GENEVA, N.Y.—The 25th-ranked Hobart College football team will host Ithaca College on Saturday, Sept. 17. The Homecoming and Family Weekend game is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. on Boswell Field at the Caird Center for Sports and Recreation.
Fans unable to attend the game can follow all of the action with All-Access Video and Live Stats. The game will also be broadcast by WEOS-FM (89.5/90.3).
At halftime, Hobart will honor former Head Coach Jack Daniels. He led the Statesmen from 1981 through the 1986 season before accepting an assistant coaching position at The Citidel. Daniels returned to the Hobart coaching staff as an assistant in 2014 before retiring after last season.
The Statesmen broke into the D3football.com Top 25 this week for the first time this season. Following a 42-20 win at Endicott last week, Hobart is 2-0 for the seventh consecutive season. The Statesmen offense has had great success through the air this year, averaging 392.0 yards passing which is first in the Liberty League and 11th in the nation. Junior quarterback
Shane Sweeney is fifth in the nation in passing yards (784), sixth in passing touchdowns (8), and sixth in total offense (407.5/g). Junior
Brandon Shed leads a talented and deep receiving corps. He's fourth in the nation in receiving yards (325), 16th in receiving touchdowns (3), and 21st in receptions per game (9.0). Senior
Sean Cunningham is second on the team to Shed in receptions (9), receiving yards (139) and receiving touchdowns (2).
The Hobart defense has come up with timely stops, and has kept opposing signal callers under pressure. The Statesmen are 15th in the country in sacks per game (4.0) and 47th in tackles for loss per game (8.5). Junior defensive end
Brandon Ball has led the charge with team-highs of 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Junior linebacker
Almamy Conde sports a team-high 17 tackles.
The Bombers opened the season with a 14-9 win at home against Union College on Sept. 3 and had last Saturday off. Ithaca was outgained 266-179 by Union, but finished the game with three takeaways, including junior defensive back Jordan Schemm's 54-yard fumble recovery and touchdown.
Senior quarterback Wolfgang Shafer was 10-of-23 passing for 124 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted twice and sacked twice. Shafer completed passes to seven different receivers with senior wideout Myles LaFrance pulling in a game-high four passes for 27 yards and a touchdown. The defense was led by junior linebacker Kenny Bradley's game-high 13 tackles.
This will be the 30th meeting between Hobart and Ithaca. The Bombers have dominated the series, holding a 25-4 lead, but the Statesmen have won three in a row in Geneva, including a thrilling fourth quarter comeback for a 22-15 win in the first round of the 2014 NCAA playoffs.
