Matt McKay

[CatsNoMatterWhat]

McKay looks to me like he’s having some confidence issues to me; nothing more. Those issues happen in the middle of the season to QBs at every level: the adrenaline of the start of the season has worn off, but the adrenaline of the post-season hasn’t started yet, and players get “sleepy”. They make a few unusual mistakes, and :: confidence gets shaky. The MOST confident player I’ve ever seen at the QB position at MSU was Dakota Prukop. Dude had straight swagger. I don’t see that in McKay right now.

I think he’ll snap out of it in Cheney on that huge stage. With all of that said, there is no question he’s our QB1 and has done a GREAT job this year.

I'd never thought of it like that before, but you're right, Prukop had a bit of cocky swagger to him. Not obnoxiously so, but definitely apparent. And both Lulay and McGhee had that quiet, steadying confidence that all great leaders have. I've yet to hear an interview with McKay to gauge his demeanor, so I have zero feel for him in this regard. Understand that I'm not trying to compare him to two of the greatest Bobcat QB's of all time...

I LOVED that about him. I had more fun watching him play than any other player I’ve watched in Bobcat Stadium. I know that’s sac religious given Lulay, McGhee, and others that have played during that period…but I thought Prukop was amazing.

[iaafan]

McKay looks to me like he’s having some confidence issues to me; nothing more. Those issues happen in the middle of the season to QBs at every level: the adrenaline of the start of the season has worn off, but the adrenaline of the post-season hasn’t started yet, and players get “sleepy”. They make a few unusual mistakes, and :: confidence gets shaky. The MOST confident player I’ve ever seen at the QB position at MSU was Dakota Prukop. Dude had straight swagger. I don’t see that in McKay right now.

I think he’ll snap out of it in Cheney on that huge stage. With all of that said, there is no question he’s our QB1 and has done a GREAT job this year.

I'd never thought of it like that before, but you're right, Prukop had a bit of cocky swagger to him. Not obnoxiously so, but definitely apparent. And both Lulay and McGhee had that quiet, steadying confidence that all great leaders have. I've yet to hear an interview with McKay to gauge his demeanor, so I have zero feel for him in this regard. Understand that I'm not trying to compare him to two of the greatest Bobcat QB's of all time...

I LOVED that about him. I had more fun watching him play than any other player I’ve watched in Bobcat Stadium. I know that’s sac religious given Lulay, McGhee, and others that have played during that period…but I thought Prukop was amazing.

Prukop looked cool out there for sure, but he couldn't get it done when needed most. Yeah, I know the defense stunk, but I don't think he led us on a big drive for a winning score in his career. Did all kinds of highlight reel stuff when we were either way behind or way ahead. Lulay and McGhee had multiple games and moments that they performed well under pressure. McKay did so against Wyoming, PSU and Weber this season. I think Murray was also better in this regard.

I just can't recall a game where Prukop did anything like that. There was a game at Sac St that he scored the winning TD or threw for it, but it came after Brekke ran a kickoff back to the Sac St 30-yard line or something like that. I recall a game at UND where he had a couple shots late and I don't think he even got a first down and one play he either had a guy wide open and missed him or could've ran for a first, but threw incomplete. He was a great player, but just not at crunch time. I thought the game against EWU in Bozeman where Adams scored the two-point conversion was the best game of Prukop's career in terms of making clutch plays. I also felt that he kept the ball way too much in RPO. Seemed like he didn't trust anyone.

Playoffs/Griz:
Lulay 3-3
McGhee 4-5
Murray 2-0
Rovig 3-1
Andersen 2-1 (as QB only)
Prukop 0-2 (didn't play in 2014 Cat-Griz)

[kennethnoisewater]

I just think confidence is so underrated in sports. I know everybody knows it's important, but I still don't think we give it enough credit. Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady are not the most physically gifted players in the NFL, but along with being smart, they have supreme confidence. Vigen said it the other day: McKay is coming from a program where if he made a mistake, he was going to get yanked. That kills a guy's confidence. I don't see any issues with McKay skill-wise or intelligence-wise, but I'd like to see him just settle in and trust himself. I believe the team trusts him.

At literally every level of sports, once a player gets confident, the game seems to slow down. I can remember playing high school sports (hell, even middle school sports) and when I first moved up to another level, the speed of the game was overwhelming for a little bit. Athletically, I was as good as the guys I was playing against, but mentally I wasn't there yet. As a coach, the most success I've ever had in any sport is when I've helped an athlete believe he or she can win. Some people are naturally confident, others need to be convinced they're good enough. I believe confidence can be cultivated just as much as it can be crushed.

