Scrimmage 8/20

[CelticCat]

Just got back from the scrimmage, don't have a lot of time to do a write-up before work, I'll make it brief.

I took my own stats, I'm sure they are off because I had to do it by the naked eye, and I probably forgot to write a play or two down. Anyway:

1st team
Lulay 2-6 6 yards 1 TD (both completed to JD)
JD 6-53 (runs of 20, 13, 10)
Brown - 2-10 (shovel pass and option)

No WR stats - starters were Brown, Guinn and Murray (Gatewood wasn't in pads)

2st team
Carpenter 10-17 (was 10-14 at one point) 120 yards 1 TD 1 INT (30 yard TD pass to Brown) - fumbled a snap, got it back
Bass 8-38 (run of 12) fumbled on the 10 yard line, lost

3rd team
Coppak 1-4 7 yards - fumbled snap, got it back
Groves 4-57 (consecutive runs of 30, 27 TD)
Taito 6-37 (run of 12)


Big day for running, our run D looks suspect, but our RBs look good to.

Kicking
Hastings 4-6
Hit : 33, 40, 42, 42
Miss : 52, 42
Bolton 3-5
Hit : 28, 42, 42
Miss : 52 (plenty of distance), 42
Fisher 2-3
Hit : 43, 42
Miss : 42

4 penalites, 2 holding 2 false starts, all on 2nd team.

Murray returned 1 kickoff for a TD and probably another but they whistled it dead.

We shift a LOT on offense into different formations, we look like the Rams.

Schriebis - going to be a good player.

Bolton did kickoffs, to the 15, 8, 2, and goal line.

Gotta go I'm late to work!

[coachouert]

I was impressed with what the Cats had to do today. I am really excited about our running game now. JD, Bass and Groves all looked really good, and even Taito had some good carries. All were hitting the holes quick and fast. I'm feeling more comfortable with our back ups at quarterback as carpenter looked pretty good. Was also relieved by the kicking game. Bolton and Hastings both looked a lot better then they have previously. Bolton was putting a good boot on the kickoffs and was pretty consistant with putting them inside the fifteen and lots of height to allow for players to get down the field. Murray also looked great out there, lots of speed out of him. Roosevelt made some damn good grabs out there as well. I'm still worried about our D, especially against the run, but maybe our backs are just that good.

It was a great afternoon for football and you could tell the players and coaches were excited to go out there and go full-bore. It was fun to see Kramer having the kickers playing rock/paper/scissors for the last field goal kick of the scrimmage. Still lots of things to get cleaned up, but there is still two weeks to work on it. Overall, just an exciting group of players and should be fun to watch this coming year.

[longhorn_22]

Schriebis - going to be a good player.

Joe played TE right? Just curious on why you think he is going to be a good player. I totally agree, butwas there anything that stood out?

[CelticCat]

Made some nice grabs and bulled his way for a few extra yards, specifically one play he ran his defender over. Reminds me of a Wolfe, but not quite as big, yet.

Good crowd today - must've had over 300 folks there. Compared to last fall when I went there were maybe 50.

Murray went down with an injury, got up and limped back to the sideline. I think he'll be okay.

Our running game is either very good or our run D needs to step it up. JD's two big runs were straight up the gut with only the secondary to stop him, maybe one LB at best.

We also ran a fake punt in which Lulay was not the punter, but the guy who calls the snap, not sure what to call that position. He ran it himself. Also Lulay was holding for FGs pretty much the entire game.

Also noticed on some kickoffs, Carpenter was on coverage, not sure why.

Carpenter would have had an even better day but there were a few drops. Only one pass looked bad, and that was about 5 feet over Lulays head right to the safety.

Lulay tried for two long bombs, but overthrew them both. He didn't look real great today, but in my opinion, he never really does in scrimmages/camp.

Groves is going to be a stud on this game, he runs fast, hard and can shake defenders off. Was also impressed with Bass in blitz-pickup, he basically tackled a big LB coming straight at Carpenter. Didn't look to legal to me, but he certainly kept the guy away from Carpenter.

All in all, not a bad day at the races. I was hoping for more fireworks from the 1s, but our coverage downfield looked pretty good. I am a little concerned with our run D at this point, but as previously pointed out, we may just have really good running backs/OL.

According to my horribly compiled stats:
Team rushing : 26-195 yards 1 TD(not including QB scrambles)
Team passing : 13-27-133 yards 2 TD 1 INT
I think the QBs only got sacked about 2-3 times, don't quote me on that. I don't remember Lulay getting sacked at all.

