As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. This past Saturday, the Middlebury Panthers ended one of the more impressive streaks in NESCAC history, Amherst’s 21 game win streak. The last time Amherst College football lost a game was October 19th, 2013. To put that in perspective, the price of gas was $3.28 a gallon, Donald Trump had not begun his political career, and the Red Sox were 11 days from winning David Ortiz’ 3rd World Series ring. Spanning four seasons, the streak included three NESCAC championships, two of which featured undefeated campaigns. Prior to Saturday, the 2018 class at Amherst had never lost. Amherst’s ultimate goals for the 2016 season are by no means out of reach, but the loss to Middlebury offers a chance to look back at some of the best moments from the team’s impressive win streak…
The beginning…
The run began on October 26th, 2013 with Amherst taking down the Jumbos; a team that was in the midst of their own, more infamous streak. Game number two saw Coach Mills capture his hundredth career win after a missed PAT doomed Trinity 17-16. The 2013 season ended with a resounding 20-7 victory against rival Williams, a share of the NESCAC title, and the foundation for the run ahead.
2014
The 8-0 record that the team finished with belies just how tough the road was for this version of Amherst College football. Five of the games came down to one score including a 3-point overtime win at Wesleyan and 1-point win on the road at Trinity. These games stick out as examples for the season and streak as a whole. The win over Wesleyan came in large part due to the kicking performance of Philip Nwosu. He went 4-4 on field goals including a clutch 41-yarder to tie it in the final minute, and 35-yarder to win it 33-30 in overtime. Mind you, this was on the road, in the rain, against a team that was also undefeated at the time. The Trinity game showed that Amherst was a multidimensional team. After scoring 30+ points each of the previous three games, the Purple and White were only able to muster seven against the Bantams. But seven points were all the defense needed, stymying the Bantam offense and holding them to six points. The Trinity game also sticks out because it shows that no matter how talented a team is, to get to 21 straight wins requires a little bit of luck. Trinity missed both an extra point and a late 23-yard field goal to keep the Purple and White undefeated. The 2014 season ended with a win over Williams in the “Biggest Little Game in America,” which was played under the lights for the first time. For the second year in a row, Amherst was crowned the NESCAC football champions and the streak moved to 11 in a row.
2015
The 2015 Amherst College football team picked up right where the previous team left off, beginning the year with four straight blowout wins. Reece Foy’s emergence at QB offered stability at a position that saw three different people under center the year prior. The added offensive might meshed with the consistently dominant defense to make the team even better than previous iterations. Wesleyan offered the first real test for the Purple and White dealing them a halftime deficit of 12-7. But once again Amherst was up to the task scoring 20 2nd half points to defeat the rival Cardinals 27-18. After another blowout win over Tufts, the defense buckled down holding both Trinity and Williams to seven points over the final two contests. The offense did their part as well en route to a third straight NESCAC title and back-to-back undefeated seasons.
The End
After adding two more wins to the streak, it finally came to an end with a one- point loss to a Middlebury team that was a favorite to compete for the NESCAC championship. Amherst was down to its third quarterback after a preseason injury to the aforementioned Foy and an injury to the opening day starter, Alex Berluti ‘17. Despite a valiant effort from Nick Morales ‘19, the football just did not bounce the Purple and White’s way. Looking back, the streak could have ended a number of times but as Thomas Jefferson said, “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” There are so many factors that go into winning a football game that it is hard enough to get just one W. Winning 21 in a row is a testament to the hard work, preparation, and will to win of both the players and coaching staff. Achieving excellence is hard but maintaining excellence the way Amherst College football has is even harder. And while the streak may be over, the season is far from lost. Don’t cry because it’s over Amherst fans, smile because it happened.