2021 SMSU Mustangs

[Purple Mav Man]

probably. Although the dbs didn't look very good in my opionion. Hopefully they get better. one game doesn't make a season, but those were my observations

[MrMustang]

Do you suppose 2 is related to 1?

probably. Although the dbs didn't look very good in my opionion. Hopefully they get better. one game doesn't make a season, but those were my observations

[Purple Mav Man]

week one thoughts:

disappointing how we let a qb playing in his first game ever own us.

the defensive line played well against the run. better than past years.

1) was disappointed in the defensive backs. Moorhead had good receivers but they were open all day

2) we don't blitz enough

I thought Haidet looked very good the first half. did what we wanted him to do. Not good in second half trying to do too much but expected more.

running backs were good

offensive line pretty good. a few pressures but overall improved

receivers - woof. if there are any freshmen or redshirts, they are gonna get a chance.

we always rip the kicking game but he made them all. that was great

was hoping to go to Aberdeen but can't would be a fun time

must win now on Saturday

Do you suppose 2 is related to 1?

[MrMustang]

week one thoughts:

disappointing how we let a qb playing in his first game ever own us.

the defensive line played well against the run. better than past years.

was disappointed in the defensive backs. Moorhead had good receivers but they were open all day

we don't blitz enough

I thought Haidet looked very good the first half. did what we wanted him to do. Not good in second half trying to do too much but expected more.

running backs were good

offensive line pretty good. a few pressures but overall improved

receivers - woof. if there are any freshmen or redshirts, they are gonna get a chance.

we always rip the kicking game but he made them all. that was great

was hoping to go to Aberdeen but can't would be a fun time

must win now on Saturday

[MrMustang]

we will find out if week one was just having lots of new players and figuring things out of maybe we aren't as good as hoped. we'll see. Should be fun to play in a packed stadium in Aberdeen. Hopefully they embrace that and play well.

[NSICFballFan]

I caught some of the SMSU game in between the NSU game.

I felt the same way about the WRs. Huge drop off from 2019 when SMSU had Davis. I didn't see a WR make a single play. I also only watch 1/3 of the game. There were definitely some opportunities to make plays but they were missed.

Sherwood looked great. So did Duce. I think SMSU plans to run the fball more than usual this season. They huddled most of the game and ate clock. Sauter knows he doesn't have the WRs to make an impact in the passing game. Maybe the run will open up some play action in the future.

From what I saw Haidt was not running for his life. OL seemed to not be an issue.

Looks like SMSU went from a 3-3-5 in 2019 to primarily a 4-2-5 which they desperately needed to do to stop the run in the NSIC.

A lot more depth on the D-line this season. I was surprised the MSUM o-line played as well as they did. SMSU D-line seemed to have them beat in size and athleticism. Hopefully they just need some game experience with one another.

There were some blown coverages in the secondary. Moorhead QB completed easy throws all night long. Seems like secondary is getting used to playing with one another.

I was super impressed with Northern. As long as they can put that loss behind them quickly they're going to blow out SMSU and upset a team or two this season. The top teams won't be looking ahead of Northern this season or probably any season going forward. Northern will be a regular playoff team in the near future.

[SW_Mustang]

What are we thinking after that one? Here are my thoughts:

-Overall, I was expecting the outcome to be somewhat worse - like Moorhead 25 points or more. I hate to be happy after a loss, but we're essentially a brand-new football team that's only been working together for a few months. A lot of kinks to work out and I'm not going to be hopeful things "turn around," but so long as this team doesn't throw in the towel, I'll be happy.

-The WR position is open to whoever wants to claim it. MSUM's top two longest receptions equaled almost as many yards as we had on 19. I'm not sure if it's a QB or WR issue, or both, but this needs to get tightened up. 3 INTs too, and one in the endzone. Yikes.

-On the flipside, we had MSUM in almost every rushing category except yards lost. Jesse Sherwood out of Central Lakes is the big standout last night, and Duce Reynolds had a good game as well. It would be cool if these guys could work together as a 1-2 punch.

-It looks like the O-Line held up pretty well? There's much more to the position than statistics, but we only got sacked twice. Quite a few TFLs, but we matched that defensively. How much did our QB have to run around to make a pass?

-Kicking looked like a bright spot last night too - we went 3/3 on PATs (MSUM was 3/5). We also averaged 9.5 yards more on kickoffs. Looks like we even blocked a FG. Too small of a sample size, but I've seen our kickers struggle in the past and we're due for someone who can really get it right.

As far as next week goes:

-I watched the Wolves play last night in-person. We don't stand a chance, especially on the road in the new stadium. The crowd is going to be hot, and the Wolves are going to steamroll any team that stands in their way given how close they got last night to what would have been a top 3 win in program history. All I can hope for is that we show up and give it 100%.

[SW_Mustang]

Looking like Haidt gets the start over Nava?

Spending week 1 in Mankato, so I'll be sending good vibes...

[MrMustang]

Less than 1 week away. Pretty excited after no season last year . Hopefully we play well. Big game. Beat Moorhead and get off to a good start would be huge.

[MrMustang]

Roster updated. Still some numbers open but many players have new numbers.

[MrMustang]

A great majority of the players on the roster don't have numbers. Let's go here. Get this moving. First game is less than two weeks away and no numbers assigned.

[MrMustang]

wondering when the 2 deep comes out. hopefully soon

[SW_Mustang]

Thought this was interesting - former Mustang Michael Griffin Jr.

[SW_Mustang]

Jeff Loots named to the CFB HOF ballot - an incredible honor to be considered, and I wish him the best of luck in voting!

Jeff Loots named to College Football Hall of Fame Ballot - SMSU Athletics (smsumustangs.com)

[Clean Liver]

We have our man.

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Quick turnaround and on such short notice.