The Bobcat Nation

Time for conference play! I think most of us expected to be 2-1 at this point, but oh how close we were to 3-0 and #1 heading into conference games. As it stands we still control our own destiny for a top 3 seed. It all starts this weekend at Weber State.

This Weber team is hard to figure. They didn't look like a top FCS team should against Western Oregon in week 1. In week 2 they had a nice result over normally solid Northern Iowa. Still not sure how impressive that win will be, but a good win. On Saturday they looked absolutely abysmal on offense against a solid Utah team missing a huge number of starters.

I expect our D to give up a few big plays as usual, but overall play a pretty good game. As long as we contain their QB and don't rush too far up field allowing open running lanes for him, I expect a good performance. Our offensive gameplan should be pretty similar to our 2 meetings last year. I expect to see a lot of +1 run game and some RPO with some short passing. Hopefully we're a little less vanilla on offense this week and make Weber work on more than just stopping the run. Our Cats win, pulling away in the 2nd half.

Cats - 41
Wildcats - 23

45-10
they don't score in the first half.

28-20 in favor of the Bobcats. Weber will score 20 because every other MSU opponent has so far, and the 8 point margin is in honor of last year's historic four safety game.

Weber is a bit hard to figure out at this point. UNI had six turnovers when they met, 4-5 in second half. Leading up to the second half the game was tied up at 17-17. Weber is always a strong team, will be a great physical game.

Considering that we also have road games at Idaho and Sac, this week's game is a must win if we want a top 8 seed in the playoffs. And it's not gonna be easy, Weber is a solid team.

If we are who we think we are, then we should win this game.

MSU 27
Weber 21

Not sure if we play Weber better than the #12 in the nation Utah did (now 11 and 10) so I will say it is going to be 24-21. good road win just the same.

Cats -34

Weber - 21

I predict that the coaching staff decides to play to win this game and we trounce bbqU.

Bobcats 45
bbqU 28

If we play ‘not to lose’

Bobcats 24
bbqU 23

Our line is dominant and we wear the Wildcats out.

28-10 Cats!

Bobcats--30
Purple Cats--20

34-24 Bobcats

Bobcats - 30 (3 TDs / 3 FGs)
Wildcats - 20 (opponent's weekly score)

Bankston is good. Their QB play is not. D-Line limits the run early. Cats 34—Weber 17.

Weber has looked good against the run but not very good offensively. I think msu settled for four FGs in playoff game. Might be a low scoring game. Third game vs Weber in less than a year. 11 months. Teams are very familiar with each other.

MSU 23
Weber 16

Bobcats pick two passes.

Fighting Bobcats 34
Cricket Cats 14

Tough to predict as both teams have been all over the place at times so far. We always seem to find a way to get by them but it's always close.

MSU 27
WSU 23

MSU 35
Weber State 10

Tommy was Weber's kryptonite in Game 1 last year. He had an unreal game. In the playoffs, we had the full compliment of ball carriers as Isaiah and Sean were both back. We could've won the game going away but we couldn't get the ball in the endzone routinely in the first half. They have a big, physical defense but we have a big, physical offense who wore out Weber's front both games by making them defend sideline to sideline versus whatever the hell that was in our 2021 win down in Weber. Our secondary will get tested vertically as Weber likes to take shots but #1 is slowing down their run game. We'll need a 4 quarter effort but I expect a win...even if Tommy doesn't play.

MSU - 34
Weber - 16

MSU up 21-10 at half.

Some changes from last season:

-At QB, Bronson Barron has been replaced by Kylan Weissar. In limited play so far, Weissar's completion percentage is 8 points lower, and his YPA is 2.0 yards less.

-At RB, Dontae McMillan and Josh Davis are gone, but Damon Bankston is back and off to a good start this season. However, their 2nd and 3rd leading rushers are averaging 3.1 and 1.2 YPC respectively.

-Among the pass catchers, three of the top four are gone (MacPherson, Malone, Christensen). Jacob Sharp is back (35/546/3) last season. Through three games, Sharp has caught five balls for 123 yards, no touchdowns.

-On defense, stand-out linebacker Winston Reid is back, as is Jack Kelly. 3/4 of the starting DL are relatively new/unproven players. In the secondary, they're breaking in a new starting corner in Marque Collins, but the rest of the group is veteran. Maxwell Anderson is a stud.

It's really hard to get a read on what they've done so far this season. They seemed underwhelming against D2 Central Washington. Playing @ Utah is obviously a worthless measuring stick. The most telling game is their 34-17 win @ UNI. That's a strong road showing.

I think their offense has taken a step backwards from last season. The QB is worse, the RB position doesn't have depth, and the pass catchers don't appear to be all that dangerous. If a team can limit or shut down Bankston, that's basically curtains for them.

Their defense is still going to be strong, but that front is unproven. It will be interesting to see how they hold up.

This early, with very few games that are all that telling, it's hard to predict. If this game was in Bozeman, I'd probably say the Cats win by 2-3 touchdowns-- around 17 points. But they're in Ogden.

I'll go with 31-21 MSU.

Weber's long snapper is also back this year. Fortunately the forecast for Saturday calls for 70 degrees and sunny weather.