2021 Season Retrospective

The 127th season of Hobart College Statesmen football was a memorable one. 

This team, one of the largest (in roster size) and youngest (in experience) overcame more obstacles than any in recent history after a forced year-off. The Liberty League (LL) didn't make things easier once play resumed, lazily keeping the even/odd year schedules intact, effectively forcing the Statesmen to play double back-to-back road games against two of their toughest opponents in Ithaca and Union. These really should have been home games this season, in my opinion, and that matters because Hobart has gone 11-0 at the "Boz" during the 2019 and 2021 regular seasons. 

At the end of the day, this was one of the most competitive LL slates we've seen in decades. RPI (11-2, 5-1), who we all know Hobart upended, 10-9 back in Week 7, won a share of the LL title and the NCAA AQ, making a run to the national quarterfinals. It could have easily been Hobart (9-2, 4-2), Union (8-2, 4-2) or Ithaca (7-3, 4-2) doing the exact same thing. Even Saint Lawrence (6-4, 3-3) had a winning season and has vastly improved.

While the NCAA Region 2 (made up of the Centennial, Empire 8, Liberty League and Presidents conferences) RAC showed they felt the Centennial was the best, I'd argue the LL was their equal, if not superior, if you compare the Top 4 teams in each conference. 

As I stated in my 2021 Season Preview, "October [would] be the pivotal month" in determining Hobart's year, and ultimately, that was the case. The Statesmen were 7-0 in September and November, but those aforementioned tough road trips led to a .500 mark in October. Credit HC Kevin DeWall '00 and his staff, because the Statesmen remained focused after those very close defeats and rallied back each time.

The ECAC Bowl game wasn't the ultimate goal, but it was a wonderful consolation prize and confirmation that the Statesmen were ultimately one of the best teams of Region 2. In fact, only RPI, Muhlenberg, Cortland and Johns Hopkins had more overall wins than Hobart in the 2021 season.

Next season promises another exciting year of Hobart Football. Although the Statesmen will need to replace several key defensive stars, the offense will return mostly intact based on what I've heard as far as certain players using their extra year of eligibility and/or leveraging HWS's new Master of Science in Management program. 

While it will probably be some time until we know the 2022 schedule (we can tentatively pencil in home games vs. Ithaca, Union and Rochester, at least), the next class of Statesmen players are already making commitments. Yesterday in fact, I saw two on twitter - a strong RB/LB and QB from Lindenhurst and West Sayville, NY - announce their commitments to Hobart (more on that soon).

While I hope the powers that be do something to ensure that there is a home game during Hobart's bicentennial celebration (because unfortunately, right now it's looking like that would be the same weekend the Statesmen have to travel to Saint Lawrence which is a major scheduling gaffe on the administration's part, but I digress), we can look forward to more great matchups in Geneva next year and I will make a better effort to get to at least one. It's been too long. 

Congratulations to the Class of 21 / 22 on remarkable careers and ultimately bringing the Statesmen football program back after a couple of tough, transition years. As said by Ted Baker on the most recent Hobart Football podcast, 18-4 over two seasons is no easy feat. The expectations will remain high, and many will look to 2022 as the best opportunity yet for the Statesmen to punch their ticket to the NCAA playoffs. It's been a few years now, but this program is showing all the signs you want to see in a national contender.

Thanks to everyone for following the blog this past year. I will post a few recruiting updates as they come in, otherwise I wish everyone a very happy and safe holiday season and Happy New Year!

Go 'Bart!

Defense Dominates Titans in 21-3 ECAC Bowl Win

Would you expect it to go any other way?

The Hobart College Statesmen completed their second consecutive 9-2 season behind an impressive defensive effort, defeating the Presidents Athletic Conference Co-Champions, Westminster College (PA), 21-3. The win is Hobart's second consecutive ECAC Bowl Championship, and first since the 2003 season.

You can read the Hobart recap here. 

The Statesmen defense forced three fumbles and an INT. SO/JR DB Blake Hansen had a career game, leading the defense with 12 total tackles along with a punt block / scoop and score to give Hobart an early 14-0 lead, which they never relinquished. Not surprisingly, Hansen was named the bowl game's MVP for his efforts. With some key players on this unit being lost to graduation, he will take an important role as a key leader of the defense in 2022.

Although the offense struggled at times, JR/SR QB David Krewson and SO/JR RB Tim Denham, Jr. combined for 190 rushing yards and 2 TDs. Ultimately, these two scores, plus the Hansen TD, was enough, as Hobart held Westminster to their lowest offense scoring total of the season. Only #4 Mount Union (11-0) held the Titans to less total yardage in a game this year.

I'm really happy for the five Hobart 5th year seniors plus the 4th year guys who won't be able to come back in 2022. While there are certainly a couple of "what if" moments from this season, you can't look back on 2021 and not view it as a major success.

The Statesmen were one of the youngest / inexperienced rosters in the Liberty League, the latter which had probably it's most competitive and best season since the mid-2000's. LL Champs RPI (10-1) has a shot to take down Empire 8 champs Cortland (11-0) next weekend and go back to the Elite 8 for the second time in three years. We all know who the one loss was to, by the way.

I'll post a season retrospective later this week. Congratulations to the team - the coaches, players and associated staff.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

ECAC Asa S. Bushnell Bowl - Westminster (PA) Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen were selected by the ECAC to take on the Presidents Athletic Association (PAC) Co-Champions Westminster College (PA) yesterday on our In the D3FB Bowl Selection Show. This is the second consecutive postseason bowl bid for the Statesmen (8-2, 4-2), who defeated Cortland State, 30-10, in 2019 (the Red Dragons last loss) in the (now defunct) New York State Bowl.

Westminster (8-2, 8-1) earned the right to host in this battle of #1 seeds primarily due to their PAC Co-Championship. While I thought the Statesmen could host a game, I forgot the fact that the ECAC doesn't arrange their games like other bowls (e.g., in the Centennial/MAC series, the #1 MAC seed hosts the #2 Centennial seed and vice versa). This is the first meeting between the two programs. Kickoff is slated for 1 PM, I assume the Titans will provide a video feed link later this week (be forewarned, the Westminster feed isn't great). 

That said, the Asa S. Bushnell Bowl is basically the "main event" of the ECAC Bowl series and should be a great matchup of teams with similar strengths and weaknesses.

Scouting the Titans

Westminster is a tough, blue collar kind of team. They missed out on winning the PAC twice in the 2021 calendar year after claiming the conference championship by going 5-0 in the shortened spring season. They are a formidable team overall, and especially tough to beat at home, going 7-1 in Westminster in 2021 with their only loss to #4 Mount Union (10-0), 41-7, back in Week 1 of the fall 2021 regular season. 

The Titans are coached by Scott Benzel, a PA native who's gone 56-23 in his eight years at the helm of the Westminster program. The Titans boast a number of talented players, much like Hobart, and should be a challenging opponent.

Offensively Westminster is fairly balanced offensive team. They called 345 run and 309 pass plays over their 10 games, but have had more success via the air (227.8 YPG) than on the ground (111.7 YPG). 

The Titans are led by JR/SR Cole Konieczka who has gone 159-275 passing for 2,102 yards and 21 passing TDs compared to 13 INTs. While not a particularly big QB (5'9" 186 lbs.), Konieczka is a good athlete, but can be flustered into making mistakes.

His OL has struggled at times, allowing 15 sacks (basically 1.5 per game) over the course of the season. Westminster features a tandem of RBs, SO/JR Ryan Gomes and JR/SR Vincent Giles. They've combined for a total of 856 rushing yards and 8 TDs.

Konieczka's favorite target in the passing game is FY/SO WR Tylon Eliam who leads the Titans with 56 receptions for 813 yards and 8 TDs. JR/SR Denny Dennison has caught 28 passes for 430 yards and 2 scores, one of those being a critical 26-yard game winner over Grove City back in Week 4.

Defensively Westminster is led by JR/SR LB Ian Barr. Barr was our ITH Defensive Player of the Spring Season and he earned spring and preseason fall All-American recognition from D3football.com also. He has 62 tackles, 5.5 TFL and 1 sack this (fall) season. 

