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Week 1: #10 Sac State at Nicholls State

SDHornet

SDHornet

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Week 1 - #10 Sac State at Nicholls State

The Hornets open Head Coach Andy Thompson’s era on the road at Nicholls State in the swamps of Louisiana. The Hornets will look to continue building this program off of an extremely successful season as the 2023 campaign will feature the pursuit of a 4th straight BSC title and 4th playoff appearance. Nicholls State had a down season a year ago and were picked to finish 4th in the Southland Conference this season. Head Coach Tim Rebowe will be looking to get the Colonel program back into postseason contention in his 9th season at the helm.

Offensively, NSU runs a standard read option offense that was nearly a 50-50 balance between run and pass last season. The Colonels don’t return any quarterbacks with D1 snaps on the roster, so they are sure to have some growing pains early on. NSU did bring in a FCS transfer, Jakob Foss, and a JC transfer, Pat McQuaide, to build an offense around. Their prime targets at receiver will be Neno Lemay (12 rec, 291 yds, 1 TD) and TCU transfer Quincy Brown (15 rec, 152 yds, 3 TD). In the backfield, the primary running back is Collin Guggenheim (105 car, 543 yds, 4 TD, 12 rec, 93 yds) who is a capable runner. Up front, NSU returns 3 starters on the offensive line.

The Colonels defense returns almost every starter on that side of the ball from a unit that was giving up over 35 points per game a season ago. NSU returns four of their top tacklers from last season and are led by linebacker Kylin White (79 tak, 3 TFL) and safety Tyler Morton (71 tak, 4.5 TFL, 1 sac, 2 INT). The Colonels also return their sack leader at defensive end in Perry Ganci (64 tak, 9 TFL, 4 sac). Given what is returning, it is expected that NSU will improve on the defensive side of the ball this season.

The Colonels return their kicker, Gavin Lasseigne (10/16, 21/22 PAT) who had a long of 52 yards last season but struggled with accuracy. Punter Kylan Dupre (53 pnt, 40.2 ypp) dropped a fifth of his punts inside the 20 last season. In the return game, Jaylon Spears (27 ret, 636 yds) averaged over 23 yards a return and had a long of 48 yards. NSU will be breaking in a new long snapper this week.

Position Advantage
I’ll pick which team has the edge for each position. Not much to go off of for a week 1 game.

  • Quarterback: Hornets. Carson Camp will have the most D1 experience on the field.
  • Running Backs: Hornets. Marcus Fulcher will be the most versatile running back in the game.
  • Wide Receivers: Hornets. More proven talent is on the Hornets sideline.
  • Tight Ends: Hornets. Marshall Martin is one of the best in all of FCS this season.
  • Offensive Line: Hornets. Hornets return 4 starters vs 3 for NSU.
  • Defensive Line: Colonels. Perry Ganci and Zack Bernard make plays in the backfield. This will be a good early test to see if the experienced Hornet offensive line can live up to their billing.
  • Linebackers: Push. Both teams have solid starters returning. Too close to call one way or the other.
  • Defensive Backs: Hornets. Slight edge to the Hornets. Both secondaries got torched through the air last season, Hornets have a bit more experience returning.
  • Punters: Colonels. Punt averages are similar, I gave the nod to Kylan Dupre over Cal McGough because he has way more punts. Yes I realize this is a weak argument.
  • Kickers: Colonels. Gavin Lasseigne is the only place kicker on the field with D1 experience.
  • Kick Returners: Push. Elijah Tau-Tolliver had some big returns last season, but NSU’s Jaylon Spears is capable of taking one to the house as well.

The Colonels defense could keep this one close depending on how long it takes for the Hornet quarterback(s) to find their footing. However, the Hornet offense has a litany of play makers that should carry the Hornets to a road victory. Defensively, the Hornets should be able to keep the NSU offense in check as they will be looking at settling in an entirely new passing attack. I think this game will be a lot closer than anticipated, especially if the Hornet offense can’t find a groove.

Another thing to keep an eye on is the weather. As of now the forecast is a high of 91 degrees with 50% humidity. The temps will start to fall around kickoff, but this isn’t something the Hornets are used to playing in. This could be a big factor in a tight game.

Hornetsports Preview:
https://hornetsports.com/news/2023/...arts-2023-season-at-nicholls-on-thursday.aspx

Stingers Up!
 
Two Deep Analysis

Offense

Troy Stiefel is not on the two-deep --- he is still out. I wouldn't read too much into the backups on the OL depth chart -- I think we do the next man up shuffle as we have some versatility on this unit.

We have ORs plural for the QB position. We list it as Bennett or Camp or Conklin, which is just the QBs in alphabetical order. We might honestly see all three at this stage.

