This post has been edited to correct a number of errors in the first publishing. We apologize for the mistakes.

1st Team Offense

QB – McCallum Foote, Middlebury
RB – Evan Bunker, Trinity
RB – Ben Crick, Trinity
RB – LaDarius Drew, Wesleyan
WR – Luke Duncklee, Colby
WR – Matt Minno, Middlebury
WR – Joe Jensen, Hamilton
TE – Billy Sadik-Kahn
OL – Rob Wasielewski, Amherst
OL – Jack Allard, Middlebury
OL – Paul Gallagher, Colby
OL – Liam O’Neil, Bates
OL – Jacob Sheffer, Wesleyan
K – Sebastian Aguirre, Wesleyan

There isn’t much to defend here and people’s first teams will likely look roughly the same. The offensive line is always the most difficult group to select, so if we’ve missed any major names we apologize. The backfield looks similar to 2012, with Foote and Bunker receiving their third straight first team nominations after leading the NESCAC in passing and rushing yards, respectively, for the third year in a row. Drew, meanwhile, was an obvious choice, leading the conference in rushing touchdowns and missing out on a NESCAC rushing title by just 6 yards while carrying the ball 9 fewer times than Bunker. We spent a considerable amount of time discussing the merits of a number of different players for the third and final running back spot, including Kyle Gibson, Zach Donnarumma and James Stanell, but ultimately we chose Crick based on a number of different factors. First, only Gibson and Sean Doherty outrushed Crick on a per-carry basis and he averaged 6.5 more yards per game than Gibson and 12.4 more than Doherty. Donarumma and Stanell, meanwhile, were hurt by their relatively meager per-carry averages and in Stanell’s case, an injury that caused him to miss two games, as well as ball security issues that led to four fumbles. The better question might be why Crick over Gibson. Here, Jeff and I felt that the biggest difference was that Crick was at his best—often better than Bunker—when Trinity needed him most. The same could not be said of Gibson. Crick outrushed Bunker in all three of Trinity’s games decided by a touchdown or less, averaging just over 92 yards on 5.2 yards per carry, and was the more dangerous and effective back for much of the season. Gibson, meanwhile, mirrored Drew’s down numbers in those games, averaging just 52.7 yards per game in close games and losses, while carrying the ball for 4.5 yards per carry. Ultimately the two are similar players playing similar roles in similar offenses, but we felt that Crick played a bigger role in Trinity’s success, and performed better when he needed to, than Gibson did. At the wide receiver spot, we felt the first two selections were pretty obvious (as was tight end). The third choice was more difficult, however, and came down to Jensen, Brendan Rankowitz and Brian Ragone. Ultimately, we settled on Jensen who, in addition to leading the NESCAC in yards per catch (if only because Ragone doesn’t qualify) is also a tremendous kick returner. At kicker, Aguirre separated himself from the group with his consistency over a high volume of attempts. He made 9 of 11 field goals, including a 41-yarder, and converted 29 of 30 point after tries.

1st Team Defense

DL – James Howe, Williams
DL – Max Lehrman, Amherst
DL – Caleb Harris, Colby
DL – Jake Prince, Bowdoin
LB – Chris Tamasi, Amherst
LB – Joey Cleary, Bowdoin
LB – Brian Glazewski, Bowdoin
LB – Tim Patricia, Middlebury
DB – Landrus Lewis, Amherst
DB – Andrew Kukesh, Bates
DB – Brian Dones, Trinity
DB – Jason Buco, Colby
P – Mike Dola

