Romano Earns All-Region 2 Team Honors from D3football.com

Hobart College SO LB Anthony Romano was the sole Statesmen representative on this year's D3football.com All-Region 2 team. He was named as one of three LBs on the defensive second team, which is quite an accomplishment when you consider the breadth and depth of Region 2 which covers the Centennial, Empire 8, Liberty League, New Jersey and Presidents Athletic Conferences.  

Romano led Hobart with 88 total tackles, including 10.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 2 INTs, 2 PBU and 1 FR. He ranked fourth in tackles in the LL and second overall in solo stops with 46. His TFL count tied for seventh best overall.

Romano earning this recognition as a SO is also very impressive and it's likely he'll be taking a greater leadership role on the defense going into the 2023 season. 

Congratulations to Anthony on this prestigious recognition!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Here We Go Again - Class of 2027 Recruiting News Season is Here!

Well, that didn't take long.

The first of what I assume to be several ED1 admits have begun posting on social media about their commitment to attending and playing football at Hobart College.  Today, Nathaniel ("Nat") Teska-Prince from Institute of Technology HS in Syracuse, NY tweeted out his plans to become a part of the Statesmen Class of 2027.

He sent out the following statement which read:

"Nat" as he calls himself, is a big (6'3" 275 lbs.) DL/OL who could be a plug and play NG or RT depending on how he develops. You can check out his highlight reel here. 

Please join me in welcoming Nat to the Hobart College Statemen Football family.

More recruiting news to come! 'Tis the season.

Go 'Bart!

2022 Season Retrospective

The 2022 season was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Hobart College Football fans. A relatively younger team compared to many in the Liberty League, the Statesmen were predicted to finish third in conference and based on the final standings (7-4, 4-2), did exactly that.

That said many Statesmen alums and others thought this team had more potential than that, but injuries, some personnel issues and bad breaks ended up keeping Hobart from going back to the NCAA playoffs for the fifth season in a row. 

15 Statesmen earned All-League recognition and Hobart finished the year ranked third in total offense (28.5 PPG) and total defense (14.8 PPG allowed). A good deal for the Statesmen's success (and lack thereof) was based on the legs of JR RBs Tim Denham, Jr. and Rayshawn Boswell. Unfortunately their numbers dropped precipitously this season due to health issues, as Denham and Boswell only averaged 71.2 and 45.9 YPG respectively but scored a combined 17 rushing TDs. 

Statesmen Standouts

The passing game was hit and miss, but SO WR Rane Daramola emerged as a new receiving threat, catching 18 passes for over 400 yards and a team-high 4 TDs. Honestly Daramola's 58-yard game winning TD catch against Union with 2:10 remaining was probably the biggest play and highlight of the 2022 season for Hobart.

On the defensive side of things, SO LB Anthony Romano had a fantastic season, leading the Statesmen with 88 total tackles, while adding 10.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 2 INTs (including the pick six in the ECAC Bowl game at W&J). Classmate SO LB Peterson Monexant also had a strong year, finishing the season with 66 stops, 11 TFL, 4 sacks and an INT. 

On special teams, both FY PK Vicente Lyon and SO PK Tobias Wefering had solid seasons. Lyon finished third in the LL in net punting average. Wefering will need to improve on accuracy as he went 6-12 on FGs with a long of 39.

Looking Back

Based on the Senior Day photos, it looks like Hobart will lose at least 12 players to graduation. Some names who were missing (and/or were recognized last year) included QB David Krewson and DB Jay McCoy. McCoy was second on the team in tackles (82) this season. Krewson finished his Hobart career with 3,568 passing yards and 23 passing, 7 rushing and 1 receiving TD.

Also finishing up their careers as 5th YR SRs included WR Alex LaBella and DE Kyle Spano. LaBella had 53 receptions for 662 yards and 4 TDs over his playing career. Spano had a total of 58 tackles, including 11.5 TFL, 6.5 sacks, 2 FF, and 1 FR. 

The players who were recognized on Senior Day included the following:

SR DB Blake Hansen - an outstanding safety for Hobart who was the MVP of last year's ECAC Bowl win. He has a year of eligibility left but appears to have played his final season. He will be tough to replace in the defensive secondary. 

SR QBs Kieran Hamilton & Joseph Pelletier - both appeared in a handful of games over the years. I had the pleasure of meeting Joe at Halsey's the night before the Rochester game. 

JR LS Jordan O'Connor - a true specialist for Hobart, serving as the long-snapper on punts, FG, etc.

JR DL Jack Daley - a converted LB, Daley rotated in on the DL over the past two seasons. 

SR LB Vito Visconti - big and tough ILB that rotated in Hobart's very deep and athletic LB corps.

SR DL Naj Johnson - huge interior DL who was a valued run-stuffer and pass rusher. Struggled with injuries over his career but was an impact player when healthy. 

SR OL Kieran Paskewitz, Ben Frank & Cade Frucci - a core group of Hobart's starting OL in 2021 and 2022. Paskewitz earned All-Region honors in 2021 and was consistently ranked as the Statesmen's top OL. Frank was a huge run blocker who often got flagged for being a little too aggressive at times, but it was clear the coaches didn't mind, because he started at LT for an extended run. Frucci switched from guard to tackle this season and was a key anchor to the Hobart run and pass game.

SR TE Mike Zaccone - two-time team captain, Zaccone didn't get a lot of opportunities in the passing game but finished his career with a couple of TDs and was a big reason why the Statesmen's rushing attack was always the strength of the offense.

SR TE Cade Cecere - my "neighbor" here in Orlando, Cade was converted from OL to TE and like Zaccone, was a strong run blocker. 

Looking Ahead

There will be some holes to fill on both sides of the ball, but 2023 should be another season of potentially good things in store for Hobart Football. Sure, the Statesmen will need to get some new starters on the OL and see if SO QB Johnny Columbi is the man of the future in running the offense. I know there are two FY QBs on the roster (including Tabor Engle from my hometown of Avon, CT), so this will be a position battle of interest in the off-season. On the flip side, Hobart brings back a large amount of defensive and special teams' talent, not to mention the one-two punch of Boswell and Denham, Jr.

The 2023 schedule could present some changes given the addition of the Landmark Conference to D3FB and the fact they made an alliance with the Empire 8. This puts LL teams at a scheduling disadvantage, but it could also mean we as fans may get to see Hobart square off against teams from other parts of the nation we normally wouldn't otherwise (except for maybe in the playoffs or a bowl game). 

Otherwise, I'll post as recruiting or other relevant news pops up. Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving and holiday season.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Turnovers Sink Statesmen in Bushnell Bowl, 35-18

The Hobart College Statesmen saw a dropped pass on 4th down, an INT and a blocked punt result in a disastrous 2nd quarter that ultimately led to a 35-18 loss to Washington & Jefferson College in yesterday's Asa Bushnell ECAC Bowl game. W&J (9-2) capitalized on all these Hobart errors, cashing in to build a 35-12 lead at the half.

Not that you'd want to, but you can read the HWSAthletics.com recap of the game here.

The loss drops the Statesmen to 7-4 overall and it's the second time in the last four seasons Hobart has lost 4 games. Prior to 2018, the Statesmen's worst season was a 5-4 campaign in 2010.

It was also Hobart's first ever ECAC bowl loss, having won last season and all the way back in 2003. At the end of the day, the Statesmen were consistently inconsistent this year and it showed in games like yesterdays. The offense had its moments, and for the first time all season the defense was really undressed, but mostly due to the turnovers and short fields than anything.

Fortunately, Hobart should bring back a strong core of upperclassmen who hopefully can continue to build upon this year's successes. With players like JR RBs Rayshawn Boswell and Tim Denham, Jr. coming back on offense and SO LB Anthony Romano (who had a pick six against W&J and really should have been the LL DPOTY) coming back, there's a lot to be optimistic about.

I'll have a more complete season retrospective in the next couple of days. While the W&J broadcast was fantastic, there wasn't much to be happy about as a Hobart fan after the 1st quarter.

This one will sting for a bit, but we'll be back.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

ECAC Asa S. Bushnell Bowl (II) - Washington & Jefferson Game Preview

For the second year in a row, the Hobart College Football Statesmen have been selected by the ECAC and will look to effectively defend last season's Bushnell Bowl Championship against the Washington & Jefferson Presidents. W&J (8-2, 6-2), not unlike the Statesmen, were a few plays away from a conference championship but still notched some impressive wins over #21 John Carroll (35-26), Westminster (17-14) and Grove City (31-14) this season.

Hobart (7-3, 4-2) technically got placed above two teams (Morrisville and RPI) in the seedings they lost to head-to-head (RPI also had a better overall LL conference record) but has to go on the road once again for their third straight postseason bowl game trip since 2019. The good news is Hobart is 3-0 in those games, and 2-0 in ECAC Bowl games, including their first one which goes all the way back to 2003.

