K State/2015 Opener

[yotefan]

Sorry Jack JD. Just logging on after watching the game with friends and family and been away from my computer. Would have told you to go to K-State site and pay $9.95 to watch or would have given you the radio options. Nice win for the Jacks. I welcomed my dad (State grad) to the FBS win club today after getting lots of "Go Jacks!!!" texts during the game. Told him South Dakota schools must have a thing for 41-38 as that was our score against the Minnesota in 2010 too.

Post game thoughts:
In short, we collect a nice check, no one got hurt (unlike 2 K-State starters), we held them to 34 points, we moved the ball well at times, we gave up very few yards off penalties (in fact, far fewer than K-State), and we saw our defense come up big numerous times and force K-State to either punt or kick a FG.

I thought special teams needed work, but they looked improved. Yes, the opening kick-off TD and the fumbled punt return leading to K-State TD shouldn't have happened whether it is K-State or Emporia State. And yes, Bergner's missed 42-yard FG and bad punt hurt as well, but there were bright spots throughout too. Miles had several nice kick-offs and booming punts. We forced a fumble and recovered on a would-be touch-down. Liked that our staff went for first downs when we could have kicked field goals. Thought several times our pass defense was playing way too far off their man and if a few K-State receivers make a catch, this one gets more embarrassing.

On the flip-side our secondary also had some really nice pass break-ups. Thought the run defense looked much improved and several times we put pressure on the QB which we were unable to do last year. #65 from K-State was holding on several occasions that I saw that were never called, one helped spring a guy for a crucial 1st down in the red zone. Thought VanGinkel demonstrated why the coaches are high on him. Was impressed with Gunn (looked super strong when he shook off a tackle and nearly ducked under a guy to pick up a first down late in 4th quarter) and Frederick (deceptive speed on several carries), even in the limited carries they had. Shamar Jackson should have let the kick-off in the second half go through the end-zone for a touch-back. That's youth and inexperience and is also why Frederick was in there the next time to see what he could do. Trevor looked a little timid (understandable), but just seemed out of sync for what we're accustomed to seeing from him. Especially when he accidentally tripped up Saeger when we'd have gotten a first down. He will get there, of that I am certain. O and D line looked really really good IMO and just did a solid job of avoiding the dumb penalties that have plagued us in the past. They were outmanned, but still gave Ryan time to do some things on offense. On defense, they shed blocks and made plays that we just didn't see often enough last year. They kept the field in front of them more often than not and did a nice job of containing for most of the night.

Get back to Verm. Watch some film. Iron out some wrinkles. Get some more imaginative and vertical play calling (seriously, that was too much: run, run, throw and dink and dunk...read as predictable) and get ready for Cal-Davis. Work on getting a solid road Win and come home and get ready for Drake. We could be 2-1 before starting conference play. We have a good, talented team and I am not dis-pleased with what I saw tonight.

[sdyotefan]

yotefan I agree that the Yotes did some good things. And it was the first game playing against a very good K State team that had a huge crowd and we played a lot of young players. We need to strive for more consistency on offense and I agree we need to have a larger variety of plays. It was great to get through the game without any serious injuries. K State will win a number of games this year. They have very solid O and D lines and have some good skill players.

I'm sure bunnytown is soooo excited tonight. Hopefully they remember that they're still number 2 in South Dakota football history having finally beaten a very bad Kansas FBS team which may not win a game this year, five years after the Coyotes beat Minnesota when they had their record setting senior QB!

[oleyote]

What are some thoughts on how Seagar played? All the good teams have good quarterback play. Can he give that to us

[canislatrans]

Liked the OL and DL play as well, given the talent they were playing against. Saw that Iddings was getting doubled still, but it allowed Lage and other playmakers to get pressure, I think progress will be more evident when we're back to FCS level.

