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Week 1 - #8/10 Sac State at San Jose State

24-42 Hornet loss. The Hornets got off to a strong start thanks for Spartan miscues, but the Hornets deviated from the running game success to allow SJSU back into the game. Add onto that some dreadful misfortune resulted in an opening game loss.

First and foremost thoughts and prayers to Michael Johnson. He took a vicious hit that stopped the game and sent him off on a stretcher. I saw a slow motion replay on someone’s phone at the game and the hit didn’t look intentional, but it was pretty brutal. I thought those kinds of hits are reviewed? That play sucked all the life out of the stadium and really tilted the balance in SJSU’s favor.

Aside from the outcome, the trip was enjoyable. Credit to the SJSU fans for the pleasant tailgating environment, and props to the solid Hornet contingent that made the trip. Lots of green in and around the stadium last night. Also a tip of the cap to SJSU fans, the stadium looked a little sparse early on but midway through the 1st quarter the south endzone seating was full of students and most of the lower bowl was occupied. Was a pretty entertaining environment…now build seats on the east side so the lack of symmetry doesn’t trigger my OCD next time we visit.

I agree with most of the comments posted about the game. The Hornet running game (177 yds, 4.3 ypr) performed well. The Hornet offensive line bullied the SJSU front and essentially ran the ball at will. Elijah Tau-Tolliver (22 car, 110 yds, 2 TD, 2 rec, 21 yds) had a big game and played a huge role in the success of the offense. The passing game was another matter as Kaiden Bennett (17/32, 134 yds, 2 INT, 10 car, 22 yds) struggled throwing the ball, especially in crunch time. The Hornets didn’t take care of the ball as a poor exchange from KB put the ball on the ground and he forced a couple balls that resulted in bad picks.

Defensively the Hornet front exceeded expectations. The Hornets shutdown the Spartan running attack and only allowed 63 yards, most of which came in garbage time. Unfortunately and as expected, the Hornet secondary struggled. Once the Spartan passing attack got on the same page, the Hornets couldn’t do anything to stop them. The Hornet defense did force 3 turnovers that made up for most of the offensive miscues.

Special teams was solid. Johnson (22.3 ypr) was poised to be impactful in the return game until his devastating injury. Zach Schriener (1/2 FG, 3/3 PAT) missed from 51 yards out and hit from 28 yards. Evan Kiely looks much improved on kickoffs as he booted 2 of 5 kickoffs for touchbacks and placed a couple other kickoffs well to mitigate SJSU’s return game.

