Coach Ritter – Nothing But NESCAC

The Official Nothing But NESCAC Football Postseason Awards

Now that we have such an interesting season of individual performances in the books, we thought it would be interesting to have two sets of eyes (Haven and Matt) tackle this year’s edition of postseason awards. With no clear and obvious offensive and defensive players of the year, we did our best to present what we felt were the best candidates for the biggest individual awards the league has to offer.

Matt’s note: I would prefer you not click this link, but if you are interested in seeing how our preseason picks did, here are my predictions from September: https://nothingbutnescac.com/?p=7618

Offensive Player of the Year:

Haven’s Pick: WR Frank Roche (Tufts)

Midway through this season, another Frank essentially had this award in the bag- Frank Stola from Williams. Teams started to figure out Stola after that point, though, and his production dipped dramatically. The opposite happened to Roche, a Tufts graduate student from nearby Arlington, MA who has remained with the team since 2015 despite lots of trouble with injuries. Anyone involved with sports has heard the old cliche: it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. While Roche did not exceed 100 receiving yards in any of his first four games, he never had fewer than 50 and he had a long catch of at least 35 yards in each game to go along with two touchdowns. His numbers after that point were simply unbelievable. He finished the season with at least 6 catches and 100 yards in each of his final five games. This included an absurd eight touchdowns over his final three games. In addition to being a frequent endzone visitor, Roche was also extremely dangerous after the catch. He had games this season where he averaged 37, 30, 27, and 23 yards per catch. Tufts realized over the course of the season that they were not going to be led to glory by their run game, so they began to air it out with QB Jacob Carroll and often liked to go long to Roche or OJ Armstrong. Roche’s phenomenal play during the second half of the season helped Tufts develop a lethal passing attack despite remaining a middle of the pack team. He led the NESCAC in receiving yards, yards per catch, and was second in touchdowns. What makes his stats more impressive is that he did not even lead his team in receptions- that honor went to Armstrong. Roche made himself known as a standout receiver when his senior class has been synonymous with names like Koby Schofer and James O’Regan. Next year’s league will also feature a strong group of receivers- Stola will be back, along with Trinity’s Jon Girard and Wesleyan’s Matthew Simco. Nobody produced down the stretch this season like Roche, though. In a year down on running back talent and with no real standout single QB like we have had in past years, Roche separated himself from the competition by stepping up his game down the stretch and being a dangerous big play/scoring threat on a mediocre team. He made the most of his fifth year and is our pick for OPOY.

Matt’s Pick: QB Bobby Maimaron (Williams)

Like Haven mentioned, there were not a lot of standout options for this award this year after Stola’s 2nd half. I picked Maimaron for a few reasons–the 20:2 TD:INT ratio is just ridiculous, and it is actually just the 10th season ever in which a NESCAC QB threw for 20+ TDs (Only the 3rd non Middlebury Air Raid season as well). He was 4th in the league in rushing yards, while orchestrating the devastating RPO that allowed the Ephs to run for 240 yards a game. The completion percentage (47.8%) and passing yards per game (162.9) are the obvious knocks, and while I’m not arguing that he’s Joe Burrow, those stats were largely affected by throwaways and the fact that they were a run first offense whose top receiver was double and triple teamed for the last month of the season. He was just 9th in the league in attempts, but despite the completion percentage, ranked 3rd in yards per attempt (8.0) and 2nd in yards per completion (16.7). And among the top teams in the league, who else would you pick?

Honorable Mentions: Frank Stola (Williams), Alex Maldjian (Middlebury), Will Jernigan (Middlebury), Ashton Scott (Wesleyan)

Haven’s Pick: LB Joe Gowetski (Bowdoin)

The fact that Bowdoin went 0-9 should not take away from the fact that Gowetski, a senior from Needham, MA, was all over the field every Saturday. While individual performances always look better with team success, guys like Gowetski and Polar Bears RB Nate Richam were standout players on bad units and were likely gameplanned for extensively. That makes their numbers even more impressive. What made Gowetski great this year was his knack for being around the ball. He was second in the NESCAC with 84 total tackles, first in tackles for loss with 21, and tied for third on the sacks list with 5.5. This is in addition to a forced fumble and fumble recovery. I agree with Matt that there was no clear standout defensive player this season like an Andrew Yamin last year, and I think Middlebury, Williams, and Wesleyan’s standout guys all deserve recognition for their contributions to their team’s success. However, I have a soft spot for guys who go into every game knowing their chances of winning are slim to none and still perform. Gowetski’s stats showed that he was constantly around the ball and probably affected countless plays that did not show up in the stat line. His individual efforts on a team where he did not get much help earn him Co-DPOY in his senior season.

Matt’s Pick: LB Jack Pistorius (Middlebury)

The DPOY race was much like the OPOY race–LB Joe Kelly of Amherst raced out to an early lead through the first half of the season, but injuries down the stretch cost him and opened this award to a ton of different guys. There are so many different options–Williams and Trinity had the two best defenses in the league, but none of their individual numbers stand out, while guys at Middlebury and Wesleyan ran up the numbers and finished with the two best records in the league. Ultimately I chose Pistorius, not just because of his terrific numbers–72 tackles (4th), 5.5 sacks (4th), and 11.5 TFL (10th)–but because of his performances in their biggest games of the season:

Williams: 7 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 0.5 TFL
Trinity: 10 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL
Amherst: 13 tackles, 2 TFL
Wesleyan: 10 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 TFL

In their biggest games of their 9-0 championship season, the majority of which we expected them to finally lose, it was Pistorius who rose to the challenge and led their defense and their team to the 4 wins that defined their season.

Honorable Mentions: LB Pete Huggins (Middlebury), LB Luke Apuzzi (Williams), CB Ben Thaw (Wesleyan)

Offensive Rookie of the Year: RB Alex Maldjian (Middlebury)

Any NESCAC football fan that followed Middlebury’s success this season had to see this one coming. Not only was Maldjian the best rookie running back, he was also the best running back period by most accounts. A freshman out of Rumson, New Jersey, Maldjian led the conference in rushing attempts, yards, and touchdowns. His ball security was impressive as well as he only lost one fumble all season. Maldijan was simply unparallelled as a NESCAC running back. He was the only player to register triple digit yards per game and the only player to record double digit rush touchdowns with ten in eight and a half games. Combine this with Middlebury quarterback Will Jernigan’s 511 rush yards and 8 touchdowns, and it makes sense why Midd gave us the first 9-0 season in league history. When the pass game faltered or the defense was gassed, the Panthers continually relied on Maldjian to gain tough yards, run clock and give the D some rest. Coach Bob Ritter clearly had a lot of faith in Maldjian from day 1, as he got 21 carries in his first college game against a league-best Williams defense. Maldjian did not need much time to adjust to the speed and physicality of the college game after that. He totaled 361 scores and two touchdowns in his next three games, two of which were against Trinity and Amherst. It became clear early in the season that Maldjian was going to be a force to be reckoned with in the next few seasons. His impact was even felt when he was off the field. On October 12 vs. Colby, Maldjian was injured in the first half and did not return, only registering five carries. This ended up being Middlebury’s closest game, a 27-26 win in which they were bailed out by multiple Mule missed kicks and frankly were outplayed. If he had played this whole game, there’s a decent chance we could be talking about a thousand yard rusher here. Maldjian would return next Saturday and put the Panther offense on his back. He was at his best when Midd became the team everyone wanted to take down. Over his last four games, Maldjian averaged a whopping 28.5 carries per game and totaled 471 yards with 7 touchdowns. Most NESCAC backs would be happy with 7 touchdowns over an entire season, but this kid did it in four games as a freshman. This level of production was more than enough to earn him OROY. With Maldjian in the backfield for the next three years, Middlebury fans should feel great about their team’s chances for another ring.

