The Bobcat Nation

Note: I DON'T think we're a bad team; I think we were really tight against a very good football team. Poly MAY be as good as they looked, but I KNOW that we aren't as bad as we played last night.

Look, SFA put 63 points on the board against a IAA team. OSU won again and is 3-0. Our 2 losses are against undefeated teams; one of whom is IA.

I know, however, that it's not the loss last night so much as it is HOW we lost and how bad we looked.

I'm just as concerned as all of you but if Travis doesn't hand them 14 points, would 24-10 have looked/felt different?

NDSU is a perfect matchup at a perfect time for the Bobcats; we beat them, we roll into the Big Sky KNOWING that Cal Poly was a "hiccup" game and that we still have the talent to win the conference. If we lose, however, even though our losses would all come against quality teams, I'm going to be very nervous about our ability to win the conference and/or make the playoffs.

The bottom line is this: In order to make the playoffs, NDSU is a "must-win"; if we lose to the Bison, I really can't see us making the playoffs unless we win the auto-bid. The good news is that we are about to truly find out where this Bobcat team stands.

How about BAD excuse:

"So many of our kids are from California," MSU coach Mike Kramer said. "It's hard for us to remain focused because so many of us have friends and family here."

I thought they'd be more focused playing in front of friends and family.

Yes, it will be auto-bid only for MSU with a loss to NDSU.

iaafan wrote:How about BAD excuse:

"So many of our kids are from California," MSU coach Mike Kramer said. "It's hard for us to remain focused because so many of us have friends and family here.".

Did he really say that? THAT IS A JOKE!

EDIT: Yep, I just read the article with Kramer's quote. WOW. And then Bailey in his infinite wisdom blames the game on poor execution? Like his game plan was perfect they just didn't execute. TAKE SOME BLAME COACH!

IMO just a bad game at a bad time. I think the Cats are a better team than Cal Poly but just had one of those games.

Just like the Griz are more than 7 points better than SDSU but because of an absolute terrible kicking game (both sides of the ball), over all bad field position because of the kicking game and an offense that can't string more than 3 first downs together...............7 points was it!

IMO NDSU is a HUGE game for you guys. Win it and you still have a good shot at post season. Loose and that will make every remaining game a do or die situation!

The Cats are "better than Cal Poly", after they get beat by 25? Are you on drugs, Victor? How convincing does a team have to win before they are better than the other team? Give us a break.

I don't know what it is about Kramer-coached teams. But, they are the most difficult to predict teams I have ever witnessed. They can look like sh*t againsy Chadron State one week, then play like the best IAA team in the nation the next week. You never know which Cat team will show up on a given weekend. I guess the word is "inconsistancy". It has been a trademark of all Kramer teams. Unfortunately, it is not the formula for winning National Championships.

The Cats will lose to NDSU. You can count on it. The Bison are for real, and will be ranked in the Top 5-10 teams nationally before the season ends. They may go undefeated this season. They are the most disciplined and well-coached team in IAA West of the Mississippi.

I played poker last night at The Palm with a guy from North Dakota who was a big Fighting Sioux fan. Great guy, very knowledgeable. The Cats will have to play their best game so far to beat this team. I'm just glad the Griz don't play 'em this year!

You are just full of guarantees aren't you Wolf? If memory serves, you guaranteed a griz loss against SDSU too didn't you?

I think Gato is right. The NDSU game is a must win and will really help or end our chances at the post season. If one is an optimist you can make a strong argument that Poly is just not a winnable game for us and forget about it. I am going that route until after next weekend. As bad as this loss was, a win against NDSU would be that big and propel us into conference play on the right note.

Wolfman wrote: Are you on drugs, Victor?

Oh, like you're not??? Modern medicine can do wonders for people now days, as I'm sure the real Wolfman knows!!!! (Not you though, me thinks you are an imposter! )

The positive from this game is it slammed us back down into reality.

Unfortunately great teams should never have to have this done to them, but in our case I think it will help us. We realized we aren't invincible, we realized that we can't play mistake ridden football and expect to win against good/great teams.

That being said, I'm really worried about NDSU now.

Cal Poly is a well disciplined, smart team that played a great game at home. The MSU Bobcats are a very strong, athletic, smart team that had a bad game.

Last night reminded me of the year we played Eastern in Bozeman (they were conf. champs) and Kramer was still the coach there. Our guys were stutter-stepping and second-guessing everything they did. They wanted to win really, really bad. BUT they never seemed to believe they could. From opening kick-off they were HOPING they'd get some breaks and maybe have a chance to be in the game late. Last night, they never seemed to believe that they would win. I think that they beat themselves. Yes, even if they'd shown up and played a solid game, they might have lost because Cal Poly is tough. But they didn't give themselves a chance.

