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FCS Championship Game Jan 6th kittens vs Fat boys

My thoughts on the game are pretty simple. NDSU needs to get a lead and make cats play from behind if they want to win this one. No turnovers and limit penalties. Cats haven't been uncomfortable all year, for the most part they have been in control and had the lead. Take that away from them and see how they respond.

Cam Miller is the best FCS player in the country he should win the Payton
 
Dont Kick 2 Bergen said:
My thoughts on the game are pretty simple. NDSU needs to get a lead and make cats play from behind if they want to win this one. No turnovers and limit penalties. Cats haven't been uncomfortable all year, for the most part they have been in control and had the lead. Take that away from them and see how they respond.

Cam Miller is the best FCS player in the country he should win the Payton
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I agree. Make the cats play from behind. Part of what has made NDSU so dominant over the years is their ball control and their long sustained drives on offense. They have great history of dominating the time of possession, taking the air out of the ball, and bleeding the clock in tight games. If NDSU wins the toss, they should take the ball to start the game. If they score on the opening drive, they can make a statement and put some early pressure on the cats. From there, slow the game down, huddle, and do everything possible to keep their offense on the field all day. The best defense against this cats offense is keeping their offense on the sideline. Break out the 23 Idaho game plan with 40 minutes TOP. If they do that, then they'll win this game.
 
Griz til I die said:
Here's my thoughts on the game:

I thought SDSU would be a tougher matchup for the cats then NDSU. That said, this is NDSU and there is no one else like them when it comes to winning in Frisco and knowing what it takes to win in Frisco. It's been 3 years since NDSU's last title. Cam Miller was a freshmen, and many of these Bison players have never won a title and for many of them, it's their last chance. It's the longest title drought for NDSU since their dominant run started. That's not lost on them. NDSU's run game is solid. Char'mar Brown was the Jerry Rice Award winner (and deservedly so) and NDSU's OL is what it's always been with multiple NFL guys on it. Their defense seems to have found a new gear though in the playoffs holding Mercer to 7 points and an explosive SDSU offense to just 21 points, but really bottled up their run game.

For the cats, Tommy will have to be the X-factor in this game. I believe he's gonna have to run and use his feet more in this game then he has all year. For the most part, I expect NDSU to bottle up Jones and Humphrey. I don't see either of those 2 running wild on the Bison defense. Their DL is very good, especially Eli Mostaert in the middle. He's had a hell of a year. Tommy will have to add something to the run game and if he can gash the NDSU D with his feet, then that's how the cats win this game.

The other thing to watch out for is the passing game. Both teams secondaries are not the strongest and at times this year have been exploited. The team who takes more shots and completes more throws down field I believe will be the winner. In recent weeks Cam Miller has been very successful at this and his favorite connection is Bryce Lance (Trey Lance's brother) who has really exploded and become a hell of a player. The cats will need to account for him at all times. Meanwhile, NDSU's defense will have to account for Taco Dowler at all times as that's typically Tommy's top target, but also being mindful of the fact that Tommy may pull it down and take off.

It will be a tall task for both defenses in this game. The one thing I'll say about NDSU compared to any other team the cats have played is their not gonna beat themselves. Their not gonna fumble the snap twice in the red zone like USD, or try a surprise onside kick with the game tied and fumble because the back runs into his own OL men like Idaho. NDSU does not beat themselves, their not gonna take any risks, and their the kings of playing it safe. They're a very disciplined team and that's part of what's made them so successful all these years.

I'm expecting a little more of a high scoring game. Somewhere in the 31-28 area and I truly believe this is a 50-50 game. I could see either team hoisting the trophy on Monday night. I think I give a slight edge to the cats but not by much. Should be a very fascinating game!
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Man you lost me when you said holding SDSU’s explosive offense to 21 and Mercer’s to 7. Mercer’s offense was an absolute mess, the only reason they were relevant was because of their front 7. SDSU’s offense was a massive drop off compared to the year prior. On top of that USD held them to 17 in regulation (in Brookings).

While NDSU’s defense is good they are no where near how they used to be. Their rush defense is below USD, MSU, and SDSU. Out of the 4 top teams NDSU definitely has the worst defense which gives MSU a significant advantage. Offensively you might argue they have the best offense but MSU just played the best offense (USD) and held them to just 17 points, granted in Bozeman. MSU did a fantastic job bottling up USD’s all-american TE, Galbreath, and quick WR, Bell. On top of that USD had an offensive line that was just as good if not better than NDSU’s and MSU did a decent but not perfect job of getting pressure. If the cats can eliminate the big plays and slow down Cam’s legs, this game won’t be close.
 
