Gameday Thread - Cats. vs Cal Poly (Unofficially of Course)

[FlyCastingCat]

What are the odds that MSU gets bumped down in the polls, again, after winning a football game?

[BelligerentBobcat]

What are the odds that MSU gets bumped down in the polls, again, after winning a football game?

Zero.

[KIX]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

[Colter_Nuanez]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In my humble opinion, if Cal Poly could figure out their quarterback situation and stop rotating or get steady production from Dieffenbach, they are a playoff team.

Based on watching them intently the last four weeks, to me, Cal Poly is one of the five best teams in the Big Sky. I think Cal Poly is better than Sac State, Idaho, and Northern Arizona.

Not sure if that influences the way people think about this win....

[Colter_Nuanez]

[SparkCat]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In my humble opinion, if Cal Poly could figure out their quarterback situation and stop rotating or get steady production from Dieffenbach, they are a playoff team.

Based on watching them intently the last four weeks, to me, Cal Poly is one of the five best teams in the Big Sky. I think Cal Poly is better than Sac State, Idaho, and Northern Arizona.

Not sure if that influences the way people think about this win....

I am the worse with being critical of the Cats, it’s definitely not fair to them and at least for myself I should be thankful for the game and entertainment they provide during the best time of the year in MT.

I’d agree that Cal Poly is probably pretty darn close to UC Davi, I’d say. Cats just need to take care of business up to Cat / Griz.

This year has been exciting for me, I love change and I do enjoy the changes we are seeing. I think there are definitely some growing pains, for the team and the fans. I’m sure someone will jump my case, but what I think offensively we are missing that one player that can more times than not make something out of nothing, we were extremely spoiled with that type of player for years. With that said, this team is also much more balanced than years past, so we really don’t need that ‘dude’, in fact I think this is the closest we have been to what Vigen ideally wants his offenses to look like.

Woods was my preseason player I picked to show the most flash this year so I’m going with a hot take… He has a lot of potential to be that next ‘dude’ in some capacity.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In my humble opinion, if Cal Poly could figure out their quarterback situation and stop rotating or get steady production from Dieffenbach, they are a playoff team.

Based on watching them intently the last four weeks, to me, Cal Poly is one of the five best teams in the Big Sky. I think Cal Poly is better than Sac State, Idaho, and Northern Arizona.

Not sure if that influences the way people think about this win....

D’Amato is a stud. Was surprised at how big he looked on TV.

[84CatGrad]

A win is a win. We're on to UNCU.

Agree 100%.

[GoldstoneCat]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In fairness to sterbick, he called 2 wide open long td passes that Lamson just whiffed. We ran the hell out of the ball again. Wasn't the cleanest game but I thought more player mistakes than bad scheme or play calling.

[VimSince03]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In fairness to sterbick, he called 2 wide open long td passes that Lamson just whiffed. We ran the hell out of the ball again. Wasn't the cleanest game but I thought more player mistakes than bad scheme or play calling.

Lamson threw knuckleballs all night and we still won by double digits. On to the feedlot bears.

[SparkCat]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In fairness to sterbick, he called 2 wide open long td passes that Lamson just whiffed. We ran the hell out of the ball again. Wasn't the cleanest game but I thought more player mistakes than bad scheme or play calling.

Lamson threw knuckleballs all night and we still won by double digits. On to the feedlot bears.

Hahah that is probably the best way to describe his passing. What I have loved about Lamson is that he seems to move on to the next game well. He’s confident enough to believe in himself. I don’t think he’s going to go Turbo on us.

[TomCat88]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In my humble opinion, if Cal Poly could figure out their quarterback situation and stop rotating or get steady production from Dieffenbach, they are a playoff team.

Based on watching them intently the last four weeks, to me, Cal Poly is one of the five best teams in the Big Sky. I think Cal Poly is better than Sac State, Idaho, and Northern Arizona.

Not sure if that influences the way people think about this win....

I am the worse with being critical of the Cats, it’s definitely not fair to them and at least for myself I should be thankful for the game and entertainment they provide during the best time of the year in MT.

I’d agree that Cal Poly is probably pretty darn close to UC Davi, I’d say. Cats just need to take care of business up to Cat / Griz.

