The Jacks went down to Vermillion and came home with a 24-17 loss to the Coyotes. The team visually looked better than they did last week against against Indiana State. However, there was just too many mistakes and too much undisciplined play for the team to win. The Jacks now find themselves in a really tough spot with with two weeks to play. They have to win to get to that 8 win mark and get into the playoffs. The time is now!
Rants & Raves
Rant: I don’t have an official count but the Jacks missed a ton of tackles on Saturday. LJ Phillips is an impressive running back but I know we have some really good defensive players as well. The team has struggled with this a couple times this season and Saturday was a bad day for it to happen again!
Rave: Jack Henry has been billed as more of a running quarterback but I think that is doing him an injustice. The kid can really sling it! He ended the day 13 for 24 for 139 yards and 1 TD and 1 INT. I wish we would have allowed him to throw the ball a bit more on vertical routes and seam routes after seeing him rip a few throughout the game. I think he has a bright future for the Jackrabbits!
Rant: The #chaingang has been the best unit for the Jackrabbit defense for most of the year. They create a fair amount of chaos with the games the play up front (loops and stunts). Yesterday, that seemed to really bite them in the butt as the USD offensive line used the movement of the #chaingang against them and completely washed them out creating massive lanes for LJ Phillips and the other Yote backs. The group ended with 2 sacks and pretty good pass rush but USD ending with 175 yards rushing is just too much.
Rave: The color rush uniforms were awesome! I’m happy both administrations listened and that the MVFC leadership approved it.
Rave: We’ve been waiting for our Jack Smith breakout game and yesterday appeared to be that day! He ended the day with 3 carries for 82 yards including a 75 yard scamper on the games opening play! He also caught 6 receptions for 61 yards as it appeared the Jacks were making a concerted effort to get him the ball.
Rant: The ESPN announcers were terrible with their pronunciations and just general lack of knowledge about the programs.
Rave/Rant: The offensive line played a much better game in the pass game allowing just 1 sack. I thought Kenyon BigBow really played a nice game overall at right tackle. However, the run game was still an absolute struggle and I think it was really evident in comparison to the USD offensive line where guys were being physically displaced. There just doesn’t seem to be much movement or at least a consistent push in the run game.
Rave: In a game feature the two best punters in the MVFC, Max Pelham “won” the head to head matchup. On 4 punts he averaged 50.2 yards with 3 punts travelling over 50 yards. He is so good!
Rant: The Jackrabbits were called for wayyyyyy too many penalties. The Jacks had 10 penalties for 87 yards and they just came at some awful moments. The offsides were interesting as it appeared like everyone went and the center failed to snap the ball on a few of them. In all fairness, USD had a few false starts too. What bothers me though is the continued undisciplined play and the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. At the practice I was at in August, Coach Jackson railed against this and said that this team wasn’t like teams of the last few years that could overcome these 15 yard penalties by their talent advantage alone. It’s disappointing that this is continuing because I’m sure this has been emphasized.
Rant: The offensive play calling at times was again maddening. I get wanting to protect your young quarterback but at some point you have to see how things are playing out. Henry was playing just fine and seemed to be seeing things well. He was certainly slinging it! Make adjustments more quickly and see what happens!
Rave: I think Myles Taylor did a nice on punt returns this week. He had 2 returns for 38 yards. He’s just a confident playmaker!
Rant: I just railed against the Jacks for being undisciplined but now I want to rant against the referees for not being consistent. The late hit on McShane was not a vicious hit and it appeared that he let up and barely touched the USD player. USD eventually scored. On the ensuing kickoff the exact same hit happened (maybe more violent) to Jack Smith. You either have to call both or call neither.
Rant: The injuries are really stacking up for this team and like we have said all season, the depth just isn’t there. I think the injury to Chase Van Tol has changed the entire complexion of the defense. He’s just an eraser of others mistakes. The injury to Reis Kirschenman eliminated the Jacks most pure pass rusher and missing Mason Brosseau and Aaron Wolfcale yesterday really hurt the chaingang and the Jackrabbit run defense. I think there are other guys that gutted it out yesterday at far less than 100%.
Rant: I am annoyed with our fanbase. Yes, this is the first 3 game losing streak since 2009 but the program is not dead. Far from it. Stay the course! I have full faith that Coach Jackson is going to get this turned around. He had no other choice but to bring in all of the transfers. Some have worked out and some have been flops. It happens and its one of the dangers of having to build your team through the portal vs. just supplementing through the portal! Let’s give him a full offseason with this team and with guys that he is truly getting to know and recruit.
Rave: It was nice to see Julius out there running with some authority and decisiveness in the second half of the game. Hopefully that’s what we see for the rest of the season.
Rave: I have to say this week was the “friendliest” banter I have seen between Yote and Jackrabbit fans. From the Mayor of Vermillion, Jon Cole, joining the Scared Money crew to a beer exchange between avid fans. Yesterday it was a bit surprising to hear of so much hostility between fans in the stadium and obviously the dead rabbit that was thrown on the field before the opening kickoff. This is pretty tame though compared to some of the stuff we saw across college football yesterday though. What a strange rivalry!
Game Balls
Offense: Jack Smith and Jack Henry
Defense: None
Special Teams: Max Pelham
Go Jacks!
Matt
6 Responses
Matt good job as always with Rants and Raves. I wanted to emphasize your point about the SDSU fan base. This team needs our support more than ever. They are playing hard with the personnel they have available. Keep the faith good days are ahead. Go Jacks!
Watching this defense reminds me of my ex-girlfriend.
It’s just non stop getting kicked in the nuts.
I totally agree that with the “Tea Boys” out on defense, the chemistry has changed. The kid from Grand Island did have a much better game yesterday at the Will.
It’s sad when so called Jacks fans are negative as soon as something goes South. I’ve been watching Jacks Football since 1988 and believe me my four years of school were hard to watch sometimes but I will stick with this team just like I have since my college days, win or lose I love the Blue and Gold
Full confidence in Jackson. Perfect man for the job. Dealt a tough hand and the players will be fine. I am not ok with the play calling from our coordinators and the run blocking design is awful. This is wear Dan will have his hands full deciding what is right for the program over, “right” for his relationships with coaches.
Well, it looked like every player named Jack had a good game. Maybe we should recruit more of them.😆
I hear Lamar is going to start looking for more players named Lamar.
Seriously though, there seems to be a lot of undisciplined penalties happening lately. Is it due to youth and inexperience or lack of discipline during the week?
I’m guessing it’s youth and frustration. But there’s still time for the jackrabbits to rally behind Jack Henry. If he would’ve had just a little bit better timing with his receivers, he would’ve thrown too more touchdowns.
I agree with Ryan. We’ve sat together in section 102 for nearly 10 years now and it feels like we’ve reverted backwards in play calling. Our coordinators may intelligent football guys, but they have not been good at calling plays and especially making in game adjustments.