Comparing top BSC Defenses

[Lord Vigo]

Not sure what this stat means but we have only had 4 FGs kicked against us all year and two of those were in the Wyoming game. So against FCS opponents 2 FGs in 6 games. In general do FCS kickers suck? Cats defense that good? Why so few FGs? Glessner has made 12.

This isn't an exhaustive explanation, but broadly what's happening is twofold.

1) Teams generally aren't spending much time on the MSU side of the field to be in position to kick field goals.

2) They have blown out the majority of their opponents so far this season, meaning that teams are going for it on 4th down in the attempt to score TD's, not settling for field goals. I think opposing teams have had like 5 turnovers on downs while in FG range this season-- something like that.

[Catsrgrood]

This one too, especially with all of this talk lately on who we’ve all played, who we haven’t, etc.

The schedules all become a little more apples to apples after this week I feel.

[ilovethecats]

This one too, especially with all of this talk lately on who we’ve all played, who we haven’t, etc.

The schedules all become a little more apples to apples after this week I feel.

Without question.

I broke it down in another thread bust after tomorrow us and the griz will have almost identical schedules.

4 common opponents - Idaho, EWU, Poly and Northern Colorado.
2 out of conference gimmies - Drake and San Diego for us, Western Illinois and Dixie for them.
2 should-win conference games - PSU, ISU and SUU NAU.
1 tough conference game - Weber for us, SAC for them.

Then play each other.

I'll say it again, the only thing that makes UM's schedule harder than ours is they have to play us, and we get to play them.

[Catsrgrood]

This one too, especially with all of this talk lately on who we’ve all played, who we haven’t, etc.

The schedules all become a little more apples to apples after this week I feel.

Without question.

I broke it down in another thread bust after tomorrow us and the griz will have almost identical schedules.

4 common opponents - Idaho, EWU, Poly and Northern Colorado.
2 out of conference gimmies - Drake and San Diego for us, Western Illinois and Dixie for them.
2 should-win conference games - PSU, ISU and SUU NAU.
1 tough conference game - Weber for us, SAC for them.

Then play each other.

I'll say it again, the only thing that makes UM's schedule harder than ours is they have to play us, and we get to play them.

This is probably splitting hairs, but the only changes I see to your breakdown are:
Western Illinois is better than either of the Cats OOC opponents.
BUT, PSU is proving to be a solid, middle of the BSC team. And SUU is going to finish 2nd or 3rd to last in the conference. They’re not good. So those two aren’t all that comparable.

Those two differences basically cancel each other out though, so it’s a moot point.

[CatsFan10]

This one too, especially with all of this talk lately on who we’ve all played, who we haven’t, etc.

The schedules all become a little more apples to apples after this week I feel.

Without question.

I broke it down in another thread bust after tomorrow us and the griz will have almost identical schedules.

4 common opponents - Idaho, EWU, Poly and Northern Colorado.
2 out of conference gimmies - Drake and San Diego for us, Western Illinois and Dixie for them.
2 should-win conference games - PSU, ISU and SUU NAU.
1 tough conference game - Weber for us, SAC for them.

Then play each other.

I'll say it again, the only thing that makes UM's schedule harder than ours is they have to play us, and we get to play them.

This^

We haven’t “played anyone” cuz we handle our business. Come Saturday I’m sure EWU will see that. Last year Griz we’re #4 or whatever and we pounded them. Can’t wait to get this game under our belt and keep moving forward!!

[ilovethecats]

This one too, especially with all of this talk lately on who we’ve all played, who we haven’t, etc.

The schedules all become a little more apples to apples after this week I feel.

Without question.

I broke it down in another thread bust after tomorrow us and the griz will have almost identical schedules.

4 common opponents - Idaho, EWU, Poly and Northern Colorado.
2 out of conference gimmies - Drake and San Diego for us, Western Illinois and Dixie for them.
2 should-win conference games - PSU, ISU and SUU NAU.
1 tough conference game - Weber for us, SAC for them.

Then play each other.

I'll say it again, the only thing that makes UM's schedule harder than ours is they have to play us, and we get to play them.

This is probably splitting hairs, but the only changes I see to your breakdown are:
Western Illinois is better than either of the Cats OOC opponents.
BUT, PSU is proving to be a solid, middle of the BSC team. And SUU is going to finish 2nd or 3rd to last in the conference. They’re not good. So those two aren’t all that comparable.

Those two differences basically cancel each other out though, so it’s a moot point.

Ya I mean drake and San Diego are real bad. But so is western Illinois. They are a 2-win team with a terrible defense. They easily fall in that same category and non conference gimmie games.

[Joe Bobcat]

This isn't really a comparison with other defenses but more of a quick summary look at how our DB unit has held up against some of the top receivers in the BSC. There was some talk last week about if our DB group was young and untested and in general were they as good as it seemed on the surface. While looking on the BSC site I came across the list of the top 25 receivers this year. Before last weeks game we had faced 9 receivers on the top 25 list. We had held everyone of them to at or bellow their season average yards per game. Lets just say our defense and DBs had passed every quiz they’d been given. But could they pass the test that EWU had waiting for us? EWU has 4 receivers in the top 25.
Limu Jones, averages 102.4 yds/game We held him to 94, Roberson avg/g 72.6 he got 43, Boston avg/g 71 he got 10, Chism avg/g 61 he got 31.
Test passed ... NEXT!
A small case can be made that our DB unit is young but when compared to most of the rest of the conference we don’t end up looking appreciably younger. Being listed as a freshman or sophomore can be quite misleading. Number of games played in doesn’t tell us much about actual game time and how many times they were targeted. Overall this DB unit is talented, athletic and play sound disciplined defense and each week they get one step closer to being highly experienced and veteran.
NEXT!

Edited to add: Coaches Banks and Risinger are getting these guys trained up and ready for each game.

[Cledus]

This one too, especially with all of this talk lately on who we’ve all played, who we haven’t, etc.

The schedules all become a little more apples to apples after this week I feel.

Without question.

I broke it down in another thread bust after tomorrow us and the griz will have almost identical schedules.

4 common opponents - Idaho, EWU, Poly and Northern Colorado.
2 out of conference gimmies - Drake and San Diego for us, Western Illinois and Dixie for them.
2 should-win conference games - PSU, ISU and SUU NAU.
1 tough conference game - Weber for us, SAC for them.

Then play each other.

I'll say it again, the only thing that makes UM's schedule harder than ours is they have to play us, and we get to play them.

This is probably splitting hairs, but the only changes I see to your breakdown are:
Western Illinois is better than either of the Cats OOC opponents.
BUT, PSU is proving to be a solid, middle of the BSC team. And SUU is going to finish 2nd or 3rd to last in the conference. They’re not good. So those two aren’t all that comparable.

Those two differences basically cancel each other out though, so it’s a moot point.

Portland State had 2 FBS teams and one DII for the non-conference games. Clearly, you can't take anything meaningful away from those games. They're really a 4-2 team, just as their league schedule indicates. Too bad they laid that egg against Idaho. I think they stand a ok chance of winning one of their final two games against Sac and EWU. I would say less than 50%, but a lot closer to 50% than to zero.