There also wasn’t too much to discuss on the first team defense. There seemed to be four standouts across the conference on the defensive line, with a pretty substantial gap between the four first team selections and the guys who followed them. Linebacker wasn’t quite as straightforward, but again, it seemed that this group separated itself from the rest of the conference’s backers. Cleary led the conference by a wide margin with 99 tackles, making him a first-team selection shoo-in. The same can be said for Chris Tamasi, who recorded a conference-best 18 tackles for a loss. The only other backer to register more than 10 was Glazewski, another first team selection of ours, who also added 72 tackles, three sacks and four fumble recoveries. Our final linebacker spot went to Patricia, who was the heart of a much improved Middlebury defense, and responsible for alligning the defense before every play. Patricia joined Cleary as one of just two linebackers to make at least 70 tackles, 2 sacks and an interception this season. In the defensive backfield, Landrus Lewis didn’t put up great numbers, but we suspect—and it was confirmed when we saw him play—that this was because teams avoided his side of the field. He still registered a league-high 3 interceptions, likely on far fewer targets than the 9 other players who achieved the same feat. Kukesh, a preseason All-American, was excellent in all phases defensively, picking off 3 passes, while making 7.5 tackles for loss and 81 tackles overall. He even slid over and played linebacker at times this year due to injuries sustained by his teammates. Dones, meanwhile, led the league with 11 pass breakups—4 more than any other defensive back—in addition to his 3 interceptions and same number of tackles for loss. The final defensive back spot went to Buco, who excelled in coverage, blitzing off the edge and filling in against the run. Buco broke up 6 passes, intercepted 2 more, sacked the quarterback twice and made 5.5 tackles for a loss. He also used his size, speed and ball skills on the other side of the line of scrimmage, hauling in a 19-yard reception against Middlebury. Dola had a spectacular season, despite limited attempts. The junior specialist led the NESCAC in punting, with a 41.0 yard average and downed 10 punts inside the 20-yard line on just 28 punts.

2nd Team Offense

QB – Justin Ciero, Colbyhi
RB –  Zach Donarumma, Bowdoin
RB – Kyle Gibson, Wesleyan
RB – James Stanell, Hamilton
WR – Brian Ragone, Trinity
WR – Brendan Rankowitz, Middlebury
WR – Jake O’Malley, Amherst
TE/FB – Mike Budness, Trinity
OL – Ben Green, Middlebury
OL – Nick Noonan, Hamilton
OL – Jake Golden, Trinity
OL – Mike Bernstein, Bates
OL – Pat DiMase, Wesleyan
K – Phil Nwosu

Ciero over Jesse Warren might be the first big point of contention for people. While Warren played mistake-free football for 7 games this year, we felt that his final numbers and limited role opened the door for a player with messier numbers, but greater value. That player was Ciero, who accounted for nearly 2000 yards of total offense, adding over 500 yards rushing—the 9th most in the conference to his 1,454 yards of passing (3rd in the NESCAC). Though Warren threw just 3 interceptions (versus 15 touchdown passes), no starting quarterback, that is to say, no starter who held his job throughout the season, dropped back to pass fewer times than Warren. Had Warren finished the season with 20 touchdown passes and led an undefeated Wesleyan team to a NESCAC title, this decision might have gone differently, but ultimately Ciero meant more to Colby—and was a better player overall in 2013—than Warren. At the final running back position we considered Sean Doherty, but felt the difference of nearly 19 yards per game between Doherty’s per game average and Stanell’s concluded the discussion. The final wide receiver spot came down to Josh Hurwitz and Ragone. Though he was lightly utilized by the Bantams, Ragone’s NESCAC-leading 18.7 yards per reception and 4 touchdowns distinguish him from Hurwitz and the other wide receivers who did not make this list. Nwosu converted just 71 percent of his field goal tries, but all all of his misses—with the exception of a blocked field goal—came from 30 yards and beyond. Twice he made field goals longer than 40 yards, including a 44-yarder in Amherst’s 1-point win over Trinity. Ben Rosenblatt received considration here, but his 7 missed extra points, including a crucial one in the loss against Amherst, kept him off this list.

