Observations from the Spring game

[CatsNoMatterWhat]

Murray has thrown for over 300 yards in a game, and against a far better team than Wagner.

Yes he has but he has always been inconsistent. He would be a much greater weapon away from the QB spot.

[catsrback76]

Murray has thrown for over 300 yards in a game, and against a far better team than Wagner.

You're right he did...once as I now recall. I remember being encouraged by it thinking that possibly we'd turned the corner...alas, it was never repeated again.


Thanks for the correction, I still stand by my observations.

[Montanabob]

1. Size, size, size. Sterk, Beson, TA, Sumner, Askelson, L Kidd J Choate all impressed me with look.

2. Dline with Marx and Beson at Tackles was fast. We look deep at LB.

3. Offense was vanilla, but II and SumnerLOOKS SOLID.

4. Rovig looked good, but Chris did too in drills.if Chris is eligible, he will be hard to turn away, such an athlete.

5 Sterk and William’s are WOW.

Defense is gonna be solid, and I agree about Murray. It's been my belief all along that if he's eligible, he'll be the guy. Glad to hear rovig is playing well, might be a good contest in fall ball.

Goldstone, can you tell me why you feel the staff wouldn’t go with Rovig and move Murray so they can both be on the field at the same time? I’ve beenlabeled a “hater” when it comes to Chris—I’m not—but I do think we need to get out of the “run first but not a great passer” quarterback business. I’d love to hear your insight.

Catsnomatterwhat... Becareful of the haters.. I have said that same thing of Chris for two years.

[CatsNoMatterWhat]

1. Size, size, size. Sterk, Beson, TA, Sumner, Askelson, L Kidd J Choate all impressed me with look.

2. Dline with Marx and Beson at Tackles was fast. We look deep at LB.

3. Offense was vanilla, but II and SumnerLOOKS SOLID.

4. Rovig looked good, but Chris did too in drills.if Chris is eligible, he will be hard to turn away, such an athlete.

5 Sterk and William’s are WOW.

Defense is gonna be solid, and I agree about Murray. It's been my belief all along that if he's eligible, he'll be the guy. Glad to hear rovig is playing well, might be a good contest in fall ball.

Goldstone, can you tell me why you feel the staff wouldn’t go with Rovig and move Murray so they can both be on the field at the same time? I’ve beenlabeled a “hater” when it comes to Chris—I’m not—but I do think we need to get out of the “run first but not a great passer” quarterback business. I’d love to hear your insight.

Catsnomatterwhat... Becareful of the haters.. I have said that same thing of Chris for two years.

He’s a terrific athlete but he hasn’t won us an overwhelming number of games. If not for being 2-0 vs the Griz I’m not sure he is even in the conversation. I just think he’s a much better player than the QB position allows him to be. We have 2 very natural quarterbacks on the roster; let’s let them play. That is my “hater” view anyway. But at the end of the day I just want to win games. If Chris is the best guy in the eyes of the coaches I’ll trust them.

[91catAlum]

Murray has thrown for over 300 yards in a game, and against a far better team than Wagner.

Dude. That was one game. Other than that 1 game, he hasn't thrown for even 200 in a game (maybe once). And he had 6 bad games in 2017, either by poor completion percent or less than 120 yards passing.

Chris has absolutely shown flashes as a passer but he's never been consistent. One week he completes 12/19 for 160 at NAU which is exactly what we need from him, the next week he goes 5/18 and throws the game clinching pick at home vs Kennesaw.

We don't need him to throw for 300 each week, we just need him to complete close to 60% and throw for around 160-180, enough to keep defenses honest. He's never done that consistently. If he does get to the point he can do it consistently, he'd be nearly unstoppable.

[CatsNoMatterWhat]

Murray has thrown for over 300 yards in a game, and against a far better team than Wagner.

Dude. That was one game. Other than that 1 game, he hasn't thrown for even 200 in a game (maybe once). And he had 6 bad games in 2017, either by poor completion percent or less than 120 yards passing.

Chris has absolutely shown flashes as a passer but he's never been consistent. One week he completes 12/19 for 160 at NAU which is exactly what we need from him, the next week he goes 5/18 and throws the game clinching pick at home vs Kennesaw.

