FB: Liberty League

[Oline89]

Great win for this year's Hobart seniors.  The LL lives up to its rep as one of the toughest conferences in the country. 

[Machiavelli]

As Iron Mike Tyson might say, I have to take my hands off to Hobart today. It looked like there was potential for the game to get out of hand early, but they hung in there and just overpowered RPI physically. It was old school, hard-nosed football and they just wore down and beat down RPI in all 3 facets of the game.

Kazanowsky being out was very unfortunate, given the importance of today's game. Not sure if it's an injury or illness or a mysterious Malcom Butler situation, but the timing couldn't have been worse. The freshman played well, but I think Kazanowsky would have been able to avoid the rush and extend plays a bit more. Kudos to Hobart, they earned it and were tough as nails. Just a disappointing result for RPI.

And lastly on the Hobart broadcast, just because there was some disagreement on a few non-calls in the first half(that realistically could've been called either way, but the refs allowed them to play), the dude kept making backhanded comments about RPI's dback who did nothing but play hard clean football the entire game. He wasn't being a punk. He wasn't being disrespectful, just played his a$$ off. I hope that dude can sleep well tonight knowing he 'owned' a college kid from his cozy booth seat. As far as I'm concerned, its embarrassing and unacceptable. When players are being little d0uchebags, it's one thing, but continuing to make comments because you disagreed with the refs POV, you're just a coward. Rant over. Congrats to Hobart!

A few other thoughts: the Dicks looked like they were gonna knock off Johnny Hopkins! Woulda been a good one. Cortaca is gonna be an absolute battle next week. Muhlenburg is currently in double OT. And every time I heard 'The Statesmen', I got excited for when the Administration sends out a poll that the student body doesn't identify with the nickname. I can't wait for next years battle against the Orange Lake Fingers with a purple dolphin mascot.

[Bartman]

Great win for this year's Hobart seniors.  The LL lives up to its rep as one of the toughest conferences in the country.

They really needed this win for pride. Ali Marpet was a good luck charm...although he lost the coin flip for us . I didn't even notice that Kazanowsky was out until I noticed the number, because the freshman's throws were excellent in the first half and the RPI receivers were getting lots of space on our DBs. Thank goodness DC Green decided to dial it up and pressure the Freshman and the RPI Oline had troubles picking it up. We also had pretty good stats on stopping RPIs run. We'll never know if Kazanowsky would have handled it better , but I was pretty impressed with RPIs Freshman QB overall. I just think the Hobart D has been on a physical tear since the disappointment of the second half of the Union game to beat the man in front of you. Our young Oline is starting to look pretty good , our young WRs were looking good and EJ Taylor, FR RB , would have been used more but it was Rayshawn's and Tim Dunham's last game at the BOZ, so they were featured all day. They both will be missed. Hopefully we will apply for an ECAC game now and they can have one more game at home if we can beat the Yellowjackets next week.
     This game , as Oline said, showed how very strong and competitive the LL Conference is.

[unionpalooza]

Hats off to Hobart for bouncing back after a touch start and flat out whooping RPI on the second half.  A great gritty effort on senior day.

One more LL war to play next week.

Meanwhile, Buff St. not content to let Union kneel it out with 30 seconds left, calling timeouts down 43-17.  I'm hoping Poppe runs play action.

Buff State called a TO after a kneel?

Three!  And then when Union went to punt on fourth down with 10 seconds left, they committed a penalty and Union got a first down, it was hilarious. 

[Machiavelli]

Great win for this year's Hobart seniors.  The LL lives up to its rep as one of the toughest conferences in the country.

They really needed this win for pride. Ali Marpet was a good luck charm...although he lost the coin flip for us . I didn't even notice that Kazanowsky was out until I noticed the number, because the freshman's throws were excellent in the first half and the RPI receivers were getting lots of space on our DBs. Thank goodness DC Green decided to dial it up and pressure the Freshman and the RPI Oline had troubles picking it up. We also had pretty good stats on stopping RPIs run. We'll never know if Kazanowsky would have handled it better , but I was pretty impressed with RPIs Freshman QB overall. I just think the Hobart D has been on a physical tear since the disappointment of the second half of the Union game to beat the man in front of you. Our young Oline is starting to look pretty good , our young WRs were looking good and EJ Taylor, FR RB , would have been used more but it was Rayshawn's and Tim Dunham's last game at the BOZ, so they were featured all day. They both will be missed. Hopefully we will apply for an ECAC game now and they can have one more game at home if we can beat the Yellowjackets next week.
     This game , as Oline said, showed how very strong and competitive the LL Conference is.

