Success on the road

[TomCat88]

Over the years, MSU has done pretty well on the road in the playoffs. In 1976 the Bobcats beat NDSU. In 2002, they gave No. 1 McNeese a great game. In 2003, they didn't do well vs No. Iowa. In 2006, they played Appalachian St. well and App went on to win the title that year as I recall. In 2011, they lost bad to SHSU. In 2018 and 2019, the Bobcats were in upstart mode when they were fed to the Bison probably due, in part, to geographic enhanced budget restraints. In 2021, MSU beat Sam Houston in convincing fashion 42-19, so even if you think SHSU was overrated that score makes up for that. Had MSU eked out a win over an overrated team, then I can see that point a little bit. In 2022, losing at SDSU as bad as they did may have had something to do with the weather and losing Chambers on the first possession. More the latter as he may have a big part of the offensive game plan. SDSU's offense was rolling that though and it wasn't an impressive showing.

So, MSU has two impressive road wins. Two very good showings, despite losing. Lost bad three times. And had two losses that went about as you would expect. I would say MSU is 4-3-2 or 4-2-3 in road playoff games in terms of how they played. I know there are some fans that think if you lose to Alabama on the road by one point, you lost and therefore suck and need to clean house and re-think everything you're doing, but I think most of you will agree that MSU has been better than average on the road.

MSU is really good on neutral fields. 2-1-1. That one tie back in 1956 worked out. I'm told that the game was played in a mud bowl and that MSU probably had around 250-300 yards to about 100 for St. Francis and that MSU was in FG range a few times. No one was kicking a field goal due to it being impossible to set your plant foot in the event the snap got to the holder and in the event the holder could handle it.

[technoCat]

Now before I say anything I really don’t want to jinx us as we still have 1.5 more tricky road games but with that said we have looked so much better on the road. In the Vigen era we have always and I mean always sucked on the road. Outside of the Sac game last year (who really wasn’t great) we haven’t been good when we aren’t in Bobcat Stadium, I guess you could argue SDSU but I believe the stadium was rather empty that weekend. Now with that being said this year we have gotten off to some very sharp starts when we have been away. Now obviously we got EW and UCD left which will be challenging but I have so much more confidence in this team on the road.

Knocking off the #1 seed Sam Houston in 2021 was kind of 'good'. Obviously SDSU. The Wyoming game in 2021. Came within a FG of beating Idaho on the road last season.

Win at #15 EWU in 2022. Beat #10 Weber in Ogden 40-0 in 2023.

And obviously beating #3 Sac last year by 2 scores was a 'good' game.

The other SDSU game & 2 games at UM were bad.

I think you are maybe confusing the Cats with some other team that has lacked success on the road.

Sam Houston was not that good. Only got the one because they won the covid championship. We should’ve beaten Wyoming and Idaho honestly. I thought 22 EW ended up falling apart and Weber ended up being awful. Sac game was a good win but they ended up being not great. Obviously games at UM are tough because of wa gris but I just think we have looked noticeably worse at away games. Maybe its just because we have such a big boost from home crowd?

Not sure why everyone thinks that SHSU wasn't good. You sound like a butt hurt griz fan. They were the previous champions and were unbeaten that entire year. They were definitely deserving of being #1.

Theres an element of "So and so wasn't good if we beat them". He says it in a few different places.

Yeah, it's been the same old song and dance from several people for years. Not sure if it's a trolling thing or we are just so used to getting "exposed" eventually, that we just can't accept we beat good teams because we may be great. Everyone knows EWU is all about riding momentum so them collapsing after we whooped them isn't surprising. Sac has immense amounts of talent, it's all about whether they can put it all together when it matters. SHSU had a plethora of explosive athletes and hadn't lost at home in years and we just out physicalled them.

I think this year I see a definite difference in how this team is playing as the year goes along. We aren't seeing those ups and downs and we aren't seeing huge drop-offs when we lose our all-conference guys. So much of this game is mental and I think we have a very mentally strong team and am extremely excited to see how far it will go!

