Well, that was a heck of a performance. The Jackrabbits went on the road and thrashed the Penguins 34-0. The game was never in doubt. The defense made plays. The offense made plays. Special teams made plays. Lots of “raves” and only a few rants mixed in for this one. This team responded to a game against NDSU where they didn’t play their best with maybe their most complete performance of the season.

Rants & Raves

Rant: I was straight up wrong about YSU’s offense being able to score some points on this defense. In all fairness, YSU did come into this game averaging 35 points per game and the fewest they had been held to by FCS competition was 19 in the previous week. My revised pick of a 41-17 game that was made Friday morning was still too high! However, I was flat-out wrong and I need to start believing in this defense!

Rave: Mark Gronowski finally had a game where he was able to showcase his arm talent. Mark went 19 of 28 for 295 yards and 3 TDs. Really a great performance from Mark and he didn’t need his own runs or to get hit first to get dialed in. He just was!

Rave: Hypothetically, if Mark HAD needed to get hit first to get dialed in, we may have been in trouble because the #605Hogs were all about keeping him clean! Zero sacks and just 4 quarterback hits allowed against a defensive line that came in with 29 sacks is an impressive showing by the #605Hogs. On the ground, SDSU finished with 166 yards (5.7 ypc). Excellent work because the YSU defense was allowing right around 91 yards per game previously.

Rave: Jadon Janke had a HUGE game and he continues to make his case for an All-MVFC selection after missing the non-conference portion of the schedule. He finished with 7 receptions for 166 yards and 2 TDs.

Rave: The Florida men on defense have really stepped up over the last handful of weeks. Zach Wilson, Brian Williams, and Matt Durrance have all put in the work and the Jackrabbit defense is reaping the benefit now. Wilson and Williams have played some really good football the past few weeks even if it doesn’t show up in the stat sheet all the time. Durrance appears to finally be healthy and he is starting to pop both on defense and on special teams. His size/speed combo makes him unique and it is starting to show out there.

Rant: Yesterday’s ref crew was suspect but 12 penalties for 119 yards are again unacceptable after they have been trending in the right direction over the course of the last few weeks.

Rave: The Jacks were 4 for 4 in the redzone again on offense and also forced the Penguins into going 0 for 3. The Jacks won’t lose many games playing like that.

Rave: It was great getting the tight ends involved in the passing game! Zach Heins had 2 for 29, Mike Morgan had 2 for 27, and Kevin Brenner picked up a 3rd down with a 15 yard catch and rumble. It was great to get these guys the ball!

Rave: The Jackrabbit defensive line answered the call and created 3 sacks, 3 quarterback hits, and 1 tipped pass. This Jackrabbit defense is tough to do anything against when the #ChainGang plays like this.

Rant: Let’s shelve the double pass for the year. It’s just not working.

Rave: Time of possession was exactly what we wanted… 33:31 good guys, 26:29 Penguins.

Rave: That Griffin Wilde (GFW) is pretty good, huh? Oh, Dallas.

Rave: Hunter Dustman broke his streak of successful field goal attempts but how about that punting??? He had a 53 yard average on 3 attempts. He’s really really doing well right now and should be in the conversation for All-MVFC punter.

Rave: Ryan Van Marel blocks another kick. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Rave: The secondary did a phenomenal job against YSUs talented trio of wide receivers. The Jacks completely took Bryce Oliver out of the game and he had just 3 receptions for 21 yards. Tomczack and Charleston combined for 6 receptions for 79 yards. Just a superb effort by the secondary!

Rave: Great to see Randy Keumogne. out there running around! He could be a difference maker as a pass rushing specialist to finish out the season!

Rave: Kentrell Prejean recorded his first reception of his career. The freshman playmaker is going to be a good one so keep your eyes on him, Jackrabbit nation!

Rave: Name a better trio of linebackers in the FCS than Bock, Freeman, and Stalbird.

Rave: Congratulations to this team for winning the MVFC outright for the second consecutive year.

Game Balls

Offense: Mark Gronowski

Defense: Secondary

Special Teams: Griffin Wilde

Go Jacks!

Matt