As previously stated, it's been 80 years since these two teams have faced off. The Statesmen's 0-2 series record against W&J is a bit irrelevant based on the amount of time that's passed since they last played. That said the Presidents have had mixed results against LL and E8 teams in prior ECAC Bowl games, including last season's 20-7 loss at Brockport. They won 20-17 at Ithaca in 2019 and won 38-31 over Brockport in 2016 at Franklin Field (a year in which the ECAC's were held at UPenn's football stadium). W&J last went to the NCAAs in 2017 and 2018, beating Johns Hopkins in 2017 before losing to (now D2) Frostburg State. They lost to Centre in the first round of the 2018 playoffs.

Scouting the Presidents

Like many teams in the post-COVID season, W&J has a large senior class, so they bring a lot of experience to the table. Speaking of experience, the Presidents are coached by HC Mike Sirianni who's in his 20th season at W&J. Sirianni played at Mount Union ('94) and has an all-time record of 175-42, which is good for an 80.65 winning percentage, one of the best in the nation, at any level. If his last name sounds familiar, yes, he is the older brother of Philadelphia Eagles HC Nick Sirianni. 

The Presidents are a very balanced team on offense, having called 347 rushing and 355 passing plays on the season. W&J has used two QBs this season, starting off with JR QB Colton Jones, but it appears that SO QB Jacob Pugh has assumed the starting job going back to around the Westminster game.

Both have similar stats, completing more than 60% of their passes and throwing 11/12 TDs compared to 6 INTs, respectively. In the running game, the Pugh leads the Presidents with 7 rushing TDs. SO RB Raymond Holmes is a stocky (5' 10", 220 lbs.) runner who leads W&J with 485 rushing yards and 5 TDs.

The Presidents' leading receiver is FY WR John Peduzzi, one of several younger WRs on the roster having an impact this season. Peduzzi has caught 50 passes for 813 yard and 6 TDs. Overall, W&J likes to spread the ball around, with TDs going to a dozen different receivers for the season. 

Defensively, the Presidents are led by JR LB Justin Johns with 87 total tackles, with 3.5 TFL, a sack and an INT. In the secondary, the guy to keep an eye on is SR DB Tyler Sabo who's used his size (6'2" 200 lbs) and skill to lead the team with 4 INTs. Overall, it appears as though W&J is +6 in TOM, so Hobart would do well to protect the football.

On special teams, FY PK Deven Wyandt handles KOs (59.2 YPKO average), FGs (4-7 with a long of 38 yards) and punting (35.4 YPP average) duties. 

Keys to the Game:

1. Establish the Run (to Take Some Shots): The Presidents have a very strong rushing defense, allowing less than 3 yards per carry on the season and only 4 rushing TDs over 10 games. CMU was able to crack the 100-yard threshold in their win over W&J, carrying the ball 38 times. Case Western had little success running against the Presidents, but instead were able to set up enough play action (via 31 rush attempts) to have success in the passing game, going 23-35 for 302 yards and 2 TDs. While I don't expect 5th YR SR QB David Krewson to drop back 35 times, he can use his athleticism to extend plays and take some well-timed shots down the field. 

2. Bend Don't Break: On the defensive side of the ball, the Statesmen will need to find a way to hold a powerful W&J offense which averages just over 415 YPG and 37.9 PPG below those marks. A couple of teams have accomplished that this season, including CMU & CWRU who held the Presidents to 7 and 10 points, respectively. Keeping it a lower scoring game will play to Hobart's strengths. It should also be noted that in the two losses, W&J went 2-for-6 in the red zone, scoring only one TD and settling for one FG and turning it over on downs. 

3. Bushnell Bowl, Part Two, Redux: Following a similar script from last year's game - coming out and jumping on the Presidents early like the Statesmen did against the Titans will go a long way to getting another Bushnell Bowl win. A key defensive play like a punt block, pick six or otherwise will put pressure on the home team, who I've seen wilt a few times over the past couple of years in regular season games when things got tough. 

Prediction:

With what looks like a bitter cold (low of 20, high of 32) forecast Saturday, you can expect a lower scoring and hard-hitting game. As much as the Presidents have impressed over the years, I still have a bias that the LL is a better conference than the PAC (and that JCU and the OAC are overrated these past couple of years). 

I think Hobart can punch their way to a win by playing like they did in the second half of the Rochester game. Mixing it up with JR RB Rayshawn Boswell in the wildcat will be something that W&J isn't used to seeing and if Krewson can connect on some long passes like he did vs. RPI and Union, we should leave PA with another ECAC trophy and a hard-fought win.

I'll take Hobart 21-13.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Hobart Draws W&J in the ECAC Bushnell Bowl! Heading Back to PA for Post-Season Play

The Hobart College Statesmen will face off against the Washington & Jefferson College Presidents for the Asa S. Bushnell Bowl game, Saturday, November 19 in Washington, PA. Kickoff is slated for 12 PM (but I could see it moved back to 1 PM, will be up to W&J as the hosts). 

The Statesmen (7-3, 4-2) were picked for the second year in a row in the top ECAC game as a "1 seed" against a strong W&J (8-2, 6-2) team that finished second in the PAC this season, and who defeated #21-ranked John Carroll, 35-26, back in Week 1 of this year. 

Hobart and W&J have not faced each other in 80 years (since 1942)! The Statesmen are 0-2 all-time against the Presidents, but that was literally multiple generations ago now. 

The other ECAC Bowl matchups are:

Westminster College (7-3) @ SUNY Brockport (7-3) in the Clayton Chapman Bowl

Morrisville State (7-3) @ RPI (7-3) in the Scotty Whitelaw Bowl

FDU – Florham (6-4) @ Grove City College (7-3) in the James Lynah Bowl

I'll have more on this game later this week. The Presidents will be a tough test for Hobart, but this is a game the Statesmen can definitely win.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Hobart Runs Past Rochester, 27-7, Awaits ECAC Bowl Bid

It was great to be there in person for this game and I'm going to keep this write up short given you can read the HWSAthletics.com recap of it here. While it wasn't always pretty at times, the Statesmen (7-3, 4-2) wrapped up their 2022 regular season with a 27-7 and 11th straight Centennial Cup trophy win.

Before the game, Hobart recognized the fourth- and fifth-year SRs who were playing in their final home game at Boswell Field. I'll have something on these guys after the bowl game / off-season. 

The Hobart OL opened holes for a season best 313 rushing yards. JR RBs Rayshawn Boswell and Tim Denham, Jr. each found the end zone twice on an overcast, but seasonably mild, Upstate NY afternoon. I posted videos of all four TDs on the Hobart Football Parents and Fans Facebook page and @D3FBHuddle twitter handle.

The defense was led by 5th YR SR Jay McCoy (who may still have a year of eligibility left?) with a game high 17 tackles. My #36 buddy JR LB Drew Walsh (pictured below) had five stops and a share of a TFL.

The win puts Hobart in great position to get an ECAC Bowl Game, which Frank and I will announce at or around noon today on our Twitter and Facebook live feeds for ITH. 

More on that soon.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 11 - Senior Day - Rochester Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen will wrap up the 2022 regular season against their oldest rival, the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets, Saturday at the Boz. Kickoff is slated for 1 PM. The Jackets (3-6, 1-4) are still in rebuilding mode under Hobart alum and HC Chad Martinovich '94 but are taking strides towards becoming a much more competitive program. 

The Statesmen (6-3, 3-2) have won the last ten meetings and lead the overall series 58-48-7. Based on that number, this will be the 114th installment of this rivalry game. Hobart defeated the Jackets by a convincing 31-0 margin last season. 

This game will be for the Centennial Cup trophy (which you can see a picture of in the link above), which originated back in 2007 to mark the 100th meeting between these two programs. As I stated in a prior post, I'll be in Geneva for this one (after we attend the fall admissions open house), so I'm hoping the nice weather holds up (but not counting on it).

Scouting the Yellow Jackets

You can tell Rochester is building themselves back up again by just looking at the numbers. Offensively, Rochester has averaged 313.2 YPG, not far off from Hobart's 323 YPG. Defensively the Statesmen (6-3, 3-2) have been stronger, holding teams to 266.1 YPG compared to the Jackets 357.1 YPG allowed (nearly a 100 YPG difference).

The other big difference is in PPG scored (29.8) and allowed (13.4) by Hobart compared to Rochester's (15.9 and 27.9). Where the Jackets have excelled is in the run game, averaging 215 YPG, which is the second best in the league. They are dead last in passing, however, averaging a paltry 98.2 YPG with a 47% completion rate.

