Matt McKay

[BleedingBLue]

Contrary to claims on this thread, Mellot did throw yesterday and looked like a freshman who is no where near ready to play QB in D1 football.

I’m confused as to what he did that showed he’s not ready? He didn’t exactly do a lot passing, but he didn’t do anything that showed he isn’t ready, imo. Threw a solid hitch route, and then his sideline pass was too low, but it was still catchable. Gardner just dropped it.

Better accuracy than a lot McKay passes.

He was 50%.

And McKay 47% and missing wide open receivers.

Dude, give it up already. Did McKay steal your wife or something? Why do you hate him so much? He has his flaws, just like most FCS QB's do, but he's clearly the best option as the starter for MSU, and is the best we as Bobcat fans have seen in a half decade. I truly don't understand your level of expectations. The man is 7-1 as a starter for cripes sake! I don't recall you being this vocal about the largely very average QB play that MSU experienced during Choate's tenure here, please enlighten us as to why you continue to rip Matt.

Oh he was. Remember he thought Beltran, who is Drake's current 3rd string QB, should be our starter?

[tetoncat]

Interesting that we haven't seen Mellot have to read a defense or look for the open receiver but some are ready for him. He is listed at fourth string. He will not be the next man up.

McKay had some bad passes, had some drops, and completely missed the TE on the one. But had some good td's, had two really nice runs for first downs.

[MountainCat]

Matt has had some struggles, maybe it’s just me but I would kind of expect that in the first year under a different OC running a less mobile offense than I may have been used to at my previous school, some challenges could crop up. His numbers are solid, not spectacular. His timing and accuracy have been off at moments for sure, but I personally thought that yesterday’s game made a glaring point of what might be the bigger issue and surprisingly nobody has said much about it: To my humble and untrained eye, Matt is at his best when he is mixing up the run and pass on a faster pace. He seems to get out of sync quickly when we simply try to “pound” the ball without mixing it up Some might say “but, we’re a team the pound the ball, it’s just our style”. Is it? We have a brand new OC that seems to be altering every game to figure out being an OC, sometimes to extremes it seems. Personally, I feel that Housewright doesn’t fit the offense to Matt as well as he could during stretches but instead calls a game based on his idea of a mix, potentially to a detriment. I feel like Matt goes as the OC goes most of the time, but Matt receives the criticism as the guy on the field. There’s a lot of learning going on from multiple directions in my opinion.

We’re 7-1 and I can’t say that Matt has “cost” us a game this year. New Head coach, new OC, new quarterback, that’s a lot of feeling out and we’re still doing alright.

[Marana CAT]

Watch what McKay does on 3rd and 1 at the 6:16 mark in the 3rd quarter and then tell me you want a QB change. He is an unselfish Leader that gives everything he has to help the Cats at achieving TEAM goals!!!

[GoCats18]

Do people realize there are 10 other guys out there with McKay that have to do their job as well? I saw several times yesterday were the defensive had guys get to McKay and they weren’t even touched at the line of scrimmage. Receivers drop some easy catches. It takes everyone doing their job. Good lord people we are 4 points away from being 8-0.

[MSU01]

After yesterday's game, McKay now has a 15/1 TD/INT ratio and moved from 5th to 3rd in FCS passing efficiency.

[wbtfg]

After yesterday's game, McKay now has a 15/1 TD/INT ratio and moved from 5th to 3rd in FCS passing efficiency.

In addition to a 7-1 record.

[codecat]

The bottom line, no matter who is behind center this year, is that however our passing attack goes, so goes the offense because we do not have the same blocking capability up front that we did last year to be able to run on most anyone whenever we wanted.

[MSU01]

The bottom line, no matter who is behind center this year, is that however our passing attack goes, so goes the offense because we do not have the same blocking capability up front that we did last year to be able to run on most anyone whenever we wanted.

Is that really true? MSU averages 5.4 YPC this year which is only down by 0.3 from their 5.7 YPC in 2019.

[coloradocat]

Matt has had some struggles, maybe it’s just me but I would kind of expect that in the first year under a different OC running a less mobile offense than I may have been used to at my previous school, some challenges could crop up. His numbers are solid, not spectacular. His timing and accuracy have been off at moments for sure, but I personally thought that yesterday’s game made a glaring point of what might be the bigger issue and surprisingly nobody has said much about it: To my humble and untrained eye, Matt is at his best when he is mixing up the run and pass on a faster pace. He seems to get out of sync quickly when we simply try to “pound” the ball without mixing it up Some might say “but, we’re a team the pound the ball, it’s just our style”. Is it? We have a brand new OC that seems to be altering every game to figure out being an OC, sometimes to extremes it seems. Personally, I feel that Housewright doesn’t fit the offense to Matt as well as he could during stretches but instead calls a game based on his idea of a mix, potentially to a detriment. I feel like Matt goes as the OC goes most of the time, but Matt receives the criticism as the guy on the field. There’s a lot of learning going on from multiple directions in my opinion.

