The Hobart College Statesmen will make one of their longest road trips in sometime, travelling over 425 miles and seven-plus hours to take on the #9 Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jackets. This will be the first ever meeting between these two schools.
RMC (1-0) is the defending Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championship and coming off a national semifinal run and 13-1 mark in the 2023 season. The Yellow Jackets have been one of the best programs in the nation in recent years. They have a 56-8 overall record (.875) going back to the 2018 season.
Scouting RMC
This season the Yellow Jackets had to reload at several key positions but seem to have done so quite well. The Jackets used their opportunistic defense to blow past Dickinson (0-1) last Saturday by a 47-21 margin. Their new starter, SR QB Dante Casciola, was efficient in his debut, going 12-17 passing for 162 yards. He scored on a rushing TD and a three-headed backfield of SR RB Kwesi Clarke, JR WR Jason Moore (who also had 94 receiving yards) and JR RB Cameron Chatmon rushed for a combined 168 yards and 4 TDs on 31 carries.
Defensively the Jackets were led by JR LB Neftali Reyes with 10 total tackles. The RMC forced four turnovers (2 INTs and 2 FRs) to help rally their team after falling behind 14-7 going into the third quarter.
The Jackets have three specialists including SR PK Kyle Ihle (2-2 FG, 5-6 PATs), SO K/P Jordan Etz who averaged 45 yards punting and JR KO Tyler Graham, who had a busy day on KOs, with 9 averaging 48.2 YPKO. There wasn't much from a PR or KOR game against Dickinson to write much there. That said Hobart is always strong in ST coverage, so I don't view this as an important aspect of this game.
Keys to the Game:
1. First Down Offense: Hobart (1-0) was terrible on first down in last Friday's game. Needless to say, on the road at a nationally ranked opponent, they have to do better and not always have 2nd and 10's.
2. Protect the Football: Dickinson was winning the game last week until turnovers did them in. RMC is clearly opportunistic, and SR CB Coleton Payne's pick six was the beginning of the end for the Red Devils.
3. Nothing to Lose: In the grand scheme of things, while a win would be amazing, a loss here won't wreck the Statesmen's season nor really impact their playoff chances given the new NPI system. Win or lose, Hobart controls its destiny in what really feels like a wide-open Liberty League. I saw Union and RPI in person last weekend and watched most of the Johns Hopkins-Ithaca game. The Bombers still seem like the team to beat, but either way, a 9-1 (or 8-2 via a tiebreaker) Liberty League champion seems very likely.
Prediction:
While I'd love to predict a Hobart upset that would shock the nation, I just don't think this young, inexperienced team is ready to pull that off. I'd rather see them execute better and gear up for what the real biggest game of the season is, Week 5 at home vs. Ithaca. RMC isn't a huge team, but they are skilled, well-coached and quick. I just hope we see a better offensive effort from the Statesmen from an execution standpoint, otherwise this could be a long game. The defense can keep us in it, but they will need some special teams and offensive plays to avoid being worn down.
Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!
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