Week 2: Sac State @ Southern Utah

[SDHornet]

Short term memory fellas. Let it go. Regroup. Take it out on Weber St.


Bring the swarm. Bring the sting. Bring the pain! Go Hornets!!!

Except Weber is very similar on offense. We have to make our adjustments this week or we will be behind the 8-ball quickly in conference and overall in season.

This loss is huge as far as long term playoff aspirations are considered. Also mentally this team knows it has to head to Utah again to win in a place they have never won. (Have we ever won a game in Utah?) If SUU and Sac State are battling for an at large berth, they will easily get the nod now.

 

[SactoHornetAlum]

I think we have won at SUU before...but that was a long time ago in a different era. In the modern era (96-present), we are 0-for Utah hno:

 

[SDHornet]

I think we have won at SUU before...but that was a long time ago in a different era. In the modern era (96-present), we are 0-for Utah hno:

Eek. :| Time to wash this week away. I'll try to get my recap posted no later than tomorrow.

 

[DrMike]

Short term memory fellas. Let it go. Regroup. Take it out on Weber St.


Bring the swarm. Bring the sting. Bring the pain! Go Hornets!!!

Except Weber is very similar on offense. We have to make our adjustments this week or we will be behind the 8-ball quickly in conference and overall in season.

This loss is huge as far as long term playoff aspirations are considered. Also mentally this team knows it has to head to Utah again to win in a place they have never won. (Have we ever won a game in Utah?) If SUU and Sac State are battling for an at large berth, they will easily get the nod now.

if you win next week at Weber (another challange), and start off 2-1, you are in pretty good shape. i think SUU is the class of the GreatWest. if EWU ends up losing to USD, that's gotta help at the end of the year. Montana beat up Poly today, MSU beat up my Ags pretty good. those are gonna be tough, as will EWU. you have to go 2-1 vs. those guys.....regardless of today's outcome.

 

[DrMike]

curious...did any Hornet fans venture to Cedar City?

 

[jj2319]

Why wasn't this game scheduled at home? We win if we are at home IMO.

I doubt it. SUU rolled us today. 35-14 final. 14 offensive points ain't going to get it done against anyone.

BTW, is Sperbeck touting a goose egg when it rains?

Looks that way. When Fleming plays well, Sac is tough; unfortunately the converse is true.

 

[DrMike]

if it is ANY consolation....EWU is down 30-17 with 3:00 to go. they will be starting the season 0-2. beat Montana at home, EWU at home, and the playoffs are still there.

that's no easy task, but....

 

[SDHornet]

EWU lost 30-17, this might mask ourhorrible performance today.

WSU @ Utah State is on ESPN 3 if anyone wants a sneak peak at next weeks opponent.

 

[Hornet25]

if it is ANY consolation....EWU is down 30-17 with 3:00 to go. they will be starting the season 0-2. beat Montana at home, EWU at home, and the playoffs are still there.

that's no easy task, but....

Unfortunately, we have to scoreboard watch now instead of having the rest of the Big Sky trying to catch us. It would have been a huge advantage to come home 3-0. We still control our own destiny, but we're also are having to hope other teams stumble like we did today. At least EWU stumbled. Now we need Montana and Montana st. to stumble and for us to show up @ Weber state.

 

[Green Laser]

if it is ANY consolation....EWU is down 30-17 with 3:00 to go. they will be starting the season 0-2. beat Montana at home, EWU at home, and the playoffs are still there.

that's no easy task, but....

Unfortunately, we have to scoreboard watch now instead of having the rest of the Big Sky trying to catch us. It would have been a huge advantage to come home 3-0. We still control our own destiny, but we're also are having to hope other teams stumble like we did today. At least EWU stumbled. Now we need Montana and Montana st. to stumble and for us to show up @ Weber state.

