While preparing for Saturday's Homecoming game at Spec Martin Memorial Stadium, the Stetson Hatters may have felt a little like they were looking at their reflection in a mirror.
The Hatters (2-7) and Ave Maria Gyrenes (4-6) don't have the same record this year, but that is about the only difference on paper between the teams. They will square off on the field at 3 p.m. Saturday to determine which is better in reality.
Stetson's Homecoming game is being presented by Orlando Sanford International Airport, which is SFB - Simpler. Faster Better. Fans unable to attend the contest can watch on ESPN3 or the Watch ESPN app with 2015 Florida League Broadcaster of the Year Tyler Murray on the call along with Evan Weston, and with Brianne Welch on the sidelines.
The game will also be broadcast on the Hatters Radio Network with Luke Mauro and Pete Blais on the call from the booth and Aaron Berlin reporting from the field. The Hatters Radio Network is available on WSBB AM 1230 in New Smyrna Beach and AM 1490 in DeLand, as well as CBS Radio AM 810 in Orlando.
The football game is part of a busy Homecoming weekend on the Stetson campus. Events include Friday night's Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Wayne Sanborn Center when Director of Athletics Jeff Altier, women's golfer Danielle Jackson, softball standout Andrea Migliori and baseball star Jacob deGrom are inducted as the class of 2015.
Saturday's events start early at Lake Beresford with the start of the Stetson Fall Rendezvous rowing event, which will include more than 1,000 competitors from across the state. The Hatters' women's basketball team will tip off its season at 10:15 am at the Edmunds Center against Trinity Baptist, followed by the Stetson Volleyball team hosting Lipscomb in Atlantic Sun Conference play at 2 p.m.
On Sunday, the rowing event will continue in the morning at Lake Beresford before the volleyball team hosts NJIT for senior day at the Edmunds Center at 1 p.m. Both men's and women's basketball will be in action on the road Sunday, with the women play at Georgia at 2 p.m. and the men playing at the University of Richmond at 5 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on the Hatters Radio Network.
On Monday the Stetson football team will host a junior varsity game against Gattaca at Spec Martin Stadium in an unofficial state title game. The Hatters are 3-0 in JV games this year. That game is scheduled for 5 p.m.
But, for the Hatters, the main event is on Saturday when the team looks to continue a three-game win streak on homecoming. The Hatters defeated Marist 22-14 last year after topping Davidson 26-13 in 2013. Stetson also won its last homecoming game in 1956, 20-0 against Carson-Newman, before the program was discontinued.
“I think it is an added incentive for our players,” Hatters head coach Roger Hughes said of Homecoming. “We have always played very well at Homecoming. We got our first conference win at Homecoming two years ago. It is a great opportunity for us to showcase Stetson University to our alums and I think football is part of the reason they are coming back. Others are coming back because they see the energy and vibrancy on campus and they want to be a part of it and reengage with it.”
It is only appropriate that Stetson is facing Ave Maria during the same week as Veterans Day. The nickname Gyrenes comes from a slang name for a United States Marine. In recognition of Veterans Day, the game on Saturday has also been designated as Military Appreciation Day and more than 150 ROTC members from Stetson and Embry-Riddle are expected to attend the game in full uniform.
A quick look at the statistics for the Hatters and Gyrenes going into the game shows both team averaging 17.8 points per game this season. The teams have also surrendered a like number of points per game, with Stetson allowing 33.9 to 33.1 for Ave Maria. Stetson is averaging 292 yards per game of total offense as compared to 311.1 for Ave Maria, and the Hatters have allowed 393.3 yards per game, compared to 382.8 for Ave Maria. Both teams have had issues with turnovers and penalties throughout the year.
Both programs are also fairly young. The Hatters are wrapping up their third season of competition while Ave Maria is completing its sixth.
“They are a program like ours that is in its infancy,” Hughes said. “Last year they had a great year, but this year they have been up and down, a little inconsistent. They run a defense that is very similar to what we run, a 3-3 stack, and they like to blitz a lot and get a lot of people around the ball. They like to play man-to-man behind that.
“I haven't seen every film, but I would say the two teams are very similar.”
The turnover comparison is one that will play a key factor in the game this weekend. The Hatters turned the ball over three times last weekend at Marist while failing to force a turnover for the fourth time this season. Ave Maria has turned the ball over a whopping 27 times in 10 games, with 16 interceptions and 11 fumbles lost.
Creating those turnovers has been a focus for the Hatters this week.
“We have to make sure they throw the ball where we want them to throw it,” Hughes said. “We have to present with the looks and disguises that direct them to throw the ball a certain direction where, hopefully, we are there in double-coverage and can pick it off. We also have to do fundamentals well. We have to strip the ball, put your facemask on the ball as much as you can and try to make sure we emphasize ripping at the ball to try to get it out.”