Speaking of the run game, Rochester boasts the top and third ranked RBs in the league (based on RYPG average). JR RB Daniel Papantonis turned national heads when he opened the season with an 18 rush, 309 yards and 4 TD game against Utica. He followed that up with a 30 rush, 278 yards and 3 TD game against Alfred State in Week 2. He has nearly 1,200 rushing yards on the season but has only scored 2 TDs since his big debut.

Classmate JR RB Will Varney has picked up some of the slack in recent weeks, rushing for over 100 yards in the last three games and scoring 2 rushing TDs over the same period. He has gained 648 rushing yards on 120 carries this season.

Handing the ball off to Papantonis and Varney is SO QB Ryan Rose. He's dropped back 180 times this season and completed 85 passes, including 6 TDs. Part of Rochester's struggles have been because he's turned the ball over, throwing 11 INTs (more than 1 per game on average). 

Rose's favorite target has been JR WR Trey Johnson, who leads the team with 33 catches for 346 yards and 3 TDs. Johnson has also returned kicks and punts for the Jackets.

Defensively, SR LB Caden Cole leads the team with 84 tackles. which ranks first in the LL. He has added 4 TFL and a sack along the way.

On special teams, Rochester boasts three different specialists. SO PK Alex Wing handles punting duties, averaging 38.31 YPP. Kickoffs have and FGs have been handled by SO PK Jordan Laudani. He's averaging 55.5 YPKO and has gone 8-12 on FGs this season. SR PK Shane Bombace has 20 KOs on the season, but he didn't appear in last weekend's 19-13 win over Hartwick. 

Keys to the Game:

1. Stop the Run - It's not rocket science based on the numbers. The Yellow Jackets are a pretty one-dimensional team on offense. If the Hobart defense can disrupt their run game and force Rose to try and beat them with his arm, you can expect some short fields for the Statesmen offense and maybe even another defensive score (or two) Saturday. Defensively, Rochester has given up a lot of points and yards to teams with winning records and I expect the same to happen Saturday.

2. Enjoy the Moment - Saturday will be Senior Day for the 4th YR SRs who plan to move on and graduate and the 5th YRs who came back for one more year. It's always a bittersweet occasion and should be celebrated accordingly. Today Hobart filed for an ECAC Bowl Game bid, so there may be one more after this one, if the Statesmen can

3. Just Win - A potentially successful bid will be contingent on the Statesmen ending up 7-3, which will put them in good company amongst ECAC Bowl eligible teams. While there were 20 on the list, based on current NCAA Pool A and other conference bowl games (e.g., MAC-Centennial, New England, etc.) scenarios, at 7-3, Hobart would only be behind Utica and W&J as far as overall records go. They are certainly not a lock, however, as my projections have at least four other eligible teams (Morrisville, Brockport, Westminster and GCC) also ending up 7-3 overall. RPI could be the 5th if they can beat Union Saturday in the annual Dutchmen's Shoes trophy game. 

Prediction:

I'll make two. The Statesmen will win 31-14 on what looks like a potentially cold and maybe even wet Week 11 gameday. Monday at noon, Frank and I will call Hobart's name as an ECAC Bowl game participant, likely on the road to either a PAC or E8 opponent's field for Saturday, Nov. 19.

The first one's got to come true for the second one to have a shot. Here's hoping.

Go 'Bart!

 

Statesmen Blow Out Bengals, 63-7

SO PK Tobias Wefering set a program record with 9 PATs in a blowout over winless Buffalo State, 63-7. SO LB Anthony Romano and JR DB James Mahoney each had "pick sixes" (5th YR SR DB Jay McCoy also had a INT he returned 50 yards), SO DB Zac Ambielli added a 93-yard scoop and score while the Statesmen racked up 437 yards of offense in the rout.

5th YR SR QB David Krewson passed for 186 yards and 1 TD. JR RB Rayshawn Boswell rushed for 70 yards and 2 scores. JR RB Tim Denham, Jr. also had a rushing TD. SO WR Peyton Cayea got his first TD as a Statesmen, hauling in a 23-yard pass.

The defense was led by JR LB Drew Walsh with 8 tackles, including 2 TFL. 

Hobart (6-3, 3-2) will close out their regular season next Saturday at home against Rochester (3-6, 1-4). The Yellow Jackets rallied to comeback and defeat Hartwick,, 19-13. This will be the 14th year that the Statesmen and Rochester will play for the Centennial Cup trophy. Hobart has held onto the trophy for last 10 years, winning 10 in a row over the Jackets dating back to 2011.

I'll have more on that matchup ealry next week. 

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 10 - Buffalo State Preview

First off, thanks to all the readers over the years. I don't know why or if it really matters, but for some reason getting over 350K views of this blog seems like a milestone of sorts. Thanks for the support!

This post will be pretty short based on the fact that Buffalo State (0-8, 0-4) is simply a bad team. They've been outscored 363-70 this season. They lost last weekend to Brockport, 54-2, and they haven't scored more than 14 points since Week 1. The Bengals unfortunately haven't had a winning season since 2017 and are likely going to end up 0-10 (like they did in 2021) again.

Last Saturday, Hobart (5-3, 2-2) showed a lot of resolve, much like in the 2018 win over Union, where they had to comeback, score late, and have the defense hold on. Next Saturday, I expect a similar result as last year's 45-21 win by the Statesmen, but maybe by an even bigger margin. 

The one positive of this matchup is we should see a lot of younger, less experienced players get a chance to show what they can do after the first quarter. 

That said, I'll take Hobart to win this game, 49-7.

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Daramola Goes Deep, Hobart Clips Dutchmen, 23-21

The Hobart College Statesmen gave the home crowd and the 2012 Team of Distinction a lot of cheer about (along with a few groans here and there) at Boswell Field today, thanks to a thrilling 23-21 comeback win over longtime league rival, Union. 

The Statesmen (5-3, 2-2) opened the scoring with a 32-yard SO PK Tobias Wefering FG. This kick was set up by a Dutchmen fumble that was recovered by JR DB James Mahoney. Union (6-2, 3-1) would get their first of three passing TDs, when JR QB Donovan Pacatte found FY WR Nick Dunnaman on a long 53-yard TD strike to make it 7-3 Union with 4:02 left in the 1st quarter.

Hobart would bounce back, scoring 14 unanswered points thanks to a JR RB Tim Denham, Jr. 4-yard TD reception and a JR RB Rayshawn Boswell (who looked the most like his 2021 self we've seen all season) 19-yard rushing TD to take a 17-7 lead with 7:15 to go before the half.

Hobart's lead was short lived however, as the Dutchmen would respond by scoring 14 unanswered points themselves. It started when Dunnaman got behind the Hobart secondary again, this time for 40 yards, and JR WR Avery Turton would haul in a 29-yard pass to give Union a 21-17 lead at the half. 

The Statesmen dodged a minor bullet when the Dutchmen's JR PK Andrew Lau missed a short FG (he also had a strange fake punt pass attempt during the game and it seemed like only Lau knew that was the play call, but I digress), but the offense struggled with penalties once again (Hobart was flagged 10 times for -84 yards). Neither team would find the end zone in the third quarter. 

Late in the game, 5th YR SR QB David Krewson came up big when his team needed him, finding SO WR Rane Daramola for a 58-yard TD bomb with 2:10 remaining in the game. The PAT was blocked, so Hobart fans had to hold their collective breath for the final 130 seconds. The Statesmen defense showed up however, sacking Pacatte and otherwise shutting out the Dutchmen in the second half and final minutes to preserve the win.

Daramola had a career day, catching 4 passes for 129 yards and the game-winning TD. Denham ground out 97 rushing yards, but maybe more importantly, the Statesmen defense held Union's 5th YR SR RB Ike Irabor to only 61 rushing yards. Although Dunnaman had his way with the Hobart secondary (7 catches for 145 yards and 2 TDs), 5th YR SR WR Andre Ross, Jr. was equally held in check, only making 3 catches for 57 yards.

Defensively Hobart was led once again by SO LB Anthony Romano with nine total tackles, including a TFL. 

This win breathed new life into the Hobart season and sets them up well for a strong finish. I'm planning to be there for the Rochester game in Week 11 given my oldest having applied to HWS and attending the Fall Open House scheduled for that Saturday, so I'll see you there. 

More on this game and others in the next episode of In the D3FB Huddle coming up early next week.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 9 - Union Game Preview

I hope everyone who was able to attend the Bicentennial Gala and weekend had a blast. From the photos and videos that I saw, it looked like a great party. 

Time to refocus. 

It's Union week and the season has come down to this weekend. 

Much like 2018, a tough initial 5-4 year for the DeWall regime, this season has been an up and down one for Statesmen fans, friends and families. A win over LL rival Union (6-1, 3-0), which hasn't happened since that 2018 season, would go a long way in raising the spirits of the Hobart Football faithful. It would also be a nice way to avenge a 27-20 OT loss in Schenectady last season, which I literally had a front row, sideline view. 

