The Hobart College Statesmen are shipping up to Boston (well, really the North Shore about 20-25 miles from the city) to take on Coach Kevin DeWall '00's Endicott College Gulls.
Last season Hobart prevailed over Endicott in a hard-hitting, bad weather, 28-17 contest. Then SO QB Shane Sweeney was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury and the Statesmen were out-gained by the Gulls to a 259 to 204 yard margin.
This season the Gulls (0-1) had a few key roles to fill after the graduations of players like WR Jamison Craft, who was second on the team in receptions in 2015. Top receiver #3 Jake Pelletier was listed as "did not participate" in last weekend's contest against three time defending MASCAC Champion Framingham State, but it was the Endicott defense that struggled early on. The Rams racked up 479 total yards, mostly from deep pass plays to converted wide receiver Stephen Beahn who had TD receptions of 87, 81 and 36 yards. Framingham RB Jalen Green added 111 rushing yards and a TD.
Offensively the Gulls did show flashes, however, gaining 349 total yards and saw backup #5 SO QB Michael Scherer come in and have a good game, going 13 for 21 for 176 yards and a TD. He added 39 rushing yards and a TD on the ground as well. Scherer and the Gulls had the Rams on their heels late in the game, after a 66 yard kickoff return by Zach DeNike was followed by Scherer's second TD pass to trim Framingham State's lead to only 26-21 with 9:55 remaining,
Needless to say, you know that Coach DeWall's team will fight for the full 60 minutes so Hobart (1-0) will need to be ready for another physical contest against them. That said the Gulls-Rams game does provide some good hints on how to have success against this young Endicott squad.
Keys to the Game:
1. Take the Top Off the Defense: JR WR Brandon Shed led the Statesmen in receiving last Saturday with an impressive 11 catch, 190 yard, two TD performance - one that wasn't far off from Framingham's Beahn who had a six catch, 248 yard and three TD game against the Gulls on the same day. Needless to say, Endicott's young secondary is an area the Hobart offense should test in the game.
2. Back to Basics - In our In The HuddLLe interview with JR QB Shane Sweeney from last Sunday night, Hobart got a different defensive look than they expected and thus had to change their game plan against Brockport (ICYMI the podcast can be found here.). By design or not, the run game was somewhat abandoned because of that, but hopefully SO RB Tynard Barfield and SR RB Brad Burns will get more carries than the six and five attempts they had last Saturday. The Statesmen OL is big and the Endicott defense allowed 4.5 YPR against Framingham as well as a 100+ yard rushing game for Green, the Rams feature back. Hobart will need to account for #90 SR DL Craig Anderson, a co-captain and player who led the Gulls with nine sacks last season. Anderson only had two tackles against Framingham, but he also added two TFL. #53 SO LB William Rivera (last year's NEFC Rookie of the Year) and #21 SR OLB Connor McLaughlin will be ready to try and stop the run. McLaughlin is a good pass rusher as well and he collected a sack and TFL against Framingham in Week 1.
3. Play Smarter - The Statesmen are a clear favorite, but they can't get ahead of themselves or make the same kind of personal foul and other penalties we saw against Brockport. Endicott will be in the game regardless, so Hobart can't afford to beat themselves and help the Gulls by making mental mistakes or letting their emotions overtake their assignment responsibilities like they did against the Golden Eagles.
4. Special Teams / Field Position - The Statesmen kicking game was good last Saturday, averaging 51.5 yards on kickoffs, 41.2 yards in the punt game and SR PK Sean Kirshe was five of six on PATs (the final one was blocked). The problem was in the return and coverage game. Hobart averaged one yard per punt return and had three Brockport punts pin them inside the 20 yard line. In fact, field position for Hobart was terrible from about 3:15 in the second quarter on. Statesmen drives started at the two, 25, one, 12, 25, nine and 12 for the remainder of the game. Coverage mistakes such as JR CB Daryl Scales personal foul call hurt as well. Brockport also averaged about eight more yards than the Statesmen on punt and kickoff returns. A perfect example of this was when the Statesmen misplayed a fourth down pooch punt by QB Brian McKean and the ball was downed at the Hobart two yard line. After that drive stalled, a 35 yard JR P Rio Schmidt punt was returned 19 yards to the Hobart 25, giving Brockport another short field, from which they capitalized with Dan Andrews' second rushing TD of the game to make it 14-14 going into halftime. The Statesmen can (and will) do better than that.
Prediction:
The Statesmen should have match up advantages in a few spots in this game and fortunately won't have to contend with a RB like Andrews on Saturday. Still, Coach DeWall knows the Hobart personnel and will look to attack certain areas of the field. Converted basketball player #88 SR WR Chris Lipscomb (who's 6'3") will tower over the Statesmen DBs (and some LBs), creating match up challenges. I believe I stated the Statesmen will prevail 35-21 on ITH and I'll stand by that, although it wouldn't surprise me if this was a lower scoring game.
Although it seems like Endicott is susceptible to the "long ball" after Week 1, I really do think Hobart needs to balance their offensive attack for Week 2. Getting a run game going will only open things up like it did for Framingham against Endicott and the Rams had 34 rushing attempts (compared to 20 for the Statesmen against Brockport - seven of those attempts coming from Sweeney who was either scrambling or calling his own number based on a read at the line of scrimmage).
Although Brockport didn't blitz much in Week 1, I do think Coach DeWall and his DC Coach Chad Hadley (who spent time as a LB Coach at SLU from 2010-12 and at Ithaca from 2013&14) will attack the Hobart OL more than the Golden Eagles did.
The Statesmen defensive secondary will need to be ready also as last weekend the Gulls attempted 45 passes (similar to Sweeney and the Statesmen). To counter the Gulls passing game, look for the continued success of JR DE Brandon Ball who had an excellent debut in his first start, with two sacks and three TFL.
This game is never an easy one to watch because you want Hobart to win but you can't help cheering for HC Kevin DeWall '00, OL Coach Art Garvey '12 and LB Coach Tom Elder '13. Either way, the long road trip and toughness of Endicott is a great experience builder for this 2016 Statesmen squad. Hopefully it's a competitive (and injury-free) game for all.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
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