The Titans primary pass rusher is JR/SR DL Brayden Thimons who's another All-American caliber player. Thimons leads Westminster with 16 TFL and 9 sacks. The Titans secondary have been ball hawks this fall also, collecting 14 INTs. FY DB Kevin White and FY DB Brice Butler have 4 INTs each. Butler had a 3 INT game vs. Case Western in Week 3, including a 100-yd pick six. JR/SR DB Bryce Thomas has 2 INTs on the year, so basically opposing QBs have to be accurate when going after this secondary. The Titans allowed 184.9 passing YPG and 13 TDs this season. Westminster is tougher against the run, only allowing 82.1 rush YPG and 12 TDs.

On special teams SO/JR PK Joshua Byers handles KO and FG duties. He averages roughly 54.5 YPKO and has gone 6-8 on FG attempts with a long of 35 (one of his misses was a block). Byers is otherwise mostly automatic from up close, going 40-41 on PATs. The Titans have used a couple of punters over the season, but lately SO/JR QB Jason Hall has had the job, averaging almost 34 YPP. While I suppose a converted QB could be a threat to pass on a punt fake, the stats show Hall has only made one attempt all season.

Keys to the Game:

1. Establishing and Stopping the Run - Although Hobart will definitely have a size advantage over the Titans, Westminster is a scrappy team and has done well stopping the run all season. Hobart averages 242.6 YPG, Westminster allows 82.1 YPG. It's the old "something's got to give" in this matchup. In the Titans two losses, Mount Union and Carnegie Mellon averaged around 200 rushing yards on offense while their respective defenses held the Titans to under 10 rushing yards (combined!). Given this, the Statesmen defense should try to force Westminster into making them one-dimensional, which ironically, will probably be the same strategy I'd think Westminster will try work against Hobart. With no running game to speak of, Konieczka threw 3 INTs in the CMU game and the Statesmen would do well to try and repeat this same strategy in this ECAC game. On the flip side, Hobart JR/SR QB David Krewson has had his moments - the Union game being one of them - when a stacked box led to some opportunities to throw the ball deep. Krewson will just need to be extra careful as this secondary is stacked with athletes who can create turnovers and run it back. 

2. Contain Konieczka - When he's on (like he was against W&J going 26-35 passing for 278 yds. and 2 TDs) Konieczka looks really strong. When he's off, like he was against CMU, it's a totally different story. It'll be critical for Hobart to keep the pressure on him, via the blitz or other looks, to force him into mistakes. 

3. Play Smart - I'm beating a "dead horse" here, but turnovers and penalties are the biggest reason Hobart is 8-2 and not 10-0 overall. The Statesmen can't expect to win, against a conference championship team and on the road, no less, losing the turnover and penalties battle. It's not rocket science.

Prediction:

This is a game that Hobart can win. They are the bigger, more physical team. I think the competition and programs in the LL are above the PAC, even if not by that much.

The Titans will hit the Statesmen with everything they've got and will look to force Krewson into turning the ball over. I expect a steady dose of SO/JR RBs Rayshawn Boswell and LL OPOTY Tim Denham, Jr, at least until Westminster proves they can stop the run. 

The Hobart OL will need to take players like Thimonds out of the equation and overall the offense will need to just keep chipping away. On defense the Statesmen need to avoid letting up the big play while pressuring Konieczka all game.

In the end, I think it'll be a close one, but the Statesmen will hang on to edge the Titans 27-21 to bring the ECAC trophy home to Geneva.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Hobart Earns Top ECAC Bowl Bid, Will Face PAC Co-Champs Westminster (PA)

As we just announced on the In the D3FB Huddle ECAC Bowl Selection Show, the Hobart College Statesmen (8-2, 4-2) will be heading down to Western PA to take on the Co-Champions of the Presidents Athletic Conference (PAC) - the Westminster College Titans (8-2, 8-1).

The Asa S. Bushnell Bowl is the the ECAC's highest rated bowl game, meaning it pits the two best bids against each other. This is a tough draw for Hobart in a way, but an amazing opportunity to go into prime football recruiting country and win a major postseason D3FB trophy game.

I'll have more on this matchup later today.

Congratulations Statesmen! We're going bowling!

Hobart Rolls Rochester, 31-0, Awaits ECAC Bowl Selection

The Hobart College Statesmen earned a 31-0 win over Rochester Saturday, grinding out 314 rushing yards. SO/JR RB Tim Denham, Jr. eclipsed the 1,000 mark on the season with a 14 rush, 159 yard and 3 TD game. 

Hobart (8-2, 4-2) will await word from the ECAC on Monday to see if they will be granted a postseason bowl bid (I'm really confident they will).

While Denham, Jr. was certainly the star of the show, 5th year SR FS Cal Sullivan also had a capstone moment. He stepped in front of a UofR (3-7, 1-5) pass and returned it 86 yards for a TD! Such a great play!

FY PK Tobias Wefering added an impressive 43 yard FG, a career best, to cap off the scoring

SR OLB Emmett Forde and JR/SR Bryan Aguilar each added 8 tackles to lead the Statesmen D. Forde added a sack and 2 TFL.

The win wraps the season with Hobart tied for 3rd place in the LL with Union's stunning 19-17 loss to RPI (9-1, 5-1). Hobart at least knows they beat the league champs. 

Tune into In the D3FB Huddle Monday around 12:30 PM ET for the ECAC Selection Show. I have a feeling we'll be calling the Statesmen's name.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 11 - Rochester Game Preview

After what's been an up and down couple of years, we've finally reached the end of the 2021 regular season. This team has had some great moments and close calls. They've overcome adversity and injuries to have an excellent opportunity to post a second consecutive 8-win regular season.

While on one hand I feel like the Statesmen could be 9-0 going into this week, they very easily could have been 5-4. The Liberty League had one of it's most competitive seasons in decades, and unfortunately based on a (poor, in my opinion) decision to "keep" the home and away cadence as if 2020 happened by the conference, this young Hobart team lost out on what would have been critical home field advantages this season. I guess the good news is in 2022 we know we get Ithaca and Union at home and, in theory, parents will be allowed back in the stands at RPI once their beleaguered (and clueless) president, Dr. Shirley Jackson, is finally gone. 

To be fair, an 8-2 regular season by one of the youngest rosters in the LL and Hobart College history isn't anything to feel disappointed about. I also feel highly confident that the Statesmen (7-2, 3-2) will be selected on Monday to host an ECAC Bowl Game (I'll predict against whom at the end of this post). 

The William Smith Soccer team - who won the LL title over Ithaca over an amazing OT goal - is hosting the first round of the NCAA Women's Soccer tournament at Cozzens Field, so there is no conflict with having a football game at the Boz. While a berth to the NCAAs was the original goal, this additional, potential home (and trophy) game against a strong opponent is a really nice consolation for the team.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets

Former Statesmen QB and now UofR HC Chad Martinovich '94 has done a fantastic job rebuilding the Rochester program. This is a case where the extra year of recruiting and practice actually helped the Jackets (3-6, 1-4) get stronger and add depth; the latter they really lacked in 2019, having one of the smallest rosters in the LL, if not the East Region.

While I'm sure UofR would have liked to earn a few more wins, their early season contests were very close. It seems like they may be running out of gas going into the final weekend, however, having lost their Week 8 & 9 games to Union and SLU by a combined 50 points. They struggled to separate from Hartwick as well, but to their credit, ultimately got the win. 

The Yellow Jackets have used a few different QBs, but it looks like Hobart will likely see FY QB Ryan Rose this Saturday in Rochester. Last weekend he went 12-26 for 171 yards passing in a 42-28 win over Hartwick (1-7, 0-5).

FY/SO RB Daniel Papantonis led the ground attack with 20 carries for 93 yards and 2 rushing TDs (he has also caught 2 passes for TDs this season). He has run for 637 yards, a team high. He is paced by FY/SO RB Will Varney, who has less carries (90 vs. 139) and yards (394), but leads the team with 9 rush TDs.

Rochester seems to like to spread the ball around in the passing game, with 5 different receivers with double-digit catches. The team is led by JR/SR Noah Shinaman with 21 receptions for 288 yards and 1 TD. 

Defensively, UofR is led by JR/SR LB Caden Cole with 70 total tackles, including 7 TFL, 2.5 sacks and 2 FF. The Rochester defense has been giving up almost 28 PPG and I expect Hobart to pass that number mid-3rd quarter. 

FY DB Jack Yensel earned D3football.com TOTW honors for his strong game against Hartwick. The Yellow Jackets defense forced 6 Hawks' turnovers, including Yensel's 39-yard "pick six" which helped UofR gain a 28-21 lead in the 3rd quarter.

