There certainly were some challenging completions in the mix. The receivers didn’t drop any which isn’t always the case..

So, what's up with Rodrigues?

Hawkins was quoted as saying he thought HR was pressing, so gave him a night off?

Freshman Harper is 6'2", Mitchell Dixon 6'4".

Maybe next year. As someone who is 6’4” I can attest that height doesn’t necessarily imply athletic ability.

A night off?

There are only 11 nights in a regular season...HR is throwing picks left and right, I guess that's a nice way of saying, "We need a QB who won't lose it for us."

I just hope his head's ok, physically and mentally.

Hawkins recently said that as a player here he felt if he fumbled he would be on the bench. Hawkins repeatedly stresses that turnovers make the difference in most games. I think Hawkins benched Rodrigues to make that point.
I think we’ll see him again either as a starter of if Hastings has problems. I think the point has been made, not just to Rodrigues but to Hastings as well.

Officially a QB controversy? Or not, because they're all so classy and great friends?

Playing multiple QBs is commonplace in college football. We’re a better team when Rodrigues is playing his best game than if Hastings is playing his best game, but if your starter isn’t producing it’s a good thing to use someone else. They are both new, so neither has really prove themselves to the extent they have a claim on the role. I think it only becomes a controversy when players start thinking the coach is playing the wrong guy, but players understand competition.

Technically yeah, I think it's fair to defend Hastings there because his incompletions and pick were situations where he wasn't in a position to succeed with his skillset. But I think you touched on a bigger problem that Hastings, while good, is not a modern college QB and he's sharing snaps with 2-3 guys who are (since Faulk is mobile as I recall).

He can make it work like Maier did but he'll have to put up 2018-Maier kind of stats (throwing to pretty much the same receiver corps + Tompkins) to do so. So I guess I'm saying that it's not unreasonable to have higher expectations for him in terms of his passing stats and how he handles pressure in the pocket, because that's simply what's necessary for him to remain the starter in this offense

One positive was the ‘return’ of Castles. He’d been a little quiet lately, probably getting attention from the defense. We ran a couple nicely designed passes to him, one on a type of naked bootleg, that picked up big yards. Like to see similar plays to Harrell instead of focusing on passes to the sideline with him.

I forgot to add to my list of mistakes two potential pick six drops. One in the first quarter that would have put us up 7-0, the other on their ‘Philly Special’ late 3rd that would have put them in a big hole. Both were there for the taking. Little things that keep the other team in the game

This is the 3rd straight week that the Ags have played an opponent who is coming off a bye week. We've struggle in all of those games but I think you have to consider that those teams were rested, had time to more healthy and had two weeks to watch film and fine tune their game plan. That's a big advantage to have.

Therefore, that means we should win big against Northern Arizona in two weeks.

Hastings has had 2 starts.15 of 27 vs Idaho w one TD.

Last night college start # 2 - 28 of 34, 82.5% completion rate and 2 TDs when his protection was below average. Passer rating 147.7. Hard to knock that.

I would argue we haven't seen everything Hastings can do. He seems more mobile than Maier.

We have a better bead on HR. He started a year in junior college, spot duty, 5 spring starts and 6 this year? 11 starts total, plus 10 or so junior college starts, so 20 college starts. Hastings has had 2.

I generally agree with the poly broadcaster comments, but they sure got one thing spot on: the Tompkins trick play- which did not work. They even said that he comes in for “trick plays” and he did. I would like to see Tompkins play in more normal situations like last spring. Not just for the tricky stuff. I do not think we use him enough. That said, I must admit I love trick plays and this one almost did work. Maybe Hawk throws those in to make the next opponent work a bit harder. Overall, a good game for the Aggies. Poly was up for this game and it showed.

It depends on whether you’re a glass half empty or half full guy.
Pretty good for a reserve.
Good enough to beat Eastern Washington - probably not.
If we had better line play with our running backs and receivers we could win with any of our QBs.

What was that play?

LOVED the snap to the 3rd string tight end. Huge!

More trick plays. We have the unbalanced line left on the goal line, with TT. Why not flip it right side 5, left side 2?

It was so fast I may have it wrong. But TT took the snap handed it to UG who handed back to A WR who reversed it back to TT who then then shovel pass it a WR inside. Problem: DL guy right there and dropped it for a loss. I may be completely wrong on this. I would watch the replay.

Honest question, is this the best team we have had in the past 20 years? Our record is very good, we could have been perfect right now. A record like this would of made me cry during the Gould era.

I think this team has benefitted from having a fairly easy schedule. I'm not sure I could necessarily put this team above the 2018 squad that was 1 play away from going to the semis and with how Eastern thrashed Maine likely the national championship.

the 4th quarter play and defense is why I would give the nod to 2021

Coach Hawkins may be a tad optimistic saying this is our best team ever. Two O lineman down seems to have thrown us off, the QB position is so critical, and it remains a question mark. 2018 squad was special.

Good point by DK and Marsh - if Thorpe is so valuable, can't we play him as a big WR?

No. Cal Poly was the second team we've played this season coming off a bye

I agree that the 2021 defense is better than 2018, but I don't think that we get to the quarter finals of the playoffs with the question marks we have on offense right now. I could be wrong, but I personally am still giving the edge to 2018.

Based on performance so far, it edges out the 2018 team for best. That means we’ve played eight games, had an win over a top 100 FBS team, broke a loosing streak on the road over a favored and ranked Weber State team. That’s two quality wins. The 2018 team had a win over what turned out to be a poor San Jose State team and a win over an unranked Montana team.
However, it’s an incomplete season. The 2018 team won a playoff game. So that counts as a third impressive win. This team can add a third win by beating EWU or Sac or a playoff game. Anything beyond that makes them the best. I’m not too persuaded by strength of schedule because losing by 20 to Stanford doesn’t prove anything. The main thing is who did you beat and the 2018 team didn’t beat any ranked opponent, this team has done that.

Final comment: I think the team must love it when he comes up with this stuff. Makes practice FUN!

Hastings last night
28 of 34, 82.5%, 1 INT, 2 TDs, 147.7 QB Rating.

Rodriguez 98 of 165, 59%, 5 INT, 7 TDs, 1191 yds, 128 QB Rating

Hastings 58 of 89, 65%, 3 INT, 3 TDs, 497 yds, 116.46 QB Rating