Rants & Raves: NDSU

I think as I sit here writing this and sipping some Sunday morning coffee the feeling I am filled with is admiration and pride.  The Jacks left the Fargo Dome yesterday with an impressive 27-17 win.  Outside of penalties (more on that later) the game wasn't nearly as close as the final score showed.  This wasn't a smoke and mirrors victory this was domination and we all watched the Jackrabbits impose their will against the Bison.  However, and I'll mention this many times this week, the job. is. not. done. period.  

Rants & Raves

Rant: I'm getting this one out of the way.  I was wrong.  I was nervous about the 28 days between games.  That was an unprecedented break.  Sure, it allowed the Jackrabbits to heal up but not having live tackling, not practicing at game speed, the anxiety created of getting geared up to play and having the game subsequently get cancelled all were in the back of my mind. The Jacks were coming off of their most impressive victory in recent memory after defeating SIU and it just didn't seem fair that they didn't have a matchup afterwards to continue the momentum.  As I said, I was wrong.  Saturday against NDSU was the continuation of that momentum.  I should have known that this group, who hasn't had a positive COVID test in 13 weeks, could handle this adversity.  Well done, team!

Rave: The rushing attack of the Jackrabbits put up 305(!) yards against the Bison.  As noted by Fargo Forum columnist Mike McFeely, this is the first time since 2008 that NDSU has surrendered more than 300 yards.  The #605Hogs dominated the LOS and Pierre, Isaiah, and Mark all made the right reads.  Pierre's 53 yard TD scampered showed why he is such a special player.  

Rave: Similarly, the run defense of the Jackrabbits was stifling. NDSU gained just 97 yards.  They had entered the fray averaging 218 yards per game on the ground.  In the past two games since returning from injury, Hunter Luepke had averaged 6.4 yards per carry but had just 3.1 against the Jackrabbit defense with a long of 6 yards.  

Rant: Again, the Jackrabbits had too many penalties.  The Jacks were hit with 8 penalties for 68 yards.  3 of which came on the same Bison offensive drive which handed them a touchdown in the 3rd quarter.  Likewise, the offense had a few too many procedural penalties for my taste. I've been saying this for two years but the Jacks have to clean up the penalties.  This team is so close to playing Championship football.  

Rave: The Jackrabbit Illustrated team asked for the Jacks to play "even" on special teams in our weekly What to Watch blog.  The team accomplished this.  They didn't do anything to hurt the team and the clutch kicking but Cole Frahm, the excellent punting by Ben Dinkel, and the excellent coverage by both the punt and kick coverage teams didn't allow any momentum changing plays.  Great work!

Rave: The Jackrabbit defense tackled exceptionally well, especially considering the long layoff.  Adam Bock and Preston Tetzlaff really stood out to me as they were FLYING to the ball.  Early on DyShawn Gales made two big tackles that seemed to set the tone for the defense.  

Rant: I didn't love Jaxon Janke's decision to fair catch the ball at the 6 yard line on the punt.  However, NDSU's punter Wegner is excellent at getting the ball to skip sideways.  There is no way to know if this would have happened and the ball would have been downed inside the 5 so I don't actually think it was a terrible decision.  

Rave: Mark Gronowski showed that he should certainly be in the discussion for the Jerry Rice Award which goes to the FCS Freshman of the year.  There are plenty of worthy candidates across the country but the moxy AND talent that he continues to show are impressive.  Yesterday was no exception as he finished with 149 yards passing and a TD along with along with 126 yards rushing. Better yet he had NO turnovers. He is an exceptional player!

Rave: I'm proud of this team for sticking together during a season that has had so much adversity.  The smiles, cheering, and energy the sideline brought yesterday was really something.  In a season where so many FCS teams and MVFC teams have seen so many players enter the "transfer portal" in season, the Jacks have only had one player enter.  This team is together and this team seems to be committed to working together to bring a championship back to Brookings.

Rant: This season is far from over.  The Jacks have stacked back-to-back excellent but not prefect performances together.  There are four more opportunities this season to hit that "98%" that Coach Stig always talks about.  I think they can do it.

Rave: The best part about this Jackrabbit team is that it has an awesome balance between youth and experience.  There has been plenty of talk from up north about the youth of their program.  The Jacks are right there too.  On offense, the QB, WRs, TEs, two offensive linemen and second string RB are all Sophomores or younger.  Likewise, the defense features sophomores and younger throughout the lineup.  This program is not going anywhere.  

Rant: I mentioned the penalties early... there were some egregious no-calls on the Bison offensive line.  On the same drive that featured all the penalties on the Jackrabbit defense, the Bison offensive line got away with at least three obvious holding penalties.  I'm not shocked this was missed but it was still disappointing.

Rave: Please find a way to get to DJD Stadium to support this team in the playoffs.  Hopefully for the next three weeks.

Rave: RIP to Claie Husby (AKA Nidaros to those of us who are members of the SDSU fan forum).  He was a Jackrabbit through and through and will be missed by many for his stories of his experience at SDSU and old time SDSU athletics.  I hope we can all aspire to give back to the institution we love like Clair.   

  

Game Balls

Offense: #605Hogs

Defense: #ChainGang and Adam Bock

Special Teams: Coverage Teams

*Note: This is the ultimate team win so this was exceptionally tough to choose.  We said "controlling the trenches" was the biggest matchup to watch and both Jackrabbit lines accomplished that.

What's Next?

At 10:30am central time on Sunday, the FCS Playoff Brackets will be announced.  The Jackrabbits should have a top 4 seed and hopefully will have a top 2.  The NCAA is using a regional strategy to design the playoff bracket so it is likely that NDSU and/or UND will be on the same side of the bracket.  The Jackrabbit first round matchup will be against the Champion of the NEC, Pioneer, or another lower ranked conference.

As always, we will have a week full of coverage to keep you updated!

Go Jacks!

Matt