Hawkins weekly press conference scheduled for 1PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anAwqKEd_Fk

Idaho State’s passing leads the conference, but they give up interceptions;(10) and sacks (15).
They average 2.8 yards per rush,
In conference games Idaho State has given up more yards than any other team, and more yards through the air, and have the worst defensive efficiency (opposing qb rating). Opposing rushers average 4.8 yards per carry, which surprisingly is better than three conference teams including Sac State.

Bummer to hear that Connors and Chubba will be out again this week.

Two key players. Hopefully we get them back for SLAC.

Were the injury occurrences to those players visible during the game?

No, both didn’t play against PSU. They must have both been injured at NAU, but I’m not sure.

Weber had a good game plan for ISU. They put a lot of pressure on the QB (7 sacks). Idaho State doesn’t have much of a run game outside of Hayes (QB). Hayes is pretty much a one read guy then looks to run. His most effective running is up the middle and they use some QB draws with him. Cooke (starter) can sling it.

Weber used a 12 package a lot (1 back and 2 tight ends) that served both to protect their freshman QB and to bolster the run game. ISUs defense is suspect and I think a good run game helps to take time off the clock to keep their offense off the field. ISU can score fast - theirs is a high risk-high reward offense that struggles against good defenses.

I think the way to go with the game plan is to be balanced. With Trent and Lan we have a run game that can exceed the 4.8 yards per carry Idaho State is giving up in conference games. I think we’ve settled on a rotation of very effective receivers, and given Idaho States relatively porous pass defense we’d be foolish not to exploit it. Gbatu has been a nice addition. I think we need to assume we will need to put up points and should take an aggressive approach.

The Aggies obviously must win out to have any chance at all for the playoffs. Realistically, even if they beat ISU and then upset Sac, I think our chances to be selected from the bubble teams nationally are slim to none given what we've seen in the past from the selection committee.

If we win out, Sac would then have 4 conference loses to the best Big Sky teams with only Stanford as a signature win and the Aggies' only signature win would then be over a fast fading Sac team. The selection committee showed no respect for the Aggies last year and I don't think they will do anything differently this year even if we win out. The loss at NAU pretty much took us out of the equation.

And we - AD and alums - have to lead?

You may be right but if Davis wins the selection committee might look at Sac as fading, finishing lower in the conference standings, and losing head to head as reasons to pick Davis. There are arguments both ways.

Sac's ranked as high as #7 in the country right now - all based on that Stanford win, because the other quality FCS teams they've played against, they've lost to (sound familiar?)...it's hard not to see a scenario of them making the playoffs, unless it's a very unimpressive performance against Cal Poly. Expecting the Causeway game to be pretty lit.

A nice litmus test will be seeing how UC Davis handles Idaho State - Sac State completely crushed ISU.

Aggies only had 6 wins last year. I'd have to look at the history, but 7 wins seems to be the minimum for at-large selections.

yah. Ags have a better passing game than Weber - Weber even moved the ball against ISU with passing. Defense is the difference - that’s why Weber won. EWU got into a shootout with them and lost but EWUs defense is bad.

In my day, we called the Hornets a lot of things, but I missed whatever post it was when Sac State was being identified as SLAC. What does SLAC stand for?

The joke is that Sac State is full of slackers, so SLAC(K) instead of SAC. I know, not very original. Sounds like something Slack State would come up with. lol.

Finn2 got it. In my era, we always called them slac and it sort of stuck with me. Some folks call them J street or J street tech. Its all just rivalry mumbo-jumbo. You should see what they call us.

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You don't even want to go over to and read about the Causeway on the Hornets forum when the few members they have over there start posting about the game. It gets crude and nasty fast. Heck, they're even nasty with each other over there!

In 2018 we must have benefited from having the Montana AD on the selection committee. He probably attended UCD’s rout of his Griz in Missoula … it’s a safe bet to assume that our performance in that game had something to do with us getting seeded despite having been blown out by EWU 2 weeks before the selection committee met.

The Montana AD is one of the 2023 selection committee members so I’m hoping that our one touchdown loss to the Griz + Sac’s blowout loss to them both factor prominently in his mind if it comes down to choosing only one of the Causeway teams to enter the field.

I don't understand the notion that the Big Sky has to be limited to 4 teams

It doesn't have to be--there's just a lot of whining and moaning if a borderline fifth BSC team gets selected and then immediately loses.

Thanks, AggieFinn. SLAC is no less original than what I remember: "Suck State."

I call Hornet alums garcon (waiter).

There was some talk on Montana YouTube channel that Sac players were arguing amongst themselves in the tunnel going into halftime and later half the team refusing to shake hands after the game despite Andy Thompson directing them to. I know Hauck can be a jerk but there may be some locker room disharmony going on with Sac.

This totally devolved into a Sac hate-fest, lol.

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Would love to beat these guys.....