Week 9 - #15 Sac State at Northern Colorado

[SDHornet]

Week 9 - #15 Sac State at Northern Colorado

The 15th ranked Hornets (5-2, 4-0 BSC) hit the road to face a struggling Northern Colorado Bears (3-5, 2-3 BSC) team. UNC is in rebuild mode with new HC Ed McCaffrey and he has brought in a lot of transfers to get things jump started. UNC is coming into this game with a bit of momentum by getting a road win at SUU last week, 17-9. Prior to that the Bears lost 3 straight with their other lone BSC win a home OT game against NAU, 17-10.

The Bears primarily run an RPO from the Pistol but also spread things out from a shotgun set. The UNC offense has had its struggles and is 12th in the BSC in scoring (15.4 ppg) and last in the BSC in total offense (271.6 total ypg), 10th in the BSC in rushing (119.0 ypg) and last in the BSC in passing (152.6 ypg). However, the Bears do cash in on scoring opportunities as they are 5th in the BSC (13/16, 11 Td, 2 FG) in redzone efficiency. QB Dylan McCaffrey (121/199, 903 yds, 5 TD, 6 INT, 45 car, 174 yds, 3 TD) has a big arm but struggles with accuracy. He is capable of moving the sticks with his legs. The top targets are WRs Kassidy Woods (29 rec, 319 yds, 3 TD) and Jaren Mitchell (29 rec, 197 yds, 1 TD). The big bodied RB Gene Sledge Jr (86 car, 353 yds, 2 TD) is the primary back that is a north and south runner.

UNC runs out of a base 3-4 and have had a decent showing this season. The Bears come into this game as the 6th best scoring defense in the BSC (27.4 ppg) and the 7th best in the BSC in total defense (383.0 ypg). UNC is 8th in the BSC in rush defense (165.1 ypg) and a respectable 5th in pass defense (217.9 ypg). UNC is tied for 5th in the BSC with 17 sacks on the year. However, the Bears struggle to keep opponents off the scoreboard once they reach the redzone as they are last on the BSC (33/36, 20 TD, 13 FG) in redzone efficiency. LB Jace Bobo (72 tkl, 4 TFL, 1 sack, 2 INT) is the heart and soul of the defense with DE David Hoage (53 tkl, 19 TFL, 8.5 sack) causing lots of disruptions coming off the edge.

UNC’s K Ben Raybon (6/11 FG, 15/15 PAT) has struggled with attempts over 40 yards, but has hit home on a pair beyond 50 yards out with his long on the year being 57 yards. UNC’s return game is middle of the BSC.

This game will have both of the most penalized teams in the BSC, however the Hornets are a much better team on paper on both sides of the ball and should win this if they come prepared and focused on the task at hand.

Stingers Up!

Hornetsports preview.

 

[Kadeezy]

Last overnight travel of the year, already! Flying by! It seems just like yesterday I said this was a five win team lol

 

[Kadeezy]

Also, I’m going to label this a trap game again so we can win 35-0.

 

[BuckeyeHornetFan]

I see you workin’ there. Well done, Kadeezy!

 

[SoCalSacHornetFan]

Kadeezy. You always entertain. Love your enthusiasm. I’ve been a Hornet Football fan since 88’ as a new student.
Had no idea it would take this long to get a great coach and solid administration to help build the program into a WINNER!!!!!
City of Sac and Students need to rally to support the team and start thinking of UPGRADES to Hornet Stadium!

 

[BuckeyeHornetFan]

Last overnight travel of the year, already! Flying by! It seems just like yesterday I said this was a five win team lol

Well, as of right now you aren't wrong!

But hopefully will be very, very soon.

 

[BuckeyeHornetFan]

City of Sac and Students need to rally to support the team and start thinking of UPGRADES to Hornet Stadium!

Not to hi-jack this thread -- but I'm curious if anyone here has ever spoken directly to Orr or Nelsen about the restroom situation? I know the topic of has been brought up by fans here on this site over the years, but I've never heard Orr or Nelsen comment on it and whether there is any sort of plan to at least make it better in the short term.

Sure, there are a lot of amateurish things about Hornet Stadium, from the track to the bleachers to food trucks. However it does have a large capacity and the biggest complaint I really ever hear from casual visitors, both for Hornets games and for HS games, is the restroom situation. It is surely my wife's biggest gripe!

Seems like a rather easy thing to address and, while not cheap, not exactly super expensive to address in the short term until major upgrades can ever happen (if ever).

I'd just love to know what their excuses are for not having already drastically improved that situation.

 

[superhornet]

FWIW, BHF, while I wholeheartedly agree with you about the bogus heads underneath the stands, I find I must disagree with you about the track. It's a world-class track that attracts high level meets like the Olympic Trials, and given the lack of space, we simply can't have separate football and track facilities. Besides, it makes it more likely (though I haven't really heard of it at Sac) for guys to double-letter in football and track, something that can help their technique on the field (speed development for backs and receivers in the sprints, agility for backs and receivers in the hurdles and jumping field events, and power for linemen in the throws). The inconvenience of double-timing track and spring ball would be inconsequential in my book; a perfect example would be Herschel Walker, who became an outstanding professional tailback, largely because of his outstanding track work. It would be nice to have more chair-backs and fewer bleachers, and for whatever seating that we have to be more permanent, vice having the appearance an erector set covered by green netting. While the food trucks are a nice supplemental option (Sacto Mofo is a great organization), but there really should be a functional school-operated concession stand with food, drink, and souvenirs in a building to protect vendors and merch from the elements, not an open table under a pop-up that's liable to see stuff blown to Kingdom Come.

But back to the point of the thread: thank you to SD for his usual outstanding preview. Personally, I'm not a fan of the 3-4; given what our line did to NAU, we should run wild against a 3-4 alignment, as it's pretty much 5-on-3, with plenty of opportunity to chip off the DLs to the LBers. The 3-4 set DOES provide for an additional short zone person, but our receivers are good enough to get past that to flood the deep zones. Our defense should have experience against the RPO by now, given that it's everywhere. Our starting defense should keep the Bears in check. I'm hoping that we have SOME opportunity to get more experience for the backups, and that they have profitably processed their horrendous outing against NAU (where they were bailed out by the starters in the red zone) in case we have defensive injury issues later in the season, and into the playoffs (should we get a bid). That said, were I coaching the Hornets, I would be quite happy were SD to be on my scouting staff. He gets to the point very well.

 

[Kadeezy]

City of Sac and Students need to rally to support the team and start thinking of UPGRADES to Hornet Stadium!

Not to hi-jack this thread -- but I'm curious if anyone here has ever spoken directly to Orr or Nelsen about the restroom situation? I know the topic of has been brought up by fans here on this site over the years, but I've never heard Orr or Nelsen comment on it and whether there is any sort of plan to at least make it better in the short term.

Sure, there are a lot of amateurish things about Hornet Stadium, from the track to the bleachers to food trucks. However it does have a large capacity and the biggest complaint I really ever hear from casual visitors, both for Hornets games and for HS games, is the restroom situation. It is surely my wife's biggest gripe!

Seems like a rather easy thing to address and, while not cheap, not exactly super expensive to address in the short term until major upgrades can ever happen (if ever).

I'd just love to know what their excuses are for not having already drastically improved that situation.

I spoke to Orr directly at the Montana game in 2019 about the bathroom situation. He pretty much said they didn’t expect such a big turnout and apologized. I thought I would see more options at future games and I have not, a huge inconvenience for me, especially my wife and kiddos who have to pee every three seconds (I do too with in stadium beer now sometimes)…

It takes people out of the stands and leads to things like people taking “nature pees”, peeing under the bleachers (saw this once), and women in bad situations in the men’s rooms.

AD, dudes, just rent a sh|Tload of porta potties every fall if we aren’t going to upgrade our stadium - which is the real problem….

 

[Kadeezy]

SD, can you send a link to this thread to Orr? Lol

 

[josephpoint]

Look forward to the game tomorrow, one of three or four Big Sky schools left with a track around the football field. Don't like tracks around college football fields. If the stadium ever gets rebuilt the track has to go .

Interesting that Davis, MSU and EWU all have byes tomorrow. Bet lots of fans from these schools will be tuning into the UNC/Sac game. And bet I know who they will be cheering for

 

[BSCfan1]

The team's in the air and off to Colorado!
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/id/AAY4013-1635536029-29-9-249

 

[Kadeezy]

The team's in the air and off to Colorado!
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/id/AAY4013-1635536029-29-9-249

Damn near 70 and sunny n Greeley tomorrow, no wind.

 

[SDHornet]

SD, can you send a link to this thread to Orr? Lol

He would be oblivious if he didn't already know and understand the situation. Of course only getting "8,210" for Homecoming alleviates the priority of addressing this issue just a bit. Either way, not addressing this issue during his tenure is completely on him.

 

[BSCfan1]

The team's in the air and off to Colorado!
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/id/AAY4013-1635536029-29-9-249

d@mn near 70 and sunny n Greeley tomorrow, no wind.

Great weather and high altitude...school FG distance record is 54 yards, perfect conditions to break it! (How cool would THAT be?)

 

[BuckeyeHornetFan]

City of Sac and Students need to rally to support the team and start thinking of UPGRADES to Hornet Stadium!

Not to hi-jack this thread -- but I'm curious if anyone here has ever spoken directly to Orr or Nelsen about the restroom situation? I know the topic of has been brought up by fans here on this site over the years, but I've never heard Orr or Nelsen comment on it and whether there is any sort of plan to at least make it better in the short term.