Special teams wise it looks like UofR has a pretty good punter in FY PK Alex Wing. He also earned TOTW recognition based on his 42.3 YPP average against Hartwick in Week 10. He was especially good at pinning the Hawks deep, getting 4 of his kicks downed inside the 20-yard line, a career high. Otherwise Wing has averaged nearly 40 YPKO. The Yellow Jackets need to find a better FG PK however, as they've only converted 1-5 FG attempts. They are good from close range though, converting 21-22 PATs.

Keys to the Game

1. Fluster the FY QB - Rose has only appeared in 4 games and attempted 69 passes in his young career. A steady attack by the Statesmen defense should cause him problems and potentially lead to turnovers. The FY QB has only thrown 2 INTs so far this season, but I expect that number will go up Saturday.

2. Air it Out - While I do expect the Statesmen to test UofR's rushing defense (ranked 6th in the LL, allowing over 165 YPG on the ground and 11 rushing TDs), I really see this game as a chance to work on the passing game, as Rochester has the worst passing defense in the LL. The Yellow Jackets allow over 235 YPG passing and have surrendered 21 receiving TDs.

3. Keep the Cup - While this "Centennial Cup" rivalry (which dates back to 1892) has been pretty one-sided with Hobart winning the last 9 in a row, including 2019's 51-20 victory, this is still a trophy game and should matter to the team. While the Statesmen may look back on a couple of games this season as "what if's", a dominating finish to 2021 is the right way to wrap up the year. 

Prediction:

I like Hobart to start strong and cruise to a 42-14 win. 

From there, the Statesmen will have to wait until Monday around 12 PM ET to see if they are selected to an ECAC Bowl Game. I think based on Hobart's strong resume (note I predicted they could appear in tomorrow's NCAA Regional Rankings - this link will be updated around 3 PM ET, Wednesday, give or take), they will get a bid.

I'll also predict that the Statesmen will host either a nearby E8 team like Utica (who should finish 6-4) or potentially Grove City (who should finish 7-3) from the PAC. While it's possible they could end up on the road at W&J or Westminster (who will both likely finish 8-2), I think the ECAC committee will send a NY (like Brockport, who Hobart scrimmaged in the preseason) or other team to PA for the Presidents and/or Titans to play. Ultimately, assuming they all finish 8-2, Hobart, Westminster and W&J will have the best overall resumes of the teams who've submitted bids, with the Statesmen grading higher than both PAC runners-up (and CMU could still lose to Case which would send Westminster to the NCAAs and CMU would end the year 7-3). 

Regardless, a win in Week 11 will help these teams avoid being road teams in Week 12, so getting that 8th win is critical, in my opinion. (Update - RPI just joined the fray, making it four potential 8-2 teams in the ECAC pool). 

For now, all Hobart can do is win Saturday and wait a couple more days to see if we get "bonus football". A bid would be a relatively new experience for Hobart. The last time the Statesmen appeared in an ECAC game (back then referred to as the "North Atlantic Bowl") dates all the way back to the 2003 season, a 34-18 win over Norwich. 

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

PS - don't forget to tune into "In the D3FB Huddle" Monday for our 2021 ECAC Bowl Selection Special!

Hobart Bowls Over Buffalo State, 45-21, Files for an ECAC Bid

The Hobart College Statesmen honored their (4th and 5th year) seniors Saturday in the final regular season game at the "Boz". According to the HWS Athletics Game Notes these Statesmen players were playing in their "last" home game (definitely the case for the 5th years, but whether or not that is correct for the others is TBD):

ILB BRYAN AGUILAR*
DL ISAIAH BOONE
WR GAVIN BUDA*
ILB CJ CALERO*  

PK ROB DIGREGORIO*

OLB EMMETT FORDE

OL CADE FRUCCI* 

OL CLAY JAMISON* 

DL NAJ JOHNSON* 

LB DANTE KIMBROUGH* 
OL DALTON KINDT* 

OL ETHAN KORNACKI* 

QB DAVID KREWSON*

WR ALEX LABELLA

DB JARED LEAKE

WR SHAHKYLE MATTHEWS*

DB JAY MCCOY*

OL LUDNER MERCY*

WR JAMES MIELE*
OL ANTHONY SEGUITI*

DE KYLE SPANO*

FS CAL SULLIVAN

DL SHANE WHITE

*(Student athletes who still have a year of NCAA eligibility left. It would appear as those decisions on whether or not these guys come back in 2022 will be made in the off-season. I have heard rumors on a few who are and aren't coming back, but won't speculate / report that for now. One omission of note was SR OL Kieran Paskewitz, Hobart's starting RT and arguably best OL. The fact he chose not to walk on Senior Day is a pretty good indication he'll be back). 

Back to last Saturday's game, Hobart (7-2, 3-2) fell behind early, allowing a 18-yard Buff State (0-9, 0-5) SR QB Thomas Dupee TD scamper with only 11:58 to go in the 1st quarter. The Statesmen shook it off and rattled off 45 unanswered points, however, gaining 465 total yards and six rushing TDs. 

You can read more about it here.

SO/JR RB Tim Denham, Jr. led the Hobart offense with 20 rushes for 213 yards and 3 rushing TDs. Defensively the Statesmen were paced by FY/SO OLB Jaimen Bliss with 8 tackles, adding 1.5 TFL/sacks.

The Statesmen will know prepare for their final week of the regular season and wait to see if and against whom they may have an opportunity to play in an ECAC Bowl Game on Saturday, November 20th. As you can see from the image below, Hobart has filed for a bid.

Selections will be announced on "In the D3FB Huddle" around 12-1 PM (give or take) ET (on our Facebook live channel).

I'll have more on the Rochester matchup later this week. Don't be surprised to see Hobart in this week's NCAA Regional Rankings either. Region 2 is down to a single undefeated team (Cortland) and the PAC is a mess after last weekend.

Thanks as always for reading (and for checking out the D3Blitzer show if you did so on last Saturday) and go 'Bart!

Week 10 - Buffalo State / Senior Day Game Preview

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!

Statesmen Push #12 Dutchmen to the Brink in 27-20 OT Loss

After a relatively easy September, the Hobart College Statesmen have had one of the most challenging October's since, well, 2019. For the second time this month, Hobart was on the brink of a huge Liberty League rivalry and road win, just to come up a play short in the end. The Statesmen had their chances, but ultimately it was Union who were a little more composed and came up with a bigger play here and there to hang on to win a very exciting 27-20 OT thriller on a cool, sometimes wet, day in Schenectady. 

To be fair, Hobart has also won their fair share of close ones (just ask RPI and SLU) this month also. It's just tough to swallow the fact this team could easily be 8-0 right now. To be fair, we could also be 4-4 based on how hard Weeks 7 and 8 were.

Nonetheless, more on this one below, ICYMI, you can see the HWS recap here.

In front of a packed Union Homecoming crowd the Statesmen (6-2, 2-2) fought tooth and nail to upset #12 Union College (8-0, 4-0), and nearly did. At the end of the day it was the little things - over 100 yards in penalties, a couple of special teams errors (e.g., a FG block and fake punt by the Dutchmen they converted into a first down) and drops - that led a potential season changing victory into a heart breaking loss.

The game box score shows two nearly identical teams from a statistical perspective with basically the same total yardage (370), plays (68 to 69), punts (5 to 4), turnovers (each QB was intercepted once), pass attempts (27 to 25), rushes (40 to 44) and sacks/TFL (0 to 1 and 5 to 4). 

The Statesmen pass defense made 2019 D3football.com All-East Region 2nd team and now 5th year SR QB Will Bellamy look pretty average, only allowing 9 pass completions on the day. Just like in 2018, 5th year SR Cal Sullivan got an INT on Bellamy, this time it was to close out the first half. Ultimately though it was the big 66-yard JR/SR Andre Ross, Jr. TD catch and run that seemed to push the momentum in Union's direction in the second half.

Credit JR/SR QB David Krewson and the Hobart offense however, they continued to battle to the bitter end. Krewson played his finest game of his career Saturday, connecting on several long passes to JR/SR WRs Alex LaBella and James Miele in key situations, he led team in rushing also, with 59 yards on 14 carries and 1 rushing TD. His heart and resolve was truly something special to observe up close.

