Preseason Preview

Are you ready for some football?!?!

You better be, because this season marks the first time that the Statesmen are comin’ atcha as one of the top 15 programs (ranked #15 by D3football.com, #16 by USA Today and #17 by the Sporting News out of 238 teams) in the nation!

Hobart will look to defend their Liberty League (LL) title facing a tough slate of opponents, including out of conference foes Dickinson and Carnegie Mellon, and renewing LL rivalries with RPI, Union and Rochester.

Hobart ended the 2008 campaign with a 9-2 mark (the Statesmen also had 9 win seasons in 2000, 2004 and 2005), earning its sixth NCAA play-off berth in eight seasons and advancing to the second round before falling to the 2008 National Champion, Mount Union College (15-0), 42-7 in Alliance, OH.

Although the Statesmen graduated several stand-outs from last year’s squad (especially on the defensive side of the ball; notably: ILB Justin Hager, ILB Jeff Sanders, DT Ryan Aruck and FS Lance Boyington) Hobart welcomes back a veteran squad (seven returning starters on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball) in 2009.

Although there are a few key holes to fill on defense (pun intended), the big question going into this season is who will lead the offense for ’09 Statesmen at QB? For the third time in three seasons, Hobart will have a new starting QB. So far the leading candidates are:

#8 SO QB Doug Vella – Vella came off the bench to fill in for Doyle (shoulder) and sparked Hobart to a 20-17 last second victory over the then 17th ranked RPI Engineers. Vella completed 7 of 12 passes for 82 yards and one touchdown and also ran for 43 yards on eight carries in the game. Vella earned the LL co-Rookie of Week award for his efforts. The following week Vella started but struggled in the rain and mud at Boswell field against a tough Rochester team in Hobart’s regular season finale. He went 2 for 7 passing for only 4 yards and one interception before being benched in favor of Doyle.

#6 JR QB Preston Earl – A transfer from Illinois State (DI-AA now FCS Div I), the 6’2”, 215 lbs QB was primary a special teams player at ISU. That said, he did win an 8A IL State Championship and is the son of former NFL player Robin Earl (Chicago).

#12 FY QB Nick Strang – Not a lot of info on this kid but at 6’ 4”, 225 lbs this FY has received some hype given his size and his winning the MVP award as a SR at the NY Section I North-South All-Star game.

I'll cover other key returning lettermen/starters for Hobart later this week.