Week 12, Causeway Classic: Sac State @ the farm extension
The Hornets (6-4, 4-3 BSC) are coming into this rivalry week off of a bye whereas the farm extension (3-7, 2-5 BSC) is coming into this game off of a demoralizing 31-28 loss at Eastern Washington. The farm extension led EWU for much of the game in a spirited effort, but ultimately they couldn’t get it done.
The Hornets are looking to finish the season with a respectable 7 wins and a very minimal shot at the playoffs. Personally I don’t think the Hornets will see the playoffs with a win in this one, but you never know what might happen. As has been the case in recent years, I expect this game to be a hard fought battle and a close one. The farm extension will be sending Head Coach Biggs off into retirement after this game and they will do everything they can to look for anything that can salvage their terrible season. Hopefully the Hornets can deny them of this satisfaction.
Offense
The farm extension primarily runs out of the single back either from under center or in the shotgun and has been very inconsistent on offense this season. Quarterback (#17) Randy Wright has been sporadic and has about a 1:1 TD to INT ratio on the season. He has a good arm but is hit or miss with his accuracy. He had a decent game against EWU and was pretty solid on the underneath routes. He didn’t take many shots down the field but he has the arm to do so. If he can get into a rhythm, he can move the ball. Their receivers aren’t great, but can get the job done. Wright does a good job of spreading the ball around. They are lead by WR’s (#82) Corey Galindo and (#81) Anthony Soto. TE (#86) Taylor Sloat also sees a fair share of balls thrown his way as well.
The farm extension running game can be respectable at times. The OL has good size but are just an average group. Their running backs are nothing spectacular. (#20) Colton Silvera and (#32) Marquis Nicolis got the most touches this season and have about the same amount of rushing yards. They are best used attacking the edges. However I was most impressed with FB (#47) Dalton Turay during the EWU game. He is a load to take down and is tough to stop in short yardage situations. Their running game was unstoppable against a much smaller EWU front 7. Had they stuck to the run they probably pull the upset or at least send the EWU game into overtime. Instead Biggs put the ball into Wright’s hands and they lost the game.
Season Stats/Averages:
Defense
The farm extension runs out of the 4-3 set. Their defense is the strength of their team. Their DL is respectable. They don’t have great size up front but they did a capable job of minimizing EWU’s gains on the ground and were able to get pressure on the QB from time to time. The farm extension linebackers are solid. They have good pursuit and are good tacklers. They are led by seniors (#41) Jordan Glass and (#21) Byron Gruendl. It was hard to gauge the farm extension pass defense. EWU has the best receivers in the BSC so obviously they torched their secondary. Statistically their secondary is a middle of the pack unit.
Season Stats/Averages:
The farm extension did have problems containing the mobile EWU QB. Safron should be able to break open some plays with his legs if he has to. If the Hornets can get the ball into the hands of their playmakers in open field, they should be able to rip off some sizeable gains.
Special Teams
The farm extension runs the swinging gate on PAT’s. It got them a 2 point conversion at EWU. They have a good kick returner in (#29) Alex Hines. The farm extension has a great punter in (#90) Colton Schmidt, he is their best player (take that however you want). Their kicker (#38) Brady Stuart is good and has only missed 3 from 49 yards or shorter. Their coverage teams look to be solid. About half of the kickoffs are touchbacks so the kick return opportunities will be minimal.
Season Stats/Averages:
Intangibles
The Hornets need to take care of the football. As in any game, turnovers will be key and being sloppy with the football will not help matters. Traditionally the farm extension is a well disciplined team. They did not exemplify this against EWU and I think the frustrations of an embarrassing season are starting to wear on them. The Hornets will need to keep a cool head and not commit stupid mistakes and penalties.
The Hornets need to come out aggressive to win this game. I have the feeling that if the Hornets execute and take care of the football that this game will be a win. However given that this is a rivalry, anything can happen and if the Hornets don’t come in focused they will lose this game. I expect this game to be another hard fought battle and the team that makes the least mistakes will probably come out on top. It would be nice to spoil Biggs’ going away party, and I think the Hornets can deliver on that.
