HelenaHandBasket
Well-known member
I can't wait until they run a razzle dazzle trick play in the first series.
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Montana State Bobcats scouting report
- Thread starter BWahlberg
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- scouting report
catgrizfan
Well-known member
Kind of what I was thinking...and Portland State has a couple of dudes on the line.
ABQCat
Well-known member
I'll grace this place with a perspective from somebody who actually played the game but isn't suffering from advancing dementia. All of you don't deserve this, but here you go anyway.
- Lots of discussion on noise, but that’s only part of the equation playing at WaGr. The real concern for the Bobcats is to control emotion and stay focused. The entire environment, yes, including a pure decibel measurement, can cause a player to take bad individual reps. There are several guys I'm worried about on the Cat side, including one guy in the OL who tends to lose focus anyway. There are a few other guys too. Look for blown assignments and penalties. But if you think the players can't hear or are unable to communicate only because of noise, then you're naive.
- PR is on BN insisting on talking about Oregon, SDSU, and Mercyhurst as good indicators of the game Saturday. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could be any dumber. Completely void of knowledge of the game of football. Wow. Anyway, I lost focus there for a second. PR should look no further than the 2023 gris team as an example. They dropped a game in Flagstaff when it looked like the OL mutinied. That was a low point and obviously that team ended up in Frisco. In the case of the year's Bobcat at team, an injury at center right before game week for Oregon thrusted an OG into the starting Center role, and he has never played meaningful snaps there. He's a 6th year guy and captain, so I understand the decision, but it also moved an All-American RT to G and put a backup into RT. This also required filling in for the LG (who moved to Center). The only kid who stayed out of the shuffle was LT, but he was a freshman making his first start. Combined with a new and young OL coach and a new OC, there were some serious growing pains. I'm the first to say it didn't look good early. Our guys were losing 1-on-1s and couldn’t combo block to the second level. Basic stuff that was unheard of in the previous decade. Fast forward to today and it's been dramatically improved. Not as good as last year, but still very good. Lamson had to settle in too. The kid plays with emotion and fire, which can be good and bad. As a whole the front part of the season was not great on offense. Anyone paying attention knows that this won’t be the same offensive team going to Missoula Saturday. They are much, much improved.
- Similar story on defense. The Oregon game knocked out our best LB and our Safety. A junior college kid was thrust into action in the backfield, and our LB core took a little time to come together. It required the D to play a true freshman LB in the primary rotation. But it wasn't just any linebacker that got hurt in Eugene. Neil Daily was a true leader and was responsible for all the calls. His nickname was Chat, short for ChatGPT, because of how freakishly good he was at identifying schemes and making the right calls. This required Caden Dowler to become the field general and he's done extremely well as of late. It’s made him a reasonable candidate for DMVP for the conference. Daily and the FS are back to form now, and both will start on Saturday. This is the first time since midway through the first quarter in Eugene that this deense has been at full strength.
- It also worth noting we have a new DC. Bobby Daly was an elite gameday caller, and it’s taken Howe some time to get there. He’s there now and this team is playing at a very high level and with great consistency. Look for this side of the ball to play very fast and assignment sound Saturday.
- Finally, I’m surprised there’s no discussion over here on ST after you all witnessed an elite special teams player take over games in previous years. If Taco stays next year, he’ll own about every FCS record available for punt returns. He could be the deciding factor on Saturday.
Overall, I’m optimistic. Defense and great play in the trenches travels. That’s what I see out of this November Bobcat team. Would I bet this game? Hellz no. Our guys could easily lose focus, get called for personal fouls, blow assignments, and generally not be able to handle the moment. It happens. I will confidently predict a competitive game however. This shouldn’t be the same run of home-team blowouts.
- Lots of discussion on noise, but that’s only part of the equation playing at WaGr. The real concern for the Bobcats is to control emotion and stay focused. The entire environment, yes, including a pure decibel measurement, can cause a player to take bad individual reps. There are several guys I'm worried about on the Cat side, including one guy in the OL who tends to lose focus anyway. There are a few other guys too. Look for blown assignments and penalties. But if you think the players can't hear or are unable to communicate only because of noise, then you're naive.
- PR is on BN insisting on talking about Oregon, SDSU, and Mercyhurst as good indicators of the game Saturday. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could be any dumber. Completely void of knowledge of the game of football. Wow. Anyway, I lost focus there for a second. PR should look no further than the 2023 gris team as an example. They dropped a game in Flagstaff when it looked like the OL mutinied. That was a low point and obviously that team ended up in Frisco. In the case of the year's Bobcat at team, an injury at center right before game week for Oregon thrusted an OG into the starting Center role, and he has never played meaningful snaps there. He's a 6th year guy and captain, so I understand the decision, but it also moved an All-American RT to G and put a backup into RT. This also required filling in for the LG (who moved to Center). The only kid who stayed out of the shuffle was LT, but he was a freshman making his first start. Combined with a new and young OL coach and a new OC, there were some serious growing pains. I'm the first to say it didn't look good early. Our guys were losing 1-on-1s and couldn’t combo block to the second level. Basic stuff that was unheard of in the previous decade. Fast forward to today and it's been dramatically improved. Not as good as last year, but still very good. Lamson had to settle in too. The kid plays with emotion and fire, which can be good and bad. As a whole the front part of the season was not great on offense. Anyone paying attention knows that this won’t be the same offensive team going to Missoula Saturday. They are much, much improved.
