Another waterboy who’s among the greatest of critics.
Sacramento State(11-0)
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Another waterboy who’s among the greatest of critics.
Wow. You went to the game? Very impressive. It had to be miserable conditions.
We were the better team, and it wasn't even close.
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Way to represent as always, Peanuts! The game was right there for the taking a number of times, and either bad calls or bad luck seemed to doom us by just enough of a margin. Sac State was pretty much exactly what I thought they would be -- a good team but not one we couldn't beat. Really frustrating to know we should have won it. Still, a great run this season and a heck of an effort.
Disappointing finish. We looked like the better team for long portions of the game.
Have to wonder if the Sack State 2 qb system was actually the difference. One could keep his hands dry on the sideline while the other played. I wonder if we should have considered a similar swap. I'd rather have Reece with dry hands for half the snaps than what we saw in the end!
A good fight by our Spiders. Hopefully the program can maintain momentum into 2022.
Have to wonder if the Sack State 2 qb system was actually the difference. One could keep his hands dry on the sideline while the other played. I wonder if we should have considered a similar swap. I'd rather have Reece with dry hands for half the snaps than what we saw in the end!
A good fight by our Spiders. Hopefully the program can maintain momentum into 2022.
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Reece Udinski is the real deal. He is an outstanding player and leader. We are fortunate to have him. I would think he has a great chance to play at the next level.
It will be interesting to see how our coaching staff explains why we didn’t try something to help him with the elements and how it affected his confidence and dealing with the elements. Our running game really put us in the position to score numerous times.
My biggest takeaway was how both our lines dominated in the trenches. We took them out of their running game and we were able to move the ball with our running attack. The left side of our O line led by Coll and Gouveia repeatedly pushed Sacramento State around. They repeatedly picked on one side of our secondary and also isolated their TE on man coverage with LBs. It also became obvious we could not throw a crisp pass due to weather conditions and their QBs both were able to do so when we took away the run game. Talent wise, we were right there but could not execute on offense when we needed to in crucial situations. The weather was terrible but that is part of the game for both teams. We also got scorched on kick returns. Players gave it their all but the biggest game that cost us a long playoff run was WM. Great season on whole but still a lot of what its in my mind regarding this team.
Didn’t we also get scorched by UNH also on a start of 2nd half kickoff return of 100 yds?Yesterdays was 95 yds
Is Legg in charge again?
I agree. I thought we were the better team. We did dominate both lines. Just can't allow a kick off return. And we needed that scoop and score. I'm excited about the future. We have a much deeper and talented roster than we have had in the past. Sucks to lose a game that we had every opportunity to win, but the future is bright. Spider Football is back!
Recall an interview pre or early season in which RU discussed his unorthodox grip of the football. He does not use the stitches. Said he never had and felt most comfortable not gripping them.
Given the weather conditions yesterday, can't help but wonder if this was a factor.
I’d have to think that was it. He had a good first half throwing, but the second half we saw uncharacteristic throws that we haven’t seen all season. I feel badly for RU. As I said before, he was an impact player out of the box this year. We are very lucky that he transferred here. He was a pleasure to watch him take over games.
Reese has been fantastic, waaay beyond even the high expectations based on his prior performance before becoming a Spider. Without him, we would have never been in Cali.
So proud of this team! Not a FCS team in the country that could blow this team out. Elite.
So proud of this team! Not a FCS team in the country that could blow this team out. Elite.
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Sac State fan here. In peace 
Several points having just read through this thread:
First and foremost, tremendous game by your Richmond Spiders. You guys should be super proud of their performance. They are a very good team that fought like hell and set themselves up with a great chance to win that game.
That said, I see a lot of complaining about the overturned fumble scoop and score call. As much as I know you wanted that play in your back pocket (we're all passionate fans badly wanting our teams to win) -- the replay officials got it right.
Same goes for the fumble by your TE Avery Close. Neither were receptions by the letter of the law of what constitutes a legal catch.
Jared Gipson attempted to catch the ball with 2 feet firmly planted on the ground but before he could fully control the ball and take a single step (football move) he was hit and consequently dropped the ball. That's not a catch. Period.
