Matt normally writes these and does a great job with them, but he’s on vacation so I’m filling in for him this week! My name is Ben Pierson, I’m part of the B team podcast for those that don’t know me. I have some huge shoes to fill and I’m hoping I can do it justice, as I know a lot of you love Rants and Raves. I’m going to split it into 2 parts, first I’ll talk about the game and things related to the team and their performance, then I’ll talk about some Gameday operations stuff.

Game/Team:

It’s hard to have too many rants when you completely dominate a team, so these are mostly raves with just a couple rants sprinkled in for good measure. There’s always room for improvement, right?

Rave: We got the UNI/Hobo Day monkey off our back. This was the narrative all week, and the team came out looking to prove a point. This seems to be a hallmark for Jimmy-coached teams so far, as they make sure to be up for every game while trying to maintain the standard that was set by the statement that was made last year.

Rave: The D line had what I think was their best game of the year. They didn’t let Day sit back and pick us apart and provided really good pressure while not letting him escape. The team racked up 4 sacks, 3 from the chain gang (Terveer 1.5, Johnson 0.5, DePriest 0.5, Van Marel 0.5).

Rave: The defense as a whole had a great game, holding UNI to only 2 field goals and 40 yards of offense. The effort was highlighted by Stalbird with 9 total tackles, 2 for loss, and a sack. The defense also created 5 turnovers, 2 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. Gales and Freeman made great plays on the ball for the interceptions. On the fumbles we did a great job of wrapping up and ripping the ball out. By the way, I feel like someone said that if we had 2 interceptions, we would win by at least 20-30 points… Ah yes, it was me. I said it. *pats back*

Rave: We had a clean special teams game for the most part, with Dustman connecting on 2 FGs, both from 42 yards. However…

Rant: We have to stop kicking it out of bounds. Our kick return coverage unit does a great job and there’s no reason to give up field position for free like that.

Rave: Our offense continues to be so efficient, going 7/11 on 3rd downs and only punting once all game. Plus the red zone efficiency is off the charts, as Craig Haley posted about last week (https://x.com/FCS_STATS/status/1711459409824559322?s=20). After yesterday’s game, we have now scored on 69 straight trips to the red zone dating back to last year with 56 TDs and 13 FGs (18 TDs and 1 FG this year). If we keep this efficiency up, this team is going to be extremely difficult to beat.

Rant: Ball security. Luckily UNI was giving the ball right back, but in a tight game those fumbles could be crucial.

Rave: Gronowski and the receivers looked great. Gronowski goes for 3 TD and 291 yds on a very efficient 21/26. We had 8 receivers with a catch, and it wasn’t because the game got out of hand, we just have that many weapons and Gronowski did a great job of spreading the ball around.

Rave: Zach Heins with 4 receptions, 69 yds, and 2 TDs. This was his best game yet and I hope we continue to see him utilized like this going forward, he is such a difficult match up for defenses.

Rave: Jadon Janke’s spin move… man that was good.

Rave: The 605 Hogs gave Gronowski so much time to throw, and Gronowski looked very comfortable in the pocket and was making great decisions to tuck and run at times and throw it in the dirt if nothing was there.

Rave: Isaiah Davis has another 100+ yd game with a TD. He continues to prove he’s the best RB in the FCS and increases his draft stock every game.

Rave: We used the pass to open up the run, showing just how balanced and talented this team is. UNI clearly came out deciding they were going to sell out to stop the run, and we didn’t force the issue. Lujan continues to make the right calls, keeping this offense as the best in the FCS.

Gameday operations:

Rave: The Hobo Day parade was great, as always!

Rant: This is nitpicky considering how amazing our facilities are, but can we please replace the speaker covers on the sides of the display board? They look terrible, and in my opinion they’ve looked bad since they were installed. 

Rave: They let Enter Sandman play longer! Many have been saying this needs to happen as you just kill the excitement when the music cuts out too quick.

Rant: There needs to be more portable restrooms by the alumni tent. With amount of people that attend the alumni tent and tailgate in that area, there should be at least a few more added. There’s always a long line and takes a good 15-20 minutes.

Rave: There was a temporary cell booster station. I don’t know who was responsible for it, but I applaud the effort.

Rant: The cell service still sucked for most people. I have heard that some had success, but plenty of people were in a similar situation as other games. They have to look into a permanent solution. People want to stay connected, it’s just the world we live in, and if we want the fans that are helping to sell out the Dana to come back, we need to make sure they have a great experience, and cell service is part of that.

Rave: They seemed to have figured out how to get enough staffing to help get people in the stadium quickly, as there have been lines, but they move very quick.

Rant: Where did the other alcohol options outside of beer go? I get that it’s probably easier to only have 4 options, but let’s not go backward. Again, we want people to have a great experience, and not everyone likes beer. You just have to have other options, that’s part of the deal with serving alcohol.

Rave: Overall this was a great Hobo Day and a great game. I think this was the most complete game put together, and if we continue to play like that, I don’t know if there’s anyone in the FCS that can stop us!

Game Balls

Offense: Mark Gronowski and the receivers

Defense: Isaiah Stalbird and the Chain Gang

Special Teams: Hunter Dustman