- Similar story on defense. The Oregon game knocked out our best LB and our Safety. A junior college kid was thrust into action in the backfield, and our LB core took a little time to come together. It required the D to play a true freshman LB in the primary rotation. But it wasn't just any linebacker that got hurt in Eugene. Neil Daily was a true leader and was responsible for all the calls. His nickname was Chat, short for ChatGPT, because of how freakishly good he was at identifying schemes and making the right calls. This required Caden Dowler to become the field general and he's done extremely well as of late. It’s made him a reasonable candidate for DMVP for the conference. Daily and the FS are back to form now, and both will start on Saturday. This is the first time since midway through the first quarter in Eugene that this deense has been at full strength.
- It also worth noting we have a new DC. Bobby Daly was an elite gameday caller, and it’s taken Howe some time to get there. He’s there now and this team is playing at a very high level and with great consistency. Look for this side of the ball to play very fast and assignment sound Saturday.
- Finally, I’m surprised there’s no discussion over here on ST after you all witnessed an elite special teams player take over games in previous years. If Taco stays next year, he’ll own about every FCS record available for punt returns. He could be the deciding factor on Saturday.
Overall, I’m optimistic. Defense and great play in the trenches travels. That’s what I see out of this November Bobcat team. Would I bet this game? Hellz no. Our guys could easily lose focus, get called for personal fouls, blow assignments, and generally not be able to handle the moment. It happens. I will confidently predict a competitive game however. This shouldn’t be the same run of home-team blowouts.
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Vamos Gatos Vamos
Well-known member
Vigen's Cats beat have also beat in the playoffs SDSU, USD, UT Martin, and #1 Sam Houston in their house - they're only loss that season as I recall. But you're right Copper, there are only a handful of teams each year with a chance to win it all. The BSC this year is a joke, MVC not much better. I think this is the most watered down year I've ever seen.
Vamos Gatos Vamos
Well-known member
Honest answer. PR is doing his best to stir the pot over there but doesn't seem to realize he's being played. This place is ridiculous, the wild wild west of fan bravado & stupidity mixed in with just enough knowledgeable posters to make it interesting.
Total side note, but I love your username.
Vamos Gatos Vamos
Well-known member
It really hides my fandom.....
Just tell people it translates to "GrizzlyLove." Most people won't know.
bobcatfan123
Well-known member
I like what I’m hearing.
0-4Hauck
Well-known member
Gubner had 3 sacks senior year and 10.5 career
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OK. But he has 16 TD's in 11 games. He's doing it against EVERYONE.
Central Washington: 15 carries, 198 yards, 3 TD's (54, 11, 1), long of 54
UND: 16 carries, 82 yards, 0 TD's, long of 20
Indiana State: 13 carries, 129 yards, 3 TD's (69, 4, 23), Long of 69
Idaho: 27 carries, 147 yards, 2 TD's (2, 6), long of 25
Cal Poly: 18 carries, 123 yards, 2 TD's (17, 13), long of 22
Sacred Heart: 17 carries, 69 yards, 0 TD's, long of 13
Sac State: 20 carries, 84 yards, 1 TD (13), long of 29
Weber St: 12 carries, 122 yards, 1 TD (14), long of 35
EWU: 13 carries, 83 yards, 1 TD (25), long of 37
PSU: 10 carries, 84 yards, 2 TDs (4, 60), long of 60
Take out the longest run of each game. He's STILL averaging almost 4 ypc. And in 7 of those games, his LONGEST run wasn't even a touchdown...
I get as frustrated as the next fan about Eli's use, but at the end of the day the numbers don't lie. He's averaging 4 ypc and busting 1-2 every game.
Actual statistics might disagree with your expert assessment. See my post above.
I've never claimed to be an expert, just frustrated with what I see as a misuse of a player and misuse of downs. If they pack the box, go over or around the box. Make their Defense PAY for being so one dimensional. Lots of knives in that drawer, use 'em!
i went over there for a look. as far as i can tell, everybody believes that the sdsu loss is not an indicator of the quality of the bobs, but the times the griz played ranked teams that are now unranked shows that those teams were always not very good, so beating them when they were ranked means nothing.
Sooooo, exactly what The Griz have been doing en route to 42 ppg this season? More QB passing yards and touchdowns at this point in the season than any QB in Bobby 2.0? Come on, man. You're ignoring reality to spin a narrative. The Griz have been doing EXACTLY what you are demanding they do....
Then, they should do it more often. And, I don't have a narrative, just observations.
How many times has Eli run into a brick wall? Answer: Should be rare.
How many times have I said/thought, 'WTF?!!!' Answer: Too many times.
I'd like to see Pease 'Greet the Fans of the NorthEndZone' immediately after each game.
Hells Bells, there should be a spot for the OC and DC at the Post-Game News Conference, and enough of the 'I won't talk about game strategy' by Bobby. Opportunity to ask some real questions. Maybe they've been asked/answered on the sites previously mentioned this week, but I just didn't see them.
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So, you want to abandon running the ball in the middle? The exact thing you, rightly, pointed out opens up the passing game? And what about all the giant runs he DOES break doing that, or then running outside?
That makes no sense to me. This is the best offense we have had since Sneed was tossing it to Toure and Akem, and Knight was running up the middle. I'd argue it has been more efficient. They are quite literally doing the exact things that you and other Griz fans have been asking for for years.
Bobby Hauck is never going to become an Air Raid coach. He is ALWAYS going to run the ball to either grind the other team down or make the stack the box and throw it past them. It is confusing for me that you are demanding they do the exact things they have already been doing.
So, bcn then, you're saying.
Try as one might, he will NEVER be Junior. He’s good, don’t get me wrong…but he’ll never equal what Bergen did.
