2-1 doesn't seem like much to celebrate, but aside from when we were 1-0 (Azusa Pacific) in 2012, this is the first time we've had a winning record since 2010.
What's there to say? Wow, what a game. Aggies dominated in all phases of the game. Maier was excellent. Ryan Parenteau with 2 blocked punts. Held em to 1 score outside of garbage time (and even on their one TD there was a pick that didn't get called). Couldn't be happier and I can't wait to see how we do in the rankings with a big time statement win for our program.
Next up is Weber State. They're looking like another strong team early in the season, we'll see how they fare tonight against the J Street College of Learning Stuff Good.
I honestly thought we would lose this game, but we ended up handing PSU their biggest loss of the season. I'm trying not to get my hopes to high for the rest of the season, but damn this team has been playing some fun football.
The color guy in the booth knew everything about football....super sharp, knew what was coming. I learned a lot from listening to him. He had a lot of positive things to say about Davis and the coaching staff. I was surprised to find out in the second half it was Mike Kramer (head coach @ EWU, MSU and ISU).
I haven't had that much fun watching the Ags play football in a long time. Whatever Plough was taking down at NAU I want some.
The Aggies are 150% better coached in every facet of the game. Very noticeable.
I know it was a score to land Jalani Eason for PSU, but man, he was hurting his team out there. Kramer explained it well saying something to the effect of 'you can't QB effectively just running around not seeing anything or understanding what is happening downfield, especially as a true fresh.'
I hope Layton is ok. Looked like he hurt his knee. Was playing a great game till that point.
Not to pile on to the previous coaching regime....but what a difference coaching can make!
Eason looked like a true freshman out there tonight. The kid has natural athleticism, but the game was too fast for him tonight. I'm more impressed with how our offense handled their defense. Their D was supposed to be one of their strengths, especially their pass D and Maier still dropped 300+ on em. There are always things to fix, but there's a lot to be happy with from this game.
Whipping a good PSU team really put a smile on my face. Ill be tuning into the suc game to get a pulse on Weber, at least until the fight starts. Aggie football followed by triple G, it doesnt get any better then that!
I haven't been this jacked for Aggie Football since I was an undergrad (okay, the September afterwards when we beat Stanford. Meh, details.).
We were planning on coming up as a family for Homecoming, but, at this rate...maybe it might be time to think about an earlier trip back to campus for the little tyke and I.
Thought I would look up some stats on Jake Maier and remember guys, he's still just a sophomore:
Completion % - .710 (8th in FCS)
Completions per game - 22.0 (T-15th in FCS)
Passing Efficiency - 178.1 (5th in FCS)
Passing TDs - 8 (T-7th in FCS)
Passing Yards - 943 (4th in FCS)
Passing Yards per game - 314.3 (6th in FCS)
Passing Yards per completion - 14.29 (19th in FCS)
Yards per pass attempt - 10.14 (5th in FCS)
When I was up in the spring the talk was Maier was the guy even though he wouldn't be on campus until fall. At the ticket pickup party I was talking to a couple old timers ( both who really know football) who were raving about his decision making and play making. 'He reminds me a little of Petey' who was a decent Ag QB 30 years ago
I mean it happens all the time that players get passed up, but I don't see how a major program didn't pick up on Maier out of LBCC. He had an excellent season there, we are very lucky to say the least.
Oh another thing I wanted to mention. Giving a shout out to TE Wesley Preece. That dude had 2 or 3 catches where he ended up dragging 3 or 4 defenders for significant extra yardage. We all knew Doss was a stud, but I was worried that the passing game would be 1 dimensional with him. Doss is still top 5 in FCS is receiving, but we are definitely spreading the ball around. Preece and Moore both had excellent games.
This is so exciting. According to Massey, Weber St. is technically the underdog coming into our game this Saturday. Weird!
All of us have been conditioned to temper our expectations and prepare for disappointment given the last decade, but it's just such a nice feeling to actually feel optimism/hope and see it validated by the numbers and performance on the field.
They actually have Weber as a slight favorite in the matchup section, basically because of home field advantage, despite UCD being ranked higher in their power rankings. They predict it will be close though. Predictions are tough though, Massey gave PSU a pretty darn solid chance of beating us in their prediction.
As of right now they are giving WSU a 54% chance of winning with a score prediction of 28-26. One of their closest matchups of the weekend.
The computer rankings and predictions are in the main still influenced by where the teams were ranked prior to any games being played,. Our recent game performance is better than Weber's. Sagarin rankings have the two teams adjacent to each other. Weber predicted the winner based on one methodology and us favored via another ( offense-defense). Anyone's game. I wouldn't bet against us though. The coaching staff seems to know how to get touchdowns, and we have enough offensive talent for them to work with.