Happy Hour with John Gaskins

In his return back from a month on the injury shelf, South Dakota State quarterback Chase Mason completed 14 of 33 passes for 169 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in Saturday's 21-10 loss at North Dakota.
 
What accounts for that 42 percent completion percentage, plus Mason's 52 percent rate — an almost-staggeringly low number for a passer of Mason's caliber in the modern day game — in his five starts this season for the Jackrabbits?
 
If only Happy Hour had a regular analyst on the show who is also SDSU's TV analyst, who possesses a keen eye for quarterback play as a former record-setting national championship quarterback at USF, who has coached and analyzed quarterbacks professionally for over 20 years — from the youth level at Sanford Sports Academy (with Mason among his former clients) to two of the best University of Sioux Falls quarterbacks of all time (Chad Cavender and Lorenzo Brown, who, with Riggs as their QB coach and Kalen DeBoer as head coach won a combined three national titles in four years) — and some of the best Indoor Football League professional QBs of all time.
 
Oh, wait, we do!
 
Kurtiss Riggs joins us every week to break down these sorts of matters and on Tuesday pinpointed some of the passes Mason is misfiring and how much of the struggles are on Mason. How much does play-calling factor in and what can be done to better get the senior "in rhythm?"
 
Of course, maybe UND's top five defense and a deafening atmosphere in the Alerus Center contributed to the struggles as well. 
 
News flash: The Fighting Hawks are now ranked No. 6 in the country and once again imposed their will on a defeated opponent. Riggs handicaps UND's ability to contend for a national title, but before that, he dives into its chances of sweeping the South Dakota teams on Saturday when the Hawks take on USD in Vermillion.
 
The Jacks' loss in Grand Forks was just one of a bevy of upsets all over the college football landscape.
 
No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Notre Dame lost last-minute bangers on the road. Kalen DeBoer's Crimson Tide never really found their footing in a loss at Tennessee.
 
Sure, this speaks to the parity of Power Four football, driven by NIL and the transfer portal. So what does Riggs feel the recently-approved expansion of the College Football Playoff field to 24 teams will do for a program like DeBoer's Alabama?
 
The discussion starts with a new opening ritual on Riggs' weekly appearance — "What Are You Doing?"

This week, the question goes to Matt Rhule, who when asked why the Huskers blew back-to-back fourth quarter leads against Indiana and Oregon said, in part, "I ain't the one out there playing."

In his return back from a month on the injury shelf, South Dakota State quarterback Chase Mason completed 14 of 33 passes for 169 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in Saturday's 21-10 loss at North Dakota.
 
What accounts for that 42 percent completion percentage, plus Mason's 52 percent rate — an almost-staggeringly low number for a passer of Mason's caliber in the modern day game — in his five starts this season for the Jackrabbits?
 
If only Happy Hour had a regular analyst on the show who is also SDSU's TV analyst, who possesses a keen eye for quarterback play as a former record-setting national championship quarterback at USF, who has coached and analyzed quarterbacks professionally for over 20 years — from the youth level at Sanford Sports Academy (with Mason among his former clients) to two of the best University of Sioux Falls quarterbacks of all time (Chad Cavender and Lorenzo Brown, who, with Riggs as their QB coach and Kalen DeBoer as head coach won a combined three national titles in four years) — and some of the best Indoor Football League professional QBs of all time.
 
Oh, wait, we do!
 
Kurtiss Riggs joins us every week to break down these sorts of matters and on Tuesday pinpointed some of the passes Mason is misfiring and how much of the struggles are on Mason. How much does play-calling factor in and what can be done to better get the senior "in rhythm?"
 
Of course, maybe UND's top five defense and a deafening atmosphere in the Alerus Center contributed to the struggles as well. 
 
News flash: The Fighting Hawks are now ranked No. 6 in the country and once again imposed their will on a defeated opponent. Riggs handicaps UND's ability to contend for a national title, but before that, he dives into its chances of sweeping the South Dakota teams on Saturday when the Hawks take on USD in Vermillion.
 
The Jacks' loss in Grand Forks was just one of a bevy of upsets all over the college football landscape.
 
No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Notre Dame lost last-minute bangers on the road. Kalen DeBoer's Crimson Tide never really found their footing in a loss at Tennessee.
 
Sure, this speaks to the parity of Power Four football, driven by NIL and the transfer portal. So what does Riggs feel the recently-approved expansion of the College Football Playoff field to 24 teams will do for a program like DeBoer's Alabama?
 
The discussion starts with a new opening ritual on Riggs' weekly appearance — "What Are You Doing?"

This week, the question goes to Matt Rhule, who when asked why the Huskers blew back-to-back fourth quarter leads against Indiana and Oregon said, in part, "I ain't the one out there playing."

And along came UND.
 
The Fighting Hawks played like the desperate and hungry team head coach Eric Schmidt demanded of them against then-No. 1 South Dakota State, beating the Jackrabbits wire-to-wire 21-10 on Saturday.
 
For that, UND earned a No. 6 FCS national ranking in the STATS Perform Top 25. 
 
Now, the Hawks head to Vermillion to face the other Top 10 team from South Dakota, No 8 USD.
 
Both the Jackrabbits and Coyotes head coaches had a lot to say about UND in their weekly appearances on Monday's Happy Hour.
 
SDSU's Dan Jackson opened up about what went wrong in Grand Forks, particularly on offense, where rhythm was hard to find in the deafening confines of the Alerus Center.
 
Was rust an issue for quarterback Chase Mason in his first game back from a month-long injury? Why did the run game never pop outside of James Basinger's third quarter 63-yard touchdown, the only TD of SDSU's day?
 
How well did the Jacks defense respond to UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski, who most did not expect to play after an injury that knocked him out of the previous week's game at Northern Iowa?
 
Kaminski, as always, made explosive plays with his arm and winning plays with his feet.
 
How does USD intend to stop him?
 
Matt Vitzthum answered that and other questions about the Hawks, including the challenge of moving on the Hawks' stifling defensive line that gobbled up the Jacks' rushing attack and is enjoying the return of pass rushing beast Lance Rucker.
 
USD quarterback Austyn Modrzewski appears to be up for that challenge, even after a wobbly interception to open up the Yotes' 48-20 win at Murray State.
 
The decorated freshman responded with aplomb after that, and did so without the service of All-American running back Charles Pierre Jr., who was an unexpected scratch. 
 
Why didn't Pierre play and what is his status for Saturday's Top 10 showdown in the DakotaDome? 
 
Also, what has gone into the emerging play of receiver Brayden White and season-long dominance of linebacker Wade Abrams?
 
Vitzthum illuminates all that after an opening remark about the officiating in Murray. 
 
Before the coaches, the Happy Hour host turns back to last week's viral (in FCS and G6 circles) remark from Jackson, who said his Jackrabbits would compete "at the top" of the Mountain West Conference in the FBS, where North Dakota State resides.
 
Does a convincing loss at UND mean Jackson's comments were off base and out of touch?
 
In a word, no. Find out why.

Host John Gaskins goes back to the remark that blew up all over social media last week and why Jackson is still right.

Matt Vitzthum on win at Murray, Pierre health update, Top 10 showdown at home vs UND