Go Hornets!
Game Info
The Hornets (6-4, 4-3 BSC) are coming into this rivalry week off of a bye whereas the farm extension (3-7, 2-5 BSC) is coming into this game off of a demoralizing 31-28 loss at Eastern Washington. The farm extension led EWU for much of the game in a spirited effort, but ultimately they couldn’t get it done.
The Hornets are looking to finish the season with a respectable 7 wins and a very minimal shot at the playoffs. Personally I don’t think the Hornets will see the playoffs with a win in this one, but you never know what might happen. As has been the case in recent years, I expect this game to be a hard fought battle and a close one. The farm extension will be sending Head Coach Biggs off into retirement after this game and they will do everything they can to look for anything that can salvage their terrible season. Hopefully the Hornets can deny them of this satisfaction.
Offense
The farm extension primarily runs out of the single back either from under center or in the shotgun and has been very inconsistent on offense this season. Quarterback (#17) Randy Wright has been sporadic and has about a 1:1 TD to INT ratio on the season. He has a good arm but is hit or miss with his accuracy. He had a decent game against EWU and was pretty solid on the underneath routes. He didn’t take many shots down the field but he has the arm to do so. If he can get into a rhythm, he can move the ball. Their receivers aren’t great, but can get the job done. Wright does a good job of spreading the ball around. They are lead by WR’s (#82) Corey Galindo and (#81) Anthony Soto. TE (#86) Taylor Sloat also sees a fair share of balls thrown his way as well.
The farm extension running game can be respectable at times. The OL has good size but are just an average group. Their running backs are nothing spectacular. (#20) Colton Silvera and (#32) Marquis Nicolis got the most touches this season and have about the same amount of rushing yards. They are best used attacking the edges. However I was most impressed with FB (#47) Dalton Turay during the EWU game. He is a load to take down and is tough to stop in short yardage situations. Their running game was unstoppable against a much smaller EWU front 7. Had they stuck to the run they probably pull the upset or at least send the EWU game into overtime. Instead Biggs put the ball into Wright’s hands and they lost the game.
Season Stats/Averages:
- • Rushing Offense: 135.5 ypg (3.6 ypr), 19 TD’s (77th FCS, 9th BSC)
• Passing Offense: 237.2 ypg (11.5 ypc), 12 TD’s (34th FCS, 7th BSC)
• Total Offense: 372.7 ypg (5.2 ypp), 31 TD’s, 12 FG’s (58th FCS, 10th BSC)
• Time of Possession: 31:25
• Turnovers: 24 (10 Fum’s, 14 INT’s)
• Penalties: 67 for 598 yds (59.8 ypg)
• QB: (#17) Randy Wright: 180 of 305 for 2,053 yds, 11 TD’s, 12 INT’s
• RB: (#20) Colton Silvera: 111 carries for 498 yds, 3 TD’s, 11 recs for 51 yds
• RB: (#32) Marquis Nicolis: 84 carries for 486 yds, 1 TD, 19 recs for 114 yds
• FB (#47) Dalton Turay: 55 carries for 234 yds, 7 TD’s, 21 recs for 156 yds, 1 TD
• WR: (#82) Corey Galindo: 30 recs for 556 yds, 3 TD’s
• WR: (#81) Anthony Soto: 27 recs for 312 yds, 4 TD’s
• TE (#86) Taylor Sloat: 23 recs for 319 yds, 1 TD
Defense
The farm extension runs out of the 4-3 set. Their defense is the strength of their team. Their DL is respectable. They don’t have great size up front but they did a capable job of minimizing EWU’s gains on the ground and were able to get pressure on the QB from time to time. The farm extension linebackers are solid. They have good pursuit and are good tacklers. They are led by seniors (#41) Jordan Glass and (#21) Byron Gruendl. It was hard to gauge the farm extension pass defense. EWU has the best receivers in the BSC so obviously they torched their secondary. Statistically their secondary is a middle of the pack unit.
