The Bobcat Nation

I watched the game tape again today, to get a more in-depth analysis of the game at Weber. After watching the game again, we didn't play as badly as some of us made us out. But watching it again also confirmed my point that we should have beaten Weber by at least 2 scores (10).

This will be kind of random as I just took notes during the game as I thought them up.

OL - Did a pretty darn good job protecting Lulay, and opening holes for him on draw plays. But we could not stop the middle blitz. They could send just one guy straight up the middle and he would come in untouched a lot of times. That is what forced the early throw which lead to the INT at the goaline. The back popped through the line but the blitz was just too fast.

Speaking of blitzes, our blitzes were effective. When we blitzed we caused problems for Pizzaro, sacking him a few times and caushing a fumble. I believe we should blitz more, even if we think a run is coming, we could get some hits in the backfield. Risky yes, but I want to see us be more aggressive on defense, I'm not a big fan of this bending scheme.

The playaction/bootlegs worked very well in this game. Lulay would often bootleg right and have no one in front of him, and he made some very nice throws on the run. I believe this is Lulays bread and butter. Even if one or even two guys do not bite on the playaction, nobody is better at making something happen out of nothing than Lulay.

One thing that has haunted me all season, and continued to do in this game, is our 3rd down pass coverage. When we rush 3 and drop 8, we get burned 80% of the time. Why? Because the QB has 5-10 seconds to throw and no DB in the world can stay on his man for that long. This will be even worse if we face a mobile QB; thankfully, there is probably only one in the Sky, Berquist. We need to trade coverage better, and cut off the seams better. Over the middle is especially soft.

Run defense. Where do I start? They had a 3rd and 9 from their own 3 after the goaline INT, and they ran it for 11 yards! How does that happen? They were playing to get a decent punt, but we just handed them a first down instead. Overall our run defense wasn't that bad. Our guys were being fairly aggressive and making solid tackles, at least in spurts. When we tried to arm tackle these guys, they blew right by us. DL needs to close the gaps a bit better, but they did well.

NO FUMBLES! Well, not counting that punt return by Miller.

Grenfell nailed a receiver on a high ball again. This is going to cost us again someday if the ref feels like pulling the flag. Careful Toph, careful!

Great 2nd half adjustments once again. One TD, and only 1 completion allowed! We just need a better gameplan coming in and we should dominate. FYI the offensive gameplan this game wasn't bad, but execution (Gatewood) was.

Gatewood... watching him again just mad me even more frustrated. He dropped 2 TD passes, a pass over the middle and a screen pass (at his feet, but catchable).

Running game. I want to see better production out of the backs, but who cares who your leading rusher is? The main reason I want other people leading the attack is to preserve Lulays health. But look at these stats - we rushed for 165 yards on 30 carries - we had a better YPC than Weber did! Time of possession was also about identical, the other concern of a ineffective run game. Unorthodox rushing is still rushing, and we did it effectively.

Special teams - great punt coverage! Kickoff coverage needs work, Kramer knows this - that is why he pooched a few kicks.

Their TD right before half was unacceptable, but it was just great execution by Weber. The long play down the sideline was very well defended by Fuller. The pass was dead on and the receiver made a tough catch. Pizzaro pump faked and kept Grenfell in check, so he was just a few seconds late getting there. But the TD pass was piss-poor defense, and goes back on one of my other points - we rushed 3 and dropped 8 and still couldn't stop a TD pass in the red zone! How bad is that?

Fullers INT was because the Weber WR dropped it. It was right in his hands at his chest. He just muffed it. We FINALLY caught a break on that play and you know the rest.

In the 3rd quarter on the drive where Groves came in and ran for about 20 yards, the fact that we couldn’t punch it in in 3 tries from the 3 is sick. 1st play - run for no gain, illegal formation anyway. Still first and goal from the 8 now. Toss to Groves back to the 5. Miscommunication to Gatewood on 2nd (he never looked back, would have been a TD most likely - assuming he could catch it). 3rd and goal from the 5, Lulay steps up and is tripped by a downed defender. Best part – muffed hold, no FG even attempted. Horrid execution.

The replay I taped didn't show the first half of the 3rd Q so I missed Lulays 3rd INT and Webers final TD, so I can't comment on those.

My biggest concern - penalties. We were penalized for 120 yards, that is horrid. If we cut those penalties in half for most games, and stop shooting ourselves in the foot, the rest of the game will fall into place. Penalties and discipline should be the #1 priority in practie this week.

That was a mouthful.

Meyer's is a great running QB. You forgot about him.

I think Gatewood tried to do too much and did not focus. He has been a huge part of our offense the first two games back and maybe he put too much pressure on himself to carry the load when he does not have to.

Having Bolton at center limits us on the goal line. Against NDSU we had Bolton drop back to fullback and ran right with Domineck-easy touchdown. This week we couldn't run it at all inside the 5. Maybe bootleg Lulay (probably won't work, everybody's watching him) or run a waggle? play throwing it to a running back. I don't know what would work, but what we tried against Weber sure sucked.

CelticCat wrote: OL - Did a pretty darn good job protecting Lulay, and opening holes for him on draw plays. But we could not stop the middle blitz. They could send just one guy straight up the middle and he would come in untouched a lot of times. That is what forced the early throw which lead to the INT at the goaline. The back popped through the line but the blitz was just too fast.

