JR WR Brandon Shed had a very happy birthday Saturday, scoring three receiving TDs, including the game winner against rival Union College.
Shed currently ranks second in all D3 in TD receptions (8) and is third overall in receiving yards (546) and ninth in receiving YPG (136.5).
My ITH co-host Frank Rossi and I spoke to him last night on our D3FB podcast. You can hear the interview after our highlight reel and post game analysis here.
I have some more analysis on the upcoming game against the USMMA (2-1, 1-0) later this week. The Mariners had a big 55-7 win over Rochester (1-2, 0-1) Saturday for Homecoming in Kings Point.
Thanks for tuning into the podcast (and reading the blog). Go 'Bart!
Monday, September 26, 2016
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Sloppy Statesmen Overcome Penalties to Outlast Union, 27-23
Maybe it was the Saturday Night Lights / Ithaca revenge game hangover, but the #18/22 ranked Hobart College Statesmen needed a late comeback and some luck to defeat rival Union College, 27-23, Saturday at Boswell Field.
The Statesmen (4-0, 1-0) were flagged 11 times for -116 yards with four or five unsportsmanlike penalties that included a (very questionable) targeting call against SR OLB Michael Harper. The Hobart DL and basically front seven was once again suspect as Union (1-3, 0-1) gashed the young Statesmen defense to the tune of 170 rushing yards and two scores. SO RB Connor Kinzelmann had both of those Dutchmen TDs, the third went to SR QB Blake Geller who had a workman like eight for 18, 124 yard passing day.
Turnovers also hurt Hobart who gave Union the ball at their own nine yard late in the first quarter. Another turnover and a couple of sacks allowed by the Hobart OL put the Statesmen in a 10-7 halftime hole.
Things looked worse for Hobart after Geller led Union on a five play, 68 yard drive that gave the Dutchmen a 17-7 lead with 11:47 remaining in the 3rd quarter. That drive included a long pass where a wide open Dutchmen receiver benefited from blown coverage by the Hobart secondary.
SR FB Sean Bright (#36!) would pull the Statesmen within four points with a one yard TD. Kicking woes would start then, with SR PK Sean Kirshe missing the first of two PATs. Hobart would take the lead on JR WR Brandon Shed's second TD of the game with 2:01 remaining in the third quarter. Shed, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday, had a 50 yard catch to open the scoring back in the first.
Union would regain the lead after a 15 play, 77 yard drive ended in Kinzelmann's second rushing TD, a one yarder with 6:33 to go in the game. The Dutchmen elected to go for two but Geller was intercepted by JR DB Tommy D'Antonio, who returned it 95 yards to clip the Union lead to 23-21!
Shed would score what would be the winning TD on a 23 yard pass from JR QB Shane Sweeney with 2:16 left. The Hobart defense would hold, dodging a bullet on a would be TD that was called out of bounds (replays in the press box confirmed this according to the game announcers).
After one of the sloppiest first halves I have seen in several years, you have to give the Statesmen credit for finding a way to comeback and win this game. The officiating was bad on both sides of the ball, but even though Hobart didn't show what they were really capable of, they still found a way to win.
This was the second year in a row that Shed had a 100+ yard and multiple TD game against the Dutchmen. Sweeney finished with a solid 22 for 35, 246 passing yards and three TD game. D'Antonio and FY LB Jedh Downey led the Statesmen defense with 11 tackles each. With SR OLB Marcus Jemison out, D'Antonio has really stepped up and is the MVP on this team, at least in my opinion.
Hobart will learn a lot from this game tape and will need to improve on all the mistakes they made in this game after a tough nosed United States Merchant Marine (2-1, 1-0) team destroyed Rochester by a 55-7 margin today.
We will discuss this game and others, Sunday night on ITH. More on that soon.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
The Statesmen (4-0, 1-0) were flagged 11 times for -116 yards with four or five unsportsmanlike penalties that included a (very questionable) targeting call against SR OLB Michael Harper. The Hobart DL and basically front seven was once again suspect as Union (1-3, 0-1) gashed the young Statesmen defense to the tune of 170 rushing yards and two scores. SO RB Connor Kinzelmann had both of those Dutchmen TDs, the third went to SR QB Blake Geller who had a workman like eight for 18, 124 yard passing day.