I am not sure what happened to SO/JR RB Rayshawn Boswell, who reportedly wasn't 100% since earlier in the season, after the 80-yd KOR to open the game? The Statesmen not being able to get points after that big return was an ominous start, but Hobart kept fighting and only trailed 10-7 at the half. While Boswell did get the TD that resulted in that 3-point Union halftime lead, he only got 12 carries for the game and had a season low 33 yards when it was said and done.

On the other side, Union JR/SR RB Ike Irabor had a workman 121 yards on 36 carries and 2 rushing TDs. Ross Jr's big play was key, but I'd say once again the Dutchmen's MVP in a game vs. Hobart was Irabor. Special shout to out to Statesmen SO/JR LB Bryan Aguilar who stopped a lot of those runs. He led all tacklers with a game high 17.

Hobart will look back on this game (and ultimately) month with mixed emotions. While I was proud as an alumni how they played and overcame adversity Saturday, after the game it was the same narrative - penalties and minor mistakes - that lingered (basically what Cal first said to me when we met up after the game - see above).

The good news is I think we may still get to see Hobart in the post-season, as my ITH co-host Frank Rossi and I really encouraged HC Kevin DeWall '00 to look into an ECAC bowl game. We will announce the bowl bids / games again this year on Monday, November 15 after the NCAA bracket is revealed the day before. 

Assuming Hobart gets to the end of the regular season at 8-2, I don't see why they wouldn't have a shot at one more game, possibly against an E8 team like Brockport (6-2, 3-1) or Utica (5-3. 2-2), who've also put in bids. 

Or maybe a PAC team from Western PA like Carnegie Mellon (6-2, 6-1), Westminster (6-2, 6-1) or Washington & Jefferson (7-1, 6-1), depending on how their conference race finishes up?

It was great seeing everyone at the pregame tailgate and from the sidelines. Saturday's experience reminds me I need to get back to Geneva more often for gamedays. It's just a special environment and experience a video feed just can't convey.

I'll have more on the upcoming Senior Day / Buffalo State game a little later this week. 

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 9 - Union Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen will travel to Schenectady this Saturday for what we predicted would be the biggest game of the season back in August. Hobart (6-1, 2-1) will face off against #12 Union (7-0, 3-0) in what's basically a playoff / postseason elimination game for the Statesmen. There is no more New York State LL/E8 Bowl to fall back on and, as far as I know, the Statesmen never rejoined the ECAC (for FB), so a loss this weekend means no postseason for Hobart. 

Union has won 20 straight regular season games dating all the way back to 10/13/18 (a 24-0 defeat to Ithaca). The week before that game also happened to be the Statesmen's last win over the Dutchmen, an exciting 29-28 comeback victory that saw now 5th yr SR FS Cal Sullivan intercept SR QB William Bellamy (shown below) in the 4th quarter which helped Hobart burn out most of the remaining time in the game to hang on for the win.

These are both very different teams now, with HC Jeff Behrman and staff having built the Dutchmen into one of the premier programs in Region 2 / the East. To be honest, this 2021 Union team seems a little less potent than their 11-1,  2019-selves, but regardless, the Liberty League championship and AQ bid to the playoffs still runs through them.

The Statesmen are the first in a trio of tough games if the Dutchmen plan to defend their LL title and return to the NCAA playoffs. Union's opponents to date have gone a combined 16-33. Including Hobart, the Dutchmen's final 3 foes are a combined 19-2.

Scouting the Dutchmen

It all starts with SR QB William Bellamy for Union. I would dare say he's the best QB in the LL, if not Region 2 (to be fair, there are at least a couple of guys in the Centennial that could easily make that same claim however).

Bellamy has passed for 1,321 yards and has the best efficiency rating (164.1) in the LL. He's thrown 16 TDs to only 5 INTs in seven games, averaging just under 190 YPG passing.

He has a wide array of targets to chose from including JR/SR Andre Ross, Jr. (27 rec., 402 yds., 7 TD), likely LL ROTY FY WR Robbie Tolbert (25 rec., 372 yds., 6 TD) and SO/JR WR Finn Duran (15 rec., 203 yds., 2 TD).

Bellamy has been well protected by his OL, as the Dutchmen have only given up 2 sacks all season. This is also because Union usually plays max-protect (meaning having seven guys blocking when Bellamy drops back). 

Also benefitting from the OL play are the Union RB corps. They are led by JR/SR Ike' Irabor (104 rush., 499 yds., 8 TD), who almost single-handedly beat Hobart in the 2019 game with 191 rush yards and 2 TDs. Occasionally spelling Irabor (who did miss some time due to injury earlier this season) are FY RB Jonathan Anderson (77 rush., 379 yds., 6 TD) and backup FY/SO Michael Fiore (39 rush., 239 yds., 3 TD). 

Defensively Union is led by 5th year SR LB Colin Lama with 50 tackles (tied for 5th in the LL). SO/JR DL Jimaar Edwards has been a problem for opposing QBs, with 6 TFL and 2.5 sacks. The Dutchmen defense has racked up an impressive 18 sacks and 52 TFL so far this season. Nine different players have at least 1 INT on the year too.

On special teams the Dutchmen have a dedicated specialist in FY/SO Andrew Lau. He handles KOs (averaging 57.3 YPK)), punting (net average of 37.95 YPP) and FG/PATs (5-7 with a long of 29 and 29-32 on PATs).  

Keys to the Game

1. Contain "The Big 3" - Bellamy, Irabor and Ross, Jr. are the keys to Union's recent offensive success. While they will all certainly make some plays in Saturday, the Statesmen defense just needs to bend and not break when they do. An improved LB corps by Hobart (compared to the 2019 version) should assist with Irabor, so the real pressure will be on the Statesmen DL/OLBs getting to Bellamy and throwing off his timing. I imagine the Dutchmen will look to get Ross, Jr. open on Hobart's less experienced DBs and OLBs (e.g., Bliss, Mahoney and Hansen), which was a strategy that worked well for Ithaca.

2. Penalties & Turnovers - Can we really say with a straight face that there's a buttoned up, "Hobart Way" of playing football when it's been so sloppy for 7 games? I understand this team is one of the Statesmen's youngest in quite some time but the lack of discipline and accountability regarding penalties on the field has been one of the hardest things to accept about them as an avid (some may say crazy) Hobart fan/alum. Last Saturday against SLU, Hobart was flagged 10 times for -95 yards. The Statesmen will not win on Saturday if they do their usual ~8 flags for -80 YPG average. Fortunately, Union has struggled a little bit in this area as well, being flagged for about 6x per game and -63 YPP, on average. Hopefully the officials won't decide the outcome of this one, and given the intensity of this rivalry, Hobart will need to keep calm and not be drawn into post-whistle shenanigan's. On a separate, but similar note, turnovers have been an issue for Hobart of late, and they had a huge impact in the 23-7 loss to Union back in 2019. JR/SR QB David Krewson has to be better and can't afford to make errant shuffle passes / fumbles. A steady diet of higher pass percentage quick-outs, slants, skinny posts and/or dig routes to work the middle of the field (where Krewson has really succeeded as a passer) will help feed the Statesmen offense and move the chains. 

3. Pound the Rock - SO/JR RBs Rayshawn Boswell and Tim Denham, Jr. need to keep pounding away at the Union defense, who showed they were susceptible to a power run game in a close one (30-23) against triple-option experts Springfield College (4-3, 3-0 NEWMAC). The Pride ran for 290 yards that day and scored 2 rush TDs, committing zero penalties in the game, but they were ultimately done in by losing the turnover battle with 2 INTs. 

Prediction

In spite of having the defense and running game to make this interesting, I feel like penalties and turnovers will haunt Hobart again in Schenectady. Unfortunately, I feel like Union will pull away late, not unlike Ithaca did 4 weeks ago, and go on to win this one, 31-17.

I would love to be wrong, but in spite of the great work and obstacles overcome by Hobart this year, Union just seems like the healthier and stronger side. I have to say, I kind of blame the LL on this one too, because really this game should have been at Boswell Field this season. That would have definitely impacted things (not to mention my prediction) as well.

There should be a huge crowd (this is Union's Homecoming game) and electric playoff-football atmosphere Saturday.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Survive Another Scare, Rally to Beat SLU, 17-13

The Hobart College Statesmen managed to overcome another sluggish offensive performance to comeback and defeat a plucky Saint Lawrence Saints team yesterday at Boswell Field.

Hobart (6-1, 2-1) needed some late heroics to stave off what could have been a very rare loss to the Saints (3-4, 0-3). The hero ended up being JR/SR Alex LaBella who caught a six-yard TD pass with only 45 seconds remaining in the game. 