Honorable Mention: RB Joel Nicholas (Williams)

Defensive Rookie of the Year: S Drew Michalek (Williams)

A two man race for this award between Michalek and DL Nick Helbig, Wesleyan, ultimately goes to the Eph, who helped anchor their league best defense with 3 INTs and a fumble recovery, while also racking up an impressive 44 tackles from the secondary. The Williams defense did not force a ton of turnovers, but when they did, Michalek was often right in the thick of things–his team leading 5th pass break up on the 3rd play of the game against Amherst fell into fellow S Ben Anthony’s hands for a pick 6 in their 31-9 season finale win.

Honorable Mention: DL Nick Heptig (Wesleyan)

Coach of the Year: Bob Ritter (Middlebury)

It wasn’t just that Middlebury completed the first 9-0 season in NESCAC history. Or the fact that no one had Middlebury in their championship picture at the start of the season. It was the way they did it. Wins against Williams, Trinity, and Amherst in 3 of the first 4 weeks of the season put them firmly in the driver’s seat, but also painted a huge target on their backs. They played their best game of the season in a 45-21 blowout of Wesleyan in what proved to be the de facto conference championship game, and then showed their championship mettle in nailbiters down the stretch, winning 3 of their final 5 games by one possession or less. And on top of all of that, it was how they did it–reinventing themselves as a power run team after years of shattering passing records behind some of the most prolific arms in league history. Despite the lack of big arm, and even losing key OL to graduation, Ritter guided QB Will Jernigan’s development into the best big game QB in the league, and RB Alex Maldjian burst onto the scene as the best RB in the league in his first season of football. Returning most of their top offensive weapons, as well as their top 7 tacklers, Ritter should have a great chance to repeat next year.

Honorable Mentions: Dan DiCenzo (Wesleyan), David Murray (Hamilton)

Special teams Co-POY:

K Sam Thoreen (Hamilton)

(10/10 FGs, longest made FG of the season, 23/25 XPs, 2nd highest scoring kicker, 6th highest scoring player)

K Mason Von Jess (Wesleyan)

(8/12 FGs, 31/32 XPs, top scoring kicker, 4th highest scoring player)

A Chance to Wrap it Up: Weekend Preview 11/2

The first weekend in November signals the penultimate weekend of NESCAC football, with a chance to crown a champion by Saturday’s end. Will Middlebury solidify their place among the rest of the competition, or will they slip up and allow Williams or Wesleyan back into the picture? Elsewhere, the Jumbos have a trip to Waterville to face off with Colby, who just got their first win of the season last weekend against Bates. Speaking of the ‘Cats, they are set to finish up their CBB slate with a primetime night contest against the Polar Bears in what is sure to be an intense atmosphere. Let’s get to it.

For a quick update, here’s how each of our writers are doing in their weekly picks:
Ryan Moralejo: 29-6
Haven Cutko: 28-7
Matt Karpowicz: 27-8
Cameron Carlson: 26-9
Spencer Smead: 24-11

Hamilton (4-3) @ Middlebury (7-0), 12:30pm, Middlebury, Vermont

For Middlebuty, the time is finally here: after weeks of clinging to the top spot, while most of the general public assumed they would eventually trip up, the Panthers have defied all odds and are one win away from claiming their first NESCAC Championship since they were crowned co-champions in 2013. It hasn’t been pretty by any means, but credit Coach Ritter and his staff for a fantastic season to date in addition to earning his 100th career win in their victory last week against Bowdoin. They put their guys in a position to disrupt plays and minimize their opponent’s strengths every weekend, and the players have remained level-headed and poised throughout the early gauntlet of their schedule. Now is not the time to sit back. The Panthers will be sure to not take the Continentals lightly after their recent surge up the standings. Their 36-21 victory against Tufts did not do Hamilton justice for their absolute dominating performance on the road, racing out to a 34-7 lead by halftime. Kenny Gray ‘20 is finally rounding into form, and he added to his recent uptick in quality play by throwing for 236 yards and three touchdowns. Although David Kagan ‘20 was held to just 39 yards, reserve tailback Joe Park ‘22 made it clear that there would be no drop off in production with a career-high 126 yard performance. The Continentals will need to keep their ground game churning against a stout Panthers’ front seven that is second in the conference in rushing yards allowed per game.

The biggest challenge will be Hamilton’s defense versus Middlebury’s offense; what was (for the majority of the season) a below-average defense has been performing well in recent weeks in large part because they’ve continued to force turnovers. Hamilton sits tied for second in the league with seventeen, including multiple takeaways in six of their seven games. WIth the offense finally clicking, those turnovers are being converted into points, and it is clear that this combination has transformed the New Yorkers into a legitimate upset pick for this Saturday. Given the fact that Will Jernigan ‘21 has a tendency to cough up the ball (6 interceptions and 6 fumbles to date), his focus should be on remaining patient and letting the plays develop in front of him; the Continentals are still allowing 373.4 yards and 28 points per game, so it’s more about making smart decisions and not forcing passes into tight windows or holding onto the ball too long. I really want to pick Hamilton just so the last week of NESCAC football is more entertaining, but I believe the Panthers will rally after digging themselves a hole early on, clinching the NESCAC Championship on Senior Day.

Picks:
RM: Middlebury 33, Hamilton 27
HC: Middlebury 31, Hamilton 27
MK: Middlebury 35, Hamilton 20
CC: Middlebury 31, Hamilton 27
SS: Middlebury 35, Hamilton 20

Writers’ Pick: Middlebury

Tufts (3-4) @ Colby (1-6), 1:00pm, Waterville, Maine

I’ll be honest: I have no real confidence in either team. On paper, Tufts most certainly possesses the better team, but its plethora of individual talent hasn’t been nearly enough to win games. Tufts disappointing season is, in large part, due to the team’s inability to play a well-rounded game. The 49-0 drubbing they handed to Bowdoin gave me a slight indication that the Jumbos might have figured it out, but once again, the defense fell apart. The Jumbos must do something on that side of the ball to stifle the Mules’ offense, such as creating more blitz packages. Turnovers haven’t been in abundance for the defense this season (second worst with only 6 forced), but the Mules have coughed up the football 6 times over the past three weeks. Matt Hersch ‘22 played really well in the first half against Bates, but he was a no-show for the remaining 30 minutes. The special teams was an absolute disaster, with Moises Celaya ‘22 missing an extra point and having both a field goal and a punt blocked. Furthermore, a bad snap cost Celaya 15 yards and gave Bates a chance to tie or win the game in the final minute. Their special teams play has to be impeccable if they want to hang around with the Jumbos on Saturday. Colby is probably more fired up to play Tufts than vice-versa based on recent results, but I’m sticking with the Jumbos in a high-scoring affair.

