Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
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Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
I've been thinking about the response to the offensive game plan on Friday and believe I've come to a few realizations.
1. Mellott is obviously electric with the football in his hands. That being said, there is a significant probability that he only gets one or two plays that are drawn up trying to utilize his unique skill set. He is going to make an impact every year he is on this team and I imagine that the coaching staff will slowly design more runs for him.
2. Elliott is obviously electric with the football in his hands. He offers a different skill set than Ifanse that I believe is a perfect compliment. He is also an unproven commodity against more physical defenses and - while he is not small - he hasn't yet had the opportunity to show that he can rack up yards after contact or handle the workload of 15+ carries.
3. I will not openly jinx Isaiah Ifanse, but you can not have a better track record holding onto the football than he has. Moreover, he has a phenomenal yards/carry throughout his career. He was a beast on Friday. Seriously, this man was the toughest dude on the football field. He took hit after hit and just got back up and did it again - holding onto the football each and every time. Ifanse has the trust of the coaching staff for real reasons and he earned all 25 carries against Weber State. In a game where you need reliability more than anything, you cannot have a better back in your backfield than Ifanse.
4. As @Lord Vigo has shown in his ranking the BSC defenses post each of the past couple weeks, you cannot pass easily on Weber State. Rather than try to be the exception to the rule, MSU built a game plan to win this game. I cannot emphasize enough how crazy it'd have been to be chucking deep balls to a double-covered McCutcheon when your defense is controlling the game. The offense did just enough to win the game and nothing to lose the game.
5. This was my favorite game of the year so far. I believe Weber State has a top 2 defense in the Big Sky Conference when healthy (MSU has the best, in my opinion) and a top 5 defense in the FCS. It shocked me to see MSU pounding the football when it was relatively ineffective, but each time it happened, I remembered that the defense was dominating and the field position battle was so essential to MSU winning the game. This was a chess match and Vigen and his staff were up to the challenge. After the 2nd Weber State fumble, I relaxed as much as I did at half against Cal Poly. In my eyes, the game was over. I just enjoyed watching the defense pummel Weber State the rest of the way.
6. Had the MSU defense shut down Weber, I doubt much attention would have been paid to the MSU offense. North Dakota State was beating a much lesser opponent (Illinois State) 10-0 on the road before scoring 10 additional points in the last 5 minutes of the game. This is not a criticism of the MSU defense, just a reflection that had it been 13-0 instead of 13-7, much less negative attention would have been paid to the offensive game plan.
7. The MSU offense is fine. They will have trouble putting up big numbers against the best defenses in the FCS, but they are capable of winning close games. This team is built for the FCS playoffs, and we just got a blueprint of what that will look like against the best of the best.
8. EWU is potentially a bad matchup. Holding that offense to under 30 points will be a challenge. The offense will potentially have to take some risks to keep up - opening them up to turnovers. I imagine MSU plays a ball control offense against EWU, hoping to keep the ball out of their hands and punishing that Eastern offense for scoring quickly by dominating the time of possession and wearing down their defense.
1. Mellott is obviously electric with the football in his hands. That being said, there is a significant probability that he only gets one or two plays that are drawn up trying to utilize his unique skill set. He is going to make an impact every year he is on this team and I imagine that the coaching staff will slowly design more runs for him.
2. Elliott is obviously electric with the football in his hands. He offers a different skill set than Ifanse that I believe is a perfect compliment. He is also an unproven commodity against more physical defenses and - while he is not small - he hasn't yet had the opportunity to show that he can rack up yards after contact or handle the workload of 15+ carries.
3. I will not openly jinx Isaiah Ifanse, but you can not have a better track record holding onto the football than he has. Moreover, he has a phenomenal yards/carry throughout his career. He was a beast on Friday. Seriously, this man was the toughest dude on the football field. He took hit after hit and just got back up and did it again - holding onto the football each and every time. Ifanse has the trust of the coaching staff for real reasons and he earned all 25 carries against Weber State. In a game where you need reliability more than anything, you cannot have a better back in your backfield than Ifanse.