Think of it this way -- had the Jared Gipson play occurred on 4th down (and not been recovered by Richmond) you guys would most likely be seeing it as "no catch" and if it had been reviewed and ruled a catch giving the Hornets a big first down you'd equally believe you got robbed.
Conversely, Avery Close actually took multiple steps with the ball but never secured it. It was slipping and sliding in his hands before he eventually lost it and got hit. Again, that's not a catch. Period.
If instant replay wasn't in place it's highly likely the officials rule both plays no catch in real time and/or blow the whistle prematurely thus not allowing the plays to continue. I thought they did a great job allowing both plays to continue so they could be confirmed or corrected after the fact. That's exactly how it should be done.
Moving on, there was a big 1st down conversion awarded to Richmond early in Q4 on 4th and 1 where it looked as if #31 Savon Smith was stopped right at the LOS for little to no gain. Was it really a first down? Maybe, maybe not. It was super close. But somehow the far side official marked forward progress well beyond where Smith actually got.
The point? Both teams and fan bases can complain about what they believe to be missed calls against them.
Moving on again, the Hornets played w/o all-conference tackle Troy Stiefel and the Spiders really made them pay for that loss by stonewalling Sac State's rush attack sans maybe 3 or 4 good runs all game. The good news for the Hornets was that the extreme focus on stopping the run really opened up the pass attack and they were able to take advantage.
Another break for Sac State was the return of WR Devin Gandy, who made a couple big plays for the Hornets in the game. Gandy is an explosive receiver that hadn't played all season due to some undisclosed injury. Many of us had no clue he was going to play and he really helped out even though he looked a bit rusty.
On that front, both teams seemed to struggle at various times with the weather conditions. The Hornets more so the 1st half and the Spiders more so the 2nd half. Lots of drops and errant throws.
Udinski appeared to have trouble slinging the ball and the Hornets receivers had trouble catching it.
It'd have been nice to see the game played under perfect conditions to see how things might have played out differently (I believe both teams would have played much, much better offensively) but this is December playoff football and the conditions you often get.
Although, admittedly here in the Sacramento area we don't typically get that type of steady rain. The typical pattern the past decade or so is a few 3-4 day storms in November/December then we typically go into February w/o seeing any more rain. Sometimes for several months. We've been under drought conditions for quite a while.
Figures this game would be played under non-standard weather conditions, huh? C'est la vie.
What also sucks about it is that attendance was greatly affected. The Hornets had averaged over 15K this season and had over 17K for their game against Idaho and over 23K for Davis. Needless to say that the reported attendance of 9,136 was underwhelming and a disappointment.
Anyway, I completely understand the disappointment of having that game slip away from you. Any time your team gets up by a couple TD's you expect them to win. However there's a reason why these games are 60 minutes. They can't be won in 30 or 45 minutes.
In the Big Sky Conference there's a running joke about how double-digit leads are almost meaningless. Teams tend to run up-tempo offenses and the number of plays usually allows for big swings and comebacks.
In this game, the biggest (legitimate) momentum-changing play was Elijah Tau-Tolliver's kick return to begin the 2nd half. After his first couple of returns, I was quite surprised the Spiders continued to kick it deep to him. They even did it once more after the TD return and he came close to breaking that one too.
All in all it was very good and exciting game all things considered. While both teams didn't play anywhere near as well as they could have (credit some of that to the opponent) and were missing key players they both gave themselves opportunities to win.
Props to the Richmond Spiders for traveling all the way out West to a place they'd never been, representing extremely well and nearly winning. That's a very good football team.
Several points having just read through this thread:
First and foremost, tremendous game by your Richmond Spiders. You guys should be super proud of their performance. They are a very good team that fought like hell and set themselves up with a great chance to win that game.
That said, I see a lot of complaining about the overturned fumble scoop and score call. As much as I know you wanted that play in your back pocket (we're all passionate fans badly wanting our teams to win) -- the replay officials got it right.
Same goes for the fumble by your TE Avery Close. Neither were receptions by the letter of the law of what constitutes a legal catch.
Jared Gipson attempted to catch the ball with 2 feet firmly planted on the ground but before he could fully control the ball and take a single step (football move) he was hit and consequently dropped the ball. That's not a catch. Period.