I thought Saeger had a decent game, (DBs might be the strength of the KSU defense), moved the ball at times, no INTs, only a few throws that were errant, wasn't quick to tuck and run, which is a sign that he was making reads. I'm anxious to see how he does in next 2 games against our level.

True freshmen playing first D1 games against FBS, is a real challenge, but I thought they all showed signs of why they were in that position.

SDSU won against an FBS opponent,
The Cubs are 20 games over .500 in September
Donald Trump is leading the polls to be President

I've got to stop now just to take that all in.....

[yotemeal]

Sept 5, 2015 21:38:50 GMT -6 yotefan said:

I thought special teams needed work, but they looked improved. Yes, the opening kick-off TD and the fumbled punt return leading to K-State TD shouldn't have happened whether it is K-State or Emporia State. And yes, Bergner's missed 42-yard FG and bad punt hurt as well, but there were bright spots throughout too. Miles had several nice kick-offs and booming punts. We forced a fumble and recovered on a would-be touch-down. Liked that our staff went for first downs when we could have kicked field goals. Thought several times our pass defense was playing way too far off their man and if a few K-State receivers make a catch, this one gets more embarrassing.

Special teams looked improved? Every time our special teams units marched onto the field I looked around for responding FEMA officials. I think our defense showed improvement, and I liked some things we did offensively when our guys were positioned to make plays. But I saw a continued lack of creativity in play calling. Defensive game planning against USD remains an unacceptably simple task.

[yotefan]

Saeger was 18 of 30 for a career best 205 yards passing (will be a short-lived career best I am guessing) and as was stated earlier had no INTs and was cool under pressure. In fact, during the broadcast the announcers made several flattering comments about his command of the field. USD had the same number of first downs as KSU (16), had only 2 penalties to their 8, controlled the time of possession, but only gained 266 yards of total offense to their 332 yards (with several short fields). Here is the USD press release on the game.

goyotes.com/news/2015/9/5/FB_0905154602.aspx

[Cousin Eddie]

yotefan sorry, buddy. You are smoking the green. Special teams was an abomination. But for ST, that margin is HALF.

I liked our PERFORMANCE in the passing game, but our play calling is terrible. Why are we so dang passive? We NEVER attack downfield - FBS team or not.

I like our backs, run blocking was rough, but I also chalk some of that up to play calling. We need to run some power and cut the patty cake zone crap.

I was impressed with the defense. A big question mark entering this game for me.

Overall I can see us winning some games, but missed FGs, shank punts and blown kick coverage will sink us against D-2 schools, let alone FCS.

[yotefan]

Ha! That FEMA comment is pretty funny yotemeal. I know you and USDlaw are frustrated (he and I were texting throughout the game) and rightfully so. I am with you, but if you take away the 2 TDs scored as a result of our special teams mistakes, you'd feel a little better about the game. Throw in FG or two (which we likely could have done if not going for it on 4th down while in range) and life gets a little rosier. Your comment about the play-calling was why I wrote the above as well, "Get some more imaginative and vertical play calling (seriously, that was too much: run, run, throw and dink and dunk...read as predictable)

Read more: usdcoyotesports.proboards.com/thread/1468/state-2015-opener?page=3#ixzz3kxv4eM22."

Don't take my comments as being an apologist, but when you get down to it, this could have been much much worse and despite glaring issues to work out, which are ALWAYS highlighted against FBS opponents, there are things to be optimistic about. No reason we can't take a 2-1 record in to the Youngstown game for D-Days.

[yotefan]

Cousin, you know smoking the green has never been my MO. Not in my job description.

Consider this: Even with the shanked punt, Bergner had 6 punts, with a long of 55 and 2 inside the 20 for a total of 224 yards and an average of 37.3 yards. KSU had 4 punts for 179 yards and an average of 44.8 yards with a long of 53 and only 1 inside the 20. Even with the shank, that isn't bad. We had no penalties and no bad snaps, issues that have plagued us consistently. Also, Shamar Jackson, a true freshman, had 45 return yards, with a long of 21. Against K State.