Dont Kick 2 Bergen said:
My thoughts on the game are pretty simple. NDSU needs to get a lead and make cats play from behind if they want to win this one. No turnovers and limit penalties. Cats haven't been uncomfortable all year, for the most part they have been in control and had the lead. Take that away from them and see how they respond.

Cam Miller is the best FCS player in the country he should win the Payton
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I would agree but UNM had a massive lead and we didn’t panic. Eck tried to do that in both games he played and he got too aggressive early and it put them out of it. UCD also scored first and the cats proceeded to go on a 30-0 run.
 
Griz til I die said:
I agree. Make the cats play from behind. Part of what has made NDSU so dominant over the years is their ball control and their long sustained drives on offense. They have great history of dominating the time of possession, taking the air out of the ball, and bleeding the clock in tight games. If NDSU wins the toss, they should take the ball to start the game. If they score on the opening drive, they can make a statement and put some early pressure on the cats. From there, slow the game down, huddle, and do everything possible to keep their offense on the field all day. The best defense against this cats offense is keeping their offense on the sideline. Break out the 23 Idaho game plan with 40 minutes TOP. If they do that, then they'll win this game.
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Problem is that isn’t how Polasek’s NDSU team is. The gris have a better statistical rush offense.

NDSU’s recipe for success will have to be built around the pass. While they will have some success running it, it would give them less time to keep up with MSU if it goes into a shootout. Lance will have to get 150+ yards and Miller will have to dominate in space.

The cats against Idaho in 23 are extremely different than this years team. 2 new coordinators, a better Tommy, and a new mentality.
 
Money! said:
Man you lost me when you said holding SDSU’s explosive offense to 21 and Mercer’s to 7. Mercer’s offense was an absolute mess, the only reason they were relevant was because of their front 7. SDSU’s offense was a massive drop off compared to the year prior. On top of that USD held them to 17 in regulation (in Brookings).

While NDSU’s defense is good they are no where near how they used to be. Their rush defense is below USD, MSU, and SDSU. Out of the 4 top teams NDSU definitely has the worst defense which gives MSU a significant advantage. Offensively you might argue they have the best offense but MSU just played the best offense (USD) and held them to just 17 points, granted in Bozeman. MSU did a fantastic job bottling up USD’s all-american TE, Galbreath, and quick WR, Bell. On top of that USD had an offensive line that was just as good if not better than NDSU’s and MSU did a decent but not perfect job of getting pressure. If the cats can eliminate the big plays and slow down Cam’s legs, this game won’t be close.
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NDSU was able to hold SDSU to 9 total points in their regular season matchup so they are capable of really buckling down defensively, but you had to figure that Gronowski and the boys in Brookings would be able to get a little bit more going in the second matchup offensively. I will agree that NDSU's defense is not as dominant as prior units in large part because their secondary has struggled at times. That said, their front 7 is still very strong and their D line I believe will be the best unit the cats OL has seen all year.

Offensively I would argue that NDSU's offense has been just as strong as USD's offense. Plus like I mentioned, NDSU is not gonna beat themselves like USD did dropping 2 snaps in the red zone as they were trying to forge a comeback. Had Bouman not dropped either of those snaps that resulted in severely long 3rd down plays, they likely would've punched it in both times and tied the game up in the 4th quarter. NDSU will not make those dumb mistakes.

Plus this game is not in Bozeman. It's a neutral site game where crowd noise won't be anywhere near as much a factor. Teams have a tendency to unravel in Bozeman, but that won't be the case on Monday. I don't buy the notion that either team is gonna steam roll the other team. I think it's gonna be a close, 4 quarter game that could go either way. Should be interesting.
 
Money! said:
Problem is that isn’t how Polasek’s NDSU team is. The gris have a better statistical rush offense.

NDSU’s recipe for success will have to be built around the pass. While they will have some success running it, it would give them less time to keep up with MSU if it goes into a shootout. Lance will have to get 150+ yards and Miller will have to dominate in space.

The cats against Idaho in 23 are extremely different than this years team. 2 new coordinators, a better Tommy, and a new mentality.
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They are definitely different under Polasek, but they are still capable of controlling the clock. Their average TOP this year is 33:20 which is pretty good all things considered. Plus I would think they know with how dynamic Tommy is that the longer their offense is on the field, the better. I would be shocked if slowing the game down is not a part of their game plan.
 