Think of it this way -- had the Jared Gipson play occurred on 4th down (and not been recovered by Richmond) you guys would most likely be seeing it as "no catch" and if it had been reviewed and ruled a catch giving the Hornets a big first down you'd equally believe you got robbed.
Conversely, Avery Close actually took multiple steps with the ball but never secured it. It was slipping and sliding in his hands before he eventually lost it and got hit. Again, that's not a catch. Period.
If instant replay wasn't in place it's highly likely the officials rule both plays no catch in real time and/or blow the whistle prematurely thus not allowing the plays to continue. I thought they did a great job allowing both plays to continue so they could be confirmed or corrected after the fact. That's exactly how it should be done.
Moving on, there was a big 1st down conversion awarded to Richmond early in Q4 on 4th and 1 where it looked as if #31 Savon Smith was stopped right at the LOS for little to no gain. Was it really a first down? Maybe, maybe not. It was super close. But somehow the far side official marked forward progress well beyond where Smith actually got.
The point? Both teams and fan bases can complain about what they believe to be missed calls against them.
Moving on again, the Hornets played w/o all-conference tackle Troy Stiefel and the Spiders really made them pay for that loss by stonewalling Sac State's rush attack sans maybe 3 or 4 good runs all game. The good news for the Hornets was that the extreme focus on stopping the run really opened up the pass attack and they were able to take advantage.
Another break for Sac State was the return of WR Devin Gandy, who made a couple big plays for the Hornets in the game. Gandy is an explosive receiver that hadn't played all season due to some undisclosed injury. Many of us had no clue he was going to play and he really helped out even though he looked a bit rusty.
On that front, both teams seemed to struggle at various times with the weather conditions. The Hornets more so the 1st half and the Spiders more so the 2nd half. Lots of drops and errant throws.
Udinski appeared to have trouble slinging the ball and the Hornets receivers had trouble catching it.
It'd have been nice to see the game played under perfect conditions to see how things might have played out differently (I believe both teams would have played much, much better offensively) but this is December playoff football and the conditions you often get.
Although, admittedly here in the Sacramento area we don't typically get that type of steady rain. The typical pattern the past decade or so is a few 3-4 day storms in November/December then we typically go into February w/o seeing any more rain. Sometimes for several months. We've been under drought conditions for quite a while.
Figures this game would be played under non-standard weather conditions, huh? C'est la vie.
What also sucks about it is that attendance was greatly affected. The Hornets had averaged over 15K this season and had over 17K for their game against Idaho and over 23K for Davis. Needless to say that the reported attendance of 9,136 was underwhelming and a disappointment.
Anyway, I completely understand the disappointment of having that game slip away from you. Any time your team gets up by a couple TD's you expect them to win. However there's a reason why these games are 60 minutes. They can't be won in 30 or 45 minutes.
In the Big Sky Conference there's a running joke about how double-digit leads are almost meaningless. Teams tend to run up-tempo offenses and the number of plays usually allows for big swings and comebacks.
In this game, the biggest (legitimate) momentum-changing play was Elijah Tau-Tolliver's kick return to begin the 2nd half. After his first couple of returns, I was quite surprised the Spiders continued to kick it deep to him. They even did it once more after the TD return and he came close to breaking that one too.
All in all it was very good and exciting game all things considered. While both teams didn't play anywhere near as well as they could have (credit some of that to the opponent) and were missing key players they both gave themselves opportunities to win.
Props to the Richmond Spiders for traveling all the way out West to a place they'd never been, representing extremely well and nearly winning. That's a very good football team.
Thunder, don't agree with every statement, but pretty close. Classy post.
Good luck to Hornets going forward....other than when you meet William and Mary.
Good luck to Hornets going forward....other than when you meet William and Mary.
Thunder thanks for the post. Appreciate the praise of our team.
I kind of agree both fan bases could make points about calls in that game, and to be fair I was not sure Smith made the first down either but took it gladly. Guess when they called your WRs ball incomplete they had to call our TEs the same way, LOL. Does not matter anyway, it's over.
Hope your tackle gets back for the rest of the playoffs, though will share a point you might not have known. Spiders faced another 1200+ yard rusher this year and shut him down also, and danged if we did not give him a 100 yard kick return for a TD, but hung on and won vs New Hampshire. Only run game we could not shut down was William and Mary, and even that game kind of swung on three long pass plays.
