Bobcat Defense versus Eastern

cornbreadfred · Post by **cornbreadfred** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 3:26 pm

Eastern Washington lines Kimbel up on the short side of the field a majority of the time, the defense is in serious trouble if they don't adjust and have Kahiam over Kimble all game

KillintheGriz · Post by **KillintheGriz** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 3:36 pm

MSU needs to hit Kimble in the 5 yards then have someone else pick him up in a man/zone type of coverage. The secondary has been playing soft all year since we're in zone coverage. However, with the pressure we've been putting on the q-back the last two games, Eastern may try and shorten their passing game. Eastern's a team that can run a wide receiver screen or short slant pattern effectively.

I'm just curious what has happened to our short passing game. The inability to get these short passes is causing a lot of 3 and outs--too many if we are going to be competitive this weekend. The quick slant has worked well--receivers just need to catch the ball. UM does well with a wide receiver screen/trap play yet we rarely try one.

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:00 pm

I feel that the short game is limited by the fact that SAC concentrated on taking it away. If we could have hit the long passes we could have broken the game wide open, but because of the wind Travis was long on the deep stuff. If EWU does the same type of thing and there isn't heavy wind, Travis is going to burn them bad. If you concentrate on taking something away you are giving up something else. IN the case of SAC St they were luncky the wind was that strong.

Cat Pride · Post by **Cat Pride** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:07 pm

KillintheGriz wrote:The quick slant has worked well--receivers just need to catch the ball. UM does well with a wide receiver screen/trap play yet we rarely try one.

Cats run the short screen extremly well. Gatewood dropped 2 of them Saturday though, and Rosey definitely dropped at least one. They are difficult to execute, that is why the pass is dropped so often. WRs are looking ahead to their blockers before they catch the ball. Not just any joe schmoe receiver can execute this play.

For the record, the Griz USE to run this play as good as anyone, but they havent had the personel to run it this year. Segars/Heidelberger and their OL ran it to perfection last year, the same cant be said of this years group. They are young, and again, its a more difficult play to execute than it looks. When ran well, its a thing of beauty, when ran wrong, its a train wreck.

Cat Pride · Post by **Cat Pride** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:10 pm

Helcat72 wrote:I feel that the short game is limited by the fact that SAC concentrated on taking it away. If we could have hit the long passes we could have broken the game wide open, but because of the wind Travis was long on the deep stuff. If EWU does the same type of thing and there isn't heavy wind, Travis is going to burn them bad. If you concentrate on taking something away you are giving up something else. IN the case of SAC St they were luncky the wind was that strong.

Exactly! I also think this is partly why the running game was open. Sac's LBs were so concentrated on stepping into the passing lanes that the middle of the field was wide open for Groves.

Maybe, just maybe, the Cats are developing a two headed monster.

DriftCat · Post by **DriftCat** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:32 pm

KillintheGriz wrote:MSU needs to hit Kimble in the 5 yards then have someone else pick him up in a man/zone type of coverage. The secondary has been playing soft all year since we're in zone coverage. However, with the pressure we've been putting on the q-back the last two games, Eastern may try and shorten their passing game. Eastern's a team that can run a wide receiver screen or short slant pattern effectively.

I'm just curious what has happened to our short passing game. The inability to get these short passes is causing a lot of 3 and outs--too many if we are going to be competitive this weekend. The quick slant has worked well--receivers just need to catch the ball. UM does well with a wide receiver screen/trap play yet we rarely try one.

Everyone has seen our short passing game and are preparing for it. I think a little pump fake and throw it deep action could be very effective. I would not be surprised to see a heathly dose of the deep ball this week with their starting safeties out.

It looks like everyone was thinking the same thing....I was a little late with that one.

grizband · Post by **grizband** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:43 pm

Cat Pride wrote:
KillintheGriz wrote:The quick slant has worked well--receivers just need to catch the ball. UM does well with a wide receiver screen/trap play yet we rarely try one.
Cats run the short screen extremly well. Gatewood dropped 2 of them Saturday though, and Rosey definitely dropped at least one. They are difficult to execute, that is why the pass is dropped so often. WRs are looking ahead to their blockers before they catch the ball. Not just any joe schmoe receiver can execute this play.

For the record, the Griz USE to run this play as good as anyone, but they havent had the personel to run it this year. Segars/Heidelberger and their OL ran it to perfection last year, the same cant be said of this years group. They are young, and again, its a more difficult play to execute than it looks. When ran well, its a thing of beauty, when ran wrong, its a train wreck.

The other thing that makes a difference is who you use to run the play. A few times we have Talmage trying to run this play, and as good as he is, he isn't a burner compared to some of our other receivers.

Cat Pride · Post by **Cat Pride** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:54 pm

grizband wrote:
Cat Pride wrote:
KillintheGriz wrote:The quick slant has worked well--receivers just need to catch the ball. UM does well with a wide receiver screen/trap play yet we rarely try one.
Cats run the short screen extremly well. Gatewood dropped 2 of them Saturday though, and Rosey definitely dropped at least one. They are difficult to execute, that is why the pass is dropped so often. WRs are looking ahead to their blockers before they catch the ball. Not just any joe schmoe receiver can execute this play.

For the record, the Griz USE to run this play as good as anyone, but they havent had the personel to run it this year. Segars/Heidelberger and their OL ran it to perfection last year, the same cant be said of this years group. They are young, and again, its a more difficult play to execute than it looks. When ran well, its a thing of beauty, when ran wrong, its a train wreck.
The other thing that makes a difference is who you use to run the play. A few times we have Talmage trying to run this play, and as good as he is, he isn't a burner compared to some of our other receivers.

