kwcat wrote: ↑Wed Sep 10, 2025 2:30 pm
Montana State has two games under its belt was hoping for better results but no huge surprises yet.
Was hoping for a better topic than the fire everyone back-and-forth garbage. Listen to a few podcast in the last couple of days and still trying to get my thoughts around this team.
As always, there are some encouraging things with some players, stepping up, some expected some surprises.
Cole Taylor at linebacker is rapidly improving.
Seth Brock and Mason Dethman have been a blast watching on special teams.
Caden Dowler continues to improve despite injuries and very little playing time.
Defensive line has been solid.
I still have concerns in the secondary due to lack of size, but overall find more positives than negatives.
Don’t believe we have found an identity on offense yet. May be due to lack of reps, or two really good opponents not allowing that identity to surface, or lack of play calling ability by Sterbick?
Would expect that we will get some sort of foothold this next weekend on offense.
Got into rhythm a few times against South Dakota State only to shoot ourselves in the foot with mistakes. Not 100% sold on Lamson. I am hoping he improves and becomes what we need. So far it seems like he has a problem seeing the field and missing opportunities on both RPO run options as well as open receivers.
Tight ends are somewhat inexperienced and I think we’ll get better in their roles as the season progresses.
Lack of a run game may be due to moving the offensive line around and creating some communication issues.
The sky is far from falling, lots of new coaching, staff and people filling in positions. Hopefully everybody gets meaningful reps the next few weeks and these questions get answered.
Anybody else have some productive thoughts?
to address your snapshot.....
Taylor does look good, he's proving to be a good one
maybe we're seeing different things but i don't see anyone standing out on special teams. they are making routine plays. not bad but not eye popping
dowler is very hot and cold for me, he'll make a good tackle then he'll whiff, he'll be in coverage then his eyes are bad and his guy is running open for a TD
i disagree on the dl..for them to be touted as a strength they have been wildly underwhelming for me. little to no pressure on the qb, dbs have more tfls then they do. now they have seen two really good ols but if we are supposed to be that good, show it.
i truly don't know what your concerns are with the dbs. dbs aren't supposed to be big, they are supposed to be fast and be able to cover and that's what they have done. there have been some busts but it wasn't due to a lack of size. if your dbs are charged with tackling rbs your dl and lbs aren't doing their jobs.
agreed, offense seems to still be finding itself. i think we are a throw first team, but bobcat nation wants a run first team. i think the OC is trying to make vigen happy with running the ball but absence of a true running threat at qb is making it hard. play design is going to have to change, from blocking to where we are attacking teams. i do think they should explore the pass to open the run, but my hesitation with that is outside of taco the wrs don't seem to be able to get themselves open, which goes back to play design to get them open.
i actually disagree with you here, lamson has looked good with what has been called. the problem is what has been called hasn't been all that good(again play design). he isn't a running qb so why are using him like one? we need better blocking schemes to take advantage of blocking angles to allow for our backs to hit the crease. we are doing big on big and not winning so there are no run lanes. then we run the qb and it looks worse. our pass game isn't all that good because it's pretty much crossing routes or "you got to get open on your own" and our wrs aren't those type of players. need better combination routes to stress the coverages and find holes.
i think TEs have been a bright spot for us. caught the ball well blocked decently well. i think there is nothing but upside there.
agreed, could be a problem, but from what i saw we are big on big and we just aren't winning. that has nothing to do with communication, when you lock on move the man. that we aren't doing. which is why i say lets using X blocking, pull schemes, trap blocks to gain a tactical advantage via angles to move guys and allow our rbs to find the crease.
agreed...lots of new faces everywhere...lots of old faces coaching new positions....i have faith in the staff to iron out everything. first two games was a doozy for a revamped team. its understandable to start out slow. the team should be able to breathe a little and work on some of their issues and get better all around moving forward.
my take by position:
qb: still learning the offense. he knows what to do but isn't fully comfortable, but he's played arguable the #1 team in the country and the #2 team in our division, he's going to look that way. i see a lot of good and the bad i feel can be coached up. he isn't a running qb so lets ALL understand that and stop looking for that(OC stop calling those plays).
rbs: haven't seen them really show up yet, but i think that is more due to the dls that they have seen and the ol still sorting it all out. ability is there they will be fine.
wrs: taco is clearly the guy. what do we do if they bracket cover him? the other wrs have to start showing up to be a threat so that taco can get loose. i don't think they are man beaters so we need to have routes that work with other routes to free themselves up or we go to timing routes and positional throws(ie back shoulder).
ol: haven't showed up yet in the run game, but have been actually pretty good in the pass game. when we got pressure it's because the wrs didn't get open so the qb has had to hold the ball. run game we get little to no push at all, they got to figure out what the issue is there. that isn't communication that's ability. if we don't have the ability to move a man change our scheme so we can create creases.
lbs: they've looked really good. they pull their trigger and run hard to the ball. i like what i see here. they will only get better. couple of times is saw two men in one hole so they got to sort out their gap responsibilities, but i attribute that to their aggressiveness...i'll take it..easier to back one off than to make one go.
dl: to be our supposed best unit, hasn't really showed up to me. not a lot of qb pressures, no tfls, los isn't changing. now they have seen two really good ols, so i get it. but they are supposed to be a strength so they need to be a strength no excuses.
cbs: they have actually been the best group behind the lbs. to be almost all new faces, none having any starting experience they are covering guys well, driving to the ball and tackling well. wk 1 they saw a group of wrs that should be nfl players, in almost all man to man scenarios nobody was running free. wk 2 coverage was spot on..mcmillan was pulled on the td and it was a great throw and catch, he'll learn from that and i doubt it happens again.
S: i like what i see they are where they are supposed to be and they get there fast. very few busted coverages, problem is when they bust its' a td...ot td S eyes were bad, jumped the run didn't see the te releasing....td. correctable, has nothing to do with ability.
coaching: howe figured out they weren't throwing at mcmillan and rolled coverage and started stuffing them. he found his flow and i feel he has called two good games. personally i think we rotate too much. if a group is doing well, let them play. rotate the dl as needed but the secondary and lbs leave them alone, they find a groove then their out. i don't like that. OC is still getting his footing. he didn't call a terrible game, i mean we went to double ot, so got to give him some credit. i think he still doesn't really know what all his players really can do and isn't calling plays to highlight the strengths of his players..from the ol, to the qb, to he rbs, to the wrs. he has to design plays that marries all of those things into one. not an easy job but that's his charge and that's what a good oc does. i have faith that he'll figure it out, and with the teams left to play he has some room to breathe to get that done.
vigen: in two games...one we were clearly outmatched at most positions and it showed. the other we went to double ot. in every game there are things everyone could have done better but all in all the guys have showed up ready to play and seem prepared. now i will say that the continued mishaps on special teams needs to be addressed. one week is a mishap, two weeks begins a pattern. we can't beat ourselves and we are losing the hidden yardage game because of special teams, that isn't ok and he has to address that. i think he will, so i look at that as a non issue(unless it keeps up then it is an issue).
overall: we'll be ok...we played two really tough opponents with a truly revamped team and coaching staff. we were going to have our growing pains and we had two weeks worth. now i do expect to see us play better and clean up the mishaps we've had. we are still a really good team with a TON of ability. the coaches have to let go of tradition, past years, and "what msu does" and do what our players do best so they can be their best. if we do that we roll and we will be in nashville....my pre-season prediction stands....NC champs at years end.