Those are the bright spots I was referring to on special teams, despite the 2 TDs. We need work, but all is not lost.

[Cousin Eddie]

Sept 6, 2015 8:03:30 GMT -6 yotefan said:

Cousin, you know smoking the green has never been my MO. Not in my job description.

Consider this: Even with the shanked punt, Bergner had 6 punts, with a long of 55 and 2 inside the 20 for a total of 224 yards and an average of 37.3 yards. KSU had 4 punts for 179 yards and an average of 44.8 yards with a long of 53 and only 1 inside the 20. Even with the shank, that isn't bad. We had no penalties and no bad snaps, issues that have plagued us consistently. Also, Shamar Jackson, a true freshman, had 45 return yards, with a long of 21. Against K State.

Those are the bright spots I was referring to on special teams, despite the 2 TDs. We need work, but all is not lost.

Fair enough. But when there are only a handful of plays on special teams, it only takes a one to ruin a game. A KOR for a TD, missed FG from 42 with wind at back, and two net-15ish punts. I can find 17 points there. Half the margin. You can't judge ST on the same spectrum as O and D. Near perfection is essential.

[Cousin Eddie]

FWIW, talking heads have suggested that the KSU group of DBs could be the best that Bill Snyder has ever had.

[Yotes]

I would also hope that we get more imaginative with the play calling on offense, but history suggests that we aren't about to start doing that. I'm just ready for Week 2 so that we can see the Yotes against teams on our level.

[coyotecrazie5]

I watched the game on the KSU website stream, quality was good. Here are my takeaways.
I saw some promise from our effort. KSU is a good team and USD played better than the score indicated. We did move the ball, but kept shooting ourselves in the foot when we had chances to score and break the shutout.
Saeger looked alright. He stayed poised on some plays, then dumped the ball too early feeling the pressure on others. He doesn't have the strongest arm, but I wish they would have taken a few more shots down the field. I was hoping to see Paul Anderson and Carpenter gets some reps at WR. Donovan and Van Roekel are decent possession guys, but would have liked to see some of the younger guys rotated in.
The biggest takeaway is that the KSU line pushed us all over. Our DE's are small and the line did a lot of stunts to try and stop the run, with moderate success. On a lot of our runs we could not get a solid push and the RBs had nowhere to run. Our line got very tired towards the end. KSU had much better depth, which we don't have much of. A 1.7 average yard per run is terrible.
I liked what the secondary did. They made some good plays on balls in the air. There were some breakdowns and wide open receivers, but looked improved.
I liked what some of the freshman showed. Frederick is a taller RB, but has sneaky speed. I think he will be a good player. Nate Gunn is a tall big back as well. He made some nice moves on a few runs. I still think he could be a great MLB/OLB if he were ever moved in the future.
The special teams looked bad. I've never seen Bergner shank a kick or punt multiple times in a game like that. When he did get a good kickoff or punt, the coverage was poor. It seemed like our coverage team couldn't get to the returner before they had a good chance to start their return. Idk if thats from lack of hangtime, speed, or getting hit at the LOS and can't release. We gave up too much field possession on special teams.
Overall, our D looks much improved. If they can keep the other team off the scoreboard, we have chances to win games. I think we should be much more competitive when we start playing teams in the FCS. KSU is a top 30 team in FBS, the Yotes shouldn't be too ashamed.

[ctc2010]

goyotes.com/watch/?Archive=592

Highlights from the K-State game

[Yotes]

Surprised no one has mentioned this yet (it is a bit NSFW), but here is a clip from KSU's marching band performance on Saturday: screengrabber.deadspin.com/kansas-state-band-formation-is-nsfw-1728983145

I can't believe this kind of thing would ever happen in the ranks of the Power 5 conferences. I would be embarrassed if our band ever pulled the same stunt featuring one of our rivals.