Cal Poly Game Thread

[22jack]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

We still have to play UNI, SIU, & Minnesota.

Chalk up UNI and MN as probable losses, so the Jacks need to beat SIU and rest. (MSU, YSU, WIU, NDSU)

Why do you assume that UNI will be a loss? Yes, they are one of the best teams in the country, but I remember two years ago when the number one ranked and undefeated team came to CAS and went home with a L.

[Nidaros]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

Sounds like Crawford's done. That's just terrible. He showed so much character to get himself back after that wrist injury last year. And he played great until his injury.

Regarding TOB: I'll say it again, and I'll probably keep saying it, we have to be patient with him. I've already heard some pretty tough assessments of TOB. Reminds me of how tough we were on another QB who turned out to be pretty good, Ryan Berry. TOB is our QB now, and I'm guessing he's going to get a lot better very quickly. But there'll be some rough patches.

Crawford's injury raises another issue. Do we keep Lee Mondol as our backup, or do we pull the redshirt on Whittier? It'll be interesting to see what the coaches decide on that.

This really sums it up. If we could have matched Cal Poly on turnover points, we might have won by 14 at least. I am not faulting the defense, but this was not a turnover prone team either so thats not saying much. I am sure we will know more about Crawford next week.

[bub94]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

I thought Crawford was having a pretty good season. Too bad this injury could possibly end it. I agree we have to give TOB some time to get situated with running the first team offense and I'm sure our coaches are going to get things worked out.

[JackFlash]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

I don't read these posts as being down on TOB - just the facts. I agree he didn't play badly. The INT that was returned for the TD sounded like it went through Cocharts hands (tough to pick up on the video stream - more on that later) and the fumble in the endzone was due to a poor play call and a missed pickup by Minnett on the blitzing LB. Good play by the LB. Cal Poly found a way (fought harder?) to win, we didn't.

I absolutely know that TOB will get more comfortable as he amasses practice time and PT as the starter. You can see that he has the tools, he just needs the game to slow down for him = PT.

Now, the Cal Poly video streaming needs some serious help. Terrible camera and sound work. Shots were way too tight, late to the ball, ......
Sound was often late coming in after breaks, annoying rewinds and distortion,........ Makes me appreciate the first class job SDSU does on their productions.

[DakotaKid]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

No disgrace in losing to a good team. Like Stig said, we had our chances, and this game could easily have come out the other way if our guys had made one or two more plays, even after Crawford went down.

The goal is to learn and improve every week. Onward!

I fully understand the switching of quarterbacks and Cal Poly being such a good team and all that other garbage. I don't want to take away the good game the players played BUT

I disagree with this same justification every time we lose these type of games. These are the games we need to win if we want to move up on the foodchain. IMHO just accepting this loss and trying to justify it is saying being ok is good enough. (If that is what you want then fine, you got it). I thought one would want to play to win and be the best, not just play a good game against a good team.

I can accept the loss as we pissed it down our leg. But listening to the radio and reading on how it is a good loss and not a big deal just doesn't sit well. No loss is a good loss and they should all be a big deal, enough of the political correctness. Now we have a very very good team coming up in a three weeks. Maybe putting our uniforms on the correct way will be a moral victory for some. I GUESS I JUST DON'T GET IT ! I guess I never had a coach or hang with people who think showing up or doing somethnig ok is good.

Most people may disagree with me so Sorry and thanks for letting me vent.





I respect Cal Poly very much and think Cal Poly is a good team but they are not a great team this year like they have been in the past. Here was a chance the even the series beat a ranked opponent and make a statement but we choked. Plan and Simple. Remember we have the hardest part of the schedule coming up in my opinion.

In play calling, I don't understand why we haven't rushed more in the games then passed this year. I feel our running game is our strength but we tend to pass more then run?

[bigblue]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

If Crawford is out and TOB starts, who is going to be our backup? Will the coaches put Mondol in the backup role to save the redshirt for Whittier? I know this might jumping a bit ahead, but just thought I'd see what everyone's thoughts are.

[jacks1]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

I think we'll be ok also, though our schedule is absolutely brutal from here on out. My only gripe: 1st&10 from own 8 yd line with about 2 min to go and RS Freshman QB in the game and on the road...instead of pass, I'd run Minnet again and again and again and again and again. You get my drift.

[launcher46]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

If Crawford is out and TOB starts, who is going to be our backup? Will the coaches put Mondol in the backup role to save the redshirt for Whittier? I know this might jumping a bit ahead, but just thought I'd see what everyone's thoughts are.

My guess would be that at this point in the season Whittier would be the guy to go in if O'Brien were to go down next week.... now if we are out of playoff contention towards the end of the season and it happens, burning the redshirt obviously wouldn't be worth it. I would assume that as long as O'Brien is starting we will be seeing Mondol in any sort of mop up duty in order to keep Whittier's redshirt intact.

[Kemo]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

I fully understand the switching of quarterbacks and Cal Poly being such a good team and all that other garbage. I don't want to take away the good game the players played BUT

I disagree with this same justification every time we lose these type of games. These are the games we need to win if we want to move up on the foodchain. IMHO just accepting this loss and trying to justify it is saying being ok is good enough. (If that is what you want then fine, you got it). I thought one would want to play to win and be the best, not just play a good game against a good team.

I can accept the loss as we pissed it down our leg. But listening to the radio and reading on how it is a good loss and not a big deal just doesn't sit well. No loss is a good loss and they should all be a big deal, enough of the political correctness. Now we have a very very good team coming up in a three weeks. Maybe putting our uniforms on the correct way will be a moral victory for some. I GUESS I JUST DON'T GET IT ! I guess I never had a coach or hang with people who think showing up or doing somethnig ok is good.

