The eighth ranked Hobart College Statesmen (5-0, 2-0) will face their first real test of the 2014 season when they line up against the Springfield College Pride. The Pride (4-1, 2-0) lead the Liberty League in scoring offense (45.4 PPG), total offense (505 YPG), rushing (417.2 YPG), and first downs (23.2 PG). The speed and quickness of their triple option offense is explosive and although focused on the run, is able to pull up and go deep when you least expect it. The Pride are coming off a 42-35 shootout win over Union College (0-4, 0-2) and are in the midst of a four game winning streak. Last season Hobart beat Springfield 49-21 in a game that didn’t even feel that close. This year’s Pride team is improved and more importantly, much healthier, team than the squad the Statesmen saw in Springfield, MA last season. Hobart and Springfield have only met twice and the 2012 game was a 28-7 Statesmen win.
Scouting the Pride:
#2 SR QB Jonathan Marrero – The key to Springfield’s offense is the play of their QB. Marrero has really blossomed after combating injuries in his JR season to be a true leader of the Pride offense and football team. Marrero leads the LL in rushing and scoring, averaging 108.6 YPG and racking up 54 points (eight rush TDs, six passing TDs and four 2 point PAT conversions). While he’s only attempted 34 passes on the year, Marrero has completed almost half of them (16 of 34 or 47.1%), averaging 79.6 YPG and has only thrown one interception in five games.
#6 JR FB Keith Rodman – The triple option is all about the FB and Rodman is a good one. He’s rushed for 427 yards and six TDs on the season.
#35 FY FB Stephen Speidel – Spelling Rodman is the stocky but speedy Speidel. The FY has 344 rushing yards and five scores.
#13 SO HB Blake Joppy - Joppy has moved up the depth chart due to injuries to #42 JR Louis Fenaroli and #4 SR Franco Bianchi. He’s rushed for 215 yards and a TD. Joppy has also caught four passes for 114 yards and two TDs.
#1 GR HB Andres Martin - While Martin is listed as HB, his contributions have primarily come as a WR. Martin has five catches for 209 yards and three TDs. One of those scores was a 77 yarder against Union where he got behind his defender and ran in otherwise untouched.
#49 SR DE / OLB Max Nacewicz – An All American level player, Nacewicz missed all of 2013 due to injury. He’s back with a vengeance this season and leads the Pride with 55 total tackles, seven sacks and 10 TFL.
#41 SR LB Danny Macalena – Macalena has 42 tackles on the season, one sack and a tackle for loss. Although he’s only 5’10”, he blocked two PATs that gave Springfield one point victories over Saint Lawrence and Norwich last season.
#8 SO LB Kenny Calaj – Calaj has 28 stops on the season, five TFL and is tied for the team lead with three interceptions (#22 SO FS Nick Welsh has three INTs as well).
#53 JR LB/PK Nick Pydeski – The Pride have not attempted any FGs so far this season so it’s hard to gauge Pydeski other than he’s hit 21 of 25 on PATs (which is pretty good for 6’3” 245lb LB if you ask me!). Otherwise Springfield’s kickoff coverage has been a bit low at 30.8 net average. Duncan Preston was listed in the Union BX as the kickoff specialist but for some reason he’s not on the Pride’s roster (on their online one anyway). Based on a quick review of the Union game, it looks like Preston has a strong leg, booting several 50+ yard kickoffs.
#84 FR QB Whitton DeVaux – serves as the punter for the Pride, averaging 35.3 YPP with a long of 45.
Keys to the Game:
1. Win the Line of Scrimmage – This game will be decided in the trenches. Hobart’s rushing defense is tops in the LL allowing a paltry 77.8 YPG and at least half of that average is due to the second string. The pressure will be on SO DE James Hedger who Springfield Coach Delong is likely to test early and often in the game. The Hobart DL will need to stay in their gap assignments while aggressively moving to the ball in order to shut down the potent Pride offense.
2. Pass Protection - The Hobart OL will likely see another stacked box similar to the scheme WPI used in last Saturday’s game. Hobart has only allowed four sacks all season and SR QB Patrick Conlan has been intercepted only once, and not since the first game of the season. The Pride has eight INTs on the season so far and 13 sacks. The OL will need to key in on Nacewicz and give Conlan time to find receivers. Springfield has allowed 201.6 YPG passing and a league high 12 passing TDs. Given Conlan’s career game vs. WPI, the Statesmen may need a similar performance (or better) against Springfield Saturday.
3. Field Position / Turnovers – Given the Pride’s recent struggles in kick coverage (although Preston acquitted himself very well vs Union), Hobart could have a field position advantage. Hobart is second in the LL averaging 33:20 in time of possession and keeping the Pride offense off the field is really their best defense. Tackling with intent to strip the football is also something the Statesmen should exploit as Springfield rushers have lost seven of 11 fumbles this season.
4. Play Smart – Springfield has been flagged for 230 yards in penalties the last two games. Field position and creating longer yardage situations for a rush oriented team will cause some issues for the Pride from a play calling perspective, so the Statesmen should look to take advantage of the same.
Prediction:
On Sunday’s ITH I picked Hobart to win 28-21. While I am not changing the initial prediction, after looking at the defensive stats, I have a feeling this game may end up like the 2012 meeting. In that game Hobart took a 14-0 lead into halftime, then saw the Pride make it 14-7 before the Statesmen pulled away and won the game in the fourth quarter. Hobart held the Pride to 150 rushing yards, forced a fumble and took advantage of TOP by a 32:36 to 27:24 margin. That said I’ll go with a revised 31-14 score.
Either way this should be an excellent test for Hobart right before they go into the bye week. While I doubt it would quiet the "scheduling" critics for long, a win over a great team like Springfield would say a lot about where the Statesmen are headed in 2014. I know I’ll be tuning in to hear about it plays out. Thanks for reading and go ‘Bart.
No comments:
Post a Comment