Travis put everything he had out there. When he fumbled in the endzone you could see the pain and stress on his face. He was beating himself up way more than any of us here on Bobcat Nation. And I'm sorry, but even though he dropped the ball, he isn't the only one to blame. Everyone let down yesterday. Marudas and Mollahan - two of my favorite players seemed to be hesitating and over-thinking. WHat happened to throwing it all out there? No matter what the other team does - Flex, Option - WHATEVER, we still have to play our game and THAT is where we completely failed. We left our game home and tried to counter what they were doing. HELLO!!!! Our game works. WE played it against OSU and it worked. We played it against SFA and it worked - even though we made mistakes. We went to Cal Poly and expected to out-think them based on THEIR game. Coaches lost this one, not Travis... not Mac or Murray or Gatewood being gone.

Let's believe in OUR game and OUR team enough to let them play ball.

BOBCATS CAN very much still win out this season. Let's hope that they believe it and that our FANS stand behind them.

Two Points:

1. Cal Poly got beat pretty bad by Troy State, a team that would probably finish 4th in the BSC.

2. When NDSU went 1-AA I thought that in a few years they would be almost unbeatable. They are a little ahead of schedule. The reason is their location (No not Fargo). They are right on the MInnesota border. I live here in Minnesota and we put out a lot of good D-1 talent. Because we only have one D-1 school (that is never in the top 20) and no D-1AA schools NDSU picks up at least 7-10 D-1 level players every year. Players like that they are three hours from the Twin Cities and they have a quality dome stadium. MSU used to steal a few of these players when we recruited in MN (Ludwig, Diercks. Quast, Swaggert, etc.). Now they all go to NDSU. THey will always have that pipeline and that means they will always be tough!

BobcatBlood wrote:Cal Poly is a well disciplined, smart team that played a great game at home. The MSU Bobcats are a very strong, athletic, smart team that had a bad game.

Last night reminded me of the year we played Eastern in Bozeman (they were conf. champs) and Kramer was still the coach there. Our guys were stutter-stepping and second-guessing everything they did. They wanted to win really, really bad. BUT they never seemed to believe they could. From opening kick-off they were HOPING they'd get some breaks and maybe have a chance to be in the game late. Last night, they never seemed to believe that they would win. I think that they beat themselves. Yes, even if they'd shown up and played a solid game, they might have lost because Cal Poly is tough. But they didn't give themselves a chance.

Travis put everything he had out there. When he fumbled in the endzone you could see the pain and stress on his face. He was beating himself up way more than any of us here on Bobcat Nation. And I'm sorry, but even though he dropped the ball, he isn't the only one to blame. Everyone let down yesterday. Marudas and Mollahan - two of my favorite players seemed to be hesitating and over-thinking. WHat happened to throwing it all out there? No matter what the other team does - Flex, Option - WHATEVER, we still have to play our game and THAT is where we completely failed. We left our game home and tried to counter what they were doing. HELLO!!!! Our game works. WE played it against OSU and it worked. We played it against SFA and it worked - even though we made mistakes. We went to Cal Poly and expected to out-think them based on THEIR game. Coaches lost this one, not Travis... not Mac or Murray or Gatewood being gone.

Let's believe in OUR game and OUR team enough to let them play ball.

BOBCATS CAN very much still win out this season. Let's hope that they believe it and that our FANS stand behind them.

I thoroughly agree...we can't play reactive...we have to attack and let the chips fall where they may.

Wycat, your memory does NOT serve you correctly. I did GUARANTEE a SDSU victory, I just predicted it. And, I was very close to being correct.

However, I feel that NDSU will beat the Cats by at least 10 points. This is not a slam against the Cats at all. I just think that NDSU is perhaps the most under-rated IAA team in the nation, because of this being their first year at this level.

Imposter? Laugheable.

Wolfman 2nd year. Not very smart are you.

I'd say NDSU and Cal Poly are pretty even talent-wise. Cal Poly got some breaks, but still would've won without them. NDSU can win at Bozeman straight up to be sure, they don't need any favors. They've dismantled everyone thus far and have a UM-like tradition over there. They will be good and will play good this week in Bozeman. It's no different than playing UM or EWU. It's winnable, but MSU will have to play very well (and be focues) in all aspects of the game. MSU was too in awe of Cal Poly. As mentioned they should just play their game and not over think what Cal Poly is doing. If there's anything to focus on, it's simply playing your game. I'm still shaking my head at Kramer's excuse. That'll go down in history with his critique of Ryan Johnson a few years ago.

The reason they lost to Sac State and Cal Poly is because they just weren't prepared to win. If what Kramer is saying is true, then he gets an "F" in Coaching 101. That's inexcuseable and pitiful. How can you possibly let your team get caught up in 'being home' when they have a game to play? If that's the case take them down there a couple days early so they can get it out of there systems. Or just show (they have at least four tapes) them what happens when you don't focus.

I have to agree with Bailey, MSU did not execute, but he should still shoulder some of the blame. Four botched snaps, INT for TD, fumble in EZ for TD. Poor, poor blocking, defense looked worse and worse as the game went on. When behind MSU has to all but abandon the run and give Lulay a chance to take over. He is at his absolute best the faster the pace of the game. Instead of no huddle they should just go hurry-up, because the busier you keep Lulay's brain, the better it seems to work. It doesn't run well on idle. The more responsibility he has the better he does.

