How good are we?

[TomCat88]

The most meaningful stat isn't one that anyone keeps. I think making plays in key situations is the most important. You can get sacks and teams still drive down the field and score. Remember Dalton Sneed getting sacked over and over in 2018 Cat-Griz, then making key throws on 3rd in 16, 18, 19 all in one drive? He negated all those sacks. They meant nothing. His big throws meant everything. Then on the same drive Yates negates a lot of the meaning of those throws with a sack that forces UM to kick a FG.

This year MSU is making plays when it needs to make plays.That's what winning teams do (on top of their overall solid play). It's not really anything you can coach. MSU is also negating big plays by other teams. The drive vs UNM to win the game, the whole fourth quarter of that game. The TD pass to R. Jones after ISU pulls with a TD, the the 3 and out, then the big pass to R. Jones again for 23 and Humphrey finishing and all of a sudden MSU is up 31-10.

Stats and other aspects of the game are important, but inconsequential if you don't make plays at key times. My point is: it doesn't matter how good your stats are, if you don't make plays when you need to OR you can win games without great production out of every position group.

[GoldstoneCat]

The most meaningful stat isn't one that anyone keeps. I think making plays in key situations is the most important. You can get sacks and teams still drive down the field and score. Remember Dalton Sneed getting sacked over and over in 2018 Cat-Griz, then making key throws on 3rd in 16, 18, 19 all in one drive? He negated all those sacks. They meant nothing. His big throws meant everything. Then on the same drive Yates negates a lot of the meaning of those throws with a sack that forces UM to kick a FG.

This year MSU is making plays when it needs to make plays.That's what winning teams do (on top of their overall solid play). It's not really anything you can coach. MSU is also negating big plays by other teams. The drive vs UNM to win the game, the whole fourth quarter of that game. The TD pass to R. Jones after ISU pulls with a TD, the the 3 and out, then the big pass to R. Jones again for 23 and Humphrey finishing and all of a sudden MSU is up 31-10.

Stats and other aspects of the game are important, but inconsequential if you don't make plays at key times. My point is: it doesn't matter how good your stats are, if you don't make plays when you need to OR you can win games without great production out of every position group.

Such a good post. Those plays are getting made this year, where they did not last year. Taco in the end zone in Idaho, 4th and 1 against ndsu, missed fgs, etc. In those critical games that's often the only difference, who makes the plays. And I agree, I like what we've seen so far this year.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Post Idaho St (who I actually thought was solid). We are very good defensively but I think when teams stop our explosive runs we are going to struggle more offensively. Coaches definitely are recognizing our inability to get sacks and with Valdez gone defenses can focus on Grebe which is definitely hurting his ability to get to the QB. So they tried to run some different looks that were interesting. We definitely are going to get a good challenge in the BSC this year but if we can control the line of scrimmage I feel confident.

Again with "inability" to get sacks? ISU's QB was hurting 3 plays into the game on Saturday from getting knocked on his a$$ twice. Smart teams are going to call more quick throws than deep drops against us for that reason. We were getting pressure ALL DAY LONG.

No doubt our pressure has been phenomenal. But I will say when we only brought 4 we didn’t get great pressure and it was only through blitzing that we got actual pressure. Sacks are overrated but getting teams to 2nd, 3rd and long will pay off. I do agree with you but if we didn’t blitz against ISU it would’ve been different as the qb was great when he had time.

How, exactly, are sacks overrated?

[SparkCat]

We suck. Literally the worst team since the Mud Dogs pre Bobby Boucher.

[CatAttack22]

Post Idaho St (who I actually thought was solid). We are very good defensively but I think when teams stop our explosive runs we are going to struggle more offensively. Coaches definitely are recognizing our inability to get sacks and with Valdez gone defenses can focus on Grebe which is definitely hurting his ability to get to the QB. So they tried to run some different looks that were interesting. We definitely are going to get a good challenge in the BSC this year but if we can control the line of scrimmage I feel confident.

Again with "inability" to get sacks? ISU's QB was hurting 3 plays into the game on Saturday from getting knocked on his a$$ twice. Smart teams are going to call more quick throws than deep drops against us for that reason. We were getting pressure ALL DAY LONG.

No doubt our pressure has been phenomenal. But I will say when we only brought 4 we didn’t get great pressure and it was only through blitzing that we got actual pressure. Sacks are overrated but getting teams to 2nd, 3rd and long will pay off. I do agree with you but if we didn’t blitz against ISU it would’ve been different as the qb was great when he had time.

Fitting post I saw today...

