Week 8 - RPI Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen will travel to the Capitol Region Saturday for a key Liberty League showdown against #17 / #19-ranked RPI (5-0, 1-0). Hobart and the Engineers have had some memorable battles over the years, and have split the series 4-4 this decade (RPI won in 2010-11 as well as 2015-16 with Hobart taking the 2012-14 and 2017 contests). The overall series, which began back in 1910, is also deadlocked at 30-30-1 after Hobart's 30-0 victory over RPI last season.

Scouting the Engineers

This season RPI is riding a win streak that included an ugly, 10-9, defensive duel with Ithaca (4-2, 1-1) that came down to the final play. The Engineers aren't an extremely talented offensive team, but they are a highly efficient one. They've averaged 28.4 PPG on offense, and have been especially effective in the red zone. The Engineers have scored on 17-20 trips (85%) with 10 of those ending up as TDs.

SO QB George Marinopoulous, who saw his first collegiate action in Geneva last season, has gone 10-0 in the regular season since getting the starting job. He is 77-140 (55%) for 880 yards and six TDs, compared to two INTs, so far in 2018. He spreads the ball out well in HC Ralph Isernia's option offense, finding five different receivers for TDs this season. The OL is anchored by SR LT Chris Neu as well as SR C Bobby Boos and SR RT Aaron Castillo. RPI has two new FY OL in LG Thomas Olausen and RG Rick Denboske.

You'll see a number of WR / slot-backs in RPI's offensive scheme, meaning the Hobart secondary and LBs will be busy. SR WR/RB Rob Law is a particularly potent weapon, leading the team with 197 receiving yards and one TD as well as adding 94 rushing yards and three TDs on the season. SR RB Nick Cella is the leading rusher with 311 yards and two TDs on the season. FY RB Joe Scaglione will occasionally spell Cella and has done well, rushing for 153 yards and two scores.

RPI's real strength is it's defense, which is holding opponents to 15.2 PPG. They are extremely difficult to run the ball on, allowing only two rushing TDs and 101.2 YPG. The Engineers have given up more passing yardage, allowing 261.2 YPG, but be warned. With a very talented and experienced secondary and LB unit, the Engineers have more than twice as many INTs (13) as passing TDs allowed (six).

SR LB Jack Hoggard leads RPI's defense with 57 tackles and JR LB John Sadak has added 31 stops and three INTs this season. SR DB Sean Egan has two INTs (although he didn't play against IC) and SR CB DJ Stefonsky has three picks as well. SO DE Amaechi Konkwo leads the team with 3.5 sacks and is tied for the lead with 3.5 TFL. RPI runs a three-man-front with a hybrid DE/OLB who lines up in different positions on the line, depending on down and distance. Ultimately, while not overly fast, RPI's defense is viewed as a stout one and Hobart will need to find some success running the ball Saturday if they want to be able to upset the ranked Engineers.

SO PK Sanjay Krishnan has converted 7-9 FGs on the season with a long of 35 (one block, the other was a 36 yard attempt that failed vs. IC). He averages over 50 YPK on KOs. The punting duties are handled by SO PK Zac Montrief, who's averaged over 38 YPP, dropping nine inside their opponents' 20-yard line and hitting three over 50 yards (long of 71). Return duties are handled by SR WR Conor Davies, who averages over 21 YPR on punts and 24.3 YPR on KOs.

Keys to the Game:

1. Protect the Football - RPI has won some close games this season and the difference, other than a tough run defense, is causing turnovers. They have intercepted opposing QBs in EVERY game this season, three times this season they have multiple picks. Hobart QBs - whether it's JR QB Ryan Hofmann or FY QB David Krewson - has to be smart about not giving RPI's offense short fields or more TOP.

2. Run the Ball / Kill the Clock - I realize the Statesmen may want to run the ball, but their ability to do so will be dependent on personnel. SO RB Dakota Harvey is likely out once again and so it may take a few different looks (e.g., with a FB lead blocking, sweeps or other plays) to see what, if any, yards can be gained on the ground. I wouldn't be surprised to see some plays like we saw at Union, as the Hobart WRs should have some match up advantages against the RPI secondary.