Turnovers also hurt Hobart who gave Union the ball at their own nine yard late in the first quarter. Another turnover and a couple of sacks allowed by the Hobart OL put the Statesmen in a 10-7 halftime hole.
Things looked worse for Hobart after Geller led Union on a five play, 68 yard drive that gave the Dutchmen a 17-7 lead with 11:47 remaining in the 3rd quarter. That drive included a long pass where a wide open Dutchmen receiver benefited from blown coverage by the Hobart secondary.
SR FB Sean Bright (#36!) would pull the Statesmen within four points with a one yard TD. Kicking woes would start then, with SR PK Sean Kirshe missing the first of two PATs. Hobart would take the lead on JR WR Brandon Shed's second TD of the game with 2:01 remaining in the third quarter. Shed, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday, had a 50 yard catch to open the scoring back in the first.
Union would regain the lead after a 15 play, 77 yard drive ended in Kinzelmann's second rushing TD, a one yarder with 6:33 to go in the game. The Dutchmen elected to go for two but Geller was intercepted by JR DB Tommy D'Antonio, who returned it 95 yards to clip the Union lead to 23-21!
Shed would score what would be the winning TD on a 23 yard pass from JR QB Shane Sweeney with 2:16 left. The Hobart defense would hold, dodging a bullet on a would be TD that was called out of bounds (replays in the press box confirmed this according to the game announcers).
After one of the sloppiest first halves I have seen in several years, you have to give the Statesmen credit for finding a way to comeback and win this game. The officiating was bad on both sides of the ball, but even though Hobart didn't show what they were really capable of, they still found a way to win.
This was the second year in a row that Shed had a 100+ yard and multiple TD game against the Dutchmen. Sweeney finished with a solid 22 for 35, 246 passing yards and three TD game. D'Antonio and FY LB Jedh Downey led the Statesmen defense with 11 tackles each. With SR OLB Marcus Jemison out, D'Antonio has really stepped up and is the MVP on this team, at least in my opinion.
Hobart will learn a lot from this game tape and will need to improve on all the mistakes they made in this game after a tough nosed United States Merchant Marine (2-1, 1-0) team destroyed Rochester by a 55-7 margin today.
We will discuss this game and others, Sunday night on ITH. More on that soon.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Week 4 - (The 100th) Union Game Preview
The #18/22 ranked Hobart College Statesmen will open it's 2016 LL conference slate against long-time rival, the Union College Dutchmen, this Saturday at Boswell Field. It's the 100th meeting of these two rivals in a series that dates back to 1896! Kickoff is slated for noon (and according to WEOS' Ted Baker, there will be no pregame broadcast so coverage starts promptly at noon instead of the usual 20 minutes prior).
The Dutchmen are coming off a loss to Western New England (3-0) in a game that saw turnovers turn the tide on Union. The Dutchmen led 9-6 at the half, but fell 32-16, after the Golden Bears went on a 19 point run in the third quarter.
Hobart (3-0) continues to chip away at the Dutchmen's all-time series lead of 50-47-2 as the Statesmen have won six games in a row dating back to the 2010 season. Last season Hobart easily defeated Union by a score of 52-14, the highest offensive output for the Statesmen all season.
Then SO QB Shane Sweeney had an impressive 15-20, 305 passing and four TD day. WR Brandon Shed caught five of those passes for 179 yards and three scores. The Statesmen rushed for 276 yards and three TDs also, led by Connor Hartigan '16 with 95.
This year's Dutchman (1-2) squad is much improved defensively, at least against the run, and has a stout rushing attack on offense. The QB situation and passing game is what makes this Union squad somewhat one-dimensional.
Keys to the Game:
1. Sweeney to Shed - It worked for nearly 200 yards last season, so I suspect the Statesmen offense will look to test a Union passing defense that's allowed 221.7 YPG and five TDs in 2016. Union's defensive strength is in it's LB corps with players like SR SS Brian Alebiosu and SO LB Hunter Ordukhanyan who are tied for second in the LL with 32 tackles each. The Dutchmen are tough to run on, allowing only 103.3 YPG (good for fourth in the LL) and only three rushing scores on the year. Not that it matters in this contest, but the Statesmen are dead last in the LL with 103 YPG rushing. Union averages only 85 YPG passing, so you can say both teams lack of offensive balance. The imbalance may not hurt the Statesmen Saturday, but it could spell trouble for Hobart down the line against more complete / playoff ready opponents.
