Week 2: UNI (#21) @ SAC STATE (RV)

[BuckeyeHornetFan]

I didn’t expect the Hornets to win this game, considering how they looked last week. But they were in the lead, somehow.

Then they start off the 2nd half with a QB change. And you could see the momentum the offense had (they were moving the ball fairly well) come to a complete halt.

Then they put O’Hara back in the game after two AWFUL series from Dunniway and UNI’s defense began playing downhill with a lead.

In short, I HATE a 2 QB system. Pick one and go with him.

Defensively, I was amazed they held UNI to 7 points in the first half. Because this defense looks ready to give up a long pass play on any given play. They aren’t good on the back end. At all.

And it’s not 4 turnovers at the time I type this — it’s really 5. Because those 2 boneheaded, undisciplined penalties on 4th and 13 giving UNI the ball back is the exact same thing as a turnover except for how they score it in the boxscore. It was marginally different than muffing the punt or fumbling on the 1st offensive play.

This team looks very undisciplined on both sides of the ball. Defensively, they look very unathletic.

Even worse, I’m not seeing good coaching adjustments through out the game or at half except from the opposition.

I get it. Be patient. The team went 8-4 last season. They had 91 weeks off before the season started.

But I can’t help it. I’m not seeing much to be excited about. Opposing coaches have thoroughly scouted the Hornets 2019 film and TT and staff aren’t countering very well. This started the last few games of 2019. Not just this season.

And we’re not seeing many of the top end talents the program added the past 2 recruiting periods. That’s worrisome as well.

 

[Kadeezy]

Wow, UNI switches QBs - looks unbeatable. We change to Dunniway at half, and implode.

Games over.

It’s a beat down now. Can’t blame the Defense if offense keeps turning the ball over like this. Sad state of affairs with QB play.

The explosive offense we saw at the first half of ‘19 is far gone without KT.

Let’s see Bennett.

 

[GreenArmySwarm]

Wow, UNI switches QBs - looks unbeatable. We change to Dunniway at half, and implode.

Games over.

It’s a beat down now. Can’t blame the Defense if offense keeps turning the ball over like this. Sad state of affairs with QB play.

The explosive offense we saw at the first half of ‘19 is far gone without KT.

Let’s see Bennett.

100%. I’ve seen enough from Dunniway. Awesome kid, but a backup at the very best. O’Hara was moving the offense *decently* first half. I’m willing to give him another shot against Cal. But O’Hara just can’t get the ball to play makers/open receivers. It’s time for Bennett. If what TT said was true, 3 way tied during Spring ball, it’s only fair to give Bennett a shot.

 

[BSCfan1]

Ouch...doesn't get easier next week either.

 

[SDHornet]

34-16 final, loss. Credit to the Hornets for putting up a stellar first half on defense. I didn’t think the rout would be held off that long otherwise. I left near the end of the 3rd qtr. UNI poured it on and that is what a premier program does.

Hornets didn’t take care of the ball, but the defense was up for the task early on. Then the Hornets made all the wrong adjustments. That move to Dunniway at half sucked all the momentum and energy out of the offense and the crowd and cost the Hornets the game, I hope he doesn’t see the field again unless it’s for mop up duty. While O’Hara had some major issues (missed Martin on 2 wide open TD in the 2nd qtr), he brings more to the offense than Dunniway ever will.

Meanwhile UNI made all the right ones, great move on their QB change that burned the Hornets good. Hornet D had no answer. That’s what a premier program does against inferior coaching and talent.

Taylor was completely outcoached against a premier program and exposed the Hornets as nothing more than a pretender for the year. It’s early but I don’t see this program beating any of the tough opponents on the schedule unless the QB play gets in gear. Hornets will likely have to run the table after next week’s Cal loss to make the playoffs. Nothing I’ve seen so far indicates that that is even a possibility.

Edit: Good show by Sentkowski by banging home all his FGs.

 

[HornetHope]

We left 1/2 way through the 4th, right after Dot scored. I saw improved O line play that for sure needs more work. The passing D is still needing work. Look, if Taylor thought Dunniway could run the team, he would not have brought O’Hara in this Summer. The kid did better this week than last. He threw for over 300 yards and yes he holds the ball too long and does not protect the ball when he pulls it down. I still remember how bad Thomson was his first few starts after coming in the summer before.

Defense: reminds me of all those signs on 50 saying under construction but most of the time never see anyone working. That said they usually had someone in the area of the receiver most of the time.

 

[BuckeyeHornetFan]

Wow, UNI switches QBs - looks unbeatable. We change to Dunniway at half, and implode.

