The Hobart College Statesmen will look to wrap up the 2021 season with two more regular season wins before seeing if a potential postseason bowl game opportunity is presented to them on Monday, Nov. 15.
In order to get there, Hobart needs to finish 8-2 overall. Next up for the Statesmen (6-2, 2-2) are the last place Buffalo State Bengals (0-8, 0-4) at Boswell Field.
This game will be the final home appearance for Hobart (especially since the WS Soccer team would get first dibs on Saturday, November 20 for a NCAA game, so it's likely the Statesmen would go on the road if they are selected into an ECAC bowl game - more on that soon) and will recognize the Class of 2022, as well as the five 5th year seniors (from l-r below, FS Cal Sullivan, DL Isaiah Boone, OLB Emmett Forde, DB Jared Leake and DL Shane White) on Team 127.
Speaking of Boone, he and I had a nice chat on the sideline of the Union game. Seems like a great person and I appreciated him going out of his way to say hello to me. It's been a real privilege to follow his and all of these great Statesmen players' careers. Thank you.
What I guess we will have to wait and see is how many seniors listed on the roster (who, save for the 5 above, are all technically juniors in the eyes of the NCAA, but not every Statesmen student athlete will elect to use the extra year of eligibility and come back in the fall of 2022) will walk out for their final Boswell Field curtain call?
That to me is more interesting than this weekend's matchup, if I'm being honest....
Scouting the Bengals
There's not much to say about Buff State, they allow 32.4 PPG on defense and only average 10.1 PPG on offense. Their closest contest of the season dates back to Week 1, a legitimate 21-14 battle with Saint John Fisher (who is also not having a great season, sitting at 4-4, 2-2 in the E8). Don't be fooled by the 24-16 loss to RPI, either. It was 24-3 with only 2:39 remaining in the game when the Bengals scored a couple of TDs in garbage time.
The main bright spots for the Bengals offensively have been SO WR Tariq Nelson and JR WR Cam Crosier. They are tied 3rd in the LL with 36 receptions each. Nelson has more yardage (469-392) and 3 TDs, while Crosier has caught 2 TDs. Nelson had a 73-yd TD reception in last weekend's 41-16 loss to Brockport (6-2, 3-1).
Defensively, Buff State is led by big (6'3" 255 lbs.) FY LB Mike Glinski. He's tied second in the LL with 64 total tackles.
Special teams wise the Bengals rank at or near the bottom of the LL in most kicking stats. They have been successful with FG tries, however, converting 4-5 attempts. To show you how bad this fall has been for the Bengals, the have only attempted 9 kicking PATs (Hobart is 31-32). They went for two both times they scored against the Golden Eagles.
Keys to the Game:
1. Celebrate the Seniors - I understand a call has gone out to the Class of 2020 to be included in this game but I am not sure how many guys will be able to make it back. Hopefully some of them do, because it was unfortunate how HWS handled them over the COVID shut down season. For the other seniors, this day is the culmination of years of hard work. Soak it all in and enjoy it, you've earned it.
2. Keep Working on Being Better - I would love to see a game with little or no penalties called on the Statesmen for one week. As we all know it's been an issue all season, so hopefully Saturday we can have a game that's relatively "flag-free".
3. Play Everyone - While the priority should be on the seniors, hopefully all the players will get some valuable game experience Saturday. Selfishly I'd love to see #36 SO/JR RB Drew Walsh get another TD (he had one vs. Alfred in Week 1).
Prediction:
Hobart wins big, 45-7.
That's it for this week. Hopefully once I have more news on the ECAC bid front I can report back on that.
Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!
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