2. Stop the Run - On the flip side, Union has two of the LL's leading rushers in SO RB Connor Kinzelmann (42 carries for 251 yards and two TDs) and SR RB Jermaine Carn (54 carries for 216 yards and three scores). Union has only attempted 49 passes on the season so far (compared to Hobart's LL leading 122), so expect the Dutchmen to come out and test a Statesmen rush defense that's struggled somewhat, placing itself sixth in the LL with an 138.9 YPG allowed average. I'd like to see more inside gap penetration and tackles by the DL as it seems that opposing QBs and RBs haven't dealt with much inside pressure from the Statesmen defense. To its credit, the DL has forced plays to the outside so the DEs, LBs and DBs can make plays but the lack of pass rush is also something that'll need to develop in order for Hobart to have a chance to beat stronger teams down the stretch. The Statesmen are tied for first in the LL with 13 sacks (4.3 PG), but most, if not all of these came after the QB had time to scramble outside the pocket. The dangerous aspect of this outside contain strategy is that if tackles are missed (like some that where in the Brockport and Endicott games), opposing teams can get big gains of yardage outside.
3. Penalties - Hobart has more than two times the number of penalties (15) than Union (six). While I expect a tough, physical game, the long-time rivalry between these two schools can lead to "chippy" play. The Statesmen need to act like their namesake and avoid getting overly emotional or dragged into anything after the whistle. I've seen enough between these two programs to know there's some bad blood there.
Prediction
New HC Jeff Behrman has Union back on track, but Hobart doesn't need to worry too much about beating the Dutchmen this season. I like the Statesmen to cruise in this one by a score of 35-10.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
The Dutchmen are coming off a loss to Western New England (3-0) in a game that saw turnovers turn the tide on Union. The Dutchmen led 9-6 at the half, but fell 32-16, after the Golden Bears went on a 19 point run in the third quarter.
Hobart (3-0) continues to chip away at the Dutchmen's all-time series lead of 50-47-2 as the Statesmen have won six games in a row dating back to the 2010 season. Last season Hobart easily defeated Union by a score of 52-14, the highest offensive output for the Statesmen all season.
Then SO QB Shane Sweeney had an impressive 15-20, 305 passing and four TD day. WR Brandon Shed caught five of those passes for 179 yards and three scores. The Statesmen rushed for 276 yards and three TDs also, led by Connor Hartigan '16 with 95.
This year's Dutchman (1-2) squad is much improved defensively, at least against the run, and has a stout rushing attack on offense. The QB situation and passing game is what makes this Union squad somewhat one-dimensional.
Keys to the Game:
1. Sweeney to Shed - It worked for nearly 200 yards last season, so I suspect the Statesmen offense will look to test a Union passing defense that's allowed 221.7 YPG and five TDs in 2016. Union's defensive strength is in it's LB corps with players like SR SS Brian Alebiosu and SO LB Hunter Ordukhanyan who are tied for second in the LL with 32 tackles each. The Dutchmen are tough to run on, allowing only 103.3 YPG (good for fourth in the LL) and only three rushing scores on the year. Not that it matters in this contest, but the Statesmen are dead last in the LL with 103 YPG rushing. Union averages only 85 YPG passing, so you can say both teams lack of offensive balance. The imbalance may not hurt the Statesmen Saturday, but it could spell trouble for Hobart down the line against more complete / playoff ready opponents.
2. Stop the Run - On the flip side, Union has two of the LL's leading rushers in SO RB Connor Kinzelmann (42 carries for 251 yards and two TDs) and SR RB Jermaine Carn (54 carries for 216 yards and three scores). Union has only attempted 49 passes on the season so far (compared to Hobart's LL leading 122), so expect the Dutchmen to come out and test a Statesmen rush defense that's struggled somewhat, placing itself sixth in the LL with an 138.9 YPG allowed average. I'd like to see more inside gap penetration and tackles by the DL as it seems that opposing QBs and RBs haven't dealt with much inside pressure from the Statesmen defense. To its credit, the DL has forced plays to the outside so the DEs, LBs and DBs can make plays but the lack of pass rush is also something that'll need to develop in order for Hobart to have a chance to beat stronger teams down the stretch. The Statesmen are tied for first in the LL with 13 sacks (4.3 PG), but most, if not all of these came after the QB had time to scramble outside the pocket. The dangerous aspect of this outside contain strategy is that if tackles are missed (like some that where in the Brockport and Endicott games), opposing teams can get big gains of yardage outside.