Picks:
RM: Tufts 43, Colby 27
HC: Tufts 23, Colby 6
MK: Tufts 35, Colby 10
CC: Tufts 42, Colby 10
SS: Tufts 21, Colby 13

Writers’ Pick: Tufts

Trinity (4-3) @ Amherst (4-3), 1:00pm, Amherst, Massachusetts

It’s really quite odd to have both of these perennial powerhouses already eliminated from the NESCAC Championship race with two games remaining on the season, and they each suffered significant defeats this past weekend. For the Bantams, their three-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Ephs and its ferocious front seven, who constantly harassed quarterback Seamus Lambert ‘22 and bottled up running back Tijani Harris ‘22 (27 carries for 42 yards). Granted, Williams does boast the league’s best defense in terms of points allowed per game, but this is Trinity we’re talking about. With the talent that Trinity has, it’s simply a disappointment that the offense has looked so volatile, especially after exhibiting the capability to hang 60 points.

Amherst would, in theory, should present another tough challenge for the Bantams’ offense, but I’m not sure how much this team has left in the tank from an emotional standpoint. Of course they’ll be ready for next week’s rivalry game against the Ephs, but you have to think that their rather shocking loss to the Cardinals leaves them shaking their heads at what could have been. Although quarterback Ollie Eberth ‘20 turned the ball over twice in the first half, Amherst managed to find themselves leading the visitors 28-21 entering the fourth quarter. A Cardinals’ touchdown tied it with roughly twelve minutes remaining, and Eberth failed to gain a first down on his remaining possessions in regulation. In overtime, Henry Atkeson ‘20 had an opportunity to clinch the game with a 24 yard field goal after fellow kicker Mason Von Jess ‘23 nailed the right upright from 18 yards out, but the senior endured the same result. To make things worse, Eberth threw his third interception on the ensuing possession in double overtime, allowing the Cardinals to convert their own game-winning field goal. Amherst knows they shouldn’t have lost to Wesleyan, just like how they shouldn’t have lost to Hamilton or Middlebury. This team simply doesn’t know how to close out a game, and I’m more confident siding with the team who tends to respond after suffering defeat.

Picks:
RM: Trinity 27, Amherst 17
HC: Trinity 27, Amherst 26
MK: Trinity 38. Amherst 20
CC: Trinity 27, Amherst 21
SS: Amherst 31, Trinity 24

Writers’ Pick: Trinity

Williams (6-1) @ Wesleyan (6-1), 1:00pm, Middletown, Connecticut

This is our game of the week, but the Cardinals showed some life in their come-from-behind victory against the Mammoths. Ashton Scott ‘22 is the real deal, and Matthew Simco ‘22 is a big playmaker that will give any defense problems; but this is the best defensive unit in the NESCAC, and their double-digit road victory against Trinity reaffirms my belief that this is the best and most complete team in the league. In a battle of one-loss foes, it’ll be Williams who dominates the time of possession and makes life hard on Scott. Ephs fans will be simultaneously praying that Hamilton can knock off Middlebury and keep the championship race open for one more week.

Picks:
RM: Williams 36, Wesleyan 20
HC: Williams 27, Wesleyan 13
MK: Williams 25, Wesleyan 16
CC: Williams 28, Wesleyan 14
SS: Williams 31, Wesleyan 21

Writers’ Pick: Williams

Bowdoin (0-7) @ Bates (0-7), 5:30pm, Lewiston, ME

Welcome to the 2019 Toilet Bowl featuring (for the second consecutive year) Bates and Bowdoin. All jokes aside, for the Bobcats, last week’s battle against the Mules gives me room for optimism heading into Saturday’s clash. Colby punched Bates in the mouth right from the get-go, racing out to a 23-0 lead. The Bobcats could have folded right then and there, but Jackson Hayes’ ‘22 47-yard touchdown reception as time expired gave the ‘Cats some momentum heading into the second half. For the remaining 30 minutes, Bates absolutely dominated the Mules on both sides of the ball. The defense stifled Colby’s offense to the tune of just 78 total second half yards, while Brendan Costa ‘21 and the offense nearly doubled that number. The special teams unit gave Celaya nightmares all second half, ignited by senior captain Jon Lindgren’s field goal block with 4:46 left in the third quarter.

The Bobcats were potentially one dropped pass away from forcing overtime, and while you have to account for the emotional toll the game had on the players, I see no reason why the ‘Cats won’t come out fired up for this game. Not only is it the last game for Bates in 2019, but the 5:30 pm kickoff will surely bring a large crowd ready to cheer their team to victory. In a similar scenario last season, Bowdoin embarrassed Bates 31-14 en route to their only win of 2018; you have to think for Bates, revenge is right at the forefront of their minds. It was only one game, but Costa looked much better against the Mules and should have success against a Polar Bears’ defense that is still allowing over 40 points and 465 yards per game. Emotions will be on full display during a physical first fifteen minutes, but I trust Bates’ offense to put up around 30 points on Bowdoin’s defense, a number Bowdoin’s offense hasn’t achieved in the score column all season. The Bobcats have lost 17 consecutive games, but that streak ends with an emphatic win this Saturday night.

Picks:
RM: Bates 34, Bowdoin 17
HC: Bowdoin 24, Bates 17
MK: Bates 28, Bowdoin 14
CC: Bates 29, Bowdoin 17
SS: Bates 24, Bowdoin 17

Writers’ Pick: Bates

Trudging On: Week 7 Power Rankings

(1) 1. Middlebury

While Middlebury did not handle Bowdoin last Saturday as well as a lot of other teams have, they had a strong offensive effort and they remain the league’s only undefeated team. That is sufficient to keep them atop our rankings. The score may make the game seem closer than it was, but the Panthers were ahead 41-7 until Bowdoin put up 22 points in the fourth quarter. This may have been the fault of Middlebury’s backups, but either way the defense cannot be giving up 22 point quarters if Midd wants to go undefeated. The Panthers got it done on the ground again with 95 yards and 2 scores from RB Alex Maldjian ’23, and 53 yards with 2 more scores for QB Will Jernigan ’21. Jernigan now has seven rushing touchdowns to go along with 14 more in the air and deserves a lot of the credit for Middlebury’s success this year. Middlebury has had a few close calls, but their offense has played well enough lately to give their defense some room for error. While the title is theirs to lose, Middlebury still has to do their job and they will have their hands full this week against a Hamilton team that is having its best season in a long time.

(2) 2. Williams

The Ephs picked up a huge win in Hartford last weekend, handing Trinity their first home loss in 20 games. There are individual players to recognize for the team’s strong performance, but this was mainly a masterful coaching performance by Mark Raymond. He knew Frank Stola ’21 was going to get smothered and he did, which opened the door for Dan Vaughn ’22 to rush for 123 yards against the league’s top run defense, and for two other receivers to combine for three TD receptions. Not many teams win when their QB completes only 6 of 20 passes, but Williams has such a dominant run attack and defense that they were able to make up for this. Don’t forget that this is a team that went 0-8 in 2016-17. Defensively, Raymond again did his homework, as they attacked a reeling offensive line and sacked QB Seamus Lambert ’22 six times while holding the Bantams to a criminally low 42 rushing yards. I debated putting Williams at 1 because I think they have played better than Middlebury lately, but they still have an uphill battle for the championship. Raymond will need to win the chess match again this week as Williams pays Wesleyan a visit in a matchup of 6-1 teams.