2nd Team Defense

DL – Nathan Cyr, Trinity
DL – Tucker Oniskey, Bates
DL – Tom Wells, Bowdoin
DL – Jake Clapp, Middlebury
LB – Henry Nelson, Colby
LB – John Phelan,Hamilton
LB – Matt McCormack, Tufts
LB – Ned Deane, Amherst
DB – Nate Leedy, Middlebury
DB – Max Dietz, Amherst
DB – Matt Benedict, Middlebury
DB – Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn, Amherst
P – Joe Mallock, Williams

The difficult part of making the second team defense was accounting for all the linebackers and defensive backs who deserved to make an All-NESCAC team. On the defensive line, Oniskey had a unique season, breaking up 9 passes on the season, making him the NESCAC’s version of JJ Watt. Clapp, meanwhile, registered 4.5 sacks, the fourth most in the NESCAC, from his outside linebacker/defensive end position and was a matchup nightmare for opposing tackles as the season wore on. In the linebacking coprs, McCormack quietly had the conference’s second most tackles this season, while Ned Deane did a little bit of everything, making 71 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, including 4 sacks as well as 3 pass breakups. In the defensive backfield, freshman corner Nate Leedy gets our vote. Leedy was solid in all aspects of the game, playing a unique brand of press coverage and using his physicality to disrupt receivers route patterns as well as a weapon against ball carriers who ventured to his side of the field. Statistically, Leedy finished his freshman season with 7 pass breakups, trailing only Dones among defensive backs in that category. That number would have been considerably higher, but teams have thrown away from his side of the field over the second half of the season. Leedy also made 45 tackles on the season, more than just about every other corner in the league and made plays primarily as a run stopper rather than tackling receivers after the catch. In the second game of the season against a run-heavy Colby team, Leedy made 10 tackles, including 2 for a loss. Benedict is the second member of the Middlebury secondary on our team. He earned his spot as the leader of Middlebury’s secondary and his constant presence around the football. Only Kukesh, who played linebacker at times this year as well, finsihed with more tackles from the safety position than Benedict. Another pair of teammates, Max Dietz and Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn, round out the second-team defensive backfield. Dietz had 3 interceptions to go along with 6 pas sbreakups, while Fairifield-Sonn made 53 tackles, 2 interceptions and 6 pass breakups. Mallock rounds out the specialists, earning the spot not so much on his per-punt average (just 36.5 yards) but because he downed 15 punts inside the 20 (second most in the conference) and led the conference with 20 fair catches. By comparison, Kyle Pulek, who was second in the conference in punting average at 39.3 yards per kick, forced only 5 fair catches.

Offensive Player of the Year: McCallum Foote

Foote certainly wouldn’t have gotten our vote at the midway point of the season, but what accomplished over the second half of the season surpasses any other four-game stretch of his career. After one of the finest performances of his career—irrespective of his statistical output—in the win over Trinity, Foote followed that with two of the most amazing statistical performances in NESCAC history, throwing for 732 yards, 12 touchdowns, 1 interception, while completing more than 73 percent of his passes over the final two games of the season. No single player meant more to his team week in and week out than Foote and as the season progressed his performance began to better exemplify that.

Defensive Player of the Year: Joey Cleary

Cleary was the NESCAC’s most proficient tackler, finsihing the season one tackle shy of 100. He was unblockable for large parts of Middlebury’s meeting with Bowdoin, making 15 tackles, recording an interception of Foote and accounting for Bowdoin’s first two points of the game on an A-gap blitz, which resulted in a safety on a tackle of Matt Rea in the end zone. In addition to his 99 tackles, Cleary added 1.5 sacks, 8.5 tackles for a loss, a pair of interceptions and 4 pass breakups. He jumped off the screen and stat sheet alike.

Rookie of the Year: Nate Leedy

We laid out most of the case for Leedy above, but it deserves reiterating: he was fantastic all year long in all aspects of Middlebury’s defense. While the NESCAC isn’t known for its press-man coverage on the outside, Leedy often corwded and jammed wide receivers at the line of scrimmage to disrupt their routes and demonstrated great closing speed and an ability to make a play on the ball when he was targeted. There isn’t a player on either side of the ball whose future is as bright as Leedy’s.

Coach of the Year: Mike Whalen

Whalen did a phenomenal job building Wesleyan’s roster. Most of the significant contributors this year were juniors, who should step into similar, if not bigger roles next season,  making Wesleyan enormous favorites—given the rest of the NESCAC landscape—to defend their 2013 crown. It wouldn’t surprise me, therefore, to see Whalen win this award a couple of times in the coming years if the program continues to attract the athletes that it has over the past couple of years. Whalen also did a great job, at least early in the season, preparing his team, which dominated opponents in all phases of the game, often right out of the gate—a testament to Whalen’s tactical coaching skills in addition to his prowess as a recruiter.

