The 129th season of Hobart College Football will kick off on Friday night, September 1st. It will be the fifth season under HC Kevin DeWall ’00 (given the 2020 COVID year), who’s led the Statesmen to a 30-12 mark since returning to Geneva. Last year Hobart struggled with inexperience and injuries at key positions, dropping to a 7-4 overall record with a 35-18 loss to Washington & Jefferson in the ECAC Bushnell Bowl. Talent wise, the Statesmen had a roster that could have gone 9-1 in the regular season but couldn’t close out a couple of games on the road due to turnovers and mistakes in key situations.
Over the past several years, the Liberty League has elevated to one of the Top 5 best conferences in D3FB, and larger institutions in the league have taken advantage of the COVID 5th year provisions to bolster their rosters. Hobart has been in the mix every year but hasn’t won the LL championship dating back to the 2016 season, which is also the last time the Statesmen qualified for the NCAA playoffs.
Conference realignments across the East and other regions have negatively impacted Hobart and the LL also, mostly due to not being selected to pair up for OOC scheduling with or like the NJAC/Centennial, Empire 8/Landmark, and PAC (which added Allegheny so now they can’t play OOC games). Due to that, LL teams had to be creative in scheduling their 3-4 OOC games this season. We will see some marquee matchups, but also some duds (more on that later), prior to LL play.
I suspect Hobart will be selected to finish 3rd in the LL preseason coaches’ poll, which is where they have averaged the past four seasons. Can the Statesmen take the next step? Time will tell.
Here’s a first look at Team 129:
(OFFENSE)
Hobart will debut a new starting QB in 2023. JR QB Johnny Columbi is the likely heir apparent, but he’ll be challenged by some talented incoming players. Columbi had a fair second season in 2022, gaining 386 total yards over seven games, scoring a passing and rushing TD.
Whomever plays QB will be reliant on what will be a retooled OL. Hobart will need to replace four starters from this group. I wouldn’t be surprised if SR OL Ethan Kowalski is moved inside to center, leaving his tackle spot open for a competition between players such as SO OL Quinn Broggy and SR Matt Siegel. SO OL Ashton Mejias got into the rotation, and even started a handful of games as a FY, and will compete for a starting role, at tackle or guard. The rest will need to be decided in preseason camp. Needless to say, how this group evolves will have a huge impact on the Statesmen's season.
The Statesmen will welcome back one of the strongest 1-2 punches in the nation with the return of SR RBs Rayshawn Boswell and Tim Denham, Jr. Both guys saw a decline in their production from the 2021 season, mostly due to injuries. Keeping these two healthy is a key priority for Hobart’s success in 2023. Denham, Jr is currently ranked as the sixth best active RB in the nation (based on total rushing yards), which is pretty impressive.
At WR, the Statesmen welcome back JR WR Rane Daramola who emerged as one of Hobart’s top receiving threats in 2022. He led the team with 18 catches for 404 yards and 4 TDs. SR WRs Chris Bartosec and Peyton Cayea also return giving this group added depth and experience.
Hobart will need to find a new starter at TE and apparently four players competed in spring practice for this role and the starter will be a Week 1 decision. What should help this group is the addition of former two-time captain and starting TE Mike Zaccone '22 who will be the TE position coach this season.
(DEFENSE)
This younger unit in 2022 ended up being the strength of the team with several outstanding performances from a deep and talented LB corps. JR LB Anthony Romano earned 1st team All-Liberty League and 2nd team D3football.com All-Region awards. He led the Statesmen with 88 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks and 2 INTs last season. Also back are JR LB Peterson Monexant, SR LB Drew Walsh, and team co-captain JR LB Jamien Bliss. JR LB Cashon Young and SO LB Mike McGee gives this group added depth.
On the DL, JR DE Alex Karpovich returns after a breakout 2022 season where he earned 1st team All-LL honors. He led the Statesmen with 11 TFL and four sacks. SR DEs Connor Gunn and Joel Kraft will compete for the other DE starting job. In the middle, three players, SR DL Caleb Pulver, SO DL Denzel Silver, and SO DL Nick Provenzano will compete for the starting NT role.
The Statesmen will need to replace both starting safeties, but have experienced players like SR DB Joe McCoy, SO Alex Smith, and JR DB Zac Ambielli returning. Both starting CBs – SR DB James Mahoney and SR DB Abdoulaye Diallo – also return. Should either struggle or become injured, both JR DB Chris Ntumba and SO DB Mekhi Rodgers will be ready for action. Overall, 8 starters with several experienced veterans return to this unit, which should once again keep Hobart in tight games, particularly in LL play later in the season.
(SPECIAL TEAMS)
JR PK Tobias Wefering returns and added into the mix will be FY PK Luke Monteyne. The Statesmen will have the dangerous duo of Boswell and Denham, Jr. available for the return game, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some newer faces getting an opportunity here given all the talent on the roster.
(SCHEDULE)
Long-time Hobart fans know the Statesmen have a particular home field advantage when it comes to gameday at the “Boz”. Hobart is 18-2 since the 2018 season at home under Coach DeWall ’00 and as scheduling “luck” would have it, will get to play six home games in 2023: Week 2 vs. Morrisville, Week 4 vs. Keystone, Weeks 6 & 7 vs. Buffalo State and Hilbert and Weeks 9 & 10 vs. Saint Lawrence and RPI.
It’s been a while since the Engineers and Hobart played this late in the season, and I’m expecting it’ll be a game with LL championship and postseason implications. On the flip side, the Statesmen will have some challenging road trips, but they are spread out, starting with Week 1 at Alfred, Week 5 at Ithaca (who of course gets their bye in Week 4 before this game), Week 8 at Union and Week 11 at Rochester.
Ithaca begins the season ranked #9 in the D3football.com preseason Top 25 and the defending LL champions are the team to beat again this season. The Statesmen had a scrimmage yesterday against the Empire 8 defending champions, Cortland, which will be a good measuring stick for Hobart heading into the Week 1 game against the Saxons.
(SUMMARY)
With more unknowns than we’ve seen going into a season for a while, it’s hard to gauge expectations for Team 129. The scheduling realignments in Region 2 has forced Hobart to take a couple of games they normally would have preferred to avoid (due to SOS considerations) but could be a blessing in disguise. For a younger offensive squad looking to establish its identity, particularly early in the season and down the literal “home stretch” with the RPI looming in Week 10, this schedule has some benefits.
No comments:
Post a Comment