Semi Finals vs Delaware 5/8

[bigticket1]

Welcome back!

I just checked the Brookings weather forecast and it seems to be going in the wrong direction. The chance of rain is now 60% (several days ago the percentage was lower) . The good news is the forecast is for occasional showers so it may not be continuous rain! The high temp will be only 48. Wind will be out of the east at 10-20 mph (as someone else noted, a east wind isn't too bad in the DJD Stadium.) I'll be in the stadium wearing raingear suitable for duck hunting.

I think the game has a lot of potential to be a very close, exciting contest. Football fans watching on ESPN and not having a favorite team, will see pretty evenly matched teams and entertaining football. I'm grateful we're not playing on the old stadium's grass -- these two teams would turn that into mud by the third quarter.

Being the homer that I am, I'm calling it Jackrabbits 21, Blue Hens 17.

If you're on the fence about attending--quit thinking about it and go to Brookings for the game.

This morning KELO forecast at total of 0.11 inches of rain for today thru Tuesday for Brookings, so it hopefully shouldn't be more than light showers.

[filbert]

I'm just now regaining my voice from last weekend, plus Snookums has--alternate plans for this weekend (something about her mom being 90+ years old, go figure)--so I have to pass on the Delaware game, but we're going to be in Frisco next weekend. Y'all lose your voices in DJD for the Rabbits!

[jakejc795]

For anyone curious about Blue Hens' mascot origins.

The question now becomes, will "The Birdgade" of Private Poultry, Corporal Doodle-Doo, and Capt. Cluckers make the trip to Brookings?

[HensRock]

Curious about what factor(s) lead you to believe Hens will be more effective passing. Is it primarily QB?

Jake, I took your word and looked up Mark's stats, and I must admit they were better than I thought. I was going more by the eye-test not only on both team's passing offense, but passing DEFENSE as well. I've only seen your 2 playoff games, so I admit my sample size is limited. Your secondary struggled a bit with SIU, but I'm sure your coaches addressed that this week. I thought Henderson might have a edge in accuracy and experience at the QB position. So I went and looked up some stats. If you look at QB Efficiency, QB Completion%, Team Passing Offense, Team Passing Defense, and Team Pass Efficiency Defense, all favor the Hens.

[SteelSD]

Jake, I took your word and looked up Mark's stats, and I must admit they were better than I thought. I was going more by the eye-test not only on both team's passing offense, but passing DEFENSE as well. I've only seen your 2 playoff games, so I admit my sample size is limited. Your secondary struggled a bit with SIU, but I'm sure your coaches addressed that this week. I thought Henderson might have a edge in accuracy and experience at the QB position. So I went and looked up some stats. If you look at QB Efficiency, QB Completion%, Team Passing Offense, Team Passing Defense, and Team Pass Efficiency Defense, all favor the Hens.

It's interesting judging a team or player by a limited sample size, which often leads to errors. If one were to judge the UD passing game (or frankly the offense entirely) only on the two playoff games, well all I can say is Sacred Heart... I could really care less about stats, it's more about progression, especially since we are bringing a freshman QB to the party. I would say from what I can tell is that Delaware probably has the best defense we will see all year, but the UD offense outside of a couple of drives against JSU has looked very underwhelming. However, turnovers, etc. can certainly come into play. So it should be an interesting game and will see how the teams compare and compete on the field.

[jakejc795]

Jake, I took your word and looked up Mark's stats, and I must admit they were better than I thought. I was going more by the eye-test not only on both team's passing offense, but passing DEFENSE as well. I've only seen your 2 playoff games, so I admit my sample size is limited. Your secondary struggled a bit with SIU, but I'm sure your coaches addressed that this week. I thought Henderson might have a edge in accuracy and experience at the QB position. So I went and looked up some stats. If you look at QB Efficiency, QB Completion%, Team Passing Offense, Team Passing Defense, and Team Pass Efficiency Defense, all favor the Hens.

This could be an exercise in futility, but how would you say defenses among CAA vs Valley opponents compare between Jacks and Hens?

I'm biased, but I'd say the Jacks faced stingier defenses than Hens

[HensRock]

Futile. There were so few cross-conference games this year due to Covid. In fact, I think the ONLY game between CAA and MVFC this season was UND @ JMU last week - and Delaware didn't even play JMU! So the data is completely disjointed.

[JACKGUYII]

Delaware didn't even play JMU this year so question level of competition.

[jakejc795]

Futile. There were so few cross-conference games this year due to Covid. In fact, I think the ONLY game between CAA and MVFC this season was UND @ JMU last week - and Delaware didn't even play JMU! So the data is completely disjointed.

Interconference games could actually compromise validity unless the bulk of the games were common opponents.

A point worth considering is even intraconference comparisons would be skewed because of the manner in which the CAA was divided/scheduled. The Jacks played every Valley playoff qualifier except MSU and only lost to UND. Moreover, the Jacks defeated those teams on the road and have a considerably higher SoS than Delaware.

All of this suggests "Hen hesitancy" in citing matchup advantages may be warranted

[HensRock]

I guess we'll know in an hour or two...
Here's to a good, clean, injury-free game!
GO HENS!