Some Team Statistics

-------- 2019 2018
PPG 27.33 39.7
Rush 94.7 166.1
Ave 3.1 4.8
Pass 333 323
Ave 7.05 7.17

Ave/P 5.5 6.2
Ave/G 427 489

Pen/G 66.5 59.4
3rd Dn 36% 42%
4th Dn 60% 61%

Sac State 48 EWU 27

Sac has taken a giant step forward in their program this year and we've gone in the opposite direction...who would have thought that. We have obviously been overrated all season so far due to our success last year. Very disappointing...

Big dropoff in points per game, from almost 40 points per game (2018) to 27 PPG, part of that could be 2 early tough opponents. We've also gone from from an average of .77 interceptions a game (2018), to 1.5 per game (2019). Even a couple less picks, another win.

Opponents are scoring 31 PPG in 2019, up a little from 2018 (27.4). It doesn't look like we're getting pressure on the QB, defense doing an admirable job missing 2 key LBs. They have 3 years of film on us now.

San Jose, Sac, and Cal Poly all look solid. (Cal Poly #1 WR JJ Kiosk was in our backyard, and we the Gould staff didn't recruit him.)

Have a contingent of high school coaches ever made such an impact on a college team?

In all fairness to Gould, he did give, I think, the only DI offer to Keelan Doss. Doss is playing in London today vs. the Chicago Bears. Koski's a good talent, hard worker, speed etc. etc. but he has never been a dominant player. He's having a great senior year though, and with our secondary being what it is, I expect him to have a big day in Davis next Saturday.

Been watching this forum from afar for awhile. I had a feeling this year would be a drop off with both Dakotas. It's a tough place to go play two good teams. This team is not as good as last year, it lost an NFL receiver after all, and it showed against USD as well. Playoffs may be out the window already, but the games were both close. At this point, I'm not sure we can beat Suck St., and even Poly is going to be a test. Can't wait for Saturday.

Welcome back to the Boards!

Agreed. I'd gauge our resilience by how we play Poly. Perfect opponent for us right now...and the only one that could actually draw students with this team at the moment.

I used to post all the time, but my son's high school schedule, and my nephew's college have me too busy. And yes, this is the week to show who they are.

Program is in fantastic shape. Year 3 of a complete re-build. New facilities coming. Talent level rising.

Hawkins has only been the HC for 30 games. I'm sure he isn't panicking, and neither should Aggie fans.

Certainly no panic here. This is a tough schedule, and we will be constantly trying to up our game. Last year was a reflection on Hawk taking over a group of kids built by Gould (a great recruiter), and showing us all how a great coach would do it with them. I complained for years about our play-calling under Gould, but love, for the most part, the offense under Hawk. Triple tight-ends won't do it in this conference, Hawk knows it, but we have to acknowledge he has had the benefit of a really good QB. Lots to look forward to, but it seems like Suck St. is righting their ship (at least for a year).

I think maybe a lot of us were seeing through rose tinted lenses after the quick turnaround by Hawkins and last year's success. Gould had a great eye for talent and was an excellent recruiter and you make a good point about how Hawkins has been able to utilize that talent. My question, then, is whether Hawkins has been able to recruit as well as Gould given our struggles this year? Is he bringing in the level of talent that Gould was able to land? Or, has our talent level slipped and, even with better coaching, and we just don't have the "Gould level" of talent to be able to execute this year?

It seems like he’s bringing in the right guys. Give Hawk some time. This year’s schedule is really tough, as I said above, and two away games in ND (which were both really close) are murder. Run the table, see if we can get in, and then all bets are off!

Gould was an OK recruiter, but not a great one. He left the cupboard pretty bare at running back, and that was the position you’d think he could fill for sure.
Here is his 2015 NLI signing class. A very few contributors, one of whom transferred. Some good recruits, lots of misses. Bringing in a half dozen contributors isn’t enough.

NAME POS HT WT YR (2015) HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL/LAST SCHOOL
Will Allen DL 6-3 275 Fr. Gresham, Ore. Barlow HS
Nas Anesi LB 6-0 225 Fr. Bellflower, Calif. St. John Bosco
Quincy Bennett LB 5-11 243 Fr. Oxnard Calif. Westlake HS
Justin Clarkston WR 6-3 223 Fr. Moreno Valley, Calif. Citrus Hill HS
Majid Firoozi OL 6-3 250 Fr. Seattle, Wash. O'Dea HS
Tyshone Gaines DB 6-0 168 Fr. Oakland, Calif. Fremont HS
Charles Hays OL 6-3 261 Fr. La Quinta, Calif. La Quinta HS
Bransin Johnson DB 5-10 175 Fr. Fresno, Calif. Clovis North HS
Joshua Kelley RB 5-11 192 Fr. Lancaster, Calif. Eastside HS
Christian Leota QB 6-2 225 Fr. San Lorenzo, Calif. James Logan HS
Aaron Moore WR 6-0 175 Fr. Altadena, Calif. Cathedral HS
Ryan Parenteau S 6-1 195 Fr. Anthem, Ariz. Boulder Creek HS
Antonio Perez* DL 6-2 250 Jr. Sacramento, Calif. American River/Idaho/Sheldon HS
Dan Plum TE 6-3 226 Fr. San Diego, Calif. Cathedral Catholic HS
Vincent White DB 5-10 161 Fr. Lynwood, Calif. Lynwood

@SochorField Good perspective - i was starting to lose my cool.