Hughes said that because Ave Maria plays a defensive scheme that is very similar to the one the Hatters employ, practice this week has been a little easier. Instead of the offensive and defensive units working against scout teams, they have been able to go head-to-head.
“We have our ones going against ones so, the things we think will be effective, we can find out,” Hughes said. “Our defense will blitz us in practice the same as they will in the game. Similarly, the offense can find glitches to hopefully know where the weaknesses are. It is going to help both teams. From our perspective, it is always better to get goods on goods so that you can see as much game speed as possible.”
Practice at full speed this week will be especially beneficial for a young offensive line that allowed a school record eight sacks last week. That group will also have some changes again this week because one of the freshmen, Connor Donovan, can't play as a result of having played in two JV games early in the year.
He will be replaced at right tackle by a combination of junior Griffin Vari and freshman Andrew Rogalski. In fact, with Rogalski joining with Cam Morgan and Jim McCammon, as well as the possibility that Canyon Davidson may see significant time with senior Patrick Fogarty nursing a sore ankle, the Hatters may have four freshmen on the line at times.
“That is a mixed blessing,” Hughes said. “You hate to do that against a defense like we are facing this week because they are going to give us so many different looks, with a lot of moving around and stunting. There is bound to be some confusion from that. The flip side is that we are going to be getting some much-needed experience and giving those younger guys a taste, which advanced their growth so much more quickly.”
The positive is that Ave Maria doesn't appear to present the same problems up front, on both sides of the ball, that the Hatters faced at Marist last week.
“I think we went into the game a little bit afraid,” Hughes said. “We couldn't block Demetrius Williams – he is a great player. We are looking for ways to counteract our lack of experience up front but, with that said, we had our opportunities to stay in that game and didn't execute. Marist was a good team last year and we felt their defensive line was one of the best we faced. This year, they were the best we faced. We may have overachieved against them a little last year and it caught up to this year.”
Despite the sacks, Hatters quarterback Ryan Tentler had a good game against the Red Foxes last week. Before losing 63 yards on sacks, he rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown and, despite having several passes dropped, he threw for 191 yards with just 11 completions.
“I thought he handled the pressure well,” Hughes said of Tentler. “There were times later in the game when he bailed a touch early. A lot of times a quarterback feels pressure even when there is not any. The problem last week was the pocket was getting compressed. What we have done to try to combat that is increase his drop from three steps to five steps, just to try to buy some extra time.
“We still moved the ball well last week and we left 24 to 27 points inside the red zone in the first half. In Ryan's first seven passes, he was 1-for-7 with five drops; we just have to execute better as a team. We have good people around Ryan, we just have to execute. It is not just one guy because, if it was, we could replace him. You can pull any play and find a player who misses a crucial block or crucial catch, or has an assignment breakdown, that is causing us the most problem.”
Tentler, who has already surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for his career, enters Saturday's game just 97 passing yards away from 5,000. He has averaged more than 150 yards passing per game in his career. In three career games against other Sun Conference teams, Tentler has completed 52-of-75 passes for 543 yards and four touchdowns with just two interceptions while also rushing for 154 yards and a score on 22 attempts.
Not surprisingly, the Hatters are 3-0 in those games. If the junior turns in a similar performance on Saturday, there is no reason to think that Stetson's Homecoming win streak won't reach four games.
Hatters Notebook
Milestones: Tentler is not the only player for the Hatters who have career milestones in view. Senior Darius McGriff needs 152 receiving yards to reach 1,000 for his career and is also 44 all-purpose yards shy of 1,500. Junior Chris Crawford is also closing in on 1,000 receiving yards, needing 184 to hit that milestone.
On the defensive side of the ball, Donald Payne hit some significant milestones during last week's game at Marist. He not only recorded his 400th career tackle, the junior also recorded his 50th career tackle for loss.
“I thought Donald Payne had his most physical game last week because he was really smacking people around,” Hughes said. “The rest of the team needs to follow his lead and do that as well.”
Junior defensive end Davion Belk needs 17 more tackles to reach 200 for his career. That is a milestone junior defensive back Ryan Powers hit three weeks ago at Valparaiso.
Homecoming Activities: In addition to all of the activities around athletics this weekend, there are also other festivities on campus to celebrate Homecoming. Many coaches keep their players isolated from the distractions associated with Homecoming, but Hughes said he takes a different approach.
“I take a little different approach because we want them to be college students,” Hughes said. “I want them to experience what homecoming is all about. We have never sequestered our team in a hotel before a game. As I told them at practice, we generally have a movie or some other kind of team function the night before a game, but I am going to allow them to be a part of the homecoming festivities so that they can enjoy it.”