4. As @Lord Vigo has shown in his ranking the BSC defenses post each of the past couple weeks, you cannot pass easily on Weber State. Rather than try to be the exception to the rule, MSU built a game plan to win this game. I cannot emphasize enough how crazy it'd have been to be chucking deep balls to a double-covered McCutcheon when your defense is controlling the game. The offense did just enough to win the game and nothing to lose the game.
5. This was my favorite game of the year so far. I believe Weber State has a top 2 defense in the Big Sky Conference when healthy (MSU has the best, in my opinion) and a top 5 defense in the FCS. It shocked me to see MSU pounding the football when it was relatively ineffective, but each time it happened, I remembered that the defense was dominating and the field position battle was so essential to MSU winning the game. This was a chess match and Vigen and his staff were up to the challenge. After the 2nd Weber State fumble, I relaxed as much as I did at half against Cal Poly. In my eyes, the game was over. I just enjoyed watching the defense pummel Weber State the rest of the way.
6. Had the MSU defense shut down Weber, I doubt much attention would have been paid to the MSU offense. North Dakota State was beating a much lesser opponent (Illinois State) 10-0 on the road before scoring 10 additional points in the last 5 minutes of the game. This is not a criticism of the MSU defense, just a reflection that had it been 13-0 instead of 13-7, much less negative attention would have been paid to the offensive game plan.
7. The MSU offense is fine. They will have trouble putting up big numbers against the best defenses in the FCS, but they are capable of winning close games. This team is built for the FCS playoffs, and we just got a blueprint of what that will look like against the best of the best.
8. EWU is potentially a bad matchup. Holding that offense to under 30 points will be a challenge. The offense will potentially have to take some risks to keep up - opening them up to turnovers. I imagine MSU plays a ball control offense against EWU, hoping to keep the ball out of their hands and punishing that Eastern offense for scoring quickly by dominating the time of possession and wearing down their defense.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
I mostly agree with this.....
That said, if we were just going to run the ball every single time, I think I would have liked to see Mellot in there for a few more plays for that +1 advantage in the run game and some fly-sweep action. We didn't really really challenge the eyes of weber's LB with a lateral run game. Maybe coaches just aren't quite there with the trust level on him yet.
I really didn't like the call to throw deep to willie in the 4th when we needed to run time. Coach said Weber was stacking the box all game and that they went for a shot. If weber was stacking all game, I would have liked to have taken the shot sooner and not to Willie. Willie does some nice things, but deep shots down the sideline aren't his strength. Also the 4th down decision and playcall. Really strange. I really don't like the slow, deep handoffs from under center on a play like that. Especially against a team like weber.
I said this on another thread, but I also think that McKay couldn't get any type of passing rhythm going because we were content with running it and punting. I would have like to have seen a few more non-third and long pass plays called.
That's my $.02 of armchair coaching for the weekend.
That said, if we were just going to run the ball every single time, I think I would have liked to see Mellot in there for a few more plays for that +1 advantage in the run game and some fly-sweep action. We didn't really really challenge the eyes of weber's LB with a lateral run game. Maybe coaches just aren't quite there with the trust level on him yet.
I really didn't like the call to throw deep to willie in the 4th when we needed to run time. Coach said Weber was stacking the box all game and that they went for a shot. If weber was stacking all game, I would have liked to have taken the shot sooner and not to Willie. Willie does some nice things, but deep shots down the sideline aren't his strength. Also the 4th down decision and playcall. Really strange. I really don't like the slow, deep handoffs from under center on a play like that. Especially against a team like weber.
I said this on another thread, but I also think that McKay couldn't get any type of passing rhythm going because we were content with running it and punting. I would have like to have seen a few more non-third and long pass plays called.
That's my $.02 of armchair coaching for the weekend.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
I like how they are using Mellott. Keep in mind that he is a passing QB also and they have yet to let him pass. I am hoping they keep it this way until that last game and then turn him lose. Knowing Bobby's tendencies his D will assume run every time he is in the game.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
If you’re going to throw a fade downfield, throw to McCutcheon or Smith, not a 5’10 slot. That was so dumb.wbtfg wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 10:51 amI mostly agree with this.....