My take: Bad game, over-rated team that has a chance to get better (like 2001 and 2002 teams).

Lulay's place in MSU history is secure-we all know that. But he's got to play a lot better if this team has any chance. What's with the butter fingers lately? He must be leading the nation in dropped snaps. I've never taken a snap from center-but is it really that hard? Huge mental error on the fumble in the endzone. He has to know he's got to get rid of it in a hurry. He choked on that one big time-and I'll be he'd be the first to agree with me. Don't even get me started on throwing the ball to the other team!

Our offensive line got really exposed. They're not big and physical enough just to run over people, but they're too slow to out quick a defense like Cal Poly's. I'm afraid we're going to see what a major big physical offensive line is this weekend. Our freshman and sophomore d-line could be in for a real long day.

That being said-did our coach's game plan give the offense any chance of success? Cal Poly looked liked they had 13 players on field. Should we have run more screens, roll outs, dump it off, throw to the tighend??? The one time we threw to the tightend and running back it was for big gains. Is there some reason we can't run the same plays later on?

My take on the game against NDSU: Probably a meaningless game for the playoff picture. We're 1-2, we have a loss against the constantly disrespected Great West and Cal Poly-we ain't getting an at-large bid nor a host role no how!

If we get to the playoffs it will be as we did in 2001 and 2002-auto bid from the Big Sky.

Watching the Cal Poly game I would have to say that the coaches should shoulder some serious blame. I was very disappointed with the entire game. I think Bailey’s play calling was piss poor. This man has been the Achilles' heel of the Cats for 5 years. How long are we going to keep him? Why does Kramer insist that Bailey can coach? Someone should tell Kramer that he will never get a shot at 1-A if he keeps posting 6-5 or 7-4 seasons, and then maybe he will take a hard look at replacing Bailey. Bailey has been bailed out with some good athletes over the years (Johnson & Lulay to name a few). He has not made anything happen with his play calling. He has one of the most explosive 1-AA players, and he never utilized him against Cal Poly! This game was inexcusable. If the Cats don’t make the playoffs this year, Bailey should be handed a pink slip immediately. Hell, I bet a person could make a good argument that Bailey should get canned today!

Do you think Kramer is going to put this quote on his resume:

"So many of our kids are from California," MSU coach Mike Kramer said. "It's hard for us to remain focused because so many of us have friends and family here."

Cause I bet 1-A schools would be falling over themselves for coaches that thinks like this.

[quote="G.W.Bush"] I think Bailey’s play calling was piss poor. This man has been the Achilles' heel of the Cats for 5 years. How long are we going to keep him? Why does Kramer insist that Bailey can coach? Someone should tell Kramer that he will never get a shot at 1-A if he keeps posting 6-5 or 7-4 seasons, and then maybe he will take a hard look at replacing Bailey. Bailey has been bailed out with some good athletes over the years (Johnson & Lulay to name a few). He has not made anything happen with his play calling. He has one of the most explosive 1-AA players, and he never utilized him against Cal Poly! This game was inexcusable. If the Cats don’t make the playoffs this year, Bailey should be handed a pink slip immediately. Hell, I bet a person could make a good argument that Bailey should get canned today![quote]

I only heard the game, didn't get to see it, but the entire time I was reminded of the Super Bowl a few years back when Tampa Bay players were seen saying everything Oakland ran they ran in practice. Same thing here. Bailey formerly of Cal Poly comes to MSU and gets owned everytime he plays his old team. They knew what he was going to do before he did. Bailey is a joke.

Ponycat wrote:

G.W.Bush wrote: I think Bailey’s play calling was piss poor. This man has been the Achilles' heel of the Cats for 5 years. How long are we going to keep him? Why does Kramer insist that Bailey can coach? Someone should tell Kramer that he will never get a shot at 1-A if he keeps posting 6-5 or 7-4 seasons, and then maybe he will take a hard look at replacing Bailey. Bailey has been bailed out with some good athletes over the years (Johnson & Lulay to name a few). He has not made anything happen with his play calling. He has one of the most explosive 1-AA players, and he never utilized him against Cal Poly! This game was inexcusable. If the Cats don’t make the playoffs this year, Bailey should be handed a pink slip immediately. Hell, I bet a person could make a good argument that Bailey should get canned today!

I only heard the game, didn't get to see it, but the entire time I was reminded of the Super Bowl a few years back when Tampa Bay players were seen saying everything Oakland ran they ran in practice. Same thing here. Bailey formerly of Cal Poly comes to MSU and gets owned everytime he plays his old team. They knew what he was going to do before he did. Bailey is a joke.

not really - it just shows that Bailey should probibly change up his game plan. Besides, are we still using kramer's playbook? i remember reading somthing when Bailey got hired that he was going to keep Kramer's playbook....anyone have the goods on that