Midseason Review

The eighth ranked Hobart College Statesmen have reached what’s effectively the midpoint of the season with an undefeated 6-0 overall and 3-0 Liberty League record. The Statesmen are averaging 35.2 PPG and 399.7 YPG on offense while surrendering only 13.3 PPG and 242.2 YPG on defense. All of these marks rank second in the LL, but I’d venture a guess Hobart would be first if they kept starters in later in the second half.

Although D3football.com views the Statesmen as having “floated high” (meaning they may not merit their high ranking given who they’ve beaten, a group of teams that are 12-18 overall), I think this team is showing a lot of potential to reclaim the LL crown and make a run in the playoffs. Time will tell, but the first half of the schedule has provided this young team a chance to gel.

SR QB Patrick Conlan is completing over 60% of his passes in LL play and has averaged 155.7 YPG with the second highest efficiency rating in the conference. He’s connected for five TDs and only one interception over the past three games. The OL has allowed only four sacks on the season and has helped pave the way for the Statesmen’s 227.2 rushing YPG and 19 TDs. The passing game has picked up and allowed Hobart to have a more balanced attack, a roughly 57-43 running to passing ratio (especially compared to last season’s 70-30 mark).

Leading the ground game is JR RB Conner Hartigan with 382 yards and five TDs. SR FB Dominique Ellis leads the team in rushing scores with six TDs. JR RB Alex Furtado has added another dimension to the run game, while adding 252 yards and four TDs.

SR WR Elvin Souffrant leads the receiving corps with 18 catches for 310 yards and two TDs. SR TE Mike Berkowitz leads the team in receiving scores with three.

Hobart’s offense overall has been very good and has scored on 22 of 23 (95.6%) red zone trips. The only time they failed to score was when SO PK Sean Kirshe missed a 39 yard FG at Endicott (4-2). Otherwise Kirshe has been fantastic, going three of four on FGs with a long of 39, averaging nearly 60 yards on kickoffs and converting 26 of 29 PATs (89.6%).

Defensively JR LB Trayvon Toney leads the Statesmen with 42 tackles. Classmates Jacob Stanley and Marcus Jemison have tallied 36 and 33 stops a piece. The young Hobart secondary has yet to be really tested but several players, including SO DB Todd Collier and SO FS Matt Cragg have played well in their first season as starters. SR DB Fajri Jackson has broken up a team high five passes.

Hobart will face off against their traditional LL rivals on the remainder of the schedule, starting at RPI (4-2, 2-1) next Saturday, October 25th. Next week we’ll preview that game among other news.

Thanks for reading and go ‘Bart!