You can read the HWS recap for more details here.

What I'd like to focus on is the below, which shows how erratic and generally poor the Statesmen's offensive possessions and calls were Saturday. While the Saints defense is certainly improved and had their moments in the game, the Statesmen are really struggling to pass the ball outside of the middle of the field. JR/SR David Krewson finished the game with 181 total yards and the game winning TD pass, but was otherwise ineffective, going 11-28 (39% completion rate) with 2 INTs.

I want to remain optimistic, but I don't think a game like the above by this offense can give the Statesmen a realistic chance to win in Saturday's game vs. #12 Union (7-0, 3-0). I'll have more on that game tomorrow.

In the meantime, thanks for checking in and go 'Bart!

Week 8 - Saint Lawrence Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen will host the Saint Lawrence University Saints in another key Liberty League contest Saturday at Boswell Field. SLU (3-3, 0-2) has had an up and down season so far, losing two straight in LL play, after enjoying a three game winning streak in OOC games.

Last weekend the Saints had a water logged, 17-0 loss to #16 Ithaca (6-0, 3-0) up in Canton, NY. Their usual high octane offense only managed to gain 148 total yards (168 pass, -28 rush) against the Bombers. Ithaca on the other hand was completely weatherproof, gaining 418 yards on 78 plays.

The Statesmen (5-1, 1-1) and Saint Lawrence have had a pretty one-sided series of late, with Hobart winning their last 27 of the last 28 games, including 9 in a row. The Statesmen are 53-36-2 all time against SLU and won the last contest between these two programs back in 2019, by a comfortable 35-3 margin.

Don't forget - you can contribute to the "Tackles & Touchdowns for Happiness House" fundraiser by making a donation / pledge through the Statesmen football team. Reach out to Coach Green for more information.

Scouting the Saints

SLU enters this contest as the 3rd ranked passing offense in the LL, gaining 202 YPG through the air and is the 4th ranked scoring offense, averaging 22.3 PPG. The Saints have edged Hobart in the scoring defensive rankings, allowing 2 less TDs and only 12 PPG (but I believe these stats are buoyed by games against Norwich, SUNY-Morrisville and Castleton who are a combined 6-13).

SLU is led on offense by JR/SR QB Tyler Grochot. The Canadian team captain has passed for 1,130 yards and 11 TDs, compared to 7 INTs. He has a decent OL and has been sacked 9 times in six games,  but to be fair, Ithaca added a lot to that total, getting to Grochot 4 times last Saturday. 

While the Saints don't come close to matching Hobart's rushing offensive numbers, SLU has a pair of dependable RBs. One is actually listed on the Saints roster as a WR, but SLU's leading rusher is SO/JR RB Peyton Schmitt. He has carried the ball 74 times for 437 rushing yards and 3 TDs. His battery-mate is JR/SR Jamie Battaglia who has rushed 49 times for 231 rushing yards and 3 TDs as well.

The Saints like to spread the ball around on offense and 7 different receivers have recorded at least one TD catch this season. The current favorite target is JR/SR WR Sean McCormack who leads the team with 24 receptions for 320 yards. He's a tall and big bodied WR (6' 2" and 215 lbs.) who's added 2 TD catches as more of a possession, "move the chains", type of player. The deep threat is SR/GR WR Andrew Murphy. He leads the team with 3 TD catches, including an 85-yard long. In some ways, this tandem reminds me of the Anderson & Vito combo we saw at Ithaca. I don't think that'll be the case this Saturday, but more on that in a bit. 

Defensively the Saints are led by Canandaigua Academy grad and SO/JR LB Jacob Driesbach with 40 total tackles. He may be out due to an injury, however, as he did not play against the Bombers. SLU appears to be a pretty aggressive and attacking defensive unit, racking up 9 sacks and 39 TFL this season. JR/SR LB Kyle Frimel leads the team with 7 TFL (he was especially impressive vs. Union the week before), but he was held to just a single assisted tackle in the IC game. 

The Saints have a couple of strong interior DL in SO/JR DL Bryan Placide and SO/JR DL Nathan Rosahac. Both have recorded a team high 2 sacks a piece to go with a combined 30 tackles and 7.5 TFL. FY/SO CB Grady Harrington leads the Saints with 2 INTs and SO/JR OLB Victor Gamberoni has 1 INT to go with a team high 5 PBUs.

On special teams SLU has a trio of kickers. JR/SR WR/PK Tyler Liddy handles punting, averaging 36.42 YPP. JR/SR PK Ian Doin has gone 3-3 on FGs (long of 36) and has handled about 65% of the Saints KOs, averaging 42.7 YPK. FY S/PK James Bocock has a slightly better average, 46.3 YPK, when given the opportunity.

Keys to the Game

1. 3rd Down - The Saints are not a good third down team this season, ranking dead last in the LL with a 21-75 or 28% conversion rate. The Statesmen on the other hand, are 1st in the LL converting at a 50% clip. Keeping Grochot on the sideline via the three-and-out is pretty much the key to beating SLU.

2. Clean It Up - While we can talk about Hobart's inexperience in a few key positions here and there, but at what point do you have to look at coaching staff for the very high penalty count the Statesmen have racked up this season? This comes down to basic fundamentals and the Statesmen are averaging over 8 flags and a league worse nearly -78 YPG due to these mental errors. On the flip side, the Saints are like their namesake, only averaging -37 YPG in penalties, best in the LL. Advantage Coach Puck and company. Needless to say, Hobart needs to nip this in the bud ASAP.

3. Unleash the Beast - SR/GR OLB Emmett Forde has been fantastic since returning from injury, racking up 17 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 2 sacks and 1 FF, in the past two weeks. His play, along with the rest of the Hobart defense, will be pivotal in keeping this potentially high powered Saints offense in check. The front 7 in particular will need to bring the heat to Grochot to avoid having our secondary get exposed because they were stuck in coverage for far too long like we saw against the Bombers back in Week 5. 

4. Embrace the Suck - Normally this refers to the grind of the season, and since it's Week 8, that's appropriate. Neither team is going into this one 100% healthy and that is pretty much the case for every team out there. I will add, in a different context, that Hobart needs to embrace the suck that is their offensive identity. This is a rushing offense, and the Statesmen have some history being a dual-RB, ground and pound team. Back in 2012 the combo of Steve Webb and Bobby Dougherty averaged a combined 32 carries per game. Now, they were balanced out by QB Nick Strang who was a 2.000+ yard passer that season, but Hobart did run the ball 70% of the time. While the 2021 team runs it more out of necessity (68% of the time) than the 2012 version, they can and should continue to embrace that identity to carry them over the next couple of weeks. 

Prediction:

Weather or not (pun intended), I like Hobart to grind away at the Saints on offense and pound them on defense to extend their home winning streak to 10-0. It should / will also be the 10th win in a row over SLU, who are certainly talented, but not quite at the Statesmen's level. The biggest issue for Hobart, to be honest, is to avoid the possibility of falling into a "trap game" because the team is overlooking the Saints in anticipation of next weekend's huge game vs. Union.

One game at a time, guys. Do your thing, and I think I will say that Saturday will be a 28-10 win for the Statesmen, as a result.

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Win in a Wet and Wild One, 10-9, Over RPI

The Hobart College Statesmen won one of the strangest games in the almost 30 years I've followed D3FB today, 10-9, over Liberty League rival RPI. 

You can read the HWS recap of the game here. 

The Statesmen (5-1. 1-1) didn't help themselves with turnovers (2) and penalties (8 for -67 yards), but they were good enough, especially on defense, to hold RPI (6-1, 2-1) to 145 total yards on 51 plays. The Hobart offense rushed for over 200 yards going into the 4th quarter, but then only managed 4 total yards on 14 plays in the final stanza.

If not for the 5 sacks, 2 INTs, 2 FRs and a PAT block by the Statesmen defense, Hobart probably would have lost the game. SO LB Bryan Aguilar was the hero intercepting RPI SR QB George Marinopoulos for the final time with under a minute to go. The embattled Engineers QB struggled all game, being held to only 2 passing yards in the 1st half and finishing with an 11-20 for 57 yard day. 