3. Penalties - Hobart has more than two times the number of penalties (15) than Union (six). While I expect a tough, physical game, the long-time rivalry between these two schools can lead to "chippy" play. The Statesmen need to act like their namesake and avoid getting overly emotional or dragged into anything after the whistle. I've seen enough between these two programs to know there's some bad blood there.
Prediction
New HC Jeff Behrman has Union back on track, but Hobart doesn't need to worry too much about beating the Dutchmen this season. I like the Statesmen to cruise in this one by a score of 35-10.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
Monday, September 19, 2016
Statesmen Beat Bombers, 23-3
The 25th ranked Hobart College Statesmen hosted Ithaca College last Saturday night under the lights of Boswell Field. A large crowd turned out at the "Boz" and after allowing a FG on the Bombers initial drive, the Hobart (3-0) defense shut out Ithaca (1-1) for the remainder of the game.
The Statesmen outgained the Bombers by a 324 to 177 yard margin. JR QB Shane Sweeney found classmate JR WR Brandon Shed twice for TDs early in the game and finished with a solid 225 passing yard performance.
SR PK Sean Kirshe had some struggles in the wind and rain which picked up in the second half, but did add a 29 yard FG in the second quarter to help give Hobart a 16-3 halftime lead. JR RB Joe Letizia closed out the scoring with an eight yard TD run early in the fourth quarter. The young Statesmen defense was led by FY LB Jedh Downey with eight tackles.
A more detailed recap of the game can be found here. I'll post some pictures (like the one below) taken from the game by my friends Jen and Sean McGlynn '00 soon.
The win helped Hobart move up three spots in the D3football.com Top 25 poll to #22. A link to the poll can be found here.
We discussed this game and the seven others that LL teams participated in on last night's In The Huddle.com podcast. Highlights from the Ithaca game can be heard in the opening minutes of the show.
I'll have more thoughts on this game later in the week and preview the Union (1-2) game by Thursday.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
The Statesmen outgained the Bombers by a 324 to 177 yard margin. JR QB Shane Sweeney found classmate JR WR Brandon Shed twice for TDs early in the game and finished with a solid 225 passing yard performance.
SR PK Sean Kirshe had some struggles in the wind and rain which picked up in the second half, but did add a 29 yard FG in the second quarter to help give Hobart a 16-3 halftime lead. JR RB Joe Letizia closed out the scoring with an eight yard TD run early in the fourth quarter. The young Statesmen defense was led by FY LB Jedh Downey with eight tackles.
A more detailed recap of the game can be found here. I'll post some pictures (like the one below) taken from the game by my friends Jen and Sean McGlynn '00 soon.
The win helped Hobart move up three spots in the D3football.com Top 25 poll to #22. A link to the poll can be found here.
We discussed this game and the seven others that LL teams participated in on last night's In The Huddle.com podcast. Highlights from the Ithaca game can be heard in the opening minutes of the show.
I'll have more thoughts on this game later in the week and preview the Union (1-2) game by Thursday.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Week 3 - Ithaca / Homecoming Game Preview
Hobart College Statesmen will host Ithaca College under the lights of Boswell Field Saturday night. It's the Statesmen's home opener and also Homecoming / Family weekend. I was hoping to attend the game in person, but sometimes life gets in the way of fun college football weekends. This match-up is not an easy Homecoming game draw for Hobart either, considering the Statesmen lost to the Bombers, 24-6, last season at Ithaca. It should also be noted that the Liberty League is 2-3 so far against the Empire 8. RPI, Union and Springfield have lost to E8 teams, but Saint Lawrence (2-0) defeated Morrisville State (0-1) by a score of 28-0 in Week 1.
On Monday the Statesmen cracked the D3Football.com Top 25 once again after another 40+ point offensive performance. A link to the poll can be found here. While I'm happy for the Statesmen, I feel like this recognition is a bit premature. I'm guessing it certainly has been noticed in Canton where the Saints have scored 80 unanswered points over the last two games.
More on that later, in the meantime, back to the game at hand!
