After a tough Week 8, the Hobart College Statesmen return home for the next two weeks looking to finish the season a perfect 6-0 on the "Boz" for the 2023 season. While the goal of a NCAA playoff bid will have to wait until next year, another strong finish, besting last season's 7-4 mark, an ECAC Bowl bid and win still remain achievable goals.
The Statesmen (5-2, 1-2) will welcome long-time conference foe, the Saint Lawrence University Saints to Geneva Saturday for a 1 PM kickoff. While SLU has surpassed HWS in many other respects (e.g., USNWR report rankings, fundraising, endowment growth, etc.) over the past three decades, the Statesmen have completely dominated their series over the Saints unlike any other in the Liberty League. Hobart is going for their 12th consecutive win and their 30th win in 31 games against SLU. The last time the Saints managed to beat Hobart was back in the troubled 2010 season, 24-21.
The Statesmen are 55-36-2 all-time vs. SLU, dating back to the 1901 season, making this the 94th time Hobart and the Saints have played one another.
This season, SLU (2-5, 0-3) is on a three-game losing streak and coming off a 37-7 loss to RPI (6-1, 2-1), who Hobart will face in Week 10. It appears as though, either via injury or otherwise, the Saints have made (or had to make) a change at the QB position and is generally struggling to put up points this season.
Scouting the SaintsSLU is ranked at or near the bottom of most LL statistical categories including scoring offense (13.9 PPG), scoring defense (26.9 PPG), total offense (272.9 YPG), rushing offense (94.7 YPG), and rushing defense (183.4 YPG).
They have fared well in the passing game, however, averaging 178.1 YPG (which is better than Hobart's 162.1 YPG). The Saints' passing defense is rated second best in the LL, allowing only 146 YPG, but they've have allowed a league worst 12 passing TDs over 7 games.
SLU is currently led on offense by JR QB Will Lederman (pictured above). After only attempting six passes in the first three weeks of the season, he has thrown for 614 yards and 5 TDs while adding 235 yards and 4 TDs on the ground. While he led the Saints in offense for the RPI game, he was pulled in the fourth quarter for FY QB Mark Rodeo. With the game out of reach at 37-7 this was probably more of a coaching decision to give Rodeo some reps vs. an admonishment of Lederman, in my opinion.
The Saints main two receivers seem to be JR WR Cole Salyards (29 catches for 414 yards and 4 TDs) and SO WR Shea Goodwin (29 catches for 321 yards and 1 TD). SLU runs their offense out of the shotgun and likes to spread the field, but the OL has allowed 15 sacks (basically two per game) which hasn't helped.
Defensively, SLU is led by JR S Jordan O'Neil with 42 total tackles. JR DL Thomas Our appears to be their best man up front, with 29 tackles and a team high 3.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks. JR CB Nicholas Giardina leads the Saints with 3 INTs.
Special teams wise, the Saints aren't very special. While they are tied for the lead in LL with a perfect 13-13 mark on PATs, they are 0-1 on FGs and last in punting average with a 24.8-yard net. Their KO average of 36.3 yards is next to last in the LL also.
Keys to the Game:
1. Back to the Basics: Hobart can lean on the run game against a Saints defense allows almost 200 YPG while working on getting JR QB Johnny Columbi back on the plus side of a 50% completion percentage. There were a few moments in the Union game where he found receivers like SO TE Lukas Rudy and JR TE Kevin Christ for nice gains in the open field. SO WR Ahmad Crowell continues to be a solid deep threat, but I'd like to see more targets to JR WR Rane Daramola who has only two catches over the past two weeks. He played a big role last season but is also likely drawing the opposition's best coverage player (and/or getting double teamed on most pass plays) this year.
2. Turnovers / Field Position: The Saints are -4 in TOM this season. While Lederman wasn't picked off in the RPI game, he has thrown 3 INTs in three prior games. SLU has also given up the ball five times on the ground over seven games. The Hobart defense can score and/or set up the offense with great field position by aggressively going after the ball. Forcing the Saints to three and outs will help also. SLU's punt unit isn't very strong, and the Statesmen should look to exploit that weakness.
3. Don't Look Behind or Ahead: The Statesmen need to put last weekend in the proverbial rear-view mirror. It was a disappointing loss, but the Saints are marching in, and Hobart has a conference winning and home field winning streak to protect. While RPI looms large in Week 10, the Statesmen need to take care of business this Saturday before turning their focus on the Engineers.
Prediction:
I like Hobart to bounce back with a 35-14 win on Saturday.
Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!
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