Post- Game Thoughts

[60's Cat]

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.

Why was that, I thought the BSC had a rule that you have to bus under 500 miles, has that rule changed, (covid?) or is it because it was on Friday?

I don’t remember that ever being a rule. I know they flew to Pokey at least once back in the Kramer days. I know we fly to Spokane for ewu games.

Not always. We passed team buses on interstate.

[wbtfg]

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.

Why was that, I thought the BSC had a rule that you have to bus under 500 miles, has that rule changed, (covid?) or is it because it was on Friday?

I don’t remember that ever being a rule. I know they flew to Pokey at least once back in the Kramer days. I know we fly to Spokane for ewu games.

Not always. We passed team buses on interstate.

Right. I’m not saying we have never bused, I’m just saying I don’t ever remember it being a conference rule.

[tetoncat]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

[iaafan]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

WSU allowed a good percentage of completions, but they hardly allowed any yards after the catch. That's a sign of a really good defense. No QBs hit receivers in stride on every throw. I think it's a little nit-picky to complain (and I'm not saying you're complaining) about McKay's accuracy. He's second in the BSC in completion percentage and second in efficiency. In both cases to this Eric Barriere dude from EWU.

[sdsyvie]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

I also think this pass being thrown off target cost us a touchdown or at very least a much larger gain. There were countless other passes offline all day. This seems to lead to the more stagnant offense vs playcalling

[wbtfg]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

I also think this pass being thrown off target cost us a touchdown or at very least a much larger gain. There were countless other passes offline all day. This seems to lead to the more stagnant offense vs playcalling

I wonder if there a relationship between the two. Do all of the runs take McKay out of rhythm? I think there’s lots to examine both in the game plan as well as the execution.

The good news is that the only defense didn’t bring their A game and we still beat a very good team, on the road, on a short week.

There aren’t many easy wins in this conference, just ask Bobby….I believe UM was a 17.5pt favorite.

[iaafan]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

I also think this pass being thrown off target cost us a touchdown or at very least a much larger gain. There were countless other passes offline all day. This seems to lead to the more stagnant offense vs playcalling

I wonder if there a relationship between the two. Do all of the runs take McKay out of rhythm? I think there’s lots to examine both in the game plan as well as the execution.

The good news is that the only defense didn’t bring their A game and we still beat a very good team, on the road, on a short week.

There aren’t many easy wins in this conference, just ask Bobby….I believe UM was a 17.5pt favorite.

I think there's absolutely a relationship. And when the run game is at 67% of the plays and still isn't producing much, the pass game suffers even more. Weber put out a good blueprint of how to defend MSU. MSU needs to counter that now.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

WSU allowed a good percentage of completions, but they hardly allowed any yards after the catch. That's a sign of a really good defense. No QBs hit receivers in stride on every throw. I think it's a little nit-picky to complain (and I'm not saying you're complaining) about McKay's accuracy. He's second in the BSC in completion percentage and second in efficiency. In both cases to this Eric Barriere dude from EWU.

You thought it was nit picky to complain about his accuracy against Weber?

He’s been a solid QB for the Cats, but his passing was bad this Friday, there’s no way around it. Completion % can be misleading, the Pickering throw is a great example. That was a bad pass, still a completion, but a bad pass. On the field it looked bad, on the box score it looks more than fine.

[Joe Bobcat]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

WSU allowed a good percentage of completions, but they hardly allowed any yards after the catch. That's a sign of a really good defense. No QBs hit receivers in stride on every throw. I think it's a little nit-picky to complain (and I'm not saying you're complaining) about McKay's accuracy. He's second in the BSC in completion percentage and second in efficiency. In both cases to this Eric Barriere dude from EWU.

You thought it was nit picky to complain about his accuracy against Weber?

He’s been a solid QB for the Cats, but his passing was bad this Friday, there’s no way around it. Completion % can be misleading, the Pickering throw is a great example. That was a bad pass, still a completion, but a bad pass. On the field it looked bad, on the box score it looks more than fine.

