GDT: Drake Bulldogs

[CappinHard]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

I thought Nelson looked better this week than he did in his first start.

Nope.

[jakejc795]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

I tried to Nelson the benefit of the doubt last week but he was awful today. There pass catchers open everywhere. He missed Kunz and Hart on easy TDs, Fumbled in the red zone again, and left numerous receivers out to dry across the middle and high.

I don’t understand the criticism of the secondary. Most of the yardage came from the TE. He was dang good and our LBs couldn’t keep up with him. Not having Levi Brown or Griff available to matchup with him hurt. The #605Hogs are playing really inconsistent from snap to snap. I’m nervous for MVFC play if they don’t find some consistency.

Pretty sure Seven Wilson was blitzing on one of their intermediate to long-yardage plays, so I think at least one was just a gamble that didn't pay off. Another sideline pass (on their sideline), I believe it was in 2nd half, had Backhaus in almost perfect position; if he'd have turned his head a half a second sooner, he'd have had a sure INT or PBU.

Speaking of defensive speed, Tolu's closing speed continues to impress me. I recall at least one play where he ran across formation to stop a run play in direction of Jacks sideline to hold Drake to minimal gain.

[jakejc795]

Re: GDT: Drake Bulldogs

I don’t know what to think of this Drake team. If they lost to Iowa State last year 27-24, what happened there? They go the length of field to score their only TD with passes to apparently an unstoppable TE. The head coach was a former coach at a respectable D2 program Saginaw State. Surely on paper, being non-scholarship, they were out manned, but they found ways to hang with a team with 63 scholarships for most of the first half. I think our guys had their work cut outI for them. Jimmy and Berge got some work a head of them namely stopping a TE. You can bet SUU will try to run that TE pass play. We seem to be very vulnerable. I think Goon asked a good question in he wondered why we felt like we were loosing. Also we should have PineBluffed them. We run up some scores but maybe not to day. We just cannot take this Pioneer League for granted. I think the ISU blue Coach would agree with me. I am glad the Drake Series are over. Like Sienfeld clip posted at the start of the thread “Everyone hates Drake”. Very fitting.

Cates is on reportedly on NFL teams' radar, and I'm not sure how many TE's they'll see who run 4.7 40s and have competed in weight throw in track in offseason. Actually sounds like he initially thought he'd be a track athlete in college, but first article I linked to indicated visit during which he stayed with Eric Saubert (currently with Raiders) helped sell Cates on Drake

[JacksBacker]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Not sure about everyone else but I have a lot in my mind before and after this game. First, I was talking to some fellow Jacks fans at tailgate and, I get the fact that scheduling is a tough but how can we not get an Eastern Washington or a Jacksonville State to agree to a home and home with us in the non conference? I can't imagine it would hurt either of us. I understand we want as many home games as possible, but personally I'm tired of seeing lesser programs at DJD in the non conference. I would much rather see our Jacks have a contested game with a top 25 team at least every other year. Even if we take a loss, these cupcake games don't do us any good if we aren't good enough for the playoffs anyways. I know the mvfc schedule alone helps our schedule and playoff position, but a real pre conference schedule could maybe even boost attendance a little. When people see #3 vs #5 or #10 they say "hey that might be a game worth going to." Am I right in thinking that .. probably not. But I know the die hards would much rather see a competitive game besides a 40-10 route. Maybe I'm way off base here and everyone is fine with our schedule, but after today I'm just getting bored of this non conference slate.
Onto the game. Idk where the team from game one is.. maybe it's just as simple as getting Gibbs back, and I hope that's all it is. Or maybe it's the fact that we are overlooking these "cupcake" teams and not getting hyped up for them, but goodness our offense looks stale. Sorry, I'll get off my soap box. Glad the Jacks are 2-1, in a good position with one game to go before the conference games start. I hope Gibbs is recovering and back soon! On a high note, Cade Johnson is really good and fun to watch. Go Jacks!

[jakejc795]

Re: GDT: Drake Bulldogs

My questions from today.

- How can it be so hard to have more concession workers/stations?

