FCS Playoffs second round - UT Martin at Montana State - Skyline Sports

[HelenaCat]

Gus called last year Hauck’s greatest coaching job. Maybe that’s true but I think there was a lot of good timing going on. The win at UC Davis was without Larison. The Idaho game broke their way. The quarterfinal and semifinal wins probably don’t happen without Bergen and that’s not saying that STs aren’t part of the game or that they’re just luck but if we’re being honest, we have to concede that they aren’t going to carry you through the season like a good offense and/or defense will. There have been some great return guys at all levels throughout the years but I don’t recall any of them producing sustained wins or carrying teams to championships. UM had a great defense that was consistently good/great all season but the offense was inconsistent and the STs did about as good as a ST unit can do but even the best return guys are hit and miss at best, and not something you can depend on every game.

The other area I disagree with him is on player development. Gus essentially said in football now you have to win in the portal and those who don't each year pay for it. Kind of discounted HS recruiting. I do believe bad teams can get better that way, bit the best FCS teams are still the ones who recruit HS kids, develop them, and fill gaps with portal.

As another example of not developing players, especially QBs, neither Colter or Gus mentioned Sam Vidlak. He became a disaster at Chop Block U, portaled out after last season, and then was on the Walter Payton list this year. So Sam must not have been near as bad as he looked at um...seems to be a huge coaching problem.

[Bobcat Sig]

Gus called last year Hauck’s greatest coaching job. Maybe that’s true but I think there was a lot of good timing going on. The win at UC Davis was without Larison. The Idaho game broke their way. The quarterfinal and semifinal wins probably don’t happen without Bergen and that’s not saying that STs aren’t part of the game or that they’re just luck but if we’re being honest, we have to concede that they aren’t going to carry you through the season like a good offense and/or defense will. There have been some great return guys at all levels throughout the years but I don’t recall any of them producing sustained wins or carrying teams to championships. UM had a great defense that was consistently good/great all season but the offense was inconsistent and the STs did about as good as a ST unit can do but even the best return guys are hit and miss at best, and not something you can depend on every game.

The other area I disagree with him is on player development. Gus essentially said in football now you have to win in the portal and those who don't each year pay for it. Kind of discounted HS recruiting. I do believe bad teams can get better that way, bit the best FCS teams are still the ones who recruit HS kids, develop them, and fill gaps with portal.

I would agree with this take. It's not an either-or scenario. Perennial powerhouses in the FCS, namely NDSU and SDSU, do exactly this; recruit, develop, and fill gaps via the portal. It works. MSU is now doing the same with similar success.

[cats2506]

Gus called last year Hauck’s greatest coaching job. Maybe that’s true but I think there was a lot of good timing going on. The win at UC Davis was without Larison. The Idaho game broke their way. The quarterfinal and semifinal wins probably don’t happen without Bergen and that’s not saying that STs aren’t part of the game or that they’re just luck but if we’re being honest, we have to concede that they aren’t going to carry you through the season like a good offense and/or defense will. There have been some great return guys at all levels throughout the years but I don’t recall any of them producing sustained wins or carrying teams to championships. UM had a great defense that was consistently good/great all season but the offense was inconsistent and the STs did about as good as a ST unit can do but even the best return guys are hit and miss at best, and not something you can depend on every game.

The other area I disagree with him is on player development. Gus essentially said in football now you have to win in the portal and those who don't each year pay for it. Kind of discounted HS recruiting. I do believe bad teams can get better that way, bit the best FCS teams are still the ones who recruit HS kids, develop them, and fill gaps with portal.

I would agree with this take. It's not an either-or scenario. Perennial powerhouses in the FCS, namely NDSU and SDSU, do exactly this; recruit, develop, and fill gaps via the portal. It works. MSU is now doing the same with similar success.

Yes, this is the way. But it only works for teams that are competing for championships. The high profile teams are able to keep those players because they want to win. Teams that aren't in that category of playing for championships are having a difficult time keeping players one they have a year or 2 of development. This applies to the lower level FBS teams too.