We’re 7-1 and I can’t say that Matt has “cost” us a game this year. New Head coach, new OC, new quarterback, that’s a lot of feeling out and we’re still doing alright.

Good points about Housewright. While Banks seems like a natural as DC, Housewright is still figuring out the OC role in his first year calling plays.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Contrary to claims on this thread, Mellot did throw yesterday and looked like a freshman who is no where near ready to play QB in D1 football.

I’m confused as to what he did that showed he’s not ready? He didn’t exactly do a lot passing, but he didn’t do anything that showed he isn’t ready, imo. Threw a solid hitch route, and then his sideline pass was too low, but it was still catchable. Gardner just dropped it.

Better accuracy than a lot McKay passes.

And worse than a lot of McKay passes too.

[Cledus]

Matt has had some struggles, maybe it’s just me but I would kind of expect that in the first year under a different OC running a less mobile offense than I may have been used to at my previous school, some challenges could crop up. His numbers are solid, not spectacular. His timing and accuracy have been off at moments for sure, but I personally thought that yesterday’s game made a glaring point of what might be the bigger issue and surprisingly nobody has said much about it: To my humble and untrained eye, Matt is at his best when he is mixing up the run and pass on a faster pace. He seems to get out of sync quickly when we simply try to “pound” the ball without mixing it up Some might say “but, we’re a team the pound the ball, it’s just our style”. Is it? We have a brand new OC that seems to be altering every game to figure out being an OC, sometimes to extremes it seems. Personally, I feel that Housewright doesn’t fit the offense to Matt as well as he could during stretches but instead calls a game based on his idea of a mix, potentially to a detriment. I feel like Matt goes as the OC goes most of the time, but Matt receives the criticism as the guy on the field. There’s a lot of learning going on from multiple directions in my opinion.

We’re 7-1 and I can’t say that Matt has “cost” us a game this year. New Head coach, new OC, new quarterback, that’s a lot of feeling out and we’re still doing alright.

Good points about Housewright. While Banks seems like a natural as DC, Housewright is still figuring out the OC role in his first year calling plays.

It took Matt Miller awhile to get his legs. The North Dakota game was like the Weber Game this year, it was a turning point.

[codecat]

The bottom line, no matter who is behind center this year, is that however our passing attack goes, so goes the offense because we do not have the same blocking capability up front that we did last year to be able to run on most anyone whenever we wanted.

Is that really true? MSU averages 5.4 YPC this year which is only down by 0.3 from their 5.7 YPC in 2019.

Just saying: Its a well know tenant of American football that unless you can stretch the field both vertically and horizontally, the run game will struggle against good defenses unless you dominate on the LOS.

[ilovethecats]

So funny. Some people have such unrealistic expectations. These guys aren’t going to be perfect. In the case of McKay, he’s going to make mistakes. He’s going to miss open receivers. Even yesterday there were some plays where I was kind of scratching my head. But as a WHOLE he’s doing great, as a team we’re in a great spot.

Name any qb you want at any level of football and I’ll find mistakes they made. Hell, anyone watching Mahomes and the Chiefs right now?! I’ve seen about 10 “bad” plays by mahomes already and by all accounts, he’s a pretty decent player.

I swear some people expect a quarterback to complete 100% of their passes, score touchdowns every single drive, have zero penalties every game, and never make a mistake.

If you have serious qualms about our qb play right now, honestly you’re just searching for something to bitch about.

In my humble opinion.

[tdub]

Contrary to claims on this thread, Mellot did throw yesterday and looked like a freshman who is no where near ready to play QB in D1 football.

I’m confused as to what he did that showed he’s not ready? He didn’t exactly do a lot passing, but he didn’t do anything that showed he isn’t ready, imo. Threw a solid hitch route, and then his sideline pass was too low, but it was still catchable. Gardner just dropped it.

Better accuracy than a lot McKay passes.

He was 50%.

And McKay 47% and missing wide open receivers.

Dude, give it up already. Did McKay steal your wife or something? Why do you hate him so much? He has his flaws, just like most FCS QB's do, but he's clearly the best option as the starter for MSU, and is the best we as Bobcat fans have seen in a half decade. I truly don't understand your level of expectations. The man is 7-1 as a starter for cripes sake! I don't recall you being this vocal about the largely very average QB play that MSU experienced during Choate's tenure here, please enlighten us as to why you continue to rip Matt.