A year ago, 6-1 Middlebury hosted 0-7 Tufts needing a win and a Wesleyan victory at home against Trinity to secure a share of the NESCAC title. Today, the situation is eerily similar, if the details have been revised. The 6-1 Panthers kick off against Tufts (0-7 and losers of 30 straight games) at 12:30 today, 30 minutes after action gets underway in Hartford, where Middlebury (and Amherst) fans hope that Trinity (5-2) can extend its home-winning streak to 51 games and knock off unbeaten Wesleyan. A Middlebury victory and a Wesleyan loss would give the Panthers a share of the NESCAC title—likely split three ways if Amherst (6-1) can beat rival Williams (2-5) in Williamstown. There will be a fair number of people split-screening today’s games, with multiple rooting interests. (Perhaps less significant in the final standings, but no less interesting: if Colby beats Bowdoin and Trinity loses, Colby and Trinity will each finish the season 5-3, having beaten and lost to the same teams.)

Our Guide to the Games

The NESCAC, Middlebury aside, is not a passing league. Teams win games by establishing the run early and stopping the run on defense. Expect both Trinity and Wesleyan to pound the ball early, in a matchup of truly dynamic runners in both backfields. LaDarius Drew and Kyle Gibson have been the more prolific pair this year, but Bunker and Crick have history and home-field advantage on their side. 50 straight wins at home attests to the Bantams’ dominance at Jessee/Miller Field, where Trinity has been an even better team running the football this season, averaging 239.3 yards per game. Furthermore, today’s finale is Homecoming for Trinity, creating an atmosphere unlike any other in the NESCAC with a crowd likely to exceed 7,000 people.

Just over 100 miles northeast, Middlebury and Tufts will be playing in a decidedly different atmosphere with an entirely different style. While Wesleyan and Trinity lead the NESCAC in yards per carry, respectively, the Jumbos and Panthers are as averse to running the ball as any pair of teams in the NESCAC, preferring instead to air it out. And though the team’s share similar offensive approaches, the similarities end there. Throwing more doesn’t necessarily mean scoring more and Tufts has averaged just 12 points per game this season. As bad as the Jumbos have been on offense, they’ve been worse on defense, conceding 33 points per game and a NESCAC-worst, 469 yards per game, 83.1 more than any other team. Tufts has not been able to stop the run or the pass, allowing the most yards to opponents in both areas of any team in the conference. Middlebury, meanwhile, is averaging over 26 points per game, while allowing roughly 17. The Panthers boast solid, if not quite elite units on both sides of the ball, though both the offense and defense have demonstrated the ability to outplay more decorated units this season.

No team, however, has outplayed Wesleyan on either side of the ball this season. The Cardinals enter Friday’s game with the NESCAC’s top-ranked scoring offense and defense, averaging 33-plus points per game while holding opponents to single-digit scoring. And while Wesleyan and Trinity share a similar offensive philosophy—run the ball often and generate hyper-efficient quarterback play—Trinity’s defensive gild has been tarnished, particularly against the run, where the Bantams are a middle-of-the-road defense. Wesleyan, meanwhile, has held teams to nearly half as many points per game (9.1 vs. 16.4), the result of the NESCAC’s stingiest pass defense combined with a run-stopping front seven that has allowed opponents just 96.3 yards per game on the ground. On paper, this game is relatively straightforward.

At the risk of sounding cliché, however, if recent history has taught us anything, it’s that we can pretty much forget about what teams have done on paper. Each of the past two seasons Middlebury has needed game-saving plays to beat Tufts late in the fourth quarter. In 2011 it was a Remi Ashkar run as time expired; in 2012, it was a miraculous strip-sack by John Wiet, who proceeded to return the ball to the 25-yard line before being chased down by Jumbos’ tight end Nick Kenyon and alertly pitching the ball back to Jared Onouye who took it the rest of the way for the score. And, of course, exactly a season ago, Middlebury fans watched in wonder as a dominant Trinity team, built much like the 2013 Cardinals, trailed a talented, but year-too-early Wesleyan team by a touchdown under a minute to go, only for the Bantams to score with 17 seconds left in the game and then win with a forced fumble and touchdown run in overtime.

