Rants & Raves: LIU

The Jacks won 38-3 on a cold and damp September evening.  The Jacks dominated statistically in nearly every area but it didn't feel like a fully satisfying victory.  How spoiled have we become as Jackrabbit fans?


Rave: How about that defense?  The argument could be made that they have only surrendered 17 points in 2 games.  Pretty impressive.  For most of the night Saturday LIU was completely overwhelmed by the size and speed of the Jackrabbit defense.  LIU managed only 123 yards of total offense.  The performance was phenominal, even against a transitioning FCS opponent. I'll highlight some of the invidual performances later.

Rant: Adult fans... enough said.  This writer is tired of the apathy and excuses.

Rave: Students!  Great job showing up, being loud, and impacting the game.  That was great!

Rave: The true freshmen really showed out.  Quinton Hicks impacted the game from his first snap.  Diamond Evans played with great confidence and is as impressive physically for a freshman as anyone I can remember. Devin Blakely was electric with the ball in his hands late in the game.  Keaton Heide looked good in his couple of series and has supposedly been impressive since he walked on to campus this summer.  Peyton Shafer was in on a number of tackles and has been ahead of schedule all summer.  The 2019 class was hyped-up by people around the program and their first taste of action showed why.

Rant/Rave: How nice is it that we won by 35 points and showed nothing on offense.  No exotic formations, only one reverse (excellent work Deyon Campbell!).  The only critique I have of this approach is that it didn't give us a real chance to evaluate Kanin Nelson.  He was asked to run a vanilla offense and he pretty much did that.  I'm not in the meeting rooms so I don't know what the install looked like but if vanilla is what they called, vanilla is what they got.  If Kanin doesn't fumble the ball at the goalline I think the mood around this game is totally different. 

Rant: The Jackrabbit offensive line has to play better.  LIU's defensive line was the strength of their team and they were clearly selling out to stop the run.  LIU was also supposedly running lots of stunts and twists and that caused some issues. I just want to see them adjust quicker.  It never felt like we got it totally figured out.  I know the #605Hogs can do better, they have before and there is no reason they can't again.

Rave: Jaxon Janke.  How much fun is he going to be to watch for the next four years???  The standout from Madison just seems to make plays when the ball is in his hands.  He has a very unique combination of size, speed, and athleticism.  He was named MVFC special teams player of the week for his effort.

Rave: Shoutout to the guys who were sidelined for whatever reason (redshirts included) for being so engaged in the game.  I was on the field for most of the half and usually there is a weird combination of joking around, looking at the crowd, and watching the game.  However, they were into the whole game.  Shoutout to Skyler Cavanaugh, Austin Smenda, and Elijah Wilson for leading by example and being engaged in the game with the redshirts.

Rant: I didn't love the called quarterback keeper with Keaton Heide on 4th down.  We have plenty of running backs for situations like that.  No need to have him carry the ball in that situation.

Rave: Jackrabbit fans.  Please pay attention to what Christian Rozeboom and Ryan Earith do for this defense.  They are senior leaders and often appear to stuff the stat sheet.  They do this because of their tremendous effort and knowledge of the game.  Both made big plays on Saturday that helped the defense.  We now have less than a season to enjoy their talents so please be sure to take advantage of that!

Rant: I said in my season preview article on the special teams that I didn't love the idea of using Cade Johnson on kick returns.  I said last week in my rants and raves how truly special he is with the ball in his hands and how he seems to be just a natural returner.  The fact that he was injured on that return has me dissapointed and frustrated.  I get why he is back that but I don't love the idea of him being back there when we are up 18 against an opponent that has virtually no shot of coming back on us.

Rave: The Pride had a great performance and was really engaged throughout the game, even with the rain.  I know I was tough on them last year because of the electric guitar stuff but I thought they were really good on Saturday.


Go Jacks!
Matt