This year has been exciting for me, I love change and I do enjoy the changes we are seeing. I think there are definitely some growing pains, for the team and the fans. I’m sure someone will jump my case, but what I think offensively we are missing that one player that can more times than not make something out of nothing, we were extremely spoiled with that type of player for years. With that said, this team is also much more balanced than years past, so we really don’t need that ‘dude’, in fact I think this is the closest we have been to what Vigen ideally wants his offenses to look like.

Woods was my preseason player I picked to show the most flash this year so I’m going with a hot take… He has a lot of potential to be that next ‘dude’ in some capacity.

Random stuff happens in sports. In a given game it can be fairly even or it can favor one side. The Cats calling three passes to start the game was odd, especially after having its best running game of the season. The Cats not getting a first down on 4th and 1, Lamson being off, the defensive lull late, the fumble. Poly missed on a couple passes, but so did MSU. Poly was probably +4 in the random stuff category and this is how upsets are born. As far as non-random stuff, MSU absolutely dominated the game. Whether you win by 10 or by 40, you want to be dominant. Being dominant (speed, strength, poise, etc.) is what makes a team consistent and win even when random stuff isn't going their way. A non-dominant team would've lost that game by 14 points.

If Cal Poly is a top 5 team in the BSC and gets all that and still loses by 17 at home and was only vaguely in the game for about two minutes, then MSU is really, really good. Fans, media think teams are pretty good going into their games with MSU, then the game is played and their not so good. Cal Poly remains in its spot because it scored 2 TDs on consecutive possessions and did almost nothing on their other 8 - 6 three and outs, 1 int, 1 FG.

EWU was the worst team in the league after MSU beat them, but they've won three straight against BSC teams, which means that the BSC bottom four is just awful. NAU was a top 3 contender in the league until it played MSU. ISU was a top 3 team, then lost 48-14. Cal Poly led UM 9-0 and didn't allow an offensive TD until the fourth quarter, then scored 3 points in 3+ quarters and was down 27-3.

[GoldstoneCat]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In fairness to sterbick, he called 2 wide open long td passes that Lamson just whiffed. We ran the hell out of the ball again. Wasn't the cleanest game but I thought more player mistakes than bad scheme or play calling.

Lamson threw knuckleballs all night and we still won by double digits. On to the feedlot bears.

17 point road win in the league. Off a bye week. I love that that now feels like a bad performance. I agree though, on to the next, win the next 2 lock in the playoffs and then play the last 2 for seeding.

[MSU01]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In fairness to sterbick, he called 2 wide open long td passes that Lamson just whiffed. We ran the hell out of the ball again. Wasn't the cleanest game but I thought more player mistakes than bad scheme or play calling.

Lamson threw knuckleballs all night and we still won by double digits. On to the feedlot bears.

17 point road win in the league. Off a bye week. I love that that now feels like a bad performance. I agree though, on to the next, win the next 2 lock in the playoffs and then play the last 2 for seeding.

Of the three 4-0 teams in Big Sky play so far the point differentials of each are +129, +61, and +48. We can all probably figure out which one MSU is, and apparently we're still concerned about how good they are. High expectations!

[Prodigal Cat]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In my humble opinion, if Cal Poly could figure out their quarterback situation and stop rotating or get steady production from Dieffenbach, they are a playoff team.

Based on watching them intently the last four weeks, to me, Cal Poly is one of the five best teams in the Big Sky. I think Cal Poly is better than Sac State, Idaho, and Northern Arizona.

Not sure if that influences the way people think about this win....

Just night and day difference in the talent than they were the last time the Cats played in SLO, especially on defense. They had at least 3 players on that side that would certainly play for the Cats, one of whom actually was a Cat for a brief time.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In fairness to sterbick, he called 2 wide open long td passes that Lamson just whiffed. We ran the hell out of the ball again. Wasn't the cleanest game but I thought more player mistakes than bad scheme or play calling.

Lamson threw knuckleballs all night and we still won by double digits. On to the feedlot bears.

17 point road win in the league. Off a bye week. I love that that now feels like a bad performance. I agree though, on to the next, win the next 2 lock in the playoffs and then play the last 2 for seeding.