The Cats had more rushing yards than passing yards. Put that in your smoke and pipe it.

[BelgradeBobcat]

I got there late so I didn't see the 1's very much. My big concern is kicking-kick offs and field goals, and long snapping. One long snap could have been time with a sun dial. Also some pretty bad snaps from the center when qb was in the shotgun.

Roosevelt impressed me. The TD pass from Carpenter was spectacular.

[Platinumcat]

Anybody else pick up on the "yippee!" that Kramer let out after the first field goal went through the uprights? Made me giggle...

I definitely agree that Lulay is more of a gamer. But, I didn't see him in on more then 2 possessions.

Is it possible we'll have more yards rushing this year then passing? (LOL)

One area the stats don't reflect was the effectiveness of Carpenter and Lulay in the scramble mode. As soon as they took off up field, the play was called dead and the ball was down at that position in the field. Both quarterbacks had pretty nice runs. But, it's understandable that the coaches don't want them getting teed up on.

Schreibis was impressive. But, he did get a nice little wake up call on a juggled catch when our new samoan linebacker came up and said HELLO!

My excitement for this season just jumped several levels (I didn't think that was possible).

[Platinumcat]

One more thought on today's scrimmage. The next time I hear a Griz fan make comment toward the Cats not recruiting in state, I'll be able to inform them we have thirty-five MT kids on the roster; I was impressed!

[coachouert]

Schreibis was impressive. But, he did get a nice little wake up call on a juggled catch when our new samoan linebacker came up and said HELLO!

There were lots of good hits going on and that was by far the best one.

I don't know if there is cause for concern on kickoffs when it comes to booting the ball, but kick cover could be an issue. It was tough to tell, but before every kickoff today, Coach Kramer made a point of emphasizing to everyone that it was a live drill. Yet, there were two kickoffs that were returned for touches (one was called dead), and murray and bass had a couple of other really good returns. Maybe, somebody knows something that I don't.

It is good to see more and more montana kids getting a look. There is lots of untapped talent in the state. As long as the program keeps going on the up and up, the cats will be able to keep bringing in those hard working kids.

Does anyone know what time the scrimmage is on Thursday?

[bobcatbob]

I was impressed with the young players. It's agood crop of Freshman. Will Taito be redshirted? He looks very good and could help this year. The receiving corps looked great. The freshman TE from Billings Joe S. is going to be a player! For a first scrimmage I feel we look good!

[wbtfg]

How did the DL and DBs play? Did Eddie Smith get any time? How'd he look? Those are the two areas of concern, and I haven't heard anything positive or negative about these two groups thus far. Any info?

[coachouert]

How did the DL and DBs play? Did Eddie Smith get any time? How'd he look? Those are the two areas of concern, and I haven't heard anything positive or negative about these two groups thus far. Any info?

The DBs looked pretty good overall. There were very few times that receivers were open downfield (if they were, the ball was overthrown). There was some good pass breakups as well. Roosevelt and Brown were making some very tough catches on some great coverage, but for the most part, the coverage looked good to me.

The DL is kind of tough to judge due to going against our number 1 OL, but overall I am feeling more comfortable with all of the defense as I think they are going to do great things this year. Papich looked good when he was in and was getting good penitration into the o-line. Big Lou also was plugging holes very well, as a huge guy like him should do. I read this morning that Siataga hurt his shoulder and will be out a week which is a huge downer. Fletcher is another guy who is going to be a star later on. He is only going to get bigger and stronger as the seasons go. With all of the blitzing, the LBs are going to be making lots of tackles as the DL is going to be plugging holes and with Mac and Marudas leading the way, we should be more then okay in that area.

[MSUcantouchus]

Nobody has mentioned Evin Groves yet.

He was spectacular. Don't everyone one laugh but I think he is a better runner right now than Dominic and Bass. He hit holes hard, was very elusive, and has the best breakaway speed of all. (he was running against #2's but even still) He probably isn't better overall than Dominic and Bass but he will be.

Bass looked good out there, but from all the talk i thought he would have been shiftier and faster. He is defiantly short and built! One way or another we will have a better running game than last year for sure.

I am pretty concerned with the new 3-4 D. At the moment it seems it is not helping the run D but hurting it. The initial holes in the line were huge and the linebackers were not coming up to fill them fast enough. They will improve no doubt but i just hope we don't have to go back to the 4-3 mid season because it is not working.

[Bleedinbluengold]

I kinda have the feeling that the 3-4 experiment will last 2 games.

