The #14 ranked Hobart Statesmen will embark on their first road trip and only night game of the season when they travel roughly 100 miles down the NY State Thruway to face off against the Utica College Pioneers of the Empire 8 Conference. Utica (2-0) has mowed down St. Lawrence and Union College already and is looking to complete a sweep of the Liberty League (LL) in their out of conference schedule by scoring a big upset. Although both schools are relatively close in distance, this is the first time Hobart (2-0) has faced the Pioneers on the gridiron.
Utica has been a .500 program for the past two seasons but is poised for a breakthrough season given the steady improvement of SR QB Andrew Benkwitt (from Mamaroneck, NY which is also where Statesmen FY QB Parker Thelander hails). Benkwitt has started every game of his college career for Utica and this season has lit up the opposition to the tune of 615 passing yards (307.5 YPG average) and eight touchdowns (TDs). Benkwitt has completed 63% of his passes (going 40 for 63) and throwing only one interception so far. For more on Benkwitt check out D3football’s Andrew Lovell’s piece in this week’s “Around the East” column.
Benkwitt has a trio of big and experienced receivers including 6’ 3” SR WR Jeremy Meier (10 catches for 196 yards and two TDs), 6’ 2” SR TE Matt Dunn (eight catches for 138 yards and three TDs) and 6’ SR WR Paul Smith (six catches for 103 yards and one TD). The Pioneers also field a strong, but younger, OL that has only allowed four sacks in their first two games of 2012. Utica is very effective in the red zone scoring on all five trips (by TD) they’ve made this season.
The Pioneers rushing attack is lead by JR RB Jesse Baldassare and SO RB Mike Cottle. Baldassare is a smaller, shifty back that has rushed for 141 yards on 24 carries and one TD. Cottle is a bigger more downfield runner and has gained 112 yards on 16 carries.
Defensively Utica has held opponents to only 12 PPG and has sacked opposing QBs six times for -46 yards. JR LB Joe Giametta leads all Pioneer tacklers with 30 overall including one and a half TFL and one forced fumble. SO FS James Lenahan is the Utica ball hawk in the secondary with two interceptions on the season.
Keys to the game:
1. Stay cool under fire – Although D3 attendance numbers are iffy at best, I would expect a big crowd supporting the home team In Utica on Saturday night. Hobart comes in as the favorites and the Pioneers fans should be out in force. The Statesmen need to keep their cool in the event Benkwitt drives Utica to an early TD (or more) in the beginning of the game. The Hobart defense needs to avoid letting this game turn into a shootout and the Pioneers have scored 62 of their 85 points in the first half this season. If Utica struggles to put points on the board, it would be a first for this season and would give Hobart the advantage by taking the crowd out of the game early.
2. Win the line of scrimmage – This is something that Coach Cragg has emphasized in both the Dickinson and Geneva games and should be a key theme to Hobart’s entire season. The Pioneers run a 4-3 defensive scheme and their front four has some size (averages 249 lbs). I expect Coach DeWall to open things up a bit more in this game and give Pioneers a few different looks. Even with their “struggles”, I was recently reminded this is a Statesmen team that has averaged 30 PPG and over 350 YPG on offense. If this offense plays to their potential, this game could be over by halftime.
3. Something’s got to give – Hobart is allowing a paltry 66 YPG passing on defense. Utica’s averaged over 300 YPG. Hobart will win the game if they can keep Benkwitt pinned back and under pressure. Ironically Geneva’s offense improved once Hayward (more of a drop back passer) was knocked out of the game and Colavecchia took over (more of a scrambler). Benkwitt can scramble and has rushed for 68 yards on 15 carries (5.1 YPR average) and one rushing TD in the first two games. That said I expect this usual pocket passer to be on the run more on Saturday night. The Statesmen ends will need to keep this contained and the secondary will have to stick to their men and not allow any broken plays turn into big gain.
The Statesmen have looked dominant but neither Dickinson nor Geneva is very strong and probably won’t break the .500 mark this season. Utica looks like they will be a tougher out, especially given Hobart’s prior struggles with strong passing teams with mobile QBs (e.g., RPI). Benkwitt may not be the best QB this team will face this season (I am still giving Mike Hermann that honor until proven otherwise), but he’s right up there. The size and variety of receivers could create matchup problems for Hobart’s inexperienced and smaller secondary. That said Hobart has played their first two games in inclement weather and has put the backups in on offense by the third quarter in both games (by comparison Utica has kept their first teams in for the majority of their contests). The forecast for this Saturday is a clear, cool September evening that should be perfect for a football game. I am hoping the conditions will allow the Statesmen to open up the playbook and provide Statesmen fans with more big plays than we’ve seen so far this season.
Although Utica will be very amped up for this contest, Hobart has played in bigger games on a more regular basis. The Pioneers look good in 2012 but their program did give up 113 points against Salisbury and Saint John Fisher (currently ranked number 7 and 9, respectively ahead of Hobart in the latest D3football.com national polls) last season. The Pioneers remind me a little bit of the Statesmen teams of the mid to late 90’s who had some talent but just came up short with regards to getting into the playoffs. Having a player like Benkwitt is a step in the right direction, kind of like how Greg Helmer ’97 changed what kind of QB and system Hobart would recruit/run back then. While I don’t suspect Utica will qualify for the post-season this year, they are getting closer and could get their breakthrough season (like the Statesmen had in 2000) fairly soon.
Prediction:
I will give the Statesmen an edge on defense and special teams which should be enough to help them escape Utica with a win. I also think the offense could awaken and make some big plays in this game. I’ll take the Statesmen in a somewhat close one, 30-21; especially given it’s a road game. Game time is 7 pm Saturday and will be broadcast on WEOS FM (www.weos.org). Thanks for reading and go ‘Bart!
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