Week 1 - Alfred Game / Season Opener Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen will travel to nearby Alfred, NY to take on the Saxons for the third consecutive season opener against their Empire 8 rivals. This Friday night game will be the 80th edition of the series that dates back to the 1902 season.

Hobart leads the overall rivalry with a 41-35-4 record, mostly due to the fact that the Statesmen have bested the Saxons for 12 straight games, dating all the way back to the 1996 season. While Hobart fans should be confident going into this one (Logan Hansen's "Ratings" predictive model gives the Statesmen an 88% chance to win), but it should be noted that Alfred has a winning record against Hobart at home - 18-16-2 - and they'll be debuting in their upgraded turf field at Yunevich Stadium.

Last season the Statesmen defeated the Saxons, 36-6, thanks to a strong aerial attack that racked up 258 passing yards and 4 pass TDs. This is a new season; however, and with a new QB and OL, Hobart may need to pivot to the run game. 

Both squads lost some key players to graduation, but Alfred does return a few key components from last year's 2-8 team. SR LB Joe Copp and JR RB Max Freeman IV will lead the defense and offense, respectively. They earned first team All-E8 honors last year. Copp was also a second team All-Region selection by D3football.com. 

The Saxons also bring back second team All-E8 GR WR Jacob Kelsey, SR DL Danny Quinones, SR LB/P Zach Johnson and SR DL Tyreek Ormil. Kelsey, Copp and Quinones are team co-captains along with GR DB Amir Massey and GR OL Parker Evans.

Based on the roster, barring any surprises from preseason camp, my guess is Hobart can expect to see now SO QB Chris Kelly leading the offense. He started against the Statesmen last year, going 16-27 for 142 pass yards. He would later lose / share the starting job to SO QB Zuke Smith, but Smith doesn't appear to be back this season. 

On special teams, the Statesmen will have to wait and see who the Saxons have this year. Last season's FY PK Ian Barbini doesn't appear to have come back. FY PKs Owen Bishop and Dominic Bronco are the current players on the roster, other than Johnson, who are kickers. 

Keys to the Game:

1. Copps & Blockers - Maybe Coach DeWall will surprise me, but I would suspect Hobart to lean into the running game Friday night. The OL will need to account for Alfred's best defensive player in Copp, who's a big (6'0 240 lbs.) run stuffer who is aided by an experienced DL. I could see the Statesmen use some lead blockers or otherwise look for opportunities to isolate Copp and run to daylight in the other direction. I'd also like to see some roll outs and play action that can take advantage of JR QB Johnny Columbi's athleticism. A few early completions can build his confidence and perhaps set up a longer shot downfield to JR WR Rane Daramola, who had a 28-yd TD catch against the Saxons last season.

2. Sack the Saxons - Hobart's defense returns most of last season's excellent unit, so I would expect them to be aggressive and pressure the Alfred offense into third and longs as well as a turnover or two. I'll be closely watching the DL, which is the group that has the newest starters, as well as our deep safeties. 

3. Win and Go Home - Lucky 13 (in a row) will be the number for the Statesmen to focus on, as going 1-0 is really the goal for Week 1. The Saxons will be a tough test, especially on their home field, but the Statesmen should have enough talent to head back to Geneva with a victory.

Prediction:

I suspect the game will be low scoring to start much like last year, but Hobart will pull away in the second half. I'll take the Statesmen to win 31-7. 

Just like the rest of you, I'll be looking forward to watching the game on Friday night. Excited for the season to be here. Thanks for reading as always and go 'Bart!

Hobart College Football 2023 Preseason Preview

The 129th season of Hobart College Football will kick off on Friday night, September 1st. It will be the fifth season under HC Kevin DeWall ’00 (given the 2020 COVID year), who’s led the Statesmen to a 30-12 mark since returning to Geneva. Last year Hobart struggled with inexperience and injuries at key positions, dropping to a 7-4 overall record with a 35-18 loss to Washington & Jefferson in the ECAC Bushnell Bowl. Talent wise, the Statesmen had a roster that could have gone 9-1 in the regular season but couldn’t close out a couple of games on the road due to turnovers and mistakes in key situations.

Over the past several years, the Liberty League has elevated to one of the Top 5 best conferences in D3FB, and larger institutions in the league have taken advantage of the COVID 5th year provisions to bolster their rosters. Hobart has been in the mix every year but hasn’t won the LL championship dating back to the 2016 season, which is also the last time the Statesmen qualified for the NCAA playoffs.

Conference realignments across the East and other regions have negatively impacted Hobart and the LL also, mostly due to not being selected to pair up for OOC scheduling with or like the NJAC/Centennial, Empire 8/Landmark, and PAC (which added Allegheny so now they can’t play OOC games). Due to that, LL teams had to be creative in scheduling their 3-4 OOC games this season. We will see some marquee matchups, but also some duds (more on that later), prior to LL play.

I suspect Hobart will be selected to finish 3rd in the LL preseason coaches’ poll, which is where they have averaged the past four seasons. Can the Statesmen take the next step? Time will tell.