[BelligerentBobcat]

Guys, not everybody who you disagree with is a Griz troll. Not everybody has to think everything is rainbows and sunshine all the time. Grow up.

I don’t even agree with Mony, I just think he’s a younger fella who’s still working on reasoning and logic. He’s coming out with thoughts, explaining them, and contributing! That’s exactly what makes a message board fun and entertaining. Don’t shut him, or others down, because you disagree by calling him a Griz troll. It’s honestly so childish.

[cats2506]

Guys, not everybody who you disagree with is a Griz troll. Not everybody has to think everything is rainbows and sunshine all the time. Grow up.

I don’t even agree with Mony, I just think he’s a younger fella who’s still working on reasoning and logic. He’s coming out with thoughts, explaining them, and contributing! That’s exactly what makes a message board fun and entertaining. Don’t shut him, or others down, because you disagree by calling him a Griz troll. It’s honestly so childish.

You keep posting like that and you're gonna have to change your username

[BelligerentBobcat]

Guys, not everybody who you disagree with is a Griz troll. Not everybody has to think everything is rainbows and sunshine all the time. Grow up.

I don’t even agree with Mony, I just think he’s a younger fella who’s still working on reasoning and logic. He’s coming out with thoughts, explaining them, and contributing! That’s exactly what makes a message board fun and entertaining. Don’t shut him, or others down, because you disagree by calling him a Griz troll. It’s honestly so childish.

You keep posting like that and you're gonna have to change your username

ReasonableRandy?

CatatonicCat?

Boring Bob?

The possibilities are endless.

[Monymony]

I can assure you I’m not a gris fan.
Covid Season SHSU
SE Lousiana- 43-38
Nicholls- 71-17
Lamar- 62-7
NW St- 24-16
McNeese- 27-13
UIW- 42-14
Monmouth- 21-15
NDSU- 24-20
JMU- 38-35
SDSU- 23-21

21 Season
NAU 42-16
SEMO 52-14
Central Arkansas 45-35
SFA 21-20
Lamar 41-7
Jax St 42-7
Tarleton 45-27
Utah Tech 59-10
Eastern Ky- 42-28
ACU 35-9
UIW 49-42
MSU 19-42

Solid stretch but there are around 6 games against mediocre teams that were close, but they had some good wins against top FCS teams in the playoffs. This team was good but nothing compared to number one seeds in the past. NDSU for the time before that and SDSU after that have been significantly better than SHSU.

[onceacat]

Guys, not everybody who you disagree with is a Griz troll. Not everybody has to think everything is rainbows and sunshine all the time. Grow up.

I don’t even agree with Mony, I just think he’s a younger fella who’s still working on reasoning and logic. He’s coming out with thoughts, explaining them, and contributing! That’s exactly what makes a message board fun and entertaining. Don’t shut him, or others down, because you disagree by calling him a Griz troll. It’s honestly so childish.

I have not reason to think hes a troll. Hes just far too pessimistic.

Cats have a ton of great road wins under Vigen. And they have been even better at home, just like you would expect ALL sports teams at all levels to perform better at home.

[Monymony]

No doubt its harder to win on the road but I believe to be a top team and win national championships you need to be good on the road and at home. I’d say SDSU and NDSU still do very well on the road.
[/quote]

It looks like SDSU and NDSU are slightly better on the road, but it's not that far off. All of these are since the beginning of 2021 (Vigen's first year)

MSU
14-6 overall (FBS win at New Mexico, loss at Wyoming). 3-5 against playoff teams.

SDSU
16-5 overall (FBS win at Colorado St, losses at Iowa and Oklahoma St). 7-3 against playoff teams (NDSU loss this year included, guessing they are playoff bound...)