I think the turning point was the TD before the half. Hobart lined up for a FG, RPI called a time out and Hobart changed their mind, went for it, and scored. It completely changed the trajectory of the game. It was a ballsy call that worked out for Hobart and really changed the momentum. While it was at the expense of RPI, I love seeing calls like that and when it works, you look like a freaking genius.

[Bartman]

Great win for this year's Hobart seniors.  The LL lives up to its rep as one of the toughest conferences in the country.

They really needed this win for pride. Ali Marpet was a good luck charm...although he lost the coin flip for us . I didn't even notice that Kazanowsky was out until I noticed the number, because the freshman's throws were excellent in the first half and the RPI receivers were getting lots of space on our DBs. Thank goodness DC Green decided to dial it up and pressure the Freshman and the RPI Oline had troubles picking it up. We also had pretty good stats on stopping RPIs run. We'll never know if Kazanowsky would have handled it better , but I was pretty impressed with RPIs Freshman QB overall. I just think the Hobart D has been on a physical tear since the disappointment of the second half of the Union game to beat the man in front of you. Our young Oline is starting to look pretty good , our young WRs were looking good and EJ Taylor, FR RB , would have been used more but it was Rayshawn's and Tim Dunham's last game at the BOZ, so they were featured all day. They both will be missed. Hopefully we will apply for an ECAC game now and they can have one more game at home if we can beat the Yellowjackets next week.
     This game , as Oline said, showed how very strong and competitive the LL Conference is.

I think the turning point was the TD before the half. Hobart lined up for a FG, RPI called a time out and Hobart changed their mind, went for it, and scored. It completely changed the trajectory of the game. It was a ballsy call that worked out for Hobart and really changed the momentum. While it was at the expense of RPI, I love seeing calls like that and when it works, you look like a freaking genius.

Great point Mach . The Hobart fans were screaming to go for it when they lined up for the FG. The RPI DBs were giving up a lot of height to the Hobart WRs but Colombi failed 4 previous times to throw it for a TD in the corner during the first half, based on good defense by RPI. When the Hobart WR finally caught the fourth down TD , he emphasized the possession by shaking the ball. Your right, I think if we had just kicked a FG, the whole game would have felt different, especially since on the first possession of the second half RPI scored which would have made it 21-6 with the FG, a much different game. I don't know why Kazanowsky wasn't playing, but the Freshman from New Fairfield, CT looked pretty good to me if he has to face the mighty Charging Puppies next week. Good Luck.

[Jersey42]

I'm little late here and I think most of the other comments on the Hobart-RPI are right on.  I thought RPI was going to win easily if they did not give up bad penalties or bad interceptions.  I was completely wrong.  Not having Kazanowsky did impact RPI's offense, but I don't think it would have changed the winner.  McCormack played very well for his first meaningful college action, and most of his problems came when he had to play from behind with limited time.  Hobart dominated both sides of the line in a way no one had done to RPI all year.  They totally shut down RPI's run game and especially in obvious passing situations they put lots of pressure on the QB.  On the offensive side, Hobart had several sustained drives.  Most of the long drives against RPI in their previous games were aided by one or two long pass plays and/or RPI penalties.  Hobart's drive were all due to outplaying RPI.  Kudos to the Statesmen.

[Ice Bear]

Some thoughts about today's RPI/Hobart game.

Congratulations to Hobart on a very hard fought win today over RPI. The Statesmen record at the Boz is quite impressive (minus the struggles against IC) and today they weren't to be denied.

Hobart ran the ball well today and Colombi was smart with the football and made a couple of big, timely throws. Hobart's defensive front was tough today and looked much better than they did against Union. There was consistent penetration on the LOS which made McCormack's job harder as the game went on.

I was very impressed with McCormack's play this afternoon. I like Kazanowsky but some of the throws McCormack made were excellent and I saw a poise and presence that seemed much deeper than that of a Freshman QB with only 6 completions coming into the game. Kazanowsky may have led to a more consistent offensive performance but I think RPI has a real player and future here. 2 good QB's is a good problem to have.