[coloradocat]

Post Idaho St (who I actually thought was solid). We are very good defensively but I think when teams stop our explosive runs we are going to struggle more offensively. Coaches definitely are recognizing our inability to get sacks and with Valdez gone defenses can focus on Grebe which is definitely hurting his ability to get to the QB. So they tried to run some different looks that were interesting. We definitely are going to get a good challenge in the BSC this year but if we can control the line of scrimmage I feel confident.

Again with "inability" to get sacks? ISU's QB was hurting 3 plays into the game on Saturday from getting knocked on his a$$ twice. Smart teams are going to call more quick throws than deep drops against us for that reason. We were getting pressure ALL DAY LONG.

No doubt our pressure has been phenomenal. But I will say when we only brought 4 we didn’t get great pressure and it was only through blitzing that we got actual pressure. Sacks are overrated but getting teams to 2nd, 3rd and long will pay off. I do agree with you but if we didn’t blitz against ISU it would’ve been different as the qb was great when he had time.

Fitting post I saw today...

We need more Steam in the Scheme!

[Bocephus]

Post Idaho St (who I actually thought was solid). We are very good defensively but I think when teams stop our explosive runs we are going to struggle more offensively. Coaches definitely are recognizing our inability to get sacks and with Valdez gone defenses can focus on Grebe which is definitely hurting his ability to get to the QB. So they tried to run some different looks that were interesting. We definitely are going to get a good challenge in the BSC this year but if we can control the line of scrimmage I feel confident.

Again with "inability" to get sacks? ISU's QB was hurting 3 plays into the game on Saturday from getting knocked on his a$$ twice. Smart teams are going to call more quick throws than deep drops against us for that reason. We were getting pressure ALL DAY LONG.

No doubt our pressure has been phenomenal. But I will say when we only brought 4 we didn’t get great pressure and it was only through blitzing that we got actual pressure. Sacks are overrated but getting teams to 2nd, 3rd and long will pay off. I do agree with you but if we didn’t blitz against ISU it would’ve been different as the qb was great when he had time.

Fitting post I saw today...

We need more Steam in the Scheme!

I'm fired up!

[cat22[2010]]

We suck. Literally the worst team since the Mud Dogs pre Bobby Boucher.

I truly appreciate your level of sarcasm.

[CelticCat]

Post Idaho St (who I actually thought was solid). We are very good defensively but I think when teams stop our explosive runs we are going to struggle more offensively. Coaches definitely are recognizing our inability to get sacks and with Valdez gone defenses can focus on Grebe which is definitely hurting his ability to get to the QB. So they tried to run some different looks that were interesting. We definitely are going to get a good challenge in the BSC this year but if we can control the line of scrimmage I feel confident.

Again with "inability" to get sacks? ISU's QB was hurting 3 plays into the game on Saturday from getting knocked on his a$$ twice. Smart teams are going to call more quick throws than deep drops against us for that reason. We were getting pressure ALL DAY LONG.

No doubt our pressure has been phenomenal. But I will say when we only brought 4 we didn’t get great pressure and it was only through blitzing that we got actual pressure. Sacks are overrated but getting teams to 2nd, 3rd and long will pay off. I do agree with you but if we didn’t blitz against ISU it would’ve been different as the qb was great when he had time.

How, exactly, are sacks overrated?

Read TomCat's post, I think he does a good job of explaining it. Plus you can gameplan an offense around not getting sacked. I think sacks are generally a hallmark of a good defense but there are plenty of bad defenses with nice sack stats. We don't have as many as last year but would you see this defense is better or worse than last year's so far?

Also a few interesting national stats:

Sacks per game and PPG allowed:
MSU - 1.8 (18.4)
SDSU - 2.0 (17.75)
NDSU - 1.8 (20.6)
UM - 2.8 (27.4)

[luckyirishguy25]

Post Idaho St (who I actually thought was solid). We are very good defensively but I think when teams stop our explosive runs we are going to struggle more offensively. Coaches definitely are recognizing our inability to get sacks and with Valdez gone defenses can focus on Grebe which is definitely hurting his ability to get to the QB. So they tried to run some different looks that were interesting. We definitely are going to get a good challenge in the BSC this year but if we can control the line of scrimmage I feel confident.

Again with "inability" to get sacks? ISU's QB was hurting 3 plays into the game on Saturday from getting knocked on his a$$ twice. Smart teams are going to call more quick throws than deep drops against us for that reason. We were getting pressure ALL DAY LONG.