Griz til I die said:
I'm not saying NDSU will be asleep at the wheel against Tommy, but the reality of the situation is Tommy is just too athletic for him not to make plays in this game. He's going to make plays and the question for NDSU will be how do they respond if he gets going early? Can they provide a counter punch to slow him down, or will they get into a track meet with him? That's the big question is what can NDSU's defense do to slow him down? Are they capable of slowing him down? I think that remains an open question and is the single biggest key to the game.
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Yup. But they played MSU and Tommy last season. I assume they called the Griz or other Big Sky coaches. UM had the D in 2023. The Cat and Tommy pass game is better, tho. You need to account for him on every play. The Cat backs aren't likely to be able to beat the Bison. Bison D can't go asleep on the occasional longer passes either.
 
Money! said:
Man you lost me when you said holding SDSU’s explosive offense to 21 and Mercer’s to 7. Mercer’s offense was an absolute mess, the only reason they were relevant was because of their front 7. SDSU’s offense was a massive drop off compared to the year prior. On top of that USD held them to 17 in regulation (in Brookings).

While NDSU’s defense is good they are no where near how they used to be. Their rush defense is below USD, MSU, and SDSU. Out of the 4 top teams NDSU definitely has the worst defense which gives MSU a significant advantage. Offensively you might argue they have the best offense but MSU just played the best offense (USD) and held them to just 17 points, granted in Bozeman. MSU did a fantastic job bottling up USD’s all-american TE, Galbreath, and quick WR, Bell. On top of that USD had an offensive line that was just as good if not better than NDSU’s and MSU did a decent but not perfect job of getting pressure. If the cats can eliminate the big plays and slow down Cam’s legs, this game won’t be close.
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I don't believe a word you say, as you don't understand football.
 
Griz til I die said:
NDSU was able to hold SDSU to 9 total points in their regular season matchup so they are capable of really buckling down defensively, but you had to figure that Gronowski and the boys in Brookings would be able to get a little bit more going in the second matchup offensively. I will agree that NDSU's defense is not as dominant as prior units in large part because their secondary has struggled at times. That said, their front 7 is still very strong and their D line I believe will be the best unit the cats OL has seen all year.

Offensively I would argue that NDSU's offense has been just as strong as USD's offense. Plus like I mentioned, NDSU is not gonna beat themselves like USD did dropping 2 snaps in the red zone as they were trying to forge a comeback. Had Bouman not dropped either of those snaps that resulted in severely long 3rd down plays, they likely would've punched it in both times and tied the game up in the 4th quarter. NDSU will not make those dumb mistakes.

Plus this game is not in Bozeman. It's a neutral site game where crowd noise won't be anywhere near as much a factor. Teams have a tendency to unravel in Bozeman, but that won't be the case on Monday. I don't buy the notion that either team is gonna steam roll the other team. I think it's gonna be a close, 4 quarter game that could go either way. Should be interesting.
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I agree. NDSU still is very good but just not like they used to be. As far as the drop snaps, one was because it was so loud that the center misheard when the qb was changing the protection. Yes Bozeman gives the cats a massive advantage but the same could be said for the bison as I 100% believe SDSU would’ve beat them both times at a neutral site.
 
Griz til I die said:
They are definitely different under Polasek, but they are still capable of controlling the clock. Their average TOP this year is 33:20 which is pretty good all things considered. Plus I would think they know with how dynamic Tommy is that the longer their offense is on the field, the better. I would be shocked if slowing the game down is not a part of their game plan.
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I don’t believe their run game will be good enough to control the TOP. They will have to pass at least 60-40 or 70-30 to have long sustained drives. They 100% know how damn good Tommy is but they knew that last year and Tommy went 200 and 2 td in the air and 150 2 td on the ground. On top of that he is even better than last year, although the same could be said for their defense.

I think the way they beat the cats is with explosive plays. Similar to last year when they had 3 tds from 30+.
 
NDSUs defense is way better than last years. They were banged up and had some injuries. This year they are healthy and get more rest over the break before NC game
 
Money! said:
I don’t believe their run game will be good enough to control the TOP. They will have to pass at least 60-40 or 70-30 to have long sustained drives. They 100% know how damn good Tommy is but they knew that last year and Tommy went 200 and 2 td in the air and 150 2 td on the ground. On top of that he is even better than last year, although the same could be said for their defense.

I think the way they beat the cats is with explosive plays. Similar to last year when they had 3 tds from 30+.
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Bison aren't going to pass that much, or have to pass that much. What are you thinking?
 
So, ESPN actually has a short article on the fcs championship game on their site today. However, it's so far down the page it is literally below a story about some actress I've never heard of and her baseball card collection.




#fcs relevancy
 
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