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Sac v. NAU

Hornet Dude

Hornet Dude

Member
Coming off a one of their better performances of the year. How do you think Sac will hold up against NAU.

Defense still needs work, although they are getting better with the schemes and finally putting pressure on the QB.

Offense couldnt be stopped against UM but with Dailey out, will that hurt them and force them to become one dimensional??

As for special teams?? just kick it out of bounds and take the penalty and just have the O go for it on 4th always. Theres just no hope with that bunch...
 
The Hornets face probably the hottest team in the Big Sky this week as NAU comes to town. NAU has the second best passing offense in the conference with an average of 305.6 yards per game through the air. This passing attack will be a hefty task for the Hornets to contain. NAU is averaging a meager 127.6 yards per game on the ground which is only marginally higher than the 126.9 yards per game the Hornets are averaging. However Alex Henderson is 3rd in the conference with 672 rushing yards on the season so he will need to be accounted for on every play. I had the pleasure of watching the NAU-Montana game earlier in the year and these guys can play when they are on. They run the majority of their offense out of the shotgun and they like to spread out the defense. The NAU defense is porous and is very similar to the Hornets in both style and ability. NAU only allows an average of 118.3 yards per game on the ground but a whopping 274.7 yards per game through the air.

The Hornets face yet another dangerous passing attack and will need to get pressure on the QB. I didn’t get to watch the game last week but from what I hear, the Hornets were aggressive and played tough. If they come out firing on all cylinders like they were last week, they can knock off NAU.

On offense the Hornets are going to need to attack the NAU secondary which is their biggest weakness. The Hornets were able to expose the banged up Montana secondary last week, and they should be able to build off of that. The Hornets will need to have some success on the ground to take some of the pressure off of the passing game. This will be a challenge as the Hornet RB’s are banged up and they will be a little thin in the backfield. The NAU defense knows this and they will probably blitz early and often. They result to that style of play calling in the Montana game and it took Montana to the edge. This can be countered with short hot routes or by burning the defense with a screen pass.

On special teams NAU is only averaging 5.6 yards per punt return. If the cover team stays in their lanes and can stick to their assignments, the Hornets should be able to contain them. They will need to prevent any big plays on special teams if they want to win this game.

This team is coming in hot but under Coach Souers, this program traditionally falters in the second half of the season. Also going in the Hornets favor is the fact that the home team has won this matchup the last few times they have met. Also NAU may be looking ahead to next week when they will face Ole’ Miss on the road. With all this said, the Hornets have a legitimate shot at beating NAU at Hornet Stadium. They will need to keep the intensity level high and execute on both sides of the ball to accomplish this.

GO HORNETS!
 
Hornet Dude said:
Coming off a one of their better performances of the year. How do you think Sac will hold up against NAU.

Defense still needs work, although they are getting better with the schemes and finally putting pressure on the QB.

Offense couldnt be stopped against UM but with Dailey out, will that hurt them and force them to become one dimensional??

As for special teams?? just kick it out of bounds and take the penalty and just have the O go for it on 4th always. Theres just no hope with that bunch...
Click to expand...

We are so screwed this week with our star RB out. But hey outside of state workers, I've got the easiest job in the city. Gooooo Hornets
 
coachsperbutt said:
Hornet Dude said:
Coming off a one of their better performances of the year. How do you think Sac will hold up against NAU.

Defense still needs work, although they are getting better with the schemes and finally putting pressure on the QB.

Offense couldnt be stopped against UM but with Dailey out, will that hurt them and force them to become one dimensional??

As for special teams?? just kick it out of bounds and take the penalty and just have the O go for it on 4th always. Theres just no hope with that bunch...
Click to expand...

We are so screwed this week with our star RB out. But hey outside of state workers, I've got the easiest job in the city. Gooooo Hornets
Click to expand...

Where the heck did that come from? Geez, I didnt know this was a political forum. :P
 
SD - good analysis. Hopefully we dont get burned on punt returns again.

Has anyone confirmed that Dailey is out? He is listed on this week's two-deep.
 
Good job, SD. I was at the UM game, and was impressed by the Sac effort. Defense got some good stops on 3rd down, which was nice to see, and offense looked very good until Dailey went down. You wouldn't think Montana would have to reach into the trick bag for us, but the fake field goal and onside kick were real momentum changers.