Pickering stopping, turning and catching that pass at his shoe laces might might have been one of the 3 most important offensive plays of the game. Not many TEs are going to make that catch. Using your thoughts in your last sentence I would say that the play selection late in that game of run up the middle, run up the middle, crossing route pass short of the first down, not only looked bad on the field it looks bad on the stats sheet too. No way did I want to see a bunch of passing or any risky play trickery but we have a good variety of rushing plays that could've been utilized to keep them off balance more. One really only needs to look at the marginally better gains we got with other rushing plays to see that adding in those plays gave us a better chance of extending drives. Yeah our D was playing lights out and yet there were 2 or 3 times the D was bailed out by Weber receivers dropping 1st down passes that might have also gone for significant additional yards. They make those catches and there's no telling how fast and far momentum would've shifted. 6 points gave very little cushion for error.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

WSU allowed a good percentage of completions, but they hardly allowed any yards after the catch. That's a sign of a really good defense. No QBs hit receivers in stride on every throw. I think it's a little nit-picky to complain (and I'm not saying you're complaining) about McKay's accuracy. He's second in the BSC in completion percentage and second in efficiency. In both cases to this Eric Barriere dude from EWU.

You thought it was nit picky to complain about his accuracy against Weber?

He’s been a solid QB for the Cats, but his passing was bad this Friday, there’s no way around it. Completion % can be misleading, the Pickering throw is a great example. That was a bad pass, still a completion, but a bad pass. On the field it looked bad, on the box score it looks more than fine.

Pickering stopping, turning and catching that pass at his shoe laces might might have been one of the 3 most important offensive plays of the game. Not many TEs are going to make that catch. Using your thoughts in your last sentence I would say that the play selection late in that game of run up the middle, run up the middle, crossing route pass short of the first down, not only looked bad on the field it looks bad on the stats sheet too. No way did I want to see a bunch of passing or any risky play trickery but we have a good variety of rushing plays that could've been utilized to keep them off balance more. One really only needs to look at the marginally better gains we got with other rushing plays to see that adding in those plays gave us a better chance of extending drives. Yeah our D was playing lights out and yet there were 2 or 3 times the D was bailed out by Weber receivers dropping 1st down passes that might have also gone for significant additional yards. They make those catches and there's no telling how fast and far momentum would've shifted. 6 points gave very little cushion for error.

The play calling, in hindsight, wasn’t great. At the same time, it wasn’t nearly as bad as some others think.

We were playing a very good defense with a QB who was struggling to be very accurate down the field. Weber’s defense is fast, the RT really, really, struggled in the run and pass game, which makes running outside difficult. With the personnel we have, this was a very difficult game. Fortunately, not many of the teams we play will be able to match what Weber did. I personally would’ve liked to see Tommy Football play more if they’re going to insist on running the ball, but I also understand why they would want a QB who has been very good turnover wise in the game.

[Joe Bobcat]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

WSU allowed a good percentage of completions, but they hardly allowed any yards after the catch. That's a sign of a really good defense. No QBs hit receivers in stride on every throw. I think it's a little nit-picky to complain (and I'm not saying you're complaining) about McKay's accuracy. He's second in the BSC in completion percentage and second in efficiency. In both cases to this Eric Barriere dude from EWU.

You thought it was nit picky to complain about his accuracy against Weber?

He’s been a solid QB for the Cats, but his passing was bad this Friday, there’s no way around it. Completion % can be misleading, the Pickering throw is a great example. That was a bad pass, still a completion, but a bad pass. On the field it looked bad, on the box score it looks more than fine.

