme of the quarterback for our third pick for stock up this week – Sonny Puzzo, who proved once again that he is the league’s best dual threat QB. He broke the 0-0 tie with a 57-yard rushing touchdown, while going 22-39 with four passing touchdowns and another rushing touchdown, leading his team passed a tenacious Jumbo squad. While ball security has been a problem for Puzzo the last two weeks, throwing two interceptions in both games, his ability to run in the open field along with his strong arm gives him a significant advantage against opposing defenses.

Stock Down

Bates’ Confidence

After going 4-4 last season, it’s almost unimaginable that the Bobcats would be in this bad of a position after four weeks of football. Though they tied with the Jumbos in the standings a year ago, Bates has found none of the magic in close games that Tufts has conjured up. Besides the Amherst game, in which Amherst was the heavy favorite, Bates has lost its other three games by a combined 11 points. The story was similar this week when, after leading Wesleyan 9-7 with a little over three minutes left in the first half, they let up 17 unanswered points, making their comeback too little too late down in Middletown. While some could point fingers and say the play of their QB Pat Dugan ’16 has not helped the team in the passing attack, turnovers have been a problem for the whole crew, and the offensive line has also struggled, giving up 11 sacks in four games.

Hamilton Quarterback Situation

Chase Rosenberg ’17 started the season with an electric 301 passing yards and three touchdowns in the 24-21 loss against Tufts, but since then has been on the steady decline. His low point came this Saturday against a Bowdoin defense that had been unable to stop anyone thus far this season. In his first two drives Rosenberg threw an interception, and was taken out of the game and replaced by Cole Freeman ’18, ending the day 2 -10 for two yards. Hamilton, who has played in close games as of late, now finds themselves in the midst of a renewed QB controversy, one that originally involved Rosenberg and the now-injured Brandon Tobin ’18. It’s been a gut-wrenching start to the season for Head Coach Dave Murray, who still is looking for his first win as the general of the Continentals team.

Trinity’s Defense

Going into Week 4, the Bantams had the No. 1-ranked defense, allowing zero offensive points over the course of three games. That all changed when they marched into Medford and found themselves in a 27-27 tie at the end of the fourth quarter. After Saturday, they still stop the defensive charts, allowing a stingy 7.8 points per game, but something was clearly out of sync against Tufts, especially in the fourth quarter where they gave up 14 straight points. While their stock lowered a little in our book, their defense is clearly still the best in the league, and it would be rash to look too much into this one game. The real test comes in Weeks 6-8, when Trinity runs the gauntlet at Middlebury, at Amherst and home against Wesleyan.