(5) 3. Wesleyan

The Cardinals bounced back from getting smoked by Middlebury and won a double-OT battle with Amherst. Amherst won this Little Three battle last year, so it was a huge win for the Cardinals. This team should be in championship contention for the next few years because their sophomores have already given them lots of production. Ashton Scott ‘22 had one of his best games yet, tossing for 282 yards and 3 scores. Classmates Matthew Simco ’22 and Danny Banks ’22 were OPOTW and DPOTW. The Cardinals have erased many of the doubts we had about them after they breezed through the soft part of their schedule earlier in the season, but unfortunately they’ll still need Middlebury to lose to have any shot at the title. The Cardinals will have two dogfights in their next two games with Williams and Trinity, but they have proven that they can win close games. In addition, their sophomores are looking like the core of the team, which will bode very well for the coming years.

(4) 4. Amherst

Like Trinity, Amherst is a team with perennial success and high expectations that has seen this season spiral out of hand. As Cam outlined in this week’s stock report, Amherst has had their season marred by their inability to close out tight games. They have lost three games by three points, and two have gone to double overtime. Whether it be due to blown leads or turnovers, Amherst just has not been able to perform in the clutch and both their offensive and defensive units have regressed back to the middle of the pack after being extremely solid the last few seasons. They’ll need QB Ollie Eberth ’20 to be better than his 3 interceptions last week, and they’ll also need a running game to emerge quickly- Eberth cannot be the leading rusher every week. It’s clear that the loss of some of their studs from last year (Jack Hickey, Andrew Yamin) is still being felt. While it’s great to see more parity and competitiveness across the league this season, some teams have to pay the price for that, and this year those teams appear to be perennial bullies Amherst and Trinity. They host Trinity this week in what is effectively a 4th place game, and while the Bantams were not impressive last week either, it’s hard to feel good right now about the Mammoths’ chances in a tight game.

(3) 5. Trinity

Trinity continued its humbling season with its first home loss in 20 tries against Williams. Offensive line and special teams play were areas of concern, but the main issue was the coaches’ inability to adjust to what Williams was giving them. Tijani Harris ’22 is a talented back and has had a strong season, but running him off tackle out of the shotgun over and over again right into the teeth of Williams’ linebackers is not going to fool anyone. Trinity has to learn to adjust to what other teams give them and not just keep hammering the same few plays that have won them games in past seasons. Their inability to protect Seamus Lambert ’22 hurt their talented receivers’ ability to make plays. Defensively, Trinity was successful in shutting down Frank Stola ’21, but Williams was able to adjust and ride their run game to victory while taking shots downfield at the right times. Losing seasons are just not something that happens in Hartford, and that should be motivation enough for Trinity to grind out a win in one of its next two games. However, they have two tough opponents in Amherst and Wesleyan. The Bantams have the right guys on both sides of the ball to win these games, but they need to give Lambert more time to find his receivers and show a little bit more creativity in their play calling if they want to bounce back.

(7) 6. Hamilton

Just a few weeks ago, Hamilton was 2-3 and seemed destined for the 7 spot in the standings that they have gotten pretty used to with in recent years. Since then, the Continentals have taken down Amherst and Tufts and with Bates and Middlebury left on the schedule, there’s a strong chance that they’ll end up with their first winning season since 1996. This is a testament to coach David Murray. No matter the score or situation, his guys always play hard and their efforts are finally starting to pay off. If Middlebury coach Bob Ritter does not win Coach of the Year, Murray has to be the next guy in the conversation. We are finally seeing Kenny Gray ‘20 perform to his ability; last week at Tufts he completed 21 passes for 236 yards and 3 TDs. Hamilton also has two proven runners in Joe Park ’22 and David Kagan ’20. Middlebury’s defense has not been stellar lately, so the way Hamilton’s offense is playing should absolutely be a cause for concern. Given that Middlebury barely squeaked by Colby and allowed Bowdoin to go off in the fourth quarter last week, I think their game against Hamilton this week should be a tight one.

(6) 7. Tufts

It may surprise you to hear that Tufts currently leads the league in passing yards per game, thanks in large part to QB Jacob Carroll ’20. Unfortunately, their run game has not been able to match this production, which is a big reason why Tufts really has not had any impressive wins since Week 1 against Trinity. The defense shows up when it wants to- they only allowed 8 points to Trinity and shut out Bowdoin, but gave up 36 to Hamilton last week and 33 to Bates earlier this month. With talented guys on the unit like LB Greg Holt ’20 (74 total tackles this season to lead the league) and Jovan Nenadovic ’22, there’s no excuse for this type of inconsistency. At this point, I would contend that Tufts has the lowest ceiling of any non-CBB team, and I feel more confident in Hamilton’s chances when it comes to taking down Middlebury in the next two weeks.

(8) 8. Colby

Don’t let the Mules get hot! It took seven weeks, but we finally saw a Maine team break through into the win column last week as Colby got an edge in the CBB race with a thrilling win over Bates. The hosts raced out to an early 23-0 lead at halftime and appeared to have the game in command before Bates stormed back and scored a 2 point conversion to make it 23-20 early in the fourth. Colby showed a balanced offense with QB Matt Hersch ’22 completing 15 passes for 206 yards and no picks, as well as RB Devin Marrocco ’22 accounting for three scores. Defensively, Colby bent but didn’t break in the second half. LB Marcus Bullard ’21 has been a standout and is second in the league at 10.4 tackles per game. While many expected Colby to take a step forward in the win column this season, they have hung with good teams (Amherst, Middlebury) and Coach Cosgrove has not had his own recruiting classes on the field yet. Cosgrove is one of the best coaches you’ll find in the state of Maine and has proven himself at the D1 level. Combine this with a good young quarterback and the new athletic facility being built next year, and Colby should be in good shape to make progress in the next few seasons. This week, they host a disappointing Tufts team and have a good chance to set themselves up for a three-game winning streak to end the season.

(9) 9. Bates

The Bobcats came close to snapping a fat 17 game losing streak at Colby last weekend, but unfortunately their second half rally ran out of steam. The Cats have at least gotten some production from QB Brendan Costa ’21 lately; he threw for 268 yards and two TDs last weekend. It seems that Bates is trying to run an offense that does not suit their strengths, which has hindered their ability to win games…although it’s hard to tell what these strengths actually are. The Bobcats converted more than half of their first downs and won time of possession, but had their efforts marred by 10 penalties. These guys deserve a lot of credit for not giving up in unfortunate circumstances, but they’re running out of chances to prove they can compete. Like Coach Cosgrove, Bates coach Malik Hall has not had his own recruiting classes completely on the field yet so maybe it’s too early to fully evaluate him. At the same time, though, people in Lewiston can’t be happy with the lack of progress made on his watch. His seat continues to get hotter, so we’ll see if Bates can manage to dodge another winless season with a win against Bowdoin or Hamilton in their final two.