NDSU
15-6 overall (FBS losses at Arizona and Colorado). 3-4 against playoff teams (ETSU win this year included, as they are projected by Herder as a playoff team)

So Cats are actually pretty good on the road it looks like. If we want to compare to the other member of the "big 4", here is some UM stats:

UM
11-8 overall (FBS win at Washington). 1-7 against playoff teams (last year Idaho the anomaly)

Cats quite a bit closer to the DSUs than they are to the Gris. Hopefully don't have to worry about any road games anywhere this year after EWU and Davis!
[/quote]
Thanks for this info, gris are definitely a different team on the road. But I also question how much being in the MVFC also changes the DSU’s stats. The BSC was supposed to be on par with MVFC but I think we are seeing significantly more frauds in the BSC. Anyways I think that the DSU’s in BSC would roll every team outside of UCD and us, maybe even UCD.

[Monymony]

Guys, not everybody who you disagree with is a Griz troll. Not everybody has to think everything is rainbows and sunshine all the time. Grow up.

I don’t even agree with Mony, I just think he’s a younger fella who’s still working on reasoning and logic. He’s coming out with thoughts, explaining them, and contributing! That’s exactly what makes a message board fun and entertaining. Don’t shut him, or others down, because you disagree by calling him a Griz troll. It’s honestly so childish.

I have not reason to think hes a troll. Hes just far too pessimistic.

Cats have a ton of great road wins under Vigen. And they have been even better at home, just like you would expect ALL sports teams at all levels to perform better at home.

Im actually being optimistic about this season saying we are playing better road football, and actually don’t look very different on the road than at home. This is a complement as in my opinion we haven’t done this in the past.

[MSU01]

Guys, not everybody who you disagree with is a Griz troll. Not everybody has to think everything is rainbows and sunshine all the time. Grow up.

I don’t even agree with Mony, I just think he’s a younger fella who’s still working on reasoning and logic. He’s coming out with thoughts, explaining them, and contributing! That’s exactly what makes a message board fun and entertaining. Don’t shut him, or others down, because you disagree by calling him a Griz troll. It’s honestly so childish.

I have not reason to think hes a troll. Hes just far too pessimistic.

Cats have a ton of great road wins under Vigen. And they have been even better at home, just like you would expect ALL sports teams at all levels to perform better at home.

He is far from the only poster on this board who is overly pessimistic! Half the people on here are already convinced that MSU will be screwed over by the playoff committee even if they go 12-0 and are outright Big Sky Champs.

[BleedingBLue]

[/quote]
Thanks for this info, gris are definitely a different team on the road. But I also question how much being in the MVFC also changes the DSU’s stats. The BSC was supposed to be on par with MVFC but I think we are seeing significantly more frauds in the BSC. Anyways I think that the DSU’s in BSC would roll every team outside of UCD and us, maybe even UCD.
[/quote]

If you look at the MVFC this year, I think you will see it is exactly like the BSC. 2 teams that are clearly better than everyone else, some good teams, then everyone else. SIU, NIU, and YSU are not nearly as good as usual. The BSC is the same way with Sac, Weber, and EWU not being as good as they have been.

[catscat]

I'm pessimist because I think the Cats at 12-0 with an FBS win should be #1 over an 11-1 DSU with an FBS loss, but think it won't turn out that way.

Seems some posters think they are optimistic because they believe in that scenario the Cats will be #2.

[MSU01]

I'm pessimist because I think the Cats at 12-0 with an FBS win should be #1 over an 11-1 DSU with an FBS loss, but think it won't turn out that way.

Seems some posters think they are optimistic because they believe in that scenario the Cats will be #2.

I look forward to us arguing about this for the next month as MSU and NDSU continue to rack up wins, then for all of it to become a moot point when NDSU loses at USD on the last day of the season to make MSU the clear #1 seed if they win out.

[seataccat]

I can assure you I’m not a gris fan.
Covid Season SHSU
SE Lousiana- 43-38
Nicholls- 71-17
Lamar- 62-7
NW St- 24-16
McNeese- 27-13
UIW- 42-14
Monmouth- 21-15
NDSU- 24-20
JMU- 38-35
SDSU- 23-21

21 Season
NAU 42-16
SEMO 52-14
Central Arkansas 45-35
SFA 21-20
Lamar 41-7
Jax St 42-7
Tarleton 45-27
Utah Tech 59-10
Eastern Ky- 42-28
ACU 35-9
UIW 49-42
MSU 19-42

Solid stretch but there are around 6 games against mediocre teams that were close, but they had some good wins against top FCS teams in the playoffs. This team was good but nothing compared to number one seeds in the past. NDSU for the time before that and SDSU after that have been significantly better than SHSU.