No doubt our pressure has been phenomenal. But I will say when we only brought 4 we didn’t get great pressure and it was only through blitzing that we got actual pressure. Sacks are overrated but getting teams to 2nd, 3rd and long will pay off. I do agree with you but if we didn’t blitz against ISU it would’ve been different as the qb was great when he had time.

How, exactly, are sacks overrated?

Read TomCat's post, I think he does a good job of explaining it. Plus you can gameplan an offense around not getting sacked. I think sacks are generally a hallmark of a good defense but there are plenty of bad defenses with nice sack stats. We don't have as many as last year but would you see this defense is better or worse than last year's so far?

Also a few interesting national stats:

Sacks per game and PPG allowed:
MSU - 1.8 (18.4)
SDSU - 2.0 (17.75)
NDSU - 1.8 (20.6)
UM - 2.8 (27.4)

I think it's also important to note HOW we get our sacks. We depend on rushing 4 and them getting home, sometimes that's a tall order. UM gets more sacks because they're constantly sending 6-7 guys, which leaves their backend open to be exploited and they give up points.

[CodyCat]

Post Idaho St (who I actually thought was solid). We are very good defensively but I think when teams stop our explosive runs we are going to struggle more offensively. Coaches definitely are recognizing our inability to get sacks and with Valdez gone defenses can focus on Grebe which is definitely hurting his ability to get to the QB. So they tried to run some different looks that were interesting. We definitely are going to get a good challenge in the BSC this year but if we can control the line of scrimmage I feel confident.

Again with "inability" to get sacks? ISU's QB was hurting 3 plays into the game on Saturday from getting knocked on his a$$ twice. Smart teams are going to call more quick throws than deep drops against us for that reason. We were getting pressure ALL DAY LONG.

No doubt our pressure has been phenomenal. But I will say when we only brought 4 we didn’t get great pressure and it was only through blitzing that we got actual pressure. Sacks are overrated but getting teams to 2nd, 3rd and long will pay off. I do agree with you but if we didn’t blitz against ISU it would’ve been different as the qb was great when he had time.

How, exactly, are sacks overrated?

Read TomCat's post, I think he does a good job of explaining it. Plus you can gameplan an offense around not getting sacked. I think sacks are generally a hallmark of a good defense but there are plenty of bad defenses with nice sack stats. We don't have as many as last year but would you see this defense is better or worse than last year's so far?

Also a few interesting national stats:

Sacks per game and PPG allowed:
MSU - 1.8 (18.4)
SDSU - 2.0 (17.75)
NDSU - 1.8 (20.6)
UM - 2.8 (27.4)

I really dont know. Because the 2023 Bobcat defense through September was absolutely lights out!

[MSU01]

I really dont know. Because the 2023 Bobcat defense through September was absolutely lights out!

In large part thanks to how well Dru Polidore was playing last year before his injury. He was a one-man wrecking crew in that 40-0 win over Weber last year. If MSU can get him back out there and keep the rest of the guys around him relatively healthy it will be a very good thing!

[TomCat88]

I really dont know. Because the 2023 Bobcat defense through September was absolutely lights out!

In large part thanks to how well Dru Polidore was playing last year before his injury. He was a one-man wrecking crew in that 40-0 win over Weber last year. If MSU can get him back out there and keep the rest of the guys around him relatively healthy it will be a very good thing!

Very. Very, very.

[Monymony]

Dang we are good. Dru made a huge impact last night and the talent on this team is at a level I haven’t seen. Hopefully we can stay semi healthy and keep this train rolling.

[mslacatfan]

Meh…. They are ok.

[utucats]

Many times, fans get to high after a win and to low after a loss. We dominated last night but it is just one game. However, I don’t think we can overstate how truly dominate our OL is. We are manhandling very good defensive fronts. Add to that what Tommy has been able to do when defenses stack the box.

We currently are 2nd in FCS in total offense(498.6 ypg) and 10th overall in total defense(288.1 ypg).

Our 3rd down conversion percentage is 3rd best in FCS. We convert 55.3% of the time. Our defense is 6th best in FCS on 3rd down. Our opponents only convert 27.4% of the time.

Our 2nd ranked rush offense is averaging 6.61 ypc

We are one of maybe 3 or 4 teams who have a realistic chance at winning the natty this season. That’s how good we are.

[cat22[2010]]

We are so good that we make good teams look not good.

[MSU01]

Really, really good! As always, that is subject to change six days from now.

[AFCAT]

Yeah, injuries and other factors can change a great team to a good or mediocre team in just a few weeks. Let's just wait and see what happens.

[iaafan]

So far, so good I always say. Haha. That’s what pa used to say least ways. Fool me once, shame on… fool me…won’t be fooled again.