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Western Carolina Catamounts scouting report

wcugrad95 said:
Very nice write-up. As a WCU fan, some answers to a few of the questions. We lost our OC (Kade Bell - Kerwin Bell's son), our O-line coach, and our WR coach. Dez Reid battled some injuries at WCU, but anybody who saw him healthy knew he was something special. He was leading the country in all-purpose yards at Pitt through the first few games. We also lost our top WR (Censere Lee) to Pitt as well as a long-time starter in the secondary to Temple. So the age of transfers hurt the Cats. We also lost our lone big WR (David White Jr) to graduation - he made the roster for the Jacksonville Jaguars before getting injured in camp.

That being said, we return the QB and Adams got plenty of action at RB last season. We have multiple talented (but small) guys at the WR position. It has been more of a growing pain with Cole and the WRs getting on the same page as anything else. The only game we looked pretty good in was oddly the P4 match-up against NC State. This is also a first year OC, but he played for Bell and coached alongside Kade Bell the last severa years, so he has to get into a groove as well. We also have 6 or 7 O-lineman who have either started or gotten significant playing time along with a couple of transfers. We lost 2 really good ones to graduation. While it says we have only 6 or so starters back, we have 10+ guys who played meaningful snaps.

Our Defense has been downright horrible for the last several years, but we have a new DC and have put some focus in HS recruiting and getting a couple of transfers through the portal, and so far this season we have given up a lot of yards but have been actually better on that side of the ball. We have undersized LBs and DBs, but they can all run and our tackling has been pretty solid so far.

The Campbell game could be a total anomoly. I never would expect our QB to throw 4 INTs in a game, and the Camels also have an extremely tough 6'5" WR who caused our DBs lots of issues. That being said, not sure we could have played or called the game any worse offensively and we still had a chance with the ball to try and tie it at the end.

If we show up as the team who went to Raleigh and pushed the Wolfpack this will be a great game. If we show up as the team who laid an egg against Campbell this will be a laugher for the home team. Last week we played gritty against a ranked Elon team and got a tough win, but we also didn't look great on offense. So your guess is as good as mine as to which Catamount club makes the trip.

We'll have good athletes, lots of team speed, and hopefully a game plan to make it a good and fun game to watch.
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Welcome and thanks for the info. I think most Griz fans are prepared for this to be a tough game, even if some are predicting an easy victory. Should be a good one.
 
wcugrad95 said:
Very nice write-up. As a WCU fan, some answers to a few of the questions. We lost our OC (Kade Bell - Kerwin Bell's son), our O-line coach, and our WR coach. Dez Reid battled some injuries at WCU, but anybody who saw him healthy knew he was something special. He was leading the country in all-purpose yards at Pitt through the first few games. We also lost our top WR (Censere Lee) to Pitt as well as a long-time starter in the secondary to Temple. So the age of transfers hurt the Cats. We also lost our lone big WR (David White Jr) to graduation - he made the roster for the Jacksonville Jaguars before getting injured in camp.

That being said, we return the QB and Adams got plenty of action at RB last season. We have multiple talented (but small) guys at the WR position. It has been more of a growing pain with Cole and the WRs getting on the same page as anything else. The only game we looked pretty good in was oddly the P4 match-up against NC State. This is also a first year OC, but he played for Bell and coached alongside Kade Bell the last severa years, so he has to get into a groove as well. We also have 6 or 7 O-lineman who have either started or gotten significant playing time along with a couple of transfers. We lost 2 really good ones to graduation. While it says we have only 6 or so starters back, we have 10+ guys who played meaningful snaps.

Our Defense has been downright horrible for the last several years, but we have a new DC and have put some focus in HS recruiting and getting a couple of transfers through the portal, and so far this season we have given up a lot of yards but have been actually better on that side of the ball. We have undersized LBs and DBs, but they can all run and our tackling has been pretty solid so far.

The Campbell game could be a total anomoly. I never would expect our QB to throw 4 INTs in a game, and the Camels also have an extremely tough 6'5" WR who caused our DBs lots of issues. That being said, not sure we could have played or called the game any worse offensively and we still had a chance with the ball to try and tie it at the end.

If we show up as the team who went to Raleigh and pushed the Wolfpack this will be a great game. If we show up as the team who laid an egg against Campbell this will be a laugher for the home team. Last week we played gritty against a ranked Elon team and got a tough win, but we also didn't look great on offense. So your guess is as good as mine as to which Catamount club makes the trip.

We'll have good athletes, lots of team speed, and hopefully a game plan to make it a good and fun game to watch.
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Thanks. Great post.
 
I don't want to post much on your board - here mainly to read. Gave that long speech to try and give you some of the details about the team, but if you have any other questions about WCU feel free to ask. Montana is known for treating visiting fans very well, but not always the visiting teams (at least on the scoreboard). I wish I could have made the trip, but I do know of at least a small contingent of Cat fans who did. Treat them well!
 
wcugrad95 said:
I don't want to post much on your board - here mainly to read. Gave that long speech to try and give you some of the details about the team, but if you have any other questions about WCU feel free to ask. Montana is known for treating visiting fans very well, but not always the visiting teams (at least on the scoreboard). I wish I could have made the trip, but I do know of at least a small contingent of Cat fans who did. Treat them well!
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Those WCU fans that make the trip will find that Griz fans will be very welcoming, will probably offer them food and drinks, and will want to talk them up on the game and what they think of the area. Unless they're in MSU bobcats gear, they should have a great experience meeting Griz fans.
 
