Week 8 - Send in the Saints for Tackles & Touchdowns Saturday

Well, if there was ever a time Hobart could use a win, there couldn't be a better opponent than one where they have a 13-game winning streak and who the Statesmen (1-5, 0-3) have beaten by a combined score of 105-13 over the past three seasons, right?

To be fair, every season is a new one. Although this year's Saint Lawrence Saints (2-4, 1-2) team has also struggled, they do bring back some experienced players and have acquitted themselves well in games against strong teams like Saint John Fisher and Ithaca.

Hobart is 57-36-2 all time against the Saints, making this the 96th game in this series, dating back to 1901. Last season the Statesmen held Saint Lawrence to a single FG in a convincing, 39-3 win, up in Canton. 

This year's game will be at the Boz and coincides with the annual Tackles and Touchdowns fundraiser for the Ability Partners Foundation which supports Happiness House in Geneva, Rochester Rehabilitation and the services of CP Rochester. Happiness House is a school that gives opportunities to young students and adults with disabilities to learn and flourish in a safe environment.

Scouting the Saints

SLU is led by SR QB Will Lederman on offense. He's gone 71-112 (63.39%) for 1,076 yards, with nine passing TDs compared to only one INT. He's also the Saints' leading rusher with 235 rushing yards and has scored four of the team's five rushing TDs.

When he isn't tucking and running, Lederman has a pair of favorite targets in SR WRs Shea Goodwin and Nicolas Huhtala. Goodwin has a team high 24 receptions for 345 yards and has one receiving TD. Huhtala has caught 22 passes for 326 yards and a team leading four receiving TDs. SR WR Ciesielski (shown above) has four catches for 121 yards and a TD. He also handles the majority of KO and PRs, averaging just over 21 YPKOR.

The Saints offense is balanced as they've rushed to close to the same number of yards as they have passing (some losses in the running game have clipped the total however). If not Lederman calling his own number, SO RB James Geschiedle has run it 41 times for 109 yards.

Defensively SLU is led by SR LB Ryan Surhoff with a team high 45 tackles. He's added 2.5 TFL, two sacks, an INT, four FFs and one FR this season. SO DL Ethan Metro is on the small side, but he makes up for it in speed and production. He has 6.5 TFL and leads the team with three sacks. 

On special teams, SO PK Sam Arbaugh handles punts (37.96 average) and SR PK Clayton Fogler handles KOs (52 YPKO) and FGs (going 5-9 with a long of 49 yards).

Keys to the Game:

1. Back to Basics - the Saints have given up over 177 RYPG and 10 TDs on the ground this season, so I'd like to see Hobart line it up and commit to running the ball for the majority of the game. Certainly, mixing in some play action and other passes - we have some strong TEs, why not use them a little bit more here and there - along the way. To their credit, SLU barely turns the ball over, so the Statesmen will need to be opportunistic on defense, bottling up Lederman and look to force three and outs. Hopefully on offense, Hobart can start converting more 3rd downs, which has been a challenge all season.

2. Score (More): The Statesmen have yet to score more than 23 points in a game this season, and they've scored over 30 PPG against SLU for a few years now. I'm hoping the fact that the Saints have allowed 14 scoring opportunities (11 TDs, 3 FGs) in 16 redzone trips, means that Hobart can put up some points this Saturday, not just for the home crowd, but to raise more money for the Ability Foundation.

3. Fighting to .500: In order to climb back to a better season, the Statesmen need to go 1-0 this week. The Saints will view this as a rare opportunity to beat Hobart - they've only done it once in 2010 and that was after an 18-game losing streak they had to the Statesmen from 1992-2009. While Hobart has been down, they are not out. A win on Saturday is the first of four steps back to .500.

Final Thoughts:

Every game is a must win from here on out, and the Statesmen will need to be ready to take the Saints best shot. SLU will come into this game with more confidence than in prior seasons. Hobart will just have to execute its game plan and snuff out any hope the Saints have early on in this one.

Keep an eye (and ear) out for Ted Baker's Hobart Football podcast that'll be recorded Wednesday and released not too long after that. 

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!