You can see the look in a guy's eyes when he's not confident, and I think that's where McKay is right now. I like that Vigen has pointed it out, and I hope this off week just lets McKay gain his confidence back. We've seen him perform well enough to beat any team in this conference (with the help of a good run game and great defense), so I have no reason to believe he shouldn't be able to do that the rest of the way.

[bobcatfan123]

McKay looks to me like he’s having some confidence issues to me; nothing more. Those issues happen in the middle of the season to QBs at every level: the adrenaline of the start of the season has worn off, but the adrenaline of the post-season hasn’t started yet, and players get “sleepy”. They make a few unusual mistakes, and :: confidence gets shaky. The MOST confident player I’ve ever seen at the QB position at MSU was Dakota Prukop. Dude had straight swagger. I don’t see that in McKay right now.

I think he’ll snap out of it in Cheney on that huge stage. With all of that said, there is no question he’s our QB1 and has done a GREAT job this year.

I'd never thought of it like that before, but you're right, Prukop had a bit of cocky swagger to him. Not obnoxiously so, but definitely apparent. And both Lulay and McGhee had that quiet, steadying confidence that all great leaders have. I've yet to hear an interview with McKay to gauge his demeanor, so I have zero feel for him in this regard. Understand that I'm not trying to compare him to two of the greatest Bobcat QB's of all time...

I LOVED that about him. I had more fun watching him play than any other player I’ve watched in Bobcat Stadium. I know that’s sac religious given Lulay, McGhee, and others that have played during that period…but I thought Prukop was amazing.

Prukop looked cool out there for sure, but he couldn't get it done when needed most. Yeah, I know the defense stunk, but I don't think he led us on a big drive for a winning score in his career. Did all kinds of highlight reel stuff when we were either way behind or way ahead. Lulay and McGhee had multiple games and moments that they performed well under pressure. McKay did so against Wyoming, PSU and Weber this season. I think Murray was also better in this regard.

I just can't recall a game where Prukop did anything like that. There was a game at Sac St that he scored the winning TD or threw for it, but it came after Brekke ran a kickoff back to the Sac St 30-yard line or something like that. I recall a game at UND where he had a couple shots late and I don't think he even got a first down and one play he either had a guy wide open and missed him or could've ran for a first, but threw incomplete. He was a great player, but just not at crunch time. I thought the game against EWU in Bozeman where Adams scored the two-point conversion was the best game of Prukop's career in terms of making clutch plays. I also felt that he kept the ball way too much in RPO. Seemed like he didn't trust anyone.

Playoffs/Griz:
Lulay 3-3
McGhee 4-5
Murray 2-0
Rovig 3-1
Andersen 2-1 (as QB only)

Prukop 0-2 (didn't play in 2014 Cat-Griz)

This is crazy, crazy, crazy. If Dakota had even a mediocre defense he would be possibly known as the best qb we've ever had. In 2015 he averaged 275 yards per game and an additional 75 yards rushing per game. In the one cat/griz game he played in he threw for over 300 yards and put up 35 points against a very good Griz Defense. He never even had a chance to show if he would be "clutch" in 2015 as the opponents would score at will.

Conferences losses included:

55-50 Eastern Washington
49-41 NAU
59-42 Portland State
44-38 North Dakota
34-23 Southern Utah
54-35 Griz
(averaged 38 points per game in those losses)

Bad coaching/leadership, a downfall in the team culture and divide in the locker room, and overall lack of talent on defense contributed to these losses. You can't expect one really good player to overcome all of these major team flaws.

Overall, I don't think Dakota gets all the credit he deserves as he was qb during a fairly tumultuous time.

[CatsNoMatterWhat]

McKay looks to me like he’s having some confidence issues to me; nothing more. Those issues happen in the middle of the season to QBs at every level: the adrenaline of the start of the season has worn off, but the adrenaline of the post-season hasn’t started yet, and players get “sleepy”. They make a few unusual mistakes, and :: confidence gets shaky. The MOST confident player I’ve ever seen at the QB position at MSU was Dakota Prukop. Dude had straight swagger. I don’t see that in McKay right now.

I think he’ll snap out of it in Cheney on that huge stage. With all of that said, there is no question he’s our QB1 and has done a GREAT job this year.

I'd never thought of it like that before, but you're right, Prukop had a bit of cocky swagger to him. Not obnoxiously so, but definitely apparent. And both Lulay and McGhee had that quiet, steadying confidence that all great leaders have. I've yet to hear an interview with McKay to gauge his demeanor, so I have zero feel for him in this regard. Understand that I'm not trying to compare him to two of the greatest Bobcat QB's of all time...