This game was yet another example of how exciting of a league we have in the LL. We have four very good football teams and it's really great to watch them battle.

IC did what they had to today. IMHO experiencing a little adversity was a good thing for the IC Freshman QB this afternoon. I'll tell you from what I saw today, Cortland looked really really good. Cortaca is going to be tough for IC as Cortland made Bport absolutely ordinary today.

Union was fine and did everything they needed to. I think RPI is going to need to throw the ball a lot next week as that is clearly Union's weakness on D. I don't really know what to expect next week and will have to put some thought into. I like this RPI team and am very weary of them as they now head into next week playing spoiler to Union.

[IC798891]

Hobart put together their best 40 minutes of football against RPI after falling down 14-0. In fact, that's probably the best stretch of football ANY LL big boy put up against the others.

Yes, RPI had to make a QB change, but that's not the reason for Hobart getting 25 first downs.

Both Union and IC kind of did what they needed to do, in advance of their rivalry game.

[Bartman]

Hobart put together their best 40 minutes of football against RPI after falling down 14-0. In fact, that's probably the best stretch of football ANY LL big boy put up against the others.

Yes, RPI had to make a QB change, but that's not the reason for Hobart getting 25 first downs.

Both Union and IC kind of did what they needed to do, in advance of their rivalry game.

Thanks and +k IC7 , it means a lot coming from you. The team/fans have been in a dark place since the finish of the Union game. The last 3 touchdowns by Hobart and completely shutting down the RPI running game(by the way Frank Rossi said the Engineers' running game would be the difference.... and it was) showed the grit of this team. It also shows that Bombers wins over the 3 other top teams was quite the accomplishment. All the LL will be behind the Bombers to beat Cortland next Saturday.

[Bartman]

STANDINGS/with 1 week left....Jersey 42 leading but could be overtaken with 3 difficult games to pick this week, so anything can happen



Participant                           Wins per week.                               Total.             Percentage



ICAlum(the instigator).      5/6/5/-/3/3/4/-/-/-#                            26/29*.           .896
UnionPalooza.                   7/5/-/4/2/3/4/4/3/2#                            34/38.            .895
Bartman.                          6/7/5/5/2/2/4/3/3/3#                          40/45.             .889
Ice Bear.                          6/6/4/5/2/3/4/3/3#                             38/45.              .844
Jersey 42.                        6/-/-/5 /-/-/-/4/3                                 20/22.             .909
Machiavelli                       -/5/6/5/3/2/4/3/3 #                             33/38.             .868
Oline.                              -/4/-/-/2/- /4/3/3#                               19/24.            .792
IC798891.                       -/-/5./-/-/0/-/-/-                                   5/7.                .714
UFAN.                              -/-/-/4/2/3/3/4/3 #                             22/25.            . 888    .

Congrats to Oline, Bartman and UFAN for picking all 3 this week
# met 5 week minimum
* no selection for the first  Friday night  game was made

[tony/troy]

Ted Baker (one of my all time favorites), best quote of the first half (and there were a lot to choose from), "I hope the Hobart DB's are taking note that in this game you can grab both shoulder pads of the receiver when covering. I know I'm supposed to be a good boy but come on..."

Excuse me if I misquoted a word or two, but you get my gist. Baker is absolutely one of my favorites. Great game so far. 14-10 Engineers at the half.

'One of my favorites'...oof. Your taste is not impressive. It's pretty god awful to listen to.

THE BOZ CAN NOT BE ENGINEERED. HOMER ANNOUNCERS ARE PART OF IT. Good luck next week to the Engineers and the Union Dogs/Chargers/Colonizing Dutchmen in what should be a dogfight(pun intended) in the Shoeless Bowl

Hobart announcer gets a shout out from this eastern NY quadrant. More familiar with this guy than most from this area as I do watch webcasts of Hobart hockey and he does most/all of the home games.

Sure we know who he likes and would prefer to win but it's never to the point of annoyance. The guy is plain and simple good.

Was planning to see if he got from football to the rink on time for a 4 P.M. hockey game but the damned yard got a falling leaf deluge that had to be dealt with pronto.

