Georgia Southern

[Nidaros]

Re: Georgia Southern

MJA:
After reading your excellent recap post of the game, I attempted to click the legal symbol for rep points, and the system told me to spread it around before I did that again. None the less, your post was helpful to this alum who never played football, who has no idea on what going on in the dressing room at half time. I dont know if I can add anything that has not been said. I just hope the Jack Nation turns up in droves on Oct 20, and cheers on the Jacks against Cal Poly.

I also thank the GSU fans who have come on here and expressed their opinions and told us we are not that bad of team. Maybe better than a 2-4 record. Just think how they feel after having 6 national champs won, and then coaching changes start to affect their program. Maybe after we get one flag, we might start to understand their point of view. I think GSU has a dandy of a coach in Chris Hatcher who was very successful at Valdosta State before going to GSU. The guy is a winner and when the GSU team comes to Brookings in 2009, we can expect a tough battle again. Playing GSU is much more fun than what I had ever thought. I honestly did not think we could play them close.

I still remember talking to Fred maybe 4 or 5 years ago when I heard we were trying to schedule GSU. I indicated that we must be little hungry taking a big bite out a big apple, scheduling GSU. He told me in order to be the best we had to play the best. I hope the SDSU vs GSU series continue.

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: Georgia Southern

Great Post, Great Analysis MJA! But save the trip for two weekends, the Jacks have this one off and then they will be laying the smack on Poly.
I wouldn't want you to show up and have no-one to tailgate with, but if you do, I know you know people in SF and B-Town that would come out and have a cold one with ya, game or no game!!

Go Jacks!!

Good call Propar. Would have made for an awkward drive home. Problem is I'm not going to be able to come back that weekend. Man, I'm bummed. I even talked one of my co-workers into making the trip with me. Guess it'll have to be SUU or NDSU.

[Rabbitlivinginverm]

Re: Georgia Southern

I am seriously contemplating making a cannonball-run back to SD (leave for Brookings Friday after work, return late Sat night/early Sun Morn) this weekend to catch the game because I think we're going to put the smack down on Cal Poly.

I made a cannonball run to Denver yesterday to watch my Broncos get their asses handed to them 41-3. Up at 5 am, on the road at 6 am home just before 1 am this morning. That loss, coupled with the heartbreaker in Statesboro has me in a foul mood today. Only good things about the weekend are 1) Red Sox swept and 2) at least I'm not a Yankee fan.

MJA, if you make the run, enjoy the game and have fun dodging deer on your drive home

[propar80]

Re: Georgia Southern

Good call Propar. Would have made for an awkward drive home. Problem is I'm not going to be able to come back that weekend. Man, I'm bummed. I even talked one of my co-workers into making the trip with me. Guess it'll have to be SUU or NDSU.

That's too bad MJA. The "Miller/DeSmet Mafia" tailgating spot is missing it's favorite Millerite alum. No worries though, Stein and Stein Jr. haven't made a game yet either!
Hope to see you for one of the last games in November!!

Go Jacks!!

[Killem]

Re: Georgia Southern

MJA:
After reading your excellent recap post of the game, I attempted to click the legal symbol for rep points, and the system told me to spread it around before I did that again. None the less, your post was helpful to this alum who never played football, who has no idea on what going on in the dressing room at half time. I dont know if I can add anything that has not been said. I just hope the Jack Nation turns up in droves on Oct 20, and cheers on the Jacks against Cal Poly.

I also thank the GSU fans who have come on here and expressed their opinions and told us we are not that bad of team. Maybe better than a 2-4 record. Just think how they feel after having 6 national champs won, and then coaching changes start to affect their program. Maybe after we get one flag, we might start to understand their point of view. I think GSU has a dandy of a coach in Chris Hatcher who was very successful at Valdosta State before going to GSU. The guy is a winner and when the GSU team comes to Brookings in 2009, we can expect a tough battle again. Playing GSU is much more fun than what I had ever thought. I honestly did not think we could play them close.

