Recap/Thoughts
The Hornets found a new way to lose in the Causeway as the special teams spotted the farm extension 17 points in a 34-27 loss. Undisciplined play, mistakes at key moments and poor coaching allowed this program to lose what was in many people’s mind a “must win”. A lot of the blame goes squarely on Coach DaPrato as he clearly didn’t have his special teams units prepared to execute the fundamentals. And when the Hornets finally do overcome some mistakes, they hand the game away on an inexplicable WR reverse pass. The bottom line is the Hornet coaching staff needed to win this game and once again couldn’t deliver.
Offense
The offense played okay. The Hornet passing attack wasn’t extremely efficient but the offense did more than enough to win this game had the special teams not put the Hornets into a massive hole. 4 TD’s (5 if you count the blown call) were scored compared to 1 offensive TD by the farm extension. The passing attack was near unstoppable in the 2nd half however the running game was virtually nonexistent aside from a few big runs from Graham. It sounded like Safron couldn’t connect on the shots down the field but was able to get the ball to the receivers underneath.
Game Stats:
- • Passing: 324 yds (8.8 ypc), 2 TD’s
• Rushing: 156 yds (4.7 ypr), 2 TD’s
• Total Offense: 480 yds, 4 TD’s, 0 FG’s
• Time of Possession: 32:37
• Turnovers: 4 (3 INT’s, 1 Fum’s)
• Penalties: 8 for 71 yds
• (#12) Safron: 37 of 67 for 324 yds, 2 TD’s, 2 INT’s, 12 carries for 32 yds
• (#8) Graham: 12 carries for 108 yds, 1 TD, 7 recs for 81 yds
• (#17) Knowles: 7 rec for 64 yds
• (#15) Harrison: 7 recs for 60 yds, 1 TD
• (#13) Norrise: 6 recs for 50 yds, 1 INT thrown
• (#2) Carter: 5 recs for 26 yds
• (#87) Cox: 1 recs for 14 yds
• (#81) Robertson: 1 rec for 12 yds
• (#47) Maciel: 2 recs for 9 yds, 1 TD
• (#9) De’jon Coleman: 7 carries for 8 yds, 1 TD, 1 rec for 8 yds
• (#24) McCowan: None
• (#21) Ellis: None
• (#10) Dotson: None
• (#80) Broadnax: None
The Hornets did have a number of drives stall in the opposing territory but as mentioned earlier, the biggest blow was that stupid WR reverse pass that resulted in an INT. That play was called when the Hornets just got the ball off of a turnover and were leading by 1. The offense was rolling and Safron was moving the ball through the air at will. The game was given away at this moment and the Hornets were never able to recover. Another poor coaching decision sunk the Hornets at a crucial moment of the game. The Hornets had one last shot to tie the game but an INT was thrown on 4th and 3. In all honesty this game should have never came down to last minute heroics if the special teams had bothered to show up.
Defense
The defense kept the farm extension under wraps for much of the game. They held their offense to 17 points and stiffened up in the redzone early on. The defense did allow some drives down the field late in the game. The Hornets struggled to get pressure on Wright. Having not been able to watch the game, I don’t know if the Hornet blitzes weren’t hitting home or if the defense was content to drop back into coverage.
Game Stats:
- • Passing Allowed: 181 yds (12.9 ypc), 1 TD
• Rushing Allowed: 146 yds (3.7 ypr), 0 TD’s
• Total Offense Allowed: 327 yds, 1 TD, 3 FG’s
• Opponent Tim of Possession: 27:23
• Turnovers Forced: 1 (1 INT, 0 Fum’s)
• Opponents Penalties: 6 for 66 yds
• (#6) McMahon: 9 tackles, 0.5 TFL’s, 1 BU
• (#11) Badger: 7 tackles, 1 TFL
• (#34) Totty: 6 tackles, 2 TFL’s, 1 sack
• (#31) Williams: 6 tackles, 1 INT
• (#3) Washington: 5 tackles, 3 BU’s
• (#51) White: 4 tackles, 0.5 TFL’s
• (#91) Davis: 3 tackles, 1 TFL
• (#1) Odiase/ (#90) Cowger: 3 tackles
• Everyone else: 1 or 2 tackles
Bottom line is this game wasn’t lost because of the defense. Yes they gave up a couple of drives but they limited the damage and kept the Hornets in the game even when the special teams put this team in a big hole. The only complaint I can have is the defenses inability to stop any of the 2 point conversions, however only allowing 1 offensive TD makes it hard to put any blame on this unit.
Special Teams
A pathetic embarrassment sums of the play of the special teams in this one. The special teams lost this game and there is no other way around it. Coach DaPrato blew this one and I put the lion’s share of the blame for this loss on him. Coming off of a bye week these special teams units should have been more than ready. Instead it looks as if all that time spent was on those useless special teams trick plays that did absolutely nothing. The punt return reverse that was useless, the fake punts that were predictable and ineffective coupled with the mistakes that cost the Hornets points such as the blocked PAT that was returned for 2, the muffed punt and subsequent poor decision by Norrise to not fall on the ball gifting a TD, a missed FG, and finally and my personal favorite; the blown kick coverage at the end of the 1st half that gifted them a TD. 20 seconds left in the half, a pouch kick down the sideline into the wind was called instead of a squib kick down the middle of the field. As much as the players should have executed these plays, it is stupid coaching decisions like that that kill this program in the big games.
Game Stats:
- • (#58) Castaneda: 0/1 FG, 3/4 PAT’s
• (#52) Ruhnke: 5 kickoffs for 61.8 ypk avg., 1 TB
• (#45) Weldon: 3 punts for a 41.3 ypp avg., 0 I-20, 2 TB’s
• (#13) Norrise: 2 pr’s for -19 yds (0 ypr), 1 muffed punt that cost a TD
• (#24) McCowan: 1 kr for 17 yds (17.0 ypr)
• (#8) Graham: 1 kr for 33 yds (33.0 ypr)
• Kick Coverage: Allowed 184 yds on 4 returns (46.0 ypr), 1 TD
• Punt Coverage: Allowed 0 yds on 0 returns (0.0 ypr)
Sperbeck needs to take a long hard look at the coaching here and determine if this program needs to go in another direction. This statement isn’t simply based on the embarrassing special teams play in this game, but inconsistent play throughout the season. A shake up somewhere on this coaching staff is needed.
Injuries
McCowan tore his ACL late in the 1st half, sad to see his career end like that. I don’t recall hearing many other Hornet injuries.
The Hornets blew a must win game and there is plenty of blame to go around. However the large majority of that blame is on the coaching staff. 2 weeks to prepare for this game and the coaches couldn’t get the players ready. It’s time for Sperbeck to do some soul searching and figure out how he is going to get this program over the hump, otherwise he should probably start looking for a new job. He needs to evaluate his coaching staff and make some changes heading into next year. There is no reason for anyone to expect anything more than 4-6 wins next season if this program sticks with the coaching staff that it has now. I’m not calling for wholesale changes here, but it is evident there are some coaches who aren’t getting it done.
Go Hornets!
Hornetsports Recap:
http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/football/release.asp?release_id=10810