The Statesmen are 49-53-2 all time vs. the Dutchmen, making this the 105th game in this series, Hobart's second longest active one, if memory serves. The Statesmen (4-3, 1-2) need to win this game to avoid a fourth loss and keep the possibility of another ECAC bid, and a chance to host the bowl game (pending seedings), more likely than not.

Scouting the Dutchmen

Union comes into this game with the second ranked scoring offense (39.86 PPG) and third ranked defense (12.14 PPG) in the league. While they have a lot of new faces from last year's squad at key positions, especially on defense, there are a couple of players back who have been "Statesmen killers" in their careers.

5YR SR RB Ike Irabor has had some of the best games of his career against the Hobart defense. Over those three games he's rushed 92 times for 398 yards and 5 TDs. He has also had 3 receptions for 30 yards and 1 TD (back in the 2018 game).

Classmate 5YR SR WR Andre Ross. Jr. was pretty much shut down in the 2019 game, but he scorched the Statesmen for long TDs in the '18 and '21 seasons. He has 15 catches for 350 receiving yards and 2 TDs in his career against Hobart.

New starting QB Donovan Pacette has vaulted to the top of the LL passing charts, currently ranked as the #1 QB in conference, leading the league in passing completions (70.4%), passing YPG (183.8), and efficiency (189.1). He is second in passing TDs (9), total pass yards (1,103) and (lowest) INTs with only 3. He was knocked out of the Utica game in Week 4 but seems back and healthy since.

This season Union has gone to more of a two RB look, with Irabor (78 carries for 573 yards and 9 TDs) and JR RB Michael Fiori who actually leads the team in carries with 95. He's gained 471 yards on the ground and scored 7 TDs this season.

Ross, Jr. has the most receiving TDs (5), but actually trails FY WR Nicolas Dunneman in receiving yards (387 to 508) and the FY has caught 32 passes compared to Ross, Jr.'s 17.

Defensively the Dutchmen are led by big (6' 3" 225 lbs.) SR LB Spencer Goldstein who has 53 total tackles on the season, which is tied for fourth place in the LL going into Week 9. Goldstein has added 5 TFL to go with 2.5 sacks and a team high 3 INTs on the season.

The Union defense has intercepted opposing QBs 7 times this season and the Dutchmen have recovered one fumble. If my math is correct, Union is only +2 in TOM, which bodes well for this weekend.

On special teams, the Dutchmen have a very strong kicker in JR PK Andrew Lau. He handled all duties, including KOs (57.1 YPKO average with 5 TBs), punting (averaging nearly 40 YPP) and FGs (going 5-6 with a long of 35 yards).

Keys to the Game:

1. Pick Your Poison (Carefully): Coach Behrman has done a great job building back the Union program to a team that can beat you in multiple ways. You stuff the run, the Dutchmen go over the top with Ross, Jr. You drop back in coverage; Union will run at your defense 30-35+ times a game. There's really no good formula here, in my opinion, other than quit with the 2-3 DL alignments, line up and play gap defense with some disguised coverages to try and confuse Pacette into making bad reads. The Statesmen need someone at DE/DL to create pressure from the outside and hold up the Dutchmen OL so that LBs like SO LB Anthoy Romano can make tackles at the point of attack, which given this Union offense, will be right up the middle. Otherwise, it could be a long day.

2. Krewson 2.021: I think in the past four seasons that I've followed his career, 5YR SR David Krewson's best game was against Union last year. He accounted for 287 total yards, hitting passes for 41 and 52 yards, respectively, and breaking off a run of 10 yards. He was the main reason Hobart had a chance to win that game, and almost did, just coming up a few inches short in OT. This season Union is not as deep or talented at DL/LB as they were last season. The Statesmen coaches should let Krewson leverage his natural abilities and size to run it here and there, hopefully opening up the passing game for a longer strike downfield. While most of Union's defense are newer starters, their secondary is probably the most experienced group. My guess is the Dutchmen will likely put 7-8 defenders "in the box", as they run a modified version of the 3-5-3 stack, basically daring Hobart to beat them with the passing game.

3. Home Sweet Home: A quirky / bad decision by the LL with respect scheduling due to the "COVID year" in 2020 forced Hobart to lose a home game in this series, so the last two games against the Dutchmen have been on the road. Prior to that, the Statesmen had beaten Union five straight at the "Boz". In fact, you'd have to go back to the 2008 season for the last time the Dutchmen have won a game at Hobart. In spite of the Week 5 setback against Ithaca, the Statesmen are still 13-1 at home since the start of the 2019 season. Four of the last five Hobart vs. Union games have been decided by a TD or less, and I expect the same situation in this year's game.

4. Penalties: I hate to beat a "dead horse" but given the rivalry and emotions which run high in this game, keeping composure will be huge. Union has struggled with penalties this year as much, if not more so than Hobart, which is interesting. The Statesmen need to avoid the unnecessary personal fouls and other drive killers which have plagued them all season. You have to expect the referees working this game know both teams tend to be flagged a lot, so whichever can stay the most "buttoned up" will greatly help their cause getting a key LL win Saturday. 

Prediction:

This one is tough. On paper, and based on play to date, Union should be the favorite. That said Hobart is the team with "nothing to lose" while the Dutchmen still have a fighting chance at making the NCAA playoffs, so the pressure is on them.

Union is one of three teams in the running for the LL title and on the Region 2 Pool C "bubble", along with Utica and Morrisville State as Region 2 teams with only one overall loss (Salisbury is also 6-1 overall but a likely lock to win the NJAC's AQ). Union has the lowest SoS of the three (164th SOS), however, so with five conferences and only seven spots on the list, I don't expect to see Union on there this week. 

Either way, I'm sure both teams view this as a "must win" situation. For Hobart it's a double down to salvage a tough 2022 campaign and submarine the Dutchmen's NCAA playoff hopes. The Statesmen have played a much tougher schedule (73rd SOS) than Union, so I think that gives them the experience to overcome adversity and have a chance to knock off the Dutchmen Saturday.

I'll say Hobart prevails by a 27-24 margin, in comeback fashion, kind of like the 2018 game. 

Here's hoping.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Celebrate Bicentennial Birthday with 31-10 Win Over Saints

It wasn't pretty at times, but the Hobart College Statesmen won their 11th-straight game over Liberty League rival, Saint Lawrence by a 31-10 margin today. The Statesmen (4-3, 1-2) got back on the right side of .500 by grinding out 182 rushing yards on a windy day up in Canton, NY.

Both JR RBs Rayshawn Boswell and Tim Denham, Jr. had two rushing TDs apiece. SR QB David Krewson went 14-26 for 147 passing yards. He was sacked only once in the game.

Defensively Hobart held SLU (2-5, 0-3) to only 62 rushing yards. SO LB Anthony Romano led the defense with six tackles and 2 TFL.

On special teams, SO PK Tobias Wefering connected on a 35-yard FG and added 4 PATs. FY PK Vicente Lyon averaged 51 YPP on a windy day up in the North Country.

While the Statesmen were sloppy at times, getting flagged an incredible 8 times for -100 yards, Hobart dominated the clock (38-22 TOP advantage) and the game.

Coming up next is Union (6-1, 3-0), who defeated Rochester, 27-7, earlier today. More on that one early next week.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart! 

Week 8 - Saint Lawrence Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen will need to regroup as they embark on their longest road trip of the 2022 season (about 177 miles) to take on the Saint Lawrence University Saints. The Saints (2-4, 0-2) have also struggled this season, with their only two wins coming against teams from VT. They made things interesting, holding Ithaca (6-0, 3-0) to only nine points in the first half of last weekend's game, before falling, 40-0. SLU has been outscored a combined 84-7 in their two LL games this season. 

Last year, Hobart trailed the Saints, 13-10, with under 3 minutes to go. The Statesmen needed a SR WR Alex LaBella 6-yard TD reception to save the day with 45 seconds remaining. The Statesmen won that game, 17-13, and have won 10 in a row against SLU, dating back to 2010. Hobart is 54-36-2 all time vs. SLU, making this game the 93rd edition of this series.

Scouting the Saints

SLU is either near or at the bottom of most LL offensive categories, including PPG (14.33), YPG (258.3) and TDs scored (10). One bright spot for the Saints has been SR RB Peyton Schmitt. A big, physical runner (6' 220 lbs.), Schmitt leads the Saints with 390 rushing yards to go with 3 TDs.

SO QB Daniel Lawther, who came into the game to replace the Saints injured starter in last season's game against the Statesmen, is back and has passed for 847 yards this season, with four passing TDs, compared to 5 INTs. His favorite target has been SR WR TJ Cornacchia, who leads the Saints with 22 catches for 248 yards and 3 TDs.

Defensively you can tell SLU has struggled given three of their top four tacklers are DBs. The Saints have allowed 25.5 PPG and 354.4 YPG to go with 20 TDs. 