Agreed. Replacing Maier will be key. A QB like Rodriguez should open up running / mobility options, and possibly a more consistent deep threat. I'm puzzled why we don't send speedster Harrell deep.

Gould got a late start (Tumey), had one great recruiting year, but most gone within 2 yrs. Hawkins brought in over 30 players his first year, dramatically changed the roster in 2 years. It was more his team with some key Gould recruits (Doss, Anesi, Parenteau). Imagine having Aaron Moore and Montgomery back!!

We're one interception away from 3-3 and still in the playoff hunt. Interceptions and penalties have hurt us badly, we could be 4-2. Not blaming Jake, could be an incorrect route run, the WR turned the wrong way, etc.

Young guys coming on, Orlando Ornelias, Babbs, Mouisett to name a few. Go Ags!

If we were ahead in games, Maier would have not have thrown some of those interceptions.
I think the biggest reason for the drop off defensively is that we had too much turnover at linebacker. Lost two starters to graduation, lost one to academic ineligibility, chose to move Anesi to a new rush position, moved Pat Miller to TE, moved Jamison to the bench, and played with some outside lbs small for the position two of whom were recruited as defensive backs. MLB backed up by JC walk-ons. Doesn’t sound like a way to stop a running game, and sure enough it isn’t.

good analysis. And I agree that some of the INTs are because a chance had to be taken. Jake has also been pressured more due to lack of running game. Shows that even with arguably the best QB in FCS (UND tv announcers emphatically said that he is) it doesn’t necessarily translate to wins. Look at EWU with Barriere. Same deal. Teams with real good defenses are always in the game.

Defense has to get the ball back.
In ND game one turnover, only made them punt three times, and stopped them once on fourth down. That’s five total stops entire game.

Regarding Suc, they're having a cinderella year. Lets see if it is sustainable.

Ags fall out of the Top 25 in the AGS Poll

Rank Team: Total Points First Place Votes

1 North Dakota State Bison 2194 86
2 James Madison Dukes 2076 1
3 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 2027 1
4 Weber State Wildcats 1841
5 Villanova Wildcats 1835
6 Montana Grizzlies 1742
7 Montana State Bobcats 1646
8 Furman Paladins 1579
9 Northern Iowa Panthers 1435
10 Towson Tigers 1362
11 Nicholls State Colonels 1250
12 Kennesaw State Owls 1248
13 North Carolina A&T Aggies 925
14 Youngstown State Penguins 850
15 Illinois State Redbirds 847
16 Central Arkansas Bears 792
17 Stony Brook Seawolves 696
18 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 671
19 Maine Black Bears 516
20 Princeton Tigers 489
21 Southeastern Louisiana Lions 364
22 Sac State Hornets 354
23 Austin Peay Governors 302
24 Dartmouth Big Green 271
25 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 266

ORV:
26 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 191
27 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 172
28 Sam Houston State Bearkats 152
29 UC Davis Aggies 147
30 Yale Bulldogs 98
31 Central Connecticut State Blue Devils 62
32 South Carolina State Bulldogs 39
33 Wofford Terriers 30
34 New Hampshire Wildcats 29
35 Houston Baptist Huskies 17
36 McNeese State Cowboys 15
37 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 14
38T Chattanooga Mocs 11
38T San Diego Toreros 11
40 Elon Phoenix 8

Most Significant Win: Nicholls State Colonels
Most Significant Loss: UC Davis Aggies

Polls? Polls?

I'm just trying to win a game!

I hear that...and I'm never happy when I see Sac ranked ahead of us...

We're one interception away from 3-3 and still in the playoff hunt. Interceptions and penalties have hurt us badly, we could be 4-2. — movielover

I am just going to be honest here and say we are waaaay closer to being 1-5 than 3-3.
A brutal schedule and losing the best WR in school history have been difficult to overcome thus far.

I am confident that a great and experienced coach like Hawkins will turn this season into a positive one. The bottom line is the trajectory of the program is headed in the right direction.

Sac and Cal Poly appear to have their mojo on.

It's always crazy to see how a few plays can turn a season one way or another. Probably should have lost the USD game, and ND outplayed us on both sides of the ball...it was closer than it probably should have been. It's time to focus on the next game. Time will tell.

I think Taylor and the coaches he lured from Folsom High School can keep this going. They built a power at Folsom and have a good network for area wide recruiting. They hosted the Folsom “at” Jesuit game at Hornet Field this year which helps their local visibility. Biggest issues regarding their sustainability might be Slack’s budget and offers from FBS programs.

They have momentum, and confidence.

While Folsom is awesome, one high school can't be the main source for a program.

Especially since they’re unlikely to get the cream of the crop.

I'm just saying that the Taylor & Co. connection to a local power and to area coaches gives them some credibility with HS players and HS coaches throughout the region....I think having them at J Street will make recruiting easier than some of the other recent coaches....Mooshagian and Sears come to mind. Sac will always suffer for being a low profile, commuter school, and will suffer with a small budget. I have friends who went there and told me they didn't even know the school had athletic teams. (Maybe that says something about my friends....)