Here are my takeaways from the game:
  • The Coach Bobby Fresques situation has to be the most concerning issue from the game. Once again, his play calling went away from what was working and let the opponent into the game. About midway through the 2nd quarter, the Hornets went to the passing game and struggled, all while the Hornet offensive line was dominating the SJSU front. It’s just not smart and his inability to put this team in the best position to win in the games with the tougher opponents is appalling.
  • The other noticeable struggle Coach Fresques is having is with the quarterback situation. It’s clear we have a dynamic runner that is better suited for short and some mid range throws in KB and a better passer that can stretch the field vertically in Carson Conklin (4/9, 45 yds, 1 D). If anything, KBs fragility would lend to a load management approach with Conklin seeing more action. Regardless, it’s clear that Coach Fresques isn’t comfortable rotating quarterbacks based on the on-field situation and this is hamstringing this offense, specifically in the passing game.
  • Injuries. In addition to Johnson’s major injury, KB took some big hits and had to leave late in the game but returned. Jose Soto went out early with a leg injury but returned as well. Tyler Henry left with a leg injury. There might be a few others but those come to mind first. Not a healthy start to the season with another FBS game on the docket.
  • Offensive line was impressive. Lots of different players saw action at guard and center, and no matter who was in they handled the defensive front. This group punished the Spartan front.
  • Huge game from ETT and positive touches from Ezra Moleni (3 car, 32 yds) and Curron Borders (3 car, 15 yds). Every running back ran for over 5 yards a carry. This may speak more to the dominant effort from the offensive line, nonetheless these running backs look ready to step up.
  • Quarterbacks need to get it going in the passing game. KB has some good throws early in the game, but his decision making and accuracy fell off later in the game, probably due to the beating his body took. KB still forces balls into coverage (resulted in 2 bad INTs). Conklin looked ready to go and it was disappointing that he wasn’t allowed to finish the game. Had the kick return injury fumble not happened, Conklin would have had the ball down 4 with 12 minutes to go. One can only wonder…
  • I liked the decision to go for the TD on the goal line in the 2nd quarter. I’m probably in the minority, but I thought the dive call to Kuntz was acceptable. The SJSU front was struggling to stop anything being run right at them so I have no issue going back to the well.
  • The Hornet defensive line had a strong showing. I thought the Hornets would struggle against the run, especially with SJSU spreading things out, but the Hornet defensive line took away the Spartan running game until garbage time. They also got pressure at times, most notable was Fata Puloka (2 tak, 1 TFL, 1 sac, 1 FF) who had a big sack fumble that negated a Hornet turnover a play prior. Mason Brosseau (3 tak, 1 TFL, 1 sac) also got to the Spartan quarterback.
  • Linebackers played most of the game without leader Will Leota (1 tak), who went out on a targeting call in the 1st quarter. Nakian Jackson (6 tak) and a combination of Mitchell Wolfe (4 tak, 1 TFL) and Alex Rocha (6 tak) supported the rush defense very well but struggled in coverage.
  • The Hornet secondary got torched, but that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. SJSU’s Nash was unstoppable. Murvin Kenion III (2 tak, 1 INT) got a pick in the 1st quarter and the secondary opted to take the pass interference penalty instead of giving up long receptions. There were some missed tackles in the open field that gave SJSu receivers extra yardage. A positive I will say is that aside from the double pass for a score, I don’t recall any wide open SJSU receivers due to blown coverage deep down the field which is an improvement from a year ago.
I’m not going to doom much on this game, there are some issues but plenty of positives to take away. Obviously I would have liked to see a win but when it was all said and done, this was a one possession game early in the 4th quarter on the road at an FBS opponent with our defensive leader missing most of the game, and a game that was ultimately decided by the kick return injury fumble. Aside from the Coach Fresques concerns, health is a significant concern as the Hornets will play a much tougher opponent in Fresno next week. I think the issues on the defensive side will get worked out as the inexperienced players get their game time reps.

Stingers Up!
 
Good analysis from all of you. Here are my thoughts gleaned from watching off my DVR on TruTV last night.

1. I certainly can't lay all the blame on this because there's plenty to go around, but the officiating was atrocious. I don't know if they were under orders to protect San Jose as the "bigger" team, or what, but as some of you noted above, the targeting calls were hardly fair. The one called on us was questionable at best, while there were THREE plays where they targeted us, but the zebras only bothered to do anything about the one on Conklin. The hit on Bennett and the kick return were CLEAR helmet-to-helmet hits, while the one on us looked to me (admittedly biased) like our guy led with his hands. This wasn't even the only game with this problem: ND State got shafted by the officials on what SHOULD have been their game-winning drive against His Neonness, but they refused to even look at a targeting call there, too. But even with the horrendous officiating, we were still in a position to win until the next two things reared their ugly heads.

2. Many of you above noted the same old story from last year, and I find that as much as I consider Coach Fresques a friend (albeit one I haven't seen since the '90s), there DOES seem to be some sort of mental block. Tau-Tolliver, thanks to the incredible play of the Hammerheads, was ripping the Spartans D to shreds, and some of the other backs were, as well. But bringing the ball into the backfield on 4th and goal? Unless you're running something out of the Single Wing or Notre Dame Box, that's just not going to work all that often, particularly when you just ran the exact same play (or something quite like it) the play before (as you all noted above). If you can't get one yard just by having your quarterback lay down across the center's butt (yes, I know it's more complicated than that), you don't deserve to win. Is the staff scared of 10 Wedge, or something? And just like almost every game last year, Tau-Tolliver almost completely disappeared in the second half when he could have helped us the most with his slashing runs to keep the clock moving, only to see our QBs (whichever one happened to be in at the time) get killed by the blitzes. There came a point (probably with about 4 or 5 minutes left) where we simply didn't have a choice, which left SJSU without a worry in the world about draws. Additionally, at that point, the idea of a play-action fake became highly not credible, yet they continually got called. This has got to change.