(10) 10. Bowdoin

At first glance, it looks like Bowdoin actually put up a decent fight in their game against Middlebury last weekend (47-29). However, the fact remains that they were down 41-7 at the end of the third quarter and likely had their way with Middlebury’s bench players. Sorry Bowdoin fans, but NBN is committed to unbiased reporting and we did not want to suggest that Midd’s performance was any less dominant than it was. That being said, Bowdoin’s offense was better in that fourth quarter than it was in several of their games this season. RB Nate Richam ’20 continued his strong case for All-NESCAC with 105 yards and another TD. QB Austin McCrum ’21, who has bore the brunt of our criticism for the better part of this season, actually had a solid game- 146 yards and two TDs with no picks. McCrum is a D1 transfer and has another year of eligibility, so hopefully he can turn it around next season and have more of these strong games. Luckily for Bowdoin and first-year coach BJ Hammer, they know they can compete in their next two CBB games, and despite their winless record they will have a chance to earn bragging rights within the vast state of Maine.

Now It’s Getting Good: Stock Report 10/15

Last week’s slate of games offered one more competitive contest than most of us expected. In the 6 o’clock nightcap, Wesleyan’s Matthew Simco ’22 managed a last second 29 yard touchdown catch to take down Tufts in our Game of the Week. This is the second week in a row that the Cardinals have managed a win by a score of 20-13. They’ll need their offense to be more explosive moving forward, as every team remaining on their schedule is better than every team they’ve played so far. This would normally be the most exciting game of any week had winless Colby not played the game of their season. They traveled up to Middlebury having lost every game by at least 14 points with expectations at rock bottom. Something about playing the top dog must have fired the Mules up, though, because they came right out and took an early 13-0 lead. Once Middlebury woke up and realized it wasn’t in their best interest to get blown out by a winless team, they got Will Jernigan ’21 cooking with three touchdown runs in the process of taking a 27-13 lead. Colby would still not back down- they recovered a fumble in the Middlebury endzone with only an extra point needed to tie! However this, extra point was missed…along with a 32-yarder in the final seconds that would have all but won it for the Mules. Two missed extra points and a missed field goal only add to the pain of a one-point loss that could have been easily the biggest upset of the season. While it would have been nice to see one of the two undefeated teams fall in the final seconds last week, last week’s results set up a matchup of these two undefeateds that is sure to be a great barometer for both Middlebury and Wesleyan.

Stock Up

Williams WR Frank Stola

Stola has easily been the league’s best wideout since the start of the season. He has recorded at least a touchdown every game, and has had only one game with fewer than 100 yards receiving. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he has multiple four-touchdown performances and has averaged at least 18 yards per catch in every game. Not only does he lead the league in receiving yards and touchdowns, he has twice as many TDs as the next guy and averages 147 receiving yards per game while nobody else is even in triple digits. He was most recently seen lighting up Hamilton for 168 yards and 4 touchdowns on his way to NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Those are the kind of numbers that will vault you into Williams and NESCAC lore for years to come. Expect Stola to have another monster performance this week against a porous Bates secondary.

Middlebury’s Luck

I don’t mean to say that Middlebury doesn’t deserve to be on top of the standings right now. They are clearly a much improved team this year; they have played to their strengths and Coach Ritter deserves substantial credit for squeezing this record out of a roster that probably doesn’t have the most talent in the league. They also clearly have a knack for winning close games. But let’s look at some of their wins. They beat a Trinity team that suddenly lost its starting running back the week before the game. They got the ball first in overtime against Amherst and threw an interception on the second play. Even more fortunately, Colby left five points on the board via missed kicks and gave away a win they really should have had this past Saturday. If all those outcomes hadn’t gone Middlebury’s way, the standings would be painting a very different picture right now. Give the Panthers credit, because they still needed to do a lot of things right to beat Amherst, Williams, and Trinity. However, I think they have gotten some bounces in their direction and would not be able to beat all three of these teams twice in a row. We will see if Midd will need to continue to squeak out close games or if they win more convincingly- if the latter happens for the rest of the season, I will be a believer that they are the best in the NESCAC this year.

Trinity RB Tijani Harris

One of the more perplexing storylines of the season is how Trinity has lost two games despite being ranked first in both total offense and total defense. The answer to that question has a lot to do with penalties and turnovers, but there’s a reason the Bantams continue to dominate a lot of the right categories. Whether or not they win every game, Trinity’s talent just seems to run deeper than other teams year in and year out. Harris is a great example of that. He came in as the third string running back behind fellow sophomores Spencer Lockwood ’22 and Draquan Jones ’22 and barely saw action as a freshman. When both of those guys went down, Harris immediately stepped in and produced against Hamilton with 115 yards and one touchdown in what ended up being a one-touchdown game. He then continued to ball out with 139 yards and another score against Bates this past weekend. Other teams would be in a huge hole if their top two backs went down, but it’s next man up in Hartford. Harris is a great reminder that there are usually guys riding the bench at Trinity, Williams etc that may have been studs (or at least contributors) on weaker NESCAC teams. With Seamus Lambert ’22 playing better and plenty of offensive weapons at his disposal, it will be interesting to see what kind of damage Harris and the Bantams can do against the meat of their schedule at the end of the season.

Stock Down

Hamilton Defense

The Continentals have allowed 399, 419, and 380 yards of offense in their last three games. They have also allowed at least 24 points in every game and have played two out of the three CBB teams. Hamilton’s offense has talent, but is not good enough to keep up with some of the crazy totals the defense is allowing. There was talk of All-NESCAC LB Tyler Hudson ’19 returning for a redshirt year after he missed his senior season last year with an injury, but he is gone and the Continentals have continued to feel his loss. Most recently, they allowed four touchdowns to Williams WR Frank Stola ’21. If one guy alone accounts for more than double your entire team’s scoring output, there’s a problem. Hamilton is not yet ranked in the bottom three in total defense thanks to their confidence-boosting CBB friends, but the way they’ve been giving up scores lately has made it tough for the Continentals to stay competitive.

Kickers

Everyone knows these guys have a high pressure job, but some of the NESCAC’s kickers look like they’re eyeing a tryout for the Chicago Bears. Most obviously, Colby’s Moises Celaya ’22 was 2 for 4 on extra points last weekend and missed his only field goal attempt, a 32-yarder in the final seconds that would have given the Mules a massive first win and the Panthers an even more massive first loss. The fact that all these points were left on the board makes Colby’s loss all the more gut-wrenching for NESCAC fans hoping for the upset. In the other close game of the weekend, Tufts’ Matt Alswanger missed two field goals in another one-score game. This is even tougher to stomach when you consider that his counterpart, Wesleyan’s Mason Von Jess ’23, was perfect on two field goals and two extra points, swinging the game in the Cardinals’ direction. Amherst is 5-10 on field goals this season, and Bates has not even attempted one…the Bobcats are 1 for 5 on extra points, so they may want to get a hang of those before they start going for 50 yarders. Clearly, great kickers are hard to come by in D3 football. But it may be in some of these schools’ best interest to send a football coach to the soccer team’s practices, because a lot of the league’s current kickers aren’t getting it done when it counts.