When five 5th year SRs are better than 20+ (Photo Credit: Jason White)

JR QB David Krewson was more accurate, going 7-8 passing, but he only netted 25 yards. This is probably the lowest passing yardage output by a Hobart starting QB since Scott Pinker '97 netted only 9 yards in a 2-0 win over Rochester back on 10/9/93 (yeah, I am that old and I remember that game and the weather that day was really, really bad - way worse than today's tbh). Hobart ran the ball 68 times due to the rain and today's game wasn't that different (56), but the second half....I'll elaborate more on that in a bit.

Ultimately it was the wildcat formation calls that gained the most yardage for the Statesmen, including SO RB Rayshawn Boswell's 49 yard TD run with 1:20 to go in the first quarter. Boswell finished the day with 18 carries for 149 yards on what's becoming an All-American season. SO RB Tim Denham, Jr. nearly eclipsed the 100-yard mark as well, adding 26 rushes for 94 yards.

The good news is at the end of the day, Hobart won and kept it's LL title and NCAA playoff hopes alive. The bad news is our offense is really, really one dimensional. While I doubt the coaching staff will be able to make significant changes based on current personnel, it's clear something's got to give if this team is going to take the next step. The offensive execution is still not there and it was never more apparent in the fourth quarter of today's game when passing the ball could (and should) have been an option but just wasn't.

Another week of practice awaits to help the team get better. SLU lost to Ithaca today, 17-0, in another rain drenched outing. The Saints won't be pushovers, but realistically, Hobart has two weeks to figure things out. 

The regular season hinges (as I predicted back in the preseason) on Week 9 at Union.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart! 

Week 7 - RPI Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen return to Boswell Field for another big Liberty League showdown against conference rival, RPI (6-0, 2-0). First off, thank goodness this is a home game otherwise Statesmen fans and families wouldn't be able to attend. Frank and I have spoken about this issue a lot on our ITH podcast, so I won't go back over old news.

Second, RPI comes into this matchup off a (scoreboard deceiving) 24-16 win over Buffalo State (0-5, 0-2). The Engineers have always been a tough out for the Statesmen (4-1, 0-1), but they haven't won a game at the "Boz" since a narrow, 2 point conversion play incompletion gave RPI a 21-20 win back in 2015. Although both Hobart and RPI are RVs in the D3football.com Top 25, the Engineers did make it into the AFCA Coaches Poll at #25. 

Scouting the Engineers

RPI has the largest class of SR and 5th year players in the LL, with close to 50 SAs on their roster. This added experience has enabled them to edge teams in close games. The Engineers started off their season winning games by 1 and 4 points, respectively. 

RPI is led on offense by SR QB George Marinopoulos. The game this weekend in Geneva is a bit of a "full circle" moment for him as his first collegiate action came against Hobart in 2017, his FY. In 2021, Marinopoulos has passed for 1,455 yards with 18 TDs and only 3 INTs. Both the yardage and TD marks lead the LL at the moment. He's thrown for over 7,000 yards in his 35-game playing career, averaging over 200 YPG passing. An interesting note regarding the RPI offense is that Marinopoulos has 1 rushing TD also, which is tied for the team lead (more on that in a minute).

The Engineers offense is interesting in that they've called virtually an equal number of pass and run plays (196-194), but RPI's offense moves the ball primarily through the air. The Engineers average over 250 passing YPG compared to 103.5 rushing YPG. Scoring is also primarily all via the pass, as RPI has 20 compared to 2 rushing TDs.

SR RB Dylan Burnett is the the Engineers primary RB/SB. He has the one other rushing TD on the year and has carried the ball a team high 49 times for 168 yards. He's added 4 catches for 61 yards as well.

Marinopoulos's favorite target is SR WR Peter Lombardi and he leads the team with 41 receptions for 424 yards and 6 TDs. RPI likes to spread the ball around so it's no surprise that 8 other receivers have scored at least 1 TD for the Engineers this season. 

While the offense has been successful, the strength of this team has been it's defense. They have held teams to 14.17 PPG (and this number is inaccurate in my opinion due to defensive scores from Week 1 and late garbage time TDs in recent weeks) and their 260.5 YPG allowed is second in the LL to Hobart (213.6 YPG). 

SR LB Joe Deptula leads the Engineers defense and is ranked 3rd in the LL with 46 total tackles. He also has a a team and LL high 6 TFL. SR DB Perry Francis leads RPI with 3 INT. JR DB Carlos Davis has picked off opposing QBs twice. 

On special teams, SR PK Conor MacDougall handles the FGs, hitting 3 from inside 29 yards. His one miss was an over 30 yard attempt. He also averages 49.2 YPK on KOs and has gone 21-22 on PATs (one being an actual game winner vs. Montclair in Week 1). The punter is SR PK Zac Montrief (a GR player) who's averaging over 39 YPP and has impressively dropped the ball inside the opposition's 20 yard line 10 times this season while also forcing 7 fair catches.

Keys to the Game:

1. Win the LOS - The Statesmen OL struggled against an attacking Ithaca defense two weekends ago and I expect a similar challenge from RPI. While the Engineers don't have a ton of sacks this season (it's between 5-7*) they do have a respectable number of TFL (24). This pressure has led opposing QBs to make some bad throws and decisions, leading to 8 INT. On the flip side, the RPI OL could be potentially exploited by the Hobart DL/OLBs. The Engineers have allowed a surprisingly high 19-20 sacks (*there are discrepancies between the RPI and LL data) and 39 TFL in 6 games this season. Unfortunately the Statesmen are dead last in the LL for getting sacks with only 5 so far this season. I think this is partially due to the 3-man front the Statesmen run today (I've been very vocal I prefer 4 DL, but that seems like a defense of the "old days" at this point) and probably because of SR OLB Emmett Forde's absence from the lineup due to his shoulder injury. Marinopoulos is a poised QB and game manager, so I don't expect him to make many mistakes, but with enough pressure, he could have flashbacks to his 2 INT and 2 sack game he experienced in Geneva in 2019, a dominating, 41-27 Hobart win.

2. Win on 3rd Down - The RPI offense has gone for it 16 times on 4th down this season, successfully converting 10 of those attempts. Part of the reason for having to do that is they rank 2nd to last in the LL in 3rd down conversions, going 25-77 (32.5%). It's imperative that the Statesmen defense forces the Engineers into these difficult 3rd down plays, which is a clear weakness for RPI. While the Engineers do have a great punter which will help them in flipping the field, Hobart needs to force the RPI offense off the field in these key situations.

3. Cut Out the Penalties - This is a matchup of polar opposites. RPI is the least penalized team in the LL (36 YPG) and Hobart is the most (79.4 YPG). That is probably where you can really see the difference in experience between the two squads. While the Statesmen due enjoy a VERY strong home field advantage - winning 8 in a row at home (last home loss was a 10-3 game to Ithaca at the end of the 2018 regular season) - the local officiating crews haven't cut the Statesmen many breaks (quite the opposite, usually). Hobart can't afford to shoot themselves in the foot like they did in Ithaca (9 flags for -70 yards) and expect to get a win on Saturday.

4. Be Creative - The Statesmen will need to be creative in trying to find ways to move the ball. RPI has one of the best passing defenses in the LL and have only allowed 2 pass TDs all season. They are strong against the run, allowing 112.5 rush YPG and only 6 TDs (basically just one per game they've played). Something will have to give here for Hobart to get a win. I do think the Statesmen can make some calls to keep the Engineers defense off guard, but once again it'll come down to JR QB David Krewson taking some calculated shots down field on high percentage completion plays. With the Hobart TEs likely needing to stay home and block, the Hobart WRs (and/or RBs, which are likely better options given matchups vs. LBs) will need to step up against the most experienced defensive secondary they'll face all season. 

Prediction:

I think this will be a low-scoring, defensive struggle for most of the game. It would be great if SO RB Rayshawn Boswell could have a big KOR or running play that opens things up for Hobart and it wouldn't surprise me if we see a few FG attempts from both teams Saturday.

In the end I think the Statesmen can prevail if they button up and play to their strengths. If this game was in Troy, I may have had to have picked RPI this week, but the Boz is a different story. I'll take Hobart in 24-21 nail-biter. Should be a great game either way.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Into the Bye Week - The Playoffs Start in Week 7

Hobart has had a bit of a playout draught of late after going to the NCAA post-season 12 times in 16 seasons (2000-2016) over the past two decades. Many thought after the (9-2) very successful 2019 season that 2020 would be the year that absence would finally end.

