It's Horseshoe 2023, the Aggies will take the show down state to San Luis Obispo in a game that shapes up like a total trap...with the Aggies being snakebit in the run game with their top two backs down to injury and with Cal Poly looking for a massive rebound after getting it handed to them up in Portland last week by the Vikings. Bragging rights and rivalry games - no rules no expectations - expecting a dogfight.
After last week I am not expecting much from my Mustangs. That said, I am hoping we can at least make it a competitive game.
My dad used to say we can HOPE in one hand and $&@“ in the other and see which one fills up first. I think after Saturday I will be left with a handful of $&@“.
I think the Mustangs will come out and play with their hair on fire after the way things have gone so far for Poly. We're pretty beat up too so anything could happen especially since it's a rivalry game.
Someone once said that these kinds of games are coaches games because both teams are either beat up physically or demoralized emotionally Let’s see who comes out of this situation first. Ags by 1. I love both of these teams a lot.
Eastern cut up our corners underneath pretty good last Saturday - gave up a few bigger strikes, but it was a steady set of cuts that seemed to move the ball well in the 2nd half. Expecting Wulff to air it out, get Huard warm early, defense will drive this game for Davis...they probably even need a couple of turnovers to make it a successful game overall.
I have no idea what the Ags are thinking offensively, if it's more of the same, or finally start stretching the defense vertically. Can't really change who you are mid-season, so I expect much of the same game plan, and hoping Hastings can gain some confidence early with some bigger shots.
Hastings has made some mistakes for sure this year but I don't think the offensive struggles are primarily due to to him by any means. He's been under tremendous pressure in every game except the opener at TAMC forcing him to throw on the run or very quickly to avoid being sacked. I think Hastings is really quite an accurate passer and better protection from our OL would help a lot.
Hastings has thrown some picks on balls that should not have been thrown. There's no arguing about that but those picks have generally been when he was feeling the heat from a heavy rush and he was trying too hard to make something happen.
Folks are commenting also that we are predominately relying on short stuff in our passing game and the EWU game was a prime example. Again, with Hastings under heavy pressure, he has to get rid of the ball quickly and, consequently, our receivers really don't have much time to get open on the deeper routes either. We also don't seem to have the kind of tall, speedy WR's like Doss and others we've had at times in the past who could really stretch the field quickly.
Our receivers have made some spectacular catches in tight coverage especially Tompkins who seems to be able to make a play on the ball no matter how heavily he's covered. So, from my perspective, we're seeing a lot of short, possession type passes and swing passes that go for short gains primarily because Hastings is not getting enough time to wait for our receivers to get open on the longer routes.
This years team, prior to Larison’s injury was the best rush offense I can recall in D1 years. I haven’t looked at stats, just my impression. We have been playing a few inexperienced offensive linemen, and for one reason or another it’s not been the best pass blocking line we’ve had. The open question is whether we can still have an effective run game without Larison. I think it's unlikely that we solve our pass offense issues, like throwing deep and not having interceptions if we lose our run offense.
The defense over the last few years has been one that gives up yards, but not as many points. They need to take the next step and be more of a smothering defense, and not allow as many long drives. We’ve seen that in plenty of series, but it isn’t sustained. The D seems to have better personnel than results.
Good points. It will be interesting to see if someone steps up big time in our running game now that it appears we have lost our top 2 RB's. Among Larison's impressive talents is his vision, patience and good decisions he makes before he explodes through the hole. Chukwudobe appears to more of a downhill charger whereas Larison, not only can break tackles, but he can make people miss and has such great agility that he can recover and keep going after being hit.
True, but drive that ended in field goal in 4th quarter did not have a completed pass although drive helped by a pass interference and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty The plays that moved the ball were runs.
i don’t think they want to do that but I believe Hawkins once said Budgett could play tailback. From his bio: Senior season “Budgett was selected team captain and ran for 1,564 yards, on 159 carries, averaged 120.3 rushing yards per game and scored 25 times on the ground — all team-high figures… He also caught 19 passes for 232 yards and one TD”
I saw Cal Poly listed as CPM on the men's soccer article. Is Cal Poly SLO now going by CPM to distinguish itself as the main Cal Poly ? Now I wonder who would win in a contest between Lincoln and North American.
Ha, Lincoln and North American. I'm always wary of universities with broad names attached to their flagship institutions. Only exception is Liberty University I think.
In the press conference this week, Hawk said “a lot of therapy” when asked about Lan Larison’s condition/status. I would guess this means he will not need surgery, but I would also interpret that to mean he is out for quite some time if not the season. Just hope for Lan’s sake he was not injured too badly.
Lol If you like ambiguous college names there's Life College in Georgia.
I wonder where Lincoln plays its home games if it has any ? After 2024 they could play at the Colisseum They would probably draw more fans than the A's too.