Here’s a first look at Team 129:

(OFFENSE)

Hobart will debut a new starting QB in 2023. JR QB Johnny Columbi is the likely heir apparent, but he’ll be challenged by some talented incoming players. Columbi had a fair second season in 2022, gaining 386 total yards over seven games, scoring a passing and rushing TD.

Whomever plays QB will be reliant on what will be a retooled OL. Hobart will need to replace four starters from this group. I wouldn’t be surprised if SR OL Ethan Kowalski is moved inside to center, leaving his tackle spot open for a competition between players such as SO OL Quinn Broggy and SR Matt Siegel. SO OL Ashton Mejias got into the rotation, and even started a handful of games as a FY, and will compete for a starting role, at tackle or guard. The rest will need to be decided in preseason camp. Needless to say, how this group evolves will have a huge impact on the Statesmen's season.

The Statesmen will welcome back one of the strongest 1-2 punches in the nation with the return of SR RBs Rayshawn Boswell and Tim Denham, Jr. Both guys saw a decline in their production from the 2021 season, mostly due to injuries. Keeping these two healthy is a key priority for Hobart’s success in 2023. Denham, Jr is currently ranked as the sixth best active RB in the nation (based on total rushing yards), which is pretty impressive.

At WR, the Statesmen welcome back JR WR Rane Daramola who emerged as one of Hobart’s top receiving threats in 2022. He led the team with 18 catches for 404 yards and 4 TDs. SR WRs Chris Bartosec and Peyton Cayea also return giving this group added depth and experience. 

Hobart will need to find a new starter at TE and apparently four players competed in spring practice for this role and the starter will be a Week 1 decision. What should help this group is the addition of former two-time captain and starting TE Mike Zaccone '22 who will be the TE position coach this season. 

(DEFENSE)

This younger unit in 2022 ended up being the strength of the team with several outstanding performances from a deep and talented LB corps. JR LB Anthony Romano earned 1st team All-Liberty League and 2nd team D3football.com All-Region awards. He led the Statesmen with 88 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks and 2 INTs last season. Also back are JR LB Peterson Monexant, SR LB Drew Walsh, and team co-captain JR LB Jamien Bliss. JR LB Cashon Young and SO LB Mike McGee gives this group added depth. 

On the DL, JR DE Alex Karpovich returns after a breakout 2022 season where he earned 1st team All-LL honors. He led the Statesmen with 11 TFL and four sacks. SR DEs Connor Gunn and Joel Kraft will compete for the other DE starting job. In the middle, three players, SR DL Caleb Pulver, SO DL Denzel Silver, and SO DL Nick Provenzano will compete for the starting NT role. 

The Statesmen will need to replace both starting safeties, but have experienced players like SR DB Joe McCoy, SO Alex Smith, and JR DB Zac Ambielli returning. Both starting CBs – SR DB James Mahoney and SR DB Abdoulaye Diallo – also return. Should either struggle or become injured, both JR DB Chris Ntumba and SO DB Mekhi Rodgers will be ready for action. Overall, 8 starters with several experienced veterans return to this unit, which should once again keep Hobart in tight games, particularly in LL play later in the season.

(SPECIAL TEAMS)

JR PK Tobias Wefering returns and added into the mix will be FY PK Luke Monteyne. The Statesmen will have the dangerous duo of Boswell and Denham, Jr. available for the return game, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some newer faces getting an opportunity here given all the talent on the roster.

(SCHEDULE)

Long-time Hobart fans know the Statesmen have a particular home field advantage when it comes to gameday at the “Boz”. Hobart is 18-2 since the 2018 season at home under Coach DeWall ’00 and as scheduling “luck” would have it, will get to play six home games in 2023: Week 2 vs. Morrisville, Week 4 vs. Keystone, Weeks 6 & 7 vs. Buffalo State and Hilbert and Weeks 9 & 10 vs. Saint Lawrence and RPI. 

It’s been a while since the Engineers and Hobart played this late in the season, and I’m expecting it’ll be a game with LL championship and postseason implications. On the flip side, the Statesmen will have some challenging road trips, but they are spread out, starting with Week 1 at Alfred, Week 5 at Ithaca (who of course gets their bye in Week 4 before this game), Week 8 at Union and Week 11 at Rochester.

Ithaca begins the season ranked #9 in the D3football.com preseason Top 25 and the defending LL champions are the team to beat again this season. The Statesmen had a scrimmage yesterday against the Empire 8 defending champions, Cortland, which will be a good measuring stick for Hobart heading into the Week 1 game against the Saxons.

(SUMMARY)

With more unknowns than we’ve seen going into a season for a while, it’s hard to gauge expectations for Team 129. The scheduling realignments in Region 2 has forced Hobart to take a couple of games they normally would have preferred to avoid (due to SOS considerations) but could be a blessing in disguise. For a younger offensive squad looking to establish its identity, particularly early in the season and down the literal “home stretch” with the RPI looming in Week 10, this schedule has some benefits.

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!