Most people may disagree with me so Sorry and thanks for letting me vent.





I respect Cal Poly very much and think Cal Poly is a good team but they are not a great team this year like they have been in the past. Here was a chance the even the series beat a ranked opponent and make a statement but we choked. Plan and Simple. Remember we have the hardest part of the schedule coming up in my opinion.

In play calling, I don't understand why we haven't rushed more in the games then passed this year. I feel our running game is our strength but we tend to pass more then run?

I agree with most of the stuff said here, as no lose is a good lose and this is definetly a game we should have won, but I always try to keep things in perspective:

Even the team that ends up winning the national championship rarely goes undefeated in the FCS (or the FBS for that matter), as the goal is to be playing your best football at the end of the year (and good enough throughout to be in the playoffs).

The Jacks team tonight that lost was not the same team that dominated the first 3 games, not because we aren't as good as we thought we were, but rather unforseen circumstance in which the offensive leader went down with maybe a season ending injury. It is also unrealistic to think that a RS Freshman, no matter how talented, is going to come into a game with hardly any reps with the first team and the offense isn't going to skip a beat.

I have no doubt we win this game if Crawford doesn't get hurt, but I think we have more than a capable QB to come in and right the ship, but today just wasn't the day. O'Brien gets to settle in the next two weeks (if Crawfords injury is as serious as it looks) and work out some kinks, then it's UNI time, and I think he might surprise some people in that game. A healthy Ryan Crawford is our best QB currently, but I truly believe with some game experience, TOB could be something special.

BTW: I was completely against the Tom Brady rule (hitting a QB below the knees) when it was first announced, but the more I look back on it (Trent Green, Carson Palmer, Tom Brady, now Crawford), I just notice it's almost always season ending when the QB gets hit there when they are in their throwing motion. I think it's probably a good rule overall (though some of the "late hit" calls are still too touchy) and maybe should be implemented in the college game.

[SloStang]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

Great, physical game tonight that could have gone either way. Best of luck the rest of the way. The Jacks are one of my favorite FCS teams. First rate program with first rate fans. I also appreciate that the Jacks continued to schedule Cal Poly after leaving the Great West. I'll be pulling for you to win the Mo Valley and to make a run in the playoffs.

[JackFan96]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

I have a bad taste in my mouth. The two turnovers for touchdows are what have me feeling that way. However, it's not fair to get on TOB. He's had hardly any reps with the first team. Craw had two or three weeks worth before his first game. He needs experience.

Question, since I didn't hear a lot of the game because I was at a wedding: Did the playbook get scaled way, way, WAY back like last year against NDSU when Crawford was in? Maybe that didn't happen, but...you can't...you have to pose some threat. You can't do everything, no, but you have to keep options open. Anyhow, just my opinion.

[mitchell]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

Question, since I didn't hear a lot of the game because I was at a wedding: Did the playbook get scaled way, way, WAY back like last year against NDSU when Crawford was in? Maybe that didn't happen, but...you can't...you have to pose some threat. You can't do everything, no, but you have to keep options open. Anyhow, just my opinion.

It was scaled back like last year. There's a reason why O'Brien averaged 4.5 a completion. The pass plays were for him to hike the ball and than quick sling it to the flats or to hit a WR on a quick slant. Plays where he didn't have to make reads, just hike it, sling it and hope the receiver can break it.

All in all, he did what he was asked to and had good touch on his balls. He was put into a tough situation for a redshirt freshman. The game was our defense vs. their defense and Cal Poly's defense ended up winning.

A lot of season left, but this game would have been huge for giving us breathing room to get into the playoffs. We can only afford two losses now, probably to UofM and UNI. SDSU football has come along way, and now it needs to take the next step and win the big games. I know the coaches and players expect it and won't be satisfied with anything less than the playoffs this year.

[mitchell]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

A couple positives from the game:

Minett moved into 8th place all-time in rushing yards moving past Joe Thorne (59-61) & Paul Klinger (90-94).

Glen Fox moved into a tie for 10th place in career receptions with 113.

Tyrel Kool ran the ball 5 times for 43 yards in his first game seeing extensive playing time.

[KUlawJack]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

I will be honest, I feel sick. Not because of the loss itself, but the way we lost. Maybe I will feel like posting my analysis in the morning (as if anyone really cares what my analysis means) but after this loss I felt like puking. Nothing against Cal Poly, as they are a good program and play good football, but we should have beat the pants off them. Sickening.

Our defense is really really good, I don't care what anyone says, but if we stay so vanilla on offense we can't expect to be an elite team. Just my opinion.

Run the Wildrabbit about 10 more times in the second half tonight and I might not have to be posting right now. I better just stop right here. I am getting myself worked up. Night all.

[Rabbitlivinginverm]

Re: Cal Poly Game Thread

It was scaled back like last year. There's a reason why O'Brien averaged 4.5 a completion. The pass plays were for him to hike the ball and than quick sling it to the flats or to hit a WR on a quick slant. Plays where he didn't have to make reads, just hike it, sling it and hope the receiver can break it.

All in all, he did what he was asked to and had good touch on his balls. He was put into a tough situation for a redshirt freshman. The game was our defense vs. their defense and Cal Poly's defense ended up winning.

A lot of season left, but this game would have been huge for giving us breathing room to get into the playoffs. We can only afford two losses now, probably to UofM and UNI. SDSU football has come along way, and now it needs to take the next step and win the big games. I know the coaches and players expect it and won't be satisfied with anything less than the playoffs this year.

It didn't feel to me that the playbook was scaled back for TOB. I don't really remember Crawford slinging it downfield at all. Most (all?) of his long passes were slants or short passes where the WR broke a tackle. I like TOB. If Craw is out, I think we'll be fine. He just needs game experience and reps with the first team.