Sure, there are a lot of amateurish things about Hornet Stadium, from the track to the bleachers to food trucks. However it does have a large capacity and the biggest complaint I really ever hear from casual visitors, both for Hornets games and for HS games, is the restroom situation. It is surely my wife's biggest gripe!

Seems like a rather easy thing to address and, while not cheap, not exactly super expensive to address in the short term until major upgrades can ever happen (if ever).

I'd just love to know what their excuses are for not having already drastically improved that situation.

I spoke to Orr directly at the Montana game in 2019 about the bathroom situation. He pretty much said they didn’t expect such a big turnout and apologized. I thought I would see more options at future games and I have not, a huge inconvenience for me, especially my wife and kiddos who have to pee every three seconds (I do too with in stadium beer now sometimes)…

It takes people out of the stands and leads to things like people taking “nature pees”, peeing under the bleachers (saw this once), and women in bad situations in the men’s rooms.

AD, dudes, just rent a sh|Tload of porta potties every fall if we aren’t going to upgrade our stadium - which is the real problem….

Porta-potties is a trailer trash solution. How hard would it be to build an actual concrete building somewhere behind the bleachers — even if it’s only temporary for a few years or 10?

I go to HS games with much better restroom facilities. Not portables. While it wouldn’t be as cheap to do, it’s not exactly cost prohibitive either. The increased attendance from the improved fan experience just might end up paying for a lot of it.

Hell, I know they have received numerous donations over the years toward an event center they still have no working plans to build, so just use some of that money to build freaking restrooms on each side of the football/track stadium.

It ain’t hard to do,

 

[EventCenterNow]

My biggest issue about Mark Orr is that he is no Kevin Johnson in terms of galvanizing the Sacramento community toward a common goal. We know about KJ's efforts in keeping the Kings in Sacramento and getting the Golden 1 Center built. In Orr's case, it's getting people to care about Hornet athletics. Somebody should give him a framed portrait of the ex-mayor with a sound chip that goes off every hour of Mr. Johnson's voice saying "The NBA has 100 percent market share." It seems that no matter what Orr does, he'll never be in KJ's league in terms of getting people together to elevate Sac State athletics. Come to think of it, I don't know if bringing in the ex-mayor will help matters either.
My complaints about the "no KJ" athletic director aside, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another Hornet win. I feel like their offense has made a strong push these past few weeks and if the defense can have their way, I see another week of good things coming for the Hornets.

 

[SDHornet]

City of Sac and Students need to rally to support the team and start thinking of UPGRADES to Hornet Stadium!

Not to hi-jack this thread -- but I'm curious if anyone here has ever spoken directly to Orr or Nelsen about the restroom situation? I know the topic of has been brought up by fans here on this site over the years, but I've never heard Orr or Nelsen comment on it and whether there is any sort of plan to at least make it better in the short term.

Sure, there are a lot of amateurish things about Hornet Stadium, from the track to the bleachers to food trucks. However it does have a large capacity and the biggest complaint I really ever hear from casual visitors, both for Hornets games and for HS games, is the restroom situation. It is surely my wife's biggest gripe!

Seems like a rather easy thing to address and, while not cheap, not exactly super expensive to address in the short term until major upgrades can ever happen (if ever).

I'd just love to know what their excuses are for not having already drastically improved that situation.

I spoke to Orr directly at the Montana game in 2019 about the bathroom situation. He pretty much said they didn’t expect such a big turnout and apologized. I thought I would see more options at future games and I have not, a huge inconvenience for me, especially my wife and kiddos who have to pee every three seconds (I do too with in stadium beer now sometimes)…

It takes people out of the stands and leads to things like people taking “nature pees”, peeing under the bleachers (saw this once), and women in bad situations in the men’s rooms.

AD, dudes, just rent a sh|Tload of porta potties every fall if we aren’t going to upgrade our stadium - which is the real problem….

Porta-potties is a trailer trash solution. How hard would it be to build an actual concrete building somewhere behind the bleachers — even if it’s only temporary for a few years or 10?

I go to HS games with much better restroom facilities. Not portables. While it wouldn’t be as cheap to do, it’s not exactly cost prohibitive either. The increased attendance from the improved fan experience just might end up paying for a lot of it.

Hell, I know they have received numerous donations over the years toward an event center they still have no working plans to build, so just use some of that money to build freaking restrooms on each side of the football/track stadium.

It ain’t hard to do,

There are other better "temporary" solutions than the porta-potties that are used that would be a mid-way step to a permanent solution. This department just doesn't have the foresight to get it done.

 

[BuckeyeHornetFan]

There are other better "temporary" solutions than the porta-potties that are used that would be a mid-way step to a permanent solution. This department just doesn't have the foresight to get it done.

Which is utterly ridiculous.

 

[Kadeezy]

2-deep shows fulcher and williams back in action today…