That said, if we were just going to run the ball every single time, I think I would have liked to see Mellot in there for a few more plays for that +1 advantage in the run game and some fly-sweep action. We didn't really really challenge the eyes of weber's LB with a lateral run game. Maybe coaches just aren't quite there with the trust level on him yet.
I really didn't like the call to throw deep to willie in the 4th when we needed to run time. Coach said Weber was stacking the box all game and that they went for a shot. If weber was stacking all game, I would have liked to have taken the shot sooner and not to Willie. Willie does some nice things, but deep shots down the sideline aren't his strength. Also the 4th down decision and playcall. Really strange. I really don't like the slow, deep handoffs from under center on a play like that. Especially against a team like weber.
I said this on another thread, but I also think that McKay couldn't get any type of passing rhythm going because we were content with running it and punting. I would have like to have seen a few more non-third and long pass plays called.
That's my $.02 of armchair coaching for the weekend.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
Yep.....Also there were 1 or 2 plays where lance was the guy running the fly sweep action. That's not going to fake anyone out, as that's not Lance's game. I'd like to see Willie run the fly sweep action, and Lance catch the fade.BelligerentBobcat wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 11:32 amIf you’re going to throw a fade downfield, throw to McCutcheon or Smith, not a 5’10 slot. That was so dumb.wbtfg wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 10:51 amI mostly agree with this.....
That said, if we were just going to run the ball every single time, I think I would have liked to see Mellot in there for a few more plays for that +1 advantage in the run game and some fly-sweep action. We didn't really really challenge the eyes of weber's LB with a lateral run game. Maybe coaches just aren't quite there with the trust level on him yet.
I really didn't like the call to throw deep to willie in the 4th when we needed to run time. Coach said Weber was stacking the box all game and that they went for a shot. If weber was stacking all game, I would have liked to have taken the shot sooner and not to Willie. Willie does some nice things, but deep shots down the sideline aren't his strength. Also the 4th down decision and playcall. Really strange. I really don't like the slow, deep handoffs from under center on a play like that. Especially against a team like weber.
I said this on another thread, but I also think that McKay couldn't get any type of passing rhythm going because we were content with running it and punting. I would have like to have seen a few more non-third and long pass plays called.
That's my $.02 of armchair coaching for the weekend.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
We go 1 for 12 on Third downs and EWU passes for 600 yards. We gonna have to rev it up the rest of the season
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
Should've put Andersen in there on offense, he's NoT dOiNg AnYtHinG oN dEfenSe! Missed a bunch of tackles, didn't return fumble for a TD. Didn't force any fumbles. Only one sack, no INTs.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
It's going to be funny to come on BN.com on Saturday night after Weber beats EWU.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
Funny yes. Realistic NO!
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
Coochorama, excellent thoughts. I had to chuckle at point #8. I glanced at the Big Sky stats....through 6 games Cal Poly has 73 points....through 7 games EWU has 50 touchdowns. The Play-by-Play against Idaho is just sick. 5 of their drives: 24 plays, 406 yards, 5 TDs.
We'll have a decent offensive day against the EW defense - they've given up some points to their lower tier schedule. Game management will again be a big key. We'll need the opening kickoff to get that one started off correctly.
We'll have a decent offensive day against the EW defense - they've given up some points to their lower tier schedule. Game management will again be a big key. We'll need the opening kickoff to get that one started off correctly.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
Been a while since I was this excited about a game as I am about EWU. That offense is just ridiculous, and I’m really curious to see how our defense handles them. I think our defense is amazing, but I think that offense is just another level of good.PortlandCat90 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 12:17 pmCoochorama, excellent thoughts. I had to chuckle at point #8. I glanced at the Big Sky stats....through 6 games Cal Poly has 73 points....through 7 games EWU has 50 touchdowns. The Play-by-Play against Idaho is just sick. 5 of their drives: 24 plays, 406 yards, 5 TDs.
We'll have a decent offensive day against the EW defense - they've given up some points to their lower tier schedule. Game management will again be a big key. We'll need the opening kickoff to get that one started off correctly.