3. I don't recall seeing it in this thread so far, but I do remember hearing the otherwise homering commentators mentioning it. The entire second half, we were literally handing the Spartans free first downs by laying so far off the receivers. They were getting six or eight yards a pop, with the possibility of getting much more on YAC. While I understand that we don't really have anyone in the line of Lester Hayes, but can we at least CONSIDER developing a bump-and-run coverage scheme?

So, yes, there was plenty of blame to go around. But some of you also correctly noted that this is just the first game, and it WAS against an FBS opponent, and we WERE in position to win for most of the game. I firmly believe that we're going to get much more mileage out of that as we get closer to the post-season if we can iron out these coaching errors. That, of course, is in comparison to that dubious stunt pulled last night by Stephen F. Austin where they dominated a REALLY bad NAIA school 70-0 AT THE HALF. Then they had a gentleman's agreement to go to 5-minute quarters for the rest of the game for a final score of 77-0. Couldn't they have at least had the decency to play an NCAA D-III school like Mount Union, so that there would at least be a CHANCE of a decent game? That's not going to get them anywhere. Our game against SJSU is a MUCH better deal.
 
SDHornet said:
24-42 Hornet loss. The Hornets got off to a strong start thanks for Spartan miscues, but the Hornets deviated from the running game success to allow SJSU back into the game. Add onto that some dreadful misfortune resulted in an opening game loss.

First and foremost thoughts and prayers to Michael Johnson. He took a vicious hit that stopped the game and sent him off on a stretcher. I saw a slow motion replay on someone’s phone at the game and the hit didn’t look intentional, but it was pretty brutal. I thought those kinds of hits are reviewed? That play sucked all the life out of the stadium and really tilted the balance in SJSU’s favor.

Aside from the outcome, the trip was enjoyable. Credit to the SJSU fans for the pleasant tailgating environment, and props to the solid Hornet contingent that made the trip. Lots of green in and around the stadium last night. Also a tip of the cap to SJSU fans, the stadium looked a little sparse early on but midway through the 1st quarter the south endzone seating was full of students and most of the lower bowl was occupied. Was a pretty entertaining environment…now build seats on the east side so the lack of symmetry doesn’t trigger my OCD next time we visit.

I agree with most of the comments posted about the game. The Hornet running game (177 yds, 4.3 ypr) performed well. The Hornet offensive line bullied the SJSU front and essentially ran the ball at will. Elijah Tau-Tolliver (22 car, 110 yds, 2 TD, 2 rec, 21 yds) had a big game and played a huge role in the success of the offense. The passing game was another matter as Kaiden Bennett (17/32, 134 yds, 2 INT, 10 car, 22 yds) struggled throwing the ball, especially in crunch time. The Hornets didn’t take care of the ball as a poor exchange from KB put the ball on the ground and he forced a couple balls that resulted in bad picks.

Defensively the Hornet front exceeded expectations. The Hornets shutdown the Spartan running attack and only allowed 63 yards, most of which came in garbage time. Unfortunately and as expected, the Hornet secondary struggled. Once the Spartan passing attack got on the same page, the Hornets couldn’t do anything to stop them. The Hornet defense did force 3 turnovers that made up for most of the offensive miscues.

Special teams was solid. Johnson (22.3 ypr) was poised to be impactful in the return game until his devastating injury. Zach Schriener (1/2 FG, 3/3 PAT) missed from 51 yards out and hit from 28 yards. Evan Kiely looks much improved on kickoffs as he booted 2 of 5 kickoffs for touchbacks and placed a couple other kickoffs well to mitigate SJSU’s return game.

