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Sac State @ EWU
- Thread starter SDHornet
- Start date
I think the killer on that last drive was the delay of game. That penalty was all on Sperbeck as the play was late getting into the huddle. Granted it was 3rd and 7, but Hilliard broke multiple 7+ runs yesterday. The penalty took it from a 3rd and 7 in which the defense would have had to look to defend a run, to a 3rd and 12 in which it was a 100% pass play that had to be called. At least in a 3rd and 7 a play action could freeze the LB's. That advantage went out the door with the penalty. Add that to an inconsistent Fleming and I have no problem giving the ball 3 straight times to Hilliard in that situation.SactoHornetAlum said:
Recap
The Hornets had an extra week to prepare for this game, and it’s obvious that they did not use it. EWU came into this game struggling and banged up, and yet the Hornets were not able to take advantage of any of it. This loss falls squarely on the shoulders of the coaches. There are plenty of mistakes to go around, but it was obvious from the first possession that the players were not properly prepared or focused for this one. Too many mindless penalties that cost the Hornets time and time again coupled with poor play calling was just too much to overcome.
The play calling in the first half was atrocious. Sperbeck went to the bag of trick early and often and really for no apparent reason other to leave us Hornet fans scratching our heads. There were a lot of garbage plays called. By garbage I mean a lot of plays that took a lot of time to develop and entailed a lot of lateral movement with the football. These plays had very little chance of success from the snap. My personal favorite was with Fleming in shotgun, Deadder motioning from the far right to left and going behind the QB, then the QB throwing the ball backwards to Deader “in the flat”. The play calling was such that early on, it just did not play into the strength of the offense which by now everyone knows is a heavy dose of Hilliard. By the time Sperbeck started playing Hornet football, the Hornets were in a 21-0 hole. The offense did show signs of life but for some reason just seemed to lose it when it got into scoring range. It was a flat out ugly game. The execution was just not there. Fleming looked terrible for most of the game and never seemed to get it going. I think Fleming has reached his full potential, his accuracy has not improved and aside from his mobility, he has shown a lack of consistency. Hilliard looked his usual self but the OL had issues with holds and false starts. The tight ends had issues sealing off the ends and it was just an all around sloppy performance. The receivers had problems holding on to the ball when it was thrown on target which also did not help the situation.
The defense had their own issues as well; however they did completely shut down EWU in the second half until the last 2 minutes of the ball game. TJ had one big play where he made the defense look silly but other than that, the Hornet D did a valiant job of containing him. The secondary had issues, some of it blown coverage, the others were coaching blunders. They had one blown coverage play that cost the Hornets a TD, and the other 2 TD’s passes came on situations where the coaches left a 5’-8” DB in one-on-one coverage against a 6’-5” receiver. Kauffman was making plays all game long, how they didn’t send over a second DB to help out on that last drive is amazing. The game winning touchdown was a déjà vu moment. After getting torched on a fade/jump ball route for a TD in the first half; the coaches failed to make an adjustment and it cost the Hornets the game.
Special teams made some plays but they had their issues as well. They blocked 2 punts, one of which was returned for a TD; however they gave up a couple long returns and had a costly penalty early that extended an EWU drive, and the icing on the cake was the bad punt that set up EWU with excellent field position for the game winning drive.
I think everyone expected a better performance coming off of a bye week. The Hornets were eliminated from post season play with this loss and will now be scrambling to scratch out a winning record to salvage the season. The Hornets lost some key players to injury today; hopefully they are not lost for the season. These injuries will test the depth of this team but will provide an opportunity for the younger players to get some experience and showcase their talents.
On a positive note, the Hornets have shown their resiliency yet again. This game could have easily turned into a rout but they battled back, made some plays and had a chance to win a game against the Big Sky leaders. This team just needs to find a way to pull out the close games against the tough opponents. This team never gives up and they just need to keep their head up and battle to the end.
GO HORNETS!!!!
Here is the Hornetsports recap:
http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/football/release.asp?release_id=9151
BSC Box Score:
http://www.bigskyconf.com/custompages/football/2010/stats/sac-ewu.htm
The Hornets had an extra week to prepare for this game, and it’s obvious that they did not use it. EWU came into this game struggling and banged up, and yet the Hornets were not able to take advantage of any of it. This loss falls squarely on the shoulders of the coaches. There are plenty of mistakes to go around, but it was obvious from the first possession that the players were not properly prepared or focused for this one. Too many mindless penalties that cost the Hornets time and time again coupled with poor play calling was just too much to overcome.
