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CAUSEWAY WEEK: (RV) Sac State (7-4, 5-2 BSC) @ #15 UC Davis (7-3, 5-2 BSC)

Hornets head across the Causeway for a win and in game in possibly the last Causeway game ever. Hornets are coming into this game on a 3 game winning streak and they are looking to rebound from a tough road loss against top ranked Montana State and are jockeying for playoff seeding position. Stakes are pretty high for both teams, but more so for the Hornets.

They have a very efficient offense that uses a lot of mis-direction and high percentage throws that moves the ball down the field very well. This offense has a lot of talented playmakers that fit the system very well. Quarterback Caden Pinnick (170/245, 2221 yds 22 TD, 8 INT, 101 car, 307 yds, 3 TD) is the real deal. he is shifty, hard to tackle, extends plays with his legs. and has a good arm with good accuracy. Running back Jordan Fisher (140 car, 863 yds, 4 TD, 21 car, 240 yds, 1 TD) is a small but speedy runner capable of breaking a big play. In the passing game, wide receivers Samuel Gbatu Jr (53 rec, 822 yds, 9 TD) and Stacy Dobbins (40 rec, 480 yds, 2 TD) are the primary targets and tight end Ian Simpson (22 rec, 349 yds, 2 TD) has played a significant role as well. Gbatu is a playmaker and a threat to break a big play. Up front, the offensive line is sizable and has done well for this offense.

Their defense has been sufficient for most of the year. It's not as stellar as seen in past years but it is more than capable of giving the Hornet offense some fits. Their 3-4 front has some good size and the linebackers have good pursuit to the ball. Safety Jayden Stanley (54 tak, 2 TFL, 1 INT) and defensive back Khalani Riddick (52 tak, 1 INT) leads the team in tackles. Defensive end Jacob Psyk (41 tak, 14 TFL, 8 sac) has been a force on the edge with linebackers Nate Rutchena (50 tak, 3.5 TFL, 2 INT) and Sam Goligoski (29 tak, 8 TFL, 5 sac) round out the 2nd level. This unit has forced 13 fumbles on the year.

Kicker Hunter Ridley (11/16 FG, 37/19 PAT) has had struggles but has a long of 46 yards on the season. Their kick return game is capable and has broken some big return this year.

Not much to say as I'm sure everyone is aware of the implications of this game. I think both offenses will have advantages and the playmaking personnel that can provide a big impact if some mismatches are exploited. They run a lot of different looks and like to get the ball out quick to their playmakers. They can run tempo and Pinnick is talented enough to where the defense has to respect the RPO. From a schematic perspective the Hornets will have to be very disciplined and keep everything in front of them. The Hornet defense is coming in off of a pretty stout performance against a talented Idaho team which bodes well for this game.

The Hornet offense should do well if Coach Marion sticks to their bread and butter of a heavy power run game. The Hornets might work in some new wrinkles like we saw last week but to be honest, if the Hornet executes well in the trenches and takes care of the ball then a win is more than possible in the game.

I think the Hornets come out motivated and take care of business. If the Hornets stick to what got them their 7 wins then I think we see an 8th win this Saturday.

Stingers Up!
 
SDHornet said:
I think they are in no matter what. They've been ranked high all season and have a quality win over a then ranked NAU.

We have to win to get a playoff berth. A win for us gives us a quality ranked win and puts us solely in 3rd place in the BSC. No way the committee denies the 3rd best team from the 2nd toughest conference. If we win and still get snubbed then it justifies the "FBS or Bust" moves that have been undertaken. There is no reason to take FCS serious under that scenario.

We lose and we're out. Assuming NAU beats a bad Weber State this week, the committee will take NAU over us in a heartbeat. We did submit a bid to host a first round game but I don't think it will matter with a Causeway loss.
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F UCD we need to beat them upon principle. They are good yet broken. (Injury report). Winning head to head and we are IN playoffs.
 
I'll stick with the ChatGPT prediction - Hornets 34 Aggies 31 (they miss a FG to tie at the end of regulation).

The number one scare for me is Pinnick running. We can stuff the run, and get good pressure on the passer, but mobile QBs always seem to break big runs against us in those scenarios. We gotta get to him, and put him into the turf.
 
HornetFootballFan said:
We’ve got to beat UCD in solid fashion. 14 point victory would solidify it. SAC ST needs to look good knowing the committee is watching. TV money comes in from good / exciting football.
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No we don't, we just need a win. If the committee deems that 8 D1 wins, a win over a 15th ranked opponent on the road, and finishing 3rd in the 2nd toughest FCS conference isn't worthy of a playoff berth then we need not be in the FCS anymore.
 
SDHornet said:
No we don't, we just need a win. If the committee deems that 8 D1 wins, a win over a 15th ranked opponent on the road, and finishing 3rd in the 2nd toughest FCS conference isn't worthy of a playoff berth then we need not be in the FCS anymore.
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Guys… 99% of the time I’d feel comfortable with just getting the W as you suggest.
Remember few yrs ago when we beat FUCD got in playoffs they didn’t because of Stanford W.
That in addition to many thinking Idaho should have won, as well as many insulted at our FCS JV comment.
We have people that if they plug in another 8-4 team ahead of us they would if they could justify,
Example: SAC shouldn’t have beaten Idaho, barely beats UCD 21-20 while UCD has bunch of injuries.

They’d push NAU ahead of us and another 8-4 from MVFC etc and we get the shaft!

Pay it safe. Keep foot on the gas pedal, try to win convincingly by 2TD’s or more to feel confident.

My opinion based on the environment. Not how a traditional scenario would be. In addition. The Big Sky Commissioner would like to see us fail! He wants BigSky teams to be afraid to leave try to follow us into FBS Indy,

Go Hornets! I hope you are right and we only need to win.
 
Kadeezy said:
I could see the committee trying to f@ck us over, even at 8-4. I will keep watch of the bubble for the board lol.
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I’ll watch with you Kadeezy…

Bubble Board based on numerous top 25 rankings that came out last week…

- Yale 8-2 beat Harvard today
- Lafayette 8-3 lost to Lehigh
- New Hampshire 7-4 beating Maine in 4th
- William and Mary 7-4 tied vs Richmond in 4th
- SDSU 7-4 vs UND 7-4, UND up in 3rd
- Southern Illinois 6-5 crushing Illinois St 37-7 ( this one could really hurt us)
- Gardner Webb 7-4 losing to W. Illinois in 3rd
- Youngstown 7-4 beating UNI at half
- NAU tied with Weber in 2nd
- Abilene CU 7-4 vs Central Ark (2PM)
- Austin Peay 7-4 vs Tarleton (2PM)
- UT Rio Grande 8-3 (searching for 6th D1 win today) vs ETSU (3PM)
 
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