November 12, 2001

GENEVA, N.Y.--The Hobart College football team finished the regular season fifth in the Upstate New York Division III Football poll. The Statesmen turned in their fifth consecutive winning season with a mark of 6-3. Rensselaer remained in the top spot, followed by Brockport, Ithaca, and Union.

Hobart (6-3) had a season-ending victory snatched away from it by NCAA Tournament-bound Rensselaer (8-0) on Saturday. The Statesmen led 29-27 with less than two minutes remaining in the game. The Engineers lined up for a field goal to claim their first lead of the game, but Hobart first-year David Taylor (Nyack/Nyack, N.Y.) blocked the kick. Unfortunately for the Statesmen, the Rensselaer holder recovered the ball and ran 14 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

Sophomore quarterback Craig Swanson (Jamestown/Jamestown, N.Y.) broke four Hobart single game records in the contest. He completed 25-of-54 pass attempts for 437 yards, while compiling 428 yards of total offense (-9 rush, 437 pass), all records.

The Statesmen were left out of the postseason picture this year -- the ECAC selected Union and Hartwick colleges to compete for the ECAC Northwest Championship -- after making their first NCAA Tournament appearance last season. Hobart has a comparable record to Hartwick (7-3) against an arguably tougher schedule. The Statesmen's schedule featured two NCAA Tournament teams (Ithaca and Rensselaer) vs. Hartwick's one (Rensselaer). The Hawks four weakest opponents (Mount Ida, Siena, St. Lawrence, Utica) combined for a 2-33 record (.057), while Hobart's four weakest foes (Franklin & Marshall, Rochester, St. John Fisher, St. Lawrence) were 7-33 (.175).

While Hartwick played Union tight during the regular season, losing 23-21, and the Statesmen were blown out by the Dutchmen 42-6 in an early season match up, the same argument could be made for Hobart, which nearly upset Rensselaer, while the Hawks lost 62-47 to the Engineers. The latter comparison is, perhaps, the better of the two, since Hartwick and Hobart played Rensselaer just three weeks apart, while the Union games were separated by five weeks.

Upstate New York Division III Football is an association of the 14 colleges and universities that sponsor DIII football in the Upstate region. The association's web site, which features scores, statistics and more, can be found at: web.hws.edu/statesmen/football/upstate.