The play calling in the first half was atrocious. Sperbeck went to the bag of trick early and often and really for no apparent reason other to leave us Hornet fans scratching our heads. There were a lot of garbage plays called. By garbage I mean a lot of plays that took a lot of time to develop and entailed a lot of lateral movement with the football. These plays had very little chance of success from the snap. My personal favorite was with Fleming in shotgun, Deadder motioning from the far right to left and going behind the QB, then the QB throwing the ball backwards to Deader “in the flat”. The play calling was such that early on, it just did not play into the strength of the offense which by now everyone knows is a heavy dose of Hilliard. By the time Sperbeck started playing Hornet football, the Hornets were in a 21-0 hole. The offense did show signs of life but for some reason just seemed to lose it when it got into scoring range. It was a flat out ugly game. The execution was just not there. Fleming looked terrible for most of the game and never seemed to get it going. I think Fleming has reached his full potential, his accuracy has not improved and aside from his mobility, he has shown a lack of consistency. Hilliard looked his usual self but the OL had issues with holds and false starts. The tight ends had issues sealing off the ends and it was just an all around sloppy performance. The receivers had problems holding on to the ball when it was thrown on target which also did not help the situation.
The defense had their own issues as well; however they did completely shut down EWU in the second half until the last 2 minutes of the ball game. TJ had one big play where he made the defense look silly but other than that, the Hornet D did a valiant job of containing him. The secondary had issues, some of it blown coverage, the others were coaching blunders. They had one blown coverage play that cost the Hornets a TD, and the other 2 TD’s passes came on situations where the coaches left a 5’-8” DB in one-on-one coverage against a 6’-5” receiver. Kauffman was making plays all game long, how they didn’t send over a second DB to help out on that last drive is amazing. The game winning touchdown was a déjà vu moment. After getting torched on a fade/jump ball route for a TD in the first half; the coaches failed to make an adjustment and it cost the Hornets the game.
Special teams made some plays but they had their issues as well. They blocked 2 punts, one of which was returned for a TD; however they gave up a couple long returns and had a costly penalty early that extended an EWU drive, and the icing on the cake was the bad punt that set up EWU with excellent field position for the game winning drive.
I think everyone expected a better performance coming off of a bye week. The Hornets were eliminated from post season play with this loss and will now be scrambling to scratch out a winning record to salvage the season. The Hornets lost some key players to injury today; hopefully they are not lost for the season. These injuries will test the depth of this team but will provide an opportunity for the younger players to get some experience and showcase their talents.
On a positive note, the Hornets have shown their resiliency yet again. This game could have easily turned into a rout but they battled back, made some plays and had a chance to win a game against the Big Sky leaders. This team just needs to find a way to pull out the close games against the tough opponents. This team never gives up and they just need to keep their head up and battle to the end.
GO HORNETS!!!!
Here is the Hornetsports recap:
http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/football/release.asp?release_id=9151
BSC Box Score:
http://www.bigskyconf.com/custompages/football/2010/stats/sac-ewu.htm
I still think this is one of the best Hornet teams ever.
Defense has been fun, Coleman, Nash, Shrader, blocked punts for td's, etc.
I think the resilency of this team to keep fighting til the end will be its legacy.
PSU is a good team, as is NAU, ISU and UCFE.
Play out, win out and call it a great 7-4 campaign.
Next year we will be 9-2.
Defense has been fun, Coleman, Nash, Shrader, blocked punts for td's, etc.
I think the resilency of this team to keep fighting til the end will be its legacy.
PSU is a good team, as is NAU, ISU and UCFE.
Play out, win out and call it a great 7-4 campaign.
Next year we will be 9-2.
superhornet
Active member
SD: While we weren't "officially" eliminated (we still have the six-win rule), for all PRACTICAL intents and purposes, you are correct. (Theoretically, a six-win team CAN go to the playoffs. But such is unprecedented and is so unlikely as to be almost not worth considering.) I am STEAMED.
SJHornet
Active member
Green Cookie Monster said:
I couldn’t agree more. The gut wrenching losses we've suffered this season have shown how competitive we are. Scored 17 points on the road to a potential BCS bowl team, lost by 3 IN Missoula, took one of the best teams in the FCS to overtime after being blown out in the 1st half and lost by 3 on the road to a top 10 FCS team. Nothing to be ashamed of this season. This team is fun to watch and is full of talent. I think we will be a Big Sky and FCS big dog next season. If I was another team I would be a little concerned when I saw Sac State coming up on the schedule.
hornet4life
Active member
SJHornet said:
Why should they be concerned? Have you heard something about a coaching change?
For the sake of argument I’ll disagree. I’m not saying this team isn’t talented, they have shown that they are and it’s obvious this team has been improving every year under Sperbeck. Where I disagree with this being one of the best Hornet football teams is that we do not have that game changing/explosive weapon on offense. We don’t have that Tony Washington or an Amey that teams have to prepare for. Sure Hilliard is a beast and is something teams have to prepare for, but he isn’t the type of weapon where opposing fans will hold their breath and think “oh sh!t, he has the ball in open space…”. That is the one thing this team is missing offensively. Regardless, even if we had that receiving threat on the team, we wouldn’t have a QB who would accurately get the ball to him anyways.Green Cookie Monster said:
I do not expect a win in Flagstaff this weekend. It appears that NAU is at the top of their game, and that is with a backup QB playing due to an injury to Herrick. The best shot the Hornets have at a winning season is finishing with 3 straight wins would result in a 6-5 record with only 5 D-I wins.Super Hornet said:
