Post- Game Thoughts

[Lord Vigo]

I wouldn't necessarily defend the extremity of the conservatism on offense in this game, but I do understand it.

My very confident assumption is that Vigen came into this game with the conviction that if the Cats didn't have a giveaway, they would win.

And the results vindicated that approach. McKay didn't have it last night. Whether he was shook up by big hits early, confused by the looks he was getting, or some combination thereof-- you saw late why they weren't letting him open things up. He nearly cost them the game with that would-be pick deep in the Cats own end.

My main issue with the offensive approach was that they didn't use their other options in the running game. Mellott and Elliott got very little run. If you're going to go run, run, short pass every drive, what are you out of using more Mellott? He would at least have forced the Weber defense to account for another body.

But this was a big boy win.

You're on the road, at night, on a short week, against a ranked opponent coming off a bye... you have to be good to win in that spot.

You can't say enough about the defense. My goodness.

[mslacatfan]

If hardy keeps playing like this, he will be on the short list for the Buchanan award.

[imacat]

I wouldn't necessarily defend the extremity of the conservatism on offense in this game, but I do understand it.

My very confident assumption is that Vigen came into this game with the conviction that if the Cats didn't have a giveaway, they would win.

And the results vindicated that approach. McKay didn't have it last night. Whether he was shook up by big hits early, confused by the looks he was getting, or some combination thereof-- you saw late why they weren't letting him open things up. He nearly cost them the game with that would-be pick deep in the Cats own end.

My main issue with the offensive approach was that they didn't use their other options in the running game. Mellott and Elliott got very little run. If you're going to go run, run, short pass every drive, what are you out of using more Mellott? He would at least have forced the Weber defense to account for another body.

But this was a big boy win.

You're on the road, at night, on a short week, against a ranked opponent coming off a bye... you have to be good to win in that spot.

You can't say enough about the defense. My goodness.

It is very easy to coach in hindsight. That said, I do think Mellott should have been used more. At the very least it would have given the defense something else to think about.

[codecat]

While the scramble to figure out how to watch the game on ESPNU was an annoyance, I thought the actual game production by ESPN was well done. I think this was better exposure than playoff games aired on ESPN. The announcers actually talked about this game and weren't continuously promoting and selling (during playoff games) the upcoming FBS bowl games.

I thought the announcers did a good job too - they had done some homework, were equally versed with each team, and actually had some enthusiasm for the game and the FCS.

[imacat]

While the scramble to figure out how to watch the game on ESPNU was an annoyance, I thought the actual game production by ESPN was well done. I think this was better exposure than playoff games aired on ESPN. The announcers actually talked about this game and weren't continuously promoting and selling (during playoff games) the upcoming FBS bowl games.

I thought the announcers did a good job too - they had done some homework, were equally versed with each team, and actually had some enthusiasm for the game and the FCS.

I enjoyed the Tom Wistrcill interview.

[Lord Vigo]

I wouldn't necessarily defend the extremity of the conservatism on offense in this game, but I do understand it.

My very confident assumption is that Vigen came into this game with the conviction that if the Cats didn't have a giveaway, they would win.

And the results vindicated that approach. McKay didn't have it last night. Whether he was shook up by big hits early, confused by the looks he was getting, or some combination thereof-- you saw late why they weren't letting him open things up. He nearly cost them the game with that would-be pick deep in the Cats own end.

My main issue with the offensive approach was that they didn't use their other options in the running game. Mellott and Elliott got very little run. If you're going to go run, run, short pass every drive, what are you out of using more Mellott? He would at least have forced the Weber defense to account for another body.

But this was a big boy win.

You're on the road, at night, on a short week, against a ranked opponent coming off a bye... you have to be good to win in that spot.

You can't say enough about the defense. My goodness.

It is very easy to coach in hindsight. That said, I do think Mellott should have been used more. At the very least it would have given the defense something else to think about.

Well that particular criticism wasn't hindsight-- at least not for me. I was hoping they would put Mellott in on every drive of the second half.

[BelligerentBobcat]

The way McKay was throwing last night, I’m not sure getting more creative/aggressive would’ve been a good option. He had several almost picks.

It was not a pretty offensive game, but they won against a good team, away from home, on a short week, against a team coming off of a bye. That’s a success. Just win baby.

The defense was put in bad situations all night, and could hardly have done better. The one time they were put in an excellent position, they allowed a 97 yard drive for a TD. Football is weird.

Tommy Football needs the ball more, especially if all the game plan is, is to run the ball. The kid makes plays.

[Cataholic]

Here’s the deal. How many times have we seen this running game get stuffed for 2 1/2 quarters and then those zero and 1 yd gains turn into 5, 6, 7 yards a pop in the late 3rd and into the 4th quarter. They delivered body blow after body blow…and Weber had some stout abs come to find out. Tip of the hat to Weber and a tough defense. I noticed their speed and strong tackling. Those underneath routes routinely turn into 1st downs, except Weber did a good job. Long developing plays don’t work in a game like that and the risk far outweighs the reward, especially when your defense is dominating. So while everyone is complaining about play calling, a good defense will make almost every call look bad. What do you think Weber is saying about play calling? Meanwhile, we give credit to our awesome defense.

I don’t believe in the philosophy to keep pounding until they are wore down, especially when Weber is known for how good they are up front. If something is not working, you do something else. This was a great win, but the offensive play calling has to improve.

[BelligerentBobcat]

While the scramble to figure out how to watch the game on ESPNU was an annoyance, I thought the actual game production by ESPN was well done. I think this was better exposure than playoff games aired on ESPN. The announcers actually talked about this game and weren't continuously promoting and selling (during playoff games) the upcoming FBS bowl games.

I thought the announcers did a good job too - they had done some homework, were equally versed with each team, and actually had some enthusiasm for the game and the FCS.

They were enthusiastic and unknowledgeable. Their announcing on the fumble was just bad. There was one play where they were talking about what a nice throw McKay had…it was a 3 yard throw on 3rd and 8 from a relatively clean pocket. They just seemed dumb to me.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Here’s the deal. How many times have we seen this running game get stuffed for 2 1/2 quarters and then those zero and 1 yd gains turn into 5, 6, 7 yards a pop in the late 3rd and into the 4th quarter. They delivered body blow after body blow…and Weber had some stout abs come to find out. Tip of the hat to Weber and a tough defense. I noticed their speed and strong tackling. Those underneath routes routinely turn into 1st downs, except Weber did a good job. Long developing plays don’t work in a game like that and the risk far outweighs the reward, especially when your defense is dominating. So while everyone is complaining about play calling, a good defense will make almost every call look bad. What do you think Weber is saying about play calling? Meanwhile, we give credit to our awesome defense.

I don’t believe in the philosophy to keep pounding until they are wore down, especially when Weber is known for how good they are up front. If something is not working, you do something else. This was a great win, but the offensive play calling has to improve.

You know what wasn’t working? McKay’s passing. He was just off. He was bad.

You know what would have killed the team last night? Would’ve probably caused a loss? An interception, which almost happened a couple times.

The game plan was boring, not overly successful in terms of yardage, but it was good enough to win.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Beating them,defending conference champs at home and on their homecoming, on a short week, in a place that is difficult to travel to, and they were coming off a bye; I think to many are too critical of what didn’t go great. This win is HUGE!

I have always felt officials are what they are. Sometimes everything works out cleanly and sometime you have to battle through. One thing is for sure: the refs letting them play and the stay in the middle of the field style of both teams made the game go by really fast!

Except the "difficult to travel to", I totally agree.

50-minute flight, directly to Ogden.

My bad, thought I read where they had to bus into Ogden.

Fake news.

