Positives from the Stanford Game

[SJHornet]

We have a lot of good things to take away from this game in my own humble opinion.

1- Our quarterback situation is pretty promising. MBT and Fleming were both consistently connecting on their passes and more importantly, making smart decisions. The problem they ran into was our o-line, but lets be perfectly honest, Stanford’s d-line made our line look like midgets. They were beasts! Give them time and they will be able to make some big plays.

2- Our receiving core actually kept the ball in their hands. This was a problem that frustrated me last season. They ran good routs (and were actually on queue with both quarterbacks) and were making decent yardage after the catch.

3- Our special teams looked particularly sharp today. We got 7 points, didn’t allow any st points for Stanford and didn’t give away too much yardage. I know shining in special teams isn’t anything to brag about usually, but today I was really impressed by them.

4- We might not have had 12,000 at the game but there were definitely a few thousand who made the trip. We were loud and stuck with the team till the end. The Stanford crowd, like always, was pathetic. I wish the band could have made the trip. There were like 30 cheerleaders who made it (I don’t think anyone will be complaining about that).

5- We did better than Davis. We lost by less and scored more. That’s a good day in my book.

Our defense was, well, bad, but Stanford’s guys towered over ours. Even though we had problems on the defensive end, they did seem to learn form their early mistakes and tightened up. We started taking them to 3rd down, stopping the run more effectively and were actually frustrating their receivers by the second half. I fear we are going to need to start scoring big though to make up for our defensive flaws. Needs work.

All in all it was an enjoyable day. The score was not what I would have wanted it to be in a perfect world, but the team played with a lot of heart. They didn’t roll over and give up, they fought till the end. Hornets, hold your heads up high, well, up anyway. We went into Stanford and showed we might not be the best team in the world, but we certainly know how to play.

 

[HornetHope]

I would add to that- i watched on TV as wife and kids were sick. Here are my observations by unit.

Offense: Our guys on the line were much smaller than Stanford's defensive line, so our QB's had trouble all day with D Line getting in their face too quickly. However, that being said we were able to settle down and complete some passes. Our running backs looked good and Shaw is a beast who is hecka fast. Penalties stopped us some, and the coaches will correct that by the time we get to Weber.

Defense: Again, the camera would do close ups, and our guys were smaller and just did not have the speed of their offense. That being said, after they settled down in the first quarter, our D started doing much better. The safety blitzing caused a fumble and our guys often stayed with their receivers, just got caught out of position some. The line push was solid from Stanford but our guys kept battling and had some good stops in the 3rd and 4th quarter.

Special Teams: From Monson's punt return for a TD to Dinitz 53 yard field goal, to the coverage units covering the kickoffs and punts very well, special teams were top notch.

Team: One thing I noticed was in the 4th quarter, their guys were pretty labored in their breathing, hands on their hips, etc. Our guys showed excellent conditioning- none of the things Stanford showed. Our guys fought the whole game and NEVER gave up. That is a big thing in my book- the attitude of a champion.

Overall a good performance! Great job coaching staff!

 

[iSac]

Great observations SJHornet and HornetHope. The first half really showed what a difference in talent there is between the teams. Stanford players often had just enough of a lead on the Hornets that a short yardage play opened up to a big gain. Aside from Monson’s sweet TD return and a few stops here and there, there wasn’t much to get excited about in the first half. (Hey… I think we still have some cold beer in the cooler out in the parking lot….)

The second half was much more entertaining as Sac was clicking better. It was nice to see Flemming have some success at QB. He could be a great addition once he gets some time with the team.

A few interesting 3rd and 4th down calls. There were a couple times on 3rd down and long that Sac ran a running play (which hadn’t been working), or a short dump off pass. Would have been nice to see them roll the dice a bit more in some of those situations. Going for it on 4th and 2 late the in the game was a nice call that lead to a score.

The team really hurt itself on penalties. There were more than a couple nice plays that were negated by yellow flags. Hopefully it’s just start of the season excitement. They’ve got to tighten that up.

Stanford Stadium is a great facility. Lots of old trees in the dirt parking around the stadium make for great tailgating. Inside, the seating was comfortable with good site lines. The concourse had plenty of concessions and allowed you to still see the field. Great place to watch a game.

After the game, the kids (everyone) got to run around on the field which was pretty cool. I’d like to see Sac do something like that this year with the new turf.

Another positive is that Sac’s not Davis which was statistically worse in practically every category except penalties in their loss at Cal, or even Cal Poly who were down 17-7 at half to Humboldt before sneaking out a 23-17 win.

Enough of the week in which teams play up or down, let’s get on to the real season! Bring on… Western Oregon.

 

[SDHornet]

Solid input. I wasn't able to hear or see anything online in the first half of the game but its good to hear that this team isn't far from getting it together. How was the defensive play calling compared to last year? Was it more aggressive or along the same lines as previous schemes?

 

[superhornet]

I completely missed the game. Thank you guys for the thoughtful analysis. I'm sure we can take the positives from the game and mold them into a great season.

Anything to stick it in mba's face, eh?

 

[HornetHope]

Solid input. I wasn't able to hear or see anything online in the first half of the game but its good to hear that this team isn't far from getting it together. How was the defensive play calling compared to last year? Was it more aggressive or along the same lines as previous schemes?

I liked the schemes, though in the first half there was a lot more base defense. I liked the corner blitzes in the second half though. In general, I like to see aggressive defenses though. I think this defense did very well for playing a top half PAC 8-12 team. They definitely held their own against the second team. If you look at Weber vs. BC- they did not get their TD until they were playing the clean ups.

I think some in our conference will be surprised by this team, and I think this team is going to shut down some teams that were not expecting a solid defense, AKA Open Enrollment University (Weber).

 

[Hornet Homer]

Another positive, I believe we were relatively injury free (Avery White, we hope you have a speedy recovery). Any news on MBT? Will he start the next game?