I think you proved everyones points. Show me another #1 seed that was undefeated for two years and had wins over NDSU during that time frame. You're reasoning is because they had a couple close games? Just a bit sick of hearing that narrative. These are all DI games with DI athletes and they are not easy to win.

[RickRund]

Guys, not everybody who you disagree with is a Griz troll. Not everybody has to think everything is rainbows and sunshine all the time. Grow up.

I don’t even agree with Mony, I just think he’s a younger fella who’s still working on reasoning and logic. He’s coming out with thoughts, explaining them, and contributing! That’s exactly what makes a message board fun and entertaining. Don’t shut him, or others down, because you disagree by calling him a Griz troll. It’s honestly so childish.

You keep posting like that and you're gonna have to change your username

ReasonableRandy?

CatatonicCat?

Boring Bob?

The possibilities are endless.

SweetnessandlightBobcat

[BelligerentBobcat]

Guys, not everybody who you disagree with is a Griz troll. Not everybody has to think everything is rainbows and sunshine all the time. Grow up.

I don’t even agree with Mony, I just think he’s a younger fella who’s still working on reasoning and logic. He’s coming out with thoughts, explaining them, and contributing! That’s exactly what makes a message board fun and entertaining. Don’t shut him, or others down, because you disagree by calling him a Griz troll. It’s honestly so childish.

You keep posting like that and you're gonna have to change your username

ReasonableRandy?

CatatonicCat?

Boring Bob?

The possibilities are endless.

SweetnessandlightBobcat

Perhaps you didn’t see the common theme with all of my names.

[Monymony]

I can assure you I’m not a gris fan.
Covid Season SHSU
SE Lousiana- 43-38
Nicholls- 71-17
Lamar- 62-7
NW St- 24-16
McNeese- 27-13
UIW- 42-14
Monmouth- 21-15
NDSU- 24-20
JMU- 38-35
SDSU- 23-21

21 Season
NAU 42-16
SEMO 52-14
Central Arkansas 45-35
SFA 21-20
Lamar 41-7
Jax St 42-7
Tarleton 45-27
Utah Tech 59-10
Eastern Ky- 42-28
ACU 35-9
UIW 49-42
MSU 19-42

Solid stretch but there are around 6 games against mediocre teams that were close, but they had some good wins against top FCS teams in the playoffs. This team was good but nothing compared to number one seeds in the past. NDSU for the time before that and SDSU after that have been significantly better than SHSU.

I think you proved everyones points. Show me another #1 seed that was undefeated for two years and had wins over NDSU during that time frame. You're reasoning is because they had a couple close games? Just a bit sick of hearing that narrative. These are all DI games with DI athletes and they are not easy to win.

Undefeated during the covid season is different. Yes they beat NDSU, SDSU, and JMU… but NDSU lost to Southern Illinois that year, SDSU lost to UND, and the JMU win was solid but I think JMU only played 3 regular season games. I really don’t think Sam Houston was anywhere comparable to NDSU or SDSU during their peaks. Yes it was a good playoff win but not anything spectacular.

[technoCat]

I can assure you I’m not a gris fan.
Covid Season SHSU
SE Lousiana- 43-38
Nicholls- 71-17
Lamar- 62-7
NW St- 24-16
McNeese- 27-13
UIW- 42-14
Monmouth- 21-15
NDSU- 24-20
JMU- 38-35
SDSU- 23-21

21 Season
NAU 42-16
SEMO 52-14
Central Arkansas 45-35
SFA 21-20
Lamar 41-7
Jax St 42-7
Tarleton 45-27
Utah Tech 59-10
Eastern Ky- 42-28
ACU 35-9
UIW 49-42
MSU 19-42

Solid stretch but there are around 6 games against mediocre teams that were close, but they had some good wins against top FCS teams in the playoffs. This team was good but nothing compared to number one seeds in the past. NDSU for the time before that and SDSU after that have been significantly better than SHSU.