Here are my takeaways from the game:
  • The Coach Bobby Fresques situation has to be the most concerning issue from the game. Once again, his play calling went away from what was working and let the opponent into the game. About midway through the 2nd quarter, the Hornets went to the passing game and struggled, all while the Hornet offensive line was dominating the SJSU front. It’s just not smart and his inability to put this team in the best position to win in the games with the tougher opponents is appalling.
  • The other noticeable struggle Coach Fresques is having is with the quarterback situation. It’s clear we have a dynamic runner that is better suited for short and some mid range throws in KB and a better passer that can stretch the field vertically in Carson Conklin (4/9, 45 yds, 1 D). If anything, KBs fragility would lend to a load management approach with Conklin seeing more action. Regardless, it’s clear that Coach Fresques isn’t comfortable rotating quarterbacks based on the on-field situation and this is hamstringing this offense, specifically in the passing game.
  • Injuries. In addition to Johnson’s major injury, KB took some big hits and had to leave late in the game but returned. Jose Soto went out early with a leg injury but returned as well. Tyler Henry left with a leg injury. There might be a few others but those come to mind first. Not a healthy start to the season with another FBS game on the docket.
  • Offensive line was impressive. Lots of different players saw action at guard and center, and no matter who was in they handled the defensive front. This group punished the Spartan front.
  • Huge game from ETT and positive touches from Ezra Moleni (3 car, 32 yds) and Curron Borders (3 car, 15 yds). Every running back ran for over 5 yards a carry. This may speak more to the dominant effort from the offensive line, nonetheless these running backs look ready to step up.
  • Quarterbacks need to get it going in the passing game. KB has some good throws early in the game, but his decision making and accuracy fell off later in the game, probably due to the beating his body took. KB still forces balls into coverage (resulted in 2 bad INTs). Conklin looked ready to go and it was disappointing that he wasn’t allowed to finish the game. Had the kick return injury fumble not happened, Conklin would have had the ball down 4 with 12 minutes to go. One can only wonder…
  • I liked the decision to go for the TD on the goal line in the 2nd quarter. I’m probably in the minority, but I thought the dive call to Kuntz was acceptable. The SJSU front was struggling to stop anything being run right at them so I have no issue going back to the well.
  • The Hornet defensive line had a strong showing. I thought the Hornets would struggle against the run, especially with SJSU spreading things out, but the Hornet defensive line took away the Spartan running game until garbage time. They also got pressure at times, most notable was Fata Puloka (2 tak, 1 TFL, 1 sac, 1 FF) who had a big sack fumble that negated a Hornet turnover a play prior. Mason Brosseau (3 tak, 1 TFL, 1 sac) also got to the Spartan quarterback.
  • Linebackers played most of the game without leader Will Leota (1 tak), who went out on a targeting call in the 1st quarter. Nakian Jackson (6 tak) and a combination of Mitchell Wolfe (4 tak, 1 TFL) and Alex Rocha (6 tak) supported the rush defense very well but struggled in coverage.
  • The Hornet secondary got torched, but that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. SJSU’s Nash was unstoppable. Murvin Kenion III (2 tak, 1 INT) got a pick in the 1st quarter and the secondary opted to take the pass interference penalty instead of giving up long receptions. There were some missed tackles in the open field that gave SJSu receivers extra yardage. A positive I will say is that aside from the double pass for a score, I don’t recall any wide open SJSU receivers due to blown coverage deep down the field which is an improvement from a year ago.
I’m not going to doom much on this game, there are some issues but plenty of positives to take away. Obviously I would have liked to see a win but when it was all said and done, this was a one possession game early in the 4th quarter on the road at an FBS opponent with our defensive leader missing most of the game, and a game that was ultimately decided by the kick return injury fumble. Aside from the Coach Fresques concerns, health is a significant concern as the Hornets will play a much tougher opponent in Fresno next week. I think the issues on the defensive side will get worked out as the inexperienced players get their game time reps.

Stingers Up!
Click to expand...
I do agree that Fresques as OC is concerning,
I said this last season as well.

KB isn’t durable enough to rely upon him 100%. Gotta have Conklin in the mix so that we can have two QB’s w reps and ready for long season.

I’m also good with going for TD from the 2yd line or whatever but after first run got stacked because we let them SUB in fresh people goal line we should have had some backfield motion prior to snap as we used too with Troy Taylor calling plays.

Bobby F is awesome Hornet. Love the guy! But he’s a QB coach in my opinion and isn’t ready to do play calling OC as D1 level.