Games over.

It’s a beat down now. Can’t blame the Defense if offense keeps turning the ball over like this. Sad state of affairs with QB play.

The explosive offense we saw at the first half of ‘19 is far gone without KT.

Let’s see Bennett.

100%. I’ve seen enough from Dunniway. Awesome kid, but a backup at the very best. O’Hara was moving the offense *decently* first half. I’m willing to give him another shot against Cal. But O’Hara just can’t get the ball to play makers/open receivers. It’s time for Bennett. If what TT said was true, 3 way tied during Spring ball, it’s only fair to give Bennett a shot.

I’ve been saying the same about Dunniway. Good kid, but we’ve seen enough. He doesn’t have the goods.

O’Hara looked better this week than in week one. But still has a long ways to go. He surely is elusive and can extend plays, that’s for sure. Just not sure he sees the field all that well.

 

[Kadeezy]

Wow, UNI switches QBs - looks unbeatable. We change to Dunniway at half, and implode.

Games over.

It’s a beat down now. Can’t blame the Defense if offense keeps turning the ball over like this. Sad state of affairs with QB play.

The explosive offense we saw at the first half of ‘19 is far gone without KT.

Let’s see Bennett.

100%. I’ve seen enough from Dunniway. Awesome kid, but a backup at the very best. O’Hara was moving the offense *decently* first half. I’m willing to give him another shot against Cal. But O’Hara just can’t get the ball to play makers/open receivers. It’s time for Bennett. If what TT said was true, 3 way tied during Spring ball, it’s only fair to give Bennett a shot.

I’ve been saying the same about Dunniway. Good kid, but we’ve seen enough. He doesn’t have the goods.

O’Hara looked better this week than in week one. But still has a long ways to go. He surely is elusive and can extend plays, that’s for sure. Just not sure he sees the field all that well.

Hopefully the two QB experiment was put to bed last night. Maybe that will give O’Hara the confidence to not feel like he has to Superman dive for a 5 yard gain on 3rd and 12, with the ball flying out - or feel like he has to force balls into tight windows.

Asher is not unlike Garrett Safron in a lot of ways (who I was not a fan of at the outset, but ended up becoming a Hornet legend). Safron could hit on the deep ball though and had arm strength, with erratic accuracy. I just don’t see the o hara with the ability to spin the ball the way he needs to in a Taylor offense.

Speaking off, the O had better results in hurry up mode, but sometimes I noticed the guys looked gassed and we probably should have huddled up. There was a sequence where the WRs and line were burnt and Perkinson got back to back touches out of the backfield where he just kind of caught the ball and went down.

Other notes:

-We have GOT to the get Dotson rolling somehow.

-If a game is out of reach, or if O’Hara implodes, I’m ready to see Kaiden Bennett.

-Agree with previous poster, where are Lynch and Ngata (hurt?)?

-On that note, besides cramping, not sure I’ve seen Too many injuries for the Hornets.

-We will be lucky to see five wins this year.

-I don’t think I’m overreacting, lol.

 

[SDHornet]

Lucky to see 5 wins? Lol, be serious. This isn’t some garbage coaching staff like we had under Sears we’re watching. This team made big strides from week 1 to week 2 considering the quality of opponent faced.

Everyone calm down. UNI is probably the toughest team we’ll see this season. No one plays the smash mouth style they do on the schedule and this defense did so well against is that they had to go to a totally different QB to make it work. OL made big strides compared to a week ago and the offense had no problem moving the ball. The issue was late/missed reads by O’Hara that resulted in missed opportunities and turnovers, and credit to UNI’s defense for stiffening up in the redzone forcing FGs and forcing TOs.

I had UNI, Cal and the Montucky games as a loss. We’ll win Causeway. We should win everything else, and every game including Cal is a winnable game if the Hornets get everything in gear. Everyone just calm down and keep showing up and supporting this program.

Lucky to see 5 wins…. :lol:

 

[Kadeezy]

Lucky to see 5 wins? Lol, be serious. This isn’t some garbage coaching staff like we had under Sears we’re watching. This team made big strides from week 1 to week 2 considering the quality of opponent faced.

Everyone calm down. UNI is probably the toughest team we’ll see this season. No one plays the smash mouth style they do on the schedule and this defense did so well against is that they had to go to a totally different QB to make it work. OL made big strides compared to a week ago and the offense had no problem moving the ball. The issue was late/missed reads by O’Hara that resulted in missed opportunities and turnovers, and credit to UNI’s defense for stiffening up in the redzone forcing FGs and forcing TOs.

