Yac-kitty– YAC
YAC stands for yards after catch and the Panthers have a trio who can do it very well. UNI wide receivers Weston, Hampton, and McShane are all playmakers with the ball in their hands. Weston has tremendous speed while Hampton and McShane are shifty and hard to bring down in the open field. The Jacks were excellent limiting YAC against WIU. Individually they tackled really well but they also swarmed to the ball as a unit. This will be crucial against UNI because of their excellent athletes.
Stay On Schedule
The Jacks have not been great on 3rd down the last two weeks. Part of the problem is that first and second down have not been going as planned. Part of the problem is penalties. Part of the problem is allowing sacks and pressure on early downs. The Jacks will need to clean up these phases in order to stay on schedule and give themselves manageable 3rd down attempts. Ideally 3rd and less than 4 keeps the defense guessing and keeps the playbook wide open for the offense. We hope the Jacks can improve their early down performance and create long sustained drives that keep the banged up Panther defense on the field.
Sustained and Disciplined Pass Rush
The UNI QB, Theo Day, is known for his strong arm but he is also a capable athlete and can pick up yards with his legs if needed. Against NDSU he had 60 gross yards of rushing and 21 against USD. The Jackrabbits will need to have a disciplined pass rush that keeps him in the pocket and one that doesn’t create lanes for him to escape. The Jackrabbits did a poor job of this against SIU but did a nice job of it against WIU. Day is less elusive than SIU’s Baker but more than WIU’s Sampson. The #ChainGang is banged up right now but the tremendous depth that the unit has will need to still bring the heat and keep Day uncomfortable.
The Kitchen Sink
UNIs defense is good and they play multiple schemes. A few years ago, UNI came out on Hobo Day in a 3-4 defense when the Jacks had worked against a 4-3 defense all week in their preparation (this was before a majority of the MVFC played a 3-4). Now days, UNI plays a 3-4, a 4-3, a 4-2-5, a 4-3 that appears as a 3-4 and many combinations in between. They blitz from all levels, they disguise coverages well, and they utilize players in unusual positions (ex. Christian Jeggen as a rush defensive end). So yes, they throw the kitchen sink at opposing offenses. The Jacks will need to be ready for the unexpected and dominate no matter what UNI throws out there.
The Jackrabbit Tight Ends vs. the Panther Linebackers
The comment was made following the spring game how different SDSUs Linebackers looked compared to UNIs. The Panther backers are more traditional “thumper” types. They are best moving forward and attacking opposing running backs. In the spring game, Zach Heins found space to operate when matched up with these linebackers finishing with 5 receptions for 90 yards. Last week against USD, they allowed 5 receptions to the tight ends for 64 yards (USDs QB was 16/21 for 153 yards on the day). There was also a 20 yard catch for USD that was negated by a penalty. We hope that Kraft, Heins, and Morgan can find some mismatches and create big plays from the tight end position.
Go Jacks!
Ben, Brendan, Chad, Dallas, Kyle, Matt