3. Take the Points - The Engineers have allowed only 5 TDs on 17 red zone drives this season so it could be a busy day for SO PK Kyle Hackett. RPI has allowed 5-9 FG attempts on the season.

4. Throw Out the Records - Both the Engineers and Statesmen have played spoiler to the other when one was undefeated / ranked higher. It's happened enough times over the history of this series that I think you can consider these squads as completely having a 50/50 chance of winning. RPI may be a favorite on paper, but the Statesmen could easily win this game also. The history of these games between these two programs proves that over and over.

Prediction:

RPI has found ways to win, ugly or otherwise. If Hobart can establish a balanced attack, not shoot themselves in the foot (the 2016 loss to the Engineers was totally predicated on dumb penalties, for example), then the Statesmen have a chance.

I'll take Hobart to grind out a close one, 19-17, playing spoiler to the RPI Family Weekend crowd.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Hobart Runs Over Rochester, 52-7

The Hobart College Statesmen improved to 4-2, 2-0 overall on the season with a fairly one-sided affair against oldest rivals, the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets. The Statesmen welcomed back HC Chad Martinovich '94 but didn't show his struggling squad much love the rest of the day.

Hobart ground out a season high 280 rushing yards, using 10 different ball carriers in the game. Rochester (1-5, 0-2) only managed 126 total yards on the day. Both SO RB Alex Milliken and JR RB Brian Haeffner led all rushers with 81 yards and a TD, a piece. FY RB Dante Kimbrough had two rushing TDs to go with 62 rushing yards.

FY QB David Krewson got his first career start, passing  for 169 yards and three TDs. Seven different Statesmen receivers had catches, with JR WR Ray Conley leading the team with two for 63 yards and a TD. FY WR Shahkyle Matthews and SR TE Matthew Woods also had receiving TDs. SO QB Matt Maute also saw some action, going an efficient three for four passing.

You can read more about the game here.

This win sets up a potential LL Championship type of game between Hobart and #19 RPI (5-0, 1-0) this Saturday in Troy, NY. The Engineers had a bye week after narrowly beating Ithaca (4-2, 1-1) in Week 6. RPI has been one of Hobart's toughest conference foes to date, as they've split the series, 4-4, so far this decade.

Last season the Statesmen were the lone loss for the Engineers in LL play, beating them soundly, 30-0. RPI settled in on SO QB George Marinopoulous after that game and have gone 10-0 in the regular season since.

I'll have more on this match up along with the usual ITH content, a little later this week.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 7 - Rochester / Centennial Cup Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen (3-2, 1-0) will face off against their oldest rivals the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets (1-4, 0-1) for the Centennial Cup once again this Saturday, albeit much earlier in the regular season than in recent years' past. This will be the 111th meeting and the 12th time the Cup is up for grabs between the two programs.

The Statesmen have not lost to the UofR since the 2010 season, a 35-34 decision, when a Hobart 2-point conversion came up short at the end of the game. Last season, the Statesmen won big, 51-12, in JR QB Ryan Hofmann's first collegiate start. Then FY RB Dakota Harvey rushed for 207 yards and three TDs in that game, but he won't play in this season's match-up due to a hamstring pull.

New Rochester HC Chad Martinovich '94 has been working on rebuilding the UofR program and the Yellow Jackets have struggled, with only one win against a slate that is 10-16 overall (Hobart's opponents by comparison are 18-8 - which according to D3football.com makes the Top 5 for Strength of Schedule in the nation). This weekend shouldn't really be a close game, but future contests, as Coach Chad gets in his recruiting classes, will become more and more competitive.

This year's game will also coincide with the annual Tackles & Touchdowns for the Ability Partners Fundraiser. JR OL Micah Holloway is leading the charge and you can read more about that here.