Why do we need to "scoreboard watch"? The Big Sky starts next week, at this point everyone is 0-0. If we take care of business week after week starting with Weber State next Saturday everything will work out. Today we just looked a bit off and SUU was good enough to take advantage of it and win. SUU had a huge line on both sides of the ball. Fleming was running for his life most of the game and clearly was not comfortable passing. The receivers had some drops and some passes were just off mark. Sorenson is a very good QB and had excellent protection for most of the game although we were starting getting to him late and his completion rate started to fall off. This one is water under the bridge, we lost, time to move on and focus on Weber and the Big Sky. Hopefully we can meet SUU in the playoffs and the result will be different.

 

[Sac Rat]

Just another episode of Battered Hornet Fan Syndrome y'all. The good news? We play another Saturday.

 

[HornetHope]

Guys,

Dr. Mike said it best, we were looking at being 1-1 after this saturday anyway. No this is not how we wanted to see it, but we can still have a very good season. We were hoping for 8-3, this is still a good team, and they will bounce back. The good news is without all the media hype around the team this week they can get back to football.

:twocents:

 

[Hornet25]

Why do we need to "scoreboard watch"? The Big Sky starts next week, at this point everyone is 0-0. If we take care of business week after week starting with Weber State next Saturday everything will work out. Today we just looked a bit off and SUU was good enough to take advantage of it and win. SUU had a huge line on both sides of the ball. Fleming was running for his life most of the game and clearly was not comfortable passing. The receivers had some drops and some passes were just off mark. Sorenson is a very good QB and had excellent protection for most of the game although we were starting getting to him late and his completion rate started to fall off. This one is water under the bridge, we lost, time to move on and focus on Weber and the Big Sky. Hopefully we can meet SUU in the playoffs and the result will be different.

I understand about the Big Sky, which is why I said we control our own destiny. I'm not panicking. I'm frustrated at the showing, because this is not the toughest team we're going to face. I understand what SUU has on their team, yet Sac was the higher ranked team for whatever that's worth. Regardless of what the team we played has, the expectation was that this is a game we should win. In a conference with so many strong teams, you don't want to lose any games you're "supposed" to win. When I think playoffs, I'm thinking in terms of both the Big Sky and an at large bid. Winning the Big Sky is a tall task, so you want to be in position to make the playoffs as an at large bid as well.

I'm already on to the Weber state game....

 

[Hornet25]

Just another episode of Battered Hornet Fan Syndrome y'all. The good news? We play another Saturday.

?? Kind of passive aggressive...

If you agree or disagree with something that was said, go ahead and address it. It's a message board made for discussion. Feelings won't be hurt. At least mines won't.

 

[Sac Rat]

Passive aggressive? Sorry, don't quite understand what you mean. But then, I am a little slow on the uptake. I have no issue with what anyone has posted. I have been following Hornet football since 1997. There have been ups and downs. Many more downs. If anything, I need therapy. And, having another Saturday to play.

 

[Hornet25]

Passive aggressive? Sorry, don't quite understand what you mean. But then, I am a little slow on the uptake. I have no issue with what anyone has posted. I have been following Hornet football since 1997. There have been ups and downs. Many more downs. If anything, I need therapy. And, having another Saturday to play.

I don't think I was clear on what you were saying either.

I'm done with today's disappointment. Let's go get Weber State.

 

[Termite]

Thoughts from the game.
1. The grass was high, slowing our speed down.
2. 6000 ft altitude. I think that affected Flemmings game as well as running for his life.
3. That QB is a smart big accurate mutha.
4. we just seemed plain flat
5. Defense got tired at the end.

 

[SDHornet]

Passive aggressive? Sorry, don't quite understand what you mean. But then, I am a little slow on the uptake. I have no issue with what anyone has posted. I have been following Hornet football since 1997. There have been ups and downs. Many more downs. If anything, I need therapy. And, having another Saturday to play.

You don't need therapy, just a lot of beer and a good lay.

 

[SDHornet]

Thoughts from the game.
1. The grass was high, slowing our speed down.
2. 6000 ft altitude. I think that affected Flemmings game as well as running for his life.
3. That QB is a smart big accurate mutha.
4. we just seemed plain flat
5. Defense got tired at the end.

