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Week 3 - #8 Sac State at Stanford

H

HornetFootballFan

Active member
Solid W. Kaiden B really showed his leadership in the game. He has really developed well. I still hope to see they have special things ready for Stanford. We might not have as much time in the pocket,.
Hoping KB can have some good “roll out” plays to buy himself more time. Few Screen Plays and maybe a Flea Flicker? A Camp to Bennett at WR toss make Stanford Defense have to worry about being burned by a deep ball.
Stanford got lit up by USC. I doubt they will be taking us lightly. I think they will bring 🔥🔥 for TT this coming weekend.
 
The big question is what do we have that Troy doesn’t know. We are still running Troy’s playbook because it’s what Bobby and Kris helped him develop over the years.

Troy will also have to come up with some tricks as what I have seen Stanford run is identically to the packages he first installed at Sac State when he got here. I’d like to think we have a slight execution edge offensively and a small edge defensively knowing what he likes to call.

This one comes down to health/depth and probably four big plays either way. If this line is anything more than 17 points, I’ll get a charter bus to take everyone to Tahoe to be it.
 
If our O Line & D Lines match up well. Then I like our chances.

Deshawn Lynch getting pressure on QB, Special Teams could be the factor. Punting in game 1 was awesome.
Congrats KADEEZY. Those tix rock
 
I just hope it’s a good game. An upset would be super, super nice but I’m not expecting it. Stanford may not be a good P5 team, but they aren’t exactly Colorado State from last season either.
 
For people that are going to the game, where are you tailgating? We are driving ourselves, but it would be nice to be near friendlies. According to the CardBoard, Lot 4 seems to be favored by visitors. Does anyone know where the busses will be parking or have experience from the last time we played there?

https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net/sidearm.nextgen.sites/gostanford.com/images/2022/8/3/F22_Parking_Map.jpg
 
Stanford out right away today with their game notes, showing the struggling/injured Ashton Daniels as QB1, no "OR." It would not be surprising to see this be a bit of gamesmanship from TT, and to see Oak Ridge product Justin Lamson start instead... Lamson spurned a Sac State/TT schollie and opted to go to Syracuse, then transferred in to Stanford.

I think our biggest challenge will be containing the Stanford run game. TT knows that's a weak point of our defense. If he risks slinging the rock like crazy, it's not unlikely that we'll be able to luck into bad throws or snatch up a couple INTs. I think he'll want to get their superior OL rolling with his stable of backs, primarily EJ Smith, who's started off slowly...

I think the Hornets keep in close-ish, but lose 38-24.
 
Week 3 - #8 Sac State at Stanford

The Hornets (2-0) hit the road to face off with the soon to be former Pac 12 Stanford Cardinal (1-1, 0-1 Pac12) and former Hornet Head Coach Troy Taylor in their home opener. It will take some time for Coach Taylor to stock up with talent to get his new program where he wants it to be, but there is still plenty to work with against the Hornets. Stanford opened up the season with a well rounded 37-24 win at Hawaii and then took a beating in Los Angeles against a 6th ranked USC, 10-56, this past weekend.

The Cardinal under Troy Taylor are running the same offense we witnessed first hand here at Sacramento. Same formations, same plays so we can expect to see the motion fly sweeps, curls into the gaps in the zones, read options, short yardage power formations and the like in this one. Two quarterbacks have seen action, but I am not sure of that is due to injury as Ashton Daniels (27/43, 267 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT, 14 car, 51 yds) started both games but Justin Lamson (8/18, 121 yds, 16 car, 36 yds, 1 TD) saw the bulk of the action this past weekend. The top receiving target is future NFL tight end Benjamin Yurosek (13 rec, 192 yds, 1 TD) who will be a matchup nightmare for the Hornet defense. Nine other players have at least one catch with John Humphries (5 rec, 71 yds, 1 TD) being the most prominent of the bunch. In the backfield, running back Casey Filkins (11 car, 130 yds), is a solid runner alongside EJ Smith (9 car, 64 yds, 1 TD, 3 rec 18 yds) who is coming off of a season ending injury from a year ago.

Defensively, the Cardinal run a 4-2-5 and have had their struggles thus far in the season. Hawaii was able to move the ball with their run and gun offense, and to the surprise of no one the Trojans completely steamrolled this defense behind Heisman hopeful Caleb Williams. Safety Alaka’i Gilman (12 tak) leads the defense in tackles with linebacker Tristan Sinclair (11 tak, 1 TFL) anchoring this unit. Defensive end David Bailey (9 tak, 4 TFL, 3 sac) has hounded opposing quarterbacks all season. The Cardinal defense has yet to force a turnover this season.

On special teams Stanford’s kicker Joshua Karty (4/4 FG, 5/5 PAT) is one of the best in the FBS and punter Connor Weselman (8 pnt, 50.1 ypp) has a booming leg as all but 2 of his punts have been over 50 yards. Stanford has only returned 3 kick-offs and 1 punt on the season so there is not much to comment on there.

