They mentioned Buchanan was out first thing on the TV cast. Kind of weird because I didn’t see him injured at the SDSU game.
I too notice Eaton being more active. It seems after a stellar freshman year he bulked up for his new position and just didn’t seem to be as fast/active. It really looked like he was mentally committed last night.
I got to wondering why the Aggies didn’t try that 2 pt conversion formation last week in Brookings. With TT at wildcat QB and the spreading of the offense (with obligatory spreading of defense to cover) it looks almost impossible to stop. I am not sure who is eligible in that formation. Kind of wonder why they “wasted” it last night other than maybe to practice it in a live game.
Edit I missed Rex’s name, he did start after all.. His brother Porter started in Buchanan’s place, but they rotated a lot of linebackers. They had four linebackers start: Eaton, Smalley Connors, and Trimble.
Can't say for now but when I was a student the only cheers the students did were the standard "go! ..... (team name on other side of stadium)!" chant that you see at every stadium, the Bossy Cow Cow (if you attend games), and Aggie Fight.
We used that 2 point spread formation quite a lot last year and it was successful most of the time. I'm not sure why we chose to do it last night when we were up by 28. We showed Weber that it's still in the playbook and now they can be more prepared for it.
Coach Hawk, love him, but going back to his FG strategy vs Cal. He says you don't beat them kicking FGs in the red zone. Opposing view.
- Going up 10-0 vs 7-0 gives the team momentum and confidence.
- Your FG team gets practice - better to get things ironed out before league play
- it puts a little more pressure on the Bears
My understanding from some web surfing about it last year (the formation or one very similar to it gets hits under the "Swinging Gate" and the color guy did call it that yesterday) is that half the advantage is forcing the other team to spend time preparing for it and creating momentary confusion for the kick blocking team.
Theoretically if you put Tompkins in on the kicking team or line up in the Gate before shrinking to a standard kick formation then Weber has to have personnel out there to defend him and/or mill around until they're sure the Aggies are going to kick or run. My borderline conspiracy theory is that real reason Hawkins showed it last night was to give Gomez slightest additional measure of security next week for PATs, which we know from SDSU can make the difference and area an area of concern.
Regarding Buchanan, I heard that Chuba fell on him this week ( not sure if it was at the sdsu game or practice this week). The feeling is that he’ll be back soon, possibly this week. He was on crutches last night.
The live camera didn’t capture the blocked punt or the Kraft touchdown, which was out of view at the back corner of the endzone. Games almost always show the punt, so that was unique.
That’s my recollection too, but maybe it’s on you tube or someplace,
Speaking of the block, Tattersall got that and made some other good plays. I think he’s going to end up starting or playing more,
correct. No replays. The production isn’t the greatest. I wish the camera angle was better but I suppose limited by stadium height. The Dakota schools have much better production but ESPN+ is getting their Midco sports feed.