Week 4 - Sac State at Idaho State
The Hornets stay on the road and head to Pocatello to start conference play. First up is the Idaho State Bengals (0-2) who are coming into this game off of a bye. ISU started the season with a loss at home to North Dakota,
35-14, then got drubbed at Nevada,
49-10. It’s hard to tell where this Bengal team stands based on those early performances, but this young team is looking like they will have some struggles.
Offensively, the Bengals like to spread the ball out in multiple WR sets and take quick shots to set up the deep ball. They mix in some RPO out of the pistol to keep defenses honest. QB Tyler Vander Waal (29/60, 336 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT) has a good arm but makes some questionable reads. His top targets at WR are Xavier Guillroy (10 rec, 133 yds) and Tanner Conner (5 rec, 78 yds, 1 TD). RBs Malakai Rango (23 car, 106 yds, 1 TD, 3 rec, 21 yds) and Raiden Hunter (18 car, 55 yds, 2 rec, 14 yds) share the load out of the backfield. The young Begnal OL has struggled to control the line of scrimmage and has given up 9 sacks.
The Begal defense has put up some stiff performances early on in both of its games, only to get worn out and over powered both times. It looks like they run a base 4-2 but some of their clips show 3 DL with LBs coming off the edge. Either way the Bengals have struggled a bit, but they did play some tough teams. LBs Connor Wills (20 tkl) and Darius Green (18 tkl, 2.5 TFL) leads the team in tackles. The DL has some size but the ISU defense has yet to record a sack or an INT this season.
ISU’s K Kevin Ryan (1/2 FG, 3/3 PAT) doesn’t have many career attempts. His lone miss on the season came from 34 yards out. The Bengal coverage teams have done well so far this season given the amount of punts (8) on the year.
This is a must win for the Hornets. This is ISU’s Homecoming and they had an additional week to prepare so the Hornets will likely see their best shot. Weird things happen in the Pokey Barn so the Hornets cannot overlook this pesky Bengal team. Having said that, if the Hornets come out focused and take care of business, they should cruise to a road win.
Stingers Up!
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