I still remember talking to Fred maybe 4 or 5 years ago when I heard we were trying to schedule GSU. I indicated that we must be little hungry taking a big bite out a big apple, scheduling GSU. He told me in order to be the best we had to play the best. I hope the SDSU vs GSU series continue.

You a much better than "not that bad." You have a very good team. I know it is cliche', but this is the most dangerous 2-4 team we'll ever see. Think of the schedule you have played. This will go a long way to making you a perennial powerhouse for a long time.

[JackFan96]

Re: Georgia Southern

I say unprepared to play because I don't know how else to define it. It could be mental, physical, game strategy, I don't know, but in looking back at last season and this season to date, I am referring to how many times we've shown up flat and gotten behind big:

1) Last year's season opener ... three points the entire game ... against a Division III team ... and Wisconsin LaCrosse played on the same sloppy field as we did and still managed 17 points.

2) Last year against Montana ... 36-7 ... not ready to go ... yes, I know Montana is a very good team, but should we lose to them by 29?

3) Last season vs. Cal-Poly ... fall behind 28-6 before getting things shored up and having to storm back for a win.

4) Last season vs. Cal-Davis ... down 21-7 at the half ... had to dig out of another big hole for a victory.

(NDSU got up 10-0, but that doesn't make the list. And, I guess, there wouldn't be a list if this didn't happen regularly. Obviously, there will be times when you fall behind at the start of a game, but ... it seems to happen too often.)

5) This year's season-opener against Western Illinois ... the second straight opener where we didn't seem ready to go ... only two field goals until the tail end of the game.

6) The Youngstown State game ... 17-0 hole in the first half before getting fired up.

7) Saturday ... we get down 31-7 and again need to pull out all of the stops to get back in it and lose a heart-breaker.

Sure, I'll grant changes have been made in games ... adjustments, etc ... to get us back in them. But by the same token, why do we always fall so far behind? It's not like we haven't played these teams/seen tape on our opponents, so I don't know what else to think. This week, fine, a lot of mistakes ... the fumbles coaches can't control, etc. ... but that leaves six other games to say nothing about the Northern Iowa games where we've shown up and played strong early only to be dominated in the second half. I'm not trying be a jerk, but you wanted to know what I mean. Look how often this has happened. If there's an explaination, I guess I'm open to it. But it just seems like we're often not ready to go once it kickoff time comes. I don't deny the competition is good, but some consistancy is needed to compete with these schools on a regular basis. Our Georgia friends who have posted on this board all say they're in a down year ... we certainly could (should?) have won ... if not for another disasterous start.

**sigh** That's all I've got.

Ok, I'll ask you the same as I asked earlier, define "Unprepared to play" in this case. Its real easy to throw darts, back up your claim.

[trueblue]

Re: Georgia Southern

I usually agree with most thing you say regarding football, particularly since you are a former player, but I have to disagree with you on this issue. For instance, Coach Stig is the special teams coach as well as the head coach. I mean really, how many big time college programs have the head coach coaching special teams? SDSU has 7 coaches, I know that may be more than what we had in D-2, but really I know of high school programs in the Bay Area that have more than 7 coaches. Take De La Salle High School for instance, they have 13 coaches on staff for football. DLS has won many national titles and recently had a winning streak of over 100 straight victories. I'm sure that if Stig was offered more coaches, he would take it in a heart beat.

Now we also have to be realistic, because everything costs money. We are still in transition and just got to 63 scholarships. I agree that getting to 63 scholarships is more important than adding coaches, but I think adding coaches is the next thing that needs to be upgraded. The last thing will be the facility upgrades. To me, Coach Stig gets a free pass for a few more years because he does not have a full deck of cards to play with at this time. I still think the program is on track for being successful but we still have a ways to go in adding coaches and upgrading the facilities. We all need to take a deep breath and wait a few more years before we can really judge the program.

Go State!!!

Just to state a fact- I know (off the top of my head) of one head coach who coaches the special teams and that is Frank Beamer at Va. Tech. Is Stig coaching special teams out of necessity or because he wants to?

[footballfan]

Re: Georgia Southern

Actually...I think Rob Sarvis is the special teams coach this year









Go Jacks !!!!!!!!

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: Georgia Southern

I say unprepared to play because I don't know how else to define it. It could be mental, physical, game strategy, I don't know, but in looking back at last season and this season to date, I am referring to how many times we've shown up flat and gotten behind big:

1) Last year's season opener ... three points the entire game ... against a Division III team ... and Wisconsin LaCrosse played on the same sloppy field as we did and still managed 17 points.

2) Last year against Montana ... 36-7 ... not ready to go ... yes, I know Montana is a very good team, but should we lose to them by 29?

3) Last season vs. Cal-Poly ... fall behind 28-6 before getting things shored up and having to storm back for a win.

4) Last season vs. Cal-Davis ... down 21-7 at the half ... had to dig out of another big hole for a victory.

(NDSU got up 10-0, but that doesn't make the list. And, I guess, there wouldn't be a list if this didn't happen regularly. Obviously, there will be times when you fall behind at the start of a game, but ... it seems to happen too often.)

5) This year's season-opener against Western Illinois ... the second straight opener where we didn't seem ready to go ... only two field goals in regulation.

6) The Youngstown State game ... 17-0 hole in the first half before getting fired up.

7) Saturday ... we get down 31-7 and again need to pull out all of the stops to get back in it and lose a heart-breaker.

Sure, I'll grant changes have been made in games ... adjustments, etc ... to get us back in them. But by the same token, why do we always fall so far behind? It's not like we haven't played these teams/seen tape on our opponents, so I don't know what else to think. This week, fine, a lot of mistakes ... the fumbles coaches can't control, etc. ... but that leaves six other games to say nothing about the Northern Iowa games where we've shown up and played strong early only to be dominated in the second half. I'm not trying be a butt-head, but look how often this has happened. If there's an explaination, I guess I'm open to it. But it just seems like we're often not ready to go once it kickoff time comes. I don't deny the competition is good, but some consistancy is needed to compete with these schools on a regular basis. Our Georgia friends who have posted on this board all say they're in a down year ... we certainly could (should?) have won ... if not for another disasterous start.

**sigh** That's all I've got.

I think those are all excellent questions that anyone who has followed SDSU football has asked themselves at one time or another. I wish I had an answer as to what the problem is. Unfortunately, I don't. I will say this, though. We're going to lose some games. It's always disappointing to lose. There is always a reason why when you lose a game. It doesn't make it easier to swallow, but it helps answer the "why" question. It seems like our "why" is that we are a slow starter. If pressed I would say that unfamiliarity would play a large part in placing blame.

Alot of the teams you listed above were teams we'd never played before. Most of those teams employ a style of play very different than the old NCC stallwarts. Also, getting film on new teams for film study is harder than you would think. In the NCC, the agreement was everyone shared film. Outside of that, you were left calling ex-opponents hoping for some help. Most of the ex-opponents aren't exactly happy about sharing film because they don't want some school from SD making their conference mate or whathaveyou look bad. Add to that that the team may have completely changed their offensive gameplan (see GSU and 4 offensive changes in 4 years) and you may be able to explain our slow starts on some of our losses.

Now, my explanation completely ignores that our opponents were under the same circumstances when preparing against us. That's why it's hard to know what the final reason is. Talent level definitely plays a part, coaching plays a part, road v. home game plays a part, weather plays a part...there are multiple factors involved. I will say that I share your frustration as I'm sure do all Jacks fans. But, I still like what I see out of our team this year. I feel more confident about our team this season than any season I can remember. Regardless of our record.

[SD-STATE]

Re: Georgia Southern

Actually...I think Rob Sarvis is the special teams coach this year









Go Jacks !!!!!!!!

That's right, I think Stig only helps with the Safties.