Recap/Thoughts
For the second straight year the Hornets pull an amazing upset of a Pac-12 opponent and energizes the Hornet faithful. The Hornets buzzed into Boulder, Colorado and knocked off the Buffs on a last second field goal to win the game 30-28. I didn’t watch the game live but was fortunate enough to catch a replay of the game and the Hornets had a near flawless effort against Colorado. This game played out similarly to last week in that the Hornets fell behind early but battled back. Only this time the Hornets were able to finish strong and pull out the win.
Offense
This offense is on a roll. It took a couple of possessions to get it going but when it did, this Hornet offense was impressive. The play calling was exceptional by OC Peterson and it finally looks like the Hornets are on the cusp of having a formidable offensive attack. Safron continued to make good reads and his accuracy improved from a week ago. I saw maybe only a couple of bad throws but none resulted in turnovers (although that bad thrown on the game winning drive would have been a pick if it wasn’t for a great defensive play by Norrise). The receivers had an excellent day as well. They displayed good hands and made plays when they needed to. It was not hard for the young Hornet receivers to get open against the young and inexperienced CU secondary and this passing game had a great game.
Huge shout out to the offensive line on getting it done. The big uglies did an excellent job in pass protection (only 2 sacks allowed) and they opened up holes as the running game got going. For the second straight week the offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and allowed the Hornet offense to move the ball. AJ Ellis had some tough runs right into the teeth of the CU defense and Ezekiel Graham had some solid runs as well.
Game Stats:
- • Passing: 317 yds (8.6 ypc), 2 TD’s
• Rushing: 159 yds (4.5 ypr)
• Total Offense: 476 yds, 3 TD’s, 3 FG’s
• Time of Possession: 31:50
• Turnovers: None
• Penalties: 7 for 49 yds
• (#12) Safron: 25 of 37 for 317 yds, 2 TD’s, 8 carries for 18 yds
• (#13) Norrise: 7 recs for 109 yds
• (#80) Broadnax: 5 recs for 92 yds, 1 TD
• (#2) Carter: 6 recs for 79 yds, 1 TD
• (#21) Ellis: 11 carries for 77 yds, 1 TD
• (#8) Graham: 14 carries for 63 yds, 3 recs for 9 yds
• (#81) Robertson: 3 rec for 19 yds
• (#87) Cox: 1 rec for 9 yds
• (#24) McCowan: 2 carries for 1 yds
Not much needs to be said for the offense heading into next week other than it needs to keep working hard and continue to get this new offense down. Safron will need to continue his hard work on getting his mechanics down and the Hornets need to stay hungry.
Defense
The Hornet defense got off to a rough start early in the game but settled down and made stops when they needed to. A couple of CU scores came off of questionable pass interference calls that extended drives but the Hornets were able to weather the storm. The Hornets did struggle to stop CU’s (#46) Christian Powell who went on to have a career day on the ground. However the defensive line was able to get good penetration and disrupt (#4) Jordan Webb and the CU passing game. The linebackers had a so-so game. They really buckled down late in the game when the Hornets were expecting run but Todd Davis continues to get exposed on pass coverage.
The secondary did an alright job, and it looked like Parker rotated a lot of DB’s to see who can settle in and provide some solid coverage. I still believe that the secondary has a lot of room to improve. The CU quarterback was not very accurate and I fear that this unit can still be exposed as it was against NMSU against a prolific passing attack.
Game Stats:
- • Passing Allowed: 188 yds (7.5 ypc), 1 TD’s
• Rushing Allowed: 158 yds (4.4 ypr), 3 TD’s
• Total Offense Allowed: 346 yds, 4 TD’s
• Opponent Tim of Possession: 28:10
• Turnovers Forced: 0
• Opponents Penalties: 5 for 50 yds
• (#29) Beale: 10 tackles
• (#48) Fernandez: 10 tackles, 1 sack, 1.5 TFL’s
• (#6) McMahon: 9 tackles
• (#91) Davis: 7 tackles, 0.5 TFL’s
• (#90) Cowger: 5 tackles, 2.5 TFL’s, 1 sack, 1 FF
• (#51) White: 4 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
• (#11) Badger: 4 tackles
• (#1) Odiase: 3 tackles, 1 BU
• (#7) Armstrong: 2 tackles, 1 BU
• (#94) Eskew /(#3) Washington: 2 tackles
• (#92) Kelley: 1 tackle, 0.5 TFL’s
• (#31) Williams/(#42) Allen/ (#62) Lawrence/(#98) Faimalo/(#97) Castro/(#35) Totty: 1 tackle
As well as the defense played, I saw a lot of missed tackles in open space which is cause for concern. The first big play by CU was a direct result of lazy arm tackling (c’mon Odiase, you’re better than that) and that just won’t get it done at any level. If the secondary can continue to get it together and improve its tackling and coverage, this defensive unit will be solid at every level.
I have been really impressed with the defensive line thus far. Cowger was in the backfield disrupting plays on multiple occasions and the interior of the defensive line has shown instances where it can control the line of scrimmage and shut down the run. Most importantly this defense has showed that it can really step up and get a stop when it needs to. This defense needs to stay aggressive and disciplined and continue to improve its game.
Special Teams
The Hornets (and most importantly my TV/monitor) can finally put the kicking issues to bed. Castaneda came through in the clutch and established himself as the go-to guy for the place kicking duties. Castaneda displayed great poise and kept it together in the high pressure situation presented to him last week. We should expect to see this on a regular basis. Ruhnke improved his kickoff distance a bit from last week, but it remains to be seen if this jump was due to the elevation. The kickoffs have been strong and have consistently landed +/-5 yards from the goal line.
Heath didn’t have a great day punting the ball but he didn’t have an awful one either. CU had a dangerous returner (or so they claimed) so he could have been keeping the ball away from him. The coverage teams were excellent. The punt coverage stayed in their lanes and swarmed to the ball and the kickoff coverage did not give up a return of over 22 yards.
The kickoff return team did an excellent job. Carter was able to build off of last week and had a 28 yard return. The blocking on the returns has been able to create some space for Carter, we’ll see if that can continue into next week. There were no punt returns by the Hornets.
Game Stats:
- • (#58) Castaneda: 3/3 FG’s, 3/3 PAT’s
• (#57) Heath: 5 punts for a 35.0 ypp avg.
• (#52) Ruhnke: 6 kickoffs for a 62.3 ypk avg., 1 TB
• (#2) Carter: 3 kr for 68 yds (22.7 ypr, long of 28 yds)
• Kick Coverage: Allowed 95 yds on 5 returns (19.0 ypr)
• Punt Coverage: Allowed 16 yds on 3 returns (5.3 ypr)
Injuries
I don’t think there were any serious injuries but Norrise went out for a bit after he ran into the benches on the short sideline. He also went out late in the game but returned for the game winning drive. Safron did not take nearly as many hits as he did last week so he should be good to go next week. There was a different OL lineup later in the game but I am not sure if that is due to injury or just personnel changes.
The Hornets need to stay focused and make sure that they don’t pull a no-show this week for their home opener. There is still a long season ahead and the Hornets cannot get caught up in this epic win like they allowed themselves to do last season. If the Hornets stay hungry, aggressive and can continue to execute; this season will be very enjoyable.
Go Hornets!
Hornetsports Recap:
http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/football/release.asp?release_id=10614
SSS Recap:
http://sacstatesports.com/2012/09/08/another-pac-12-upset-sac-state-30-colorado-28/
Hornet Football Facebook Vids:
http://hornets.bigskyfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1747