I had UNI, Cal and the Montucky games as a loss. We’ll win Causeway. We should win everything else, and every game including Cal is a winnable game if the Hornets get everything in gear. Everyone just calm down and keep showing up and supporting this program.

Lucky to see 5 wins…. :lol:

We struggle in Pocatello, and Davis is rolling. I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think that the only remaining games we’re likely to be the favorites are:

SUU, NAU, Poly, and PSU.

 

[GreenArmySwarm]

But, isn’t a good coaching staff supposed to…adjust? Just noticed (honestly, became more apparent half way through the 19 season) that when opponents are able to figure TT scheme, there’s no adjustment. Not even during halftime. Even with a good QB (KT) (in a playoff game).

I still think TT will probably end up being the best coach in program history with a high ceiling (legitimate chance of winning the conference every year), but the floor might me a lot lower than what we initially thought after 2019. Floor could very well be a 4-6 win team. Instead of 7-8 wins every year.

 

[SDHornet]

But, isn’t a good coaching staff supposed to…adjust? Just noticed (honestly, became more apparent half way through the 19 season) that when opponents are able to figure TT scheme, there’s no adjustment. Not even during halftime. Even with a good QB (KT) (in a playoff game).

I still think TT will probably end up being the best coach in program history with a high ceiling (legitimate chance of winning the conference every year), but the floor might me a lot lower than what we initially thought after 2019. Floor could very well be a 4-6 win team. Instead of 7-8 wins every year.

Agree about in game adjustments. Taylor and his staff will have to get better at them, and I think they will. And any long time Hornet football fan will take a floor of 4-6 wins with a ceiling of a BSC title year in and year out. I mean is that even a knock on where this program is in the 2nd season under Taylor? :lol:

 

[SDHornet]

Lucky to see 5 wins? Lol, be serious. This isn’t some garbage coaching staff like we had under Sears we’re watching. This team made big strides from week 1 to week 2 considering the quality of opponent faced.

Everyone calm down. UNI is probably the toughest team we’ll see this season. No one plays the smash mouth style they do on the schedule and this defense did so well against is that they had to go to a totally different QB to make it work. OL made big strides compared to a week ago and the offense had no problem moving the ball. The issue was late/missed reads by O’Hara that resulted in missed opportunities and turnovers, and credit to UNI’s defense for stiffening up in the redzone forcing FGs and forcing TOs.

I had UNI, Cal and the Montucky games as a loss. We’ll win Causeway. We should win everything else, and every game including Cal is a winnable game if the Hornets get everything in gear. Everyone just calm down and keep showing up and supporting this program.

Lucky to see 5 wins…. :lol:

We struggle in Pocatello, and Davis is rolling. I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think that the only remaining games we’re likely to be the favorites are:

SUU, NAU, Poly, and PSU.

Couldn't care less about what games we are favored in, only care about which games we will and can will. Every game on the schedule is winnable, some more than others. We couldn't say that under prior coaching staffs.

Relax Kadeezy, Hornets lost to a perennial playoff contender from the toughest FCS conference in the land. Even then it was really just one bad quarter, which is all it takes when you are playing top programs. Sure there are issues but I expect them to get cleaned up. Even with a pending L at Cal there is still no reason to panic.

 

[GreenArmySwarm]

But, isn’t a good coaching staff supposed to…adjust? Just noticed (honestly, became more apparent half way through the 19 season) that when opponents are able to figure TT scheme, there’s no adjustment. Not even during halftime. Even with a good QB (KT) (in a playoff game).

I still think TT will probably end up being the best coach in program history with a high ceiling (legitimate chance of winning the conference every year), but the floor might me a lot lower than what we initially thought after 2019. Floor could very well be a 4-6 win team. Instead of 7-8 wins every year.

Agree about in game adjustments. Taylor and his staff will have to get better at them, and I think they will. And any long time Hornet football fan will take a floor of 4-6 wins with a ceiling of a BSC title year in and year out. I mean is that even a knock on where this program is in the 2nd season under Taylor? :lol:

Lol 100% not a knock. But just trying to rationalize and lower our (my own) expectations that this juggernaut offense we thought we got with TT overnight might need some time. And it also might not work more than half the time. After those dark Sears years, anything is better. Lol

 

[SDHornet]

Lol 100% not a knock. But just trying to rationalize and lower our (my own) expectations that this juggernaut offense we thought we got with TT overnight might need some time. And it also might not work more than half the time. After those dark Sears years, anything is better. Lol

Fair points and I agree. I get caught up in thinking we should just roll every opponent after that magical '19 season too. Hornets put up 455 total yards of offense against a top defense in the FCS. Some of it came in garbage time, but the issues last night was turnovers and not finishing drives (again, credit to UNI's D). Through 2 games there has been no indication that this offense won't get it done when the tweaks are worked out.