Keys to the Game:

1. Attack the Defense - Rochester lost last weekend to Saint Lawrence (2-4, 1-0), 38-24, giving up 357 passing and 237 rushing yards. Hobart should have no trouble putting up points on this 4-3-4 group, but the Yellow Jackets may try and disrupt the Statesmen's passing game by running stunts and leveraging newcomer FY LB Caden Cole, who leads the team with 39 tackles. SR LB Ricky Simcic is talented, and is second on the team with 35 stops to go with a sack, TFL and INT. The third leading tackler is SR LB Christian Marini. In spite of these players, this group is allowing over 425 YPG and so we should expect Hobart to be able to move the ball on them fairly easily Saturday.

2. Keep UofR One-Dimensional Offensively - The Yellow Jackets have struggled to run the ball all season, scoring only two rushing TDs, earning only 24 rushing first downs (less than five per game) and averaging only 98.2 YPG. The Statesmen faced SR QB Josh Brown last season, but it appears as though Saturday they'll match up against SR QB Matt Gallagher, who went 21-36 for 278 yards, three TDs and one INT against SLU last weekend. FY WR Noah Shinaman has nearly twice as many catches as any other Rochester receiver with 22 for 294 yards and three TDs.

3. Look for More Ways to Improve Defensively - The Statesmen made some key plays down the stretch to beat Union last weekend and we'd like to see more of the same against the UofR. While I thought we'd see a four man DL front based on the game notes, it appears as though the three man front remains the favored option. While I'm not entirely sold on that yet, I am willing to give it more time. Hopefully this game will allow Hobart to try several different looks and personnel to bolster experience.

Prediction:

I think the Statesmen should fare well and improve to 2-0 in conference play, winning this game by a score of 42-21.

With a second bye week following this game, we could see the starters in for longer than you might expect. I'd hope that they'd be saved for the big Week 9 @ RPI game, but it'll depend on how it goes Saturday.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

It's Great to Be A Statesmen!

Yesterday was a special Taco Tuesday for former Hobart College LT Ali Marpet '15 who signed a big extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We are thrilled for him and his family. Congratulations!

Frank and I also had a good conversation with HC Kevin DeWall '00 on the Union game and the state of Hobart College football halfway through the season. You can view that conversation here.

I'll have a preview up tomorrow on the Centennial Cup game against the UofR.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Shed Signs with San Antonio

Yesterday former D3football.com All-American and Hobart WR Brandon Shed '18 announced he has signed with the San Antonio Commanders of the newly created AAF. He will be coached by Mike Reilly, who got his coaching career at (now D3) Linfield College in the late 1970's before going on to win two Grey Cup Championships in the CFL.

This is a culmination of a lot of hard work and sacrifices on Brandon's part, so I wish him nothing but the best with his latest opportunity. Hopefully the Commanders will have a game here in Orlando in the spring of 2019 so I can see him play once again.

He will join a few other former D3FB stars in the new league, such as Andrew Franks of RPI, who is on the roster of the new Orlando Apollos franchise.

Congratulations Brandon and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Comeback to Stun Previously Undefeated Dutchmen, 29-28

What a game.

What else can you say about a gritty Hobart College Statesmen team that revived their season, coming back from being down 14-3, 21-10 and 28-19 today?!?

With Ali Marpet '15 and other alumni in the stands, Hobart (3-2, 1-0) sent the Union College Dutchmen (the Fighting Dutchmen, not Flying, sorry Ted ;) back to Schenectady with their first loss of the 2018 season.

A lot of great Statesmen, including Mike Berkowitz '15, Jarrid Blades '12, Ali Marpet '15 and former HC Mike Cragg were there to cheer on Hobart today.

Union (4-1, 0-1) saw SO PK Kyle Hackett make the first of his three FGs (which tied a Hobart record for most FG made in a single game) early on, as he connected on a 31-yarder with 3:31 remaining in the first quarter. This gave Hobart it's first and pretty much only lead for the majority of the game, as the Dutchmen stormed back with back-to-back TDs by FY RB Ike Irabor. Irabor caught a 19-yard pass from SO QB Will Bellamy and ran one in from three yards out to post the Dutchmen to a 14-3 lead.

