NCAA FCS Playoffs Second Round : vs Delaware 12/3

[Mr_Tibbs]

A familiar foe coming to Brookings in 12/3. The Blue Hena have hit a skid at the end of the year, losing four of their last six before their playoff victory over Saint Francis yesterday. UD was ranked as high as 6 early in the year after beating Navy. Nolan Henderson is still in the roster and is the straw that stirs the drink. New Head Coach Ryan Carty was the OC on the SHSU team that beat the Jacks in the finals a week after we beat Delaware, so there should be lots of familiarity. UD has a great defense and very capable offense again, but has been inconsistent and got beat by most of the high ranked CAA teams they played.

I’m sure they’re looking to avenge their 33-3 spring semifinal drubbing. Statistically, this may be a tougher game than our quarterfinal matchup assuming we win on Saturday. But I’m not convinced the Blue Hens are any better than they were in the Spring season. They also had a top 10 D and a prolific, balanced offense on paper that spring. Then they were physically overmatched in every capacity.

Should be a fun one!

[Theee Catrabbit]

Jacks roll in this! Let's start this up! No hand wringing! no "what ifs?" Rabbits are healthy, rested and ready! Jacks keep it close until half to keep the crowd in it(and in the stands), after that it will be a complete confustigation of epic proportions not seen since the gladiator pits of old Atlantis

[salemjack]

I can’t wait. Let’s come out sharp and focused.

[jakejc795]

I can’t wait. Let’s come out sharp and focused.

Dang right -- wish it was Sat. already.

Interestingly, Jacks win would have them facing either Holy Cross (another Spring playoff foe) or UNH (a 2017 playoff foe). Hopefully history repeats itself with any upcoming foes. Regardless, I'll be cheering a Ricola bag's worth of noise when Jacks are on defense

[jakejc795]

Hopefully the Jacks' former teammate Ben Dinkel gets a record number of punting reps in on Sat.

[RahRahRabbits]

A familiar foe coming to Brookings in 12/3. The Blue Hens have hit a skid at the end of the year, losing four of their last six before their playoff victory over Saint Francis yesterday. UD was ranked as high as 6 early in the year after beating Navy. Nolan Henderson is still in the roster and is the straw that stirs the drink. New Head Coach Ryan Carty was the OC on the SHSU team that beat the Jacks in the finals a week after we beat Delaware, so there should be lots of familiarity. UD has a great defense and very capable offense again, but has been inconsistent and got beat by most of the high ranked CAA teams they played.

I’m sure they’re looking to avenge their 33-3 spring semifinal drubbing. Statistically, this may be a tougher game than our quarterfinal matchup assuming we win on Saturday. But I’m not convinced the Blue Hens are any better than they were in the Spring season. They also had a top 10 D and a prolific, balanced offense on paper that spring. Then they were physically overmatched in every capacity.

Should be a fun one!

Thanks, Mr. Tibbs!

Delaware is fresh off their first fall-playoff victory in over a decade (they did win two on the way to Brookings in the spring), and are going to be hungry to prove they belong, and ready to avenge the spring-season defeat. They were one of the final at-large teams to get into the playoffs, seemingly to the surprise of several football talking-heads.

Their marquee win of the year was in week 1, beating Navy 14-7. They lost to playoff participants William and Mary (#5 seed), Richmond (just whooped Pioneer lamb-to-slaughter, Davidson), and Elon (just ousted by Furman). They also had a questionable loss against Villanova, but beat a another respectable playoff bubble-team of Rhode Island. Like Mr. Tibbs mentioned, they have finished their season with a bit of a whimper. They did not play the 5th CAA team in the playoffs, New Hampshire.

As you said, their 1st year head coach was the OC for Sam Houston from 2018-2021. Coach Carty was also the Blue Hen backup QB from 2002-2006, including their 2003 championship team. He was set to take the reigns his final year before being ousted by recent transfer, Joe Flacco... for whatever that's worth.

--------STATS INCOMING------
Henderson is not an overly mobile QB, but will run if needed. They do favor passing the ball, attempting 433 pass plays vs 368 rush plays on the season, averaging 274 yards in the air, and 137 yards on the ground. 29 touchdowns through the air vs 12 on the ground.

Their offensive weapons are quite diverse, with no real superstar that is a statistical stand-out. Their 4 leading receivers, all seniors/graduate students, are Townsend (61 ypg), Pitts (48 ypg), Buckman (37.5 ypg), and Harvin (42.7 ypg). Those 4 attribute for 70% of their receiving yards and touchdowns. 5th year tight end Braden Brose will also be a red zone target. They have a stable of RBs, lead by Kyron Cumby (44.6 ypg avg), Marcus Yarns (35.5 ypg), and Quincy Watson (25.1 ypg). Yarns and Cumby both are receiving targets as well.

They have no kick or punt returns for TDs on the year, with Townsend primarily handling punt returns, and Cumby handling kickoffs. They will be capable of breaking one if special teams makes a blunder, but I wouldn't expect to see any surprises.

They have converted 60% of their red-zone trips to touchdowns, vs SDSU's 73%. Red-zone scoring is only 67% vs SDSU's 96%. Look for them to go for it on 4th down a LOT, and not at an overly successful rate of 15/35, or 43%. For comparison, SDSU is 5/7 on the year on 4th downs.