[coachouert]

Nobody has mentioned Evin Groves yet.

He was spectacular. Don't everyone one laugh but I think he is a better runner right now than Dominic and Bass. He hit holes hard, was very elusive, and has the best breakaway speed of all. (he was running against #2's but even still) He probably isn't better overall than Dominic and Bass but he will be.

Bass looked good out there, but from all the talk i thought he would have been shiftier and faster. He is defiantly short and built! One way or another we will have a better running game than last year for sure.

I am pretty concerned with the new 3-4 D. At the moment it seems it is not helping the run D but hurting it. The initial holes in the line were huge and the linebackers were not coming up to fill them fast enough. They will improve no doubt but i just hope we don't have to go back to the 4-3 mid season because it is not working.

Groves did look the best from all three and will be a stud later on, but Dominick and Bass are both going to get some quality carries this year which should balance out the offense more then previous years. We know that the Cats will be set with a running back for some time with Groves and Taito which is always a good feeling seeing as our running game has been less then steller the last couple of years since RJ graduated.

I am skeptical about the 3-4, but I am hopeful that it will all come together in the end. With the all the blitzing that Kramer says he will be doing this coming year, there should be plenty of opportunity to plug up the holes. Keep in mind that our d-line was going against one of the top lines in the BSC this coming year so that hopefuly shows that our o-line is just that strong and thats why the holes were opening up so much, at least thats what i'm hoping for.

[CARDIAC_CATS]

For those of you who saw the scrimmage .. was there gang tackling (swarm) by the LB's whenever the offense ran a running play? If you look at most of the strong 3-4 defenses in the NFL there is at least 2-3 guys at initial impact with another 2-3 coming in later on inside running plays. The 3-4 the LB's have to react and swarm almost with no regard as that is it's strength (if they do that then the OL has no way to to match up and block everyone). The Partiots/Steelers/Chargers do that very well. I'm just wondering if our LB"s are still in the 4-3 read/react mode where it's more watching the DL in front of them and lining up to fill the gap etc. The 3-4 the LB's have to have a frenzy attitude to them and play the ball carrier, not react of the DL gaps etc. I'm not an expert on this, but I watched the 3-4 pretty good last year for my Bolts and that is how they seemed to play the run (and NO ONE ran on them last year). So maybe this will take a little while longer until the LB's get out of some of their old 4-3 habits of playing the run etc.

[iaafan]

I'd say MSU has the best backup QB in the league in Carpenter. He looked good, so did the oline, but that's not surprising. As I mentioned before I think Cat fans would be wise to be patient with that 3-4, but don't give up on it so fast. If it does work out it will take 2-3 games. I'd expect OSU to run at will that first game, but look for some signs of life vs. SFA and Cal Poly. If MSU wins the second two and the defense is coming around by then, then MSU will be a fun team to watch this year.

[Bleedinbluengold]

I just don't think the Cats have the size/depth needed in the 3 down positions on the D line to be consistantly successfuly in the 3-4. In order to stop the run, it might end up being more like a 5-2 in essence, with 2 backers blitzing on run plays, hoping to guess the right gap.

[Platinumcat]

One thing I saw a lot of yesterday was the two outside linebackers playing up almost on the line a lot; there was quite a bit of stunting going on from this position. What this was doing, though, was taking them out of the inside run plays. This is where some large runs were reeled off. It will be interesting to see if the coaches notice this on film and adjust their depth and frequency of stunts from the outside.

[MSUcantouchus]

I'm just wondering if our LB"s are still in the 4-3 read/react mode where it's more watching the DL in front of them and lining up to fill the gap etc.

I think you hit the nail on the head.

I hope they will come around, but will it be soon enough is the $$$ question. We can not afford to lose to SFA at home, because there is no gimmie on our schedule. The D needs to be in order as soon as the first game is in the books.

One other Q I have is, with the linebackers thinking swarm to the ball and stop the run first, will we be more suseptable to fakes and counters? I am thinking we will give up more big plays via the run. More pressure on Force to make TD saving tackle as well.

[DaGriz]

I'd say MSU has the best backup QB in the league in Carpenter.

Meyer's backup doesn't sound too shabby.

All-America quarterback Erik Meyer was particularly sharp for the starting offense, completing 5-of-6 passes for 113 yards and a 45-yard touchdown to Brett Bergstrom. Backup Chris Peerboom was 4-of-6 for 67 yards as four Eastern quarterbacks combined to complete 14-of-19 passes for 241 yards.

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