The Statesmen only needed one play to make it a game again, as JR WR Ray Conley took a screen pass and ran it 43 yards to the house. Bellamy would find Beal for another TD catch to push the Union lead to 21-10.

Once again JR QB Ryan Hofmann would make another long TD pass, this time to JR WR Jake Catalioto for 66 yards to bring Hobart back within a TD, but the PAT snap was low and FY QB David Krewson's head's up scramble ended up just short of the pile on for the 2-point play. Catalioto would finish with a game-high eight catches, 148 yards and 1 TD. Hofmann finished with 326 passing yards and three TDs.

Hackett would keep the Statesmen in striking distance with 36 and 41 yard FGs, which was important, especially after Bellamy found Andre Ross, Jr for a 27-yard score to make it 28-19 with 9:47 left in the 3rd quarter. Ross ended up with six catches for 152 yards on the game.

JR TE AJ Perlino would not be denied, breaking tackles as he tied the game from 16 yards out with 8:28 remaining. The Hackett PAT, and a couple of key defensive plays by FY CB Jay McCoy and SO FS Cal Sullivan with big INTs down the stretch, not to mention a huge sack by SR DE Al Smith in the final seconds, sealed the comeback win for Hobart.

Hobart will face off against the UofR (1-4, 0-1) next weekend for the Centennial Cup. More on that game plus look for an appearance by HC Kevin DeWall '00 on ITH early next week!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 6 - Union Game Preview

It's Union Week.

The Liberty League conference opener is finally upon us and after a football-less weekend (well, credit the Statesmen JV team for rallying from being down 24-0 beating Saint John Fisher 35-32 on Sunday of Homecoming Weekend), I'm ready to put Weeks 1-5 in the rear view mirror.

Hobart (2-2) will take on long-time LL rivals Union College (4-0) in what's certainly a must-win game for the Statesmen. While a loss wouldn't mathematically eliminate Hobart from postseason contention, it probably would for all intents and purposes.

This will be the 102nd meeting of the two teams with the Dutchmen holding a slight 51-48-2 overall series edge. They beat Hobart last season, 28-23, after capitalizing on Statesmen mistakes to take a 21-3 lead with about a minute remaining in the 3rd quarter. Although Hobart would rally, it was too little, too late and the Statesmen's seven game win streak over Union was finally snapped.

Scouting the Dutchmen

This year Union College brings a really balanced team, probably one of the best they've had since their 10-0 undefeated regular season in 2005. The Dutchmen's recent success really starts with their defense, which is one of the best in the nation. The Dutchmen are tied for 8th nationally in scoring defense with #4 Brockport (4-0), allowing 8.25 PPG. Union is 10th nationally in total defense allowing 212.5 YPG. Teams are struggling to convert on 3rd downs against this unit, as the Union has only allowed 14-56 conversion attempts (25%) and 3-11 on 4th down (27%) this season.

The defense is led by SR LB Jack Reilly (a 1st team All-Conference player in 2017), who has 10.5 TFL and 4.5 sacks, as Union's pass rush really comes off blitzes instead of their front three. While JR DE Vincent DiCaterino, SR NG Bobby Law and SR DE Phil Pancini are a strong and experienced group, their stats are relatively modest (only two sacks and 4.5 TFL between all three players). This front is mostly there to plug gaps and allow guys like Reilly (26 tackles), SO LB Colin Lama (who leads the team with 30 tackles, including one TFL), SR LB Hunter Ordukhanyan (27 tackles, one TFL and one sack) and JR LB Evan Gilland (16 tackles, one TFL and one INT) to swarm to the ball.

The defensive secondary is led by SR CB Tucker Newman. He has two INTs on the season to go with 10 tackles. The other corner is JR CB Paul Chambers and the two safeties are SR SS Sebastien Lubrano and JR S Joe Vanderhoof. The latter only has six tackles on the season, which shows you how well the Dutchmen front seven is playing.

The Union offense is vastly improved and cruising well under the direction of SO QB Will Bellamy. He has passed for 1,231 yards (89-135-1 or 65.93%) and 13 TDs (307.75 YPG - which is in the Top 25 of offensive players nationally).