We don't need him to throw for 300 each week, we just need him to complete close to 60% and throw for around 160-180, enough to keep defenses honest. He's never done that consistently. If he does get to the point he can do it consistently, he'd be nearly unstoppable.

This is tough love but very true. Get Chris on the field but let Tucker manage the offense. Will be better all around.

[BobcatOninetails]

I only watched a little bit on TV, but I saw Bauman get sacked by #20 bc he didn't feel the pressure and didn't step up well. Gotta get rid of the ball young man! Fast decisions are necessary for a QB. This is to be expected though, he's young and inexperienced.

Rovig looks like he's the starter. Good for him. I was wrong about him, it appears.

I believe that was Rovig that was sacked on that play. You can watch it on the video highlite.

It was Bauman. If he wasn't in red it would have been a monster hit and a strip sack.

It was 100% Rovig, #12 (go to :33 in the Twitter post from AFCat and see for yourself). He saw the blitz coming and had zero time to react. I believe he was heated at Travis Jonsen because Jonsen should've tried to chip Price on the blitz. They figured it out however because then Tucker found him for 53 later in the scrimmage. Tucker was good today. He's much more confident in his ability to lead this spring. And that miscue was a good example.

Two different plays. Believe the Bauman one happened first.

I am 100% confident it was Bauman. He's got a way different build, and he moves different in the pocket.

I love NB blitzes btw. They're great against unsuspecting QB's.

Maybe this deserves its own thread.

[BobcatOninetails]

Murray has thrown for over 300 yards in a game, and against a far better team than Wagner.

Dude. That was one game. Other than that 1 game, he hasn't thrown for even 200 in a game (maybe once). And he had 6 bad games in 2017, either by poor completion percent or less than 120 yards passing.

Chris has absolutely shown flashes as a passer but he's never been consistent. One week he completes 12/19 for 160 at NAU which is exactly what we need from him, the next week he goes 5/18 and throws the game clinching pick at home vs Kennesaw.

We don't need him to throw for 300 each week, we just need him to complete close to 60% and throw for around 160-180, enough to keep defenses honest. He's never done that consistently. If he does get to the point he can do it consistently, he'd be nearly unstoppable.

This is tough love but very true. Get Chris on the field but let Tucker manage the offense. Will be better all around.

Could anyone in the conference cover Murray if he lined up in the slot? If he can catch he'd be nearly unstoppable as a receiver. I think he should get 14-18 touches a games, just not under center. Someone stated that if he wasn't 2-0 against the griz, he wouldn't be as heavy a part of the conversation. This is more true than a lot of people want to admit.

[The MICKSTER]

Replay onSWX now....edit 11am Sunday

[luckyirishguy25]

1. Size, size, size. Sterk, Beson, TA, Sumner, Askelson, L Kidd J Choate all impressed me with look.

2. Dline with Marx and Beson at Tackles was fast. We look deep at LB.

3. Offense was vanilla, but II and SumnerLOOKS SOLID.

4. Rovig looked good, but Chris did too in drills.if Chris is eligible, he will be hard to turn away, such an athlete.

5 Sterk and William’s are WOW.

Defense is gonna be solid, and I agree about Murray. It's been my belief all along that if he's eligible, he'll be the guy. Glad to hear rovig is playing well, might be a good contest in fall ball.

Goldstone, can you tell me why you feel the staff wouldn’t go with Rovig and move Murray so they can both be on the field at the same time? I’ve beenlabeled a “hater” when it comes to Chris—I’m not—but I do think we need to get out of the “run first but not a great passer” quarterback business. I’d love to hear your insight.

Catsnomatterwhat... Becareful of the haters.. I have said that same thing of Chris for two years.

He’s a terrific athlete but he hasn’t won us an overwhelming number of games. If not for being 2-0 vs the Griz I’m not sure he is even in the conversation. I just think he’s a much better player than the QB position allows him to be. We have 2 very natural quarterbacks on the roster; let’s let them play. That is my “hater” view anyway. But at the end of the day I just want to win games. If Chris is the best guy in the eyes of the coaches I’ll trust them.