I think you proved everyones points. Show me another #1 seed that was undefeated for two years and had wins over NDSU during that time frame. You're reasoning is because they had a couple close games? Just a bit sick of hearing that narrative. These are all DI games with DI athletes and they are not easy to win.

Undefeated during the covid season is different. Yes they beat NDSU, SDSU, and JMU… but NDSU lost to Southern Illinois that year, SDSU lost to UND, and the JMU win was solid but I think JMU only played 3 regular season games. I really don’t think Sam Houston was anywhere comparable to NDSU or SDSU during their peaks. Yes it was a good playoff win but not anything spectacular.

I'm not trying to make this about bashing your opinion but it is just that. Your opinion is that those teams were not as good because they got beat. So we end up in this cycle where only certain teams are allowed to ever be good when they win and if anyone beats them or anyone else, it's because they were down that year. They were overrated. Well, SHSU beat the teams that lined up against them. They were the best during that season and proved it on the field. I have this sneaking suspicion that if the CATS rise to the occasion and win it all, and by that I'm assuming they have to go through the DSUs, that people will be trying to spin that they had a down year and it wasn't because the CATS finally caught up to them.

[seataccat]

I can assure you I’m not a gris fan.
Covid Season SHSU
SE Lousiana- 43-38
Nicholls- 71-17
Lamar- 62-7
NW St- 24-16
McNeese- 27-13
UIW- 42-14
Monmouth- 21-15
NDSU- 24-20
JMU- 38-35
SDSU- 23-21

21 Season
NAU 42-16
SEMO 52-14
Central Arkansas 45-35
SFA 21-20
Lamar 41-7
Jax St 42-7
Tarleton 45-27
Utah Tech 59-10
Eastern Ky- 42-28
ACU 35-9
UIW 49-42
MSU 19-42

Solid stretch but there are around 6 games against mediocre teams that were close, but they had some good wins against top FCS teams in the playoffs. This team was good but nothing compared to number one seeds in the past. NDSU for the time before that and SDSU after that have been significantly better than SHSU.

I think you proved everyones points. Show me another #1 seed that was undefeated for two years and had wins over NDSU during that time frame. You're reasoning is because they had a couple close games? Just a bit sick of hearing that narrative. These are all DI games with DI athletes and they are not easy to win.

Undefeated during the covid season is different. Yes they beat NDSU, SDSU, and JMU… but NDSU lost to Southern Illinois that year, SDSU lost to UND, and the JMU win was solid but I think JMU only played 3 regular season games. I really don’t think Sam Houston was anywhere comparable to NDSU or SDSU during their peaks. Yes it was a good playoff win but not anything spectacular.

Ok I think I got it, they weren't any good and everyone else in the FCS sucked too.
Just this year everyone said we would find out how good the bobcats were when they played Idaho. Now the narrative just switched and Idaho sucks too. After the UCD game they will suck too.

[tetoncat]

I dont mean this to bash the cats but we have been a different team at away games in the past. Maybe its because Bobcat Stadium is that big of a home field advantage? Look at last year… we beat Idaho and UM if those are at home and I’d say we beat SDSU if that was at home. Heck even a neutral site I think we take all of those teams to take the crowd noise advantage out of it. Anyways my point is this year we have been off to quicker starts (besides week zero) and had much more momentum that keeps it rolling. Games like Idaho and UM last year, even PSU in 21 we got off to slow starts and couldn’t get momentum. I think this team doesn’t need the energy from the crowd or the extra practice day to be ready to dominate. Maybe there isn’t a big enough sample size but we have definitely played better on the road and we have definitely improved chances of winning a national championship because of it.

It happens to all teams.

Cats have not necessarily had quicker starts. Defensively yes, Offensively no.