They're only 4-10 for field goals on the year... No attempts from 50+, 0/3 from 40s, 2/4 from 30s, and 2/3 from 20s. They haven't had a consistent field goal kicker all year. That likely contributes to their trend of going for it on 4th down in the red zone.
----------STATS OVER-------

Blue Hens will be counting on Jacks being rusty and complacent with their extra time off and "expected" easy victory between being the top seed and spring H2H results. I think we know the Jacks won't be taking them for granted, and have the mental toughness to not let any potential early-game Delaware momentum to last through the game. As long as we limit the big plays over the top, the battle in the trenches being won by the Jacks should take care of this game.

Fun fact that I'm sure they're talking about over in Delaware-land... the 2007 Flacco-lead Blue Hens, who also beat Navy, and had a late-season slump losing to Richmond and Villanova -- dominated their round 1 game before taking down #1 overall seed from the MVFC, Northern Iowa in the UNI-Dome, which carried them to a national runner-up finish. Jacks need to take care of business, and put that little repeated Cinderella fantasy to bed!

Go Jacks!

[jakejc795]

Henderson had the third-most interceptions in conference, granted on nearly 450 attempts; however, the argument could be made that he never faced a defense like the Jacks this season (let alone in weather like that forecast for Sat.). He also seems to have an issue with fumbles on sacks and QB runs.

I'm sensing a repeat of the Hens' loss to Richmond with Henderson tossing at least one pick and a combination of him, Harvin, and Cumby coughing up at least two fumbles.

[Jackwagon]

This game is about establishing the line of scrimmage early on both sides of the ball. (Groundbreaking concept, I know) The fact is the South Dakota wind and cold lends itself to bully ball and that’s what we need to do. While I know that there is always a question of “rust” after an extended break and holiday, I think we are still better off because we should be healed up and fresh. I think this will likely be a tougher game than our potential next round as the blue chickens are more physical.
At the end of the day, the Jacks play close the first 1/2 and then open it up and win by 13.

[RahRahRabbits]

After the 5pm deadline today, LOTS of season ticket holders have allowed their seats to go up for sale. Hard to tell what ticket sales are at this point with how spread out the claimed tickets are now - plenty of great seats for very affordable rates.

Would be great to see 8-10k on Saturday... but at this point 4-6k looks more likely... 18 degrees isn't that bad, folks! C'mon!

[Mr_Tibbs]

Let’s hope for a full-ish student section. That’s about the only way I see us breaking 8k. Hopefully it gets better with each round but our playoff attendance is so out of step with what this team deserves. The administration has really made good strides in the regular season attendance, with the help of good weather this fall. Maybe they’ll be able to tackle the playoff issue too, but I’m not sure they’ll be able to do it this December. I’m hopeful that when we are on national TV in two weeks hosting a semi-final, we can get into the five digit range.

[bigticket1]

Let’s hope for a full-ish student section. That’s about the only way I see us breaking 8k. Hopefully it gets better with each round but our playoff attendance is so out of step with what this team deserves. The administration has really made good strides in the regular season attendance, with the help of good weather this fall. Maybe they’ll be able to tackle the playoff issue too, but I’m not sure they’ll be able to do it this December. I’m hopeful that when we are on national TV in two weeks hosting a semi-final, we can get into the five digit range.

Props to President Dunn for providing free tickets to the students.

[da_coach]

In the past, I'd be really worried about this game. But this group just seems to be built a little different. I'm not saying I'm overlooking Delaware, but I just feel confident in the team.

Reading a few things on AnyGivenSaturday, some people said their OLine is the same and/or a bit worse than in the spring season. That does not bode well for them.

Their defense is good. But I suspect, they are going to struggle to get much going. Let's Go Jacks!

[Mr_Tibbs]

In the past, I'd be really worried about this game. But this group just seems to be built a little different. I'm not saying I'm overlooking Delaware, but I just feel confident in the team.

Reading a few things on AnyGivenSaturday, some people said their OLine is the same and/or a bit worse than in the spring season. That does not bode well for them.

Their defense is good. But I suspect, they are going to struggle to get much going. Let's Go Jacks!

I agree with this. I know the coach is different and the revenge factor/familiarity is there for them, but this Delaware team, both statistically and personnel wise, looks the same or worse than the Spring 2021 team. That team was undefeated coming into Brookings (albeit 7-0) with a stud running back. Henderson was hurt early and maybe that made a big difference. But he got hurt because we were consistently getting pressure from the first snap. I think unless their lines have made great strides in skill and/or size, this is going to be a tight game for about a quarter, and we will go into halftime with a 7-10 point lead, opening it up in the second half for a 3 touchdown win. I see this going about like the Illinois State game did two weeks ago.

The Delaware fans like to hang their hat on that Navy win, but 1) Navy is bad, 2) Navy is an option team that is not hard to beat if you play sound gap control defense, and 3) Navy lost like three fumbles to Delaware that game and Delaware won by 7.

I think Jacks by a score of 31-10.

[WestSideRabbit]

Opponent Preview: https://jackrabbitillustrated.com/20...5&preview=true
What to Watch: https://jackrabbitillustrated.com/20...elaware-2.html

[tbcruiser]

Curious, is the Pride allowed to play at the playoff games? I seem to recall some rule that didnt allow it during NCAA championship events (maybe im thinking of something else. )?
They are a major part of the Jacks home field experience in my opinion.