The Jackrabbits took care of business in their 33 to 16 win over NDSU. It feels so weird to say after beating NDSU by 17 points but this wasn’t a complete performance by the Jacks. There is plenty to improve upon. However, anytime you beat your rival that badly, you have to find the good and in this case, there is plenty to celebrate too!

Rants & Raves

Rave: The crowd! A new record attendance in Brookings at 19,431. I couldn’t believe how full the stadium was and how much BLUE was there. I’d argue that the stands have never been more than 75% blue for the Dakota Marker game in Brookings. However, yesterday It sure looked like it was 95% blue. When I saw it was a sellout, I figured it would be the usual NDSU crowd or at least close to it but there really weren’t many at all.

Rave: Because at times I have called out concession issues I need to give them props for getting it figured out and making it a much quicker turnaround time for fans. Also, ticket scanning was again fast. Finally, tailgating was again AWESOME. The backyard is full, outside the stadium has become more festive than I ever expected, and the library lot is such a fun atmosphere. Again, the UPD presence felt appropriate and not overbearing. Great job by the fans, athletic department, alumni association, UPD, and administration in helping create this.

Rave: There was lots of discussion this week about Mark and he responded with a pretty good game going 12 of 19 for 213 yards and 2 TD. He was pretty contained on the ground and didn’t call his own number too often. No matter what type of QB Mark is, he’s a leader and a winner and those are probably the two most important things.

Rant: I didn’t love how the offense executed in plus territory for much of the game. I’m glad we have a weapon like Hunter Dustman (more on him later) but I’d rather have the offense figure out how to get into the endzone. However, NDSU, even when down, still has some very talented players that can rise up and make a big play. The incomplete pass to Wilde was a terrific play by Wisniewski. I don’t know what the answer is but there will come a time this season when we need touchdowns and not field goals.

Rave: After missing the first few games with injury, Jadon Janke is having a really good season. Yesterday may have been his best performance when he hauled in 5 receptions for 89 yards and 2 TD. Jaxon wasn’t far behind with 4 receptions for 79 yards. Their strength/speed combination is so fun to watch.

Rave: In “What to Watch” we said the Jackrabbits needed to win the special teams battle. They certainly did. A blocked XP, a blocked FG, and a long punt return were all great. The only downside was the long kick returner but Tucker Large showed incredible hustle tracking RaJa Nelson down.

Rant: The Jackrabbit defense did plenty of good on Saturday but I was not impressed with the tackling. There were too many times where Cam Miller and company slipped through the tackle and picked up extra yardage. There aren’t stats for broken tackles but I’m guessing Miller had a ton and his yards after contact must have been a majority of his 93 rushing yards. I’m certainly disappointed in that aspect.

Rave: At the start of the season when previewing the defense, I credited Graham Spalding for being this gritty player who just finds ways to make plays. He’s been a fixture in this rotation now for a number of years and every year he makes a big play. Yesterday was his day, even with a cast on his hand, to come down with an INT. Good for him!

Rave: The #605Hogs did what they needed to do. I think they may have played a penalty free game, which is huge. It isn’t a great defensive line for NDSU this year but they are still good and they are able to rotate guys with fresh legs through pretty liberally. The Hogs just kept grinding out yards and kept Mark upright.

Rave: I thought the Pride’s halftime performance was terrific! They were able to shakeoff some of the bad news for the week and delivered a performance that deserves our respect. I hope you caught that.

Rant: I didn’t like our lack of pass rush. Sure, we had two sacks but Miller got pretty comfortable back there to often. In passing situations, I’d love to try something new. Is Randy K. healthy yet? A few weeks ago during the Coaches Show, Jimmy talked about Reis Kirschenman (a true freshman) and how he would play because he is unblockable in practice. Maybe the Jacks were just hoping to contain Miller’s run and played it safe on the pass rush but it really put a lot of stress on the backend of the defense.

Rave: I love how the safety rotation is playing out right now. Cale Reeder, Tucker Large, Colby Huerter, and Matt Durrance are all playing at a high level and they each bring something a little different to the table. This is a really fun group that plays big, week in and week out.

Rave: Hunter Dustman was again GREAT yesterday. He made field goals from 31, 21, 44, and 26. All of them looked like they were kicked with supreme confidence. His punting was also sensational with two punts for a 43 yard average and neither gave Jayden Price, a very good punt returner, a chance at extra yardage.

Rant: I’m struggling to understand how our tight ends have disappeared from the offense as pass catchers. They are still busting their butts run blocking but it is weird that they didn’t have a catch or target yesterday.

Rave: I love how we have been able to double-up on offense and score at the end of the first half and coming out in the second half. This is such a momentum swing. The Jacks scored 10 points in a double up situation before half. The long TD pass + Bison fumble made it possible. The Jacks then marched down the field to open the second half and scored a TD making it 27 to 9. At that point, the game was over.

Rave: I loved the muted on-field celebration after the game. For once, the Jacks just calmly walked over to hoist the Marker AFTER shaking hands with the Bison players. It just screamed “been there, done that” and showed that this team is on a bigger mission.

Rant/Rave: This really isn’t either a rant or rave but is more so just an observation. I think it is fun to look back on the guys that NDSU beat the Jacks on in recruiting. Miller, Zabel, Stoeffel, Wisniewski, TK Marshall, Derrit and others, are all guys the Jacks lost out on and I remember being disappointed about all of those when they committed to NDSU over SDSU. But looking back now, there isn’t one of those guys I would take over our current starters. Recruiting and player development are an inexact science and recruiting especially rarely makes sense. However, the Jacks are doing something right in getting their players to perform at a higher level. Again, this isn’t a shot at any of the players for NDSU just me thinking out loud.

Game Balls

Offense: Jadon Janke

Defense: Jason Freeman: 12 total tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1 INT, 1 QBH

Special Teams: Hunter Dustman

Go Jacks!

Matt