2022 SMSU Mustangs: A new era begins

[MrMustang]

At this point, anything worse than 4-1 after Homecoming would be a disappointment to me. I know that felt weird to type, but with games upcoming against 0-3 Minot and 0-3 Upper Iowa, those should be wins.

no gimmes in the NSIC. And Minot looks at this as their chance to get a win

also EVERY Upper Iowa game except maybe one in the last decade has been very close and right down to the wire.

4-1 would be great, but let's not get too crazy. we will still have to play great to win these 2 games. The way we have played hard in all 3 games is very encouraging and the last 2 games have been really impressive defense.

But, I saw a little of the leftover stuff from last year in the 2nd half of that game. dumb penalties, taunting, almost as if we got a little high on our horses already ...

Now, I am confident coach Underwood can fix that and stop it , but there was some of that CRAP and BS back on the field and that had NOT been there the first 2 games. Just saying.

It is stil nigth and day comparedf to last year, but we have to keep an even keel.

[MrMustang]

Much to be pleased about in that first game. Way more discipline, way fewer penalties, way fewe bonehead plays than 2021.

QB will be good.

Sherwood had a great game. Jesse is really good.

Oline looked much improved. Dline is undersized, so we are going to have to find a way to get some pressure. we had very little all night and may need to get creative. Special teams were fine, better.

Tackling was simply atrocious, especially in the first half, but in the postgame coached talked about very little practice on that since we are so thin and simply can't afford to lose kids to injuries in practice. Seems like a reasonable explanation to me. Man, so many missed tackles, but that should improve.

they played hard. yes a loss, but man hard to complain about being tied after 3 on the road.

Just an observation I made after the first game

[MrMustang]

The Dline is undersized and will struggle often. reality. I thought they battled and played hard. There will be games we just can't stop the run, but they did ok vs Duluth/

McComb did ok for a freshman in a great league against a good team. It is a huge jump to D2 from high school. everything moves way way way faster.

Sherwood is a GREAT back. He deserves to mentioned with Tonderum as far as skills. He is the 2nd best back in the last decade after Tyler Tonderum.

OLine looks better. They did some good things.

If the DBs can make some of those picks we could be pretty good. There is a chance there.

I was pleased to hear Underwood be happy about effort and at the same time say we need to win. He can coach

just an observation I made after Duluth

[MrMustang]

Huh.

Don't want to toot the horn too soon, but I may have called it - and/or underestimated.

slow down - the South is an absolute meat grinder.... even if we start 4-1 we will be underdogs in the last 6 games. go look at that schedule.

[MrMustang]

I love football statistics - here's some crazy stats about Jesse Sherwood:

If he continues his current average yards per game pace, he'll:

-Finish his SMSU career ranked second in most yards in a single season
-Finish his SMSU career ranked first all-time in most rush yards

He's also on pace to break the record for most consecutive 100-yard games. He has three, the current streak is 5.

If he continues his average of two rushing TDs/game, he'll earn the single season SMSU rushing TD record.

Also, I believe Tyler Tonderum still holds the record for most rush yards in a season for the conference - however I don't believe that number includes the 166 yards he earned at the MWB. If this is the case, Sherwood would win the NSIC single season rushing record as well.

While I think it would be hard to maintain this production through the next 8 games, he truly is a special player - very happy he chose SMSU.

EDIT: As of 9/17, he's also #2 nationally in rushing yards for D2, and #3 for all divisions.

Jesse has exceeded even my expectations, You saw bursts last year but what he does is really special. He just carried guys and he is a workhorse.

[MrMustang]

The biggest reason our defensive improvement is so critical is that it allows Patterson to keep feeding Sherwood the rock on offense. If we get too far behind in games, we'll have to start relying more on the passing game.

this is certainly true. Our ability to run the ball has helped the defense out,

I will say though that the DB's look much better. they seem to have some good young kids there who can run and play hard.

Dline is still thin-- nothing we can do about that. They are battling their tails off though

[MrMustang]

That's a bit scary - passing has improved ever so slightly from week 1, but I'm not confident (nor do I expect anyone else is) that our current arrangement can win games, especially if the defense goes under.

I'm still not throwing the towel in on anyone (especially our QB). Fortunately, our defense does seem to be standing strong for the moment. Will be interesting to see what happens in the second half of the season.

I'd say for a redshirt freshmen Justus has been fine. Shortened Covid season as a HS senior, then a redshirt, 3 starts in 24 plus months so it takes time to get back in the swing of it .

He is doing fine, He isn't going to porbably win us a shootout yet, but who knows, the skill set is there to do it.

As long as we can run the ball effectively, we'll be in games, if we can't and we have to pass all the time, it might be tough. we'll see.

[SW_Mustang]

I'd say for a redshirt freshmen Justus has been fine. Shortened Covid season as a HS senior, then a redshirt, 3 starts in 24 plus months so it takes time to get back in the swing of it .

He is doing fine, He isn't going to porbably win us a shootout yet, but who knows, the skill set is there to do it.

As long as we can run the ball effectively, we'll be in games, if we can't and we have to pass all the time, it might be tough. we'll see.

Right, and I get that.

Like I said, I don't want to move on from him, but as things stand - I just don't think we're good enough (yet) to carry the team through the air. If Sherwood goes down, we could be in trouble.

My hope is he settles in over the next two games, cuts down on the INTs, and we can reload for the tough stretch.

[SW_Mustang]

Jesse has exceeded even my expectations, You saw bursts last year but what he does is really special. He just carried guys and he is a workhorse.

I knew he'd be the leader and an above average RB, but his production is mind-boggling. 2013 Tonderum-esque, statistically.

I did some digging and it didn't take me long to find out that he may have his sights set beyond the NSIC.

Crazy that he was playing in Brainerd for CLC and we just happened to be the best fit.

[SW_Mustang]

slow down - the South is an absolute meat grinder.... even if we start 4-1 we will be underdogs in the last 6 games. go look at that schedule.

I'm well aware - that's why I think I called it at 4-7 with a 4-1 start. 5-6 is my ceiling as I don't think it's beyond the scope of reality that we sneak out a close win in the second half, but I also don't have much reason to believe we'll go beyond that.

If you recall, the preseason onsensus was that we finished 2-9 with wins against the next two teams, so I just think it's neat we seem to have already exceeded expectations.

That being said, we do actually have to win those next two games and I hope we arent overlooking them, but given who's in charge, I doubt that we are.

[MrMustang]

Certainly has been a great start to the season. I agree Underwood will have them ready and they won't overlook Minot. Gonna take in the Booster Club Meeting on Wednesday. Nice to have one of those this week.

[Stanger86]

If you recall, the preseason onsensus was that we finished 2-9 with wins against the next two teams, so I just think it's neat we seem to have already exceeded expectations.

I recall Witt saying our only chance for wins would be against CSP and UIU...

[SW_Mustang]

I recall Witt saying our only chance for wins would be against CSP and UIU...

CSP over Minot? Odd.

[Stanger86]

This week's opponent, Minot State, enters the game 158th of 162 D2 teams in rushing defense.Sherwood should feast.

[Stanger86]

also EVERY Upper Iowa game except maybe one in the last decade has been very close and right down to the wire.

This is a great point. It has seemed like our programs have been evenly matched most years. But it's worth pointing out that we usually come out on top in these close matches.

Since UIU joined the NSIC we are 13-2 against the Peas. The losses were by 11 and 12 points (both in Fayette ironically), while we've had two OT wins and 8 other wins by 7 or fewer points. We've only blown them out 3 times, in 2016 (59-41), 2015 (34-19) and 2009 (52-24).