Pickering stopping, turning and catching that pass at his shoe laces might might have been one of the 3 most important offensive plays of the game. Not many TEs are going to make that catch. Using your thoughts in your last sentence I would say that the play selection late in that game of run up the middle, run up the middle, crossing route pass short of the first down, not only looked bad on the field it looks bad on the stats sheet too. No way did I want to see a bunch of passing or any risky play trickery but we have a good variety of rushing plays that could've been utilized to keep them off balance more. One really only needs to look at the marginally better gains we got with other rushing plays to see that adding in those plays gave us a better chance of extending drives. Yeah our D was playing lights out and yet there were 2 or 3 times the D was bailed out by Weber receivers dropping 1st down passes that might have also gone for significant additional yards. They make those catches and there's no telling how fast and far momentum would've shifted. 6 points gave very little cushion for error.

The play calling, in hindsight, wasn’t great. At the same time, it wasn’t nearly as bad as some others think.

We were playing a very good defense with a QB who was struggling to be very accurate down the field. Weber’s defense is fast, the RT really, really, struggled in the run and pass game, which makes running outside difficult. With the personnel we have, this was a very difficult game. Fortunately, not many of the teams we play will be able to match what Weber did. I personally would’ve liked to see Tommy Football play more if they’re going to insist on running the ball, but I also understand why they would want a QB who has been very good turnover wise in the game.

We agree more than we disagree on this and we got the win so it's all good and yet it sends up a yellow flag at least, that our OC and head coach got in such a rut of play calling that wasn't moving the sticks.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

WSU allowed a good percentage of completions, but they hardly allowed any yards after the catch. That's a sign of a really good defense. No QBs hit receivers in stride on every throw. I think it's a little nit-picky to complain (and I'm not saying you're complaining) about McKay's accuracy. He's second in the BSC in completion percentage and second in efficiency. In both cases to this Eric Barriere dude from EWU.

You thought it was nit picky to complain about his accuracy against Weber?

He’s been a solid QB for the Cats, but his passing was bad this Friday, there’s no way around it. Completion % can be misleading, the Pickering throw is a great example. That was a bad pass, still a completion, but a bad pass. On the field it looked bad, on the box score it looks more than fine.

Pickering stopping, turning and catching that pass at his shoe laces might might have been one of the 3 most important offensive plays of the game. Not many TEs are going to make that catch. Using your thoughts in your last sentence I would say that the play selection late in that game of run up the middle, run up the middle, crossing route pass short of the first down, not only looked bad on the field it looks bad on the stats sheet too. No way did I want to see a bunch of passing or any risky play trickery but we have a good variety of rushing plays that could've been utilized to keep them off balance more. One really only needs to look at the marginally better gains we got with other rushing plays to see that adding in those plays gave us a better chance of extending drives. Yeah our D was playing lights out and yet there were 2 or 3 times the D was bailed out by Weber receivers dropping 1st down passes that might have also gone for significant additional yards. They make those catches and there's no telling how fast and far momentum would've shifted. 6 points gave very little cushion for error.

The play calling, in hindsight, wasn’t great. At the same time, it wasn’t nearly as bad as some others think.

We were playing a very good defense with a QB who was struggling to be very accurate down the field. Weber’s defense is fast, the RT really, really, struggled in the run and pass game, which makes running outside difficult. With the personnel we have, this was a very difficult game. Fortunately, not many of the teams we play will be able to match what Weber did. I personally would’ve liked to see Tommy Football play more if they’re going to insist on running the ball, but I also understand why they would want a QB who has been very good turnover wise in the game.

We agree more than we disagree on this and we got the win so it's all good and yet it sends up a yellow flag at least, that our OC and head coach got in such a rut of play calling that wasn't moving the sticks.

Yeah, I agree with you.

They’re smart though, and I haven’t seen anything that tells me they won’t learn from this. Even the very best play callers have bad games. Fans really don’t understand just how difficult of a job it is.

[Lord Vigo]

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.

Virtually any stat you look at bears it out.

Bears out that Weber is slightly better? Sure. Over on the other thread, people are claiming that Weber is better than UM, which is absurd. EWU has more takeaways & the exact same red zone D.

So maybe Weebs is a little better, but all the stats say you are pretty much splitting hairs.

