Some quick thoughts on the game; I’ll be out and about all weekend and probably won’t get a chance to post my normal weekly recap until early next week. *Edited below:
Recap/Thoughts
The Hornets rebounded from a bad loss a week ago with a big 54-31 win to improve to 3-2 (1-1 BSC) on the season. The Hornets had a tough first half but were able to make adjustments at half time and were able to overcome a noisy Holt Arena. The Hornet rushing attack had another amazing day but eh passing attack continued to have its struggles. The defense got worked over by ISU in the first half but then dialed up the blitzing and Yost struggled from there on out. The Hornet special teams had a great day and the kicking game continued its solidification.
Offense
Offense had a sloppy game. The bright spot was obviously the RB’s making plays and moving the ball. The bad spots were everything else. Safron had another bad game. He is just not throwing the ball well and lacks accuracy down the field. Yeah he got some yards but most of it was YAC related. I hate to sound down after a win but I honestly don’t see Safron elevating his game to take this team beyond where we already have been. He is just too inconsistent and has lost that early season confidence; I sure as hell hope I’m wrong. Offensive line had a lot of bad mistakes at bad times. They are really good when they want to be, but today they had a lot of mental errors. Also health is starting to be a concern here. Weaver went down and it looked bad. That would be a HUGE loss.
There was also some play calls that left me scratching my head. The Hornets had minimal success running from the double TE set and again the coaches went away from the hot hand at times (ex: Hornets got the ball on the ISU 21 and throw the ball twice, and only run it once and have to settle for the FG). Also this is the second week in a row where the Hornets have struggled to punch it in the endzone when they get into scoring range. Getting to the 5 yard line and then settling for a FG because of penalties and lack of execution is going to be a back breaker from here on out. UND and ISU has weak defenses so scoring is only going to get harder as the season progresses.
Game Stats:
Defense
Odiase was humbled early in this one. He was completely schooled by Rumble and the secondary was downright pathetic in the first half. The defensive line was also non-existent in the first half. The linebackers were ok. They lost their assignments a couple of times which allowed the ISU TE to get open on the short crossing routes.
The second half was another matter. Hats off to Parker in make the adjustments and dialing up the blitzes in the second half. This changed the complexion of the game and the Hornets dominated. ISU had no answer/adjustment for those blitzes on the right side and this completely knocked ISU off of their game. It got to a point where Yost was just throwing up prayers and the Hornet secondary buckled down and the defense forced some turnovers. This unit rebounded very well and shut out ISU in the second half until there were only 5 minutes left in the game.
Game Stats:
Special Teams
Almost a perfect game and a big rebound over the past few weeks for this unit. The lone blemish was a long kick return allowed. Aside from that everything was clicking. Castaneda has solidified his himself as a dependable and consistent place kicker. He also stepped up on the kick off duties and took advantage of the think air to force some touchbacks. Weldon had a good game. He had some booming kicks that really kept the field position in the Hornets favor in the first half. McCowan really stepped up and ripped off some good kickoff returns. Credit also has to go to the front men for getting blocks and creating seams for him to run in. Norrise stepped it up on the punt returning. He made some decent returns off of the bouncing punts and didn’t allow those punts to roll deep into Hornet territory.
Game Stats:
Injuries
The injuries are starting to pile up for the Hornets. (#65) Vince Weaver went down and it looked bad. The OL will start seeing some depth issues if the Hornets suffer another injury or two. A few of the reserves missed the season due to injury as well. (#2) DeAndre Carter saw limited action as well. Not sure if that is injury related though. (#29) Robert Beale didn’t play due to injury as well. With the bye not until week 11, the Hornets will have to tough it out.
The Hornets now get to head to Utah to face Southern Utah and possibly the best QB in FCS (Sorensen). I don’t recall the Hornets ever having a good game in the Mormon state so the Hornets have their work cut out for them this week. If the Hornets can keep playing well and improve on this week they have a legit chance at pulling off a win in Cedar City. It’s going to take a well disciplined and mistake free effort to grab a win in Utah.
Go Hornets!
Hornetsports Recap: http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/football/release.asp?release_id=10669
SSS Recap: http://sacstatesports.com/2012/09/28/notebook-sac-state-showing-promise-after-four-weeks/
Recap/Thoughts
The Hornets rebounded from a bad loss a week ago with a big 54-31 win to improve to 3-2 (1-1 BSC) on the season. The Hornets had a tough first half but were able to make adjustments at half time and were able to overcome a noisy Holt Arena. The Hornet rushing attack had another amazing day but eh passing attack continued to have its struggles. The defense got worked over by ISU in the first half but then dialed up the blitzing and Yost struggled from there on out. The Hornet special teams had a great day and the kicking game continued its solidification.
Offense
Offense had a sloppy game. The bright spot was obviously the RB’s making plays and moving the ball. The bad spots were everything else. Safron had another bad game. He is just not throwing the ball well and lacks accuracy down the field. Yeah he got some yards but most of it was YAC related. I hate to sound down after a win but I honestly don’t see Safron elevating his game to take this team beyond where we already have been. He is just too inconsistent and has lost that early season confidence; I sure as hell hope I’m wrong. Offensive line had a lot of bad mistakes at bad times. They are really good when they want to be, but today they had a lot of mental errors. Also health is starting to be a concern here. Weaver went down and it looked bad. That would be a HUGE loss.
There was also some play calls that left me scratching my head. The Hornets had minimal success running from the double TE set and again the coaches went away from the hot hand at times (ex: Hornets got the ball on the ISU 21 and throw the ball twice, and only run it once and have to settle for the FG). Also this is the second week in a row where the Hornets have struggled to punch it in the endzone when they get into scoring range. Getting to the 5 yard line and then settling for a FG because of penalties and lack of execution is going to be a back breaker from here on out. UND and ISU has weak defenses so scoring is only going to get harder as the season progresses.