Like to see us get a good win at home Saturday, then a LONG two weeks before our biggest game of the season.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
Coocharama I’ve always respected your posts and greater football knowledge than mine. (that’s a low bar that many on BN can clear) I agree or somewhat agree with most points but I take exception to a few of them. I strongly agree on some of #5 but call BS on the rest of it.
1. 7th game into an 11 game regular season it shouldn’t be too much to expect the coaches to have a player as electric as Mellot prepared to
execute more than one or two plays.
2. Elliot has clearly shown enough in games to be called on and trusted to run the ball more than 4 times which is what stats show he had in the
Weber game. Wondering if he could handle 15 carries seems like a big leap from the reality of the situation.
3. Agreed Ifanse is as secure and solid tough as they come. Running him or someone else somewhere other than the middle just might have gained
enough yards to extend drives at no more risk.
4. Agreed but let’s be honest there aren’t many calling for chucking deep balls to a double-covered McCutcheon. Variety of run plays is the number 1
thought.
5. That was an awesome defensive struggle of a game that had me on the edge of my recliner seat all night. The only way you could’ve been as
relaxed as you claim is if you were 2 shots of Crown away from passed out. Hahaha. Were you too far gone to notice the dropped passes that
Weber had? Those each had the potential of completely flipping the script.
6. Either you’re captain obvious or you plagiarized his work. Duh who wouldn’t be more comfortable with more than a 6-point lead. If it had just
been a 7-point lead, I’d have been a little more comfortable.
7. True but we’d best keep working on the blue print we will need better in the future.
8. Yep I expect the EWU game to be epic and hope that their game with Weber this week can give us insight to a winning game plan.
1. 7th game into an 11 game regular season it shouldn’t be too much to expect the coaches to have a player as electric as Mellot prepared to
execute more than one or two plays.
2. Elliot has clearly shown enough in games to be called on and trusted to run the ball more than 4 times which is what stats show he had in the
Weber game. Wondering if he could handle 15 carries seems like a big leap from the reality of the situation.
3. Agreed Ifanse is as secure and solid tough as they come. Running him or someone else somewhere other than the middle just might have gained
enough yards to extend drives at no more risk.
4. Agreed but let’s be honest there aren’t many calling for chucking deep balls to a double-covered McCutcheon. Variety of run plays is the number 1
thought.
5. That was an awesome defensive struggle of a game that had me on the edge of my recliner seat all night. The only way you could’ve been as
relaxed as you claim is if you were 2 shots of Crown away from passed out. Hahaha. Were you too far gone to notice the dropped passes that
Weber had? Those each had the potential of completely flipping the script.
6. Either you’re captain obvious or you plagiarized his work. Duh who wouldn’t be more comfortable with more than a 6-point lead. If it had just
been a 7-point lead, I’d have been a little more comfortable.
7. True but we’d best keep working on the blue print we will need better in the future.
8. Yep I expect the EWU game to be epic and hope that their game with Weber this week can give us insight to a winning game plan.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
I pretty much agree with everything Cooch and Wbtfg said. I just read Joe Bobcats post and I actually think he agrees with you on most items, but he is being overly critical of certain things. For example, Mellot is clearly ready to do more - Cooch never said otherwise. I think the coaches are holding many of these additional plays for future games.
My biggest concern is the 1 for 14 on 3rd downs. (Not 1 for 12 - https://msubobcats.com/sports/football/ ... score/5289 ). We will lose most games with that stat. I understand and agree with not passing against the Weber secondary, but we never tried the outside. Mellot ran the option to the outside which was beautiful. At a minimum, we should have some counter plays in the backfield. There was no misdirection and Weber was overpursuing. Running Ifanse up the middle was safe, but it was a one score game. You can’t keep punting and giving the opposition a chance to score when you are only up by 1 score.
As for EWU, Barrierre is very accurate passing. While the defense has been great, it will be a long day if we play a soft zone coverage. The key will be pressure on Barrierre. Despite being a senior, he still makes awful decisions under pressure. The blitzing schemes by MSU are so good with such great athletes, we can force him into some bad passes or deep losses.
My biggest concern is the 1 for 14 on 3rd downs. (Not 1 for 12 - https://msubobcats.com/sports/football/ ... score/5289 ). We will lose most games with that stat. I understand and agree with not passing against the Weber secondary, but we never tried the outside. Mellot ran the option to the outside which was beautiful. At a minimum, we should have some counter plays in the backfield. There was no misdirection and Weber was overpursuing. Running Ifanse up the middle was safe, but it was a one score game. You can’t keep punting and giving the opposition a chance to score when you are only up by 1 score.
As for EWU, Barrierre is very accurate passing. While the defense has been great, it will be a long day if we play a soft zone coverage. The key will be pressure on Barrierre. Despite being a senior, he still makes awful decisions under pressure. The blitzing schemes by MSU are so good with such great athletes, we can force him into some bad passes or deep losses.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
This post will just make it funnier.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
My biggest concern is the ball control, run the clock defense of the game plan.
If that’s true, why didn’t we keep running it up the gut on 3rd &5 rather than running dangerous crossing patterns 3 yards short of the chains?
If you are trying to play it safe & run the clock, you don’t make risky pass plays on 3rd & medium.
Other than that, I think you are generally correct. I’m inclined to think that everyone gets a couple of bad games in a season….this was a bad one for McKay & Housewright, and they’ll probably bounce back.
If that’s true, why didn’t we keep running it up the gut on 3rd &5 rather than running dangerous crossing patterns 3 yards short of the chains?
If you are trying to play it safe & run the clock, you don’t make risky pass plays on 3rd & medium.
Other than that, I think you are generally correct. I’m inclined to think that everyone gets a couple of bad games in a season….this was a bad one for McKay & Housewright, and they’ll probably bounce back.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
iaafan wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 1:58 pm
This post will just make it funnier.
I’m really interested in this game. I don’t think Weber will win but I’d love to see If Weber’s defense can contain them and not let them run wild. If they can, I like the Bobcats chances!
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
I think UM put down a good blueprint in the first three quarters a few weeks ago. It'll be interesting to see if WSU follows that or if they stick with they're usual stuff. I think the WSU defense is more tried and true than UM's, which is kinda gimmicky.LoggerCat wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 3:15 pmiaafan wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 1:58 pm
This post will just make it funnier.
I’m really interested in this game. I don’t think Weber will win but I’d love to see If Weber’s defense can contain them and not let them run wild. If they can, I like the Bobcats chances!
It'll also be interesting to see which WSU team shows up. I expect that they'll be ready since they'd be out with a loss, but certainly back in with a win considering their remaining schedule. They play @ISU, vsPSU, @SUU, vsUNC after this, so a win goes a long ways. Then again a 2-4 start can take the starch out of a team.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
I think EWU playing Weber before they play us should help in our scouting. We get to see another tough defensive team take on the high flying Eagles and hopefully find some things that we can use against them.TomCat88 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 3:25 pmI think UM put down a good blueprint in the first three quarters a few weeks ago. It'll be interesting to see if WSU follows that or if they stick with they're usual stuff. I think the WSU defense is more tried and true than UM's, which is kinda gimmicky.LoggerCat wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 3:15 pmiaafan wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 1:58 pm
This post will just make it funnier.
I’m really interested in this game. I don’t think Weber will win but I’d love to see If Weber’s defense can contain them and not let them run wild. If they can, I like the Bobcats chances!
It'll also be interesting to see which WSU team shows up. I expect that they'll be ready since they'd be out with a loss, but certainly back in with a win considering their remaining schedule. They play @ISU, vsPSU, @SUU, vsUNC after this, so a win goes a long ways. Then again a 2-4 start can take the starch out of a team.
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Re: Overreactions to the Offense at Weber State
Offense didn't move the ball much but we scored 13. Look at other top teams scores this week.
NDSU. 20-0
Villanova. 17-10
JMU 19-3
Kennesaw 14-0
NDSU. 20-0
Villanova. 17-10
JMU 19-3
Kennesaw 14-0
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