Obviously COVID happened and the 2020 season was cancelled. The Statesmen lost a fair number of talented seniors in the Class of 2020 to graduation and successful job placements (definitely no shame in that, quite the opposite, actually). While a handful of key players did come back, especially on defense, we knew going into the 2021 season this would be a more inexperienced Hobart squad.

That inexperience benefitted in what, in retrospect, was not a challenging September OOC schedule. Hobart rolled up four easy wins by a combined 176-38 margin, leading the nation with 19 rushing TDs with a lethal two-headed rushing attack. 

Unfortunately the downside to this easy start could have been a false sense of security that we saw #17 Ithaca (4-0, 1-0) attack with success in Week 4. The Statesmen (4-1, 0-1) offense struggled at the beginning and the end of the game and the defense gave up 28 points to an efficient and determined Bombers squad.

Hobart didn't help themselves however, committing 9 penalties for -70 yards, 1 INT (which led to a short field and later a TD for Ithaca) and a 2-4 (.500) red zone scoring mark. JR QB David Krewson was under constant pressure, hitting just over 50% of his passes (he was 15-29 or 51.35%) and getting sacked twice. The OL struggled early, but eventually got things going just before halftime. I'll admit, after SO RB Rayshawn Boswell broke off that 70-yd TD run to give Hobart a 21-14 lead in the 3rd quarter, I thought the Butterfield curse was finally over. 

Honestly if you told me last Friday that Hobart would rush for 191 yards, and ultimately out-gain Ithaca by a 414-346 margin, I would have assumed the Statesmen would have won. However, if you break the rushing statistics down and cut out the Boswell TD, as well as SO RB Tim Denham, Jr's longest rush of 19 yards and Krewson's 12-yard long, you get the real picture. The Statesmen only averaged about 2.36 YPR on 38 other run calls, which is similar to the mark they had in the 2019 loss. Basically Hobart hit on a couple of long runs, but their vaunted rush game was otherwise shut down by the Ithaca defense, forcing the Statesmen to have to win it via the pass as my Week 5 game preview kind of predicted.

I don't view this as a loss on the offense though, because in spite of herculean efforts by SR OLB Emmett Forde and SO LB Bryan Aguilar who came back from injury to have a 10 tackle (7 solo) and 2 TFL and 8 tackle games, respectively, the once ball-hawking defense didn't get the job done in the clutch. 

The previously INT-prone Wingfield sliced up the Hobart secondary with a nearly perfect 17-21 (81%) completions for 221 yards and 1 TD day. He would catch the Statesmen in coverage assignments and make a run for it to score to give Ithaca their first lead of the game, 7-0, early in the 2nd quarter.

Ironically the Hobart offense hit on more, long pass plays in the game, and the Statesmen defense successfully held the Bombers offense to only 2 third down conversions on 9 tries. Unfortunately, Ithaca just hit on the big plays at more opportune times than the Statesmen did.

So where do we go from here?

The Statesmen will basically have to run the table between Weeks 7-11 to get back into the postseason. While another NYS bowl game could be eventually be available as a "consolation prize" of sorts, that's not the goal. Unfortunately the rest of the way is a much more difficult journey than the first half of the season.

As of today, the win-loss records of Hobart's next three LL opponents are a combined 13-1, and the Statesmen will definitely be underdogs in two of those three games. The last two weeks (10 & 11) are similar to Weeks 1-4, as Buffalo State and Rochester are a combined 1-7. That said, Rochester is much improved team over past years, even if their only win to date is a 28-27 close call over Alfred State (who's 1-3, 0-0 in the ECFC).

These records won't change much due to Week 6, as RPI hosts Buff State (basically making the Engineers 6-0, 2-0 and the Bengals 0-5, 0-2) and Ithaca is at Rochester (basically making the Bombers 5-0, 2-0 and the Jackets 1-4, 0-2, barring a crazy upset). The game to watch will be Union (5-0, 1-0) hosting Saint Lawrence (3-1, 0-0). The Dutchmen have been living dangerously of late and the Saints could play spoiler with an extra week of preparation. The Statesmen need to remain steady, focused and hope for at least a little chaos goes on elsewhere.

Meanwhile, back in Geneva, the Statesmen will need to work on doing a better job at the LOS on the OL and developing a better pass game on offense. Defensively, the younger DBs and LBs will need to work on pass coverage, especially with a such an experienced and talented set of QBs like George Marinopoulos (RPI), Tyler Grochot (SLU) and Will Bellamy (Union) coming up. These three have passed for 3,000 yards and 41 TDs in 14 games combined. 

The season is far from over. The playoffs are just starting about 5 weeks early.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Comeback Falls Short, #17 Ithaca Keeps Butterfield Curse Alive, winning 28-21

With the upcoming bye week we unfortunately will have a lot of time to mull this loss over. JR QB David Krewson had his moments, but poor protection from his OL which lost the LOS for most of the game forced him into some tough situations.

The Statesmen rallied down 14-0 to score 21 unanswered points, but ultimately the defense couldn't stop the Ithaca WR combo of Michael Anderson and Andrew Vito. The young Hobart secondary was exposed on a few long pass plays and SO QB AJ Wingfield was simply the better player at QB Saturday.

SO RBs Rayshawn Boswell and Tim Denham, Jr. scored the three Hobart TDs but it was the overthrow to a wide open Boswell that ultimately ended the game for the Statesmen for all intents and purposes. 

Sure, Hobart had a couple of other chances, but the game ended in typical Butterfield fashion with a strange fumble / broken play that ended up not getting to the sideline as time expired.

While ending up 4-1, 0-1 at the halfway point of the regular season isn't a death sentence, it's certainly disappointing. The Statesmen will have an upward battle to go from here, but as Frank and I have said on "In the D3FB Huddle" the best candidate for a Region 1 or 2 Pool C playoff bid is probably to the runner up of the Liberty League. It's also possible the LL title could end up being decided via tiebreakers due to multiple teams going 9-1. Still five more games to go, but the RPI one is the most important for now.

We will see if that pans out, in the meantime, the Statesmen will likely be pulled from the Top 25 and replaced by RPI (5-0, 1-0). #12 Union (5-0, 1-0) definitely looks beatable after struggling a bit with Buffalo State (0-4, 0-1) today.

Biggest game of the season is always the next one. The Engineers get Buff State in Week 6, so at least the Statesmen will have an extra week to prep for this important LL showdown.

More on this game in a bit. Go 'Bart.

Week 5 - #17 Ithaca Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen enter October and Liberty League conference play with a perfect 4-0 mark. The LL is having a banner year, with four undefeated teams at the top of the standings, three of them ranked in the D3football.com Top 25, with a combined 15-0 record. Even the Saint Lawrence Saints are off to a great start, going 3-1 in September.

One of those undefeated teams is #17 Ithaca College (3-0) who was off in Week 4 after shutting out Alfred (1-3), 34-0, in Week 3. The Bombers are one of just a few teams that (now #21) Hobart has all-time losing record against. The Statesmen needed 11 tries, dating back to 1961, to win their first ever game against their Finger Lakes neighbors (in the 1983 season). Hobart didn't beat the Bombers in the 70s or most of the rest of the 80s or the entire 90s either. It wasn't until the 2000 season that Hobart finally broke through, with the Statesmen winning that contest 19-0 and going on to take four of seven, including the dramatic 22-15 NCAA playoff win over Ithaca in 2014.

Hobart's last win over the Bombers was back in 2016 (also the most recent time the Statesmen went to the NCAA playoffs), a thorough 23-3 beating at Boswell Field. Unfortunately the Statesmen have gone on to lose three straight since Ithaca officially joined the LL. The most recent being the complete 34-0 falling apart by Hobart after the ejection of then JR OLB Emmett Forde in 2019. 

The Statesmen are 0-16 all-time at Ithaca. If they want to win the LL like Union did in 2019, they will have to do it like the Dutchmen, by beating the Bombers on their home field.

Scouting the Bombers

There's actually a lot of statistical similarities, at least defensively, between these two teams. The Bombers are ranked 1st in the LL with a 9.3 PPG allowed mark, while Hobart is narrowly behind them with a 9.5 PPG allowed average. The Statesmen are a slightly better rushing defense, allowing 66.3 YPG rushing and only 1 TD in 4 games, while Ithaca has allowed 73 YPG rushing and only 2 scores over three games.

