The Jackrabbits did what they were supposed to do and soundly defeated the Butler Bulldogs 45-17. Butler tacked on 10 points in garbage time (or garage time for Chad, iykyk). The Jackrabbits did some really good things in this one and showed flashes again of what they can be but there are also some things to clean-up.
*I was not in the stadium this week but watched at home.
Rants & Raves
Rave: I thought Mark Gronowski continued to progress in his return. Against Iowa, things were just moving too fast and against UC Davis he just couldn’t establish a rhythm; partly because of himself and partly because of the inconsistencies in the OL. On Saturday night, Mark was 17 for 25 for 279 yards and 3 TD while also adding 55 yards and a TD on the ground. Yes, this was against non-scholarship players but it was good to see Mark get into a rhythm again, hit some of his timing routes, and get out of the pocket and extend plays. I hope Mark is able to use this game as a springboard into the meat of the MVFC schedule.
Rave: HUGE kudos to Gus Miller for getting his snap under control. As I mentioned last week, this challenging to correct in-game once it starts going bad. I’m glad he did whatever he needed to do to clean the slate this week and get it right.
Rant: I’m a bit concerned that an opponent scored a touchdown on another deep shot play. This one was not quite as open as last week but it was still a pretty easy touchdown for Butler. Last week, DyShawn just bit on the double move and was toast so it’ll be interesting to hear what the breakdown was on this one.
Rave: I tweeted this out in game, but Jason Freeman, the NAIA 2x All-American transfer, is quickly becoming one of my favorite players to watch. The dude flies around the field and can lay the wood on folks. He finished with 4 solo tackles but seemed to always be around the ball.
Rave: I think the Jacks have found something in Max Baloun shifting to defensive tackle from defensive end. The guy is a disrupter and at 6’6 that is a large disruptor. We’ll see if he can continue this stretch of strong play into the MVFC but him in a rotation with Sanders, Van Marel, DePriest, and hopefully Brian Williams makes for a stout interior.
Rant: SDSU finished with 184 yards rushing the ball (4.7 ypc) but I still feel like things weren’t blocked up cleanly throughout the game. I’ll go back and rewatch, but I can’t remember too many plays where it felt like Amar and Isaiah had really clean lanes. In addition, I didn’t love some of the shots Mark took in the passing game. I am still nervous about the offensive line and will be until they string together 4 good quarters.
Rave: I liked utilizing some of the other kickers tonight to give Dustman a break. Green showed that he has a strong enough leg to force touchbacks and Drotzmann hit a 52 yard bomb. This is all just “good to know” info for now.
Rave: I think Aydan Dautermann flashed his potential but also showed his youth on a few plays. I know some folks question why we play games like Butler but it is a chance to build depth and get live in game reps for the younger guys. They won some plays and they lost some plays but I think they most certainly got better. Dautermann made an incredible play on the ball to force the Reeder interception, was beat on a back shoulder, and was called for a PI when he didn’t touch the wide receiver. I think we saw enough good to be excited about his future though.
Rave: As mentioned at the top, it was good to see Mark get going but it was also good to see the pass catchers respond. Canyon Bauer had a great catch and run but was also reliable throughout while Jadon Janke, Zach Heins, and Amar Johnson all had explosive plays in the passing game. This hopefully brings some confidence to the group!
Rave: Again, I was there but I have been told the concessions, the exit, and the gameday experience was overall better than week 1. I heard there was more of a line for beer than week 1. I appreciate Justin Sell and his team hearing the fans and working with his staff to make adjustments.
Game Balls
Offense: Mark Gronowski
Defense: Daeton Mcgaughy- started the season 3rd on the depth chart and has played excellent.
Special Teams: Jaden Mueller- snapping has been excellent this year.
Big showdown coming up this week against Missouri St. Let’s get ready!
Go Jacks!
Matt
0 Responses
Thank you Matt! Always look forward to your post game recaps.
So the campus police are at it again randomly singling kids out to write tickets. Officer Baker and 3-4 other officers walked through the parent tailgate yesterday multiple times, even ate our food. We had a young man arrive later in the day from work and he was given 1 beer from a parent that he took literally 2 sips of when the campus police stood outside our parent tailgate and selected him out and wrote him a $140 ticket and then he wasn’t allowed to come into the game. The young man is 20 and was not causing an issue and standing with me and several other parents enjoying conversation. I think it’s bull shit and this needs to be called out. I and another parent will be covering his ticket for him. We gave the officers an ear full but they seem to be out to prove something and be against all of us vs working with us. It would be appreciated if you could continue to call out these officers by name to put pressure on them to just stop being dumb and harassing all of us that are well in control of the situation. Thank you!