Early this morning HC Kevin DeWall '00 tweeted out the fall 2021 HFB schedule, indicating "Some times and details still need to be confirmed. Thank you for your support."
Given I had seen Buffalo State's schedule from about a week ago (and they had Union as their Liberty League opener on 10/2/21), I knew there was going to be some changes to what we were supposed to see in 2020, and I'll detail those below.
Week 1 - The Statesmen will resume their longstanding, local rivalry with Alfred of the Empire 8. This game will be a "Friday Night Lights" one, based on the date, which it was going to be in 2020 as well (also at Alfred, so it appears the OOC games from 2020 kept the H/A sites, the LL didn't). The Saxons played two spring games against Utica, losing the first by committing a number of turnovers and winning the second playing better on defense.
Week 2 - Home opener vs. Morrisville State: The Mustangs have been a steadily improving program under new(er) HC Ed Raby, Jr.. Morrisville State recently named their captains for the 2021 season, a few of which should be familiar to Hobart fans from the exciting 38-24 shootout the Statesmen won back in 2019.
Week 3 - Saint John Fisher has been avoiding the Statesmen for a few years (including 2019, forcing Hobart to track down a game vs. Rowan of the NJAC), as the Cardinals have struggled to win of late, going .500 or lower since the 2017 season. Originally slated to play in the E8 spring round robin, SJFC opted out, so it's hard to get a read on these Cards. Given they'll have played at least a game or two leading up to this matchup, we'll have a better idea on how tough an opponent SJFC will be come September.
Week 4 - Homecoming and Family Weekend vs. Keystone College (PA): The Giants are a first-year program, technically, but they've been practicing to get ready for this season for two years. They were going to be Hobart's Homecoming opponent in 2020, so nothing new here. That said I am really expecting this game to be pretty lopsided and hopefully a lot of younger Statesmen players will get some valuable playing time. We'll have to wait and see.
Week 5 - The LL opener at Ithaca: Can Hobart finally break the Butterfield curse? That will be the topic of conversation leading up to this one. IC is still riding the high of winning Cortaca in Giants Stadium from Nov. 2019. It'll be interesting to see after such a long break what kind of team the Bombers - who I fully expect to be in the hunt for the LL title along with Hobart and Union - will be in October. Regardless, for whatever reason the LL appears to have opted with sticking with their alternating annual schedule vs. having their member teams play the 2020 version. This does change things around for the next four years.
Week 6 - Bye Week: Which I have to say is perfectly placed, right in the middle of the season. If Hobart can get to this point either 5-0 or 4-1, they'll be in great shape to make another postseason run.
Week 7 - The Statesmen will host RPI in LL play. The Engineers have been one of the worse COVID-affected programs (not because of infections, but because the school completely shut down) in the East, as the Engineers basically didn't allow any practices for most of the 20-21 academic year, finally allowing some spring sports. This will put RPI at a major disadvantage and I could see them struggle this fall because of it. It'll be interesting to see what HC Ralph Isernia can do to overcome these setbacks. Regardless, Hobart knows they can't take the Engineers lightly, as RPI has played Hobart better than most LL teams in the prior decade.
Week 8 - The Statesmen take on the Saints: Hobart fans and families will be happy to skip the trip up to the "North Country", getting back-to-back home games. The Saints and their pass-heavy offense started showing some promise in 2019, so I expect them to be a tougher out than we have seen in recent years.
Week 9 - The de facto LL Championship Game (?): The Statesmen and Dutchmen will once again resume a later October date on the schedule for what'll likely be the biggest game of the regular season. Union returns a lot of talent, including QB William Bellamy, so Hobart will have it's work cut out for themselves. Should both teams come into this game undefeated, it'll have a national audience. Can't wait for this one.
Week 10 - Senior Day vs. Buffalo State: This will be a good regular season home finale for the Class of 21 & 22, as we know there are a handful of 5th years that will be playing their final regular season home game at the Boz. Buffalo State was in rebuilding mode back in 2019, but the practice and other restrictions placed on SUNY schools was a bit extreme, so they, like RPI, may struggle to get back to being competitive.
Week 11 - Regular season finale at Rochester: HC Chad Martinovich '94 has been quietly building back the Yellow Jackets program and has landed some fine recruits over the past two years. I expect this game to be competitive, and it's a must-win for Hobart who will be looking to either clinch another LL title (officially) or landing a coveted NCAA at large or other postseason bowl bid.
In summary, not a lot of surprises here and while some may say the OOC schedule isn't super strong, the biggest take-away I see is Hobart has to take on it's toughest competition - Ithaca and the defending LL champ Union - on the road. That said the 2021 season is one where the Statesmen will need to be "road warriors", although fortunately for families and fans, most of the trips won't be too far from home.
I'll update the above as kickoff times or other details are released. Thanks for reading at go 'Bart!
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