4th and Goal: Hobo Week

(Photo by Larry Sellers)

I've decided to add a new weekly blog called "4th and Goal" where I look at 4 things related to SDSU football or athletics in general.  These could be looking at historic trends, current happenings, or recruiting tidbits.  We'll see where this goes.

1. Hobo Day
With this weeks festivities culminating in Hobo Day, I thought it would be worthwhile to look at SDSU's division one record on Hobo Day.  A common belief among the Jackrabbit faithful is that the team struggles on Hobo Day for a variety of reasons.  In the last five years, the Jacks are just 1-4 BUT in the D1 era they are 9-5 with an average score of 32.35 to 22.5 points per game.  The Jacks have played Youngstown in four of these Hobo Day games and are 3-1 and have outscored YSU 30.5 to 22 ppg.

I expect the Jacks to come out playing with their best effort.  Last week's scare against Indiana State should be a wake-up call and the hangover from the Dakota Marker loss should be long gone.  The Jacks are banged up but there is enough depth of talent to score a victory. 

2. Ticket Prices
Last week the Jacks had just under 10,500 fans in attendance at the game.  In the old days of Coughlin Alumni Stadium this would have been a great crowd and the stadium would have looked mostly full.  However, Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium looks pretty empty with this attendance.  When going back through the Twitter timeline, I noticed Matt Zimmer commented about the small crowd and that a follower had commented that the prices were too high.  I've heard this grumbling since the stadium was built and wanted to look at comparison sake across the MVFC to see other prices.
I looked at this weekend specifically.

• Indiana State is charging $14 for all tickets.
• Illinois State is charging between $20 and $45 per ticket
• Western Illinois is charging between $10 and $15 per ticket
• USD is charging $8 and $20 per ticket.
• SDSU is charging between $37-$47 per ticket. 
• Because it is Hobo Day, a premier game, I looked at the next home game on Nov 3rd. and the range is $27-$37 per ticket. 

As you can see, SDSU's prices are considerably higher than its MVFC peers.  Would cheaper tickets entice more fans to attend?  I don't know.  Fall is tough for a variety of reasons in South Dakota and the weather was not good last Saturday.  I do know that season tickets or single game tickets for a family of four are plenty expensive.  Factor in parking, concessions, and gas and it becomes a pretty expensive Saturday for your average Jackrabbit fan.

3. Offensive Line Depth and Coach Eck
Remember when Jackrabbit fans cringed if a starting linemen got hurt and the team needed to bring in a backup?  It's hard to believe, but that was only a couple seasons ago.  For many reasons, the Jackrabbits had zero depth on the offensive line.  That seems to have changed in the last three seasons under Coach Eck.  Here is a look at the past five years of offensive linemen recruits for SDSU.

• 2019- 6 verbal commitments so far
• 2018- 6 signees (1 juco)
• 2017- 10 signees (6 still on roster + Grant Schmidt a transfer)
• 2016- 4 signees (Domandle and Genant remain)
• 2015- 5 signees (only Hildahl remains and he now plays DT)   
• 2014- 5 signees (1 juco, only Weir remains +Tiano formerly a DT)

I love the emphasis that is now placed on bringing in LOTS of competition.  It looks like it is a hard position to project at the college level for a bunch of reasons.  This position is also very physical and there seems to be some attrition due to injury.  I think Coach Eck has done a great job of teaching and we as fans get to enjoy seeing young guys like Aron Johnson and Jack Domandle succeed when their number is called due to injury.  Another good thing to note is that it doesn't seem to matter if you are a scholarship player or walk-on, you will get a chance to play if you put in the work.   

4. Recruiting
For those of you who follow the blog, you know that I love recruiting and I think the Jacks are killing it on the 2019 class.  They have won multiple head-to-head battles with the Bison on top recruits.  Its exciting to follow because, as evidenced by the offensive line, recruiting is the lifeblood of a program.

The Jacks stand at 22 verbals and will be looking to add a few more.  I have heard that Thomas Motzko and Matt Barnett will be taking their official visits this weekend.  I think that means that all but two of the current verbals have been in on their official visits. 

I think the Jacks are still looking to add a running back, defensive linemen, and maybe a wide receiver or two.  I think once the Jacks get these slots filled it will create an excellent 2019 class.

So this is the first 4th and Goal.  Let me know if you enjoyed these thoughts or if there other topics you'd like me to dig in to.

Go Jacks!
Matt