Great point.

thuss · Post by **thuss** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:02 pm

Does anyone know what was so successful for ISU and Weber against EWU? How did they stop the passing of Meyer, neither one could stop Lulay?

I feel that if we can control the clock in Cheyney we have an even better chance of beating them. The less time Meyer is on the field the less of a flow he gets into. It's crucial that we have long drives and keep our D fresh.

catsrback76 · Post by **catsrback76** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:13 pm

thuss wrote:Does anyone know what was so successful for ISU and Weber against EWU? How did they stop the passing of Meyer, neither one could stop Lulay?.

We have the tapes from those games and are working defensive schemes that will fit with our 3-4 defense.

It always works to play your game better than they play theirs, but, learning from the success of others helps. Rest assured the K-manster is on top of this with our D.

Platinumcat · Post by **Platinumcat** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:28 pm

Kramer said today that 60% of EWU's offense comes after Meyer has been flushed from the pocket and ends up as an ad hoc type thing. He said that both Weber and ISU had success keeping outside contain so that he couldn't get out and "create". They feel that Lowe and Marudas are fast enough and athletic enough to accomplish this.

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 10:13 pm

Also look how effective Weber was against our passing game in the red zone! It took great plays by Lulay to score on them even though Gatwood did drop a few. Eastern was still ahead quitre considerable until the fourth quarter when Wiley King got loose long.

ISU turned them over 4 times in the first half and ran on them.

catsrback76 · Post by **catsrback76** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:21 am

What is so interesting about this game is that we are going to be defending against THE TEAM that looks just like our team. ( Strong QB- Wideout Tandem) Eastern is very much a mirror of the Cats with the addition of a better running attack.

As that is true, then so too will Eastern be facing THE TEAM that looks like itself. The game will not be won by surprises but by the team that plays within itself and puts the most pressure on the QB.

Travis is going to have to make quick reads and hit them, short, deep and at times on the run. Our Defense needs to NOT OVER pursue but hold their lanes and delay blitz often. That in my humble opinion is the key to our winning the game... ta da

BTW: None of this

CARDIAC_CATS · Post by **CARDIAC_CATS** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:44 am

One play that killed the Griz is the running to one side and bootleg rolling Meyer out on the fake handoff the other way. This is a great play and I wish the Cats used that more often. (Hope we do against the Griz). The teams that over pursue the run get BURNED on that play. I am so glad we have Clive Lowe back this week as we need him on contain on plays like this. My bet is they run to Lowe's side and run this play oppossite of him so if EW is running to Lowe's side, the DE/LB on the other side must be ready for the fake and the roll of Meyer back out to their side. Meyer is smaller and can't see as well looking through the line so he often needs to roll out more (aka Jake Plummer). One thing they could also look at is the tape of the Miami/Denver game in the first game of this season as well as that is what Miami did with Jake Plummer and he had an AWFUL day.

94VegasCat · Post by **94VegasCat** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:46 am

I have read where Meyer has been sacked many many times. He is mobile, but if we can keep him between the tackles, we can do this. The amount of pressure that we got against sac state was awesome and I am sure that ewu has been thinking about that all week. Our three down lineman need to get a steady push that collapses the pocket all at once, not allowing Meyer to slip out one side or the other.

Btowncat · Post by **Btowncat** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:15 pm

We could use a running game (wouldn't that be nice?).

bozbobcat · Post by **bozbobcat** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:21 pm

I bet the Cats play their best defensive game of the year on Saturday. They keep Meyer in the pocket and get to him. Also, I think the defensive players have a little bit of revenge on their mind after last year and I bet they want to tear Eastern's offense apart.

Catdad39 · Post by **Catdad39** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:45 pm

EWU has the most prolific offense in the country at times. The downside for them has been inconsistency. They are capable of exploding for quick scores. I do think our defense is the healthiest it has been. The Eagle secondary has had several injuries. We do need to score and have some long time-consuming drives. If we can do that and contain Meyer in the pocket along with an occassional sack, we can dictate the game. It should be fun! We better have our "A" game on Saturday! We have a lot of guys that can make plays on both sides of the ball. I think we are ready to play a heck of a game! Go Cats!!!

BozoneCat · Post by **BozoneCat** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:23 pm

This is one game where we would do better to keep the offense in front of us and play it a little more conservatively, rather than bringing our safeties up and blitzing multiple LB's and CB's. Don't give up the big plays, make them earn every point with long drives. Beat your man one-on-one, be disciplined and play your responsibilities. I still think our defensive line will play a big part in how this game goes. If they can't get through and Meyer has all day to throw, he will pick us apart because he is that good and so are his receivers. Meyer is a better pure passer than Lulay is, and Eastern's receivers are just as good as ours are (Lulay brings so many additional variables, though). Let Eastern make the mistakes by outlasting their will.

cornbreadfred · Post by **cornbreadfred** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:28 pm

catsrback76 wrote:What is so interesting about this game is that we are going to be defending against THE TEAM that looks just like our team. ( Strong QB- Wideout Tandem) Eastern is very much a mirror of the Cats with the addition of a better running attack.

As that is true, then so too will Eastern be facing THE TEAM that looks like itself. The game will not be won by surprises but by the team that plays within itself and puts the most pressure on the QB.

Travis is going to have to make quick reads and hit them, short, deep and at times on the run. Our Defense needs to NOT OVER pursue but hold their lanes and delay blitz often. That in my humble opinion is the key to our winning the game... ta da

BTW: None of this

Looks the same, only Eastern is far better on offense. Kimble is incredible, look at his stats this year, although his touchdowns are down, his yards are huge, he has only 16 more catches than Gatewood and almost twice the yards. Kimbell is the truth, we have nothing like him.