The Hobart College Statesmen will make their final road trip to Worcester this weekend to take on the WPI Engineers. WPI (5-2, 2-2) defeated RPI (4-4, 2-3), 19-7, last Saturday and still is somewhat in control of its own destiny in the final weeks of the regular season. The Engineers will depart the LL after this year and are hoping to go out with a win as they have never defeated the Statesmen, going 0-12, since joining the league as an associate member for football back in 2004. Last year Hobart beat WPI by a score of 37-7 in Geneva.
Hobart (6-1, 3-1) needs to beat WPI in order to set up what would be the de facto LL Championship game against #16 Saint Lawrence (7-0, 4-0) in Canton, NY on November 5th. The Saints will host Union (2-5, 1-3) in the only other league game Saturday. First things first, however, as the Statesmen can't overlook a senior-laden Engineers squad that has a balanced offense, tough defense and a solid special teams unit.
One of the key differences between WPI and Hobart's more recent opponents is that the Engineers are one of the only true passing teams Hobart has faced since Week 1. The Engineers #9 SR QB Dan Eckler leads the LL in passing efficiency (163.5) with a 60.5 completion percentage. He's thrown for 1,524 yards, 15 TDs and eight INTs. #76 SR OL Chad DellaPorta leads the OL and he appeared on last weekend's In the HuddLLe podcast. You can hear that show here.
Although WPI did graduate one of their best rushers in program history, two FY RBs have filled in and performed well this season. #7 FY RB Connor Field and #4 FY RB Sean McAllen (a couple of CT kids like me) have gained 219 and 601 yards rushing, respectively, to go with a total of five TDs. #89 SR WR Brandon Eccher is Eckler's best friend and favorite target. Eccher is currently third in the LL with 509 receiving yards to go with seven TDs. Eccher also doubles as the Engineers punt return specialist. He's done well there, gaining 10.5 yards on average and even scored a TD on a 78 yard return in a 21-14 win over Union. Overall the Engineers are second in scoring, averaging 32.1 PPG and boast the third best passing offense (233.1 YPG) in the LL. Although they are ranked sixth in rushing, that is more based on their balanced play-calling (and the lopsided stats teams like USMMA, Springfield, Union and RPI have had) than anything to be concerned about. WPI averages a respectable 155.4 YPG and has scored 10 rushing TDs.
Defensively the Engineers are led by #35 SR LB Brian Murtagh. He leads the LL with 92 total tackles, 58 of which were solo stops. #50 SO LB Sam Malafronte is also having a good year, tallying 51 tackles. The WPI defense has allowed 21.7 PPG (ranked fifth) and is ranked sixth against the run (188.1 YPG and 10 TDs allowed) and third against the pass (130.9 YPG and eight TDs allowed). The Engineers D has eight INTs and caused two safeties on the season as well.
#2 SR PK Blaine Bursey is one of the better kickers in the LL, averaging 45 yards (net) on kickoffs and going eight for 10 in FGs (with a long of 37). While he has struggled a bit in PATs, converting 24 of 27, he has performed better than any of the Hobart PKs. Where the Statesmen have a decided edge is in punting. JR PK Rio Schmidt leads the LL with a 40 net average. WPI's #93 SR PK Vinny Tavernelli is next to last in the league with a 29.2 net average.
Keys to the Game:
1. Strength vs. Strength - The Engineers will test Hobart's top rated passing defense which is ranked first in the LL and in the nation, having allowed only 107 YPG. To be fair the Statesmen have faced mostly run-oriented offenses (e.g., Springfield only attempted two passes and didn't complete either last weekend), so it's hard to say whether or not the secondary is that strong. Still, Hobart did a nice job holding Brockport (5-2) to 152 passing yards in Week 1 (they average 217.7 YPG now). Eckler is a good QB, and given the relatively fair conditions Saturday, you can expect Eckler to attempt around 22+ passes based on his season average. The only area Eckler has struggled is he averages one interception per game, so it would be good if the Hobart defense can make a play and help the offense on one (or more) Saturday. JR QB Shane Sweeney struggled going 12 for 25 in the wind and rain against Springfield but a cool and dry fall day should open up the passing game for Hobart. WPI's passing defense is no slouch, so the Statesmen will have to look for match ups and not have as many drops as last week.
2. Next Man Up - Hobart has seen a number of starters on offense (OL, RB & WR) lost to injury, but depth and experience has helped them stay on track. SR RB Brad Burns had a good day running and catching the ball against Springfield and should have more attempts against WPI's 3-4 front. SO WR Joe Barrocas didn't have a catch in his first collegiate start but was targeted twice. SO WR Jake Henzes also got a look on offense and could make some plays with WPI focusing in on JR WR Brandon Shed and SR WR Jack Pfohl. FY RB Brian Haeffner spelled Burns a couple of times and did a nice job gaining 50 yards on kick returns.
3. Comeback / Cardiac Kids - Ted Baker, the voice of the Statesmen on WEOS, pointed out on social media recently that Hobart has trailed in every game they've played this season. The Statesmen have trailed and taken back the lead five times in the fourth quarter which is pretty incredible. WPI has had games where they've gone on 17-20 point runs so the Hobart defense needs to avoid getting put back on its heels and hope the offense will bail them out. Conversely, the Engineers have been susceptible to giving up similar 17-20+ point runs defensively so maybe this could be a rare instance (for so far this season anyway) of Hobart getting a lead and maintaining it instead of having to come back to win for a change?
Prediction:
Although the Statesmen have rarely struggled to defeat WPI (average margin of victory in the all-time series is 21.5 PPG), Hobart can't afford to overlook the Engineers. I predicted a Hobart 21-17 victory on ITH and while I think there's a chance the Statesmen could win by more, I don't want to take anything for granted. I also have a feeling this game may end up as more of a defensive battle than track meet, but the latter wouldn't surprise me either.
We'll know for sure soon.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
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