“Carnegie Mellon is a totally different bear that we’ve got to go after, but we’re a little better than I thought we were, which I feel very good about.” — Hobart head coach Mike Cragg (“Hobart’s dandy debut,” Greg McNall, Finger Lakes Times, 9-13-10)
The Hobart Statesmen (1-0) will embark their longest road trip of the season to Pittsburgh, PA to face the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans (1-1) of the University Athletic Association (UAA). The Statesmen have won all three games dating back to the series opener in 2007, but all have been very competitive games usually decided by a touchdown or less. CMU opened their season with a victory over Grove City College (1-1) but lost last weekend 34-27 against Allegheny College (2-0).
Last season Hobart defeated the Tartans by a score of 24-16 at the “Boz”. The Statesmen produced 321 yards of offense in the game, including 216 yards passing from Doug Vella (16-of-26 with two TDs). Hobart RB Andrew Marlier '10 ran a kickoff 85 yards for a TD for the first kickoff return by a Statesman since Sept. 30, 2000, when Dyshaun Washington ’04 ran back the opening kickoff against St. Lawrence a school record 97 yards. The game was back and forth with Hobart hanging onto a one point lead (thanks in part to a blocked PAT by the Statesmen after CMU scored with 11:21 to play) in the fourth quarter until a short Vella to WR Paul Overdorf '10 TD pass put the Statesmen up 24-16 with 7:36 to play in the game.
This season the Tartans return 14 starters (six offensive and eight defensive) from last season’s (5-5, 1-2) squad. On offense CMU is lead by All-UAA SR FB Justin Pratt and All-UAA JR RB back Chris Garcia. This tandem of backs accounted for 1,200 of the Tartans’ 1,769 rushing yards in 2009. Pratt finished the 2009 campaign with a team-leading 11 rushing TDs while Garcia found the end zone three times on the ground and three TD receptions. Garcia was the team’s second-leading receiver with 18 receptions for 268 yards.
The 2010 Tartan defense includes three players who made the All-UAA Team – SR LB Mike Shedlosky (currently leads CMU in tackles with 32 over the past two games) SR DLs Jason Stearns and David O’Connor. Shedlosky led the Tartans with 68 tackles and Sterns and O’Connor combined for five of the Tartans’ 13 sacks in 2009.
Also returning for CMU is SR All-UAA punter Richard Pattison and All-UAA return specialist Dan Miller. For the second straight season, Pattison is coming off a standout performance after ranking nationally all season in punt average. He ended the season with an average of 40.5 yards per punt on 48 punts, ranking fifth in the nation. He placed 15 punts inside the opponents’ 20-yard line and had nine punts of 50 yards or more with a career-long of 68 yards at Kenyon. Miller had a season-long return of 26 yards last season against Ohio Wesleyan.
Keys to the Game:
1. Make CMU one dimensional on offense – The Tartans lost their prior QB starter, Phil Pantalone, to graduation last spring so they have a FY QB to run their Wing-T offense in 2010. For those not familiar with the “Wing,” it is a system predicated on forcing the opposing defense into multiple adjustments throughout the game due to the varying position of the wingback. The wingback can be any player in this four back running system and this formation forces the secondary to play at least three deep, due to the possibility of three deep receiving threats. FY QB Rob Kalkstein has been fairly effective and efficient (15 of 25) in his first two starts throwing for 274 yards and three TDs. He appears to be somewhat mobile having called his own number 16 times this season but only gaining 43 (net) yards. If the Statesmen can take away the pass, they will be able to be more aggressive at the point of attack like they were in the Dickinson game and force three and outs. RBs Chris Garcia and Justin Pratt have only averaged ~47 and 24 yards per game so far this season, so neither appears to be a big run threat.
2. Win the field position battle – With a punter like Pattison, Hobart needs to watch having getting pinned back in their own side of the field which leads to:
3. Attack the Tartan defense – The Statesmen should look to challenge a CMU defense that’s allowing an average of 421.5 yards per game (214.5 rushing yards per game and 207 passing yards on average, respectively). Last week Hobart didn’t need much offense given the play of the defense and special teams. Barring plays like blocked punts and kickoff return TDs; however, the Statesmen should look to move the chains and score on each possession, putting more pressure on the young Kalkstein to keep up.
4. Red zone defense – The Tartans are 8 for 8 (100%) in the red zone scoring six TDs and 2 FGs (long of 40). While Dickinson had limited opportunities, last season Hobart ranked 5th in the LL in this category allowing 13 scores (10 TDs, 3 FGs) scores on 18 attempts (72.9%) so they could certainly afford to improve on that statistic in 2010.
Prediction:
Given the fact the average scores between these teams have been 24-19 the past three seasons, I went out on a limb last Sunday night when I predicted a 21-7 Hobart win. That said I am confident the Statesmen are a much better squad than last season and CMU was picked to finish last in the UAA this year - perhaps given the losses at QB and other key positions on offense. This confidence is bolstered by the apparent struggles the Tartans are having on defense (e.g., giving up a lot of yards and a points – 27.5 PPG on average) and the emergence of game breaking players such as Statesman FY RB Steven Webb (3 TDs) and OLB Devin Worthington (10 tackles and a punt block).
Hopefully I’ll be right and Hobart will take care of business this Saturday (and not be looking past CMU to the big St John Fisher / Homecoming game the following weekend).
Kickoff for this Saturday’s game is at 12:00 PM ET. Go ‘Bart!
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