I'd say its fair to say we probably would have had a worse record Choates first two years if it wasn't for Chris, he won some games,single handily with his athleticism. I will say his passing wasn't all that bad, we've had some astounding issues with catching the ball since Choate came on board, But watching Rovig in the few games we saw him in last year he throws a much more accurate short and medium ball but his long ball needs a lot of work.

[bobcat99]

Murray has thrown for over 300 yards in a game, and against a far better team than Wagner.

Dude. That was one game. Other than that 1 game, he hasn't thrown for even 200 in a game (maybe once). And he had 6 bad games in 2017, either by poor completion percent or less than 120 yards passing.

Chris has absolutely shown flashes as a passer but he's never been consistent. One week he completes 12/19 for 160 at NAU which is exactly what we need from him, the next week he goes 5/18 and throws the game clinching pick at home vs Kennesaw.

We don't need him to throw for 300 each week, we just need him to complete close to 60% and throw for around 160-180, enough to keep defenses honest. He's never done that consistently. If he does get to the point he can do it consistently, he'd be nearly unstoppable.

I was just responding to a poster saying Murray had never thrown for 300 yards in a game like Rovig had. I'm not exactly a Murray fan at QB. Not really a Rovig fan either tbh.

Not too impressed with how the QB's looked yesterday, but it's just spring ball. I'm not gonna take too much from it.

[Cledus]

1. Size, size, size. Sterk, Beson, TA, Sumner, Askelson, L Kidd J Choate all impressed me with look.

2. Dline with Marx and Beson at Tackles was fast. We look deep at LB.

3. Offense was vanilla, but II and SumnerLOOKS SOLID.

4. Rovig looked good, but Chris did too in drills.if Chris is eligible, he will be hard to turn away, such an athlete.

5 Sterk and William’s are WOW.

Defense is gonna be solid, and I agree about Murray. It's been my belief all along that if he's eligible, he'll be the guy. Glad to hear rovig is playing well, might be a good contest in fall ball.

Goldstone, can you tell me why you feel the staff wouldn’t go with Rovig and move Murray so they can both be on the field at the same time? I’ve beenlabeled a “hater” when it comes to Chris—I’m not—but I do think we need to get out of the “run first but not a great passer” quarterback business. I’d love to hear your insight.

Catsnomatterwhat... Becareful of the haters.. I have said that same thing of Chris for two years.

Same here, except I don't recall anyone bagging on me or hating. I remember making my case and nobody refuting it in any kind of meaningful way.

[CatsNoMatterWhat]

Murray has thrown for over 300 yards in a game, and against a far better team than Wagner.

You're right he did...once as I now recall. I remember being encouraged by it thinking that possibly we'd turned the corner...alas, it was never repeated again.


Thanks for the correction, I still stand by my observations.

Also worth pointing out here that Rovig was dominant against Wagner...as a good player should be against a much weaker opponent. I watched every single game Chris played in and there were a couple (I think Weber at home in ‘17 was one) where I thought “here we go; he’s figuring this out” just to have it fall apart.

There are probably few things as difficult in sports as being a D1 Quarterback. So this isn’t blind criticism. But I think the Cats are better with Chris at WR or in the backfield and a more pass oriented QB taking the snaps. It provides more options.

[mslacatfan]

My observations-

-Very clear that Choate hates spring ball and is making a point of keeping everything as simple and “half-speed” as possible. Avoid injuries. Sooo, it’s really hard to take anything away from the “scrimmage”, if that’s what you want to call that? Ha

-the team looks big and strong. One example being kassis.... good lord, has that dude left the gym since last season???

-Bauman.... impossible to tell where he stands from the scrimmage.... but I can say this, he certainly looks the part physically. Holy crap, has the b-ball team considered making him their power forward?! Ha

[MountainCat]

Watching Rovig and Bauman operate the offense yesterday, I’m with the others here that feel neither is quite “there” yet... You could see Rovig making good mental steps and operating smoothly in the running game. His passing left s lot to be desired as his short and mid passes were often dropped and he had almost no opportunity to throw long. Interestingly, he looked like he’d put on about 20-25# over the winter and had filled out substantially.

