With 14 starters returning from last season's 7-4 and ECAC Bowl winning squad, the Saxons have garnered some preseason Top 25 attention, landing at 17th in Street & Smith's poll and receiving votes in the D3football.com poll (effectively ranking them at 32nd in the nation based on vote totals).
Alfred and Hobart have a long history, initially facing off all the way back in 1899. The series has been a close one over the years, with Hobart having a slight 39-35-4 edge. In spite of their relative geographical proximity, the last time the Statesmen faced the Saxons in the regular season goes back to 2007, a 41-22 win for Hobart over then #11 Alfred. While that game didn't crack my best 20 HFB games of the last 20 years, in retrospect, it probably should have.
While this match-up won't count in the record books, it's a great opportunity for the Statesmen to help them make final decisions on a few critical positions prior to Week 1's game against #13 Brockport.
Things To Look For:
The Alfred DL vs. the Hobart OL - The Saxons run a 4-3-4 defensive scheme and although they are undersized (averaging about 5' 9-10" and 225 lbs) on the DL, Alfred has some talented players that generate pressure up front. SR DE Leo Pamphile (9) is a stocky, bull pass rusher who the Statesmen OTs could potentially struggle against. JR NG Matt Eldridge and SO DE Rodney Bailey also return. This front enabled the Saxons MLB Cole Reed '19 to rack up 130 tackles last season. Reed has graduated, but returns as the Saxons LB coach. Given most the Saxons LB corps are back, including SR OLB and captain Nick Milgate, who finished second on the team to Reed with 96 total tackles, I expect the Hobart offense to try and spread things out to try to create mismatches. The Hobart TEs will likely be called upon to help chip / pass block the Alfred DEs as well.
The Saxons QB/WRs vs. the Statesmen DBs - A big reason for optimism for Alfred this season is the return of SR QB Ben Burk (19). He passed for over 1,500 yards and 12 TDs in 2018 and his backup, SR QB Casey Boston (12) is no slouch either. With the departure / transfer of Saxons leading rusher RB Nas Smith to Central Connecticut State (a FCS / NEC school), I wouldn't be surprised to see the Alfred air it out a bit more this season, especially given a solid WR corps including SO WR Robert Smith (89 - over 300 receiving yards and four TDs last season), JR WR Keandre Sanders (87 - missed four games due to injury, but added two receiving TDs in 2018) and JR RB Kevin Bragaglia (6 - more of a slot back in 2018, but he could be auditioning for Smith's vacated role this season).
The Hobart DL vs. 21-personnel - Offensively, the Saxons like to run out of this formation - 2 WRs, 1 TE, 2 RBs - at least based on last year's box scores - so it'll be interesting to see how the Statesmen defense will stack the box given their primarily 3-man DL. Like Brockport, the Saxons will use a FB as a lead blocker (62 - 5'11" 241 lbs. SO "RB" Gary Peterkin and 49 - SR FB James Lucadamo are potential candidates) which is another benefit of this scrimmage from a Week 1 game prep perspective. Alfred has an experienced SR TE in (96) E.J Staniszewski who I'm sure will primarily be used as a blocker with an occasional, if not rare, pass play coming his way. Stanizewski earned second team all-conference awards last season, adding three receptions and one TD. While I imagine we'll see some even front looks by Hobart - likely with packages that include a second DE or an OLB on the LOS, this will be good practice for the Statesmen defense given I believe Brockport will primarily operate out of the 20 formation (add a WR, no TE) for a good amount of Week 1's game (more on that later) based on their new QB situation.
Get Away from Greer - JR SS Raegwon Greer (#5) is Alfred's most decorated returning defender, at least based on the fact he earned D3football.com First-Team All-American honors earlier this month.The Saxons were a ball-hawking defense last season, finishing with 23 INTs which ranked third nationally, so the Hobart QBs will need to go through their progressions and not misfire on their pass attempts.
Safe travels to those heading up to Alfred for the game. I will provide some reactions and thoughts based on those first-hand accounts later this week.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
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