Tag: Sam Hundley

Bates Team Preview – The Bobcats Are on the Prowl

2013 Record: 4-4

Returning Starters: 15 (6 offense, 9 defense, 0 specialists)

Offensive Overview:

The triple option run game always makes Bates a headache to face, but the loss of Ryan Curit ’14 and Shawn Doherty ’14 to graduation could change the number of passes this season. Matt Cannone ’15 will have to fend off a challenge from Patrick Dugan ’16 at QB. Dugan was seeing the majority of the snaps before he broke his ankle in the second game of last season, and Cannone played well in his absence. Nick LaSpada, backup QB in 2013, has also transferred to Merrimack. Ivan Reese ’17 replaces Curit in the fullback position that requires great physicality. In his only game as the starter against Middlebury, Reese rushed for 101 yards. Replacing Doherty is more worrisome because the returning players have much less experience. Shaun Carroll has the most yards of any returner- 61. To make matters even worse, leading wide receiver Kevin Davis ’14 also graduated leaving the passing game without its most dynamic target. Harrison Murphy ’16 and Chris Tomaino ’15 both have good size at 6’5″ and 6’2″ respectively while Mark Riley ’16 has also flashed big play ability.

The offensive line returns three starters in Larry Guinee ’15, Owen Mahan ’15, and Lyle Seebeck ’16. Mitch Hildreth ’17 will be one of the tackles with Jimmy Fagan ’17 the favorite to win the final tackle position. The interior line is more important for Bates than other teams because they run more often, so having returners at all three of those positions, with a three year starter in Guinee at center,  is a huge advantage for them. Finding playmakers on offense around the QB will be essential before the first game against Amherst.

Defensive Overview:

Star safety Andrew Kukesh ’14 is gone, but the defense should be better this season given all the starters back. Injuries forced younger players to step in, and now with those injured players back, the defense is one of the deepest Bates has ever had. The Bobcats runs the 3-3 stack that allows them to employ multiple fronts and blitz packages. Sam Hundley ’15, Joe DiPalma, and Tucker Oniskey ’16 start on the defensive line where they do the uncelebrated job of often having to take on multiple blockers. DiPalma is returning from a preseason injury that knocked him out of virtually all of 2013. Linebacker is very deep with Adam Cuomo ’15, Steven Hild ’15, and Josh Freedland ’15 all very experienced. Mark Upton ’17 also saw playing time earlier than expected because of injury and will provide depth and flexibility.

Unique to the Bates defense is the down safety, a player on both sides who has to be able to control the edge, rush the passer sometimes, and help out in coverage. Gilbert Brown ’15 is coming off a season where he performed well despite moving around position-wise. Pat Gilligan ’15 is currently the starter on the other side, and Ben Coulibaly ’17 will push him hard for playing time. Corner Mike Kelleher ’15 takes over the mantle of leader in the secondary without Kukesh. Kelleher is bigger than most NESCAC corners and is not afraid to come up in run coverage, tallying the second most tackles on the team last year. Safety Ryan Newson ’15 is the other returner in the group, and he played very well in part time action a year ago, so the dropoff from Kukesh might not be that significant.  The final corner position is Mike Lee’s ’16, with Brandon Williams ’17 a solid prospect for more playing time as well.

Courtesy of Bates Athletics
Courtesy of Bates Athletics

3 Big Questions:

1. Where does the offensive dynamism come from?

Even though the triple option is often seen as “three yards and a cloud of dust”, like any offense it still looks for big plays. Doherty and Davis supplied the vast majority of those. The QB will be featured more running the ball, but if the defense can key on one guy in the triple option, it’s over for Bates. An intriguing possibility (disclaimer: we have no evidence this has even been discussed by the Bates staff) is to move one of Dugan or Cannone to the slot position in order to get the most possible talent out on the field.

2. Can they hold onto the ball?

Bates fumbled the ball 15 times last season. Cannone alone accounted for six of them. One positive is that Reese did not fumble the ball once last season in his 50 carries while Curit had four fumbles, albeit in 145 rushes. An offense that struggles to move the ball and turns it over is an awful one. If Bates makes sure to take care of the turnover part, the offense will at least be decent.

3. Will all the pieces on defense fit together?

For all the talent and depth on the defense now, Bates finished ahead of only Hamilton and Tufts in terms of total yards given up. They allowed the Hamilton offense, a unit that averaged 283.8 yards per game, 392 yards in the final game of the season. They have to figure out ways to get more pressure on the QB as they only registered nine sacks last season. The loss of Kukesh appears likely to be significant as well. It won’t be enough to have a lot of very good players for Bates; a few of them will have to step up and become great.

Team MVP: Cannone would get the nod except it’s possible he is not even the starter week one, so instead the interior offensive line gets some glory for once. The trio of Guinee, Mahan, and Seebeck should clear big holes for Reese and the QB to run through. Guinee in particular is important as the center for helping to figure out blocking assignments.

Biggest Game: Oct. 25: Home against Colby

This one is simple. Bates gets the chance to avenge their 21-3 loss at home. Last season’s game was a disappointment with four turnovers playing a major role in Colby’s comfortable win. Bates was held for only 88 yards rushing, the first time they were held to under 100 yards rushing since Colby held them to 85 yards in 2011. The Bobcats will have to find a solution to the Colby defense.

Best Tweet: In case you didn’t know, Bates football lifts. #lightweight (actually a good deal of weight)

Bates has some questions to answer, but behind a strong offensive line and wealth of returners on defense, they appear capable of challenging anybody.