Position Advantage
  • Quarterback: Cardinal. If healthy, Ashton Daniels will be the best quarterback on the field.
  • Running Backs: Cardinal. Casey Filkins and Marcus Fulcher are very comparable, but the edge goes to Filkins.
  • Wide Receivers: Push. John Humphries will be the best all around receiver on the field, but the Hornets are more proven as a group. Hard to give the nod in either direction.
  • Tight Ends: Cardinal. Benjamin Yurosek is a tougher match up than Marshel Martin, but not by much.
  • Offensive Line: Push. Hard to get a read on this one. I think both lines will perform well enough to allow their respective offenses to operate efficiently.
  • Defensive Line: Cardinal. Stanford’s lineman have more sacks against tougher competition.
  • Linebackers: Hornets. The stats indicate that the Hornet linebackers are better at finding the ball.
  • Defensive Backs: Hornets. The Hornet secondary has made more plays on the ball compared to the Cardinal secondary. However the Cardinal secondary looks to play the run better than the Hornets.
  • Punters: Push. Connor Weselman has a bigger leg but Cal McGough has pinned opponents deep in their own end every time he’s been called upon this season.
  • Kickers: Cardinal. A proven kicker in Joshua Karty vs an unproven kicker in Zach Schriener.
  • Kick Returners: Hornets. Elijah Tau-Tolliver is the better returner, largely because Stanford’s return game has been non-existent so far this season.
  • Timeout Usage: Hornets. No explanation needed.

This will be an emotional game for many, and it is a winnable game for the Hornets. However, I think Stanford will have enough to get by the Hornets in this one. While the Hornet offense should be able to move the ball against the pedestrian Cardinal defense, I think the Cardinal offense will have enough to give them the edge, especially if Ashton Daniels is healthy. Unfortunately, I think our 21 game regular season win streak will come to an end.

Stingers Up!

Stanford at Hawaii Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4V6WE6klHQ

Stanford at USC Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV2zZuZu9sM
 
Two-Deep notes are posted: https://hornetsports.com/documents/2023/9/12/SACNores091624.pdf

-No more "OR" for Kaiden Bennett

-Marshel Martin is listed as an OR this week with Charlie McBride to mess with TT

-Richardson starting at G again for Kendell Riley - his injury must be serious (pectoral?).

-No Pollard at NB, O'Hara OR Gavin Davis-Smith.

-Kiley listed as KO specialist. He was last week too, but pretty it was Schriener shanking the KOs OB.

All things considered, we look to be going into this matchup fairly healthy. I am hoping holding Martin out last week was a precaution and that we can see the KB to MM connection go wild Saturday.
 
Kadeezy said:
Two-Deep notes are posted: https://hornetsports.com/documents/2023/9/12/SACNores091624.pdf

-Richardson starting at G again for Kendell Riley - his injury must be serious (pectoral?).

-No Pollard at NB, O'Hara OR Gavin Davis-Smith.

-Kiley listed as KO specialist. He was last week too, but pretty it was Schriener shanking the KOs OB.
Click to expand...

I came here to talk about these three things.

No Riley, no Meek on the depth chart -- with no Stiefel yet -- we may have some major depth concerns on the o-line. We have a big room - but first off the bench now are some guys with very limited game experience. The left side is solid. The right side are talented guys - but they haven't been in this big game situation yet. I have a feeling we will see a ton of Charlie McBride and Austin Jarrard in to block on Saturday - which may limit what we do out of empty. We ran plenty of two RB against Commerce - I think we might see one back sets with two receivers and two tight ends a lot if Marshel is healthy enough to go.

Pollard being OUT is not good for this team. O'Hara has yet to dress - so I don't know about this. Gavin started last week but had never played the position in a game - and has last week of practice basically as his first walkthroughs in it.

Keily got benched in the first half -- he was the first kick out of bounds and then had a poor kick right after it. He gets it in the air and has a monster leg -- I think it was a straight benching - he had his helmet on the whole second half. We need him as Zach just doesn't have the big leg -- but seems to be a very talented place-kicker.
 
Local CBS13 preview, kinda…

https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/video/sac-state-football-gears-up-for-big-game-against-stanford-1/
 
Good chat with Jett Stanley on the podcast. Mentioned Jordan left the team to pursue an internship with their dad's construction company -- sounds like he was working all morning/day and going to school at night for a bit. Now back playing football.

Played clips from the Taylor presser that we all have probably heard at this stage (most of the same ones from the CBS13 story above).
 
Does anyone know if the team will bus to Stanford and spend the night in a hotel Friday? I hope they are, I’m always wary of same day travel and play with regard to sluggishness, injuries, etc. Hopefully we can afford it to have a stadium walk around 5:00 tomorrow, walkthrough and meetings in a ballroom later on…
 
Joe D. article in today's Bee mentions the team staying Friday night in San Mateo. #StingersUp

https://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/article279337754.html
 
Will be one heck of a game! The Execution will be the difference maker in my opinion.
Our teams continuity and success should give them the resilience to make this game exciting and very competitive.
https://www.youtube.com/live/v2j50YGSGPI?si=szhFJRDfptqoEK5T
 
Hornets going with the storm trooper look with the throw back bug on the helmet tomorrow. :thumb:

https://twitter.com/SacHornetsFB/status/1702440349535252821
 
So in what may be foreshadowing (I hope) - the social media graphic posted for the game features one Troy Stiefel. Could our (arguably) best player be back in this one?
 
stingthemgood said:
So in what may be foreshadowing (I hope) - the social media graphic posted for the game features one Troy Stiefel. Could our (arguably) best player be back in this one?
Click to expand...

Hope so. He’s been a huge loss. Hope Marshel is back too. They really need him.
 
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