[Bartman]

Ted Baker (one of my all time favorites), best quote of the first half (and there were a lot to choose from), "I hope the Hobart DB's are taking note that in this game you can grab both shoulder pads of the receiver when covering. I know I'm supposed to be a good boy but come on..."

Excuse me if I misquoted a word or two, but you get my gist. Baker is absolutely one of my favorites. Great game so far. 14-10 Engineers at the half.

'One of my favorites'...oof. Your taste is not impressive. It's pretty god awful to listen to.

THE BOZ CAN NOT BE ENGINEERED. HOMER ANNOUNCERS ARE PART OF IT. Good luck next week to the Engineers and the Union Dogs/Chargers/Colonizing Dutchmen in what should be a dogfight(pun intended) in the Shoeless Bowl

Hobart announcer gets a shout out from this eastern NY quadrant. More familiar with this guy than most from this area as I do watch webcasts of Hobart hockey and he does most/all of the home games.

Sure we know who he likes and would prefer to win but it's never to the point of annoyance. The guy is plain and simple good.

Was planning to see if he got from football to the rink on time for a 4 P.M. hockey game but the damned yard got a falling leaf deluge that had to be dealt with pronto.

Tony/troy, in all seriousness, Ted Baker is really part of the Hobart family and he announces Football, soccer(we just won the LL titles for both men and women), basketball and lacrosse. He is very connected to the coaches and does podcasts during the season and he is good technically during most games. He can get into opinions on the teams and the coaching(last year he gave Coach DeWall lots of criticism on the number of penalties during the game and to his face on the podcast , so he is not without some journalistic integrity). The Hobart fans are lucky to have him and I know he enjoys the community. If that translates into being a bit of a homer  during certain games, so be it...but he is very entertaining and I'll take him anytime over the student announcers at the other schools, especially because he has the history and remembers the last 4 games that we beat RPI at the Boz, or the few times we beat the Bombers as well. His hockey games are awesome , and the lacrosse games as well.

[Bartman]

Congrats to the Bombers for moving up to #14. This should be a great week for comments on the board as CORTACA and "SHOES" games loom large as relevant to post season shuffles. Hobart has a long time traditional opponent in the Yellowjackets that will factor into any chance that the Statesmen play for one more week. SLU and Buff State should have a great contest to round out the week. The "picks" this week are going to be very interesting as there are no easy ones, not even Hobart as the Yellowjackets will be looking to turn the tide. Should be a great weekend for the LL.

[ICAlum16]

Congrats to the Bombers for moving up to #14. This should be a great week for comments on the board as CORTACA and "SHOES" games loom large as relevant to post season shuffles. Hobart has a long time traditional opponent in the Yellowjackets that will factor into any chance that the Statesmen play for one more week. SLU and Buff State should have a great contest to round out the week. The "picks" this week are going to be very interesting as there are no easy ones, not even Hobart as the Yellowjackets will be looking to turn the tide. Should be a great weekend for the LL.

I am so damn excited for this year's cortaca jug. First home cortaca for the Bombers since 2017 I believe ('18 cortland, '19 MetLife, '20 Covid, '21 Cortland, '22 Yankee Stadium). This is another year where the story will be the Cortland offense versus the Ithaca Defense, more often than note in the post Welch era the Bombers defense has prevailed.

Obviously, with a first year QB for Ithaca the Dragons defense will be chomping at the bit and probably would be the reason why the Red Dragons might be favored in this game by 2 or 3. I really think the Bombers have been able to put together incredible game plans the last few years for Cortland and this is not the first high powered offense Ithaca has faced this season. On offense for Ithaca, I really like the arm strength of Schumm. I think this gives the opportunity for Ithaca to lull Cortland to sleep with their run game and take a few shots over the course of the game and hopefully convert on 1 or 2 of them.

This is such a special week for everyone involved and despite my 0-4 record in this game brings back so many amazing memories and truly embodies why D3 football is so great. As I get further and further away from my playing days now the only time I think about how much I wish I could put on the Ithaca Helmet and where it across my chest is against Cortland.  I can't wait to talk more about this game as the week goes.

"WHAT DO WE LOVE, WHAT DO WE EAT, DRAGON MEAT DRAGON MEAT!!!"