While Ithaca (1-0) has a commanding 25-4 lead in the overall series against Hobart, since the 2000 season the Statesmen-Bombers games have become a true rivalry and the teams are tied at 3-3. Hobart last defeated Ithaca in the 2014 NCAA playoffs, a game that was second on my "Best Games of the Last 20 Years" ranking I posted over the summer. You can read that post here.
There's not a lot of tape of the 2016 Ithaca team as they beat Union College in Week 1 but were idle last weekend. Some may say this extra week of preparation will help the Bombers, but we'll have to see how things pan out on Saturday. The highlights from the Bombers 14-9 win over Union College (1-1) can be seen here. The Bombers return seven starters on both sides of the ball (offense and defense), so they have a good amount of experience. Whether or not they'll resemble the team that started 4-1 last season or the team that went 0-5 down the stretch, remains to be seen.
What's noticeable about the statistics from the Week 1 / Union game is how the Ithaca offense really struggled against a Dutchmen defense that ranked last in pretty much every category in 2015. Really the only TD the Bombers scored offensively came after Ithaca started a drive from their 47 yard line after pinning Union deep. A 40 yard pass from #12 SR QB Wolf Shafer to #7 JR WR J.R. Zazzara gave Ithaca a first down at the Dutchmen one yard line but it took the Bombers three downs (including a five yard penalty) to get into the end zone. The Ithaca defense also really had to dig in to save the day against Union who had their chances to win the game on more than one occasion late in the second half. Give the new Dutchmen coaching staff credit though, this year's Union team seems much better than last year, at least on defense.
#55 JR LB Kenny Bradley led the Bombers "D" against Union with 13 tackles. Classmate #40 JR LB Dan Loizos wasn't far behind adding 11 stops of his own. #48 SO LB Pat Minogue earned a D3Football.com Player of the Week award for his nine tackle, including three TFL and one sack game vs. Union. He also forced the fumble that was returned for the game-winning TD to open the fourth quarter, not to mention he ended the game with an interception (and he kicked nine punts for an average of 33.33 yards, so yeah, he's a pretty good athlete).
Keys to the Game:
1. Sheep in Wolves' Clothing?: Shafer (son of former Syracuse HC Scott Shafer) will look to improve upon last season's 13 for 24, 163 yard passing and one TD performance against Hobart. Shafer also struggled against Union, going 10 for 23 for 124 yards, a TD and two INTs. He was only sacked once by the Dutchmen, but really it's about pressure and that's something I wonder whether or not the current inexperienced Hobart DL and LB corps can generate on a regular basis? The 4-4 scheme is set to have the ILBs and OLBs make the majority of the tackles but so far that hasn't been the case for the Statesmen and blitzes don't seem to be part of DC Kory David's strategy, at least for now. While JR LB Almamy Conde does lead the team with 17 (as he should), the next few tacklers are edge and secondary guys which means the Statesmen are allowing too many post-LOS rushing yards. Credit SO DL AJ MacFarlane on his award winning Week 2 performance. Hobart needs some interior lineman to step up so that not so many plays end up going outside to the edge (or past it). I will also give props to FY LB Jedh Downey - to come in and be able to start as a FY at Hobart (whose track record of great LBs is amazing) is impressive. Period. His 12 tackles so far show he's up to the task and could end up being in the running for LL ROTY.
2. Stop the Run: Continuing on that theme, the Hobart preview written by the SID would lead you to believe that the Statesmen offense is one of the best in the country, and to be fair, the yardage and point totals are impressive. What I'm focused on however is the Hobart rush defense, which led the LL in 2015 with only 116.3 YPG allowed has started this season allowing over 180 YPG. Yes, it's still early and opening up against Dan Andrews obviously skews the data, but it's something worth keeping an eye on (for now). The Statesmen did allow over 100+ yards rushing to the Endicott RB too. In the Union game, the Bombers offense proved to one dimensional against a (much) tough(er) Dutchmen run defense, so if the Statesmen can do better, it will help Hobart tremendously. Besides if the Dutchmen can hold Ithaca to 55 rushing yards.....I know, I know - just saying.
3. If It Ain't Broke: While I'd love to see SR RB Brad Burns and SO RB Ty Barfield get 10+ carries each, you have to expect JR QB Shane Sweeney to stretch the field on Saturday night. I could see a match up advantage to Hobart in using these RBs as receivers or leverage JR TE Zach Withers and SO TE Matt Woods in short to intermediate routes after guys like JR WR Brandon Shed or SR WR Jack Pfohl take the secondary deep. The strength of the Ithaca defense are their LBs, so look for these kind of match up and for some occasional big plays like SR WR Sean Cunningham and the rest of the corps had in Week 2.
