The Jackrabbits again took care of the Grizzlies on a beautiful Saturday afternoon by a score of 35-18.  The game was never in doubt and 15 points from Montana in the 4th quarter kept this from being an embarrassing final score.  The Jacks will now prepare to host Incarnate Word again on Saturday morning at 11am.  The Jacks defeated UIW in the second game of the season by a score of 45-24 but it did take the Jacks 3 quarters to pull fully ahead.  First, we have to cover your rants & raves for the victory over Montana.

Rants & Raves

Rave: We knew this game would be won and lost in the trenches and the Jackrabbits did most of the winning in this area on Saturday.  The #605Hogs were dominant and kept Mark mostly clean and the #ChainGang bottled up the Montana run game and kept heat on the QB throughout the game.

Rave: As has been pointed out for the last few weeks of the season, the chemistry between Mark Gronowski and Griffin Wilde has really come alive.  On Saturday, Wilde finished with 7 receptions for 114 yards and 2 TD.  The deep outs they connect on are so dang tough but they make it look easy.

Rave: Adam Bock’s interception and TD run was an excellent exclamation point on a great day!  He finished with a team leading 8 tackles, the INT, and a quarterback hurry.  It felt like he was everywhere on Saturday.

Rant: Coach Rogers talked about it in his press conference and although the #ChainGang had great pressure throughout the day they have to do a better job of actually making the play and not letting the QB escape the pocket.  The longest run of the day came on a 27 yard QB scramble after he evaded early pressure.

Rave: Although Angel fumbled on the play, there is something to that play.  The play side hole was 100% there.  If they cleanup the backside action, that may go for 6.

Rave: Speaking of Angel… he and Amar had HUGE days as they combined for 194 rushing yards.  I’ve harped on this but their contrasting running styles has to be really difficult for opposing defenses.

Rave: For Montana, Eli Gillman is a very good running back.  The Jackrabbit front seven was determined to not let him impact the game.  He finished with 10 carries for 12 yards and a long rush of 3.

Rant: It felt like the Jackrabbits could do whatever they wanted on offense but it still also felt like they sort of played with their food.  Next week, I hope they come out and bury UIW early.

Rave: The Jacks probably could have passed on these guys all day as Mark finished 12/16 for 151 yards and 2 TDs.  He added another 2 on the ground.  He moved through his progressions with ease and I don’t think he ever threw an imperceptible ball.

Rave: Kirby Voorhees is so much fun to watch play.  His blitz pickup early in the game was key and his physical running style almost always ensures that he is falling forward and picking up a few extra yards every carry.

Rave: Jimmy talks a lot about winning the “middle 8” of the game which refers to the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half.  On Saturday they were oh so close to being perfect in this “middle 8” but I guess that is just another thing to work on this week.

Rave: Loved the double pass trick play!

Rant: Disappointed in Brenner’s throw. 🙂

Rave: The Jacks dominated the time of possession holding the ball for nearly 34 minutes.  Part of that was due to their success running the ball and partially because they were 7 of 12 on 3rd down.

Rave: The Jackrabbits had an excellent plan for eliminating Junior Bergen from the kick return game.  Xavier Harris was not up to snuff and the Jackrabbits pinned the Griz deep nearly all day.  You definitely don’t want to start any deeper than you need to against this Jackrabbit defense.

Rave: I thought the Jackrabbit secondary was really really good yesterday against Montana’s bevy of pass catchers.  Dalys got beat deep once on an absolute dime and terrific catch.  The Jackrabbits played more nickel and dime than I have ever seen them play.  The Jacks had Humphrey and Arrell on the boundary, Large and Beanum on the inside, and Durrance and Tilford over top.  It was fun to see after seeing the Jacks stick in a 4-3 defense no matter the situation for many many years.

Rant: As much as I loved Voorhees as a pass blocker and runner, he has to have more awareness as a pass catcher at where he needs to get to for a first down.  The catch and run in the 4th quarter should have been for a first down but instead, the Jacks had to punt. He’ll do better next time.

Rave: Tucker Large just keeps making plays.  What else is there to say about him?!?

Rave: On a quick rewatch, I thought the ESPN broadcasters were terrific!  They were knowledgeable about the Jackrabbit and Grizzly backstories and I enjoyed the campus spotlight on the dairy bar.

Rave: Sure, the home team won every game this weekend, as expected.  But there were certainly some entertaining games.  ACU was up early vs. NDSU and Tarleton gave USD everything they wanted.  Mercer vs. Rhode Island and UIW vs. Villanova were one score games.

Rave: I thought the level of noise in the stadium was pretty good at times yesterday.  It’d be great to have more people there but the die-hards that made it cranked up the volume and impacted the game!

Game Balls 

Offense: Quinten Christensen and Sam Hagan (Eliminated Montana DEs Hayden Harris and Henry Nuce)

Defense: Adam Bock (Scored a defensive TD)

Special Teams: Kolton Tilford (kick and punt coverage)

Go Jacks!