Carlos Hill has the potential to be a big play guy and was very quiet last year - He is listed as a starter at WR - although we will likely see every WR we are taking on the trip given the heat and humidity at kickoff plus the equality of camp so far on the WR side.

We continue to list three RBs and three TEs like we did last year on the two-deep.


Defense

Have an OR at Defensive Tackle Hardeman or Williams --- this has been a competitive spot --- Billy Lutui, who transfered out of this spot, is listed as a starter for Portland State this week at Oregon.

Have an OR at Nickel - O'Hara or Pollard --- I love Pollard's potential - I think he can make some big plays. O'Hara doesn't make mistakes, but isn't flashy. Both will see plenty of the field.

Neither of the two Pac-12 DB transfers made the two deep.

Special Teams

As Lapan disclosed last week on the podcast -- Schreiner will place kick - Kiely will kick off. Cal listed as the starting punter over Connor - but they'll be used situationally so that doesn't probably mean much. Conor is listed as the holder. I am guessing we will travel a full special teams six this year, two kickers, two punters and two LS dudes.
 
Also a note about Portland State's two-deep --- it's INTENSE

They list out the top EIGHT running backs. Has to be tough to be in the RB room after seeing that. Like, you may know subconsciously that you're the #8 guy in the room, but to see it on the internet for the world to see... ouch.
 
stingthemgood said:
Two Deep Analysis

Offense

Troy Stiefel is not on the two-deep --- he is still out. I wouldn't read too much into the backups on the OL depth chart -- I think we do the next man up shuffle as we have some versatility on this unit.

We have ORs plural for the QB position. We list it as Bennett or Camp or Conklin, which is just the QBs in alphabetical order. We might honestly see all three at this stage.

Carlos Hill has the potential to be a big play guy and was very quiet last year - He is listed as a starter at WR - although we will likely see every WR we are taking on the trip given the heat and humidity at kickoff plus the equality of camp so far on the WR side.

We continue to list three RBs and three TEs like we did last year on the two-deep.


Defense

Have an OR at Defensive Tackle Hardeman or Williams --- this has been a competitive spot --- Billy Lutui, who transfered out of this spot, is listed as a starter for Portland State this week at Oregon.

Have an OR at Nickel - O'Hara or Pollard --- I love Pollard's potential - I think he can make some big plays. O'Hara doesn't make mistakes, but isn't flashy. Both will see plenty of the field.

Neither of the two Pac-12 DB transfers made the two deep.

Special Teams

As Lapan disclosed last week on the podcast -- Schreiner will place kick - Kiely will kick off. Cal listed as the starting punter over Connor - but they'll be used situationally so that doesn't probably mean much. Conor is listed as the holder. I am guessing we will travel a full special teams six this year, two kickers, two punters and two LS dudes.
Click to expand...

Good to see Lynch listed as starter too @rush end. Hoping for big things from him as the highest rated HS recruit ever for the program.

Wondering if Steifel might get a Medical RS for this year and try to come back next. It was a torn pectoral in the Causeway?

Cal and Colorado DBs nowhere to be seen on two-deep doesn’t surprise me. This regime has always seemed to play the best dudes no matter the “pedigree,” love the gotta earn it mentality if that’s what this is.

So cool to have a game in 3 days!
 
Not as many takeaways from the Defensive Preview Podcast - lots of talk about the entire room playing and helping at most of the positions.

Biggest one is that Coach Thompson is going to be watching the offense and helping with decision making in terms of going for it on fourth. But he made sure to mention it will be a collaborative effort. Now, I didn't expect Andy to not be watching the offense - Troy not watching the defense is such a unique thing - but it does want to be involved in motivating the offensive players. He said he learned a lot about compartmentalizing the day from Coach Taylor to accomplish each task on his plate and he reiterated that he is a dad and husband as well, so that balance is important to him.

Another interesting thing is that Coach Thompson is also coaching the Nickels. He mentioned O'Hara and Pollard on equal terms, so my expectation through camp that they will likely split snaps pretty equally seems to be holding true.

Good stuff all around - really like Coach Thompson in these settings. Great ambassador for the University.
 
All things considered, Thompson sounds like he was the right choice, especially for continuity of the program. I don’t think Fresques or Richardson would’ve been a bad choice either, time will tell. Let’s hope we get a natty and have to decide between Fresques or Richardson in a year or two.
 
Kadeezy said:
All things considered, Thompson sounds like he was the right choice, especially for continuity of the program. I don’t think Fresques or Richardson would’ve been a bad choice either, time will tell. Let’s hope we get a natty and have to decide between Fresques or Richardson in a year or two.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

As for Nicholls State, I know of the program, of course, but admittedly have no clue about their current team or their capabilities. Here's hoping our Hornets run them off the field on Thursday afternoon/evening and get this season off to a great start.
 