Prediction:
I was a little wary in last Sunday's In The HuddLLe podcast, predicting a close 24-21 game where Hobart prevailed. After getting a closer look, I do think the Statesmen should win by more, but that'll depend on a better, faster start than the Statesmen had last weekend.
(Not so proud) Alumni Soapbox Rant:
I'm very disappointed that HWS and its Communications department (which does the athletics coverage, not the HWS Athletics dept themselves) has made such a bad deal with Sidearm Sports (who's based in Syracuse). I would love to watch the game live online, but the (lack of production) quality and intermittent coverage of what SS provides isn't worth the subscription fee they charge. Why is it that other (including rival LL) schools who also use SS for live stats, web hosting, etc still manage to provide free video feeds of superior quality than what HWS makes you pay almost $100 / year?
While HWS has graded as an "A" institution is so many categories, the poor athletic and social media coverage provided to far away friends, fans and family gets a solid "F". No live tweets from games (a student could easily do this job, especially for a school that has added a "Media" major) or other platforms such as Periscope is just.... perplexing.
At least Ithaca will live stream the game (our homecoming) - for free.
Sorry to vent but I imagine more than a few of you were shaking your heads in agreement while reading the rant above. Feel free to comment below (or not).
In the meantime, be on the lookout for this guy:
If you see (and hear) this guy (a lot) on Saturday night, it's a very, very good thing.
Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!
On Monday the Statesmen cracked the D3Football.com Top 25 once again after another 40+ point offensive performance. A link to the poll can be found here. While I'm happy for the Statesmen, I feel like this recognition is a bit premature. I'm guessing it certainly has been noticed in Canton where the Saints have scored 80 unanswered points over the last two games.
More on that later, in the meantime, back to the game at hand!
While Ithaca (1-0) has a commanding 25-4 lead in the overall series against Hobart, since the 2000 season the Statesmen-Bombers games have become a true rivalry and the teams are tied at 3-3. Hobart last defeated Ithaca in the 2014 NCAA playoffs, a game that was second on my "Best Games of the Last 20 Years" ranking I posted over the summer. You can read that post here.
There's not a lot of tape of the 2016 Ithaca team as they beat Union College in Week 1 but were idle last weekend. Some may say this extra week of preparation will help the Bombers, but we'll have to see how things pan out on Saturday. The highlights from the Bombers 14-9 win over Union College (1-1) can be seen here. The Bombers return seven starters on both sides of the ball (offense and defense), so they have a good amount of experience. Whether or not they'll resemble the team that started 4-1 last season or the team that went 0-5 down the stretch, remains to be seen.
What's noticeable about the statistics from the Week 1 / Union game is how the Ithaca offense really struggled against a Dutchmen defense that ranked last in pretty much every category in 2015. Really the only TD the Bombers scored offensively came after Ithaca started a drive from their 47 yard line after pinning Union deep. A 40 yard pass from #12 SR QB Wolf Shafer to #7 JR WR J.R. Zazzara gave Ithaca a first down at the Dutchmen one yard line but it took the Bombers three downs (including a five yard penalty) to get into the end zone. The Ithaca defense also really had to dig in to save the day against Union who had their chances to win the game on more than one occasion late in the second half. Give the new Dutchmen coaching staff credit though, this year's Union team seems much better than last year, at least on defense.
#55 JR LB Kenny Bradley led the Bombers "D" against Union with 13 tackles. Classmate #40 JR LB Dan Loizos wasn't far behind adding 11 stops of his own. #48 SO LB Pat Minogue earned a D3Football.com Player of the Week award for his nine tackle, including three TFL and one sack game vs. Union. He also forced the fumble that was returned for the game-winning TD to open the fourth quarter, not to mention he ended the game with an interception (and he kicked nine punts for an average of 33.33 yards, so yeah, he's a pretty good athlete).
