Rants & Raves: Holy Cross

The Jackrabbits secured a playoff win in business like fashion on Saturday beating the Patriot League Champion Holy Cross Crusaders 31-3.  How often can you walk away from a 28 point victory, against a quality opponent, and still feel like you can play better.  However, the Jacks were good or great in all three phases of the game and seemed in control throughout the entire contest.

Rants & Raves

Rave: The Jackrabbit offense was again impressive on the ground accumulating 281 yards on 34 attempts, good for a 8.2 yard per carry average.  The Strong/Davis combination has to be better than anyone imagined entering the season and both had some impressive runs on the day.  In addition, the Jacks didn't have to use Mark Gronowski in the running game and saved his body from unnecessary hits.  The mid-season switch in philosophy seems to have really given the #605Hogs some confidence and they are playing great.

Rave: Special teams was again pretty special on Saturday.  The Jacks blocked a field goal, recovered a dropped punt, and had another punt that went out of bounds at at the half yard line.  The return game had no critical mistakes.  When special teams performs like this, it is a pretty clear victory in the 3rd phase of the game.

Rant:  I am a bit concerned about the number of Holy Cross wide receivers who were running free in the secondary.  The Jacks secondary only gave up 86 total yards through the air but it should have been more.  I am sure the coaches have already watched the film and taken note of what was or wasn't happening back there.  A team with a more proficient passing quarterback would have hit on some of those deep shot plays that the Jacks had lapses on.  I'm not sure what the deal was if guys were just out of position or if they were not being passed off through the zones good enough or if Holy Cross was just putting our defenders in really precarious situations through scheme.  Whatever it was, it needs to be figured out!

Rave: I thought the #ChainGang was excellent on their pass rush.  They registered four sacks and never allowed the Holy Cross quarterbacks to get settled in the pocket.  They left a little bit to be desired in the run game as Holy Cross was able to move the ball pretty well on the ground at times.  However, they stiffened up when they needed to.  The depth of this group was really on display yesterday too.

Rave: I thought the speed of the linebackers was really a difference in the game.  Logan Backhaus, Preston Tetzlaff, and Adam Bock played wonderful games.  The trio had 21 tackles and Backhaus picked up two sacks.  

Rant: Fans often joke about how part of the homefield advantage is having the home scoreboard operator.  That was not the case yesterday on the Jackrabbits final possession of the first half.  The timekeeper allowed two seconds to run off the clock after the Jacks burned their final timeout on their first play, a nine yard gain by Isaiah Davis.  Then, the Jacks moved the ball on a 10 yard pass play; which resulted in a first down.  The clock should have stopped until the ball and chains were set (college football rule).  However, the clock stopped briefly and restarted before the ball or chains were set.  This meant that Mark had to spike the ball and then the Jacks had to attempt a 63 yard kick.  They would have been able to run another offensive play if the clock had been operated correctly.  Hopefully, this won't happen again.  The 3 points were needed yesterday but they might be next week. 

Rave: The punt by Ben Dinkel yesterday that landed at the five yard line and spun out of bounds at the half yard line was perfection.  It just can't get any better.  

Rave: It was nice to get the Janke's involved in the offense again after a quieter game against NDSU. They combined for 8 receptions for 106 yards and 3 TD.  Jaxon and Jadon have really developed into complete receivers and there isn't anything on the route tree that they can't do.

Rave: Likewise it was nice to see Tucker Kraft out on the field making plays.  He had two receptions for 24 and was open a few other times. The sky is the limit for Tucker and the tight end group in general.

Rant: The Jacks had 4 penalties for 30 yards which is one more than we asked for in our "What to Watch."  One of the penalties was an illegal formation where Blake Kunz, the TE, was covered up by the outside wide receiver.  It was a "trick play" as it was the first time they have had Mark fake the QB power run and then pass. It stinks that it wiped a TD off the board.  Fans have been clamoring for the QB power pass, or pot pass, for a while now and we burned it on a play that didn't count. 

Rave: The Jacks defense did play some different looks on Saturday and I especially liked what I saw on one 3rd down attempt from Holy Cross.  The Jacks had 4 safeties on the field and I believe Stalbird ended up making the tackle for loss.  It was a tremendous amount of speed on the field against an offense that trying to spread the Jackrabbit defense out on that particular play.

Game Balls

Offense: Isaiah Davis and the #605Hogs

Defense: Logan Backhaus

Special Teams: Ben Dinkel

What's Next?

The Jackrabbits face the Salukis of SIU on Sunday night at 8pm in Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.  The game will be on ESPN2.  I know this is a hard time for families and folks who travel an hour plus to attend the games but it is critical we show up and support the team.  Please make plans to be there! 

Go Jacks!

Matt