The #15 Hobart Statesmen will open up their 116th football season against the Dickinson College Red Devils. This is the 18th consecutive season the Statesmen will face the Red Devils in their season opener. Hobart is 8-9-1 all-time against Dickinson but has won the last three of four against their Centennial Conference rivals from Carlisle, PA. Last season Hobart defeated Dickinson 28-21 in Geneva. The Statesmen lead 14-0 at the half but had to rally down 14-21 to win the game in the final four minutes.
Dickinson returns virtually their entire offense (10 starters) from what was one of the most prolific units in 2008 (ranked 28th in DIII in total offense) and returns four players who were either first- or second-team All Conference including SR WR Pat O'Connor and SR OL Anthony Abbate on the first team and SR QB Ian Mitchell and JR RB Greg Lord on the second team. The Red Devils return only four defensive starters (SR S Mike Maxwell and SR DB Matt DeStefano along with JR LBs Kevin Wood and Cole Glennon) from a team that held Hobart to 97 rushing yards last season.
Dickinson (1-0) opened their 2009 season with a non-conference 52-47 victory over the Grove City College Wolverines (PA). The Red Devils needed every bit of the 504 yards they gained on offense to defeat the determined Wolverines (0-1). Dickinson was lead by an impressive performance by QB Ian Mitchell who accounted for 437 yards (21 for 27 passing for 288 yards with two interceptions/149 yards rushing on 14 carries) and four touchdowns. Grove City were no slouches on offense either, racking up 449 yards behind the arm (32 for 41 passing for 291 yards, one interception and three touchdowns) and legs (22 carries for 109 yards and one touchdown) of QB Andrew DiDonato. In the end, it was two big plays by Mitchell – a 39 yard pass to JR TE Austen Steele to make it 45-41 with 6:08 to play in the game, followed by a 45 yard touchdown run with 2:05 remaining to seal the victory for Dickinson.
Keys to the game:
1. Improve tackling at the point of attack – Last season the Red Devils’ multiple option offense racked up 229 rushing yards on 51 attempts (a 4.5 yards per carry average) against the Statesmen defense. RB Greg Lord was the leading rusher that day with 106 yards (5.6 average yards per carry) and two touchdowns. Although Lord was the leading rusher last season, look for him to split carries with JR RB Tim Smith this season. I also expect the Red Devils to test Hobart’s interior defense given the graduation of Sanders, Aruck and Hager. Although the Statesmen’s losses due to graduation on the interior defense may be perceived as this season’s potential Achilles heel; Hobart fans will likely recall that Dickinson’s bread and butter in the 2008 game were off-tackle plays that exploited the Statesmen’s early season tendency to over-pursue (as well as their somewhat undersized DEs and OLBs). Although both Dickinson LT Abbate and SO RT Andrew Hubley are not exceptionally big (both are 6’ 3” and 240 LBs), they are quick and able blockers. Red Devil SR FB Tim Wells (210 lbs) is also a key component to attacking opposing defenses to spring Mitchell, Lord and/or Smith for long runs.
2. Capitalize on turnovers – Although Mitchell is an offensive force, he is also prone to throw interceptions. In fact he had two last Saturday against Grove City and was also picked twice (once by Boyington and once by Woodard) during last season's Hobart-Dickinson game. Look for the Statesmen D to keep the pressure on Mitchell and trust their experienced secondary to lock up the Dickinson receivers in man coverage. Although there is a risk given Pat O’Connor’s talent, I believe Hobart has enough depth and speed in the secondary to limit him somewhat.
3. Control the clock – In the 2008 game, Hobart rode the time of possession battle (18:51-11:09) to a 14-0 lead in the first half before Dickinson took over in the second half (19:26 to 10:34). This year look for JR RB Andrew Marlier to improve on last season’s 52.1 yards per game average and play a bigger role in handling the bulk of the carries (moving the chains and the clock) against the Dickinson defense.
4. Go to the air - The Red Devils gave up 158 yards rushing to the Wolverines last Saturday, but more importantly showed they were susceptible to the pass allowing 291 yards. Given the Statesmen’s deep receiving corp of Tyler Vincent, Zach Schultz and Matt Duliba (who accounted for 197 of Hobart’s 234 passing yards and two receiving TDs against Dickinson last season), look for Hobart to ease their new QB with its pro-set, west-coast offense style of short yardage completions to move the chains.
Prediction:
I believe Hobart’s defense will be the deciding factor in this game. Mitchell et al will get their yards, but ultimately the final score will depend on how effective the Statesmen are at coming up with key stops (and/or turnovers). That said although Hobart needs to avoid a getting into a shoot-out with this Dickinson squad, I’ll predict this will likely be a high scoring game with Hobart hanging on to win 31-28 in Carlisle.
For more info on the Statesmen, please check out the official Hobart Football season preview here:
http://www.hwsathletics.com/news/2009/9/7/HFB_0907093346.aspx
Go Bart!
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