39-42 Hornet loss. The Hornets played well and greatly exceeded my expectations for the game. It was raining pretty good when I got to the tailgate area and there was a good contingent already there. The weather cleared up a couple hours before kickoff and there was a good showing of fans in the west grandstand. Both the Hornet performance on the field and fan support was a lot greater than what I anticipated.
On offense, Carson Conklin (32/22, 389 yds, 5 TD, 1 INT) had himself a game as he set the freshman single season passing record. He made a lot of great throws, made some plays with his legs late in the game, and also got away with some risky throws to make this an interesting game. Danny Scudero (7 rec, 140 yds, 1 TD) had a big game as well as Anderson Grover (10 rec, 102 yds, 1 TD) in his final collegiate game. Jared Gipson (4 rec, 53 yds, 2 TD) found the endzone a couple of times in his last game. The running game struggled as Elijah Tau-Tolliver (17 car, 48 yds, 6 rec, 70 yds) couldn’t get much going on the ground, but made his impact with some timely catches in critical situations. There were some good moments, but ultimately it wasn’t enough as there were too many squandered possessions. Most notable was a first half tipped pass in the red zone that resulted in an interception and was ultimately the difference in the game.
The Hornet defense did a commendable job against a very robust and versatile offense. After a lackluster opening sequence, the Hornets buckled down until late in the game. The Hornets did a good job at limiting the big plays by Larison and keep him fairly contained in the running attack until a late run put the game out of reach. The secondary had its issues as always, but the open field tackling was much improved from a week ago. Derek Houston (11 tak) and Gavin Davis-Smith (9 tak) were atop the stats in tackles. Anta-Veon McKenzie (3 tak, 1 INT) had a pick at a crucial moment in the 4th quarter to keep the Hornets in the game.
Special teams had a solid night as Zach Schreiner (1/1 FG, 4/4 PAT) wrapped up his Hornet career with a perfect game. Punt and kick coverage had a solid game and there were some notable plays made on both punt and kick return.
Here are my takeaways from the game:
- Credit to the coaches and players for getting up for this game. They had a very respectable showing, of course it makes us all wonder where that was all season, but at least they close the season with their heads held high.
- Conklin was stellar and was very exciting to watch. The obvious priority for the coaching staff is to keep him here and get some dudes around him for next season. Well worth the price of admission.
- Play calling was meh most of the game, but he did keep it balanced and didn’t abandon the run until the Hornet were chasing two possessions. The red zone struggles continued, and there was a bad sequence that set up that tipped/intercepted pass in an obvious passing situation. There aren’t many healthy tight ends left on the roster so there were personnel issues, but Bobby still hasn’t figured out how to go for the throat in the red zone.
- A lot of batted balls at the line of scrimmage, they were keying in on Conklin’s low arm angle and the Hornets struggled to adjust.
- Overall a commendable job by the offense.
- Defense played a pretty stout game up front against the run and made things difficult for their offense. I rode Houston pretty hard the last few weeks but he really stepped it up in this game.
- The Hornet defensive line had some good moments. There were a lot of moments where they were getting pressure and altering the timing on throws.
- The Hornet secondary got gashed, but that was expected. That said, there was a key interception that kept the Hornets alive late in the game and there were some tight coverages on a lot of the throws.
- Hornet kick coverage had some creative plays. The squibs to keep the ball out of Larisons hands was a smart move and the creative on-side at the end of the game was well executed, the kick just had a tad too much power.
I noticed some complaints with the refs making the rounds on the Twitter machine. I don’t think that catch was a fumble as their receiver never fully put the ball away. Regarding that questionable touchdown pass by them, I have yet to see a replay but saw a still photo with the receivers foot out of bounds. Not sure if that was the 1st or 2nd foot to come down but the folks sitting around me watching the replay on their phones said it was out. That said, the Hornet defense was pretty spent at that point in the game and I’m not sure they would have gotten a stop on that drive anyways...but you never know how it would have played out.
All and all a spirited performance and the Hornets can take some positives with them into the offseason. Tip of the cap the farmdwelers, their team is stacked with talent on both sides of the ball and they had the wherewithal to pull it out with their backs against the ropes late in the game.
Now Hornet fans get to sit back and see what changes Coach Thompson will make to rectify the subpar results this season. I trust he will make the necessary moves to get this program back to its winning ways.
Stingers Up!