Are We Really Doing This?: Week 4 Power Rankings

(1) 1. Middlebury (4-0)

Well I guess this thing might really happen. With a thrilling 2 OT win at Pratt Field over Amherst on Saturday, Middlebury has stormed to the front of the pack, 4-0 with wins over Williams, Trinity, and Amherst before Columbus Day Weekend. An Amherst win would’ve left them, Middlebury, Williams, and Wesleyan in the title discussion, but now it feels like really just Middlebury—unless you think Wesleyan can beat the 5 best teams in the league that are left on their schedule. Middlebury looks primed to run the table, but I wouldn’t hand them the title just yet—being a turnover prone team without an overwhelming amount of offensive talent leaves them susceptible to upset bids.

(2) 2. Amherst (3-1)

A brutal game for Amherst, who will feel absolutely heartbroken after needing just 3 points to beat Midd at the end of the 1st OT. The reality is that this was Middlebury’s game to lose for nearly the whole afternoon. They punched Amherst in the mouth and stormed off to a 21-0 1st quarter lead, before succumbing to a classic case of playing not to lose, combined with a few bad turnovers. Credit to Amherst for coming all the way back and taking a 28-21 lead, but they couldn’t stop Midd all day, who carved them up for 469 yards of total offense and would have won at the end of regulation if not for a mind-blowingly bad decision by Coach Ritter to pass on 2 nd and 5 inside the 10 with one of the best kickers in the league, and an equally bad pass by Middlebury QB Will Jernigan ’21. The biggest question for Amherst going forward is how are they going to be able to run the ball and pick up easy yards on the ground? On Saturday they were actually okay, 44 carries as a team for 191 yards, but at the start of the game they were nowhere to be found, which forced them to try to get back in the game behind the arm of QB Ollie Eberth ’20, which is not his strength (4 INT). Amherst needs to establish the run early so that Eberth can manage the game and the defense can protect the lead, but they have yet to find Jack Hickey’s replacement.

(4) 3. Williams (3-1)

A weird win for Williams, who led 17-0 at half against Colby, and won by the same score. Colby punted or turned the ball over on literally every single possession, which raises a lot of questions of Coach Jack Cosgrove. The Ephs seemed content to do exactly what they did last week against Bowdoin—running the ball down their opponent’s throats (37 carries, 227 yards), keeping Maimaron clean, and letting their defense, which just might be the league’s best, hang onto the lead. If they could’ve gotten one more stop against Middlebury, they’d probably be #1 right now. The schedule doesn’t get much tougher the next two weeks—both home games against Hamilton and Bates, but unfortunately the championship train might have already left the station.

(3) 4. Wesleyan (4-0)

A real ugly win for Wesleyan, 20-13 against a pitiful Bowdoin team. In hindsight, this was an obvious trap game for the Cardinals. Having already played Hamilton, Colby, and Bates, a week away from starting to play actual football teams, traveling to Brunswick was probably the last thing they wanted to do. They also had a goal line fumble and some other bad breaks that made this a closer game than it should have, but all those excuses aside, being tied 13-13 to Bowdoin with 5 minutes left is not something that should be ignored. Despite being 4-0, we still know nothing about this team because of their schedule—outside of the fact that QB Ashton Scott ’22 has shown glimpses of being able to somewhat fill QB Mark Piccirillo’s shoes. I would be surprised if this team won more than 5 or 6 games.

(6) 5. Trinity (2-2)

Another unconvincing week for the Bantams, who squandered a chance to return home and make a statement about how talented they are. Yes, a win is still a win, but 31-24 against Hamilton is not much to write home about. The game was not as close as the score indicated, Trinity outgained Hamilton 419-256, but regardless, doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. The offense just seems like it’s missing that extra sparkle it had last year, despite the fact that we finally saw Girard and Schofer (5 catches each, 90 yards each, 3 TDs combined) click in the same week, and the emergence of RB Tijani Harris ’22 (25 carries, 115 yards, 1 TD) while Spencer Lockwood ’22 continues to be away from the team. They have the best run defense in the league, as David Kagan (14 carries, 18 yards) found out, and they obviously are not going to be a team that anybody overlooks on their schedule, but for whatever reason this just might not the same Trinity we’re used to seeing.

(7) 6. Tufts (2-2)

Meh. I mean, flip a coin on this one between Tufts and Hamilton. What’s more impressive, losing to Trinity on the road by 7, or beating Bates by 5? Bates had scored 25 points in their first 3 games combined, and then put up 28 on Tufts, but to be fair, it was 33-14 before Bates grabbed 2 consolation scores. In all honesty, I think we’ve been way too harsh on the Jumbos. Their first 3 games were against Trinity, Williams, and Amherst, and they managed to come out at 1-2, winning at home and losing on the road. The win against Trinity really screwed with our expectations and perception of this team, but the reality is that this was always going to be a bridge year while they dealt with some key losses. I think Jacob Carroll ’20 is a solid quarterback who had a pair of bad outings against Williams and Amherst on the road. This quarterback and this team are going to get better every week and will still finish with a winning record. They need to find a way to run the ball better so that Carroll can settle in a little, but they have an emerging group of receivers and a great core of linebackers to rely on defensively. The secondary is brutal, but it might not matter with most of the teams left on their schedule.

(5) 7. Hamilton (2-2)

It’s starting to feel like another 3-6 year for Hamilton, if we’re being completely honest. Good enough to beat the CBB, good enough to get respect from everybody else, but not good enough to ever actually give those teams a scare. And I don’t say that because they lost by 7 in Hartford to the 3 team league champs, I say that more because I disagree with the fact that they were ranked 5th last week. QB Kenny Gray ’20 is dead last in the league with a 49.5% completion percentage, and I still need a bigger sample size to give you a better opinion about RB David Kagan ’20, who rushed for 18 yards on 14 carries against Trinity, the 3rd week in a row his carries, rushing yards, and yards per carry have decreased.

(8) 8. Colby (0-4)

Colby stays at 8th for what feels like the 1000th week in a row, but it feels like that gap between 8 and 9 might be shrinking. Credit to the Mules for holding a potent Williams offense to 17 points, but if you watched the second half of that game, it was pretty clear the Ephs called off the dogs at intermission. What’s more concerning to me is the fact that Colby never really showed any ambition in winning the game, and that blame should be directed at the coaching staff. They had the ball on 4th and 10 with 6 minutes to go, down 17-0, on the Williams 48 yard line, and punted! They punted down 17-0 in enemy territory, with 6 minutes left. What is that?! What kind of message are you sending to your team, and more specifically your sophomore ROY QB Matt Hersch ’22? Pretty hard to win any games with an attitude like that.

(9) 9. Bates (0-4)

As previously mentioned, Bates had scored 25 points in its first 3 weeks, but then managed to put 28 on the board in week 4 against Tufts. It was nice to see them hang around and be somewhat competitive in a game against a solid team, although it was 33-14 in the 4th quarter. While there are obviously a number of concerns with this team, it is a big red flag that they can’t seem to make their mind up about their offensive philosophy. After throwing the ball 71 times in the first 2 weeks, they returned to their option offense for week 3 and threw the ball 8 times. Last week, it was the air attack again, throwing 29 times. Unless they saw something on film that they really liked against Wesleyan in Week 3, you would like to see a first year coach prioritize the process over the results.