I LOVED that about him. I had more fun watching him play than any other player I’ve watched in Bobcat Stadium. I know that’s sac religious given Lulay, McGhee, and others that have played during that period…but I thought Prukop was amazing.

Prukop looked cool out there for sure, but he couldn't get it done when needed most. Yeah, I know the defense stunk, but I don't think he led us on a big drive for a winning score in his career. Did all kinds of highlight reel stuff when we were either way behind or way ahead. Lulay and McGhee had multiple games and moments that they performed well under pressure. McKay did so against Wyoming, PSU and Weber this season. I think Murray was also better in this regard.

I just can't recall a game where Prukop did anything like that. There was a game at Sac St that he scored the winning TD or threw for it, but it came after Brekke ran a kickoff back to the Sac St 30-yard line or something like that. I recall a game at UND where he had a couple shots late and I don't think he even got a first down and one play he either had a guy wide open and missed him or could've ran for a first, but threw incomplete. He was a great player, but just not at crunch time. I thought the game against EWU in Bozeman where Adams scored the two-point conversion was the best game of Prukop's career in terms of making clutch plays. I also felt that he kept the ball way too much in RPO. Seemed like he didn't trust anyone.

Playoffs/Griz:
Lulay 3-3
McGhee 4-5
Murray 2-0
Rovig 3-1
Andersen 2-1 (as QB only)

Prukop 0-2 (didn't play in 2014 Cat-Griz)

This is crazy, crazy, crazy. If Dakota had even a mediocre defense he would be possibly known as the best qb we've ever had. In 2015 he averaged 275 yards per game and an additional 75 yards rushing per game. In the one cat/griz game he played in he threw for over 300 yards and put up 35 points against a very good Griz Defense. He never even had a chance to show if he would be "clutch" in 2015 as the opponents would score at will.

Conferences losses included:

55-50 Eastern Washington
49-41 NAU
59-42 Portland State
44-38 North Dakota
34-23 Southern Utah
54-35 Griz
(averaged 38 points per game in those losses)

Bad coaching/leadership, a downfall in the team culture and divide in the locker room, and overall lack of talent on defense contributed to these losses. You can't expect one really good player to overcome all of these major team flaws.

Overall, I don't think Dakota gets all the credit he deserves as he was qb during a fairly tumultuous time.

I absolutely agree with you. Like I said above, I've never had as much fun watching a Bobcat as I did Dakota. He was QB during the WORST of the WORST defensive years we've seen...as in we lined up a defense, but that's about it. Still not entirely sure how we got so bad on that side of the ball...but we were bad.

I think many people would see Dakota differently--or perhaps he would just be more frequently mentioned with McGhee and Lulay--had he played with a more complete team.

[PapaG]

I just think confidence is so underrated in sports. I know everybody knows it's important, but I still don't think we give it enough credit. Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady are not the most physically gifted players in the NFL, but along with being smart, they have supreme confidence. Vigen said it the other day: McKay is coming from a program where if he made a mistake, he was going to get yanked. That kills a guy's confidence. I don't see any issues with McKay skill-wise or intelligence-wise, but I'd like to see him just settle in and trust himself. I believe the team trusts him.

At literally every level of sports, once a player gets confident, the game seems to slow down. I can remember playing high school sports (hell, even middle school sports) and when I first moved up to another level, the speed of the game was overwhelming for a little bit. Athletically, I was as good as the guys I was playing against, but mentally I wasn't there yet. As a coach, the most success I've ever had in any sport is when I've helped an athlete believe he or she can win. Some people are naturally confident, others need to be convinced they're good enough. I believe confidence can be cultivated just as much as it can be crushed.

You can see the look in a guy's eyes when he's not confident, and I think that's where McKay is right now. I like that Vigen has pointed it out, and I hope this off week just lets McKay gain his confidence back. We've seen him perform well enough to beat any team in this conference (with the help of a good run game and great defense), so I have no reason to believe he shouldn't be able to do that the rest of the way.

So glad Coach Vigen recognized this in coaching. In HS, I had a baseball coach in Dennis Maggert that was a hardass, but he never denigrated any of us and we made the state final as a junior and won state as a senior. He was an asshole, but he actually cared and wanted us all to succeed.

In basketball, I had Bill Ryan as a coach in his last season, who would get mad at me for shooting open three pointers and call me out for only using my left hand, which wasn’t true. We were running a post offense at West through a 6’4” center (love you and RIP, Robb, you left us all way too soon) and it was ridiculous.

After HS, I played so many games at Schroyer and South with @Domako, Alonzo Stephens, Elvis Old Bull, and others that I feel I got screwed out of my HS basketball experience.

Coaching does matter, as does how they handle young men.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

A 6'4" center wouldn't be that out of place in Montana BBall.