EWU Offense

[bpcats20]

This game will come down can McKay come out on fire and OC call a good game….

1st one to 40 wins.

[Lord Vigo]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Watched the Weber game on Monday (side note those of you griping about ESPN+ can shove it. This wouldn't have been an option before this year. And moaning about production is like being an ass to your waitress over the way your steak is cooked. They do not control production, just distro). Weber definitely relied on their DB's by rushing only 4 and sometimes just 3 and dropping 7-8 into coverage. Saying EB was running for his life isn't true. He had lots of time and was the leading rusher for EWU by a wide margin because after standing in the pocket for 4 or 5, it would open up he would tuck and run. I'm not sure the Cats can employ the same strategy as I'm not sure we are as strong on the backend as Weber. We are definitely younger. The griz used their blitz every down scheme and he shredded them. EB also just didn't have a great game Saturday. He started something like 1 for 7 and just missed some open guys. Might be to much to ask for a 2nd equal performance. The thing that the Cats have though is I think they CAN get to him with just 4 and occasionally 5 guys. Weber's front is good but the Cat's is better and if Benson is constantly getting doubles guys will come free.

While he wasn't running for his life, WSU was able to get pressure with 4, he didn't have lots of time before he had to break from the pocket. That is when it gets interesting with EB, he can make some amazing plays, but he also makes some bad decisions then too.

I think MSU's defensive is a little better and deeper than WSU's. I agree that our secondary might not be as good but we have never been fully stocked back there. If we can pressure him out of the pocket with 4, we have a lot of speed at lb and can probably play more zone than WSU does. It isn't gonna be easy but I think Banks has the tools to attack this offense.

I don't think playing zone against EB is a great idea.

Hard to not play zone with his running ability.

If Troy is the spy I don't think he can outrun him though.

If we run man with a spy, they’ll just go 5 wide and run crossers all day. Easy offensive yards. Crossers and pick plays all game long. Best way to beat a QB like Barriere is with pressure and confusion. Mix your man and zone.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

Yup. Best defense is ball control offense. Which is exactly what we run.

[seataccat]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

I think this will be the game plan. I really don't think we will be throwing much more than some play action. If the cats can control the LOS and sustain drives by running the ball it will limit the Eastern offfense. We need to make a few stops on defense and be running the ball effectively late in the game.

[Cledus]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

[coloradocat]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

One thing I'll agree with is that if we get up by two touchdowns they'll get desperate. We won't give up two unanswered touchdowns to close the game like Weber did.

It's hard to see us out Easterning Eastern but if we can speed up the game while also holding the ball for long possessions we've go a great chance at overcoming their offensive attack.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

? Different teams, different offenses, different defenses, different coaches. We didn’t lose that game because of what the offense did. We lost because the defense sucked. It’s different.

I’ll tell you this. If we try to play like Eastern does on offense, we will lose. That just isn’t what this team, it’s not how they’re built. And you don’t take a ball control offense and suddenly become a spread out hurry up offense in a week. That just doesn’t happen. Control the ball, the defense should get at least a stop or two, and capitalize on it. The less Barriere has the ball, the better.

[Cledus]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

One thing I'll agree with is that if we get up by two touchdowns they'll get desperate. We won't give up two unanswered touchdowns to close the game like Weber did.

It's hard to see us out Easterning Eastern but if we can speed up the game while also holding the ball for long possessions we've go a great chance at overcoming their offensive attack.

That's a good point about out Easterning them. What I had in mind when I wrote that was not up tempo, Tecmo plays. I was thinking more of the playmakers we have, like Ifanse and Elliott breaking off big runs, or our longer pass plays like the Willie P touchdown against ISU, the Elijah Elliott td, and the Andrew P touchdowns, and some of the Lance's. More like seizing the opportunity when it presents itself.

[WalkOn79]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

I think this will be the game plan. I really don't think we will be throwing much more than some play action. If the cats can control the LOS and sustain drives by running the ball it will limit the Eastern offfense. We need to make a few stops on defense and be running the ball effectively late in the game.

Also obviously need to throw some jump balls with Lance and Jared.

[coloradocat]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

One thing I'll agree with is that if we get up by two touchdowns they'll get desperate. We won't give up two unanswered touchdowns to close the game like Weber did.

It's hard to see us out Easterning Eastern but if we can speed up the game while also holding the ball for long possessions we've go a great chance at overcoming their offensive attack.