Can anyone tell me where the depth chart is posted? I can't find the two-deep list that several have referred to this year.
 
Dos Centavos said:
Good job, SD. I was at the UM game, and was impressed by the Sac effort. Defense got some good stops on 3rd down, which was nice to see, and offense looked very good until Dailey went down. You wouldn't think Montana would have to reach into the trick bag for us, but the fake field goal and onside kick were real momentum changers.

Can anyone tell me where the depth chart is posted? I can't find the two-deep list that several have referred to this year.
Click to expand...

http://www.hornetsports.com/assets/sports/football/SacNotes103109.pdf
 
Green Cookie Monster said:
Dos Centavos said:
Good job, SD. I was at the UM game, and was impressed by the Sac effort. Defense got some good stops on 3rd down, which was nice to see, and offense looked very good until Dailey went down. You wouldn't think Montana would have to reach into the trick bag for us, but the fake field goal and onside kick were real momentum changers.

Can anyone tell me where the depth chart is posted? I can't find the two-deep list that several have referred to this year.
Click to expand...

http://www.hornetsports.com/assets/sports/football/SacNotes103109.pdf
Click to expand...

They play like they did with lots of energy, they should have no trouble getting the win. I also think it should be nice to see some gadget plays.
 
Tale of the tape:

Offense: NAU
Defense: NAU, slightly
ST: NAU
Home Field Advantage: SAC, only because its grass
Coach: NAU, tenure and consistently good
Record: NAU

NAU 44
SAC 23

6,483 attendance
 
Green Cookie Monster said:
Tale of the tape:

Offense: NAU
Defense: NAU, slightly
ST: NAU
Home Field Advantage: SAC, only because its grass
Coach: NAU, tenure and consistently good
Record: NAU

NAU 44
SAC 23

6,483 attendance
Click to expand...

Coach Souers of NAU is 66-66 in 12 years. I wouldn't call that consistently good.
 
Here's my first venture onto on Sacramento State's board.

Greetings.

NAU's fan forum/board is dead so I make my way around other boards to talk Big Sky sports. I tend to play nice and am not here to spew any shit talk.

Saturday should prove to be a competitive game. I think the Hornets are better than their record shows. Statistics wise you were in the game vs. Montana. Seems like the 3 turnovers, injury to your starting rb and lost onside kick killed ya.

NAU has a tough 4 game schedule to end the season with the Hornets and Weber State on the road and EWU at home. Conference games are the ones that truly count. I don't see this years team looking ahead to next week's Mississippi game and in turn, discrediting Sacramento State. It'd be nice for the Lumberjacks to put up a good showing at the U of Mississippi. For purely selfish reasons as a fan, I'd love a close game that put a scare into an SEC team. I'm not holding my breath, though. A successful trip to Oxford, MS will be losing by under a few touchdowns and not losing any more players to injuries.

NAU will give up some yardage and points to the Hornets. I have no doubt about this. The defense has played better recently but are still down quite a few starters and are playing lots of younger players. NAU's offense has been on fire recently. The run and pass game have both been clicking with multiple receivers proving to be go-to guys and young rb's getting some good reps in-game in support of Henderson. Special teams has been so-so. Their kicking and punting's been pretty consistent but their coverage team tends to give up big returns and their punt/kick return teams haven't pulled off many big plays this season. Intangible-wise: NAU has really limited their turnovers and penalties this year. They're not shooting themselves in the foot very often. NAU's also won on the road this year, a chore in the past, and seem to have some moxie/mental toughness as a team. The Lumberjacks have a sizeable California contingent on their roster so they should have a few fans present in Sacramento.

I'm predicting a close game. Gotta go with my alma mater though.

NAU 37
Sacramento State 35

Haven't been to Sacramento since I was a kid living in N. California. Hope to travel to a game there in the future.


MTJack
 
HD,

Since when has it been a penalty to punt out of bounds? Teams do that all the time. The receiving team just gets the ball where the idiot refs THINK it goes out. (Problem is that unless the ball ROLLS out, the kicking team usually gets screwed 15 yards due to the "estimate" on where the ball went out.)

It's a KICKOFF that gets a penalty for going out.

