Gotcha. Have you seen Pavitt? I really like the Jr Wr they have. Nunnally. He’s a matchup nightmare at 6”4 with his speed. Only a jr too. Happy for sac state.
Sac state
- Thread starter larry legend33
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Gotcha. Have you seen Pavitt? I really like the Jr Wr they have. Nunnally. He’s a matchup nightmare at 6”4 with his speed. Only a jr too. Happy for sac state.
Yes. I was at the game Friday vs Piner. Best throw was when he hit Nunnally in stride 50 yds downfield on the 74 yd TD. It was a next level throw
I watched the live stream Austin Peay came to play and did so with high intensity
Definitely, for sure.
It appeared as if AP was better prepared and coached. However, the Hornets played w/o their top receiver Pierre Williams, one of their top o-lineman Nick Bianco, and their top RB Elijah Dotson — which surely hurt.
Losing three top offensive players will stifle a lot of teams. Dotson actually played, albeit very sparingly, but wasn’t really included in the game plan.
Making matters worse was that their QB Kevin Thomson hasn’t been right since suffering injury back in October. He ended up with decent looking numbers at the end of that playoff game and even against UCD but if you’ve watched him the entire season it’s easy to see he wasn’t close to the same player he was back in October. His accuracy and decision making was sporadic to say the least.
Same applies to the Hornets defense. Sans one really good performance, they began to decline after the Montana and Poly games.
No disrespect to Austin Peay, but I don’t believe they beat the Sac State team from back in October. The Hornets have thoroughly beaten better teams than AP (UM, MSU) — which I believe will be proven true this SAT when Montana State takes out AP, probably by a few scores.
But, unfortunately, that team was nowhere to be found last weekend. Or really even since late October.
IMO injuries played a big part in it, but I also believe once enough film on the Hornets made the rounds, their opponents were able to take many things away. The injuries just exasperated the situation.
Defensively they had a lot of flaws that were being masked via smoke and mirrors. Andy Thompson did a great job with his schemes and protecting flaws. But opponents eventually caught on.
They just need more talent. But the recruiting benefits from this season are looking good so far.
All in all, it was a superb season for Sac State and something they should be able to build from.
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Thanks for the breakdown. Definitely a good season for a first year staff.
I’ll be very surprised by that. MSU has been one the hottest team in FCS. They annihilated a very good Montana team and just destroyed their first round opponent. They’re also playing at home, which is a tough place for road teams to win.
Vegas has MSU favored by 6.5 ... but I like them to win by double digits.
Again, I contend Sac State beats AP by a couple scores back in October.
That certainly was a chink in the armor. Not a great performance. But they’ve been really good since.
In fact, I was dreading the Hornets having to play them again had they got past AP. Cause I don’t think they could beat them with current personnel and the way they’ve been playing. Turns out SAC couldn’t even beat AP, so I suppose I was right.
MSU got the double digit win I predicted. 24-10. Could’ve been worse though.
No disrespect to AP, who had a fantastic turnaround. But I just knew it was a case of Sac State being banged up at key positions and just not playing well overall rather than AP being all that great.
As I suggested, the Hornets beat better teams earlier in the season.
I’m actually surprised Montana lost to Weber in a very low scoring game after completely destroying them several weeks earlier. That was a surprise.
But the Big Sky has 2 teams into the semifinals so I’ll be rooting for them both to represent.
I though AP looked way bigger n faster at the skill positions then Sac St did.
Great job by the Sac St staff this yr.
Great job by the Sac St staff this yr.
That’s pretty easy to do when the other team is minus their top 2 offensive play makers and a top lineman, don’t ya think?
Reverse the table and have Sac State at full strength and AP minus 3 offensive starters including their top 2 playmakers and how do you think they’d look?
The other overlooked factor is that Kevin Thomson never was the same player post injury.
I have no doubt the October version of the Hornets beat that AP team by double digits. They beat better teams than AP by double digits, including Montana State who just beat AP by 14.
I followed the FCS fairly closely and predicted MSU to win by double digits. AP was no better than a middle of the pack Big Sky team.
Not to make excuses for AP but I think the long travel affected them, they looked like a tired team to me.
Watch "2019 NCAA FCS Championship Quarterfinal - Montana vs Weber State" on YouTube
He has a lot of games on his channel.
He has a lot of games on his channel.
I agree that injuries are huge. I am saying that was not an upset. Sac St looked small and slow with the guys on the field.
Sac St had a hell of a yr. They need to get faster and bigger. They have guys playing skill positions that dont match up. Their WR is very good and Dotson is a stud. They had guys who did not touch the ball for a month be #1 and #2 options on offense that game.
I hope Sac St grabs some local guys, plenty of locals can and want to help that program.
I can buy into that. Travel is tough on any team. Especially multiple weeks of it.
But I still contend that MSU and Montana are better teams. And not just barely.
Oh, I get what you were saying. I just figured that most here didn’t see 12 of their 13 games as I did. It was very clear Sac State wasn’t the same offense after Thomson’s injury and then the losses of Pierre Williams, Elijah Dotson and Nick Bianco. Williams and Dotson were arguably the biggest playmakers on either team.
The defense didn’t have the same excuse. I think that side of the ball had several weaknesses that were covered up early on by the play of the front 4 and creativity from DC Andy Thompson. They just wore down by season’s end and the backend was exploited.
I suppose my main point was having seen all these teams a few times, AP was more on par with Eastern Washington and UC Davis in the Big Sky rather than MSU and UM. The latter were a notch or two better.
And Sac State beat those teams when fully healthy and playing well. When they weren’t as healthy or playing well, they should have lost to NAU and struggled with UCD for a large part of the Causeway. They were two totally different teams.
I mentioned that too. Totally agree. Big reason why I believe the defense was further exploited as the season wore on.
But it ain’t the reason their offense struggled against AP.
FWIW, it looks like they put together a nice recruiting class so far. Today was a nice day for them. Hopefully they land a few more along the way ending in Feb.
I’m really impressed with MSU’s improvement over the course of the season. Think they’ve been the BSC’s best team the past month or so. Call me crazy, but I like their chances against NDSU, who struggled to beat Illinois State last weekend.
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