The Jacks took care of business and dismantled UND 42-21. It was likely the most complete performance for the team and on a day of upsets across the FCS landscape, gave the Jackrabbits another win over a ranked opponent. This one is honestly a bit hard to find rants for so know that if something is named as a “rant” it maybe isn’t as egregious as they can sometimes be.

Rants & Raves

Rave: It sure is nice having Adam Bock back. As I have repeatedly said, Savion Williamson is very good at the Mike spot but Adam Bock is elite. His ability to cover space, his instincts, and his tackling ability all make it so runs that normally go for 4 to 5 years are stopped for just 1 or 2. He led the team with 10 tackles and recorded the first sack of the season for the Jackrabbits.

Rave: In “What to Watch” we asked the #605Hogs to come out and dominate this game. The guys absolutely did that. Some of the lanes they were created had fans saying, “Jeez, even I could get five yards on that run.” My former podcast partner Kyle always said the best way to beat a 3-4 defense is to run right at them and the Jacks certainly did that to the tune of 266 yards and 7.2 ypc average. Wow! I love the wrinkle of adding Quinten Christensen as some extra beef. I also like that they just gave him a TE number so that he doesn’t have to report eligible every time he trots onto the field.

Rant: I’d be okay if we never had another 2pm game in September again. It got pretty steamy on the east side with the sold out crowd sitting in the sun. Plus the 6pm kick and the night games are so beautiful under the lights.

Rave: The Jackrabbits were truly dominant on offense and only punted once throughout the game. The efficiency was just crazy at times. Even though they dominated time of possession for much of the game, they only faced eight 3rd downs and they converted on 6 of them plus they were 1 of 1 on 4th downs (gutsy call, btw). When the offense is clicking like this there isn’t much any team can do to stop it.

Rave: One major factor in the offense clicking was the play of Isaiah Davis who finished with 132 yards (8.3 ypc avg), 3 TD, and 3 receptions for 18 yards. If you had to pick, what was your favorite Isaiah moment in yesterday’s game? The stiff-arm and planting of the defensive back on his way to the endzone was funny, the truck stick run of one of the UND linebackers early in the first quarter was also impressive but my favorite moment was the catch he made to convert a 3rd down on a short out route after he had split into the slot. The UND defender had a good read on the play but Mark threw a perfect ball and Isaiah made a beautiful catch right as the defender collided with him. He’s a special player and we need to enjoy the time we have with him!

Rant: Gameday operations has been soooo good this year so I’m hesitant to bring this but it probably needs to. Not having all concession stands open for a sold out crowd was a bad bad idea. The concession stand line on the east side took folks literally a full quarter to move through. Having the other east side concession stand closed is manageable when the east side is only half to 2/3’s full. But yesterday is a sellout with PLENTY of new fans in the stands. If we want them to return stuff like this shouldn’t happen. The workers who were working were incredibly friendly and they moved as quickly as the system would allow them to. I just wish we could find a solution to this problem.

Rave: The Jackrabbit defense came to play yesterday. I was honestly concerned about this UND offense but they were completely stifled. The Jacks allowed just 2.6 yards per carry and 166 yards passing with 48 yards coming from the UND backup in garage time and probably another 30 from Schuster as UND tried to score before the end of the first half. Truly a strong effort by the entire defense!

Rave: I loved the pre-game atmosphere again! Tailgating has become AWESOME. Friends who haven’t been to an SDSU game in years were again amazed at how much it was grown, how full the backyard feels, and just the overall atmosphere.

Rave: Speaking of new fans… It is terrific to have so many new people excited about Jackrabbit football. I’ll admit that last year I was a bit annoyed about all of the fair-weather fans claiming tickets for Frisco. However, the fact that so many have returned for home games this year is pretty dang cool.

Rant: I don’t love the effort I saw from some of the 2’s on defense to close out the game. Pretty poor tackling attempts and not hustling were two of the things I noticed. Jimmy talked about it in his post game chat and I’m sure it will be addressed this week with the team.

Rave: I thought the defensive line really stepped up and made Schuster uncomfortable throughout the game. The Jacks had their first two sacks of the year (Bock and Cade Terveer) but I thought overall the pressure was better. I also thought Quinton Hicks played an awesome game. My favorite play is how he read the screen pass when UND had a line of blockers setup. If he doesn’t make that play, UND has a big gain. Q finished with 2 solo tackles and a TFL and a QBH.

Rave: Tucker Large continues to impress as a punt returner. Yes, he had the fumble that was negated by an early whistle but he immediately made up for it with a phenomenal 51 yard return down the sideline. I felt bad for UND because it should have been their ball in plus territory but that is just the way it goes sometimes. If Tucker keeps this level of play up in the return game, he will be an All-MVFC selection.

Rave: I just want to reiterate how good I thought the Jackrabbit defense was yesterday. They held Bo Belquist to 4 receptions for 23 yards. This is one of the best wide receivers in the MVFC this season. Yes, the secondary was a little grabby and was called for 3 pass interference penalties but overall it was just a ridiculously good effort by the defense.

Rave: Angel Johnson and that speed. Yeesh!

Game Balls

Offense: Isaiah Davis but the #605Hogs were a close second

Defense: Adam Bock

Special Teams: Tucker Large

Go Jacks!

Matt