Rants & Raves: UNI

Well... that is certainly not what any of us expected.  Rants & Raves will be a bit different this week as we sift through the wreckage.  Hopefully I can offer some hope. 

Rants & Raves
Rants: Offensive line (both run and pass blocking), special teams fumbles, missed FG and XP, the rain that ruined a beautiful day, lack of a consistent pass rush, inability to stop the run, poor throws and poor effort to haul in passes, and poor adjustments to what UNI showed us in their opening possessions; both offense and defense. 

Whew... that is out of the way.  I could write a paragraph on each one of those, but it wouldn't do much good.  I'm sure we have all been sitting around today super frustrated with what transpired on Saturday in the Dana.  This loss stings because the Jacks lost to a team they should have beaten soundly.  However, it is time to move forward.

Game Balls:
Offense: Dallas Goedert
Dallas has been banged up this season.  On Saturday he gutted it out for the team.  He didn't have any catches in the first half but came up big on the Jacks second half touchdown.  Dallas ended the game with 4 receptions for 120 yards and 1 touchdown.  The Jacks need to find ways to get him the ball.  There is a reason he is a projected first round draft pick.  Hopefully he can move towards better health and be a huge weapon for the remainder of the season.

Defense: Jordan Brown
Jordan played another really good game.  He was matched up for Fountain for most of the plays.  While Brown was covering Fountain, he only had two catches for 30 yards and 1 TD.  Brown finished with 4 tackles and 1 pass break-up.  Christian Rozeboom could also be a candidate for this award as he finished with 14 tackles and seemed to be everywhere. 


4 Reasons for Hope: 
1. This is essentially the same personnel on offense that broke records in 2016.  There is still hope that they start clicking again.  The Missouri States defense has surrendered a ton of points this season.  This week will be a great chance to work out the bugs before the final run at the playoffs.  I would like to see the starters play the entire game and make a statement.  Dallas, Jake, Taryn, and company are too talented to be held down for an entire season.  Let them bust out.  I'm confident they will write the ship

2. The defense is playing better.  I think most fans recognize that our defense is not built for playing from behind.  The two special teams fumbles and interception in the first half really doomed the Jacks.  Yes, they gave up a boatload of rushing yards in the second half.  They are built to be playing with a lead and defending the pass.  The game against SIU showed how good they can be.  The young players have gained incredibly valuable reps and now know how physical MVFC play is.  It is no longer a shock.  They will continue to get better.

3. The special teams struggles from Saturday are outliers to the performances they have had so far this year.  Lewis is usually a very conservative and sure handed punt returner.  I'm guessing he doesn't make that mistake again.  Johnson is also sure handed and is electric when given the opportunity.  Vinatieri had his worst game of the season but I'm confident he has the mental makeup to right the ship. 

4.  The Jackrabbit fan base is more alive then it has ever been.  The last 24 hours have showed me, and the team, how much the fans care.  Fans wouldn't be so disappointed if they didn't care.  I think back to when I first started regularly attending games in 2006.  Fans, athletes, students were pumped when we broke 10,000 in attendance.  For the most part, SDSU was a division II afterthought in football.  Many questioned why we made the jump to the FCS.  When we beat NDSU in 2007 almost everyone was surprised.  Now in 2017, we are gunning for the #1 spot and upset when we aren't there.  The growth of the program and fan base in 10 years has been phenomenal. 

I usually don't leave the "Backyard" tailgating lot until game time so I haven't seen how tailgating has grown to the west of the stadium and by the library.  However, for my real job, I had to work the parade and then just walked over when it was finished.  I was shocked by how much tailgating has grown in these areas!  This is something I never imagined in 2006.  Jacks fans are hungry and are embracing FCS football.  Even with rain at kickoff, there were still over 14,000 fans at the game!  That is tremendous and brings the season average to 13,816 people attending the games.  


I hope these four reasons give you some hope, cause you to show up on November 4th, and make some noise.  Don't give up on this team.  Call me crazy, but I think the team responds and takes care of business, makes the playoffs, and makes the run that we all expected them too.  There is too much talent for improvements not to be made. 

Go Jacks!
-Matt    

 

Comments

  1. Good to hear a positive post after a dissappointing weekend. Go Jacks

    ReplyDelete

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