Game Stats:
- • Passing: 207 yds (12.2 ypc), 3 TD’s
• Rushing: 354 yds (7.9 ypr), 3 TD’s
• Total Offense: 561 yds, 6 TD’s, 4 FG’s
• Time of Possession: 33:02
• Turnovers: 2 (2 INT’s, 0 Fum)
• Penalties: 14 for 127 yds
• (#12) Safron: 17 of 27 for 207 yds, 3 TD’s, 2 INT’s, 7 carries for 42 yds
• (#8) Graham: 23 carries for 158 yds, 1 TD, 5 recs for 70 yds
• (#21) Ellis: 11 carries for 123 yds, 1 TD
• (#13) Norrise: 6 recs for 48 yds, 1 TD
• (#9) De’jon Coleman: 3 carries for 23 yds, 1 TD, 2 recs for 20 yds
• (#24) McCowan: 1 carry for 8 yds
• (#80) Broadnax: 2 recs for 21 yds
• (#15) Harrison: 1 rec for 42 yds, 1 TD
• (#17) Knowles: 1 rec for 6 yds
• (#2) Carter: None
Defense
Odiase was humbled early in this one. He was completely schooled by Rumble and the secondary was downright pathetic in the first half. The defensive line was also non-existent in the first half. The linebackers were ok. They lost their assignments a couple of times which allowed the ISU TE to get open on the short crossing routes.
The second half was another matter. Hats off to Parker in make the adjustments and dialing up the blitzes in the second half. This changed the complexion of the game and the Hornets dominated. ISU had no answer/adjustment for those blitzes on the right side and this completely knocked ISU off of their game. It got to a point where Yost was just throwing up prayers and the Hornet secondary buckled down and the defense forced some turnovers. This unit rebounded very well and shut out ISU in the second half until there were only 5 minutes left in the game.
Game Stats:
- • Passing Allowed: 564 yds (12.8 ypc), 4 TD’s
• Rushing Allowed: -2 yds (-0.2 ypr), 0 TD’s
• Total Offense Allowed: 562 yds, 4 TD’s, 1 FG
• Opponent Tim of Possession: 26:58
• Turnovers Forced: 3 (2 INT’s, 1 Fum)
• Opponents Penalties: 8 for 94 yds
• (#91) Davis: 11 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 FR, 1 BU
• (#1) Odiase: 8 tackles, 1 INT
• (#6) McMahon: 7 tackles, 2 TFL’s, 1 sack, 3 BU’s
• (#7/#14) Armstrong: 6 tackles, 4 BU’s
• (#31) Williams: 6 tackles, 2 BU’s
• (#11) Badger: 5 tackles, 1 BU
• (#35) Jaycee Totty: 3 tackles
• (#3) Washington/ (#92) Kelley: 3 tackles, 1 BU
• (#90) Cowger: 2 tackles, 1 INT
• (#94) Eskew: 2 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
• (#48) Fernandez: 1 tackle, 1 TFL, 1 sack
• (#92) Kelley: 2 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
• Everyone else: 1 tackle
Special Teams
Almost a perfect game and a big rebound over the past few weeks for this unit. The lone blemish was a long kick return allowed. Aside from that everything was clicking. Castaneda has solidified his himself as a dependable and consistent place kicker. He also stepped up on the kick off duties and took advantage of the think air to force some touchbacks. Weldon had a good game. He had some booming kicks that really kept the field position in the Hornets favor in the first half. McCowan really stepped up and ripped off some good kickoff returns. Credit also has to go to the front men for getting blocks and creating seams for him to run in. Norrise stepped it up on the punt returning. He made some decent returns off of the bouncing punts and didn’t allow those punts to roll deep into Hornet territory.
Game Stats:
- • (#58) Castaneda: 4/4 FG’s, 6/6 PAT’s, 8 kickoffs for 64.4 ypk avg. 6 TB’s
• (#45) Weldon: 5 punts for a 46.0 ypp avg., 2 I-20
• (#53) Cornish: 2 kickoffs for a 59.5 ypk avg.
• (#2) Carter: none
• (#24) McCowan: 4 kr’s for 123 yds (30.8 ypr)
• (#13) Norrise: 1 pr for 13 yds
• Kick Coverage: Allowed 113 yds on 4 returns (28.2 ypr)
• Punt Coverage: Allowed -39 yds on 3 returns (-13.0 ypr) ???
Injuries
The injuries are starting to pile up for the Hornets. (#65) Vince Weaver went down and it looked bad. The OL will start seeing some depth issues if the Hornets suffer another injury or two. A few of the reserves missed the season due to injury as well. (#2) DeAndre Carter saw limited action as well. Not sure if that is injury related though. (#29) Robert Beale didn’t play due to injury as well. With the bye not until week 11, the Hornets will have to tough it out.
The Hornets now get to head to Utah to face Southern Utah and possibly the best QB in FCS (Sorensen). I don’t recall the Hornets ever having a good game in the Mormon state so the Hornets have their work cut out for them this week. If the Hornets can keep playing well and improve on this week they have a legit chance at pulling off a win in Cedar City. It’s going to take a well disciplined and mistake free effort to grab a win in Utah.
Go Hornets!
Hornetsports Recap: http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/football/release.asp?release_id=10669
SSS Recap: http://sacstatesports.com/2012/09/28/notebook-sac-state-showing-promise-after-four-weeks/
