FB: Liberty League

[Bartman]

Hobart outlasted a tough Moravian team today 27-12. It was ugly in the first half as the Hobart offense struggled and the defense had to face a real passing offense as Moravian's QB Jenkins was a threat all day. In the end , on a very hot day Hobart's depth on Defense showed. Although we lost stand-out DL Billy Brosko to an angle injury, the DL was able to rotate about 6 guys and give some of our younger players important experience. Our DB's were scrambling in the first half, but started to settle down in the second half as they shut the Moravian passing game from scoring again. Our offense picked it up in the second half as Colombi found Ahmed Crowell #1(almost transferred to a couple of D1 schools but decided to stay with Hobart)for a 77 yard TD and another longish TD.
  Hobart has 2 key OLineman out , but the youngins are starting to improve although they had a real challenge against a big DLine from Moravian, however, EJ got another 100 yard game on tough inside runs.
  I'm happy with how Hobart is improving each week. This week, we found out we can survive an experienced QB passing attack and we also found our own deep threat in the passing game that should serve us well in the Ithaca game in 2 weeks. While Colombi is not consistently accurate, when Crowell gets open , we are not one dimensional . We also started to incorporate the Tight Ends which are a very strong group. I feel another learning and polishing game next week should get us ready to have a competitive game against Ithaca in 2 weeks......and IC at least I know we'll have a good chance to beat the Bombers on a MUFFED punt.

[Ice Bear]

Congrats on the nice Pumpkinheads W today Bartman. It certainly looks like Hobart is taking a step forward every week. I think they will surprise either IC OR RPI. Calling it now.

[Bartman]

Congrats on the nice Pumpkinheads W today Bartman. It certainly looks like Hobart is taking a step forward every week. I think they will surprise either IC OR RPI. Calling it now.

Thanks Ice Bear. Hobart is far from perfect, but they play hard and improve every week. I'm looking forward to the Ithaca game, because I think we will compete with high intensity this year. I love at the end of every win the entire team sings the alma mater with helmets held high(some even on key). That is all I want at the end of the game on 10/5.

[Bartman]

Congrats to the Yellowjackets on going 3-0. JacketPride, have fun with the success.

[IC798891]

I joked about this in Week 1

But uh...is Hobart really just gonna ride other teams' inability to return a punt to the playoffs? Cause it looks like it right now. They've swung games in all three weeks based on fumbled punt returns. I've never seen anything like it

IC, I was at the game and laughed hysterically when the Moravian MUFFed punt occurred again . No way when we meet Ithaca the punt returner for the Bombers won't be intimidated by the Muff aura at the Boz

All kidding aside...I think a lot of teams just don't emphasize special teams enough and they're putting guys back there that just don't know what to field and what to let go. Mike Welch would be rolling over in his grave (if he weren't alive and doing well) because he firmly believe that HCs don't do enough to get involved in it, and smart teams at this level can swing games — or entire seasons — by being good at return and coverage.

Good for Hobart to take advantage

[Bartman]

I joked about this in Week 1

But uh...is Hobart really just gonna ride other teams' inability to return a punt to the playoffs? Cause it looks like it right now. They've swung games in all three weeks based on fumbled punt returns. I've never seen anything like it

IC, I was at the game and laughed hysterically when the Moravian MUFFed punt occurred again . No way when we meet Ithaca the punt returner for the Bombers won't be intimidated by the Muff aura at the Boz

All kidding aside...I think a lot of teams just don't emphasize special teams enough and they're putting guys back there that just don't know what to field and what to let go. Mike Welch would be rolling over in his grave (if he weren't alive and doing well) because he firmly believe that HCs don't do enough to get involved in it, and smart teams at this level can swing games — or entire seasons — by being good at return and coverage.

Good for Hobart to take advantage

Welch always coached the Bombers special teams very well. On Hobart's Podcast this week, HC Dewall said the team worked all week on Special teams because he saw needed improvements from the first 2 games . It really showed in all phases against Moravian and gave the hungry depth chart boys opportunities to make a difference in the game. 

[Bartman]

The new D3Football poll shows no LL team even getting votes, as Ithaca slides off the "receiving votes" list. Both "close loss" Top 25 opponents Johns Hopkins(Ithaca) and Randolph Macon(Hobart) lost this weekend. I can't remember a poll where a Liberty League team didn't receive at least one vote in the weekly poll.(Answer Week 4 2010 , the year SLU won the LL title having lost all of their out of conference games and ended the year 5-6 after losing to Mt.Union 49-0 in the playoffs.