[Cataholic]

Here’s the deal. How many times have we seen this running game get stuffed for 2 1/2 quarters and then those zero and 1 yd gains turn into 5, 6, 7 yards a pop in the late 3rd and into the 4th quarter. They delivered body blow after body blow…and Weber had some stout abs come to find out. Tip of the hat to Weber and a tough defense. I noticed their speed and strong tackling. Those underneath routes routinely turn into 1st downs, except Weber did a good job. Long developing plays don’t work in a game like that and the risk far outweighs the reward, especially when your defense is dominating. So while everyone is complaining about play calling, a good defense will make almost every call look bad. What do you think Weber is saying about play calling? Meanwhile, we give credit to our awesome defense.

I don’t believe in the philosophy to keep pounding until they are wore down, especially when Weber is known for how good they are up front. If something is not working, you do something else. This was a great win, but the offensive play calling has to improve.

You know what wasn’t working? McKay’s passing. He was just off. He was bad.

You know what would have killed the team last night? Would’ve probably caused a loss? An interception, which almost happened a couple times.

The game plan was boring, not overly successful in terms of yardage, but it was good enough to win.

I didn’t say anything about passing…. But I did think we could have run the ball to the outside once or twice…. Maybe even run an option the outside with Mellot (you remember that actually went for 8 yards when called last night). Let me repeat for you though. We were 1-14 on 3rd down conversions. Many of those were 3 to 5 yards.

[Cataholic]

While the scramble to figure out how to watch the game on ESPNU was an annoyance, I thought the actual game production by ESPN was well done. I think this was better exposure than playoff games aired on ESPN. The announcers actually talked about this game and weren't continuously promoting and selling (during playoff games) the upcoming FBS bowl games.

I thought the announcers did a good job too - they had done some homework, were equally versed with each team, and actually had some enthusiasm for the game and the FCS.

I enjoyed the Tom Wistrcill interview.

The announcers were top notch. They enjoyed the game and weren’t afraid to question some of the coaching decisions. Very knowledgeable guys and actually did some research on the teams before coming to town. Hope to see them again! Maybe in Cheney!!

[BelligerentBobcat]

Here’s the deal. How many times have we seen this running game get stuffed for 2 1/2 quarters and then those zero and 1 yd gains turn into 5, 6, 7 yards a pop in the late 3rd and into the 4th quarter. They delivered body blow after body blow…and Weber had some stout abs come to find out. Tip of the hat to Weber and a tough defense. I noticed their speed and strong tackling. Those underneath routes routinely turn into 1st downs, except Weber did a good job. Long developing plays don’t work in a game like that and the risk far outweighs the reward, especially when your defense is dominating. So while everyone is complaining about play calling, a good defense will make almost every call look bad. What do you think Weber is saying about play calling? Meanwhile, we give credit to our awesome defense.

I don’t believe in the philosophy to keep pounding until they are wore down, especially when Weber is known for how good they are up front. If something is not working, you do something else. This was a great win, but the offensive play calling has to improve.

You know what wasn’t working? McKay’s passing. He was just off. He was bad.

You know what would have killed the team last night? Would’ve probably caused a loss? An interception, which almost happened a couple times.

The game plan was boring, not overly successful in terms of yardage, but it was good enough to win.

I didn’t say anything about passing…. But I did think we could have run the ball to the outside once or twice…. Maybe even run an option the outside with Mellot (you remember that actually went for 8 yards when called last night). Let me repeat for you though. We were 1-14 on 3rd down conversions. Many of those were 3 to 5 yards.

Sorry, when somebody says they don’t believe in the philosophy of keep pounding until they’re ground down, I assume they’re talking about running the football.

Personally, I’m not sure running outside the tackles against a fast defense is a great strategy either. They ran a few jet sweeps with limited success. I agree that I would’ve liked to see Tommy play more.

There were two third downs that were 3rd and 5 or less that they didn’t convert. Where I come from, two isn’t close to many.

