2019 Defense

[BleedingBLue]

It seems like he has been a bit more animated and aggressive on the sidelines all year long. His reaction to the Scrempos TD made me laugh because he kind of looked like a fool. Pumps his fist in celebration then gets a mean look on his face and starts pacing angrily before getting mad at Scrempos. The fist pump was well after the spike too, so it's not like he saw the flag after he pumped his fist. It was a very bipolar moment for him.

[utucats]

I liked the more aggressive going for two call. It’s playing to win
Vs tie.

It’s playing to lose vs tie. Why would anyone put themselves in a situation where a simple FG beats you? With our defense you don’t need to take silly chances like that on offense.

[TomCat88]

I didn’t like it at the time, but it worked. MSU has been prone to losing its focus all year, except vs. SUU. Rovig was 7 for 8 after the punt/pick-6 meltdown.

He then went 0-3 and was taken out. I don’t think he was taken out to get Bauman some snaps. I think the coaches wanted to get another look at Bauman, who — after his first pass — looked more relaxed, confident than Rovig.

[utucats]

We might be going a little over the top when we are critiquing every fist pump or frown our head coach has but I think our in game strategy is certainly worthy of conversation.

I will say that I personally think we are a much better team when we play with fire. It would take a lot for me to get upset at a penalty earned as a result of celebration over success. Not to say I want the team going over the top but, if a defensive guy who never sees the end zone gets in and spikes the football, I probably grin and accept the fact that we are going to be kicking from a different spot.

[kennethnoisewater]

I noticed during the game that Choate seem much more animated than normal, and not in a ra-ra type way. More of spitting venom kind of way. I was not a fan of how he ripped into Rovig after the punt, completely necessary in my opinion. Choate just seemed like he was in a bad mood.

I wonder if he wasn’t acting that way because of the environment we were playing in? Playing in Greeley is a challenge and maybe coach thought he needed to bring more fire to the sideline to keep players concentration levels high.

I think that's what it was mostly. I'm not sure if it was the environment or just the general position the Bobcats are in at this point of the season. I didn't love how he lit into Rovig because he's a guy whose confidence needs to be high, but I get that he was frustrated. Suddenly it looks like a bad call on his part because Rovig didn't execute a pretty simple play. It's like airballing a layup. That can't happen. I bet Rovig has kicked that 1,000 times between practice and games (in his lifetime) and has never shanked one that bad.

Choate was equally upset with Scrempos after the excessive celebration penalty on his TD. He was happy about the TD, then suddenly he was livid about the penalty. I just think he knew that the silly mistakes couldn't happen from here on out, and that he needed to send a message that the urgency needed to be ramped up.

The margin for error at this point is razor thin, and Choate wasn't going to tolerate the mental mistakes anymore. I think the Cats dialed it in and executed at a high level. Maybe it's because of the fire out of the coach or maybe it's in spite of it. I do believe these players love and trust Coach Choate, and you have to have that if you're going to lean on players that hard. Later in the game I saw Choate give Rovig an atta-boy tap on the helmet that seemed pretty sincere and Rovig, IMO, seemed to appreciate it. The a$$ chewing might not have been helpful because I agree Rovig was rattled after that for a bit, but I can understand it.

[RockyBearCat]

We might be going a little over the top when we are critiquing every fist pump or frown our head coach has but I think our in game strategy is certainly worthy of conversation.

I will say that I personally think we are a much better team when we play with fire. It would take a lot for me to get upset at a penalty earned as a result of celebration over success. Not to say I want the team going over the top but, if a defensive guy who never sees the end zone gets in and spikes the football, I probably grin and accept the fact that we are going to be kicking from a different spot.

The old saying is "act like you've been there before". With this, he HASN'T, agree to grin and bear it at that point.

[superbobcat]

I noticed the same thing. I like the fire and the butt chewing, a lot of kids need it to get focused. After I heard about all of the travel issues and not being able to get on to the field for a walk around the day before, I am sure Coach realized that he may need to get an edge and fire the team up by increasing the intensity. If you have coached at certain levels and ages of kids, you understand when i say, sometimes the coach has to bring the intensity for the team or the game may turn into a disaster. When I saw him get after Rovig, I worried that TR may go into the tank, because he appears to be a handle with kid gloves type of player, but I thought he responded in a positive manner.

