Curry Game Preview

The twelfth ranked Hobart College Statesmen will travel to Milton, MA to take on the Curry Colonels of the New England Football Conference (NEFC). Curry (0-2), once a perennial playoff team and NEFC championship contender, has fallen back a bit since their hey days of the prior decade.

Part of Curry's growing pains are due to inexperience. #15 SO QB Sean Conroy for example will be making only his third career start when he lines up against the Statesmen defense Saturday. Conroy has good size (6' 1" 200 lbs) and is likely to attempt over 40 passes in Saturday's game based on his current stats. Conroy has passed for 305 yards and two TDs but has thrown four interceptions.

Look for Curry to spread the field and use a variety of receivers. Leading the Colonels going into this game is #84 SO WR Jake Cawlina with 84 receiving yards and a TD. Curry's run game is not a strength, as shown by the Colonels only gaining 82 rushing yards (that's a total....) and a paltry 1.5 yards per carry. These stats are kind of surprising given the size of #7 SR RB Trae Weathers (6' 230 lbs), but the Revere, MA native only has 55 yards on 17 carries this season.

Defensively Curry is led by #6 SR LB Jose Rodriguez with 15 tackles, including one tackle for loss (TFL). Rodriguez led the Colonels with 55 total tackles last season.

Keys to the Game:
1. Get on the Board Early - Although they've been outscored 50-14 on the season, Curry's defense hasn't given up a TD in the first half this season. In fact, only a FG has been scored on the Colonel's so far. It'll be an uphill climb for Curry if they fall behind early in this one.
2. Collapse the Pocket - Curry is a one dimensional team and if Hobart's DL and DEs get to Conroy, it'll be game over. The young Statesmen secondary will have to play smart and use this game as an opportunity to continue to learn and improve defending the spread. I feel they're overdue for an interception (or more) too. Credit must be given to SO DB Todd Collier for a great game last weekend against Endicott. He "brought the lumber" delivering some hard hits and make big plays from the boundary and was recognized by the Liberty League as the Defensive Player of the Week for his 10 tackle performance.
3. Special Teams - This is nitpicky but there's definitely room for improvement in this department. Hobart pretty much dominated Endicott (0-2) on both sides of the ball in the first half last week, but a couple of special teams errors in the return game kept the Gulls hanging around.
4. Execute - Hobart fans have been a bit spoiled and thus don't see 11 and 10 point wins as "good enough". This game has potential to be a blowout, but the score really isn't as important as seeing the group of new starters get more experience and improve. Selfishly I'd like to see more of an emphasis in a short passing game, utilizing SR TE Mike Berkowitz or the WR corps on 8-9 yard slants or quick outs. That style of three step drop play mixed with straight ahead running (or a bubble screen here and there) by the Ellis-Hartigan-Burns-Furtado (EHBF) crew would improve Conlan's pass completions rate and keep opposing defenses on their heels (which is right when Coach DeWall gets them with a long bomb call ;).

Prediction:

A big Hobart crowd is expected to attend game thanks to former TE and 2011 Team Captain Greg Clifford '12 organizing an Alumni / Family tailgate party. The party aside, there should be a lot to cheer about if you're a Statesmen fan. No disrespect to the Colonels but Curry just doesn't have the depth and experience to compete with Hobart this season.

I'll take Hobart to win 35-7. My ITH co-host Frank Rossi said 42-3 and I wouldn't be surprised by that either. If you missed our interview with SR DE Tyre Coleman, check it out here.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!