[Machiavelli]

While I don't agree that no Liberty League teams are in the Top 25, or even receiving votes, I think it's warranted at this point in the year. The Johnny Hopkins/RM losses definitely didn't help the cause at all. But this also isn't 2010. The league may be down a bit, but we're not going to see a 5-5 team win the league this year, thought it might be closer to 7-3. I still think by year's end, the LL will turn out at least 1 worthy candidate who will have a chance to win something in the playoffs, just not sure who it's going to be quite yet.

I still think it's a 3.5 team race. RPI/Ithaca/Hobart are kind of jumbled up, but Rochester at least appears to be a dark horse, but again, we won't know anything about them for a few more weeks. RPI really needs to have a good showing, and even better, a W against Endicott this coming week. I don't see any other impactful games in week 4.

I was much happier with my score predictions this week. I even nailed RPI's 51 points which was kind of crazy since 51 isn't a common score. Overall, my scores were pretty accurate compared w/ the first few weeks. I'll take a 5-0 picks week. They will start getting tougher soon.

Mach's LL Rankings - Week 3
1. RPI(2-1) - They put together a solid showing against WPI. Hopefully they can keep it rolling.
2. Hobart(2-1) - I don't think Moravian is a slouch. It was a nice win for Hobart.
3. Ithaca(0-2) - Maybe the early bye week will help them regroup and get in the W column this week before the clash with Hobart.
4. Rochester(3-0) - Undefeated as expected. Will end up ranked between 1-5 when LL play starts.
5. Union(1-2)( - Springfield game was closer than expected, but still not a good showing.
6. St. Lawrence(1-2) - I know there are a lot of people swapping SLU w/ Buff St, but I still suspect SLU is better.
7. Buffalo St.(1-2) - I wish Buff St. was halfway decent, but they haven't been for a long while.

[Bartman]

Mach, I agree it is not 2010, but the LL is desperate for a quality win. I think Hobart beat a good Moravia team(beat Utica) yesterday, but not a ranked opponent. If RPI beats Endicott( and I think they can) then RPI will be receiving quite a few votes. If it is a decisive victory, RPI should come in at a high twenties ranking(heck , it is obvious that Wisco Lacrosse is a powerhouse this year and RPI did better than the score indicated). Not that rankings are critical, but it does get noticed by recruits as far as quality of league.So, at least for this week, go Engineers!!!

[Bombs away]

Mach, I agree it is not 2010, but the LL is desperate for a quality win. I think Hobart beat a good Moravia team(beat Utica) yesterday, but not a ranked opponent. If RPI beats Endicott( and I think they can) then RPI will be receiving quite a few votes. If it is a decisive victory, RPI should come in at a high twenties ranking(heck , it is obvious that Wisco Lacrosse is a powerhouse this year and RPI did better than the score indicated). Not that rankings are critical, but it does get noticed by recruits as far as quality of league.So, at least for this week, go Engineers!!!
[/quote


Bart, I agree with your thoughts on RPI climbing the rankings "IF" they can pull out a win. Moravian is a solid team and Hobart defense looks really good and the offense looks to be coming around. A tune up against Keystone should have them ready for LL play.

[Bombs away]

Has anyone noticed that Buff st is playing D1 FCS Mercyhurst in week 4 ? 

[Machiavelli]

Bartman, I completely forgot to bring up the UWL/GVS game...Pretty impressive performance by UWL. They were in a position to tie in the last minute against the #2 team in DII. It doesn't make the 35-0 loss any better, but UWL is the real deal obviously. I said after that game that the RPI score wasn't indicative of how tough they played UWL. A break here or there and it was a game. I also said I thought RPI would be a tough out in LL play after that and I think that certainly has credence now. Musta been a cool experience for UWL playing in front of almost 16K people, though. Pretty awesome stuff.

[Pat Coleman]

I'm sure it was a cool experience, but not super different than going to Whitewater every other year.

[Machiavelli]

Fair enough, but moving up to a DII National power and actually competing had to have a slightly different feel from a team they play every year.

[Pat Coleman]

Indeed. My comment was confined to your sentence: "Musta been a cool experience for UWL playing in front of almost 16K people, though."

Last year, UW-La Crosse played in front of more than 20,000 at UW-Whitewater.

https://d3football.com/notables/top-single-game-attendance