Rants & Raves: Southern Utah


The Jacks end non-conference play at 3-1, pretty much where we all expected them to be.  Realistically, they could easily be 4-0 with an FBS win on their resume.  However, a couple of mistakes and missed opportunities prevented that from being reality.  Saturday, the Jacks played their most complete game since opening week.  The offense moved the ball at will for most of the night, the special teams was about as dominant as it can be, and the defense allowed just 7 points. The picture perfect weather contributed to an all around great day and night.


Rave: Christian Rozeboom, Logan Backhaus, and Seven Wilson are playing as well as a trio of linebackers as any group I can remember in the last 15 years.  Jimmy Rogers and Derek Domino were a very good duo but these three are just flying around the ball so far this season.  Then you factor in the return of Levi Brown and the Jacks have an extraordinary group of backers.  Between these four they had 37 tackles, 1 TFL, an INT, 2 PBUs, a blocked kick, and almost a forced fumble.  That is tremendous production from your top four linebackers.

Rant: The penalties have to be the first thing on everyones mind this week.  The first half was sloppy as the Jacks had 6 penalties and ended the game with 8 total.  SUU was only whistled for 4 penalties but if looked like it should have been more, especially a number of holds on SUU's right tackle.  This has to stop in MVFC play.  Yards are just too precious.

Rave: Kudos to the Jackrabbit 3rd down defense.  They held the Thunderbirds to just 4 of 17 on 3rd down conversions.  That is phenominal.  The Jacks brought the heat often in 3rd down and just didn't allow anything past the sticks.


Rave: Overall, the Jackrabbit special teams played about as well as possible on Saturday.  A little bit better of performance in the return game may have made this a perfect game. Two blocked field goals, a blocked punt for a safety, and excellent punting were the highlights of Saturday's peformance.

Rant: I understand the game of football's overall emphasis on head safety but it sure makes me cringe when I see low hits like the one that Zach Heins experienced on Saturday.  Zach is a big dude (6-7, 250+) so defenders need to go low on him to bring him down.  However, I think the defender could have aimed a bit higher into the hip instead of below the knee.  I don't blame the defender as it is football, but I think the emphasis on taking away the head-shots had a role in Zach getting hit super low. I have no idea the extent of Zach's injury but I hope he can make a full and speedy recovery.

Rave: After two weeks of struggling, I think that the #605Hogs rebounded with an excellent game.  J'Bore returned to the lineup and it appeared that the linemen took it upon themselves to keep him clean.  I can't recall J'Bore really facing any significant pressure throughtout the game.  SUU had just come off a performance where they had 5 sacks but barely breathed on J'Bore Saturday night.  The hogs also paved the way for 241 rushing yards.  Often times there were huge holes for the backs to run through and they weren't contacted until 5 yards downfield.

Rave: The Jackrabbit trio of running backs is playing at a very high level.  Pierre Strong, CJ Wilson, and Mikey Daniel all bring something different to the field.  All of them would probably like to a workhorse type of running back but it sure is nice to keep them healthy and keep the defense guessing when they are on the field. On the day, Pierre paced the group with 87 yards, followed by CJ with 76 and Mikey with 35 and they all had a TD and they all had above a 7.7 ypc average.  Ridiculous production!  Also, huge props to Blair Mulholland for coming in and gaining 48 yards on his 7 attempts.  What a talented group! 

Rant: The missed extra points and chip shots have to stop.  These points will become more valuable as the season gets into the meat of the schedule.

Rave: How about Ben Dinkel's 3 punts? On the day he only punted 3 times but had a 51.7 average with all 3 landing inside the 20.  The first two couldn't be any more opposite.  The first punt traveled 75 yards and took a beautfil Jackrabbit bounce before it was downed inside the 5 yard line.  Oh, and this was against the win.  The second punt was a different scenario with the Jacks punting closer to mid-field.  Dinkel executed a high hanging punt that allowed the coverage team to get down the field and down it at the 5 yard line.  Both of these punts showcased the talent that Dinkel has and how he can be a weapon for this team going forward.


Rave: This blog wouldn't be complete without mentioning the return of J'Bore Gibbs.  Gibbs had sat the previous two weeks recovering from a hand injury suffered against the U of M.  He completed 15 of 24 of his passing attempts (with a few drops by his wide receivers), and had 2 TDs against 2 INTs.  It was a good but not great performance.  The bigger thing is that it reminded the Jackrabbit faithful how much arm talent he possesses.  Some of the throws he made were really special.  The TD to Cade Johnson is a throw that not many humans can make.   

Rave: Finally, we need to mention the crowd.  A really engaged group throughout the game that made plenty of noise in the big moments.  It is so fun when the crowd is into it and I hope that continues!

Game Balls
Offense: #605Hogs
Defense: Logan Backhaus
Special Teams: Ben Dinkel

Go Jacks!
Matt

Comments

  1. BitsTDSeptember 23, 2019 at 9:24 AM

    These backers really do remind a person the years when we had Rogers & Domino at outside with Isaiah Jackson backing up both sides and Chris Johnson roaming the middle. A very good group. Domino was at the game Saturday and it was a privilege to shake his hand.

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