Keys to the Game:
1. Sheep in Wolves' Clothing?: Shafer (son of former Syracuse HC Scott Shafer) will look to improve upon last season's 13 for 24, 163 yard passing and one TD performance against Hobart. Shafer also struggled against Union, going 10 for 23 for 124 yards, a TD and two INTs. He was only sacked once by the Dutchmen, but really it's about pressure and that's something I wonder whether or not the current inexperienced Hobart DL and LB corps can generate on a regular basis? The 4-4 scheme is set to have the ILBs and OLBs make the majority of the tackles but so far that hasn't been the case for the Statesmen and blitzes don't seem to be part of DC Kory David's strategy, at least for now. While JR LB Almamy Conde does lead the team with 17 (as he should), the next few tacklers are edge and secondary guys which means the Statesmen are allowing too many post-LOS rushing yards. Credit SO DL AJ MacFarlane on his award winning Week 2 performance. Hobart needs some interior lineman to step up so that not so many plays end up going outside to the edge (or past it). I will also give props to FY LB Jedh Downey - to come in and be able to start as a FY at Hobart (whose track record of great LBs is amazing) is impressive. Period. His 12 tackles so far show he's up to the task and could end up being in the running for LL ROTY.
2. Stop the Run: Continuing on that theme, the Hobart preview written by the SID would lead you to believe that the Statesmen offense is one of the best in the country, and to be fair, the yardage and point totals are impressive. What I'm focused on however is the Hobart rush defense, which led the LL in 2015 with only 116.3 YPG allowed has started this season allowing over 180 YPG. Yes, it's still early and opening up against Dan Andrews obviously skews the data, but it's something worth keeping an eye on (for now). The Statesmen did allow over 100+ yards rushing to the Endicott RB too. In the Union game, the Bombers offense proved to one dimensional against a (much) tough(er) Dutchmen run defense, so if the Statesmen can do better, it will help Hobart tremendously. Besides if the Dutchmen can hold Ithaca to 55 rushing yards.....I know, I know - just saying.
3. If It Ain't Broke: While I'd love to see SR RB Brad Burns and SO RB Ty Barfield get 10+ carries each, you have to expect JR QB Shane Sweeney to stretch the field on Saturday night. I could see a match up advantage to Hobart in using these RBs as receivers or leverage JR TE Zach Withers and SO TE Matt Woods in short to intermediate routes after guys like JR WR Brandon Shed or SR WR Jack Pfohl take the secondary deep. The strength of the Ithaca defense are their LBs, so look for these kind of match up and for some occasional big plays like SR WR Sean Cunningham and the rest of the corps had in Week 2.
SO RB Tynard Barfield Breaks A Tackle
I was a little wary in last Sunday's In The HuddLLe podcast, predicting a close 24-21 game where Hobart prevailed. After getting a closer look, I do think the Statesmen should win by more, but that'll depend on a better, faster start than the Statesmen had last weekend.
(Not so proud) Alumni Soapbox Rant:
I'm very disappointed that HWS and its Communications department (which does the athletics coverage, not the HWS Athletics dept themselves) has made such a bad deal with Sidearm Sports (who's based in Syracuse). I would love to watch the game live online, but the (lack of production) quality and intermittent coverage of what SS provides isn't worth the subscription fee they charge. Why is it that other (including rival LL) schools who also use SS for live stats, web hosting, etc still manage to provide free video feeds of superior quality than what HWS makes you pay almost $100 / year?
While HWS has graded as an "A" institution is so many categories, the poor athletic and social media coverage provided to far away friends, fans and family gets a solid "F". No live tweets from games (a student could easily do this job, especially for a school that has added a "Media" major) or other platforms such as Periscope is just.... perplexing.
At least Ithaca will live stream the game (our homecoming) - for free.
Sorry to vent but I imagine more than a few of you were shaking your heads in agreement while reading the rant above. Feel free to comment below (or not).
In the meantime, be on the lookout for this guy:
If you see (and hear) this guy (a lot) on Saturday night, it's a very, very good thing.
Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Slow Start Leads to Strong Finish for Hobart
The Hobart College Statesmen defeated the Endicott College Gulls, 42-20, Saturday in Beverly, MA. Although the final margin looks convincing, don't be fooled. Endicott (0-2) had Statesmen fans and families worried until the Statesmen (2-0) were able to pull away with about seven minutes remaining in the contest.
Hobart came into this game with SR OLB Marcus Jemison who was held out because of a shoulder injury in the Brockport game. SR OL Justin DiJiulio was also lost due to a knee injury in the first quarter, but fortunately it wasn't anything he can't recover from and get back into the lineup, hopefully soon.
