The Saint Lawrence University Saints will come marching into Geneva Saturday to take on the seventh ranked Hobart College Statesmen on Senior Day. The Saints have made an incredible turnaround from last season’s 0-10 record with a 6-2 overall and 4-1 mark in the Liberty League (LL) in 2013. Saint Lawrence’s improvement has made this game a “LL Championship, Part One” and should be a physical one based on the Saints line play and pass rush.
Last season Hobart struggled to dispatch the Saints until pulling away in the second half thanks to a nearly perfect passing day from QB Nick Strang ’13 (who went 15 of 18 for 233 yards, including three passing TDs and one INT). The Statesmen ultimately won the game 34-14, but it was 7-7 at the half.
This season the difference for the Saints has been their offensive and defensive line play. Saint Lawrence has sacked opposing QB’s 24 times for -154 yards while only allowing one sack for -5 on the season. Another huge improvement by SLU has been in turnover margin. In 2012 they finished seventh in the LL with a -7 mark. This year they lead the LL with an impressive +17. The Saints ball hawk defense has picked off opposing QBs 14 times and their tough LB and DL have caused 13 fumbles!
JR QB Mike Lefflbine has had a great season for Saint Lawrence, throwing for 1,062 yards and nine TDs until he was hobbled by an injury in the Springfield game. If he’s unable to go, SR QB Zane Fish is the likely starter. Fish has thrown for 391 yards, and is coming off a career best four TD pass game against WPI where he led the Saints to a 32-18 victory.
The small (5’5”) but speedy SO RB Maurice Irby leads the Saint Lawrence rushing attack. Irby has 548 yards on 139 carries this season (68.5 YPG) and has scored five rushing TDs. FY RB Mitch Gallagher is the thunder (6’2” 225) to Irby’s lightning. Gallagher doesn't carry the ball much (only three rushes for eight yards), but he’s a strong blocker and has good hands, especially near the goal line (10 catches for 62 yards and three TDs).
The Saints are really a passing team however, and they’ll test the Statesmen secondary with their four receiver sets. SR WR Mike Tateosian leads the Saints with 573 receiving yards and seven TDs. Tateosian’s 71.6 YPG average leads the LL and he’s second in the LL with 5.4 receptions per game. His seven receiving TDs are also a league best. Other Saint Lawrence receiving threats include JR WR Colby Johnson (374 yards, two TDs), big (6’3” 220) JR TE Maxwell Johnson (212 yards, two TDs) and SR WR Evan Shifley (122 yards and one score).
Saint Lawrence’s defense is led by FY LB Alec Dietsch with 68 total tackles and three INTs. FY DB James Holley-Grisham has added 56 tackles and three INTs as well. SR OLB Obi Nwaigwe (pronounced “Weg-way”) has been an absolute force, racking up 56 total tackles, but more importantly, a LL best 10.5 sacks and 22.5 TFL. SR LB’s Andrew Cox and Shane “the Hitman” Hart have tallied 47 and 38 tackles, respectively.
Keys to the Game:
1. Gone Fishing – The Saints are coming to the Lake Trout Capital of the World, and it’ll be important for Hobart’s defensive line to pressure Zane Fish and lock down Saint Lawrence’s talented receiving corp. The Statesmen haven’t really played many true drop back passing teams this season, and with the Saints averaging nearly 200 YPG passing, Hobart’s secondary will be under fire if the DL can’t get to the QB.
2. Third and long – While the Saints offense is improved, they have had some trouble converting on third down. Saint Lawrence has a somewhat mediocre 35.4% third down conversion rate this season. Hobart leads the LL with a 31.3% rate in holding the opposition on third down.
3. Run to the Record – SR RB Steven Webb will likely break the Hobart rushing / total TD marks early in the game. He’s been nothing but sensational in his career as a Statesmen and it’ll be extra special for him to earn that mark at home, in his final regular season game. If they have an Achilles heel, the Saints rushing defense may be it. Saint Lawrence allows 186.1 YPG to opponents, while Hobart averages 261.8 YPG on offense.
Prediction:
While the Statesmen have owned the series against the Saints for quite some time winning every contest against Saint Lawrence since 1992, save for the unfortunate 2010 four turnover edition. This year the Saints won’t be easily defeated, but I also don’t see the Statesmen being denied on Senior Day. I’ll take Hobart to more than double up Saint Lawrence’s average points allowed mark (15.88 PPG) and win this one by the score of 37-14.
Thanks for reading (the blog went over 50K hits last night) and go 'Bart!
No comments:
Post a Comment