Kittens vs. Western Illinois Game Thread (Official Troy Anderson Thread)

[AZDoc]

I watched the whole thing. WIU should have won the game but for some stupidity, but MSU earned that win with toughness. I was not that impressed with the WIU QB after a good start. Man he had happy feet, and had no idea how to step up into the pocket. Talk about the QB list from a couple days ago...footwork and presence were not there. He had a good arm and could make throws, but his brain sucked.
I will wait to judge the game in a few weeks after I see the product on Saturday night, but I may change to a W on the road. I do think it funny that the cats win "against the team picked 7th in the MV" but how many on here picked the Griz to beat UNI and lose to W Illinois? Quite a few if my memory serves me. Good wins by the Sky tonight...and maybe Weebs isn't as good as thought as well. GO GRIZ!

 

[PlayerRep]

It was a good win for the Cats. Hard to tell how good, or not, WIU is. I didn't think they were bad. Cats found a way to win and you could see them coming on in the second half. This is the type of game that they may not have won in the prior. Close but no cigar.

I thought the Cats would roll in this game, so don't think Cats are as good as I thought they might be, at least not yet. Sure, Anderson was good overall, and found a way to win, but not passing, especially in the first half. Cats need to find more offense than what they showed last night.

Neither team could convert on 3d down. Cats were bringing the house much of the time on passing downs in 2d half. Showed they could pressure the passer. But I think figure opponents will see what they did on tape and take advantage of that with quicker passes into the holes left open by the blitzes. WIU seemed unprepared and confused when so much pressure came.

 

[Mavman]

Congrats cats they grinded out a big victory. These are the games they came up short in last year and last night they got it done. Troy Anderson got comfortable in the second half and looked good running the ball.
Cats defense looked good in second half and could be very good if their offense gets things going and give them some breaks.
WIU will be a handful for Griz. You could tell they had a new coach with a few decisions they made in first half and some time management issues towards halftime. Penalties also hurt them, however if they get these things ironed out they will be a tough game for Montana in a few weeks.

Color commentator please retire i'm sure you are a great guy but Damn :shock:

 

[Mousegriz]

Congrats cats they grinded out a big victory. These are the games they came up short in last year and last night they got it done. Troy Anderson got comfortable in the second half and looked good running the ball.
Cats defense looked good in second half and could be very good if their offense gets things going and give them some breaks.
WIU will be a handful for Griz. You could tell they had a new coach with a few decisions they made in first half and some time management issues towards halftime. Penalties also hurt them, however if they get these things ironed out they will be a tough game for Montana in a few weeks.

Color commentator please retire i'm sure you are a great guy but Damn :shock:

Missoula's own Mike Callaghan.

Actually does OK with his analysis...but my God....Montanastate....Montanastate....Montanastate.......Every time I listen to him I laugh. He says "Bobcats" about 4 times a game and "Montanastate" about 10,000.

 

[PlayerRep]

"Though he finished with just 81 passing yards, Andersen was much more efficient in the second half, completing 9 of his 14 throws after halftime. MSU's coaches simplified their play-calling, which put Andersen in position to make easier, quicker passes.

Andersen also needed to simply calm his nerves, coach Jeff Choate said.

"You could definitely tell there were some first-game jitters for that young man," Choate said. "Troy is a high-strung kid as I've said a number of times, and I think he did a really nice job tonight of calming down and taking what was available."

"In the second half we were able to come out and take advantage, use tempo, and we were able to get them on their heels a little bit," Andersen said.

"We just came out with a lot better energy in the second half."

From article in Missoulian.

 

[PlayerRep]

Congrats cats they grinded out a big victory. These are the games they came up short in last year and last night they got it done. Troy Anderson got comfortable in the second half and looked good running the ball.
Cats defense looked good in second half and could be very good if their offense gets things going and give them some breaks.
WIU will be a handful for Griz. You could tell they had a new coach with a few decisions they made in first half and some time management issues towards halftime. Penalties also hurt them, however if they get these things ironed out they will be a tough game for Montana in a few weeks.

Color commentator please retire i'm sure you are a great guy but Damn :shock:

Agree on all counts, especially last paragraph. He voice drives me nuts. Almost unbearable.

 

[retiredpopo]

for those complaining of the announcers why don't they do what I do and turn the volume off? seriously best way to watch a game is with no volume. i don't need anyone telling me what is going on. It also lets you judge the ref calls objectively. It however does not work if you are blind or listening to the game on the radio for those fans not smart enough to figure that out lol.

 

[hilinegrizfan]

they got it done but damn, that style of football is so boring to watch. just like last two years but replace murray with anderson. hats off to that kid. boring ass football though. I like to see the ball thrown.

 

[CDAGRIZ]

The interesting part is that UM could lose by 50 to Western Indiana in a couple weeks, but you will still be a Bobcat fan. You are a fan of the State College Bobcats. Read that slowly. Let it sink in. The Bobcats. Think objectively. State College Bobcats. Check the url. That's what's happening.

Goddamn right.

See? One guy gets it!
Good on you, Fathead.

You're going to get worked on Saturday. Enjoy. Bitch....

