The Game, Frisco, TX, May 16, 1 pm CDT

[Jackedforlife]

Forecast is low to mid 70s with 10-15mph winds and chance of rain/thunderstorms. Humidity forecasted to be around 80%. Probably as good a forecast that our team could ask for.

[JackJD]

I hope the grass field holds up well in rain. I think none of the guys on the current roster played on the old Coughlin Alumni Stadium grass (I suppose it is possible some played a high school game on the grass at Coughlin).

This message board has been pretty quiet for a board of supporters of a national-title contender heading to the championship game in four days. The Jacks fans I have close contact with are prone to keeping fingers crossed, holding their breath, knocking on wood, and avoiding anything remotely connected with adverse superstitious behavior including making predictions and talking too much about the game. At the same time, I think the fans who have closely followed this team's development, particularly since the UND loss (when I think our youth caught up with us) are confident the Jacks will win in Frisco but, in true South Dakota fashion, we don't want to appear too confident. Reminds me of a baseball team's dugout appearing to be oblivious to being up 3-0 in the eighth inning of a perfect game.

I don't believe in superstitions. We're going to win.

[GoJacks2011]

Anyone else have difficulty focusing and waiting for Sunday? As quickly as I hope Sunday comes, I’m also intrigued by the short turnaround time for our team. Typically I think there is at least two weeks between the semifinals and finals.

[JackJD]

Anyone else have difficulty focusing and waiting for Sunday? As quickly as I hope Sunday comes, I’m also intrigued by the short turnaround time for our team. Typically I think there is at least two weeks between the semifinals and finals.

Yes.
We need to do this (championship game) a few times and get accustomed to the experience.

[AZjack]

After being at the game on Saturday, the one thing that Gronowski needs to do is get past his first progression. There were several plays where a tight end was wide open for a huge gain and he didn't look his way. He was keyed in on a Janke and missed the big play opportunity. If he can make that read a little quicker this week, Sam Houston is going to have a hard time stopping that tight end pass.

[LetsGoRabbits]

i like the confidence JJD!! and i DEFINITELY agree with you that we ARE the better team. as i said before, however, i think it is close enough that i definitely cannot make any guarantee about a one game scenario.

that said the two teams have one common opponent and i think it is VERY safe to make comparisons based on the outcomes of the two games against the bison. going forward the bison definitely deserve LOTS of respect, i hope everyone around our program is a long long way from taking wins against them for granted and is ready for them to come out like a champ who plans to show the world that they are still the champ next fall!!!

for this year, however, we thoroughly dominated the bison, and would have been even worse if not for the one drive they had gifted to them by the officials! shsu on the other hand was quite fortunate to come away with a win, despite holding the bison offense very much in check.

against the bison D
jacks averaged 6.6 yards/ rush
kats 2.9 yards/ rush

jacks averaged 10.6 yards per pass attempt and about 14.9 yards per completion
kats 6.1 per attempt and 9.1 per completion

total yards against the bison
jacks 456
kats 313

total yardage allowed is about a difference of 15 yards in the kats favor, but i already mentioned the one drive. and the jacks only gave up 97 yards on the ground, while kats gave up 139

anyway as a coach i try to be careful about putting too much weight on comparison of opponents, but i do think this particular opponent is pretty relevant and provides a solid measuring tool. i am not going to go a lot further at this time but this is not the only evidence that the jacks are the better team

all that said it is very obvious that shsu is a very good football team and due LOTS of respect!!! if the jacks do not take care of business and do their jobs one play at a time, shsu is beyond capable of making them pay, and if they allow them to establish momentum it could be a big challenge to get it turned around

[mitchellrabbit]

[QUOTE=GoJacks2011;n515879]Anyone else have difficulty focusing and waiting for Sunday? As quickly as I hope Sunday comes, I’m also intrigued by the short turnaround time for our team. Typically I think there is at least two weeks between the semifinals and finals. [/QUOTE

not Sunday, how about Friday. I want to get on the road. The week is dragging

[jakejc795]

After being at the game on Saturday, the one thing that Gronowski needs to do is get past his first progression. There were several plays where a tight end was wide open for a huge gain and he didn't look his way. He was keyed in on a Janke and missed the big play opportunity. If he can make that read a little quicker this week, Sam Houston is going to have a hard time stopping that tight end pass.

I'd be curious how much of that was due to Gronowski and how much was due to him acclimating to a defense he wasn't overly accustomed to. Kunz and PSJ were tied for second-leading receiver (one fewer reception than Janke)

I'm also not sure the Jacks didn't pull back once the win was assured rather than running up the score and/or revealing schemes they may employ during the championship

[jakejc795]

I hope the grass field holds up well in rain. I think none of the guys on the current roster played on the old Coughlin Alumni Stadium grass (I suppose it is possible some played a high school game on the grass at Coughlin).

This message board has been pretty quiet for a board of supporters of a national-title contender heading to the championship game in four days. The Jacks fans I have close contact with are prone to keeping fingers crossed, holding their breath, knocking on wood, and avoiding anything remotely connected with adverse superstitious behavior including making predictions and talking too much about the game. At the same time, I think the fans who have closely followed this team's development, particularly since the UND loss (when I think our youth caught up with us) are confident the Jacks will win in Frisco but, in true South Dakota fashion, we don't want to appear too confident. Reminds me of a baseball team's dugout appearing to be oblivious to being up 3-0 in the eighth inning of a perfect game.