That's a good point about out Easterning them. What I had in mind when I wrote that was not up tempo, Tecmo plays. I was thinking more of the playmakers we have, like Ifanse and Elliott breaking off big runs, or our longer pass plays like the Willie P touchdown against ISU, the Elijah Elliott td, and the Andrew P touchdowns, and some of the Lance's. More like seizing the opportunity when it presents itself.

Yeah, we have to make sure we don't get in our own way and waste possessions. We have multiple difference makers on offense. Housewright just has to make sure he's taking advantage of their abilities and not overthinking the challenge.

Back to defense though, Missoula and Weber have shown that EWU is beatable and we're a better defense (and offense) than them.

[Cledus]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

? Different teams, different offenses, different defenses, different coaches. We didn’t lose that game because of what the offense did. We lost because the defense sucked. It’s different.

I’ll tell you this. If we try to play like Eastern does on offense, we will lose. That just isn’t what this team, it’s not how they’re built. And you don’t take a ball control offense and suddenly become a spread out hurry up offense in a week. That just doesn’t happen. Control the ball, the defense should get at least a stop or two, and capitalize on it. The less Barriere has the ball, the better.

Wrong.

The last time we beat them was 2010. We had an edge in TOP but not a huge amount. Certainly not by the extent you're implying we need. We won the game because we were up by two scores in the second half and their future Payton Award winner Bo Levi Mitchell had a completion percentage of less than 50%. It also didn't hurt that we knocked their 4th round draft pick out of the game.

Don't take my word for it, see for yourself

[Cledus]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

I think this will be the game plan. I really don't think we will be throwing much more than some play action. If the cats can control the LOS and sustain drives by running the ball it will limit the Eastern offfense. We need to make a few stops on defense and be running the ball effectively late in the game.

Also obviously need to throw some jump balls with Lance and Jared.

Yeah, those were effective and fun for everyone. I don't know why we haven't seen any yet.

I hope Vigen and Housewright didn't decide to scrap them.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

? Different teams, different offenses, different defenses, different coaches. We didn’t lose that game because of what the offense did. We lost because the defense sucked. It’s different.

I’ll tell you this. If we try to play like Eastern does on offense, we will lose. That just isn’t what this team, it’s not how they’re built. And you don’t take a ball control offense and suddenly become a spread out hurry up offense in a week. That just doesn’t happen. Control the ball, the defense should get at least a stop or two, and capitalize on it. The less Barriere has the ball, the better.

Wrong.

The last time we beat them was 2010. We had an edge in TOP but not a huge amount. Certainly not by the extent you're implying we need. We won the game because we were up by two scores in the second half and their future Payton Award winner Bo Levi Mitchell had a completion percentage of less than 50%. It also didn't hurt that we knocked their 4th round draft pick out of the game.

Don't take my word for it, see for yourself

What, exactly, am I wrong about? Your paragraph is nice, but I don’t see what it has to do with anything. It was 12 years ago, it’s pretty irrelevant.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

One thing I'll agree with is that if we get up by two touchdowns they'll get desperate. We won't give up two unanswered touchdowns to close the game like Weber did.

It's hard to see us out Easterning Eastern but if we can speed up the game while also holding the ball for long possessions we've go a great chance at overcoming their offensive attack.

That's a good point about out Easterning them. What I had in mind when I wrote that was not up tempo, Tecmo plays. I was thinking more of the playmakers we have, like Ifanse and Elliott breaking off big runs, or our longer pass plays like the Willie P touchdown against ISU, the Elijah Elliott td, and the Andrew P touchdowns, and some of the Lance's. More like seizing the opportunity when it presents itself.

So basically run the offense like they always do and hopefully big plays happen. That’s not different than what Vigo said, although how he’s posting after getting slimed is beyond my knowledge.

[Bobcat4Ever]

One word: Turnovers.

Did anyone see the stat that was posted on TV in EWU’s game against either UM or WSU? The Eagulls had played 63 Big Sky games in which they won the turnover margin. In those games they were 63-0! Certainly that stat favors the winning team, but to have never lost? That’s incredible. It also points to a way of losing to them, and I’m sure it hasn’t escaped Coach’s attention. Give them just one extra possession and you are experiencing Choate’s deep water. I believe that our superb turnover margin gives us a little edge in this game.

That said, I hope that Takeaway Week doesn’t influence our tackling like it possibly did in the ISU game. There were more attempts to strip the ball and there were a lot more arm tackles broken than usual. We didn’t force many fumbles in the first six games, but the tackling was high-level.