EW:

• Rush Yds/Game: 144
• Pass Yds/Game: 249
• Yds per rush: 4.2
• Yds per attempt: 7.3
• Points per game: 31
• Sacks per game: 1.5
• Takeaways: 8

WEB:

• Rush Yds/Game: 115
• Pass Yds/Game: 143
• Yds per rush: 3.5
• Yds per attempt: 4.7
• Points per game: 16
• Sacks per game: 2.6
• Takeaways: 5

Apart from takeaways (which makes sense given that teams have to throw like crazy to try and come back on EW's offense), the Weber defense is superior in basically every way.

Specifically, I'd point out the dramatic difference in the pass defense. Eagles are allowing 2.6 fewer yards per attempt. That's not splitting hairs.

And then of course you have scoring...

[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.

Why was that, I thought the BSC had a rule that you have to bus under 500 miles, has that rule changed, (covid?) or is it because it was on Friday?

I don’t remember that ever being a rule. I know they flew to Pokey at least once back in the Kramer days. I know we fly to Spokane for ewu games.

@cats2506 I clearly remember the bus rule, although I remembered it as 400 road miles one-way, and it was quite a few years ago. I just mentioned it to my cousin the other day, thinking it was still in force.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Here it is. Big Sky football travel rules. 450 miles. Not sure if this rule is current, but it did exist. 2012-2013.

https://static.bigskyconf.com/custompa ... ations.pdf

I found this directly by searching within the Big Sky site. It’s two years newer. 2013-2014.

https://static.bigskyconf.com/custompa ... ations.pdf

[rivercat]

Interesting. Bobcats must have asked for and received a waiver as allowed by the rule because of the short week.

[iaafan]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

WSU allowed a good percentage of completions, but they hardly allowed any yards after the catch. That's a sign of a really good defense. No QBs hit receivers in stride on every throw. I think it's a little nit-picky to complain (and I'm not saying you're complaining) about McKay's accuracy. He's second in the BSC in completion percentage and second in efficiency. In both cases to this Eric Barriere dude from EWU.

You thought it was nit picky to complain about his accuracy against Weber?

He’s been a solid QB for the Cats, but his passing was bad this Friday, there’s no way around it. Completion % can be misleading, the Pickering throw is a great example. That was a bad pass, still a completion, but a bad pass. On the field it looked bad, on the box score it looks more than fine.

No. He’s a good QB. He’s not inaccurate. QBs throw bad passes. Receivers make great catches and they drop perfect passes. It goes round and round.

[WeedKillinCat]

So do you think the pile drive in the first half threw McKay off?

[Common Cat]

Something that shocked me was Troy did not take that pop up fumble to the house!

[Lord Vigo]

Pass to Pickering after fumble was good play call and possibly a TD if a better throw. Couple other WR screens would have been big gains if Willie gets a better block. We were not getting into a throw it down the field game. They scored we were more aggressive, we tie and get lead we played to not make that critical mistake. But it isn't that we did not ever try other things.

WSU allowed a good percentage of completions, but they hardly allowed any yards after the catch. That's a sign of a really good defense. No QBs hit receivers in stride on every throw. I think it's a little nit-picky to complain (and I'm not saying you're complaining) about McKay's accuracy. He's second in the BSC in completion percentage and second in efficiency. In both cases to this Eric Barriere dude from EWU.

You thought it was nit picky to complain about his accuracy against Weber?

He’s been a solid QB for the Cats, but his passing was bad this Friday, there’s no way around it. Completion % can be misleading, the Pickering throw is a great example. That was a bad pass, still a completion, but a bad pass. On the field it looked bad, on the box score it looks more than fine.

No. He’s a good QB. He’s not inaccurate. QBs throw bad passes. Receivers make great catches and they drop perfect passes. It goes round and round.

I'm not saying that he's inaccurate overall, but he most certainly was very inaccurate on Friday night. There's absolutely no doubt about it. It's one game-- I'm not saying it now defines him-- but it was a plain reality on the field.