Will history repeat itself? Certainly in a way, Middlebury should hope so. For the Panthers to share a piece of the NESCAC title—their first since 2007—two incredible streaks need to be perpetuated one more time. Trinity, whose 50-game home-winning streak is the longest in the nation, needs to extend it to 51, while Tufts, owners of the longest active losing streak in college football, has to fall for the 31st straight time. As a result, neither team will need much by way of motivation before their respective games. Playing football at Trinity means carrying a winning tradition at Jessee/Miller Field and no player wants the end of the nation’s longest winning streak as part of his legacy. Those feelings will only be magnified on Homecoming, with the team likely playing in front of many former players who contributed to the streak. Tufts, meanwhile, is a team with nothing to lose … except the game, of course. For the Jumbos this is not a game like any other. The senior class has won exactly one game over its four year career—the first game of the 2010 season, 30 games ago. Between then and now they’ve lost in almost every way imaginable: there was the Joey Cleary and Griffin Cardew 100- and 99-yard interceptions returned for touchdowns loss to Bowdoin, a 70-49 loss at Amherst, a 42-41 loss against Colby the next week, a 9-0 loss to Trinity and the 19-17, last-second loss to Middlebury later that same season. While it can’t erase everything that has happened in between, the Jumbos’ senior class would like nothing more than to bookend their careers with victories.

For the second straight year, Middlebury has a chance to go 7-1 and, with a little help, claim part of the NESCAC title. For that to happen, the Panthers cannot overlook the team in their way. At 0-7, Tufts is dangerous and far more talented than people realize. Freshman quarterback Alex Snyder is raw, but can throw the football like few other NESCAC quarterbacks can. While his offensive line has struggled to protect him, he is surrounded by a strong supporting cast of playmaking skill players, such as Zach Trause and Greg Lanzillo. The Panthers will likely key on stopping Trause, but Snyder demonstrated that he is plenty capable of beating defenses with his arm, as he did against Williams earlier this year.

Just over an hour west on I-90 and I-94, Trinity and Wesleyan will play a game dictated entirely by which team can run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense. There will be no surprises in that game—both teams know exactly what the other wants to do and how they plan on doing it. Middlebury, meanwhile, is prepared for anything the Jumbos might try in this final, desperate heave of 2013. The two games will be played under entirely different circumstances with styles as different as the NESCAC can muster. And both are equally important to Middlebury’s chance at a NESCAC title. Enjoy the split screens and may the streaks live on.

Coaches teach their players to look no further than the game in front of them, and to treat all games equally. For better or worse, journalists do not adopt the same approach. History and recent play would suggest that Hamilton has little hope of winning this game. A by the numbers, if you will, of how the conditions under which both teams enter this game:

-Middlebury has won the past 17 meetings between these schools

-The Panthers have won 14 of their past 16 games, including 7 straight at home

-Hamilton has lost 10 games in a row, and 21 straight on the road

-Middlebury enters the game following a 27-24 victory over then-undefeated Trinity, ending the Bantams 14-game winning streak

-Hamilton comes of a 24-0 loss at Williams, in which the Continentals turned the ball over 5 times, allowed 7 sacks and managed fewer than 200 yards of total offense

-The Continentals have a NESCAC-worst -129 point differential, thanks no doubt to their -10 turnover differential

-Mac Foote threw for 456 yards and 5 touchdown passes in Middlebury’s 50-21 win in Clinton, New York last year

Given these parameters, it is difficult to imagine Hamilton traveling to Middlebury and overcoming the historical trends, all of which are conspiring against Hamilton in this game. In a game where winning will not be a particular helpful barometer of how Middlebury played, here are a couple of things the Panthers should do in this game:

1) Play error-free football: Middlebury has turned the ball over in all but one game so far this season. Foote has been stellar the past two weeks, in spite of his three interceptions, and should continue his play of late today. Further, he and his wide receivers appear in sync for the first time all season. The Panthers should put a crooked number on the scoreboard today.

