The Jackrabbits played a really solid game to come away with a ranked win over Youngstown State in their MVFC opener.  Was the game perfect?  Nope.  YSU is a very good team and they are certainly capable of forcing the issue and making a team play less than their full potential.  Was SDSU the hammer for a majority of the game?  Absolutely.  The Jacks winning this one 27-20 is just the first step in a very tough MVFC but it is a very very important win.

Rants & Raves

Rave: I was unable to attend due to work commitments for my small town festival Applefest.  However, the Midco broadcast with Tyler Merriam and Kurtis Riggs was again excellent.  We say this every year but as Jackrabbit fans, we are so blessed with such a high quality production.

Rave: The “whiteout” looked really good on TV and the crowd was loud.  The student section and Pride of the Dakotas was given a shout out multiple times by Tyler.

Rant: Crowd shots during the broadcast still showed a lot of fans sitting on their hands during key moments in the game and not participating in the noise making.  C’mon folks, get with it!

Rant/Rave: I received a few reports that traffic was pretty tough leaving the parking lots.  We’ve become a bit spoiled with this as fans are able to leave early for a majority of the home games over the past few years.  Traffic isn’t an issue.  Fans have also been grumbling more about “cupcake” opponents.  It’s hard to have it both ways folks! Stay for a good game and then just listen to the postgame show with Scotty Kwas as you make your way out of the parking lots.

 

Rave: As for the action on the field, the Jackrabbits dominated in the trenches for a vast majority of this game.  The #605Hogs and tight ends were incredible, paving the way for a rushing attack that churned out 308 yards on 45 attempts (6.8 ypc)!  We thought YSUs defense may have been weak against the run and that was certainly the cast.  The Jacks also allowed ZERO sacks.

Rave: The #Chaingang came in with an excellent plan to contain Brungard’s legs.  He had 13 rushing attempts for just 32 yards and a long of 11 yards and they werew able to sack Brungard twice.

Rave: Josiah Johnson was the star of the game however.  He had 238 yards and a pair of touchdowns off of 30 attempts on the ground.  Josiah seemed to really be seeing the field well with many of his long runs being patient one cut and go types.

Rave: I loved that the game started with a pass to Lofton O’Groske.  He has been quiet so far this year as he works his way back from injury.  Keeping him involved until he’s fully healthy is important in my opinion.  He finished the day with 7 receptions for 94 yards.

Rant: The Jacks still weren’t great on 3rd down, going just 4 for 12.  Luckily they were 2 for 2 on 4th down.  This needs to be an area of continued focus.

 

 

Rave: However, I did think the Jacks were better in short yardage this week.  I thought using Goose on the FB dive early was creative and a good way to utilize him.  Again, the tight ends and offensive line were blocking their tails off.

Rant: Speaking of the tight ends… they disappeared from the passing attack again this week.  I just don’t get it. We have the two best tight ends in the MVFC and we go games without getting them involved.  How?

Rave: HUGE shoutout to the team for really keeping a level head and winning a response for most of the night.   YSU was playing like this was their first big game (because for many on their roster it is).  I’m sure YSU will be better with it in future contests but for much of the first half, they were simply too juiced up.

Rant: I was disappointed in the fumbles by Corey Blair (as I’m sure he is too).  One is forgivable but two in a game is rough.  He’ll learn from it and be better going forward too.  I’m glad the Jacks won this game because the fumble going into the endzone which would have made it 14-0 Jacks would have been all anyone would want to talk about.  Luckily, the Jacks won.  No harm, no foul and Corey can learn from it.

Rave: Chase Mason played maybe his best half of collegiate football before getting injured.  Before going out he was 9 of 13 for 137 yards and also had 45 yards and 1 TD on the ground.  He was playing fast and confident and was making some A1 throws.  Hopefully he is okay and we see him again yet this season.  Coach Jackson sounded better in the press conference than he did in his interview going into halftime.

Rave: I’m really happy for Joe Ollman.  His interception was setup by a Bergan Tetzlaff tipped pass but Ollman still had to make the play on the ball.  Ollman has been a good teammate still with a reduced role and has played hard while on the field just a year removed from being a captain and leading tackler for the Jacks.  His teammates appeared genuinely happy for him as well.

Rant: I’m a bit concerned about our ability to cover the running backs in the flat and on checkdowns.  This has caused issues against both Northwestern and YSU.  I know we are doing this vs.  allowing the big play so it’s hard to complain too much about it but woof does it get frustrating.

Rave: Greyton Gannon has improved so much as a blocker.  We know what Gustad and Kuntz can do as run blockers but Gannon seems to have made an incredible jump in this area.  I think Eidsness is really helping him out allowing him to gain some momentum by putting him in motion before asking him to block.  Seems to be working.

Rant: I hate the kick out of bounds.  I know I probably have to take the good with the bad but that is maybe my least favorite play.

Rave: I thought there were two drives where the Jackrabbit defense was on skates but overall I thought they played really well.  When you are playing against a player the caliber of Beau Brungard, that is just going to happen.  He still got his yards through the air but the Jackrabbit defense made it really really tough.  Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the opponent for the plays they make.  He has an incredible connection already with the transfer Lynn Wyche-El.  The duo connected 7 times for 114 yards and 1 TD.

Rave: I love who Grahm Goering has become in this offense.  When we first saw him it was with the Jankes and the coaches seemed to use him as the speed guy on the outside.  Grahm struggled with his hands at times too.  However, he has become a possession type receiver now who is able to make some really tough catches across the middle of the field and off of a variety of routes.

Rave: The hit Reis Kirschenman laid on Brungard to start the second half was impressive.  He rarely gets hit like that as he is so good at getting down or getting out of bounds.  That one was jaring.  It’s good to see Reis getting back into form!

Rave: His counterpart, Dawson Ripperda continues to make noise too.  There are 3-4 plays per game where Ripp simply dominates.  This defensive end room is just so deep right now too.  Blake Leiferman continues to make plays and Carter Sitzman continues to be a terror on the edge.  These guys aren’t necessarily stuffing the stat sheet but it’s hard to fully measure the impact of what they are doing with the pressures, disruptions, and timely big plays.

Rave: I thought the Jackrabbit safeties played an awesome game.  Dontay Johnson, Noah Thompson, Tank Farr, and Amaje Parker combined for 19 tackles!   14 of those tackles were of the solo variety.  Super impressive game from this group!

Rave: I thought Paul Kim had a really nice game at cornerback.  I think I’d like to see him getting a few more snaps.

Rant: After Chase went out, I did think our offense got a little too predictable.  JJ had the drive where he was busting off big runs but then YSU really seemed to be loading the box.  Where was the play action in this sequence?  That would be a perfect opportunity, in my opinion.

Rave: Max Pelham continues to be a weapon. 2 punts for a 47.5 yard average.  So fun to watch him do his thing.

Rave: All in all this was a really good win for the playoff resume.  YSU is  a good team and I hope we never see Beau Brungard against the Jacks again.  He’s just so talented and difficult to scheme up.

 

Game Balls

Offense: Josiah Johnson and the #605Hogs

Defense: Dontay Johnson

Special Teams: Max Pelham

 

 

Go Jacks!

Matt