BuckeyeHornetFan said:
Kadeezy said:
All things considered, Thompson sounds like he was the right choice, especially for continuity of the program. I don’t think Fresques or Richardson would’ve been a bad choice either, time will tell. Let’s hope we get a natty and have to decide between Fresques or Richardson in a year or two.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

As for Nicholls State, I know of the program, of course, but admittedly have no clue about their current team or their capabilities. Here's hoping our Hornets run them off the field on Thursday afternoon/evening and get this season off to a great start.
Click to expand...

They return almost everyone on defense, but the offense is a real question mark. They will be starting a JUCO QB and do not have a QB on the Roster who has ever taken a snap for them. They lost their all-time leading rusher to graduation, but have three guys back who have had 100 yard games previously. Two returning o-lineman including an All-American caliber center. Their kicker will become their all-time leading scorer with one more point (currently tied).

I don't know if they know what they have on offense - and they have no FBS transfer that made the two deep - although they did get a couple into the program at skill positions.
 
stingthemgood said:
BuckeyeHornetFan said:
Kadeezy said:
All things considered, Thompson sounds like he was the right choice, especially for continuity of the program. I don’t think Fresques or Richardson would’ve been a bad choice either, time will tell. Let’s hope we get a natty and have to decide between Fresques or Richardson in a year or two.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

As for Nicholls State, I know of the program, of course, but admittedly have no clue about their current team or their capabilities. Here's hoping our Hornets run them off the field on Thursday afternoon/evening and get this season off to a great start.
Click to expand...

They return almost everyone on defense, but the offense is a real question mark. They will be starting a JUCO QB and do not have a QB on the Roster who has ever taken a snap for them. They lost their all-time leading rusher to graduation, but have three guys back who have had 100 yard games previously. Two returning o-lineman including an All-American caliber center. Their kicker will become their all-time leading scorer with one more point (currently tied).

I don't know if they know what they have on offense - and they have no FBS transfer that made the two deep - although they did get a couple into the program at skill positions.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the overview. I read SD's breakdown too. I was planning on doing a little research this weekend but haven't gotten around to it yet. I might see if I can find some highlights from last season or if any of their games are archived on ESPN+.
 
stingthemgood said:
BuckeyeHornetFan said:
Kadeezy said:
All things considered, Thompson sounds like he was the right choice, especially for continuity of the program. I don’t think Fresques or Richardson would’ve been a bad choice either, time will tell. Let’s hope we get a natty and have to decide between Fresques or Richardson in a year or two.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

As for Nicholls State, I know of the program, of course, but admittedly have no clue about their current team or their capabilities. Here's hoping our Hornets run them off the field on Thursday afternoon/evening and get this season off to a great start.
Click to expand...

They return almost everyone on defense, but the offense is a real question mark. They will be starting a JUCO QB and do not have a QB on the Roster who has ever taken a snap for them. They lost their all-time leading rusher to graduation, but have three guys back who have had 100 yard games previously. Two returning o-lineman including an All-American caliber center. Their kicker will become their all-time leading scorer with one more point (currently tied).

I don't know if they know what they have on offense - and they have no FBS transfer that made the two deep - although they did get a couple into the program at skill positions.
Click to expand...

They have a TCU transfer that made the 2 deep at WR (Quincy Brown).

Fun fact of the day, Walter Payton Award winner Lindsey Scott Jr played at NSU from '19-'21 before transferring to UIW last season. The NSU program has a strong pedigree recently under HC Rebow, including Southland titles in '18 and '19 and playoff appearances '17 thru '19.
 
Kadeezy said:
All things considered, Thompson sounds like he was the right choice, especially for continuity of the program. I don’t think Fresques or Richardson would’ve been a bad choice either, time will tell. Let’s hope we get a natty and have to decide between Fresques or Richardson in a year or two.
Click to expand...

Yes. There was never a reason to doom over Taylor leaving for Stanford. Orr knew the stakes and moved quickly in getting someone on the staff promoted. Hornet fans have never had it this good.
 
I watched some of the SE LA vs Nicholls highlights on YouTube. SELA runs an offense similar to ours, RBs we’re slashing and getting into 2nd level a lot. Some missed coverages by the DB’s. I think we win this one 41-27.
 
Camp plays the 1st series and after a 1st down on the 2nd series, we see Kaiden Bennett in the game at QB.

A couple nice throws by Bennett wasted by a big 3rd and 4 loss by Tau-Tolliver.

It’ll be interesting to see how they continue to implement both QB’s.
 
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