Getting back to the game at hand, thank you Brint for your expert analysis.

Clearly, Morehouse State was severely overmatched last week and I think we all suspected that would be the case, but possibly not to the degree it turned out to be! I thought we would dominate on offense last week, but I was quite surprised with the defensive effort!
I felt the defense was stellar! For those who weren't paying all that much attention because the game got out of hand so quicklly, we should note that
the Eagles ran 45 offensive plays and amassed exactly 45 net yards for the entire game! I don't care who the opponent is, that is domination on a whole new level! The overall improved play of the defense between week 2 and week 3 was astounding. We got a glimpse of just how good this group can be!

I certainly do not expect the defense to be as successful against the Catamounts. However if the "D" plays with the same intensity and intelligence of last week, I don't think this game will be close. I anticipate the Griz win by at least two scores.
 
Here's some good film for you guys. A 2:20 highlight reel of sorts from the Campbell loss. What I see is the Griz will need to win those 1 on 1 matchups in the passing game and get our ball carriers in space. Gonzalez's two picks they show seem to suggest some zone defense that caused issues with all the mesh / crossing routes WCU runs.


The Elon highlights are a little longer and kind of choppy to follow. Again looks like Griz WRs will have 1 on 1's. WCU had their linebackers really close to the LOS in some of these clips. The OL needs to block their ass off bc it seems if Gillman and company can get to the 2nd level they might have a lot of daylight. What worries me most from this highlight reel is that Elon QB is making throws we've not really seen Ah Yat or Fife connect on yet - and I think we're going to need to do that Saturday.

 
A much more defined and thorough scouting report this week.I commend you on it.Because of your attention to detail I will not be posting a report this week.(y)
 
What concerns me is the size of WCU's o-line--what do they average, something like 6-5, 320 ?

Our D line is pretty puny compared to them, so I am pretty sure we will see a lot of rotation on our D line as well as our LB's against such a big front, probably more than normal--hopefully, we don't get run over and our elevation slows them a little in the second half as well as maybe a little jet lag--they are losing two hours and probably aren't flying in until tomorrow. !!! aam.
 
On second thought, maybe the time change actually helps WCU since they are actually gaining two hours going east to west, Eastern Standard Time to MST ?
 
I don't know the actual itinerary, but am pretty sure WCU is flying tomorrow morning. Chartered flight from Asheville. Another quick note - our O-line is pretty big, but we also tend to try and go fast on offense. Sometimes that is to our detriment (particularly to our D if we aren't having any success). We have had a couple of times where if we would have slowed down, got the right play called, or even called a timeout we would have been better than trying to go so fast. For the first time this year you could see Elon's defense gasping and struggling in the 4th quarter. Going fast can help, but we would still need to be successful earlier in the game if we stand a chance to compete against the Griz. Help or hurt I do expect to see Western going tempo at least to start the game.
 
wcugrad95 said:
I don't know the actual itinerary, but am pretty sure WCU is flying tomorrow morning. Chartered flight from Asheville. Another quick note - our O-line is pretty big, but we also tend to try and go fast on offense. Sometimes that is to our detriment (particularly to our D if we aren't having any success). We have had a couple of times where if we would have slowed down, got the right play called, or even called a timeout we would have been better than trying to go so fast. For the first time this year you could see Elon's defense gasping and struggling in the 4th quarter. Going fast can help, but we would still need to be successful earlier in the game if we stand a chance to compete against the Griz. Help or hurt I do expect to see Western going tempo at least to start the game.
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This actually made me feel a little less worried. We seem to struggle the most when people slow roll it and try to make the game have as few possessions as possible.

You coming out for the game?
 
Wcu95,

Out last head coach almost always wanted his offense going fast, no huddle , fast, fast, fast !!!

But like you said, when your O goes a fast 3 and out, and your D is on the field most of the game and gets worn out as a result, your team tends to lose !!!

And that is why our last HC is no longer our coach--we beat up the Pioneer League teams of the world but didn't do too well against better competition !!!
 
If you look back at Kerwin Bell's coaching career, he has leaned towards a motto of "play fast score faster" for several years now. But while he has made Western way better than we were before he got here, we have definitely put our defense at a disadvantage. We have had a few seasons in a row of being one of the most prolific offenses in the country - piling up yards, stats, and even points. But none of that has led even to a playoff invite much less a conference championship.

We aren't trying to go as fast this season, but I think it is more the new OC and the guys we are replacing that have led to a bit of a shift. For a change we have an improved (not sure we are a good) defense. Three games in I honestly don't know how good or bad WCU is. Last week was the first game I saw where we tried to do more up-tempo and it didn't translate to anything like we had been producing the last 3 or so years. But it did have an impact on Elon late in the game. If we don't score early against you guys, the 4th quarter will be us racking up stats against your 3rd stringers.

I wish I was on my way to Missoula. If I could have made the trip, I would have made a week out of it. But I'll have to tune in on ESPN+. I am just thankful that these days I can watch so many FCS games.
 
Is that the Kerwin Bell who used to QB the Florida Gators? He has one of the all time best CFL highlights, he ran in a TD, went to spike the ball between his legs while staring down the defender. The ball hoped back up and hit him right in the nuts, dropped him like third period Spanish.
 
SaskGriz said:
Is that the Kerwin Bell who used to QB the Florida Gators? He has one of the all time best CFL highlights, he ran in a TD, went to spike the ball between his legs while staring down the defender. The ball hoped back up and hit him right in the nuts, dropped him like third period Spanish.
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Yes he was a Gator.
 
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