On special teams, FY PK Tyler Fogler handles KOs and FG duties, averaging 55 YPKO and going 3-4 on FG attempts. His only miss was in the 40-49-yard range, otherwise he's been pretty automatic. SR WR Tyler Liddy has been the punter, averaging over 35 YPP, with 7 FCs.

Keys to the Game:

1. Fundamentals - The Hobart offense, which was supposed to be the strength of the team this season, due to injuries and other issues, just hasn't really pulled together a complete game since the Week 4 blowout of Keystone (who finally won their first game in program history last weekend). The Saints allow over 5 yards rushing and nearly 8 yards passing per play on defense. The Statesmen need to button up their OL play (e.g., no more personal foul penalties would be great. Why this still happens with no accountability - from an outside perspective anyway - has been one of the most frustrating things about this program dating back to 2019). To be fair, the RBs need to hit the holes the OL are opening up. Last weekend I saw a lot of plays where the Hobart RBs bounced outside when they should have gone "north". In the passing game, I think the Statesmen need to utilize play action, as the Saints will be preparing for the run. I'd like to see SR QB David Krewson stay in the pocket, look off DBs and let plays develop. Pressure last weekend didn't allow that and rushed several throws. Fortunately, SLU has only four sacks over six games, so Krewson should have time. 

2. Field Position - While the weather this weekend actually looks pretty nice, the wind and real grass of Leckonby Field (one of the very few remaining of its kind) could impact the game like we saw last Saturday. FY PK Vicente Lyon and SO PK Tobias Wefering each had excellent games against RPI, rebounding well from the IC game in Week 5. While I don't think Hobart will need to settle for FGs in this one, punting and field position could very easily play a role in the outcome of this one. 

3. Focus on 1-0: Unfortunately, the Statesmen need to win this game to at least ensure another winning season (Hobart hasn't finished below .500 since 1995). While Rochester (2-4, 1-2) seems improved, wins against them and Buffalo State (0-6, 0-3) seem likely. The difference between 5-5 and 7-3 starts Saturday. 

Prediction:

I think this game will start off lower scoring, but Hobart will take some shots and pull away late. I'll take the Statesmen to win it, 35-17. 

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Comeback Comes Up Short, Losing16-13 Late to RPI

The Hobart Statesmen ran 18 plays for 11 yards, including -1 passing yards with zero first downs in the first half against the RPI Engineers. However, two SR QB David Krewson passing TDs in the second half lifted a struggling offense to a 13-2 lead with just under 13 minutes left in the game, giving Hobart hope they could leave Troy with a hard fought win. Unfortunately the wind, penalties, bad punts, and play calling gave the game away to an Engineers' comeback, 16-13 (which is the exact score I predicted but just the wrong team won).  

The Statesmen (3-3, 0-2) ran 54 plays for 201 total yards, nearly setting a new program low for total yardage (156 is the "record", I think) in today's game. The conversative play calling at the end really seemed to do them in however, as both sides of the ball just couldn't make a game saving play when it counted. Overall Hobart was 2-13 on third down today, which played a big part in the loss. 

As bad as the first half was, the Statesmen defense held and didn't allow any points. RPI had a 2-0 lead at the half mostly due to JR RB Rayshawn Boswell not looking at the ball when it was snapped and ended up getting batted out of the end zone for a safety. The defense forced two turnovers (1 FR and 1 INT) and SO LB Anthony Romano had a game high 15 tackles. Unfortunately, the defense also let up 13 points on RPI's two final drives.

The win keeps RPI (5-2, 3-0) in the LL and playoff hunt, but the loss is effectively a season ender for Hobart. I suppose there's still an outside chance we can get an ECAC bowl bid with a 7-3 or 6-4 record, but that isn't what we expected for this team in the preseason, especially with what came back from last year's 9-2 team.

Saint Lawrence is currently making things interesting against Ithaca. The Statesmen will travel up to the north country next country to take on the Saints next Saturday in what amounts to a meaningless game, other than extending Hobart's 10-game winning streak over SLU. 

I'll have more on that game around Monday.

Damn these kinds of losses suck. Onto the next.  

Week 7 - RPI Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen will come off the bye weekend to go on the first of two Liberty League (LL) road trips. 

Up first are the RPI Engineers. The Engineers (4-2, 2-0) are the defending LL champions, and are still in the hunt for the conference crown, tied for first place with Ithaca (5-0, 2-0). Hobart (3-2, 0-1) was the one regular season loss RPI suffered in 2021, a 10-9 defensive battle in Geneva.

The Statesmen have been a bit of a "torn in the side" of the Engineers of late, having defeated their LL rivals twice in a row and three out of the last four contests. This conference rivalry is a close one, and the recent victories by Hobart have given them a narrow 32-31-1 edge in the all-time series. Based on that, this will be the 65 time the two teams have met, dating back to 1910.

This year the Statesmen will go to the "ECAV" and face the (statistically) best defense in the LL. You can bet the Engineers want to get some payback from last season's loss to Hobart. This game promises to be a hard-hitting, low scoring affair again.

Scouting the Engineers

The similarities between these two teams this season are interesting. 

Offensively, the Statesmen have averaged about a TD more (27.6 PPG to 21.8 PPG) and just about six YPG (325-319.7) more than the Engineers. RPI has been shut out once, in a strange 3-0 loss to Saint John Fisher (2-4. 0-2) and was held without points by Carnegie Mellon (5-0, 3-0) until under two minutes to go in that game.

The last two games the offense has been moving the ball and putting up a lot of points, albeit against inferior teams - a 42-14 blowout over winless Buffalo State (0-5, 0-2) last weekend and a 31-3 win over Rochester (1-4, 0-2) back in Week 5. The Engineers have run the ball a little better than Hobart (176-143.6 YPG) and have basically the exact same yards per rush (4.3-4.4) and rushing TDs (10) stats. The offenses have the exact same number of passing TDs (7), but the Statesmen have a better completion percentage (54.7 to 49.7%), but RPI has attempted 42 more passes so far this season. RPI has called about 70 more running plays also (likely due to having an extra game on Hobart). 

Where RPI seems to have an advantage is on the defensive side of the ball. They had a couple of preseason All-Americans there, and most, if not all the starters are 4th and 5th year players. The Engineers have the best scoring defense (6.2 PPG allowed), total defense (177.2 YPG), rushing defense (54.6 YPG), passing defense (123 YPG), and defensive efficiency (76.3) in the LL. They also lead the league with 12 INTs (basically averaging two per game) with a pick six and nearly 240 INT return yards. They are second in the LL in sacks with 14. Hobart is third with nine sacks.

Keys to the Game:

1. Buckle Down on Burnett: While there is a minor statistical disagreement between RPI and the LL's rushing stats, 5th year SR RB Dylan Burnett is second in the league with 108-111 YPG rushing. He's tied for third place with six rushing TDs and is a key component to the Engineers offense. Given RPI's lack of experience (and success) at QB, Hobart should stack the box and do their best to contain Burnett putting the onus of the offense on whichever first year starter gets the call Saturday. Neither QB that the Engineers have started have great stats, and both have struggled with turnovers. If the Statesmen can keep Burnett in check, they'll have a great chance in this game. Still, the secondary has to be ready. Although RPI doesn't have a lot of receiving threats (top SR WR Peter Lombardi was injured in the WPI game and has yet to return), they have four WRs/slot backs who have made catches of 40 yards, or better.

2. The Trenches: The matchup to watch in this game will be between the Hobart OL vs. the RPI DL. The Statesmen can ill-afford any bad snaps or missed blocking assignments as the Engineers defense will look to collapse the pocket and force SR QB David Krewson into bad situations. The trio pictured above (5th year SR DL Josh Cohen, SO DL Nate Picard and 5th year SR DL Amaechi Konkwo) have combined for 11.5 TFL and six sacks. This RPI secondary and LB corps (the latter has two of the top tacklers - SR LB Connor Noyes and 5th year SR LB Joe Deptula - in the LL) has averaged 2 INTs a game and Hobart must avoid turning the ball over as often as they did against Ithaca. Running the ball will be difficult against such a strong front, but I feel like the Statesmen need to stick to their strengths and keep it on the ground for a decent part of this game. While the weather dictated it last season, Hobart had 56 rushes for 222 yards, and I would think a similar "ground and pound" approach can work again this year.

3. Special Teams: I have a feeling given the defensive strength of both teams; scoring will be at a premium in this game, just like it was last year. SO PK Tobias Wefering and RPI's FY PK Aleksandar Maric have struggled some (each have a 50% FG kicking percentage) but will likely have at least a handful of FG tries in this game. How they fare will definitely have a big impact on the outcome. Field position via kickoffs and punts will be important also, so hopefully Hobart will bounce back after some struggles in Week 5.