The Statesmen offense and defense looked flat after the six-plus hour road trip and the teams battled to a virtual tie in the first half, the only difference being a missed PAT which gave Hobart a slight 7-6 edge at the half.
The second half saw more back and forth. SO TE Matt Woods scored on a seven yard pass which delighted the Statesmen sideline as well as the recent alumni watching from the back of the end zone. The 14-6 advantage was short lived as SR WR Chris Lipscomb took a 21 yard pass for a TD to pull Endicott within two points of Hobart, 14-12. FY WR Isaiah Hill scored his first career TD on a long 59 yard catch and run which would be followed by JR WR Brandon Shed's 29 yard TD catch to give Hobart it's first "breathing room" of the game, a 28-12 lead with 13:15 remaining.
While JR QB Shane Sweeney's next drive looked like it would ice the game, an ill advised pass ended up being returned 80 yards for a "pick six" by SR OLB Connor McLaughlin. After a successful two point play, the Gulls were back in the game, down 28-20 with 9:04 left in regulation.
Just like Brockport last week, the Statesmen offense found a way to quickly respond and Sweeney found SR WR Sean Cunningham on a 68 yard TD play about 90 seconds later. A JR FB Dylan Quay short TD run would be the last scoring on the day and Hobart would win the game, 42-20.
In the end, the Statesmen out gained the Gulls by 504 to 336 total yards. Most of those came via the air, as Sweeney ended up 22-45 for 364 yards to go with four TDs compared to two INTs. SR RB Brad Burns led the ground game with 79 rushing yards and a TD. Defensively the Statesmen were led by SO DT AJ McFarlane with 10 stops, 2.5 TFL, two sacks and a forced fumble. McFarlane's been a bright spot on a rush defense that so far hasn't played to the same level as prior Hobart defensive units have in the past. For the second week in a row the Statesmen have allowed an opposing RB to gain over 100 yards.
Hobart returns home and will play under the lights Saturday night against Ithaca College (1-0). I'll have more on that game later this week.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
Hobart came into this game with SR OLB Marcus Jemison who was held out because of a shoulder injury in the Brockport game. SR OL Justin DiJiulio was also lost due to a knee injury in the first quarter, but fortunately it wasn't anything he can't recover from and get back into the lineup, hopefully soon.
The Statesmen offense and defense looked flat after the six-plus hour road trip and the teams battled to a virtual tie in the first half, the only difference being a missed PAT which gave Hobart a slight 7-6 edge at the half.
The second half saw more back and forth. SO TE Matt Woods scored on a seven yard pass which delighted the Statesmen sideline as well as the recent alumni watching from the back of the end zone. The 14-6 advantage was short lived as SR WR Chris Lipscomb took a 21 yard pass for a TD to pull Endicott within two points of Hobart, 14-12. FY WR Isaiah Hill scored his first career TD on a long 59 yard catch and run which would be followed by JR WR Brandon Shed's 29 yard TD catch to give Hobart it's first "breathing room" of the game, a 28-12 lead with 13:15 remaining.
While JR QB Shane Sweeney's next drive looked like it would ice the game, an ill advised pass ended up being returned 80 yards for a "pick six" by SR OLB Connor McLaughlin. After a successful two point play, the Gulls were back in the game, down 28-20 with 9:04 left in regulation.
Just like Brockport last week, the Statesmen offense found a way to quickly respond and Sweeney found SR WR Sean Cunningham on a 68 yard TD play about 90 seconds later. A JR FB Dylan Quay short TD run would be the last scoring on the day and Hobart would win the game, 42-20.
In the end, the Statesmen out gained the Gulls by 504 to 336 total yards. Most of those came via the air, as Sweeney ended up 22-45 for 364 yards to go with four TDs compared to two INTs. SR RB Brad Burns led the ground game with 79 rushing yards and a TD. Defensively the Statesmen were led by SO DT AJ McFarlane with 10 stops, 2.5 TFL, two sacks and a forced fumble. McFarlane's been a bright spot on a rush defense that so far hasn't played to the same level as prior Hobart defensive units have in the past. For the second week in a row the Statesmen have allowed an opposing RB to gain over 100 yards.
Hobart returns home and will play under the lights Saturday night against Ithaca College (1-0). I'll have more on that game later this week.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
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