What to Watch: YSU


The Jacks hit the road to face Youngstown State University.  YSU comes in at 4-1 and fresh off their first loss of the season at UNI.

1. YSU Defensive Line vs. Jackrabbit Offensive Line

  • As we detailed in the podcast and the blog, YSU's defensive line is weird this year.  Their entire defensive line rotation is actually all defensive ends.  They don't have the beef that they normally do at the defensive tackle position.  However, it appears that the four starters are creating havoc and have been pretty effective vs. the run.  It reminds me of LIU.  I rewatched YSU's matchups with UNI and Duquesne. For the most part, they are sound against the run.  However, if the offensive linemen can get into the defensive tackles they are movable and there has been some running lanes that you can drive a semi through.  As you can expect, the lateral and stretch plays on the perimeter were not as effective.  The Jackrabbit offensive line has been inconsistent in 2019.  They have been able to wear out most of their opponents and really gash them for some big gains in the second half.  Will that trend continue or can the Jacks come out and dominate the line of scrimmage from the start?     

2. Jackrabbit Wide Receivers vs. YSU Cornerbacks

  • YSU has given up some yardage through the air this year.  They have a smaller secondary so I could easily see Adam Anderson, Jaxon Janke, Blake Kunz or Kal Hart having a big day..  In both the UNI and Duquesne game, receivers were open on RPOs but were just missed by the quarterback.  None of the YSU defensive backs are over 6' tall and their linebackers are undersized as well.  This may be a good game for J'Bore to trust his big talented receivers and see what happens.  Cade Johnson will likely be shadowed by their best cornerback, Bryce Gibson leaving Janke, Anderson, and others free to work.   

3. The Weather and Ball Security

  • There is a 90% chance of rain on Saturday in Youngstown, Ohio.  The early forcast calls for the rain to fall mostly in the morning but if it does extend into the afternoon I'm nervous.  The Jacks have not had a good ball security in 2019 and have fumbled more frequently than I can remember.  The Jacks have fumbled 9 times, losing 5 of them.  Any bit of moisture may make the ball harder to hold onto.   

4.  SDSU Run Defense

  • YSU wants to run the ball.  It is no secret.  The 5 game breakdown for their rushing effort is: 277 yards, 454 yards, 197 yards, 257 yards, and 55 yards.  Obviously, UNI shut them down and that made them pass the ball more than they are used to.  I would expect and hope the Jacks to do the same.  YSU has a big and powerful offensive line but the Jacks are rotating 11 or 12 guys through. If the Jacks can win on 1st and 2nd down, YSU will need to go to the air.  BUT the Jacks defense is not completely out of the woods as YSU QBs Nathan Mays and/or true freshman Mark Waid are very capable runners and can certainly earn first downs with their legs.  One other fact that is important to remember is that YSU loves to control the ball.  In their 2017 win against the Jacks they held the ball for 45 minutes.  That was something I didn't think was possible but I remember our defense was just gassed for the entire second half.  Forcing 3 and outs or 6 and outs would be huge for the defense!
Go Jacks!
Matt 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jackrabbit Football All-Decade Team

Image
Yes, we are well into the new year/decade but our debate has been fierce in creating an All-Decade Jackrabbit football team.  The challenges of creating this team were what to do with the players at the beginning and the end of the decade who may only have a year or two of stats to go on or what do we do with those players who only splashed for one year?  Further complicating matters was the consistent improvement of the Jackrabbit team as a whole and the level of competition they are facing week in and week out.  So with all of those factors, the Splitting Hares Podcast team of Ben Pierson, Brendan Luedtke, Kyle Sheehan, and Dallas Clarksean created our list of who the team should be.  All are welcome to their opinions!  Special thanks to Mitchell McLain who keeps an unbelievable database of Jackrabbit football statistics and information.  Offense Quarterback Taryn Christion (2015-2018) 44 games started, 59.70% completion rate, 11,535 yar...
Read more

What's Cookin': Dessert

Image
Alright, another year of Jackrabbit football is upon us. We are celebrating at Jackrabbit Illustrated, this our 5th season covering the team.  The players who we first covered as freshmen are now redshirt seniors. We hope you are as excited as us for this upcoming season. Chef Tim, a culinary instructor at Mitchell Tech and contributing writer, has some fun recipes for you this season.  He has committed to doing one a week. I have nothing but faith that he will get them turned in! We start the season celebrating with celebrations. Here are some fun baked goods that will lead to the healthy start to the season; Cherry-Chocolate Chunk Cookies ½ Cup All-Purpose Flour ¼ Cup Quick-Cooking Oats ½ Teaspoon baking Soda Pinch of Salt 2 tbs butter, melted and cooled 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 large egg 1 tsp vanilla Extract 2 oz semisweet chocolate 1/3 cup dried cherries 1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray. 2) Combine Flour, Oats, baking soda, and s...
Read more

Rants & Raves: LIU

Image
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 w...
Read more