I was a bit surprised to see a couple of the concession lanes closed on east side when we walked in, but the three Mechanical Engineering students who were working the ice cream concession stand deserve kudos for their customer service. It can't be easy slinging all that delicious ice cream and not being able to enjoy it on a hot day; nevertheless they gave exemplary customer service.

[Nidaros]

Re: GDT: Drake Bulldogs

II

Cates is on reportedly on NFL teams' radar, and I'm not sure how many TE's they'll see who run 4.7 40s and have competed in weight throw in track in offseason. Actually sounds like he initially thought he'd be a track athlete in college, but first article I linked to indicated visit during which he stayed with Eric Saubert (currently with Raiders) helped sell Cates on Drake

I did not consider the fine track program at Drake. Cates is a very good athlete.Thanks for the link.

[Nidaros]

Re: GDT: Drake Bulldogs

I was a bit surprised to see a couple of the concession lanes closed on east side when we walked in, but the three Mechanical Engineering students who were working the ice cream concession stand deserve kudos for their customer service. It can't be easy slinging all that delicious ice cream and not being able to enjoy it on a hot day; nevertheless they gave exemplary customer service.

They seem to have plenty of help in Club 71, maybe some should be sent over to the east side. That is an Aramark problem. They have the big food contract.

[SteelSD]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Not sure about everyone else but I have a lot in my mind before and after this game. First, I was talking to some fellow Jacks fans at tailgate and, I get the fact that scheduling is a tough but how can we not get an Eastern Washington or a Jacksonville State to agree to a home and home with us in the non conference? I can't imagine it would hurt either of us. I understand we want as many home games as possible, but personally I'm tired of seeing lesser programs at DJD in the non conference. I would much rather see our Jacks have a contested game with a top 25 team at least every other year. Even if we take a loss, these cupcake games don't do us any good if we aren't good enough for the playoffs anyways. I know the mvfc schedule alone helps our schedule and playoff position, but a real pre conference schedule could maybe even boost attendance a little. When people see #3 vs #5 or #10 they say "hey that might be a game worth going to." Am I right in thinking that .. probably not. But I know the die hards would much rather see a competitive game besides a 40-10 route. Maybe I'm way off base here and everyone is fine with our schedule, but after today I'm just getting bored of this non conference slate.
Onto the game. Idk where the team from game one is.. maybe it's just as simple as getting Gibbs back, and I hope that's all it is. Or maybe it's the fact that we are overlooking these "cupcake" teams and not getting hyped up for them, but goodness our offense looks stale. Sorry, I'll get off my soap box. Glad the Jacks are 2-1, in a good position with one game to go before the conference games start. I hope Gibbs is recovering and back soon! On a high note, Cade Johnson is really good and fun to watch. Go Jacks!

Boy, be very careful complaining about the schedule here! I lamented this joke of a non-con schedule and got the “but the MVFC grind” story. Well, has anybody looked at the results so far and seen how weak the MVFC is in the middle/bottom right now? I’m just wondering if we lose a few and are on the bubble for a seed or to even get in and have the try and answer the “who have we beaten” question. With a straight face I mean. This schedule is a fricken joke.

And how toast are we if Nelson has to play in a game that actually means something? I’m hoping Hunter has
more because Nelson is going to get our receivers killed.

End of rant....

[CappinHard]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Boy, be very careful complaining about the schedule here! I lamented this joke of a non-con schedule and got the “but the MVFC grind” story. Well, has anybody looked at the results so far and seen how weak the MVFC is in the middle/bottom right now? I’m just wondering if we lose a few and are on the bubble for a seed or to even get in and have the try and answer the “who have we beaten” question. With a straight face I mean. This schedule is a fricken joke.

And how toast are we if Nelson has to play in a game that actually means something? I’m hoping Hunter has
more because Nelson is going to get our receivers killed.

End of rant....

1. Originally we only had one "cupcake" on the home slate, but we were gifted another one at home. The amount of people I've seen complain about getting a free home game is incredible.