 

[HornetHope]

Lucky to see 5 wins? Lol, be serious. This isn’t some garbage coaching staff like we had under Sears we’re watching. This team made big strides from week 1 to week 2 considering the quality of opponent faced.

Everyone calm down. UNI is probably the toughest team we’ll see this season. No one plays the smash mouth style they do on the schedule and this defense did so well against is that they had to go to a totally different QB to make it work. OL made big strides compared to a week ago and the offense had no problem moving the ball. The issue was late/missed reads by O’Hara that resulted in missed opportunities and turnovers, and credit to UNI’s defense for stiffening up in the redzone forcing FGs and forcing TOs.

I had UNI, Cal and the Montucky games as a loss. We’ll win Causeway. We should win everything else, and every game including Cal is a winnable game if the Hornets get everything in gear. Everyone just calm down and keep showing up and supporting this program.

Lucky to see 5 wins…. :lol:

We struggle in Pocatello, and Davis is rolling. I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think that the only remaining games we’re likely to be the favorites are:

SUU, NAU, Poly, and PSU.

Couldn't care less about what games we are favored in, only care about which games we will and can will. Every game on the schedule is winnable, some more than others. We couldn't say that under prior coaching staffs.

Relax Kadeezy, Hornets lost to a perennial playoff contender from the toughest FCS conference in the land. Even then it was really just one bad quarter, which is all it takes when you are playing top programs. Sure there are issues but I expect them to get cleaned up. Even with a pending L at Cal there is still no reason to panic.

I agree with SD on this. I don’t think we are getting swirlies in the toilet. Also remember TT was surprised at how well they did in 2019 and said then that turning a program usually takes 3-4 years. We have a lot of young players on the roster., they will make mistakes, drop passes, etc.

 

[SoCalSacHornetFan]

That was a painful second half to watch.

That UNI QB came out on fire. We weren’t disciplined enough with penalties and turnovers to beat any top 25 team that day.

Coach will get this corrected. Appears our deep threat from O Hare isn’t very deep. He can scramble a d throw short / mid range nicely.

Learn and Improve from it!!!!

 

[superhornet]

Agreed with what everyone said here, but from what I saw inside a Davis bar on the way home from the A's game (my ride missed our planned exit and then decided to show me around the Davis Vet Medicine facilities because he's a vet and wanted to show them off), this seemed like the usual tale of how one bad quarter will kill you. (A similar storyline in some respects to the A's game we'd just left; the starting pitcher, who was cruising after 7 innings with a 6-2 lead was inexplicably lifted to start the 8th, and the overworked bullpen blew up to the tune of five runs, plus another solo job in the 9th to lose 8-6, which is really why I don't watch much baseball anymore).

After reading your comments, I get the feeling that Taylor was treating this like the NFL treats pre-season games in terms of personnel substitutions. Dunniway had no business being out there. Unless the backup has skills along the lines of Taysom Hill or Trey Lance, that substitution should NOT have happened, and it clearly affected team chemistry for the entire third quarter. While I only saw most of the second half, it was enough to depress me.

I hope we can get this straightened out before we go see Angus....

 

[Green Cookie Monster]

O;Hara is not Superman, he is trying too hard. Obviously he is an option run, short dink pass QB. I can't see any long ball threats consistently from him. If we are going to spend a year developing a QB, put in Bennett, he has four years. O'Hara at least had some momentum, throwing Dunniway in completely killed any mojo in 2nd half.

Bone-headed, lack of disciple mistakes. Late hits, roughing, tripping cost the game. Defense checked out at half time, they came out in 2nd half looking like the game was over. Absolutely no adjustment to the new UNI QB, no energy, no focus.

I hate this dual QB set-up. Pick 1,2,3.

 

[BuckeyeHornetFan]

O;Hara is not Superman, he is trying too hard. Obviously he is an option run, short dink pass QB. I can't see any long ball threats consistently from him. If we are going to spend a year developing a QB, put in Bennett, he has four years. O'Hara at least had some momentum, throwing Dunniway in completely killed any mojo in 2nd half.

Bone-headed, lack of disciple mistakes. Late hits, roughing, tripping cost the game. Defense checked out at half time, they came out in 2nd half looking like the game was over. Absolutely no adjustment to the new UNI QB, no energy, no focus.

I hate this dual QB set-up. Pick 1,2,3.

Agree on everything.