Agree. My biggest concern is that if being successful in SUU is a problem, we are going to have a much harder time in Ogden, Bozeman, and the other tough BSC venues we travel to this season.

 

[SDHornet]

Recap/Thoughts

This was a terrible game for the Hornets on all fronts. Plenty of mistakes were made and this team was completely unprepared to face Sorensen and SUU.

Offense
Aside from a few good drives, the offense was lethargic at best. Hilliard was able to break open some runs when the OL decided to block, but the passing game was completely off and the SUU secondary kept the clamps on the Hornet receivers all game long. The only positive we saw from this game was that Hilliard looks like his old self and the Hornets did show some signs of having a running game. Barring some runs by Fleming and this offense has an even worse game. The drop on 4th and goal would have brought the Hornets back into striking distance but once again the offense failed to execute. A very disappointing game for the WR’s.

• • Fleming: 10 of 27 for 78 yards, 38 rushing yards on 13 carries
  • Hilliard: 18 carries for 101 yards, 2 TD’s
  • McCowan: 3 carries for 38 yards, 1 FUM
  • Deadder: 3 recs for 44 yards
  • Croxdale: 3 carriers for 31 yards
  • Hendershott: 4 recs for 22 yards
  • Reed: 1 rec for 7 yards
  • Heaslet: 2 rec for 5 yards
  • OL: Allowed 2 sacks

The offense really needs to wake up and have better success moving the ball. They can ill afford to have these lapses if this team has post season aspirations. Plenty to improve on and this unit needs to go back to work and get things together.

Defense
The defense struggled to slow down Sorensen and the SUU offense however they did manage to force some SUU to settle for FG’s and even through the final score doesn’t represent it, the defensive unit did keep the Hornets in the ball game. Unfortunately the defense was unable to force turnovers or force punts and they were on the field for too long. This game exposed some glaring weaknesses in the pass defense.

• • McMahon: 9 tackles, 2 TFL’s
  • Davis\Larche: 9 tackles
  • Odiase: 8 tackles
  • Wilkins: 6 tackles, 1 TFL’s
  • Coleman: 5 tackles, 0.5 TFL’s
  • Nash: 4 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
  • Monson\Fernandez: 4 tackles
  • Lawrence: 3 tackles, 0.5 TFL’s
  • White\Badger: 3 tackles

The defense will have to regroup and stay aggressive moving forward. The pass rush was almost non-existent, but worse was when they were able to get to the QB, they were unable to come up with a sack. With a very mobile QB in Hoke coming next week, this defense will have its hands full in Ogden.

Special Teams
The special teams got off to a good start with a blocked punt but sadly, that was the highlight of the game for this group. The punting was terrible as Heath returned to his awful form of a season ago. The kick coverage unit really let this team down by allowing a momentum changing 92 yard kick return for a TD. This is inexcusable and the special teams have a lot to work on.

• • Heath: 6 punts for a 35.8 ypp avg. 2 TB’s
  • Kick Coverage: Allowed 121 yards on 3 returns (40.3 ypr) and a TD
  • Punt Coverage: Allowed 2 returns for 13 yards
  • Diniz: 2/2 PAT’s
  • McCowan: 2 kr’s for 49 yards (24.5 ypr)
  • Hendershott: 1 kr for 22 yards

Field position is key and terrible punting is inexcusable. The poor punting will continually put the defense in a bad spot. If Heath 1 can’t get it together, the coaches need to look at using Heath 2 or anyone else who can be more effective at punting.

Injuries
A few players were knocked around however I don’t know what their condition is. Odiase was injured and I don’t know if he returned to the game. If he is lost for a week or two, that would be a big loss. Wilkins was also shaken up.

Other Random Things
Following a great broadcast in the opening week by 93.1, I tuned in to hear what they had to say during halftime. Unfortunately I tuned in and heard a recap of week 1. I have no idea if they ever got around to talking about the current game as I turned off the 93.1 broadcast and listened to the SUU TV broadcast instead.

What is done is done. Time to focus on week 3.
Go Hornets!