If he doesn’t get his focus together I’d be looking for a NEW OC in offseason!

RESPECT to RB & OL coaches for getting them ready to play! Nice work

Team unity
 
I did not go to the game, and watched it all on TRU TV (way better than the clown show network they used to have). My observations follow.

1. We jumped on SJS early when their center thought he was snapping the ball to Kareem Abdul Jabbar. They were back on their heels and SJS was jawing in the officials ear every play. Leota’s “targeting” occurred when he was close, extended his hands to shove and the QB head went forward and both helmets contacted. I disagree with the call, it that in fact was the standard for the game. And it most certainly changed the game, everyone knew it. Super was right when he said they missed 3 targeting calls against us. The most egregious was the hit on Michael Johnson, BOTH players that tacked him went helmet to helmet according to the earlier standard, and if it had been called, we should have the ball with a 2fer.

My issue with the Hornets was the we could have certainly continued to run the ball and let our front line continue pounding away.

KB. He does ok when we are ahead or near our opponent in points, but get way behind and he starts throwing long balls with a heck of an arc, which as a guy who barely played a little means no arm strength to throw that far. AND I noticed from when they are behind big time, he pretty much stays locked in on 1 receiver, so the D knows that about him and start to conceal covaerage better for easy picks. ALSO, when they are behind he tries to do so much that he gets hurt- see 4th quarter. Pouted on the bench when Conk went in for 2nd series. And it definitely showed.

Defense. Man I hate a prevent type defense. If your 10 yards off the ball, it is at least 5 yards too much. Heck I probably could have completed a pass with as much space as they gave these guys.

Smurfs. Who in the heck thinks throwing to smurfs in the end zone is a great idea? My goodness we have big TE’s, Cope, others that have the length to pull that ball in. It worked once, keep the tape, shift the philosophy.

Improvement. It better happen fast or next Saturday is going to be a boat race.

Talent. We have a lot of it, but needs to be put in the right position to make the play.
 
What I’m seeing during this first week of Saturday.
Fresno State is defense is still as good as last year. We’re in for a long week 2.

Idaho is essentially running the same offense as Sac State did during the Taylor era. And they’re right there with #3 Oregon. While Sac State, who brought that offense to the national stage, have completely abandoned it.
 
GreenArmySwarm said:
What I’m seeing during this first week of Saturday.
Fresno State is defense is still as good as last year. We’re in for a long week 2.

Idaho is essentially running the same offense as Sac State did during the Taylor era. And they’re right there with #3 Oregon. While Sac State, who brought that offense to the national stage, have completely abandoned it.
Click to expand...
Like Washington a couple of years ago,Oregon I think is overrated
 
GreenArmySwarm said:
What I’m seeing during this first week of Saturday.
Fresno State is defense is still as good as last year. We’re in for a long week 2.

Idaho is essentially running the same offense as Sac State did during the Taylor era. And they’re right there with #3 Oregon. While Sac State, who brought that offense to the national stage, have completely abandoned it.
Click to expand...
Yes… our OC seems to have forgotten how the program rose to prosperity. Ugh…

Michigan was running 2 QB System too.
 
GreenArmySwarm said:
What I’m seeing during this first week of Saturday.
Fresno State is defense is still as good as last year. We’re in for a long week 2.

Idaho is essentially running the same offense as Sac State did during the Taylor era. And they’re right there with #3 Oregon. While Sac State, who brought that offense to the national stage, have completely abandoned it.
Click to expand...
On Insta I saw a video of Idaho running probably the same play you’re referring too. I did an @bobbyF and said highlites like this should be from Hornetfootball. Later I kind of thought it’s game 1 and I should see be more patient? 🤔🤷🏻‍♂️
 
HornetFootballFan said:
On Insta I saw a video of Idaho running probably the same play you’re referring too. I did an @bobbyF and said highlites like this should be from Hornetfootball. Later I kind of thought it’s game 1 and I should see be more patient? 🤔🤷🏻‍♂️
Click to expand...
Nah, D1 athletics is all about putting your programs coaching staff's head on a pike if they lose a game. Torches and pitchforks only! :cool:
 
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