He has a trio of receivers which is led by FY WR Andre Ross, Jr with 31 catches for 619 yards and eight TDs. JR WR Griffin Beal was the number one target last season, but he's taken a back seat to Ross, Jr. He's still a viable possession WR though, catching 22 passes for 252 yards and four TDs. Rounding out the trio is SR WR Chris Nicholas. While Nicholas sees less passes, but his average demands the Statesmen pay attention to him. Nicholas has 11 receptions for 168 yards, one of those going for 55 yards, so he can get behind defenses. SR TE Pat Ryan is really a blocker, but his one catch, for three yards, was good for TD in the Week 4 game against Curry (2-3).

The OL is a younger one like the Statesmen's, but they have the advantage of starting all of the games in the 2017 season and into this year making them a very cohesive unit. The upperclassmen are SR RT Alex Hamilton and JR RG Turner Geenty. A trio of SO OL C Ryan Ehrets, SO LG Chris Katchadurian and SO LT Teddy Hood are the remaining starters. They aren't a very big group - they average out around 270 lbs - but they are effective pass blocking and opening holes for the Dutchmen RBs.

While SO RB Travis Demby has been listed as the "starter", he is really not the feature back. That honor goes to FY RB Ike Irabor who's been really impressive so far. He leads the team with 294 rushing yards, 5 TDs and an impressive 6.4 YPC average.

On special teams the Dutchmen FG specialist is SO PK Marcus Rodriguez. He has converted 2-4 FGs with a long of 28 while adding 20 PATs. His weaker leg is likely the reason Union has gone for it eight times on 4th down this season, converting six times. JR PK Will Halpin III is the KO specialist and punter. He's averaged 53.9 YPK on KOs and 38.41 on punts, dropping nine inside the opponents 20 yard line and forcing five fair catches.

Beal has typically handled KORs - albeit only four which is the most on the team since the defense rarely allows TDs - averaging just over 25 YPR. PRs have been handled by Newman who has 10 for 120 yards, but with a long of 43, which skews his average a bit.

Keys to the Game:

1. Play Better on Defense - This Union offense is strong enough to score on Hobart right out of the gate and the last thing the Statesmen need is to fall behind early. If Hobart can force some early three and outs, maybe get a TOP or field position advantage, we'll have a game. If the Statesmen defense plays like they have before the break, it's going to be a long day.

2. Run the Ball - SO RB Dakota Harvey showed a decent amount of rust in his return to action against Endicott (3-2). Hopefully the bye week has done him (and the OL) some good. The Dutchmen will stack the box and look to make the Statesmen one-dimensional. Reilly will blitz at will, looking to sack JR QB Ryan Hofmann or force him out of the pocket and into mistakes, like what we saw in the Endicott game. To help the run game, I would employ SO FB Shane White and/or JR FB Omari Davis to act as lead blockers to take on the aggressive gap-filling LBs that Union will be sending on most plays.

3. Play Smarter - The Statesmen have been penalized about -80 yards per game this season. You can't give away free yardage to a team like Union. The Dutchmen will come into this game cocky and confident, looking to rub Hobart's noses into the turf and ridicule them after having struggled against them for a better half of a decade. The Statesmen will need to play tough, but keep their composure,  Saturday.

4. Have Pride - I know for a fact there will be a contingent of young alums in attendance to cheer on this year's Hobart team. That group never lost to Union, let alone to hardly anyone other than Top 10-25 caliber teams in the NCAA playoffs. These alums will be looking at this year's group to have pride in this rivalry and not fall again to the hated Dutchmen.

Prediction:

On paper this should be a 37-14 Union win.

Hobart's defense has not had a good game all season, save for SUNY-Morrisville (2-2) which will probably end up as a sub .500 team by the end of the 2018 season.

The Statesmen will need to play their best football game to have a chance. Hopefully with alumni in the house like Ali Marpet '15, these Hobart men will rise to the occasion. It's do or die time.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!