(10) 10. Bowdoin (0-4)

A real tough one for Bowdoin, who had every bit of interest in shocking Wesleyan, but just came up short in a 20-13 loss. While they have RB Nate Richam-Odoi ’20 and his big play potential (59 yard TD run), they will (theoretically) have a chance to strike quick with a big play of two, but the defense was probably the most exciting part of this game. After allowing an average of a whopping 46.3 points a week through their first 3 games, they held Wesleyan to just 20. If you’re a team and a program like Bowdoin, you have to find the silver lining.

Do We Have a Favorite Yet?: Week 3 Power Rankings

(1) 1. Middlebury

What’s Coach Ritter spiking the Gatorade with this season? Middlebury erased any suspicion that their opening win over Williams was a fluke by taking down another NESCAC heavyweight, three-time defending champion Trinity. What’s more impressive is that they did it mainly with great defense- and Middlebury has not been known for their defense in recent years. Nobody knows what’s going on with Trinity right now, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the same unit that Seamus Lambert tore up last year intercepted him four times. QB Will Jernigan ’21 only completed 13 of 29 passes, but he ran for a touchdown and threw for another with no fumbles or interceptions. That turnover differential is a big reason why Middlebury pulled off the win. With all the momentum in the world, the Panthers have a golden opportunity to further justify their number 1 ranking with a win over Amherst this Saturday.

(3) 2. Amherst (3-0)

The Mammoths showed that their tusks were a little stronger with a nice win over the Tufts Jumbos. Amherst has not put up eye-popping numbers this year (all of their games have ended with pretty similar scores), but they earned some respect by beating a quality non-CBB opponent. They have been quietly playing sound football, relying on their veteran playmakers and committing few penalties and turnovers- they were only flagged three times for 20 yards against Tufts. WR James O’Regan ’20 continued to produce with 97 yards and a TD. It’s clear that he is QB Ollie Eberth’s favorite target, so it will be interesting to see which team (if any) will be able to shut him down this season. This week’s matchup with Middlebury will be Amherst’s biggest test yet by far. If they continue to play quality football and hold teams under 20 points, though, they will dethrone Midd and become the clear top dog.

(5) 3. Wesleyan (3-0)

Ashton Scott has been making a name for himself in his first year as a starter

I honestly ran through all the 2-1 and 1-2 teams in the league wondering which of them might deserve this 3 spot, because Wesleyan boasts easily the least impressive 3-0 slate with wins over Colby, Hamilton and Bates. On the other hand, all you can do is play the schedule you’re given and Wes has done that quite well so far. Unfortunately for anyone wondering how good this team actually is, they’re likely going to have the least impressive 4-0 record possible after a win over Bowdoin this week. And unfortunately for Wesleyan, they have all the best teams at the back end of their schedule. Sophomore QB Ashton Scott ’22 continued to impress, completing 14 of 20 passes and throwing for two TDs. The only reason he didn’t put up bigger numbers is because Wesleyan’s backups were in for most of the second half. He is a dual threat QB that will be fun to watch in the next few seasons. The defense has been the best in the league so far in terms of scoring, only allowing Bates 117 yards of total offense while forcing four turnovers last week. The Cardinals need to use this game to fine tune their offense and maybe give their stars some rest, because they won’t be getting any breaks after this week.

(2) 4. Williams (2-1)

Some may say this team deserves to be above Wesleyan, but their two wins are honestly not looking much more impressive than Wes’s three. Tufts has fallen off big time since week one, and nobody was surprised when the Ephs smoked Bowdoin 41-10 this past week. Williams did show that they could run the ball well in addition to throwing it, as they ran it 43 times for an absurd 398 yards. Bobby Maimaron ’21 only threw ten passes. I love this strategy by Coach Mark Raymond. Keep your star QB fresh and keep the clock moving; blowouts get boring for everyone and Bowdoin probably wanted to hop on the bus back to Maine by halftime. With Colby, Hamilton and Bates next on the schedule for the Ephs, we may see more of this ground attack approach. Williams is in good position to be in championship contention late in the season if they take care of business the next few weeks.

(7) 5. Hamilton (2-1)

This is where the rankings begin to get more complicated. I’m not sure I can confidently say that Hamilton could beat both Trinity and Tufts, but they’re getting the fifth spot because they seem to be the only team of the three trending in a positive direction right now. They technically also have much better championship prospects than Tufts and Trinity given their record. I’m not saying that anyone should put money on Hamilton to win it all, but they certainly separated themselves from the CBB tier this weekend in a 45-24 win over Colby. Ironically, Colby had more yards of total offense, but picking off three passes and going 8 for 14 on third down helped Hamilton to victory. QB Kenny Gray ’20 had another solid game, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another. With strong special teams play and RB David Kagan ’20 leading the conference in rushing yards and touchdowns, Continental fans should be happy with how this season is progressing so far. They have a big test this weekend at Trinity in a game that they need to win to stay in title contention, but a win in this game is much more within reach for them than it has been in the past few years.

(4) 6. Trinity (1-2)

I know they’re above a team they lost to in week 1, but it just doesn’t feel right putting Trinity so close to the CBB teams when they beat the only one they’ve played by 54. Nonetheless, 1-2 is not where anyone expected Trinity to be at this point in the season- they haven’t started a season 1-2 since 1995. This means that we will likely see a new NESCAC champion for the first time in three years, much to the excitement of everyone not in Hartford. QB Seamus Lambert ’22 leads the league in passing yards, so the Bantams’ terrific WRs have continued to produce, but he has also been sacked the most and is second in interceptions due to 4 in the loss to Middlebury. On top of that, Trinity was flagged for over 100 yards and RB Spencer Lockwood ’22 was not at the Middlebury game and is nowhere to be seen on campus. Lack of a run game, poor offensive line/quarterback play, and penalties have hurt the Bantams in their two losses. We know this team can probably still beat anyone, but this just isn’t their year so far. Having said that, three championships in four years is something other NESCAC players can only dream of, and the Bantams should still be a factor in determining who wins the title this year. A win over Hamilton at home this weekend will certainly propel Trinity over the Continentals in our rankings.

(6) 7. Tufts (1-2)

Things haven’t been quite as smooth for Jacob Carroll and the Jumbos since their Week 1 win over Trinity

It’s looking like Tufts’ opening week win over Trinity has more to do with Trinity being down than Tufts being up. In fact, the Jumbos have had a brutal fall from grace since that week. Their offense is second to last in scoring, ranking above only Bates. We saw Jacob Carroll ’20 instead of Travon Woodson ’23 under center last week against Amherst, and he threw for 305 yards…but like Seamus Lambert, he was bit by the interception bug with three. This helped Amherst dominate time of possession and tire the Jumbos’ defense out. Tufts also has not been able to establish a run game this season, and they certainly needed one to beat Amherst. This team has a prime chance to get back on track when they pay Bates a visit in Lewiston; we should get to see who will emerge as the playmakers on both sides of the ball besides their usual standouts in WR OJ Armstrong ’21 and LB Greg Holt ’20. Still, you have to wonder why an 11,000 student university with Tufts’ location and resources has isn’t competing for a championship more often.

