Recap/Thoughts
The Hornets finally showed up for a road game and if a few plays were executed, this could have been a win. The 31-21 loss at 4th ranked MSU puts the Hornets at 2-3 (1-2 BSC) and all is not lost. There are lots of things to clean up and at the midpoint of the season, we will see if these issues are addressed. I wasn’t able to see the game but I was able to tune in to the audio from time to time.
Offense
The Hornets came out slow on offense and struggled early. The offense did seem to settle in a bit and were successful in moving the ball; however the issues at the goal line are very concerning. MSU has a good defense so that was a large factor in failing to punch the ball into the endzone, however those plays need to be made so points can go up on the board. Game stats:
- • Fleming: 19 of 35 for 220 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 52 rushing yards on 13 carries
• Hilliard: 13 carries for 51 yards, 1 TD
• McCowan: 3 carries for 3 yards
• Deadder: Nothing
• Norrise: 2 recs for 7 yards
• Hendershott: 8 recs for 57 yards
• Carter: Nothing
• Reed: 6 rec for 132 yards, 1 TD
• Maciel: 1 rec for 20 yards
• Howard: Nothing
• OL: Allowed 3 sacks
The play calling seemed a bit balanced early on but then Sperbeck went to a pass heavy attack as the Hornets fell behind and Fleming wasn’t efficient enough to complete a comeback. As a few posters have noted earlier, Fleming was off on a lot of his deep throws but most importantly he missed a wide open Deadder in one of the goal line sequences. Norrise had some dropped balls so that didn’t help matters either. I will add that only getting Hilliard 13 touches is unacceptable. He is our horse and he should get close to 20 touches every game. Also the OL looked off early. I put the onus on the OL to get a push on those goal line situations so that Hilliard can pound the ball in from 2 yards out. The bottom line is there were mistakes at pretty much any area of the offense that ultimately was the difference in this game.
Defense
The defense held their own through much of the game and they stepped up and kept this game close. They especially stepped up right out of the gate and kept MSU out of the endzone until the offense got settled in and started moving the ball. The problems I heard were the big plays that were allowed. The 95 yard TD pass was a terrible lapse. I will add that under no circumstance should Wilkins been defending Akpla there. Odiase is hands down our best cover guy and he should have been locked up on Akpla all game. The worst part is after that big gain, Akpla still went on to make more big plays and rack up big catches. This is on the coaches for not getting the right coverage guys on the key receivers to minimize the damage. Maybe throw a double team to take away their big play receiver but adjustments have to be made.
- • Rushing Allowed: 207 yards
• Passing Allowed: 16/26 for 246 yards
• McMahon: 10 tackles
• Larche: 8 tackles, 0.5 TFL’s
• Badger: 7 tackles, 1 TFL
• Coleman: 7 tackles
• Nash: 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
• Lawrence: 6 tackles
• Fernandez: 5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
• Davis: 5 tackles
• Monson/Bloomfield: 3 tackles each
• Wilkins: 2 tackles, 0.5 TFL
• Odiase: 2 tackles
The defense fought tough and didn’t give up in this one. The kept this team in the game and it’s hard to be disappointed in the performance they had considering the opponent. The defense did seem to get a little worn down towards the end but someone pointed out that a less aggressive play calling scheme was taken in the latter half of the game which allowed MSU to move the ball more easily. Regardless, the defensive play seems to be improving as the season moves along. I will add that this defense does need to force turnovers. They did a great job of that a week ago, but had no luck this week.
Special Teams
The special teams had another mixed bag of results. Hendershott had a 91 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. This came at a pivotal point of the game where MSU just scored on a 95 yard pass. This return took away all that momentum and kept the Hornets in the game. It was also the first TD on a return since ’07. The Hornets also came close to blocking a few punts. Now onto the bad. Heath looked awful early on but he did manage to turn it around and pin MSU deep a couple of times. He did under punt the coverage on his first try which resulted in great field position for MSU. Diniz2. Dear God where do I start. Missing a 22 yard FG is pathetic. To pile on with what other posters have said, it’s time to look elsewhere. Open tryouts, stealing a kid from the soccer team, switching Diniz2 for Diniz 1 and saying it’s really Diniz2, hell anything will be better than what we got. Ultimately its Sperbeck decision and it’s his ass that’s on the line, so if he is sticking with Diniz2 then he will bear the criticism for failed FG execution. Long drives that stall and result in a missed chip shot FG can deflate morale and lose momentum so this needs to get cleaned up immediately.
- • Heath: 5 punts for a 39.8 ypp avg. 2 Inside 20, 1 TB
• Kick Coverage: Allowed 75 yards on 4 returns (18.8 ypr)
• Punt Coverage: Allowed 1 return for 4 yards
• Diniz: 3/3 PAT’s, 0/1 FG’s 22 yarder missed
• Hendershott: 2 kr’s for 105 yards, 1 TD
Injuries
Wilkins went down but returned.
Deadder had a player roll up his ankle but he returned. He’ll probably be feeling that one for a few weeks but fortunately he wasn’t lost for an extended period of time.
Other Random Stuff
Hornetsports:
http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/football/release.asp?release_id=9887
Fellow Hornet fans, all is not lost. Even though we came up short in this one, there are some positives to take from this. For one the Hornets finally showed up for a road game in a hostile environment in front of 18k screaming fans. The defense showed that it can give a good offense some hard times and can keep this team in games. Battling a tough team on the road as well as the zebras is no easy task and knowing this game still could have been won should give this team and its fans some encouragement going forward. Finally, the worst stretch of the season is behind us. The Hornets won’t face a team as well rounded as MSU for the rest of the regular season and if this team can show up every week and bring a solid effort, there is a legitimate chance that the Hornets can run the table and win out. About half way through the season and this team still controls its own destiny. Not every team can say that right now.
Go Hornets!
I hope we can pull off the upset.
