We've had a great student turnout in the first two home games primarily due to both games having a student stampede. Will the students return for Saturday's game without a stampede? I hate to say it but, if we look at the recent history of student attendance, it's highly unlikely that many will return.

To quote the immortal Al Davis, just win baby.

Sounds like their fans are calling for the coaches head.
A quick look at their stats - they average 94 yards on the ground and 170 in the air. They have been outscored, on the ave, 17 - 30. They give up about the same number of yards on the ground, 181, through the air, 208.
They are 2-4 with a win over NAU.
We should easily win this, but the “any given Saturday” syndrome hopefully won’t bite us.

"We should easily win this, but..."

That's what was said about last Saturday...

Most folks thought that ISU would be a cake walk since we were #7 and 5-0 and they were unranked and 0-4. They came mentally prepared and excited to pull an upset. On the other hand, we came came in expecting an easy game, played uninspired in the first half, made mistakes and dug a hole we couldn't get out of.

I hope we come into this game with a bad taste in our mouths and fired up to make a statement.

Hunter Rodriguez numbers have dropped since game 2.

------------------ ATT--- COMP--- TD --- INT --- Ave Yrds/ %
Games 1-2 .. 72 .......50 ....... 5 ...... 0 ........316 / 69%
Games 3-6 .. 67 .......32 ....... 1 .......3 ........124 / 48%

Quarterback Ratings / Comp %

R Wright 2013 134.6 / 64%
HR - 5 Games 129.6 / 59%
T Tompkins ... 117 / 45%
Miles Hastings 97.1 / 54%
HR - 3 Games... 90.2 / 48%

Not sure why we don't have the short / midrange game going. Having HR and TT make repetitive 20 yard throws into double, triple coverage not ideal. (Numbers for MH & TT less accurate with limited action. TT had several passes dropped Saturday.)

Getting HR untracked is key. Personally not fond of UG up the gut 15 times in the first half, many on first down.

Yeah, several of us have commented on the change in him after the second game. But maybe its too easy to put it all on his shoulders. The stat i would love to see is the time he had the ball from snap to pass in the first two games compared to subsequent games. Maybe the problem is our protection. Or opponents adjustments.

If there was a bright side, he was much better when he came back into the game. He got into that RPO mode, and looked decisive and accurate. Hope it carries over

I agree, Mike. I thought HR looked good in the second half especially when we started playing up tempo with fast snaps. I think he's got the most solid skills all around run and pass and is the most experienced.

FTR, tried not to put it on him, and noted curious play calling. Didn't Maier live off the 5-15 yard pass / catch and run? Same for UG, how about a quick out to him? I did like the direct snap to him in the Wildcat.

Consistency. Rodrigues needs to further establish himself. This is a character game for HR...will test his resolve.

I’m hoping we come out in a fast paced RPO scheme to get Hunter rolling, leading to big holes for Gilliam. Sounds like they are a high risk defense so try to exploit that with quick hitters into the open spaces. And NO big plays for their offense. Make their QB beat us by having to be consistent (not a strength ) and not a big run after catch of scramble

Agree. We need a really good performance all around: up tempo RPO, sharp passing from HR, receivers creating better separation on their routes, OL opening some good holes, and the defense getting some pressure on their QB and not breaking down for big gainers and long 3rd downs. Essentially, lots of improvement in nearly all aspects of the game. We need to show that we can do much better in the trenches also.

I think it's fairly evident that we were a bit over confident going into the ISU game and, when they scored quickly followed by several TO's, we did not respond well and got down big. I hope we have a bad taste in our mouths from the ISU game and come into this game with more fire and determination.

I'm also worried that the attendance will be down significantly with no student stampede and following the disappointing loss to ISU. The place might feel pretty empty when the Ags take the field so they'll need to forget, play with Aggie Pride and convince the no-shows that they should have come out to the game.

It sure seemed like when we were in panic mode, (end of third into fourth) the faster tempo was an improvement. And HR looked better. Not sure why we dropped the no huddle approach.

Less time to think just play football.

Don’t know if this affected anyone else, but I got Tunein to fix the problem they had with KHTK streams.

I think I listened directly from KHTK. What was the problem with TuneIn?

I’m not exactly sure. I opened a ticket with Tunein. It eventuated that I could ask my device to play the station using Audacy, so they accepted they had a problem. They got back to me yesterday and said they “made an update to the station and turned off two unreliable streams”. I tested it tonight.
I listened to the pregame directly on the station site as well.

The ESPN+ broadcast kept having annoying (short) audio glitches, also ocassional glitches, missing a whole play, possibly bc I was casting it from my phone to a local TV.

Northern Colorado had up to a third of its roster out in September w Covid. Like the Aggies, NC has a Father-Son HC / OC. Max Mccaffrey has very limited experience, and was promoted from WR coach to OC. But they've already logged 2 wins, their recent high mark.

"Graduate quarterback Dylan McCaffrey missed the second half against Houston Baptist and the game versus Lamar."

Two possible options for heckled pants?

i'm guessing its the guy on the right with the skinny khakis!

Looking at our in conference defensive statistics is concerning. The Aggies are giving up 5 yards a rush in the three conference games, which is next to last in conference. Also, the Aggies are tied for last with Northern Colorado in sacks by. Our pass defense is middle of the pack, both in yards and efficiency. Its surprising that the team hasn’t allowed more points with stats like that.
Northern Colorado is averaging 2.8 yards a rush, so if they can run on us anyone will.

Looking at how ISU picked us apart with their back up QB supports the “sacks by” figure. We need to get to their guy and protect ours. Hopefully HR has a good day. He needs it as much as we do.

I thought Nick Eaton was our Sack man. Not sure why his numbers dropped off, new assignment?

Yeah, they used to blitz him from the outside. I’m not sure what changed.

he was moved to the rush position on the depth chart. I believe he used to be a strong side linebacker. Now I think he’s essentially a standup defensive lineman. He’s opposed more by an offensive tackle. Maybe someone else can do the rush role and he could go back to where he had success.

Eaton has appeared to be noticeably bigger (but not as quick?) since spring. It appears that he intentionally bulked up maybe for his new role?

I know it’s sacrilegious to look ahead, but……..we’re going to need that outside containment when Barriere comes to town.

maybe that’s why we don’t see the all out blitz from the edge? Seems like our pressure comes more up the middle