It’s been his schtick for a long time now. He’s s#!ts all over the starting QB, calling for someone else. He pounded the Beltran drum for as long as he was at MSU.

[utucats]

We lost once this season with a phantom holding call. Mellot isn’t the answer to people thinking he’d be better than McKay. You’re nuts if you truly believe that.

We’ve lost once but our defense can’t be expected to completely dominate every game. We have to have an offensive presence that is more than just Ifanse dragging the other teams D down the field.

So, is putting in a true freshman who has a five play playbook when the team is 7-1 and heading for a huge game in Cheney what you propose? That’s such a ridiculous take it makes me wonder if you’ve ever been on a team or in a locker room. If MSU lost the game using your idea, Vigen loses the locker room but that’s only in fantasy world. It’s such an unrealistic idea that you must be trolling.

I don’t know Papa, can you read? Did I propose that we replace McKay with Tommy? I said that McKay’s play has not been dynamic. I acknowledged that he is not turnover prone. I made the point that we are constantly finding ways to get Tommy in to the game which tells me that he is just to good to leave out. That makes me wonder if he shouldn’t be the permanent guy.

I know that laying out a few thoughts and wondering what others think is not what this place is about so, in the future, I suppose we can all figure out Papa’s take and just follow his logic.

Nah, McKay’s play the last two games, minus the ISU 2nd half, needs to improve if we have a shot at a deep playoff run. If you can’t acknowledge that you must be trolling.

Those were my statements. I’ve been in locker rooms but based on your reading comprehension I’m wondering if you’ve been to a library?

[CPACAT]

So we had 9 possessions and scored on 5. 1 turnover 3 punts.

For those that are down on McKay, what matrices would be acceptable? 7-1? 15/1? Near 70% completion percentage?

Mellott has been great when He has been in but he is more a change of pace right now that a full time option.

[wbtfg]

So funny. Some people have such unrealistic expectations. These guys aren’t going to be perfect. In the case of McKay, he’s going to make mistakes. He’s going to miss open receivers. Even yesterday there were some plays where I was kind of scratching my head. But as a WHOLE he’s doing great, as a team we’re in a great spot.

Name any qb you want at any level of football and I’ll find mistakes they made. Hell, anyone watching Mahomes and the Chiefs right now?! I’ve seen about 10 “bad” plays by mahomes already and by all accounts, he’s a pretty decent player.

I swear some people expect a quarterback to complete 100% of their passes, score touchdowns every single drive, have zero penalties every game, and never make a mistake.

If you have serious qualms about our qb play right now, honestly you’re just searching for something to bitch about.

In my humble opinion.

On point, per usual.

[utucats]

So we had 9 possessions and scored on 5. 1 turnover 3 punts.

For those that are down on McKay, what matrices would be acceptable? 7-1? 15/1? Near 70% completion percentage?

Mellott has been great when He has been in but he is more a change of pace right now that a full time option.

Well 7-1 is a team statistic. Players move up and down the depth chart all the time based on individual performance.

It’s entirely possible that McKay’s struggles can be attributed to other factors. Perhaps a more aggressive style of play calling would get him into a groove quicker. Perhaps our offense had a little hangover from struggling to move the ball against Weber. Whatever the reason, he threw some ugly balls yesterday.

Hoping we continue improving and McKay finds his groove. In order for us to take the next step we have to find a passing attack that is respectable.

[PortlandCat90]

I have compiled many of the thoughts from this thread, pulled some facts and will send them to Coach V for his response. Here is my first draft:

Dear Coach:

WE ARE Bobcat Nation and have many concerns about our quarterbacking, specifically:

•We are 7-1 overall
• We are undefeated and in first place in the Big Sky at 5-0

Our QB is leading an offensive team that is/has:
o 2nd in the Big Sky in scoring
o 3rd in the Big Sky in total yardage
o 1st in the Big Sky in rushing yardage
o The leading rusher in the Big Sky

Our QB is:
o 2nd in the Big Sky in passing efficiency
o 2nd in the Big Sky in passing completion %
o 1st in the Big Sky in least passing interceptions
o 2nd in the Big Sky in passing touchdowns
o Showing strong leadership in what could be a strange season back

Several of Bobcat Nation have expressed concern and singled out our starting QB, noting that he is not good enough.

Please provide your input.

On behalf of Bobcat Nation,

PortlandCat90

P.S. I just re-read this letter and I do not think that I will send it to you at the risk of looking like a complete dumba$$. Please tell our QB that the rest of us in Bobcat Nation are proud of him, believe in him, and will ride along as he, his teammates and coaches take us where we are going.