After a long break, I wanted to make sure I finally "put a bow" on the 2025 season. We've seen a lot of news transpire between now and then, and while I will mention a few items here and there, I wanted to focus more on looking back before we look ahead.
Hobart College Statesmen football had "a tale of two seasons" in 2025. The first half featured a loaded schedule and a slew of injuries never seen before in my now going 34 years (and 33 seasons) of following this program.
The Statesmen struggled out to a 1-4 first half, but four of those games were decided only by a combined 18 points. A few bounces here and there, and this year could have been very different. Unfortunately the Hobart offense wasn't put together as I may have thought early on, as finding a new starting QB proved to be difficult. Eventually SO QB Jeremy Weiss rose from the third to the first string and the Statesmen's season began to shift in a more positive direction.
With less than 50 players able to travel to league rival Union College, who would eventually go on to win the conference and qualify for the playoffs, Hobart dropped to 1-5 and went into the bye week with a lot of soul-searching to do.
The Statesmen came out of the break invigorated and a much better football team. They would win their final four regular season games by a combined 175-53 margin and earn a postseason bid in the ECAC James Lynah Bowl game. Hobart would travel downstate and easily defeat SUNY-Maritime, 42-14. JR RB E.J Taylor was named the game's MVP behind an impressive 19 rushes for 172 yards and two TDs.
While a 6-5 overall mark isn't the standard we've come to be used to as Hobart fans, I view this as a great ending to one of the most difficult seasons I've seen in about three decades. The Statesmen proved themselves to be resilient and finished strong, winning five in a row to help set the foundation for a (hopefully) more successful 2026 campaign. It also kept the Statesmen's streak of having 28 consecutive winning seasons intact, as well earning Hobart's sixth consecutive postseason appearance, dating back to 2019.
Now, let's look at some statistics and other highlights from all three facets of the game from 2025.
The Hobart offense was once again led by JR RB E.J. Taylor who finished the 2025 campaign with 1,354 rushing yards on 216 carries, which averaged over 123 YPG. He also led the team with 18 rushing TDs, adding one receiving TD against Hilbert. Assuming he stays healthy, Taylor will make a run at the record books in his final season, as he's already rushed for 2,883 yards and 33 touchdowns in 33 career games. He ranks seventh on the program's all-time rushing list for yards and eighth in TDs.
SO QB Jeremy Weiss would finish the year with 1,447 passing yards and 15 TDs with only three INTs. He completed 62.5% of his passes, which is one of the best marks by a Statesmen QB - narrowly edging Shane Sweeney's 62.3% for third best all-time - in almost two decades!
Weiss's favorite target was SO WR Johnny Harding, who built on his conference ROTY award winning 2024 campaign with a team high 43 receptions for 768 yards and 10 TDs.
Defensively Hobart was once again led by SR OLB Mike McGhee who finished his impressive Statesmen career with 234 total tackles, including 23 TFL for -96 yards and 7.5 sacks for -59 yards. In 2025 he tallied 100 total tackles - nearly as much as his sophomore and junior years combined.
SR LB Noah Chachre would have a big season, his first as a starter, tallying 68 tackles with seven TFL, two sacks and two INTs.
SO DL Billy Brosko, who's FY campaign was shortened by injury, proved to be a force up front, logging 63 tackles with a team high 12.5 TFL. He also forced two fumbles and recovered one.
On Special Teams, SR PK Vicente Lyon once again earned All-Conference, All-Region and All-American recognition as one of the best punters in the nation. He averaged near 43 YPP with a long of 63.
JR PK Luke Monteyne would finish the year 4-7 on FGs (with a long of 37 yards) and an impressive 39-40 on PATs.
Overall, the Statesmen would see 10 players earn All-Conference nods.
Given an unprecedented offseason with the transfer portal, it remains to be seen how Hobart's and other LL teams' rosters are affected. I do expect another strong incoming recruiting class to bolster which should be a relatively experienced team after the ups and downs of 2025 that saw a lot of new faces get valuable playing time.
The Statesmen's 2026 schedule is already posted and is basically a mirror image (with home and away dates swapped) to 2025. Hobart gets the benefit of six home games this fall, which is great. A real bonus will be hosting Alfred, Brockport, Ithaca and Union at the Boz, where the Statesmen have an incredible W/L record.
Friday night, September 4th is a long way off for now, so I will keep an eye out for recruiting news in the offseason, in the meantime. Last but certainly not least, congratulations to Coach Mike Green '14 on being named the new HC at Gettysburg College. I had a feeling this would be his final year at Hobart and wish him nothing the best with the Bullets. At least the color scheme will feel familiar.
Thanks, as always for reading and go 'Bart!
