The Bobcat Nation

I felt very comfortable about our offense being able to pick apart the mustangs, It looked to me that no one was getting open and when they did it was too late. lulay was either was hurried or sacked. mike bass had a decent game he rushed for 70 something yards i heard but was not able to bust that long run that we needed to really spark our O it seemed that lulay had time but was thinkin to much but im not an expert what do everyone else think?

Lulay did hold on ot the ball a little too long...he should have thrown it away a couple of times...but if the receivers never got open we would have gone three and out with him throwing it away all the time. I think Bailey should maybe have shortened the routes and gone to a more controlled passing game...and USE THE FRICKING TIGHT END!

I admit to only being able to watch 3 quarters, but it seemed to me that: a) Travis had a lot of trouble reading the defense; or b) Cal Poly's d coordinator called a damn near perfect game; or c) both a and b. CP got a good rush on several pass plays, but when Travis had time, either no one was open or he couldn't see them if they were. Anyone have better insight on this? Did our receivers ever get open?

Btowncat wrote:I admit to only being able to watch 3 quarters, but it seemed to me that: a) Travis had a lot of trouble reading the defense; or b) Cal Poly's d coordinator called a damn near perfect game; or c) both a and b. CP got a good rush on several pass plays, but when Travis had time, either no one was open or he couldn't see them if they were. Anyone have better insight on this? Did our receivers ever get open?

Yep, I don't think Bailey deserves a 'lot' of criticism on this game. He could have changed the routes up a little, but we just didn't have anyone open down field. You couple that with a blitz and only moderate running and it's going to be a long day (especially if your defense can't stop their option/refs calling every cheap call against your secondary/give up long passes).

BAD GAME ALL OVER - CAL POLY JUST WHOOPED US THAT DAY. PERIOD

NDSU is going to be a very big challenge for us, but I'm glad we get them at home and on Grass. They are like the Vikings ... a good team out of the dome, but not the SAME team. Our players need to put this behind them and get READY to play this weekend.

CARDIAC_CATS wrote:
Yep, I don't think Bailey deserves a 'lot' of criticism on this game. He could have changed the routes up a little, but we just didn't have anyone open down field. You couple that with a blitz and only moderate running ...

Cardiac what exactly do you expect from an O-coordinator? I thought those reasons you hit on in your post were the reasons you pay Bailey good money to coach the Cats? I think Bailey did a terrible job. If the blitz is so unstoppable why don't teams blitz EVERY play? Bailey never had a counter attack during the game, and you could sense that from the start of the game. Maybe our players did not have their minds right for the game, but I am sure the Coaches didn't either!

It's interesting to read some of the comments. Some people say Quinn isn't being thrown to. For this game the stats were:

Murray thrown to 9 times, 5 catches for 100 yards
Quinn thrown to 7 times, 4 catches for 47 yards
Brown thrown to 5 times, ZERO catches ZERO yards
Barnhart thrown to 1 time, 1 catch
Bass thrown to 2 times, 1 catch for TD
Roosevelt thrown to 1 time, 1 catch


Four areas to look at
1) Bad snaps
2) Fumbles
3) 5 sacks very late in the game
4) Brown not catching the ball


3 was cause by the score and being that late in the game. Lulay trying to make a play and Cal Poly playing PASS only. There was no concern by their D about the run. Makes the pass rush and blitz much easier.

1 and 4 are bigger concerns Those were killers earlier in the game when it mattered most and were drive stoppers. Many of these were 3rd down plays that never had a chance or were dropped. Could we see Fig or Bolton at center? and move Brent to guard? Probably in a week or two if this trend continues. 4 will be fixed by Miller and Gatewood returning.

What was interesting about the D was Cal poly's offense plays against the 3-4 during ALL practices. So there was nothing different for them. It exposed our your D linemen. Also the amount of time our young linemen had to stay on the field was huge (because of our fumbles) thus if they are out of shape (chris and Lou?) then it would show up even more.

I still feel that two big mistakes cost us the game. The interception and the fumble for touchdowns. Take that away and even with the late TD we are only down 14-7 at half and not playing well. We had two good drives to start the second half and only scored 3 points. The second one we probably at least get a FG if not down so far. Why is everyone wanting us to abondon the run again and go shotgun every play. Yea we had great numbers last year but look at the results in the last three games. We need to be more balanced.

BobcatLionFan wrote:Brown thrown to 5 times, ZERO catches ZERO yards

4) Brown not catching the ball

I am beginning to think this kid may be one of the players Kramer builds up and we end up disappointed with in the end. Remember the likes of Farhaad Azimi, Jimmy Beal,...........

I asked during the game about Roosevelt and was told he can't catch the ball which is why he is slipping down the depth chart. Why wouldn't Brown be slipping with him then?

tetoncat wrote:I still feel that two big mistakes cost us the game. The interception and the fumble for touchdowns. Take that away and even with the late TD we are only down 14-7 at half and not playing well. We had two good drives to start the second half and only scored 3 points. The second one we probably at least get a FG if not down so far. Why is everyone wanting us to abondon the run again and go shotgun every play. Yea we had great numbers last year but look at the results in the last three games. We need to be more balanced.

When you are down by 21 points starting the 2nd half. Two things happen:

1) A balanced attack goes out the window. You will not win the game by running. You can now and then, but 5 yards gains mean nothing with the clock running (and us bad snapping).

2) The Cal Poly Defense ignores the run (rightfully so), pins their ears back and rushes the passer. That Chris Gocong kid lined up way outside and just rushed. There was no place for Lulay to go in that direction.

As noted, bad snaps is the killer.

Changes out of the game would be new receivers (Gatewood and Murray) and possibly a center change???

Also, Force did not seem to have tackles (and being the focal point of the D at strong safty, that is not good news).

BobcatLionFan wrote: and possibly a center change??

Birkeland is a good OLman. I don't think he is our center though. Who can step in there and get it done. Bolton is supposed to be 'all' everything, can he do it and put Birkeland at OG? I dunno, just a thought.

They didn't seem to make a lot of yards inside but our defense got bottled up inside when they went wide. Our ability to contain the option outside was horrendous!