9/3/11 @ Dickinson College – Hobart will open its 118th season of football in Carlisle, PA. This will be the 20th consecutive season opener between the Statesmen and the Red Devils. Dickinson leads the all-time series by a 10-9-1* margin. Last season Hobart hosted the Devils hoping to avenge one of their worst offensive games from 2009 (and their lowest scoring output since 1991!). The Statesmen were vindicated by jumping out to a 17-0 halftime score and adding 21 more points in the 3rd quarter en route to a convincing 38-7 win. Although Dickinson actually outgained the Statesmen in total yardage, most of their success came in the fourth quarter against the Hobart reserves. Dickinson finished their 2010 campaign with a 3-7 mark (3-6, 8th place in Centennial Conference).
9/24/11 @ Saint John Fisher College – The Statesmen will have three weeks to prepare for their second game of the season, a road trip to Pittsford, NY, to take on the St. John Fisher Cardinals of the Empire 8 conference. Last season the Cardinals dominated Hobart in virtually every aspect of the game, winning by a score of 34-14 under the lights in Geneva on Homecoming Weekend. Although the Statesmen lead the all-time series by a 10-6 mark, Hobart has not beaten the Cardinals over four straight meetings. The last Statesmen victory dates back to 2001. The only bright spot from last year’s game was a record performance by then-FY RB Steven Webb who racked up 103 rushing and 109 receiving yards and two TDs. Although SJFC’s star QB Tim Bailey (who passed for 248 yards and one TD vs. Hobart that night) has graduated, SR RB FuQuan Borum (who carried 33 times for 180 yards and three TDs) returns. Needless to say Hobart needs to figure out how to slow down Fisher’s potent rushing attack to have a chance in this one. Fisher ended their 2010 campaign with a 9-2 record, tied for second in their conference with a 5-2 mark and a very convincing 56-13 ECAC bowl win over RPI.
10/1/11 Saint Lawrence University – Hobart won’t play its home and league opener until October, but don’t think this date isn’t circled on the Statesmen’s calendars. Hobart saw its longest active winning streak of 18 games broken against the eventual LL champion Saints by a 24-21 mark last season. The Statesmen came back to hold a 21-17 lead with 2:05 to play, but turnovers (five, including two interceptions in the final 102 seconds of the game) and penalties (six for 70 yards) killed the Hobart in this contest and set a dubious precedent for Hobart’s struggles in 2010. SLU ended the season with a 5-6 mark, getting shut out 49-0 to national runner up, Mount Union in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. The Saints struggled out of conference (going 0-5, including the NCAA game) but won the LL thanks to a 5-1 mark in the league.
10/8/11 @ Union College – Hobart’s first league road game will be against one of its oldest and toughest rivals, Union College. Last season the Statesmen prevailed in an offensive shoot out in double overtime behind the record-setting performance of then-SO QB Nick Strang. Strang filled in for an injured Doug Vella and passed for over 400 yards and tied the al-time Hobart record with five TD passes. He also added 93 rushing yards and the game winning TD. Although he was picked off four times in his debut, it appeared as though Strang was in line to wrest the starting job away from Vella until he was derailed by mononucleosis and didn’t play for the remainder of the season. The win over Union (who holds a 50-43-2* edge in the all-time series) was the first for Hobart since a 30-20 triumph in 2007 (which technically was taken off the record books due to the NCAA infractions, so some will say 2004 was the last "official win"). Union struggled through one of its worst seasons in years, going 2-7 overall and 2-4 in conference. Losing RB Chris Coney to graduation will be tough but I expect the Dutchmen to rebound in 2011.
10/22/11 USMMA – The Statesmen will have another bye week then host the US Merchant Marine Academy for this year’s Homecoming game. Last season Hobart opened this game with 23 unanswered points, but a saw a determined Mariner squad battle back to only lose by a TD, 40-33. Then-SO RB JL Gosselin led the Academy with 110 rushing yards and one TD. Vella had one of his better games of 2010 passing for 305 yards, four TDs and only two INTs. The USMMA finished their 2010 campaign with a 4-6 overall (3-3 LL) record.
10/29/11 @ WPI – The Statesmen will make their longest road trip of the season to Worcester, MA to face the WPI Engineers. Although WPI came into last season’s game as the #1 defense in the league, Hobart little trouble dispatching them, rattling off 24 unanswered points and eventually winning 38-13. WPI finished last in the LL in 2010, going 1-5 in conference and 3-7 overall.
11/5/11 RPI – Senior Day will see Hobart face off against the RPI Engineers looking for some payback after last season’s 24-21 defeat on a last second 34 yard field goal as time expired. Although the Statesmen defense shut down the RPI running game (holding the Engineers to only 79 rushing yards), Hobart fell behind 21-7 in the middle of the third quarter. The Statesmen would rally to tie the game with 1:20 to play, but once again turnovers (two INTs and two fumbles) would haunt Hobart as did poor special teams and defensive play in the final minute of the game. RPI finished second in the LL with a 4-2 mark and ended up 6-4 overall.
11/12/11 @ Rochester – The Statesmen will close out their regular season campaign vying for the Centennial Cup at Rochester. Last season Hobart lost a heart breaker at home on Senior Day, 35-34, in double overtime. Coach Cragg opted to go for the win but the pass from Vella to then-JR Garth Muratori missed its mark sending Hobart to their first loss in the Centennial Cup series (the all-time series is tied at 48-48-7*). This game marked the first time the Yellow Jackets had bested Hobart since a 17-13 win back in 2003. Rochester was 4-5 in 2010 (3-3 in the LL), but was literally two different teams (losing their first five games and winning their final four) over the course of last season.
*I am not factoring in the 2006-07 sanctions in these all-time marks.
Comin' atcha next weekend will be my 2011 season predictions and an update on the fourth season of LL football talk show "In the HuddLLe".
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