Season Stats/Averages:
- • Rushing Defense: 165.2 ypg (4.6 ypr), 25 TD’s (74th FCS, 9th BSC)
• Passing Defense: 234.1 ypg (12.1 ypc), 13 TD’s (84th FCS, 6th BSC)
• Total Defense: 399.3 ypg (5.9 ypp), 38 TD’s, 6 FG’s (84th FCS, 8th BSC)
• Opponent Time of Possession: 28:35
• Turnovers Forced: 24 (16 Fum’s, 8 INT’s)
• Opponents Penalties: 71 for 596 yds (59.6 ypg)
• LB: (#46) Jordan Glass: 71 tackles, 9 TFL’s, 3 sacks, 2 INT’s, 1 BU, 3 PD’s
• LB: (#21) Byron Gruendl: 70 tackles, 4.5 TFL’s, 2 sacks, 2 INT’s, 2 BU’s, 4 PD’s
• LB: (#33) Steven Pitts: 48 tackles, 1.5 TFL’s, 1 sack, 1 BU, 1 PD, 2 FF’s
• FS: (#4) Aarynn Jones: 43 tackles, 3 BU’s, 3 PD’s
• DE: (#18) Nick King: 43 tackles, 11 TFL’s, 5.5 sacks, 2 FF’s
• CB: (#1) Dre Allen: 39 tackles, 3 TFL’s, 2 BU’s, 2 PD’s
The farm extension did have problems containing the mobile EWU QB. Safron should be able to break open some plays with his legs if he has to. If the Hornets can get the ball into the hands of their playmakers in open field, they should be able to rip off some sizeable gains.
Special Teams
The farm extension runs the swinging gate on PAT’s. It got them a 2 point conversion at EWU. They have a good kick returner in (#29) Alex Hines. The farm extension has a great punter in (#90) Colton Schmidt, he is their best player (take that however you want). Their kicker (#38) Brady Stuart is good and has only missed 3 from 49 yards or shorter. Their coverage teams look to be solid. About half of the kickoffs are touchbacks so the kick return opportunities will be minimal.
Season Stats/Averages:
- • P: (#90) Colton Schmidt: 52 punts for 2,295 yds (44.1 ypp), 5 TB’s, 20 FC’s, 21 I-20, 55 kickoffs for a 6..1 ypk avg. 29 TB’s, 1 OB
• K: (#38) Brady Stuart: 12/17 FG’s (long of 44 yds), 30/31 PAT’s
• KR: (#29) Alex Hines: 13 kr’s for 328 yds (25.2 ypr),
• PR: (#81) Anthony Soto: 9 pr’s for 86 yds (9.6 ypr)
• Kick Coverage: Allowed 536 yds on 25 returns (21.4 ypr)
• Punt Coverage: Allowed 92 yds on 17 returns (5.4 ypr)
Intangibles
The Hornets need to take care of the football. As in any game, turnovers will be key and being sloppy with the football will not help matters. Traditionally the farm extension is a well disciplined team. They did not exemplify this against EWU and I think the frustrations of an embarrassing season are starting to wear on them. The Hornets will need to keep a cool head and not commit stupid mistakes and penalties.
The Hornets need to come out aggressive to win this game. I have the feeling that if the Hornets execute and take care of the football that this game will be a win. However given that this is a rivalry, anything can happen and if the Hornets don’t come in focused they will lose this game. I expect this game to be another hard fought battle and the team that makes the least mistakes will probably come out on top. It would be nice to spoil Biggs’ going away party, and I think the Hornets can deliver on that.
Go Hornets!
Game Info
- • Kickoff: Saturday, November 17th @ 3:00 PM Pacific time @ the farm extension.
• TV: Comcast (I think)
• Video/Internet: Big Sky TV
• Audio/Radio: 93.1 FM, audio link available on Hornetsports.com
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