Prediction:

The odd thing about this matchup is that with the common opponent of SJF (who Hobart blanked, 17-0 in Week 3 who then blanked RPI, 3-0, in Week 4), you'd initially think Hobart would win this one going away. It would be great if that's the case, but I'm not so sure it will be Saturday. 

I'll be curious to hear what HC Kevin DeWall '00 has to say about RPI in this week's podcast with Ted, so I plan to tune in Thursday for that. I'm pretty sure this game will be discussed on Frank and my In the D3FB Huddle twitter / Facebook live show on Friday at 9 AM ET also.

That said I think it'll be a lot closer game, and the Statesmen will need to play mistake free football to come out of Troy with a win. I still like Hobart in this one given the QB situation at RPI, but not by much.

I'll take the Statesmen in a nail-baiter, 16-13.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

'22 Midseason Review

The Hobart College Statesmen go into the bye this weekend after a somewhat disappointing (3-2, 0-1) start to the 2022 season. The Statesmen have had some good and bad moments so far this season and the goal of this post will be look back on them and see what, if anything, we've learned about the team this far and what we can expect in the final 5 weeks.

While a chance to share a piece of the Liberty League title isn't completely off the table, the overall depth and strength of #12 Ithaca (4-0, 1-0) makes me think the LL will be just a single bid NCAA playoff conference. In my opinion, Hobart's best-case scenario is finishing 8-2, 5-1 and getting another ECAC Bowl game bid against a team from the PAC, just like last year.

That said the rest of October will determine if that's the case and the Statesmen have a challenging schedule after this weekend with back-to-back road trips to RPI (3-2, 1-0) and Saint Lawrence (2-2. 0-0). The Statesmen close out the month at home in a big game against Union (4-1, 1-0).

The Good

The Hobart defense - This young and inexperienced unit has been the star of the season so far. A group of young and dynamic LBs have held the Statesmen's opposition to under 14 PPG. Keep in mind that the Statesmen D only allowed one offensive TD in the first 4 weeks of the season and realistically, only allowed three offensive TDs against the Bombers.

Linebacker U - SO LBs Peterson Monexant and Anthony Romano have been fantastic and lead the team with 36 (great number) total tackles a piece to go with 11 TFL, 4 sacks and 1 INT, combined. FY LB Mike McGhee is the leading candidate for the team's ROTY award winner based on his fantastic play. He has 25 total tackles, 3 TFL and 1 sack so far this season. 

Next Man Up - Several Statesmen players have made bigger contributions this season given injuries to starting players. I've noted guys like SO RB Andres Duran (2 rush TDs), SR LB Drew Walsh (3 tkl, 1 TFL vs. IC), SO WR Rane Daramola (leads team with 198 receiving yards and 2 TDs) and FY OL Ashton Mejias (now starting at LG) have stepped up and really made a difference this season.

Needs Work

The Hobart Offense - The supposed strength of the team with 9 starters returning has struggled with turnovers (3 INT, 2 fumbles returned for TDs), suspensions (2), injuries (several) and penalties so far this season. The absence of a healthy JR RB Rayshawn Boswell is a big reason for the team's offensive woes, but to be fair, this unit has scored almost 28 PPG and gained 325 YPG which is very respectable. That said the offense needs to figure out ways to extend drives, having gone 27-59 (45.76%) on third down so far this season.

The Kicking Game - With a FY and SO handling the kicking duties, you'd expect some growing pains. The Statesmen have gone 4-8 on FGs and in the IC game, Hobart averaged under 24 YPP, which was a big reason for at least one of the Bombers TD drives, given the short field.

"The Hobart Way" - The fact two important players got suspended in Week 2, all the penalties (36 for -304, over 60 YPG) and mental mistakes seen in the 2 losses this season and that alums/former players reported the team did not seem upset at all after the Ithaca game makes me think this group needs an attitude adjustment during the bye week. I know the coaches are likely all over this, but the players need to take accountability of it for themselves and drive what the "Hobart Way" really is supposed to stand for from the inside out. I have faith they can turn it around, but after these past five weeks it's clear that this team could and should be more buttoned up and focused, even with a larger number of younger and inexperienced players on the field. 

Up Next

Early next week I'll have a preview of the Week 7 matchup vs. RPI. I have to imagine the Engineers are looking at this game as a chance to get back at Hobart for being the one regular season loss on their record in 2021. The goal next week is to go 1-0 and will be for the following 5 weeks. It's not impossible, but I do think Hobart will be an underdog in at least one or more of the final 5 games. 

While there has been a couple of disappointments, there's still a lot of Hobart Football to look forward to this season. Enjoy the bye weekend. We'll get back on track next week.

Thanks as always for reading (less than 2K views away from 350K!) and go 'Bart!

Bombers Blow Up Hobart's Homecoming, 31-7

It was no good, just the bad and ugly Saturday at Boswell Field as the #13 Ithaca College Bombers dominated Hobart at Homecoming and Family Weekend, 31-7.

Ithaca (4-0, 1-0) turned two Statesmen turnovers into 14 points in the second quarter and never looked back. Hobart (3-2, 0-1) hurt themselves with a bad snap that turned into a scoop and score, among other gaffes. The Bombers outgained the Statesmen 329-210 total yards.

Bombers SR QB A.J. Wingfield had a modest 10-16, 143 yards passing day and scored on a one-yard TD run in the second half. Wingfield got picked off on a long pass play that turned into the tip drill by 5th year SR DB Jay McCoy. Unfortunately, neither Hobart QB was really effective in the game either, and JR RB Tim Denham, Jr. saved the Statesmen from being shutout with a late rushing score. He had a game high 54 rush yards. JR RB Rayshawn Boswell led all receivers with 73 yards on six catches. SO LB Peterson Monexant led all tacklers with 11, 2 TFL and a sack. 

Hobart is on a bye next weekend and will have back-to-back road trips to RPI and Saint Lawrence in Weeks 7 and 8. With no game to cover, I'll plan to do a recap of the first half of the season. This was a deflating loss, but the season is far from over. There's a lot more football to go.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 5 - Ithaca Game Preview

Brace yourselves, Statesmen fans. 

Here come the #13 nationally ranked and undefeated Ithaca College Bombers. Ithaca (3-0) conveniently (for them) is coming off a bye week and heads into Hobart's homecoming game (which should be at night, under the lights, btw) a heavy favorite in this Liberty League conference opener. The Bombers were picked to win the LL this year (with Hobart in third, based on the preseason coaches' poll). After Union and RPI's surprising losses last weekend, this game is arguably a league championship and playoff elimination one. 

Hobart (3-1), which once again plays the role of the underdog, has lost four in a row against the Bombers, dating back to when Ithaca joined the LL (so yes, Hobart is 0-4 in LL play against IC). The Statesmen's last win dates back to 2016 (which also was a homecoming, ahem, night game), their biggest in the series, a 23-3 beatdown. Hobart is 5-29 all time against Ithaca, dating back to 1961, and all five of those wins have come at Boswell Field. The Bombers were the last visiting team to beat Hobart at home, 10-3, back in Week 10 of the 2018 season. The Statesmen have gone 13-0 at "the Boz" since then and hope to be 14-0 after this weekend.

Hobart led Ithaca 21-14 with 5:09 to go in the 3rd quarter of last season's game, but now SR QB A.J. Wingfield engineered two quick scoring drives to tie and then win it on a 30-yard TD pass with 8:54 to go in the 4th quarter. The Statesmen had a chance to force overtime and/or go for the win from the Ithaca 16-yard line, but literally dropped the ball on the final play and lost, 28-21.

Scouting the Bombers 

Ithaca comes into this matchup after crushing three team in Weeks 1-3, including Alfred University (1-3), being the one common opponent shared with Hobart. The Bombers won that game, 52-3, compared to Hobart's Week 1 win over the Saxons by a 36-6 margin. Ithaca averages over 42 PPG on offense and have held opponents to only 5.67 PPG on defense (less than a TD). To be fair, Hobart's numbers stack up pretty well after last Saturday's blowout of Keystone (0-4), moving our offensive and defensive PPG stats to 32.75 and 9, respectively. 

Regardless of the stats, the biggest advantage Ithaca has over Hobart is depth and experience. Starting with the Bombers OL - all five are fourth- or fifth-year seniors and returning starters from 2021. Actually, it looks like at LG JR OL Alexander Rice got the start over SR OL Andrew Testani against Alfred, but regardless; this unit is very big (everyone is listed at 6' 2"+ and close to 300 lbs.) and have worked together well over a season plus.

Wingfield is the best QB in the LL, and ranks first in efficiency (154.8), passing TDs (5 - which is interesting because Statesmen SR QB David Krewson technically has six) and completion percentage, going 46-68 for 509 yards (67.6%). Unlike all the other starting LL QBs, Wingfield has yet to throw an INT.