[onceacat]

Here’s the deal. How many times have we seen this running game get stuffed for 2 1/2 quarters and then those zero and 1 yd gains turn into 5, 6, 7 yards a pop in the late 3rd and into the 4th quarter. They delivered body blow after body blow…and Weber had some stout abs come to find out. Tip of the hat to Weber and a tough defense. I noticed their speed and strong tackling. Those underneath routes routinely turn into 1st downs, except Weber did a good job. Long developing plays don’t work in a game like that and the risk far outweighs the reward, especially when your defense is dominating. So while everyone is complaining about play calling, a good defense will make almost every call look bad. What do you think Weber is saying about play calling? Meanwhile, we give credit to our awesome defense.

I don’t believe in the philosophy to keep pounding until they are wore down, especially when Weber is known for how good they are up front. If something is not working, you do something else. This was a great win, but the offensive play calling has to improve.

You know what wasn’t working? McKay’s passing. He was just off. He was bad.

You know what would have killed the team last night? Would’ve probably caused a loss? An interception, which almost happened a couple times.

The game plan was boring, not overly successful in terms of yardage, but it was good enough to win.

I didn’t say anything about passing…. But I did think we could have run the ball to the outside once or twice…. Maybe even run an option the outside with Mellot (you remember that actually went for 8 yards when called last night). Let me repeat for you though. We were 1-14 on 3rd down conversions. Many of those were 3 to 5 yards.

Sorry, when somebody says they don’t believe in the philosophy of keep pounding until they’re ground down, I assume they’re talking about running the football.

Personally, I’m not sure running outside the tackles against a fast defense is a great strategy either. They ran a few jet sweeps with limited success. I agree that I would’ve liked to see Tommy play more.

There were two third downs that were 3rd and 5 or less that they didn’t convert. Where I come from, two isn’t close to many.

There are a lot of options in the power run game. You could give Ifanse a lead blocker. You could try spreading out the D. Run some option (which worked when they tried it)

There’s a lot of ways to play “drag them into the deep end” that don’t involve the exact same off tackle run.

It looked to me like the O got back on the bus when they decided to pack it in on the last drive of the first half. They looked ok up til then…but absurdly bad after that.

[The Great Catsby]

A win is a win, they had 2 weeks to prepare for us at home, this is their season basically, we had a short week yada yada. But if we didn't force those two turnovers that turned into field goals how do we score points? Our defense is elite, but that offense better start doing something. Should easily win next week. But 13 won't cut it against EWU.

[coloradocat]

Coming into the season I thought it was likely that we'd lose at least two of the three big conference road games. Now I think we'll win at least two of three. That's progress. Nobody realistically expected us to be Frisco-bound this year.

[FYI]

In all my years of being a part of and watching Bobcat football I do believe this is the fastest defensive unit I have seen.

[BelligerentBobcat]

A win is a win, they had 2 weeks to prepare for us at home, this is their season basically, we had a short week yada yada. But if we didn't force those two turnovers that turned into field goals how do we score points? Our defense is elite, but that offense better start doing something. Should easily win next week. But 13 won't cut it against EWU.

13 won’t cut it against EWU.

Weber’s defense is a lot better than EWU’s.

[onceacat]

A win is a win, they had 2 weeks to prepare for us at home, this is their season basically, we had a short week yada yada. But if we didn't force those two turnovers that turned into field goals how do we score points? Our defense is elite, but that offense better start doing something. Should easily win next week. But 13 won't cut it against EWU.

13 won’t cut it against EWU.

Weber’s defense is a lot better than EWU’s.

People keep writing that… but the stats don’t bear it out..and neither does on the field performance. EWU only gives up a half yard per play more than Weber. They have the exact same red zone D %…EWU has more takeaways.

Weber’s D may well be better. But not a lot better.

Anyone who’s counting on that to level the playing field is going to be sorely disappointed.