In order for player development to to work we need to maintain at a championship level. We are aided by many Montana players that want to play at MSU and haven't been recruited by teams from other states but even those may look to move on if the quantity of the program drops.

Just look at the FCS, the portal and NIL have made it so that their are a dozen or so team that are at that level, the rest are just playing games hoping that they can get enough out of the portal to get them into that discussion.

[catatac]

But will it really?

No. The Cats will rush for 300+ yards almost 100 percent guaranteed.

I believe the Cat run game is so strong, they could consistently run the ball on every team in college football, save about 30 Power 5 teams. For real. They could run for 300 yards on most of the non-Power 5 FBS and certainly every single team in the FCS save maybe a few in the Dakotas.

I don’t think they’ll get 300. I think UTM will force MSU to pass more and I think MSU is going to plan to pass more. That alone is enough to keep the number down. I think UTM has shown itself to be more consistent at stopping the run than anyone MSU has played this season.

I don't know. I think the Cats will commit to running the ball early and often and I'd have to think with our athletic OL against their three huge DLs, and our excellent run blocking with TEs and receivers... I'd have to think Tommy will eat them alive with all the correct reads and I don't think they stop it. So once we've scored three TDs by running it down their throats, they start loading the box and we eat them alive through the air. Then 4th Q with a comfortable lead it's running all quarter..... I think we get 300.

[tdub]

The key to the Cats success rushing the ball will be UTM’s ability to disrupt enough of MSU’s blocking with the big DLine to not allow the OLine to get to the 2nd level and create those big creases. It was the major difference between Cat/gris last year and this year. Last year they had an interior DLine that majorly disrupted the zone blocking scheme. This year not so much.
The size alone doesn’t scare me, but their strength and mobility (or lack of) will be the difference.

[Colter_Nuanez]

[Colter_Nuanez]

[Colter_Nuanez]

[Colter_Nuanez]

[Colter_Nuanez]

[CodyCat]

Please stop talking about how bad Hauck is. That narrative needs to be left alone.

[coloradocat]

Gus called last year Hauck’s greatest coaching job. Maybe that’s true but I think there was a lot of good timing going on. The win at UC Davis was without Larison. The Idaho game broke their way. The quarterfinal and semifinal wins probably don’t happen without Bergen and that’s not saying that STs aren’t part of the game or that they’re just luck but if we’re being honest, we have to concede that they aren’t going to carry you through the season like a good offense and/or defense will. There have been some great return guys at all levels throughout the years but I don’t recall any of them producing sustained wins or carrying teams to championships. UM had a great defense that was consistently good/great all season but the offense was inconsistent and the STs did about as good as a ST unit can do but even the best return guys are hit and miss at best, and not something you can depend on every game.

I agree, I think last year was a good team that made a great run, not a great team. Hauck has not adapted his recruiting to this century, much less the portal era. I think the run to Frisco masked a lack of depth and development in the program from the fans' perspective, and when they tried to address it in the portal they mostly failed.
The point that was really salient, I thought, was both Gus and Colter's point about the cone of silence that program chooses to exist in. It's detrimental to their fans and donors when you say "I don't care" when asked about the complete disaster they've created at QB, for one example. You can act like that when you win, but in times of adversity or teams that struggle a bit fans and players both want to hear the vision for how it gets fixed, not "trust us, we're smart." I think the floor is high there with Bobby because they'll still be able to out-talent the bottom of their schedule and they'll win a couple games at home they maybe shouldn't (ala Clemson?) but I don’t think he's the guy to take them consistently to their ceiling.

Imagine an alternate reality where over the last two years playoff teams just 100% refused to kick the ball to Bergen. They would have quickly flamed out last year and probably lost at least one more game this year, leading to at best a road playoff game. Bobbi's attitude would be even worse and his seat would be getting pretty hot. Bobbi owes whatever goodwill he still has in Missoula to Bergen, and by extension to Choate leaving for the UT job.

[Colter_Nuanez]

[Colter_Nuanez]

[Colter_Nuanez]

[Montanabob]

oh snap.
.
even a lineman.

[Colter_Nuanez]