BTW, there's an unwritten law of football that says that failure to kick on fourth down is one of the biggest causes of lost games. Sperbeck has been at this long enough to know that. He's not going to just go for it on fourth down at any point on the field out of desperation.

My myopianism notwithstanding, I really think we're jumping him WAY too soon. At this rate, the immortal Tom Landry would have been fired in 1961, and we would have NEVER seen the great Cowboy teams of the '70s. Give the dude a chance. That means about five years. It'll probably take less. But at least give him that. Remember that he's resurrecting a ship that foundered under one of the worst coaches in history in Mooshagian.
 
Super Hornet said:
HD,

Since when has it been a penalty to punt out of bounds? Teams do that all the time. The receiving team just gets the ball where the idiot refs THINK it goes out. (Problem is that unless the ball ROLLS out, the kicking team usually gets screwed 15 yards due to the "estimate" on where the ball went out.)

It's a KICKOFF that gets a penalty for going out.

BTW, there's an unwritten law of football that says that failure to kick on fourth down is one of the biggest causes of lost games. Sperbeck has been at this long enough to know that. He's not going to just go for it on fourth down at any point on the field out of desperation.

My myopianism notwithstanding, I really think we're jumping him WAY too soon. At this rate, the immortal Tom Landry would have been fired in 1961, and we would have NEVER seen the great Cowboy teams of the '70s. Give the dude a chance. That means about five years. It'll probably take less. But at least give him that. Remember that he's resurrecting a ship that foundered under one of the worst coaches in history in Mooshagian.
Click to expand...



relax kemosabe,


i was being facetious in regards to the kicking game. I understand the rules of football. As far as Sperbeck goes, i think hes doing a decent job. I wish the team carried out its high hopes set forth by the season last year. Unfortunantly Hornets just cant catch a break and when it rains, it pores. Hopefully we can just turn things around in this last stretch of the season
 
MTJack,

Welcome to the board. It’s unfortunate you guys don’t have a lot of traffic the NAU board. They are having an amazing season. I didn’t expect them to play this well coming off of last years collapse. Unfortunately for NAU, the buck stops in Sacramento this year. I hope you enjoyed the ride while it lasted. :P

But seriously welcome to the board.

SDHornet
 
SDHornet -

Thanks for the greeting. The banter is welcome and I'm happy to see some interest in Hornets sports here.

Yes, NAU's end of 2008 season collapse is still lingers in my mind but I'm pretty sure it's not lingering in the minds of the coaches/players. One difference this season to last is NAU has faced a bit of adversity early on with multiple injuries to starters (mostly losses on defense...something like 5-7 down part-time or for the whole season if my memory serves me) and a whole bunch of young players have been learning on the fly. NAU's loss to UofM on the last play of the game in o.t. is the exact kind of thing that has seemingly destroyed the spirit of the football team in the past but the team reacted differently.

I'll catch a good chunk of tomorrow's game on the radio. Wish I was there in Sacramento. NAU will give up some points and I expect a close game.

MTJack
 
MT Jack - you can watch the game live on Hornetsports.com Just click watch today's events and the video icon. The coverage and commentary is usually very good
 
Awfully quiet here......so I will go out on a limb and predict today will provide a bigger dose of Dailey than anyone expects, McCowan will have a breakout performance, the Defense will have their best outing yet. Reed and Hendershott continue to bring down jump balls put up by Smith for critical third downs and scores.

Sac State by a small margin in front of the smallest crowd of the year so far. This after finishing all the cool aid in the cupboard, starting in on a pack of expired Fizzies (you younger guys can google it) and a quick glance at the Mayan Calender.

I will be going (of course) and have a good feeling going into this game today. Hope some of you can make it as well.

GO HORNETS!!!!!!!!!!
 
I tuned in just as NAU was kicking a PAT. Sac runs a fake punt on fourth and 1. The next play was a TD pass from Smith to Reed. The next NAU drive resulted in a stripped ball of the QB and the Hornets recovered the fumble. Sac turned it into a feild goal with some terrible play calling inside the 10 yard line. The next NAU drive the D forced a punt. On a fourth and 5, the defense was playing 10 yards off the receiver and they got lucky as the WR dropped the ball.
 
TD Sac!!! 17-7 in the 2nd qtr. The Hornets have NAU on the ropes. The D needs to step up and make another stop!
 
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