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Outstanding opening game

Hammerhead Dad

Hammerhead Dad

Active member
If tonight's game is any indication of what is in store for the Hornets this season, we are going to have a lot of fun. Of course, it was only a Division II opponent but given this was the first game and we should improve as a result of the experience and based on the fact, we won this game like we should have, I have reason for some optimism.

Jason Smith played a mistake-free, smart, and well-managed game. He looked poised and very improved from last year with two TD passes, one TD run and no INTS. Two running backs each go over 100 yards. Hilliard showed his hard running style going for 105 yards and Wilkins showed us a glimpse of the second coming of Charles Roberts rushing for 103 yards on only 10 carries! I'm not saying he will be as good as Chuck, but he showed moments of brilliance with quick cuts and incredible acceleration. Even Croxdale doing mop-up duty at the end looked very good as he bowled over a linebacker named "Bubba" for Humboldt State on a wonderful run.

The defense is a work in progress, but played hard and seemed to pursue better than I've seen in years. 4 sacks by the defense and 8 tackles for loss, plus a TD scored by the defense on a lateral recovered in the end zone. RS Freshman DL Zack Nash played with a motor that wouldn't stop to lead the team with 10 tackles including 2.5 TFLs. Mulitalo and Brannon each had 7 tackles with 1 TFL.

Special teams played extremely well with Gamboa putting four kickoffs into the end zone, converting all six PATs and nailing a 32 yard field goal. De Alba only had to punt 1 time in the entire game and he kicked a 44 yarder inside the 20 yard line.

The Hornets had two takeaways (1 fumble and 1 interception) and gave up none. We scored 6 out of 8 times in the red zone.

But one of the greatest stats of the night besides the 45-13 final score was the attendance:

10,127! Go Hornets!

Congratulations to Coach Sperbeck and his staff and most of all the Hornet players who did themselves proud tonight.
 
HHD, What a great game indeed!

We drew that number when school WASN'T in session, against a DII team, on a holiday weekend, in HOT weather! That's a great sign.

On the football side of things, I felt like we should have had more sacks than we did and saw a couple DBs get burned pretty bad against a lower caliber WR.

Can't wait for an exciting year!
 
My observations from last night:

Positives:
1. Win on opening night - it's been a while!
2. Nice crowd, especially considering a DII school
3. Team looked disciplined - limited penalities
4. Play calling - nice mix in run / pass but really liked the type of plays - big improvement over the Moosh era.
5. Smith was very composed and made solid decisions
6. Zac Nach - always around the ball making plays
7. Uniforms - I know this sounds odd, but I liked that everyone had uniforms tucked in. Unlike previous years the team looked ragged - last night they really looked like a DI team!

Concerns:
1. Lack of explosivness on the outside - very little seperation vs DII squad, even RB's lacked break away speed - both were caught in the open field multiple times
2. Not able to dominate both lines of scrimmage - Offense couldn't push in from the two on four downs. Defensive line should have put more pressure on whay seemed to be a very weak OL for Humbolt.
3. Passing game - not sure if this was done on purpose but the air game looked weak (129 yards and no one was able to turn something into a big play.
4. DB's look inexperienced (but athletic).

In general, I really like the product Sperbeck is putting on the field. If things continue to improve - could finally generate nice community support.
 
First of all, major props to Hornet Nation for showing up, though I think there was more people there than listed...probably at least 12K.

Second, Smith looked more relaxed and did not have to rush things that he had to last year...though at times the line on the weak side was a little suspect and will have to shore that up with CSU coming this week.

Third, although we should have had more sacks, we pressured and hurried Humboldt's QB's all night long, which for a green DL, is pretty good. They will need to actually make the tackles next week. That said, Zack Nash and Peter Buck were all over the field as well as the LB-Three! Nash and Buck are studs that will only get better with each game (how scary is that :D ).

Fourth, what a gutsy call by Sperbeck on the 4th and 14 from the HSU 20 and the execution by Smith and Washington. Last year, that would not have happened. Huge!

Take it one game at a time and fix the mistakes about the zone coverage we had on defense and let's get an upset of CSU!
 
Thanks, all. I hope to shoot all the home games this year. SHA, I'll try to get some of the crowd, but the shot of the Humboldt band conductor kind of disturbed me (fishnets and red hard hat) and I had to turn back to the field.
 
LT. Dan said:
Thanks, all. I hope to shoot all the home games this year. SHA, I'll try to get some of the crowd, but the shot of the Humboldt band conductor kind of disturbed me (fishnets and red hard hat) and I had to turn back to the field.
Click to expand...

I saw her too after the game...if I was drunk.....nevermind :lol:
 
Thanks for the reports, guys. Even with all the college football this weekend, it seems like the one one score I missed was the Hornets game.

The one piece of good news (for me) is old news: I was SO tired of opening the season with cheap-shotting St. Mary's that even a sorry D-II in Humboldt was a nice change of pace. If our performance continues into the conference season, perhaps we'll even dump having D-IIs.

Great job, Hornets. And great job for those who reported on it here. Thanks!!!
 
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