The Cats are not the #2 team in the nation. They are not the #2 team in the BSC. They will fail to win the conference, they will fail to make the playoffs and they will fail to have a .500 record. They will finish in about 8th or 9th place in the BSC. It’s going to be a looong season for Cats fans.
Opponent: Monmouth. Result: Win. Record: 1-0, 0-0. Comment: Cats pull away in second half to win their home opener but questions arise about the defense.
@SMU. Loss. 1-1, 0-0. Cats go on the road for a money game against a BCS team in the Texas heat after bailing on NDSU. It doesn’t end well for them. Was the money worth it?
Colorado Mesa. Win. 2-1, 0-0. Cats win easily as expected. It will prove to be the high point of their season.
@Stephen F. Austin. Loss. 2-2, 0-0. Two Texas road games in the heat in 3 weeks take their toll on the Cats. SFA is better than expected. The Cats ‘Texas connection’ recruiting approach takes a major hit. Cats stagger into conference play.
@North Dakota. Loss. 2-3, 0-1. Cats lose 3rd road game in a row, open conference play with a startling loss. Reality starts to set in that Cats aren’t that good. Cat fans start looking for explanations.
Northern Arizona. Loss. 2-4, 0-2. Cats stunned in front of Homecoming crowd. NAU runs all over Cats ‘D’. Cats are now in big trouble, can’t afford another loss. Cats’ fans are apoplectic and panic starts to set in.
Bye. 2-4, 0-2. Cats get much-needed week off. Halfway thru the season, Cats have only 1 D1 win. They must run the table to have a chance to make the playoffs.
@Weber State. Win. 3-4, 1-2. After bye week, Cats show sense of urgency and get first conference and road win to end 3 game skid.
UC Davis. Win. 4-4, 2-2. Cats get back to .500 with home win in front of noticeably less than capacity home crowd. Where are the fans? Cats are still living on the edge with two tough road games ahead.
@Northern Colorado. Loss. 4-5, 2-3. Solid Bears team beats Cats, effectively ending the Cats’ season. Questions abound amid few answers. Cats’ fans are in shock, angry they fell for the hype.
@Eastern Washington. Loss. 4-6, 2-4. Cats get blown out in ugly loss. The finger pointing begins and the excuses are everywhere.
Southern Utah. Win. 5-6, 3-4. Cats manage to get a win in a half-empty home stadium. Many second and third team players see action in preparation for next year. A .500 season is now the goal.
Montana*. Loss. 5-7, 3-5. Griz win convincingly in Bozeman to end Cats nightmare season. “What happened?” is the never ending question for the 2013 Cats and their fans.
Summary: The Cats are overrated from the beginning. Their weaknesses in the interior of their defense are exposed week after week and their offense cannot score enough to hide those problems – repeated turnover at OC catches up to them. Things snowball during the 3 game losing streak the first half of the season and the Cats never recover. The McGhee era ends with a whimper. The “D” coordinator takes the fall for the failed season as the Cats try to pick up the pieces of a shattered dream.
*The Griz will be 9-3, 6-2, share the BSC title and will go as far in the playoffs as the defense takes them, probably to the quarterfinals, maybe the semis. It’s a good bounce-back year for the Griz and Delaney retires on a high note after returning the Griz to national prominence. The ramifications of the NCAA sanctions kick in, APR becomes an area of off-season attention and the future remains cloudy as a result.
If you don’t agree with this, you should be ‘band’ because you clearly never played the game.
:thumb:
