The Jackrabbits overcame a sluggish start to dominate the New Haven Chargers 57-14.  At the end of the first quarter the Jacks were only up 3-0 but exploded for 33 points in the second quarter to take a 36-0 lead into halftime.  The game was far from perfect but there were again so many good things to build upon.  This teams ceiling is so incredibly high and through three weeks, we have seen brief flashes of it.

Rants & Raves

Rave: I want to start by immediately pointing out that the concessions experience (at least for me) was excellent!  I visited concessions twice and both times I was in and out in under two minutes.

Rave: I thought the student section and fans were awesome, especially when the game was as lopsided as it was.  The noise when New Haven was backed up on the goal line was awesome and it eventually resulted in a safety.  I was also impressed for how long most fans stuck around.  That was a long second half with the game not ended until nearly 9:30.

Safety. pic.twitter.com/wu9uAWdfsJ

— Jackrabbit_Illstrtd (@JackIllustrated) September 13, 2026

Rave: The Jackrabbit secondary played their best game of the season.  Besides the opening drive against Northwestern I feel like they have played really well.  I’m very excited about what Myles Green, Amaje Parker, Noah St-Juste, Ife Current, Paul Kim, Dontay Johnson,  Max Stanard, Tank Farr, and Noah Thompson have done so far this year.  In this game, New Haven QBs were 9 of 25 for just 86 yards.

Rant: The Jacks were not great on 3rd down or the redzone again.  They were 2/12 on 3rd down, but 3/3 on 4th down.  In the redzone, the Jacks were 3/3 BUT 2 of those scores were field goals and not touchdowns and the 1 touchdown they did get was questionable.  They need to become more efficient in these areas the competition level increases.

Rave: Outside of New Haven’s initial possession, I thought the Jackrabbit first and second string defense played a great game.  Until the 4th quarter, New Haven had under 100 total yards.  New Haven has some nice pieces on offense and the Jackrabbit defense adjusted to what they were doing after the first possession and completely shut them down until some garbage time touchdowns in the 4th.

Rave: I as so happy to see the tight ends get going.  Gannon finished with 3 receptions for 65 yards and 2 scores.  Kuntz had 1 TD for 25 yards and a beautiful spike.  Delahoyde had 1 reception for 19 yards off of a beautiful 1 hand grab on a crosser.  Later in the game Ben Brooks had his first catch as a Jackrabbit too!  Kuntz also had a number of targets earlier in the game too.  I know this offense can be even more dangerous when the tight ends are part of the plan.

Rant/Rave: I’m happy so many of our true freshmen got in the game last night.  On the final few New Haven possessions, the Jackrabbits had in entirely all first and second year players.  They were still going against New Haven’s number one offensive line and mostly held their own. The long TD run was disappointing but these reps are still incredibly valuable for the future of the program.  The first New Haven TD was setup by the muffed punt and again, they competed.  It was a nice pitch and catch for the TD.  A young corner and safety duo that will do better next time.

Rave: I loved the speed that we saw out of James Bassinger yesterday.  That was something we have not seen out of him yet.  On both TD runs, he looked like the fastest guy on the field.  He finished with 6 carries for 88 yards and 2 TDs.

Rave: Same can be said for Junior McKinney’s play.  He also adds an element of shiftiness that is really special.  On his 22 yard TD run, Sammy Dresie and Jack Smith were doing a phenomenal job of blocking downfield.  This is a hallmark of being a receiver at SDSU and these two sure seem to have figured it out.

Rave: The #605Hogs have put three very good games together.  I think we have to give a huge shoutout to Jackson Kerstin.  Anytime you get a new starter along the offensive line you always wonder.  He has fit in seamlessly.  I can’t recall a glaringly bad play out of him yet.

Rave: I’ve already mentioned it but Delahoyde’s one handed catch and run brought up mentions of Dallas Goedert’s iconic catch.  I think it may have been even better.  I also think this speaks to Delahoyde’s potential and God given gifts.  I don’t know if we’ll ever see him hit his ceiling but is that ceiling massively high.  I’ve told this story on the podcast but when I interviewed the previous recruiting coordinator and tight end coach Chris Meyers, he told me that he believed Delahoyde would be the next Jackrabbit tight end in the NFL.

Rave: The #605Hogs played a solid game again.  The offense ended with with 256 rushing yards again.  This gives them a 3 game total of 796 total yards (265 per game).  I don’t care who you are playing against, this is phenomenal.  This is the running backs improving and making a big jump but this has a lot to do with the lanes the guys are creating.

Rave: I think Jes Krcil played a terrific game.  He finished with 4 total tackles (2 solo), a TFL, and had a QBH.  His speed at the position is evident and will be needed with some of the mobile quarterbacks that we face in the MVFC.

Rant: Through 3 games the Jackrabbits still do not have an interception.  I’m sure some of this is just bad luck but eventually we need some ball production.  I can only think of a couple plays that even had an interceptable ball though.   Not sure what to make of that.

Rave:  Max Pelham was again phenomenal and off of 10 attempts he has a 48 yard average.  That blows my mind!  The snaps seemed to be having some issues but Max handled them with ease.

Rave: Ryan Harrington’s kickoffs were terrific again.  How he got that ball to spin inside the 5 and bounce backwards was so cool.  It set the Jacks up to record that safety.  He was really in the New Haven returners head.

Rave: Tristan Alvano sure looks solid on field goals.  He’s 6 of 7 on the year and he sure looks confident.

Rant: True freshman Alex Uctman has wowed us with his punt returns already this season and was having another really good game before his muffed punt in the 4th quarter.  He redeemed himself by catching the next one and also added a nice long king return that he was close to breaking.  However, we can’t have the muffed punt.

Rave: This R&R is coming to you a little later than normal due to the late night.  I admit that I slept in.  My son Myles decided he wanted to stay for autographs last night.  So we did.  Thank you to the players who so graciously took the time to sign his shirt and take pictures.  On a personal note, yesterday was one of those days where you feel like you’re on the right track as a parent.  Before zonking out in the backseat, Myles repeatedly said that it was the best day ever and then listed all of the players who’s autographs he secured.  Thanks guys for making an 11 year old’s day.

Game Balls

Offense: James Bassinger- 6 carries for 88 yards and 2 TDs

Defense: Dontay Johnson- 3 tackles and a forced fumble

Special Teams: Ryan Harrington for setting up the safety

Go Jacks!
Matt