(8) 8. Colby (0-3)

It’s been a disappointing year in Waterville, both because people expected Colby to take a step forward this year and because the NESCAC is more exciting when the CBB teams can compete. Unfortunately, this gap between the CBB and everyone else got wider this past weekend when the Mules got thrashed by Hamilton. Last week was clearly a big week for interceptions, because Matt Hersch was the third quarterback to throw at least three of them. Although being 0-3 is never good, there are select individual performances the Mules should be happy with. Hersch (only a sophomore) is second in the league in passing yards per game, LB Marcus Bullard ’21 leads the league in tackles, and Chris George ’20 has been a decent replacement for Jake Schwern ’19 at running back. Colby has to step it up big time if they want to be competitive in any of their next three games- Williams, Middlebury, and Trinity. Sheesh!

(9) 9. Bates (0-3)

You never want to be playing your worst football heading into the toughest part of your schedule, but unfortunately that’s the situation Bates finds themselves in after catching a 48-12 shellacking from Wesleyan in a game that really wasn’t that close. They’re playing far from full strength as their top two quarterbacks were both injured, but 117 yards of offense is pitiful no matter how you slice it. There really isn’t a lot of good to draw from their season so far, as they’ve put up the lowest point total in the league and allowed more than everyone except Bowdoin. Hopefully we will see QB Brendan Costa ’21 or at least backup Jack Bryant ’22 soon, or things will only continue to spiral downhill as they have since leading Amherst at the half in their opener. Nobody is expecting Bates to win any of their next three games against Tufts, Trinity and Williams, but if they get their QB back they should be playing some more exciting games in their last three.

(10) 10. Bowdoin (0-3)

Admissions needs to loosen up in Brunswick, because the good people of Bowdoin deserve a better football team than what they have had to watch the past few years. One would think that a beautiful new football field and locker rooms would attract more talent, but we have yet to see the return on this investment on Saturdays. Bowdoin laid another egg last week in Williamstown, allowing the Ephs nearly 500 yards of offense. They did have two offensive standouts as RB Nate Richam ’20 managed 105 yards and a score and tight end Bo Millett ’21 passed the century mark in yards as well. Bowdoin should be thankful for these guys because frankly, they deserve to be on better teams. A team will only go as far as their QB takes them, so Bowdoin’s current situation makes sense given that Austin McCrum ’21 has twice as many picks than touchdowns this season and went 16 for 36 last week. Bowdoin is a great school with nice facilities, so it’s on new coach BJ Hammer to start bringing in better recruiting classes and actually show some results with this rebuild that Bowdoin has been trying to accomplish for years.

Week 4 Game of the Week—Amherst @ Middlebury: Season on the Line

Overview:

Amherst is ready for their first test of the young season. They also love their new catch phrase “Crank it”

This game has major championship implications for both teams and could be highly contested depending on what the Panthers bring to the table. Middlebury needs to win out to have a shot at the NESCAC crown and this is their first test since week one in doing that. They gave fans quite a scare in back to back weeks, making their wins against Bowdoin and Colby tight matchups for the first time in a long time. They have plenty of offensive skill position weapons and a nearly impenetrable O-line, a solid secondary and linebacking core, but need to find a way to get the ball to their playmakers. Amherst, on the other hand, controls their own fate in the championship race and is about the face their first test of the season. Their win against Hamilton looks better now that the Continentals knocked off Wesleyan and played closely against Tufts, but Bates and Bowdoin were never a threat to the Mammoths. This game should reveal the direction that each team is heading for the second half of the year.

Key for Amherst: Secondary

Durborow and the rest of the secondary are going to bring it tomorrow.

Avery Saffold, Nate Tyrell, Matt Durborow, and John Ballard will start this weekend, but the Mammoths have plenty of depth in the third tier of their defense. Second string DB Ricky Goodson already has a pick, and this group should bring the heat on the Panthers this weekend. Of course, I still believe Midd has the best group of pass-catchers in the conference (tight ends included), they just haven’t been getting the ball lately. If Amherst can continue the trend that opposing secondaries have brought against Middlebury, the Mammoths will be fine. If they cannot capitalize on QB mistakes and make picks when they need to, the Midd team might just grab ahold and take the reins.

Key for Middlebury: Coaching

Coach Ritter has a tough task this weekend and many difficult decisions ahead of him. His QB play has been inconsistent and disappointing up to this point, but Midd has still stayed afloat these past two weeks. After all, a win is a win, no matter how you get it. So, going into this week, he must have conviction. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, a team won consistently by splitting QB playing time drive by drive. Does he go with the veteran captain, Jack Meservy, who has had difficulty reading defense formations up to this point, or the athletic, versatile, but untested Will Jernigan? He needs to pick one so his receivers can start to get into a bit of a rhythm with the QB. Jernigan saw some first team action this week, but my money would be on Meservy to start the game with a short leash. Peter Scibilia has also been an unexpected weapon up to this point and has helped spark the offense when the air game has stagnated, but does Coach Ritter dare promote a run heavy scheme against the Mammoths? I wouldn’t. If his formula works, he’s a genius.

Amherst X-Factor:

LB/DE Andrew Yamin

Yamin might single handedly stop the Middlebury offense on Saturday in Vermont. He has 12 tackles, six of which were for a loss, and two sacks through three games thus far and should continue to terrorize the run game and drop back on pass formations too. He hasn’t even been as good as he was last year, but should be all over the field this weekend, stopping the suddenly deep Middlebury ground game and disrupting the slot receivers and tight ends.

Middlebury X-Factor:

QB/WR/PR Will Jernigan ’21

While I said I though Meservy would start the game at QB, I’d still put money that Jernigan makes his way behind center at some point. I’m not saying Meservy will throw himself out of the game, but knowing how Coach Ritter has been playing the two of them, even if everything goes perfectly, I’d still expect to see Jernigan at some point against Amherst. His play will make or break this game as he will likely be put right in to a big pressure situation immediately. He has only one TD pass and one INT on the season but also returns kicks, is averaging eight yards per carry, and has two receptions on the season. His athleticism is obvious and he might just pull a Nick Foles and catch and throw for a TD. His ability to run the football also would give Midd just enough play call diversity to give them an edge against Amherst compared to the other teams the Mammoths have played, limiting their effectiveness of shifting between the 3-4 and 4-3.

It might be tough for Scibilia to find running room against the Mammoths.

Everything Else:

This one looks to be pretty one sided in favor of Amherst based on the way that the season has gone so far, but don’t be surprised if the Panthers have a few tricks up their sleeve. After all, the Midd team has a strong history, program, and track record, especially against Amherst (2-0 in the last two meetings) and won’t go down without a fight. Midd is playing on their home turf with what is sure to be a rowdy crowd on a Saturday afternoon. With that said, Amherst has an advantage at QB with Ollie Eberth. Eberth hasn’t done anything spectacular with just 4 TDs, but also hasn’t turned the ball over and has a few solid weapons around him. Jack Hickey should have a field day if the Midd defense allows running room like they did against Nate Richam of Bowdoin and should be the biggest offensive force of the game. For the Panthers, if Conrado Banky, Jimmy Martinez, Maxim Bochman, and Frankie Cosolito can get the ball into their hands, it could get interesting, but they have struggled to connect with the QB early in recent games. If Midd sticks in this one, the special teams play might play a large role too, as K Carter Massengill is off to a solid start and WR Jimmy Martinez has the ability to take any kick to the house.

Predicted Score: Amherst 34 Middlebury 24