Anyway, let’s win that turnover battle. Two or three to none would work just fine. I cannot see the Bobcat secondary not picking off one or two passes. Throw in a recovered muffed punt, and we’re good.

Go ‘Cats, Go!

[Lord Vigo]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

Ok, so by your logic it would be better not to keep the EW offense off the field with long scoring drives because, in 2013, the Cats’ defense was horrible.

You’re not making the point you think you’re making.

[Lord Vigo]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

? Different teams, different offenses, different defenses, different coaches. We didn’t lose that game because of what the offense did. We lost because the defense sucked. It’s different.

I’ll tell you this. If we try to play like Eastern does on offense, we will lose. That just isn’t what this team, it’s not how they’re built. And you don’t take a ball control offense and suddenly become a spread out hurry up offense in a week. That just doesn’t happen. Control the ball, the defense should get at least a stop or two, and capitalize on it. The less Barriere has the ball, the better.

Wrong.

The last time we beat them was 2010. We had an edge in TOP but not a huge amount. Certainly not by the extent you're implying we need. We won the game because we were up by two scores in the second half and their future Payton Award winner Bo Levi Mitchell had a completion percentage of less than 50%. It also didn't hurt that we knocked their 4th round draft pick out of the game.

Don't take my word for it, see for yourself

What, exactly, am I wrong about? Your paragraph is nice, but I don’t see what it has to do with anything. It was 12 years ago, it’s pretty irrelevant.

I take his point to be that because we lost in 2013, anything that happened in that game was bad, and they now need to do the opposite.

Because of Sun Tzu or something.

[TomCat88]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

? Different teams, different offenses, different defenses, different coaches. We didn’t lose that game because of what the offense did. We lost because the defense sucked. It’s different.

I’ll tell you this. If we try to play like Eastern does on offense, we will lose. That just isn’t what this team, it’s not how they’re built. And you don’t take a ball control offense and suddenly become a spread out hurry up offense in a week. That just doesn’t happen. Control the ball, the defense should get at least a stop or two, and capitalize on it. The less Barriere has the ball, the better.

Wrong.

The last time we beat them was 2010. We had an edge in TOP but not a huge amount. Certainly not by the extent you're implying we need. We won the game because we were up by two scores in the second half and their future Payton Award winner Bo Levi Mitchell had a completion percentage of less than 50%. It also didn't hurt that we knocked their 4th round draft pick out of the game.

Don't take my word for it, see for yourself

2011 is the last time MSU beat EWU. 36-21 in Cheney. 2010 was the year EWU won the NC and MSU won that game at home 30-7.

[Cledus]

Control the ball. That’s the best way to limit this offense. Long, sustained scoring drives. Try to limit them to like 6 meaningful possessions in the game.

In 2013, MSU did everything you said and still got piss pounded. EWU had nine drives and scored on the first eight. They showed some mercy and took a knee on their final drive (spoiler alert, they would have scored).

The Cats had possession of the ball for more than 62% of the game (37 minutes, 23 seconds). Denarius McGhee had 330 yards on 37 attempts and in total the team had 174 yards on the ground.

See the box score and stats for yourself

Point being, if you do what you've always done you're going to get what you've always gotten. The conventional wisdom may work well against most opponents, but it does not apply to EWU because they are not a conventional opponent. If the coaches game plan the way you've described then we've already lost. If you think that's a steaming pile of bs, I've got thousands of years of applied strategy to back me up (e.g. the Art of War).

I happen to think we can beat EWU at their own game. Quick strikes and explosive plays. The main difference between this MSU team and the 2013 team is now we actually have a defense capable of making stops and forcing opponents into making mistakes. If we manage to get up by two touchdowns in the second half, they'll eventually get into desperation mode.

The only question now is can we execute it. Come November 6, we won't have to wonder any longer.

Ok, so by your logic it would be better not to keep the EW offense off the field with long scoring drives because, in 2013, the Cats’ defense was horrible.

You’re not making the point you think you’re making.

Any post that starts off with, “By your logic…” is a 100% reliable indicator someone is about to make something up and attribute that to the person to whom they’re replying. That wasn’t my logic at all. I can’t understand things for you. You’re reading things into my post as a way to defend what you said. Your game plan, control the clock, is exactly what Choate meant by saying stats are for losers. Getting a sexy box score at the expense of results.

My logic is this: EWU is setting a trap they know opponents can’t resist. Thus, we would be wise to not play into that.