Against the pass Hobart is the best in the LL only allowing 114.3 YPG and 4 TDs. The Bombers have allowed more yards - 193.3 YPG - but less TDs (2). The Ithaca passing game is currently the top ranked attack in the league with a 285 YPG average. They are rated 3rd and 4th, respectively, in total yards (855) and passing TDs (7). Hobart is the top scoring offense, averaging 44 PPG while the Bombers are third averaging 36.3 PPG.

Ithaca is led by JR QB A.J. Wingfield on offense. He has been very accurate, going 70-95 (73.68%) for 797 yards and 6 TDs. Wingfield has been mistake prone at times, however, throwing 4 INTs. Wingfield's OL has done a good job keeping him safe, allowing only 3 sacks this season. Wingfield leads the LL in passing with 265.7 YPG and is second in efficiency with a 156.6 rating. His 86-yd TD pass in Week 1 against Bridgewater State (2-2) is also a league best.

The Bombers have a good stable of RBs and SO RB Jalen Hines leads Ithaca with 35 carries for 196 yards and 3 TDs. SR RB Donte Garcia has 32 rushes for 108 yards. SO RB Jake Williams appears to be the short yardage back, rushing 16 times for 51 yards and 2 TDs.

Ithaca has two favorite targets in SR Michael Anderson and SR WR Andrew Vito. Anderson averages almost 25 YPR and leads the team with 268 yards and 4 TDs. Vito is more of the possession, move-the-chains guy, with a team high 22 catches. Vito has tallied 252 receiving yards and 2 scores on the year so far.  Vito had 8 catches for 106 yards and 1 TD against Hobart in 2019.

Defensively the Bombers are led by SR DB/SS Michael Roumes with 13 tackles and 2 INT. The Ithaca defense have matched Hobart's 8 defensive INT mark for best in the LL. Running the ball will require the Statesmen to execute well up front, the Bombers have 16 TFL this season and 7 sacks. They really push to get into the backfield and disrupt the offense. 5th YR SR DL Antonio Valle (who ironically happens to be from Orlando, FL), will be an important guy to block, as he leads Ithaca with 2 sacks and 1 FF.

On special teams, JR PK Enzo Martellucci is an average punter (less than 30 YPP average) and classmate JR PK Nick Bahamonde is one of the best kickers in the LL. He leads the league in KO yardage (nearly a 60 YPK average) and has converted 4-5 FGs with a long of 42 this season. 

Keys to the Game:

1. Run & Protect the Ball - The Statesmen have more than 3x the number of rushing TDs are the Bombers, running it in 19 times already this season. This mark is tied for first in the nation with W&L of the ODAC. Hobart averages over 250 YPG in rushing offense and the best way to break the Butterfield Curse is to move the chains and control the clock. The Statesmen OL has a slight size advantage over the Bombers DL (about 23 lbs. per player on average). It goes without saying winning the LOS will be imperative to set the tone and keep Hobart in control of the game. The Statesmen only gained 59 yards in the 2019 loss, averaging about 2.5 YPR. Ithaca has recovered five fumbles so far, so it's imperative the Statesmen don't let takeaways by the Bombers defense ruin their offensive possessions. The Bombers defense has enjoyed a relatively healthy 34-26 advantage in TOP, meaning they've gotten off the field and haven't had to play a 30 minute-plus game, yet.

2. Overcome Adversity - Let's face it, so far this season the Statesmen haven't really faced a major challenge. Should Ithaca's rushing defense be up to the task, how will the Statesmen handle it? The Bombers are holding opponents to a 20.45% (9-44) 3rd down conversion rate. JR QB David Krewson is ranked in the 5th-7th spots for most QB metrics in the LL. He may need to "level up" and make plays, either with his arm or feet, in these potential 3rd down situations. If the inexperienced WR unit can't be relied on to extend possessions, then perhaps going to TE unit of JR TE Mike Zaccone and FY TE Luke Hescock is the answer? Certainly SO RBs Rayshawn Boswell and Tim Denham, Jr are trusty check downs as well. Hobart doesn't need to connect on long "bombs" against Ithaca (pun intended), just keep moving the chains. Conversely, Ithaca has been successful in taking the top off of opposing defenses, scoring on long pass TDs against BSU (86 yds) and Brockport (71 yds). Hobart's secondary is experienced, but they need to avoid getting beat deep (and you can expect Ithaca will take some shots). I do think SR DB Jared Leake and/or SR FS Cal Sullivan should have at least a couple of chances to pick off Wingfield and flip the field on the Bombers. 

3. Forget the Past / Block Out the Present - You see it all the time. I saw it in the body language of the #7 Hardin-Simmons defense last Saturday night. Once #2 UMHB started their comeback in the 3rd qtr., you could see the whole "here we go again" nature of teams that just don't really believe they can break certain losing streaks. From my purview, HSU gave up rather than believe they could pull off the upset they had put into motion with a dominating 28-7 halftime lead. I will say this, HSU SR QB Kyle Jones never quit, but I can't say the same about some of his teammates. You could see it on the film and Hobart will need to avoid this mindset should calls or other things not go their way on Saturday. The structure of Butterfield doesn't help the visitors either, and back in 2019, many may recall how an Ithaca parent hurled obscenities at the Statesmen players on the bench and the officials didn't call a clear Ithaca fumble recovered by the Statesmen on the Hobart sideline to make matters worse. Needless to say, it'll be a difficult environment, so the Statesmen need to be extra focused and block out the "noise" that is likely inevitable in Ithaca on Saturday.

Prediction: 

Is this finally the game Hobart will get over the hump? 

The relative strength of both teams is hard to gauge given each had nearly identical results against a common opponent in Alfred (Hobart won 35-3, Ithaca won 34-0). The Statesmen's opponents are 4-12 overall and Ithaca's are 5-6, mostly due to BSU edging some average New England teams of late.

With the potential returns of SR OLB Emmett Forde and JR LB Bryan Aguilar, the Statesmen should be at full strength defensively to start the game. The offense will need to grind it out and avoid turning the ball over to avoid digging themselves into an early hole.

I'll be honest, I originally was going to pick Ithaca over the weekend, maybe to light a fire or simply because I've simply been wrong in the past so many times now (e.g., I picked Hobart to win in 2017 and 2018, eventually doing a "non-pick" in 2019. The last time I picked right? 2016). 

While the statistics here point to a slight Hobart advantage, I think it will come down to whether not the Statesmen's RBs can gain yards on first down and Krewson making a handful of drive sustaining key plays and run the offense how it's set up. Defensively we need to force Wingfield into throwing an INT or two and not getting beat on the deep ball, if we can avoid it.

I think (hope?) the Statesmen can escape Butterfield with their first ever victory. It's been long enough and it's time. A ground and pound offensive and defensive effort will finally get it done. I'll take Hobart 31-24. 

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Roll Giants, 58-14, at Homecoming

The (soon to be Top 25) Hobart College Statesmen ended September a perfect 4-0 with a 58-14 Homecoming blowout of new D3FB program Keystone College (0-4). 

FY TE Luke Hescock caught his 1st career pass and TD to start the scoring and Hobart never looked back. At the half Hobart had a 15-1 advantage in first downs and were outgaining the Giants 302-12 yards (that's not a typo).

It's safe to say pretty much everyone on the team who was healthy got some valuable playing time  Saturday night. The Statesmen gave the ball to roughly 23-24 ball carriers or receivers in the game.

A few of the highlights, other than the Hescock TD, included:

SO RB Rayshawn Boswell touched the football six times, scoring 2 rush and 1 receiving TDs. His counterpart SO RB Tim Denham, Jr. led all rushers with 16 carries for 90 yards, plus a TD. 

JR QB David Krewson had a solid night going 10-15 for 160 passing yards and 2 TDs. He added 8 rushing yards and a TD also. FY QB Johnny Colombi got his first college game experience, passing for 24 yards. 

The Hobart defense allowed a couple of late scores when the subs were in, but were otherwise dominant. They were led by JR DB Jay McCoy with 7 tackles. Nearly 30 Statesmen defenders registered a stop on Saturday.

On ST, FY PK Tobias Wefering kicked a 35-yd FG with just over two minutes remaining. He punted once and otherwise split KO and PAT duties with JR PK Rob DiGregorio.

All in all it was a fun outing for the Statesmen, kind of like a scrimmage or a bye week to be honest. The best part was no one came away injured from the game. #19 Ithaca had a bye week this past weekend which kind of makes this game a little more fair now. 

Regardless, we're onto Ithaca. Time to break the Butterfield curse.