Our edges were a little soft at times but you have to give Fosmark credit. There were some times when our tackles would just completely whiff and not even touch him. (not to discredit our line play but to give Fosmark some kudo's - we're not likely to face someone that good again)

CelticCat wrote:I watched the game tape again today, to get a more in-depth analysis of the game at Weber. After watching the game again, we didn't play as badly as some of us made us out. But watching it again also confirmed my point that we should have beaten Weber by at least 2 scores (10).

This will be kind of random as I just took notes during the game as I thought them up.

OL - Did a pretty darn good job protecting Lulay, and opening holes for him on draw plays. But we could not stop the middle blitz. They could send just one guy straight up the middle and he would come in untouched a lot of times. That is what forced the early throw which lead to the INT at the goaline. The back popped through the line but the blitz was just too fast.

Speaking of blitzes, our blitzes were effective. When we blitzed we caused problems for Pizzaro, sacking him a few times and caushing a fumble. I believe we should blitz more, even if we think a run is coming, we could get some hits in the backfield. Risky yes, but I want to see us be more aggressive on defense, I'm not a big fan of this bending scheme.

The playaction/bootlegs worked very well in this game. Lulay would often bootleg right and have no one in front of him, and he made some very nice throws on the run. I believe this is Lulays bread and butter. Even if one or even two guys do not bite on the playaction, nobody is better at making something happen out of nothing than Lulay.

One thing that has haunted me all season, and continued to do in this game, is our 3rd down pass coverage. When we rush 3 and drop 8, we get burned 80% of the time. Why? Because the QB has 5-10 seconds to throw and no DB in the world can stay on his man for that long. This will be even worse if we face a mobile QB; thankfully, there is probably only one in the Sky, Berquist. We need to trade coverage better, and cut off the seams better. Over the middle is especially soft.

Run defense. Where do I start? They had a 3rd and 9 from their own 3 after the goaline INT, and they ran it for 11 yards! How does that happen? They were playing to get a decent punt, but we just handed them a first down instead. Overall our run defense wasn't that bad. Our guys were being fairly aggressive and making solid tackles, at least in spurts. When we tried to arm tackle these guys, they blew right by us. DL needs to close the gaps a bit better, but they did well.

NO FUMBLES! Well, not counting that punt return by Miller.

Grenfell nailed a receiver on a high ball again. This is going to cost us again someday if the ref feels like pulling the flag. Careful Toph, careful!

Great 2nd half adjustments once again. One TD, and only 1 completion allowed! We just need a better gameplan coming in and we should dominate. FYI the offensive gameplan this game wasn't bad, but execution (Gatewood) was.

Gatewood... watching him again just mad me even more frustrated. He dropped 2 TD passes, a pass over the middle and a screen pass (at his feet, but catchable).

Running game. I want to see better production out of the backs, but who cares who your leading rusher is? The main reason I want other people leading the attack is to preserve Lulays health. But look at these stats - we rushed for 165 yards on 30 carries - we had a better YPC than Weber did! Time of possession was also about identical, the other concern of a ineffective run game. Unorthodox rushing is still rushing, and we did it effectively.

Special teams - great punt coverage! Kickoff coverage needs work, Kramer knows this - that is why he pooched a few kicks.

Their TD right before half was unacceptable, but it was just great execution by Weber. The long play down the sideline was very well defended by Fuller. The pass was dead on and the receiver made a tough catch. Pizzaro pump faked and kept Grenfell in check, so he was just a few seconds late getting there. But the TD pass was piss-poor defense, and goes back on one of my other points - we rushed 3 and dropped 8 and still couldn't stop a TD pass in the red zone! How bad is that?

Fullers INT was because the Weber WR dropped it. It was right in his hands at his chest. He just muffed it. We FINALLY caught a break on that play and you know the rest.

In the 3rd quarter on the drive where Groves came in and ran for about 20 yards, the fact that we couldn’t punch it in in 3 tries from the 3 is sick. 1st play - run for no gain, illegal formation anyway. Still first and goal from the 8 now. Toss to Groves back to the 5. Miscommunication to Gatewood on 2nd (he never looked back, would have been a TD most likely - assuming he could catch it). 3rd and goal from the 5, Lulay steps up and is tripped by a downed defender. Best part – muffed hold, no FG even attempted. Horrid execution.

The replay I taped didn't show the first half of the 3rd Q so I missed Lulays 3rd INT and Webers final TD, so I can't comment on those.

My biggest concern - penalties. We were penalized for 120 yards, that is horrid. If we cut those penalties in half for most games, and stop shooting ourselves in the foot, the rest of the game will fall into place. Penalties and discipline should be the #1 priority in practie this week.

That was a mouthful.

I had the same opinion after watching the game as well. Mistakes were costly, but if you cut 50% of those down we win by 14+ in this one. That is part of football though (BUT CAN BE CORRECTED). I am looking forward to getting some of our wounded back in the next few weeks. Daly has really impressed me so far and is a PLAY MAKER. He has made critical plays in every game he has been the starter and is very HARD NOSED in there (something we need). He is not afraid to stick his nose in there and has pretty good size/speed. Even with Mac and Lowe coming back, we need to find a way to get Daly on field this year as he makes plays. I'm happy for the win, but we need to clean up the sloppy play this week. I think we will.