Bauman is absolutely more the prototypical QB body wise, the guy is big. He’s MUCH more fluid in the pocket moving, but was struggling to process the defense fast enough. His throws were often wild and inaccurate, he has a very high-elbow throw that combined with his height makes him throw downward and low to short and mid-range receivers. His throws were often uncatchable in the dirt.

If we could cross Rovigs mental and footwork (light years ahead of the other QB’s) with Baumans scrambling and physical size and ability, we’d REALLY have something! I hope that both QB’s go hard to work over the Summer and one of them simply flips the switch and says “this is MY TEAM” before August....

[91catAlum]

Murray has thrown for over 300 yards in a game, and against a far better team than Wagner.

Dude. That was one game. Other than that 1 game, he hasn't thrown for even 200 in a game (maybe once). And he had 6 bad games in 2017, either by poor completion percent or less than 120 yards passing.

Chris has absolutely shown flashes as a passer but he's never been consistent. One week he completes 12/19 for 160 at NAU which is exactly what we need from him, the next week he goes 5/18 and throws the game clinching pick at home vs Kennesaw.

We don't need him to throw for 300 each week, we just need him to complete close to 60% and throw for around 160-180, enough to keep defenses honest. He's never done that consistently. If he does get to the point he can do it consistently, he'd be nearly unstoppable.

I was just responding to a poster saying Murray had never thrown for 300 yards in a game like Rovig had. I'm not exactly a Murray fan at QB. Not really a Rovig fan either tbh.

Not too impressed with how the QB's looked yesterday, but it's just spring ball. I'm not gonna take too much from it.

Oh I see, sorry.

[TomCat88]

I only watched a little bit on TV, but I saw Bauman get sacked by #20 bc he didn't feel the pressure and didn't step up well. Gotta get rid of the ball young man! Fast decisions are necessary for a QB. This is to be expected though, he's young and inexperienced.

Rovig looks like he's the starter. Good for him. I was wrong about him, it appears.

I believe that was Rovig that was sacked on that play. You can watch it on the video highlite.

It was Bauman. If he wasn't in red it would have been a monster hit and a strip sack.

It was 100% Rovig, #12 (go to :33 in the Twitter post from AFCat and see for yourself). He saw the blitz coming and had zero time to react. I believe he was heated at Travis Jonsen because Jonsen should've tried to chip Price on the blitz. They figured it out however because then Tucker found him for 53 later in the scrimmage. Tucker was good today. He's much more confident in his ability to lead this spring. And that miscue was a good example.

Two different plays. Believe the Bauman one happened first.

I am 100% confident it was Bauman. He's got a way different build, and he moves different in the pocket.

I love NB blitzes btw. They're great against unsuspecting QB's.

Maybe this deserves its own thread.

According to Colter, Level (great name for a defensive player) Price had two sacks. So maybe he got Rovig and Bauman.

[BleedingBLue]

Did anyone happen to count the drops by receivers yesterday? Just off the top of my head I remember 7, 3 of which were Willie P. No matter who the QB is that has to change this year, especially Willie who had the same issues before getting hurt last year.

[TomCat88]

Did anyone happen to count the drops by receivers yesterday? Just off the top of my head I remember 7, 3 of which were Willie P. No matter who the QB is that has to change this year, especially Willie who had the same issues before getting hurt last year.

That and...Did anyone notice how hard the wind was blowing? Jonsen — the guy the “Official Game Day” crew was incessantly maligning (along with every single player and coach on the team) made a great catch of a wind blown ball.

[Cat Grad]

Did anyone happen to count the drops by receivers yesterday? Just off the top of my head I remember 7, 3 of which were Willie P. No matter who the QB is that has to change this year, especially Willie who had the same issues before getting hurt last year.

No!!!! All those bad passes that hit the receivers in the damn hands were all on the quarterbacks--who were running for their lives behind those great lines...you know, the ones that literally manhandled NDSU...Chris and Troy aren't any good and Troy probably shouldn't have been All-Conference...those other coaches need to read what they experts on this site think of him...and Messingham too for that matter...Messingham doesn't know Jack Sh!t about what type of plays to call...