As the saying goes, a QBs best friend (other than a great OL) is a strong running game. The Bombers have two solid backs at their disposal - JR RBs Jake Williams and Ryan Brozovic. This duo has combined for 257 rushing yards and 5 TDs so far this season.

Wingfield's favorite targets has been a pair of SR WRs - Michael Anderson and Julien Deumaga. They've made 29 catches for a combined 381 yards and 3 receiving TDs. Wingfield likes to spread it around, however, as 3 other WRs have caught a TD each.

Defensively the Bombers are led by 5th-year SR LB Matt DeSimpliciis who's tallied 23 total tackles, 2 sacks and 3 TFL. He also has one FR. Overall the Bombers are +3 in turnover margin, collecting 3 INTs to go with the FR. They've only turned the ball over once so far this season. Much like the offensive side of the ball, Ithaca's defense is very experienced and deep with upperclassmen. 

On special teams, the Bombers have arguably the best PK in the nation as SR PK Nick Bahamonde was named 1st team preseason All-American by D3football.com. That said, Bahamonde's season has gotten off to a rough start, as he's missed more FG attempts than he's converted (2-5). He handles Ithaca's KO duties also, averaging close to 58 YPKO.

The punting unit is headed up by 5th year SR SS Michael Roumes who averages about 37 YPP and has forced 5 FC balls on 11 kicks, including 2 that have landed inside his opponent's 20-yard line and one 50+ yard kick. 

Keys to the Game:

1. Start Strong, Move the Chains: The Bombers have outscored their opponents 85-10 in the first half so far this season. Hobart needs to get on the board and do their best defensively to keep Ithaca out of the end zone, where they have scored 13 times on 15 trips (an 86.67% success rate). Running the ball will be a challenge as the Bombers have an outstanding run defense (albeit against average to mediocre opposition), allowing a paltry 2.1 YPR and only 66.3 rush YPG average. That said, Hobart should grind away in the running game to burn the clock and keep Wingfield on the sideline. I expect Ithaca to "stack the box" so play action is a good strategy in my opinion. Third down conversions will be at a premium as Ithaca has only allowed 10 first downs on 45 attempts (22.22%) this season. The Bombers have allowed just under 5 YPC passing, so short, precise patterns can work against this defense. I know HC Kevin DeWall '00 likes to go deep from time to time, but against a defense that's racked up 6 sacks and 19.5 TFL, spending too much time in the pocket to let a longer play develop could be troublesome.  

2. Bend, Don't Break: The Hobart defense will need to lock in a stop an offense that has looked superhuman so far this season. Ithaca will look to put the Statesmen in a hole early and try and make them play from behind. It's crucial that assignments are kept and more importantly, penalties are negated as you can't give up any easy yards to a team this talented and expect to win. If the Statesmen can hold this dynamic offense to FGs instead of TDs, that'll go a long way in keeping this game competitive. Pressuring Wingfield will be paramount as well, but the Bombers OL has only given up one sack this season.

3. Home Sweet Home: The Statesmen haven't lost at Boswell Field in over two seasons, and there should be a big crowd there Saturday cheering on the Statesmen. As much as Butterfield stadium has been a "house of (0-17) horrors" for Hobart, the Statesmen (and their fans) need to make the Boz environment similar Saturday. Ithaca will come into this game well rested and extremely confident, so Hobart will have to take their first couple of punches and hold firm, while delivering a few of their own. 

Prediction:

I have struggled with this one and would feel better about Hobart's chances if not for what happened in Week 2. The end of the day is the Statesmen are a younger, less experienced and to a certain extent, physically smaller version of what Ithaca is today. The Bombers should probably win this game by 14+ points based "on paper", but I have a feeling our defense - who is loaded with young and hungry talent, especially at LB - will keep it from getting out of hand.

My heart tells me otherwise, but my head is telling me I have to go with Ithaca getting the win, but in a lower scoring, 17-13, type of game. 

I've enjoyed it in the past when Hobart has proved me wrong. Let's hope this is one of those times.

I'll be hoping for the best and thinking go 'Bart!

Hobart Rolls Giants, 65-6

The Hobart College Statesmen scored the second most points, 65, in the 128-season history of their program, blowing out the Keystone College Giants, Saturday in La Plume, PA.

The game got off to an auspicious start, as the Giants drove deep into Statesmen (3-1) territory, and it took a fourth down hold by the defense to keep Keystone (0-4) from scoring first. After that, it was all Hobart.

The Statesmen racked up 377 total yards on offense, averaging nearly 8 yards per play, and saw seven different Hobart player's score a TD, including JR DB Blake Hansen who had a 60-yard pick six in the game. 

JR RB Tim Denham, Jr. had a day, rushing for only 42 yards but a team high 3 rushing TDs. SO TE Luke Hescock led the team with 48 receiving yards. The defense was led by FY LB Mike McGhee who had 14 total tackles, 3 TFL and a sack. SO PK Tobias Weffering was kept busy all day, accounting for 11 points if my math is correct. He kicked a 27-yard FG and converted 8 PATs on the day.

Next weekend Hobart will host #12 Ithaca (who was on a bye this weekend) for Homecoming in both teams Liberty League opener. I'll have more on that one early next week. 

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 4 - Keystone Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen will go on one of their longest road trips of the season when they head south to play the Keystone College Giants. The Giants are located in La Plume, PA, just a few miles northwest of Scranton in a very rural part of Lackawanna County. 

Hobart (2-1) will basically have this game as a final tune up before the game of the season / year, Week 5 at home against #12 Ithaca (3-0), for homecoming. The Bombers were the last team to defeat Hobart at Boswell field, dating back to Week 11 of 2018.

Back to the Giants (0-3) - the Statesmen won last season's matchup, 58-14, behind over 500 yards of total offense. As we have seen first-hand, last year's results don't necessarily match this year's, so Hobart can't take this steadily improving new program too lightly.

Scouting the Giants

Looking at the stat sheet, one thing is pretty clear - Keystone is consistent. They have scored 21 points in Week 1 and 20 points in Weeks 2 and 3. They are led on offense by SR QB Tom Roach. He's averaged about 150 pass YPG and has thrown more INTs (5) than TDs (2). Roach has added two rushing TDs so far on the season.

The other rushing TDs came from SO RB Mujaheed Muhammad (2) and SR RB Kevin Lewis (1). JR WR Jorden Cook led the Giants with 4 receptions for 50 yards and 1 TD last year at Hobart. This season he's had team high 8 receptions for 121 yards. 

On defense, JR DB Sean Pettway (pictured above) earned ECFC DPOTW honors, tying for the team lead in tackles (8 solo and 2.5 TFL). He had a 45-yard pick six to give the Giants a 20-7 lead before halftime. SR LB Carlos Perez leads the Keystone defense with 24 total tackles and 1.5 sacks. 

On special teams, SR TE Zac Cost is the Keystone punter, averaging nearly 36 YPP. FGs and KOs are handled by SO PK Josue Hernandez. He averages nearly 50 YPKO and has missed his only FG attempt, which was between 30-39 yards. He's gone 7-9 on PAT attempts.

Keys to the (Keystone) Game:

1. Stick to the Statesmen Script: A game plan similar to the Fisher one would do well Saturday. The Giants defense allows nearly 265 rushing YPG. A steady dose of JR RB Tim Denham, Jr. with a high percentage passing game like the one SR QB David Krewson had in Week 3 will go a long way to securing a win. Defensively Hobart can play smart, aggressive football and likely pick up a few more turnovers like they did last weekend.

2. Rotation, rotation, rotation: It would be great to keep rotating in some of these newer, younger Statesmen players to develop their confidence with game experience. The newly retooled OL should get some useful reps also, but it's a good opportunity to try out other guys, should things go well for Hobart.

3. Enjoy the Road Trip: October starts the grind of conference play, in which every game will be a dogfight, starting with Ithaca next weekend. This is one of the longer trips the Statesmen will have this season (and it's the only one out of NYS), so it's a good opportunity for the team to bond and become a stronger group, especially when the adversity kicks in during the conference race. 

Prediction:

I think Keystone will fare better than last season, but Hobart should be able to pull away in the second half. I'll take the Statesmen to win it, 42-21.

Will have more on last weekend's action in the next "CrunchTime" show on "In the (D3FB) Huddle tomorrow and cover off on Week 4 games this Friday on our Facebook and Twitter Live show.

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Hobart Bounces Back, Beating SJF, 17-0

The Hobart College Statesmen continued their home winning streak, taking their 13th straight in a dominating, 17-0, shutout of Saint John Fisher. The Cardinals (1-2) racked up over 300 yards of total offense, including 18 first downs, but could never crack the scoreboard.

Hobart (2-1) used a grinding running and efficient passing game to get the win. SR QB David Krewson went 11-15 for 194 yards and 1 TD. JR RB Tim Denham, Jr. carried the ball 25 times for 111yards and 1 TD. Although he missed on two attempts, SO PK Toby Wefering was good from 23 yards to cap the scoring. SO LB Peterson Monexant led the defense with 9 tackles and 1 INT.

You can check out the official HWS Athletics recap here.

The victory was a much needed one after a rough Week 2. Still, the Statesmen have some work to do as usually a three turnover game would result in more than 17 points. Hobart also only gained 16 yards on six plays in the entire fourth quarter. The Statesmen really need to cut down on the penalties, as they were flagged nine times for -87 yards. Hobart isn't the most penalized team in the LL at the moment, that honor goes to Union (30 penalties for -268 yards), but they're pretty close.

Next weekend, the Statesmen will travel to winless Keystone College in PA. The Giants are 0-13 all-time, but they led 20-7 at the half over William Paterson in Week 3. WPU eventually came back to win, 27-20, to improve to 2-1. 

I'll have more on that matchup early next week.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 3 - Saint John Fisher Game Preview

The Hobart Statesmen will need to put Week 2 behind them quickly as a stronger, more talented Saint John Fisher Cardinals team will make the short trip to Geneva for Saturday's OOC matchup. This will be Hobart's third straight against an Empire 8 team. The Statesmen (1-1) should have their hands full with a Cardinals (1-1) offense that's averaged 41 PPG.

To be fair those stats are bolstered by their Week 1 blowout of Buffalo State (0-2). Against a stronger, playoff caliber team in Framingham State (2-0), the Cardinals got off to a 14-0 lead, but ultimately lost, 31-20. 

Scouting the Cardinals

Based on a review of the statistics from Weeks 1 & 2, the SJF offense is really keyed off of 5th year SR RB Malachi Duval (pictured above - credit to sjfathletics.com). Duval averaged over 100 YPG on the ground, carrying the ball 36 times for 294 rushing yards and 5 TDs. He also pulled off a successful halfback passing play, for 27 yards and a TD last weekend against Framingham. 

JR QB Aaron Chase is a dual threat, passing for 254 yards and 4 TDs while also rushing for 86 yards and 1 TD. Chase was the receiver on the Duval trick pass play, so Chase has the proverbial trifecta of passing, rushing and receiving TDs already only two weeks into the season.

Defensively the Cardinals are led by JR LB Joe Miscia with a team high 19 total tackles. Up front, SO DL Zach Driesbach leads the defense with 3.5 TFL and 2 sacks. Generally, it appears as though the LB corps is the strength of this unit and so Hobart will need to prepare accordingly. 

On ST, SO PK Kyle Farewell handles all the majority of the kicking duties. He averages less than 30 YPP, so that could help the Statesmen in the field position battle. He's only attempted one FG (from 30-39 yards), but it was no good. He's otherwise pretty reliable on PATs, converting 9-10. SR PK Andrew Symans has handled KOs, averaging nearly 50 YPKO.

Keys to the Game:

1. Back to the Basics (Run the Ball, Win the Turnover Battle): Regardless of who was or is the starting QB, Hobart's success in 2021 was predicated on being an outstanding rushing offense. The winning formula for the Rams in their win over Fisher last weekend appears to have been a conscious decision to run the football. Framingham called 44 rushing plays in Week 2, getting 18 first downs via the run and scored 5 rushing TDs. The Rams pass defense also had a good game, limiting the Cardinals offense to only complete 14-34 (41.17%) for 187 yards. While they allowed two passing TDs, FSU picked off SJF twice. Coach Kelly is a great coach, so why not just copy his game plan?

2. Trial by Fire: We saw some new faces last Saturday, and if that's the case again this weekend, these younger Statesmen will just have to buckle up and learn on the job. There's a great deal of young talent on this team, but obviously with youth comes the occasional mistakes. Hobart will need to work on its resiliency, as they crumbled under pressure at Morrisville. These younger players will need to rise to the occasion and assume more of a leadership role, especially if that's not being provided by the upperclassmen to the extent it should. 

3. Home Sweet Home: In need of a bounce back win, you couldn't pick a better place to do so than at Boswell Field where Hobart is unbeaten in 12 straight, dating back to 2018. 

Prediction: 

I expect a dog fight Saturday as the Statesmen's confidence has to be shaken and SJF must believe they can beat Hobart if SUNY-Morrisville did. We won't know the status of certain players until later in the week (tune into the next Hobart podcast on Thursday), so I expect a lower scoring, defensive struggle, but (I hope) Hobart will hang in there to make their home record a lucky 13-0, edging the Cardinals late, 24-17.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Mustangs Stun #23 Statesmen in Strange, 24-13, Game

While it's only Week 2, you have to think about whether or not this is a bad omen for what many, myself included, thought was a potential breakthrough season for the Statesmen? Hobart (1-1) lost to Morrisville State for the first time Saturday, 26-13, giving up two fumbles that were returned for TDs.

Whether it was injury-related or disciplinary in nature, 5th year SR QB David Krewson did not start nor play Saturday. Hobart was without a few starters, actually, so the next Hobart Football podcast should be an interesting one to say the least. 

Third string SO QB Johnny Colombi did his best in relief, passing for 157 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. He also rushed for 55 yards. It's still hard to believe a team that Hobart defeated 41-0 last season and only won 2 games in 2021 would best them today. 

The Statesmen outgained the Mustangs (2-0) by over 150 yards, but turnovers, a missed FG and penalties (7 for -56 yards) killed Hobart today. It was definitely the worst loss in the DeWall era since the 56-7 shellacking by Brockport in Week 1 of 2018 (but remember that Golden Eagles team made it to the national semifinals, so this is actually worse, in my opinion). Even Ted Baker, who's called games for the Statesmen since 2005, said he "couldn't remember" seeing Hobart play so badly. 

I guess the only positive is that this wasn't a league game, but realistically losing to team like Morrisville does not bode well for the rest of the season. Hobart will have a lot of soul searching to do, as it seems like the weight of great expectations may have knocked them off kilter for the rest of 2022.

Will have more on this one soon. Still can't believe what happened. 

Week 2 - SUNY-Morrisville Game Preview

The #23 Hobart College Statesmen will hit the road for the first time in the 2022 to take on the SUNY-Morrisville Mustangs. "Mo' State" (1-0) won their season opener, 10-0, over Kean University last Saturday.

Hobart (1-0) has won all three of the matchups against the Mustangs by a combined score of 141-48, including last year's 41-0 blowout, where the Statesmen outgained Morrisville 407-112 total yards. This season I expect a more competitive showing from the Mustangs, who struggled to a 2-8 mark in 2021, but did surprisingly beat Brockport, 13-7, in Week 10.

Scouting the Mustangs

Thanks to Twitter, we know that these four Morrisville players were big factors in the win over Kean. SR WR Justin Adams hauled in 3 catches for 55 yards and 1 TD. On defense, SO DB Anai Brake had 5 tackles and 2 TFL and big SR DL Will Brown added two stops and a sack. On special teams, JR PK Hunter Regal averaged 43 YPP, with a long of 54, and only one TB on six kicks.

This is helpful, but really the Mustangs success will be based on their dual threat JR QB Steven Frerichs. He went 10-22 passing with a TD and rushed for 62 yards in Saturday's game. He also booted two punts himself, averaging nearly 50 YPP, so Hobart needs to be prepared the "quick-kick" in certain situations. 

Defensively Morrisville is led by SR LBs Joe Miller-Labar and Ernesto Mitchell. They tallied a combined 15 tackles in the win over Kean Saturday. 

Keys to the Game:

1. Start Fast - Last season it took the Statesmen until the second quarter to get on the scoreboard and they actually trailed, 17-21 at the half, in 2019. Realistically the Statesmen have more overall talent on both sides of the ball, so they should be able to set the tempo early in this one.

2. Break the Mustangs (Run Defense) - Even though they shut out Kean (0-1), the Cougars still averaged 4.5 YPR in Saturday's game. I think Morrisville's defense is tough, but undersized, and Hobart's big OL and TEs can take advantage of this matchup. 

3. Focus on Fundamentals - Not to beat a dead horse (pun intended), but the penalties have to stop. Hobart's too polished a program to get as many flags as they do. This (-95 yards on 9 penalties) was the only negative in Saturday's 36-6 win over Alfred (0-1).

Prediction:

No surprise here, but I like Hobart in this one. History suggests the Statesmen could crack 40 points, but I'll give the Mustangs defense a little more credit after their performance against a Kean team that finished second in the NJAC in 2021. Still, I'll take Hobart by a wide margin, say 38-10, in this Saturday's contest.

We will recap the Alfred game, among other things on the next episode of In the D3FB Huddle. Don't forget to catch the next Ted Baker and Coach DeWall podcast, which should be out a day or two before the next game.

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!