Must admit I did not think we would give up 400 yards to a passing attack in the rain so well done to your QBs receivers and OL with the pass game. We even shut the running QB O'hara down on the ground and danged if he can't throw it too. Having shown your team was not run only and extremely good in pass game if needed should make other teams plenty worried going forward and cause extra prep time in trying to defense it.
As for pass game of both teams, wet balls, cold hands, it gets the best of players, so no excuses as both teams had issues. Your guys did catch enough to win and that is what matters.
Thanks again for checking in, still hurts as I thought people might be sleeping on Spiders this year, they kind of stayed under the radar most of year in rankings.
Good luck the rest of the playoffs.
I kind of agree both fan bases could make points about calls in that game, and to be fair I was not sure Smith made the first down either but took it gladly. Guess when they called your WRs ball incomplete they had to call our TEs the same way, LOL. Does not matter anyway, it's over.
Hope your tackle gets back for the rest of the playoffs, though will share a point you might not have known. Spiders faced another 1200+ yard rusher this year and shut him down also, and danged if we did not give him a 100 yard kick return for a TD, but hung on and won vs New Hampshire. Only run game we could not shut down was William and Mary, and even that game kind of swung on three long pass plays.
Must admit I did not think we would give up 400 yards to a passing attack in the rain so well done to your QBs receivers and OL with the pass game. We even shut the running QB O'hara down on the ground and danged if he can't throw it too. Having shown your team was not run only and extremely good in pass game if needed should make other teams plenty worried going forward and cause extra prep time in trying to defense it.
As for pass game of both teams, wet balls, cold hands, it gets the best of players, so no excuses as both teams had issues. Your guys did catch enough to win and that is what matters.
Thanks again for checking in, still hurts as I thought people might be sleeping on Spiders this year, they kind of stayed under the radar most of year in rankings.
Good luck the rest of the playoffs.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not taking credit away from your defensive scheme and player performances.
For all I know the result would have been exactly the same had Stiefel played. I just felt that your Spiders really made the Hornets pay for not having their "A" lineup.
Stiefel's absence caused somewhat of a ripple effect, as they had to move LG Jackson Slater to LT, RG Brandon Weldon over to LG and they had to play redshirt freshman Kenndel Riley at RG.
Regardless, you guys fielded the best rush defense the Hornets faced all season. You are the ONLY defense that the Hornets didn't surpass the rush yards average against coming into the game.
I credit your coaches for their game plan and the Spiders defensive players for how they executed. They stopped the Hornets on short yardage nearly every time and didn't allow many runs over 2-3 yards.
Luckily the Hornets stung you in the pass game, as that was seemingly the only way they were gonna move the ball that day.
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Hey man, we Hornets fans have been in the exact place you are now the past couple post seasons. Heartbreak. And endured many seasons of extreme suckitude before that.
I completely empathize with how you guys are feeling in the wake of a game you feel you should have won. It's depressing.
Anyway, as I said, I just wanted to share my (more than) .02 cents and let you guys know how impressive your team looked to the Hornets fan base. The majority of the Sac State fans I've heard from thought Richmond was a helluva team and that our Hornets were very fortunate to escape with the W.
Good luck next season! You guys seem to be a very level-headed and cool fanbase. I'll definitely be checking in on your Spiders to see how they're doing.
I stayed up late and watched the fourth quarter…57 combined points scored on 8 TDs. Absolute insanity. Not convinced the UIW receiver had possession on the game-winning TD as he fell out of bounds, but I guess just not enough there to overturn.
Sac State was pretty much who we thought they were...a very good offensive team that never really faced upper level teams during the regular season and got exposed on defense in both playoff games by upper level teams. If they had played Montana State in the regular season, I don't know that it would have been too close.
Spot on. I know we shouldn’t use the heavy rain as an excuse, but I’m now more convinced that under good conditions we would have won that game. No doubt our offensive air attack impacted way more than that of SS. The SS defense is obviously way behind their offense.
Our team was better than The Word and the Hornets. Those conditions were miserable. If we had won in Sacramento, I am convinced we would have won in Frisco.
With Holy Cross losing, there's not one team east of the Mississippi remaining in the FCS playoffs. Not exactly sure what that says.
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