Of the three 4-0 teams in Big Sky play so far the point differentials of each are +129, +61, and +48. We can all probably figure out which one MSU is, and apparently we're still concerned about how good they are. High expectations!

I don’t disagree with you, and I think we’re a very good team, but personally I enjoy that we can be concerned about how good they are. It’s a reflection of a sane, and intelligent fanbase that we can say this is a really good team while also noticing and speaking on deficiencies. I know it doesn’t change what the staff is going to do, but I just really enjoy that for the most part, this is a very rational fanbase when it comes to talking points.

[MSU01]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In fairness to sterbick, he called 2 wide open long td passes that Lamson just whiffed. We ran the hell out of the ball again. Wasn't the cleanest game but I thought more player mistakes than bad scheme or play calling.

Lamson threw knuckleballs all night and we still won by double digits. On to the feedlot bears.

17 point road win in the league. Off a bye week. I love that that now feels like a bad performance. I agree though, on to the next, win the next 2 lock in the playoffs and then play the last 2 for seeding.

Of the three 4-0 teams in Big Sky play so far the point differentials of each are +129, +61, and +48. We can all probably figure out which one MSU is, and apparently we're still concerned about how good they are. High expectations!

I don’t disagree with you, and I think we’re a very good team, but personally I enjoy that we can be concerned about how good they are. It’s a reflection of a sane, and intelligent fanbase that we can say this is a really good team while also noticing and speaking on deficiencies. I know it doesn’t change what the staff is going to do, but I just really enjoy that for the most part, this is a very rational fanbase when it comes to talking points.

I don't disagree either and I wasn't trying to say that we shouldn't be concerned about how good the team is. More a commentary on how far the MSU program has come in the past decade, from barely winning a conference game in Choate's first year in 2016 to this year being the clear best team in the Big Sky through four games but wondering if that will be good enough when they inevitably come up against NDSU in the playoffs.

[hokeyfine]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In my humble opinion, if Cal Poly could figure out their quarterback situation and stop rotating or get steady production from Dieffenbach, they are a playoff team.

Based on watching them intently the last four weeks, to me, Cal Poly is one of the five best teams in the Big Sky. I think Cal Poly is better than Sac State, Idaho, and Northern Arizona.

Not sure if that influences the way people think about this win....

D’Amato is a stud. Was surprised at how big he looked on TV.

D'Amato is a stud....... But he sure did some dick moves and the cat platers definitely responded to it. He probably had a little extra energy because he left msu.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In my humble opinion, if Cal Poly could figure out their quarterback situation and stop rotating or get steady production from Dieffenbach, they are a playoff team.

Based on watching them intently the last four weeks, to me, Cal Poly is one of the five best teams in the Big Sky. I think Cal Poly is better than Sac State, Idaho, and Northern Arizona.

Not sure if that influences the way people think about this win....

D’Amato is a stud. Was surprised at how big he looked on TV.

D'Amato is a stud....... But he sure did some dick moves and the cat platers definitely responded to it. He probably had a little extra energy because he left msu.

I know this won’t be a popular opinion, but I’ve always kinda liked the LB’s that play with that extra edge.

[tdub]

Good win but not where we need to be at this point of the season. OC play calling doesn't seem to be getting much better, overall. More consistency needed. D is staying solid.

In my humble opinion, if Cal Poly could figure out their quarterback situation and stop rotating or get steady production from Dieffenbach, they are a playoff team.

Based on watching them intently the last four weeks, to me, Cal Poly is one of the five best teams in the Big Sky. I think Cal Poly is better than Sac State, Idaho, and Northern Arizona.

Not sure if that influences the way people think about this win....

D’Amato is a stud. Was surprised at how big he looked on TV.

D'Amato is a stud....... But he sure did some dick moves and the cat platers definitely responded to it. He probably had a little extra energy because he left msu.

I know this won’t be a popular opinion, but I’ve always kinda liked the LB’s that play with that extra edge.

It’s popular with me. He didn’t do anything over the line dirty. Enough just to piss ya off. Well done. If he was wearing blue and gold, everyone would eat it up.