I don't believe in superstitions. We're going to win.

I've wondered about this too, as I know times I've checked the scores in years' past, the field conditions looked less than ideal at times (to the point of being mentioned in a Wikipedia bullet point)

I believe this will be the sole game either team will play on natural grass during the Spring season, so hopefully Jacks are prepped with multiple cleat options

[Bearkats94]

One thing I wish the NCAA would do is open up the hold stadium. Texàs opened up everything a few weeks ago but the NCAA still wants to control it. Several people have email our governor to see what he could do. It would be great if we could pack the stadium with Bearkats and Jackrabbits. I want be able to make the game in person. I will have to follow it on my phone while in my tractor. Hopefully it will be a great game with everyone walking off the field with no injuries. This Bearkat team has almost gave me three heart attacks. These comebacks has be crazy. Like one old man used to tell me you keep playing until the fat lady sings. So be ready for a full 4 quarter game. I may have to put my doctor on speed dial for this one. Because I think these two teams are mirror image of each other. Have a safe travel down here.

[jakejc795]

I'd be interested in Sam Herder's rationale for saying Bearkats have edge at QB, as Gronowski's thrown one-third the number of interceptions and has markedly better QBR (101.76 versus 96.69).

I also wonder if he'd have given Jacks DBs the nod if INTs weren't in Jacks' favor (assuming he'd make the argument that the Jacks allowing reduced receiving yardage per game was influenced by Valley offensive propensities)

Lastly, for some reason Dinkel's not listed on the NCAA site among punters, but I believe both punters have the same percentage of punts inside the 20 [40 percent (10 of 25 versus 14 of 35)], so that advantage seems marginal, and the 'Kats' return advantage isn't overwhelming, as the argument could be made that Meachum has the edge in KRs at least

[jakejc795]

One thing I wish the NCAA would do is open up the hold stadium. Texàs opened up everything a few weeks ago but the NCAA still wants to control it. Several people have email our governor to see what he could do. It would be great if we could pack the stadium with Bearkats and Jackrabbits. I want be able to make the game in person. I will have to follow it on my phone while in my tractor. Hopefully it will be a great game with everyone walking off the field with no injuries. This Bearkat team has almost gave me three heart attacks. These comebacks has be crazy. Like one old man used to tell me you keep playing until the fat lady sings. So be ready for a full 4 quarter game. I may have to put my doctor on speed dial for this one. Because I think these two teams are mirror image of each other. Have a safe travel down here.

How would you ensure fair ticket allocation, as it's highly likely at this stage that tickets purchased would be SHSU fans?

[AZjack]

I'd be curious how much of that was due to Gronowski and how much was due to him acclimating to a defense he wasn't overly accustomed to. Kunz and PSJ were tied for second-leading receiver (one fewer reception than Janke)

I'm also not sure the Jacks didn't pull back once the win was assured rather than running up the score and/or revealing schemes they may employ during the championship

Maybe, but he missed Heins a few times when he targeted Janke, also missed Kunz in the left flat on a Janke incompletion. Eck needs to make his TE a primary read on some of these routes instead of a Janke. SH will be shading the Jankes hard, will leave tight ends open.

Also need to break out the Goedert TE screen to Kunz or Kraft in this game. It will be open against SH. Love Mark, but he is a freshman and doesn't get to his 2nd or 3rd read very well yet.

[JackJD]

...Hopefully it will be a great game with everyone walking off the field with no injuries.... Like one old man used to tell me you keep playing until the fat lady sings. So be ready for a full 4 quarter game.... I think these two teams are mirror image of each other....

Hi, Bearkats94: Agreed on all of the above. I think the outcome of this game is uncertain until less than two minutes remaining.

[jakejc795]

Maybe, but he missed Heins a few times when he targeted Janke, also missed Kunz in the left flat on a Janke incompletion. Eck needs to make his TE a primary read on some of these routes instead of a Janke. SH will be shading the Jankes hard, will leave tight ends open.

Also need to break out the Goedert TE screen to Kunz or Kraft in this game. It will be open against SH. Love Mark, but he is a freshman and doesn't get to his 2nd or 3rd read very well yet.

The Jankes' speed is underrated, so I'd love to be in the film room to hear where either/both fell in progression "tree." I won't argue that the Jacks have talented TEs, but when the defensive backfield is cluttered (as the Hens' alignment sometimes had it), perhaps the thought was that Jankes' bursts/quickness could provide greater separation and/or reduce chances of INTs.

For as much criticism as Gronowski is getting for progression, shouldn't we also acknowledge his lack of regression in the form of INTs, fumbles, etc., particularly recently in games on the biggest stage?

Random question, but did you happen to catch what caused Heins to go down well after a play nearer Hens' sideline?

I noticed him on the field well after a play, but I didn't see much contact, and I believe he got back up after a couple minutes, although trainers did go out to check on him.