That's a helluva thing to say to a fella.

 

[retiredpopo]

they got it done but damn, that style of football is so boring to watch. just like last two years but replace murray with anderson. hats off to that kid. boring ass football though. I like to see the ball thrown.

what is more important? exciting football or victories? Give me boring football and a win any day. i would take a 3-0 win any day over a 51-48 loss.

 

[PlayerRep]

they got it done but damn, that style of football is so boring to watch. just like last two years but replace murray with anderson. hats off to that kid. boring ass football though. I like to see the ball thrown.

what is more important? exciting football or victories? Give me boring football and a win any day. i would take a 3-0 win any day over a 51-48 loss.

I agree, and I don't think a game like last night is boring football. That is good hard fought football. I think high scoring back and forth games are boring. Power finally came back on at my house, so I can take a shower and head to work (and get off the internet).

 

[jodcon]

Goddamn right.

See? One guy gets it!
Good on you, Fathead.

You're going to get worked on Saturday. Enjoy. Bitch....

That's a helluva thing to say to a fella.

I guess that's how he rolls? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[wbtfg]

Observations on WIU.

Offensively: Lots of fly sweep action that test the eyes of the LB's. They have a big bruising RB who they run up the middle and a couple guys (see mcshane below) who can take it around the edge.

McShane is the real deal. He's fast, quick, shifty, and has great balance. Had an outstanding one handed TD reception. Somewhat similar to a JLM/Matt Sczur type of player. Small in stature, but does it all. Overall he had 3 touchdowns on the night (1 rushing, 2 rec)
OL: terrible pass blockers. The WIU QB hardly ever had a clean pocket to throw from. Decent run blocking, mostly due to misdirection confusion stuff.
QB: He was supposed to be their top player and leader. It was clear his OL sucked and he knew it. he was never really able to set his feet.

Defensively, they are very strong up the middle. Hard to know what their secondary looks like, as we had a linebacker playing QB.
Very active Linebackers
They have a big bruising DT who is a preseason all-american and I think on the Buck Buchanan list, but I'm not sure I heard his name (Saunders) called at all. I'm guess he was seeing double teams all night and is a big reason why the LB's had a majority of the tackles.

 

[EverettGriz]

Well, 1-0 beats 0-1.


Oh, and the bobcats suck.

 

[hilinegrizfan]

they got it done but damn, that style of football is so boring to watch. just like last two years but replace murray with anderson. hats off to that kid. boring ass football though. I like to see the ball thrown.

what is more important? exciting football or victories? Give me boring football and a win any day. i would take a 3-0 win any day over a 51-48 loss.

I agree, and I don't think a game like last night is boring football. That is good hard fought football. I think high scoring back and forth games are boring. Power finally came back on at my house, so I can take a shower and head to work (and get off the internet).

To each their own, I suppose. I like to watch great passing and catching in addition to a strong run game.
I think that's what takes a team from good to great. But I agree, i'd take a win!

 

[uofmman1122]

I absolutely hate complimenting the cats, but credit where credit is due, last year’s team would have absolutely found a way to lose that game, even with as poorly as WIU played in the second half.

Assuming WIU isn’t pulling a 2013 App State where they secretly just suck ass.

 

[VimSince03]

they got it done but damn, that style of football is so boring to watch. just like last two years but replace murray with anderson. hats off to that kid. boring ass football though. I like to see the ball thrown.

hiline needs to get that Stitt out of his ears :thumb:

But yeah that first half was...not pretty.

 

[hilinegrizfan]

they got it done but damn, that style of football is so boring to watch. just like last two years but replace murray with anderson. hats off to that kid. boring ass football though. I like to see the ball thrown.

hiline needs to get that Stitt out of his ears :thumb:

But yeah that first half was...not pretty.

ha im probably the biggest stitt hater on this forum. congrats on the win :thumb:

 

[CDAGRIZ]

See? One guy gets it!
Good on you, Fathead.

You're going to get worked on Saturday. Enjoy. Bitch....

That's a helluva thing to say to a fella.

I guess that's how he rolls? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Yeah, so, let me get this straight: He waits until the 26-23 victory in the home opener is over, runs straight to eGriz.com, makes one post in the Bobcat game thread about the Griz's upcoming game, and doesn't think he's lil' bro. It's bananas.

 

[HookedonGriz]

Where the ef is PoorGriz! I was telling him he shouldn’t claim the Cats D will be the best in the Big Sky because right now they are getting abused. Shit, if the refs didn’t eliminate 65 yards on questionable holds it would even be worse. PoorGriz = SillyRabbit

Well I was at the game, so that answers your first question. Secondly, I never said our D would be the best in the Big Sky so quit making shit up. Lastly, it's cute reviewing these threads when you guys were all giddy thinking the Bobcats were gonna suck. :lol:

I will give credit where credit is due.....you won a game that you typically found a way to lose last year. Bailey was clutch and Sterk was huge in the pass rush. But in the flip end, you can’t tell me you’re pretty excited about what you saw overall. I mean your offense was abysmal, especially in the first half. I am good buds with some die hard Cats fans and they were not impressed overall. They are now worried for when they play tougher competition.