2. It's all about D1 wins. Go look at any other top team's OOC schedule and you'll find 2 "cupcakes", usually an FBS game and then a decent OOC opponent. Our decent OOC opponent this year is SUU, which turned out to be not that good this year, but you have no way of knowing that when you schedule it so far in advance.

3. It feels worse this year because it's a 12 game regular season, where as most years we only have 11 games with 3 OOC games instead of 4.

[jakejc795]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

Boy, be very careful complaining about the schedule here! I lamented this joke of a non-con schedule and got the “but the MVFC grind” story. Well, has anybody looked at the results so far and seen how weak the MVFC is in the middle/bottom right now? I’m just wondering if we lose a few and are on the bubble for a seed or to even get in and have the try and answer the “who have we beaten” question. With a straight face I mean. This schedule is a fricken joke.

And how toast are we if Nelson has to play in a game that actually means something? I’m hoping Hunter has
more because Nelson is going to get our receivers killed.

End of rant....

It's difficult to complain about this game though, because it was part of a multi-season agreement (and it was supposed to be played there). Another way of looking at situation is that this schedule allows Gibbs to heal and some second-string players to get valuable playing time. Let's see how next couple games go.

Do Butler, Delaware State, Dixie State, and UC-Davis in upcoming seasons impress you more?

If you look at NDSU's schedule, there's a fair amount in common with Jacks'.

[jakejc795]

Re: GDT: Drake Bulldogs

They seem to have plenty of help in Club 71, maybe some should be sent over to the east side. That is an Aramark problem. They have the big food contract.

Oh, I wasn't complaining. We get there early enough to not have to fight concession lines. The student workers yesterday were entertaining, and the three of them seemed to have their "service system" down. They'll likely make fine engineers

[Nidaros]

Re: GDT: Drake Bulldogs

Oh, I wasn't complaining. We get there early enough to not have to fight concession lines. The student workers yesterday were entertaining, and the three of them seemed to have their "service system" down. They'll likely make fine engineers

In all fairness to Aramark, it is hard to calculate where to staff. As far the as scheduling, it is not easy. There are a number of East Coast schools who refuse to come to Brookings. They don’t care how glamorous DJD may be.

[Jacked_Up]

Re: GDT: Drake Bulldogs

Upon further review, my only significant complaint about Saturday is that I lost the lottery. It was a great day at the Dana. Tee-shirt weather. No rain. Most highways leading to Brookings were open. The crowd of roughly 11,500 was festive. The band's performance and student turnout were really good. The Jacks won big and played a lot of guys. And the outlook for the rest of the season is positive.

[THE PRIDE IS BACK!!!]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

On the subject of scheduling, let's face it, nobody wants to come to the Dakotas. We hear fans, players, and coaches complain about it in the Summit League. We hoped our nice, new stadium would attract some new opponents, but they still have the same opinions of our state. Quality opponents usually mean teams that have been in the FCS for decades, and I can guarantee some of those places think they are too good to travel to South Dakota (or North Dakota.) Our continued success doesn't help if teams are worried about a loss. Some would take us in a game in their place, but don't want to make a deal to return the favor and come to Brookings. I think we've had this problem with Montana who we can't get to come to Brookings but would take us at their place.

[SteelSD]

Re: Attendance & Alcohol

On the subject of scheduling, let's face it, nobody wants to come to the Dakotas. We hear fans, players, and coaches complain about it in the Summit League. We hoped our nice, new stadium would attract some new opponents, but they still have the same opinions of our state. Quality opponents usually mean teams that have been in the FCS for decades, and I can guarantee some of those places think they are too good to travel to South Dakota (or North Dakota.) Our continued success doesn't help if teams are worried about a loss. Some would take us in a game in their place, but don't want to make a deal to return the favor and come to Brookings. I think we've had this problem with Montana who we can't get to come to Brookings but would take us at their place.

Really, good teams don’t want to come to the Dakotas? The Bison just had a game this year with traditional power Delaware and had Eastern Washington in Fargo just a couple of years ago. Heck, UND was just able to get traditionally strong Sam Houston State to play in Grand Forks. You’re really going to tell me that good teams are avoiding the Dakotas?