Those festivities include a comedy show Friday night at the Edmunds Center, followed by a pep rally and bonfire on Rinker Field.
“They have to handle that responsibility the appropriate way and get themselves in bed at the right time and make sure they conduct themselves appropriately and come out ready to go on Saturday. Those things are all part of college.
“I understand keeping the kids away from some stuff, I also want these kids, especially the seniors who helped to initiate the whole thing, to see some of the fruits of their work. Seeing all of the people on campus, seeing people excited about the event and being around their classmates and their families is important.”
Establishing Momentum: In addition to being Homecoming, Saturday's game is a chance for the Hatters to begin establishing some momentum going into the off-season. Combined with the JV game on Monday, and next week's home season-finale against Davidson, the Hatters have a chance to set a tone for the off-season.
“I think it is crucial,” Hughes said. “We need to get this win against Ave Maria to start the momentum. For the JV game on Monday, we are undefeated this year, having won three games, and any time that you can manufacture the spirit, feeling and reward of winning, that makes you have a sense that all of the hard work you put in for nine months a year pays off. Any time you can take that into the offseason, and this will be a huge offseason for us, it makes everything better.”
Part of the reason this off-season will be so big for the Hatters is that next years' team will be the first to include five years of recruiting classes. With the addition of a comprehensive strength program for the off-season, and additional maturity of the squad, the Hatters should be able to make great strides physically.
“Physically, we were not a match for Marist on the offensive and defensive lines and that bore itself out as the game went along,” Hughes said. “We have to do a better job of player development there. I am really excited about this offseason with our new strength coach, Mark Wateska.
“We will give them some time off to heal up after the season, but we will get after it full bore as soon as they come back in January. We want to do some foundational work, take some body comps and set some appropriate goals for our guys.”
Special Teams Woes: After having solid play from special teams all season, the Hatters took a big step backward last week at Marist. Not only did the Red Foxes block a punt and a field goal, they also returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
“It was a trifecta of mistakes,” Hughes said. “The kickoff return was all really disappointing because we had just scored to get it back to a two-possession game and were trying to fight our way back. Matt Diniak asked me if we should squib the kick or kick it deep. We had the wind at our backs and Grant Amick had been kicking the ball very well.
“I thought if we kicked it deep and got a stop, we might get a short field and have a chance to score again before halftime. He didn't kick it as deep as he normally does and the rest is history. We were trying to be aggressive to get us back in the game, but it always comes down to execution.”
Hughes said that performance was especially disappointing considering how much practice and meeting time the Hatters dedicate to that part of the game.
“We spend a lot of time on special teams,” Hughes said. “Up to this point, they had been outstanding. We have gotten some short fields and we have basically been at a draw. This week, we just didn't execute well. On the blocked punt, one of our wing guys made the classic mistake in that he widened out too much and the rusher came underneath him. It is the classic move. It was one guy, and that was good enough.”
In addition to the three big mistakes on special teams, the Hatters lost long snapper Gary Gotling to a concussion early in the game. The injury came on a play when a Marist player was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct because the hit came several yards out of bounds.
Safety Ryan Powers filled in for Gotling last week, and will be available as a backup again this week when Ethan Simpson steps into the starting role.
“Ethan has been with the program since it started and is a great snapper,” Hughes said. “His body type is not the same as Gary and he is a good cover guy but, from a blocking standpoint, he is much smaller than Gary. Especially on PATs and field goals, that bigger body is something we need.
“Ryan Powers really was an unsung hero for stepping in and doing a great job last week. He was really pretty seamless.”
Keys to the Game: In addition to winning the turnover battle, Hughes said the Hatters will need to be ready to adjust on the fly against Ave Maria.
“We have to be able to adjust to whatever style they present in this game,” Hughes said. “Each game this year they have had a different plan and a little bit different personality on both sides of the ball as to what they want to do. We have to figure out how they are approaching this game and then make adjustments off that.”
Part of the adjustment from a defensive standpoint will come after they figure out which quarterback is on the field for the Gyrenes, because they have used multiple players at the position this year. On the offensive side, the adjustments will come from picking up the various blitzes and stunts Ave Maria might employ.
“With all of their stunts, we are going to have to adjust on the run,” Hughes said. “We will have to make line calls and adjust blocking schemes based on the movement of their linebackers. If they line up and play man-to-man, we have to find the matchups that work to our advantage.”
Hughes expects his special teams to perform at least at the level he has come to expect. He also wants to see his team play with a more physical style.
“We have to do is establish the physicality of the game,” Hughes said. “We have to be much more physical than we were in the Marist game. Everyone in the program understands that finishing the season on a great note carries momentum into the off-season. Hopefully we will execute like we are planning and good things will happen.”