2) Shut down Chase Rosenberg: Regardless of what the stats say, Middlebury has been one of the best run defenses in the NESCAC this year. The Panthers limited Colby, Amherst and Trinity, three of the top five rushing teams in the NESCAC to 108 yards below their combined season averages. However, they’ve struggled at times to limit opposing quarterbacks through the air, as Sonny Puzzo, Adam Marske and Maz Lippe—not exactly a who’s who of NESCAC quarterbacks—have all had fine afternoons against Middlebury. So while James Stannell is easily the Continentals’ most dangerous offensive weapon, Middlebury cannot overlook Rosenberg.

3) Pressure the quarterback and force turnovers: As well as this Middlebury defense has played, it has not forced many turnovers this season. In fact, the Panthers are dead last in the conference, having forced just 8 takeaways this year. Up front they’ve done a better job pressuring the quarterback, thanks in large part to the emergence of sophomore outside linebacker/defensive end Jake Clapp. It also appears that defensive coordinator Doug Mandigo has also employed more blitzes in 2013, often blitzing Matt Crimmins and Zach Faber off the edge. Particularly against Hamilton this weeek, and Tufts next week, the Middlebury front needs to get home and force errant passes. And on the back end, the secondary and linebackers dropping into coverage need to be more opportunistic.

4) Don’t let Hamilton hang around: The Middlebury offense has done a tremendous job on opening drives so far this season, scoring points on five of its six first possessions, including three touchdowns. From there, however, the Panthers have often stalled offensively as they have scored just 14-first quarter points this season on non-opening drives. Furthermore, the second quarter has been the only one in which Middlebury has been outscored by its opponents (50-35).

The Final Word(s): Middlebury 42 – Hamilton 10

Ultimately, Middlebury has yet to play a complete game so far this season, and too often has allowed less talented teams to play with them for long stretches of games. Coming off a program-defining win a week ago, Middlebury cannot revert to inconsistent play offensively and bend-but-don’t break play defensively. The Panthers have yet to truly dominate a team on both sides of the football, but there is every reason that should be the case today.

We will be broadcasting the game on WRMC 91.1, which can be accessed online here.

This post was written by lead writers Joe MacDonald and Adam Lamont.

Middlebury quarterback McCallum Foote’s Assault on the Record Books:

Last week Middlebury Foote broke former Middlebury quarterback Donnie McKillop’s short-lived NESCAC record of 62 career touchdown passes, which McKillop set in 2011 as Foote’s predecessor.

Foote has a long way to go if he is going to break McKillop’s single-season NESCAC record of 2967 yards of total offense in one season. Last year Foote racked up 2928 total yards, and with two games to go this season he has 2064 total yards. It may seem like too much to ask for 450+ total yards in the next two games from Foote, but in what will be his final action as a collegiate quarterback, Foote still has a shot. The Panthers match up with Hamilton and Tufts in their final two games, two squads with a grand total of zero wins on the season.

Hamilton’s pass defense ranks third in the league at 181.8 yards allowed per game, but they have faced some run-heavy attacks, have been behind early, making the pass unnecessary, and have yielded a nearly 62 percent completion rate.

Tufts, meanwhile, has been dissected, conceding a 60 percent completion rate to opposing quarterbacks, and two weeks ago was raided for 342 yards and 2 touchdowns by Williams quarterback Adam Marske.

Can Foote throw for 450 yards a game? Absolutely. He did it last year against Hamilton, tossing the rock for 456 on the road. This year he will be at home, still clinging to an outside shot at a shared NESCAC title, and the weather doesn’t look bad for Foote and his receivers. Temperatures should sit around 50 (practically tropical for November in Vermont) and if there is a light rain it likely won’t start until the 4th quarter or after the game has concluded.

Foote also threw for 459 this year in the loss at Amherst, three short of Donnie McKillop’s single-game Middlebury record set in 2008.

As for Tufts, Foote racked up a cool 389 passing yards in last year’s battle with the Jumbos.

With a repeat of last year’s aerial assault on Hamilton and a few scrambles to net a couple yards, Foote could find himself holding yet another record by season’s end.