The Hobart College Statesmen were selected by the ECAC to take on the Presidents Athletic Association (PAC) Co-Champions Westminster College (PA) yesterday on our In the D3FB Bowl Selection Show. This is the second consecutive postseason bowl bid for the Statesmen (8-2, 4-2), who defeated Cortland State, 30-10, in 2019 (the Red Dragons last loss) in the (now defunct) New York State Bowl.
Westminster (8-2, 8-1) earned the right to host in this battle of #1 seeds primarily due to their PAC Co-Championship. While I thought the Statesmen could host a game, I forgot the fact that the ECAC doesn't arrange their games like other bowls (e.g., in the Centennial/MAC series, the #1 MAC seed hosts the #2 Centennial seed and vice versa). This is the first meeting between the two programs. Kickoff is slated for 1 PM, I assume the Titans will provide a video feed link later this week (be forewarned, the Westminster feed isn't great).
That said, the Asa S. Bushnell Bowl is basically the "main event" of the ECAC Bowl series and should be a great matchup of teams with similar strengths and weaknesses.
Scouting the Titans
Westminster is a tough, blue collar kind of team. They missed out on winning the PAC twice in the 2021 calendar year after claiming the conference championship by going 5-0 in the shortened spring season. They are a formidable team overall, and especially tough to beat at home, going 7-1 in Westminster in 2021 with their only loss to #4 Mount Union (10-0), 41-7, back in Week 1 of the fall 2021 regular season.
The Titans are coached by Scott Benzel, a PA native who's gone 56-23 in his eight years at the helm of the Westminster program. The Titans boast a number of talented players, much like Hobart, and should be a challenging opponent.
Offensively Westminster is fairly balanced offensive team. They called 345 run and 309 pass plays over their 10 games, but have had more success via the air (227.8 YPG) than on the ground (111.7 YPG).
The Titans are led by JR/SR Cole Konieczka who has gone 159-275 passing for 2,102 yards and 21 passing TDs compared to 13 INTs. While not a particularly big QB (5'9" 186 lbs.), Konieczka is a good athlete, but can be flustered into making mistakes.
His OL has struggled at times, allowing 15 sacks (basically 1.5 per game) over the course of the season. Westminster features a tandem of RBs, SO/JR Ryan Gomes and JR/SR Vincent Giles. They've combined for a total of 856 rushing yards and 8 TDs.
Konieczka's favorite target in the passing game is FY/SO WR Tylon Eliam who leads the Titans with 56 receptions for 813 yards and 8 TDs. JR/SR Denny Dennison has caught 28 passes for 430 yards and 2 scores, one of those being a critical 26-yard game winner over Grove City back in Week 4.
Defensively Westminster is led by JR/SR LB Ian Barr. Barr was our ITH Defensive Player of the Spring Season and he earned spring and preseason fall All-American recognition from D3football.com also. He has 62 tackles, 5.5 TFL and 1 sack this (fall) season.
The Titans primary pass rusher is JR/SR DL Brayden Thimons who's another All-American caliber player. Thimons leads Westminster with 16 TFL and 9 sacks. The Titans secondary have been ball hawks this fall also, collecting 14 INTs. FY DB Kevin White and FY DB Brice Butler have 4 INTs each. Butler had a 3 INT game vs. Case Western in Week 3, including a 100-yd pick six. JR/SR DB Bryce Thomas has 2 INTs on the year, so basically opposing QBs have to be accurate when going after this secondary. The Titans allowed 184.9 passing YPG and 13 TDs this season. Westminster is tougher against the run, only allowing 82.1 rush YPG and 12 TDs.
On special teams SO/JR PK Joshua Byers handles KO and FG duties. He averages roughly 54.5 YPKO and has gone 6-8 on FG attempts with a long of 35 (one of his misses was a block). Byers is otherwise mostly automatic from up close, going 40-41 on PATs. The Titans have used a couple of punters over the season, but lately SO/JR QB Jason Hall has had the job, averaging almost 34 YPP. While I suppose a converted QB could be a threat to pass on a punt fake, the stats show Hall has only made one attempt all season.
Keys to the Game:
1. Establishing and Stopping the Run - Although Hobart will definitely have a size advantage over the Titans, Westminster is a scrappy team and has done well stopping the run all season. Hobart averages 242.6 YPG, Westminster allows 82.1 YPG. It's the old "something's got to give" in this matchup. In the Titans two losses, Mount Union and Carnegie Mellon averaged around 200 rushing yards on offense while their respective defenses held the Titans to under 10 rushing yards (combined!). Given this, the Statesmen defense should try to force Westminster into making them one-dimensional, which ironically, will probably be the same strategy I'd think Westminster will try work against Hobart. With no running game to speak of, Konieczka threw 3 INTs in the CMU game and the Statesmen would do well to try and repeat this same strategy in this ECAC game. On the flip side, Hobart JR/SR QB David Krewson has had his moments - the Union game being one of them - when a stacked box led to some opportunities to throw the ball deep. Krewson will just need to be extra careful as this secondary is stacked with athletes who can create turnovers and run it back.
2. Contain Konieczka - When he's on (like he was against W&J going 26-35 passing for 278 yds. and 2 TDs) Konieczka looks really strong. When he's off, like he was against CMU, it's a totally different story. It'll be critical for Hobart to keep the pressure on him, via the blitz or other looks, to force him into mistakes.
3. Play Smart - I'm beating a "dead horse" here, but turnovers and penalties are the biggest reason Hobart is 8-2 and not 10-0 overall. The Statesmen can't expect to win, against a conference championship team and on the road, no less, losing the turnover and penalties battle. It's not rocket science.
Prediction:
This is a game that Hobart can win. They are the bigger, more physical team. I think the competition and programs in the LL are above the PAC, even if not by that much.
The Titans will hit the Statesmen with everything they've got and will look to force Krewson into turning the ball over. I expect a steady dose of SO/JR RBs Rayshawn Boswell and LL OPOTY Tim Denham, Jr, at least until Westminster proves they can stop the run.
The Hobart OL will need to take players like Thimonds out of the equation and overall the offense will need to just keep chipping away. On defense the Statesmen need to avoid letting up the big play while pressuring Konieczka all game.
In the end, I think it'll be a close one, but the Statesmen will hang on to edge the Titans 27-21 to bring the ECAC trophy home to Geneva.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
No comments:
Post a Comment