[BozoneCat]

People are harsh. The quick kick by the QB is used on a regular basis by most teams, especially on a short field. I don’t agree with how Choate reacted, but I really don’t see a problem with the call.

Generally, I would agree with you, the quick kick is a good tool to use on a short field, it keeps the play bottled up and gives no chance for a return. What I didn't like in this particular situation is that it was 4th-and-forever, so I don't think we were fooling anyone into thinking there was a chance we were actually going to go for it there. If that's the situation, use your punter, who is a master at pinning teams deep.

[ilovethecats]

I'm not saying he was way over the top or anything but I certainly noticed it. But I can only see whatever the camera let's me see, and maybe they just caught him doing that more against UNC than other camera crews have in other games I've watched. No real basis for comparison for me.

That's kind of my take too. That, and when he's yelling at guys we don't know WHY he's yelling at guys. Was he screaming at Rovig that much simply because he shanked a punt? Maybe? Or was that a play where Rovig was supposed to look for something else and he missed it? For us fans there is so much in every play that we just don't know. All we see is the outcome and then have to work backwards.

I've seen lots of coaches really get after guys. I have seen Choate really get after guys. And it's almost never just because they made a mistake.

[77matcat]

I liked the more aggressive going for two call. It’s playing to win
Vs tie.

It’s playing to lose vs tie. Why would anyone put themselves in a situation where a simple FG beats you? With our defense you don’t need to take silly chances like that on offense.

IMHO It’s playing to tie/not to lose. I like the attitude and the type of play, playing to win creates. For example I thought the corners and safeties played real aggressive. They took the game to the receivers and running backs. They weren’t waiting for them to come to them and the trying to tackle off of a back foot. Much better to be aggressive.

Coaches set the tone of the game if players aren’t.

I don’t mind if we lose being aggressive because aggressive teams win more than passive ones.

[ilovethecats]

I liked the more aggressive going for two call. It’s playing to win
Vs tie.

It’s playing to lose vs tie. Why would anyone put themselves in a situation where a simple FG beats you? With our defense you don’t need to take silly chances like that on offense.

IMHO It’s playing to tie/not to lose. I like the attitude and the type of play, playing to win creates. For example I thought the corners and safeties played real aggressive. They took the game to the receivers and running backs. They weren’t waiting for them to come to them and the trying to tackle off of a back foot. Much better to be aggressive.

Coaches set the tone of the game if players aren’t.

I don’t mind if we lose being aggressive because aggressive teams win more than passive ones.

Agree completely.

I will say that in that game the WAY we went for two had me scratching my head!

But I didn't mind going for it at all. Especially because of our defense. We get that and we make them score a touchdown. I never mind those plays. But like everything in football, they are very easy to go back to after the fact and say why they were wrong. If they don't work they're always considered wrong to fans.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't have minded them kicking it either. That's the beauty of sports. There is always more than one right way to do something. You have to execute. If you do the coaches look brilliant. If you don't, well, don't read message boards.

[VimSince03]

Updated post UC Davis. Not much change other than opponent 3rd down conversion rate (which improved).

[BleedingBLue]

Updated post UC Davis. Not much change other than opponent 3rd down conversion rate (which improved).

32.2% over the last 4 games as well if I calculated it correctly. 19/59 from the UND game through UCD. That rate would be tied for 2nd with Sac State over the full season. 3rd down conversions could go a long way to deciding the game Saturday.

[RobertoGato]

17 points was a season low at home for UCD and only 1 point off their season low overall (16 points @NDSU).

[superbobcat]

I like where our defense is at right now. Our Linebacker play has improved, our coverage has been much better too. We need to find our pass rush and sacks (calling Mr. Sterk) a little more this week, but it feels like our defense is in a really positive groove right now. This is a great time to be playing our best football on defense.