The Bobcat Nation

Tier 1: National Championship Contenders

1) MSU. 3-0 record despite not playing their best football yet, although the first half against Maine was about as dominant as it gets.
2) Idaho. Two reasonably impressive wins over Wyoming and Albany rank them higher than...
3) UM. The win over Morehead State means about as much as MSU's annihilation of Mercyhurst next week will. Their easy Big Sky schedule will keep them in contention throughout and like MSU they should improve as the season goes on.

Tier 2: Playoff Contenders

4) Sac State. Good win over Nicholls last night. Hung in there in both their FBS games before falling in the second half. What's the injury status on Kaiden Bennett? The backup who played last night did look good though from what I saw.
5) UC Davis. Nice comeback win over Southern Utah who had beaten UTEP the previous week.
6) Weber. Not a great result against Lamar but I'll leave them here as the only team with a Big Sky win so far. What were they thinking going for a touchdown when down by 1 late in the game??
7) NAU. They probably should be higher than #7, but I'll leave them here until we see how they look when they play a game against an opponent somewhere near their level.

Tier 3: The Also-Rans

8 ) EWU. Looks like another disappointing year for them, although they'll be dangerous for teams that have to go play in Cheney. Aaron Best should probably be working on his resume.
9) UNC. Unlucky to lose yesterday against Abilene Christian. They're bad but it seems like they may be showing signs of improvement.
10) Idaho State. What a beatdown yesterday against North Dakota, the 52-28 final score makes the game seem much closer than it actually was.
11) Cal Poly. Hey, a win! Might not be any more of those this year.
12) PSU. If someone asked you "name the Big Sky program most likely to have a game canceled due to an outbreak of whooping cough", would you say any other answer than these guys? A total mess of a program and I can see their season becoming a disaster even though they've got more talent than several teams above them here.

Funny Massey jumped Idaho to 2, however dismissed NDSU almost losing and keeping them at 3. I know it’s an ever evolving formula, but come on, man!

Already started a post on this…

1. Idaho ---Dispatched Albany easier than I thought they would. The Oline gave the 3rd string QB plenty of time to execute and wide holes for the RB.

2. Montana State ---Had a bye. This week will be almost bye like too. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th (Is there such a thing as 4th) stringers should get opportunity to play.

3. Montana ---2nd and 3rd stringers got some playing time. This week a big step up in competition with Western Carolina coming to Missoula.

4. Sacramento State ---Did what was expected against Nicholls.

5. UC Davis ---Earned a good road win at Southern Utah (FCS United) 24-21,

6. Northern Arizona ---Moving up a bit. Will get tested with a road game at Incarnate Word this week.

7. Weber State ---Should have won the game against Lamar, but a poor coaching decision near the end of the game did them in. (or does Weber have a bad field goal kicking game?)

8. Eastern Washington ---EWU and NC are in a virtual tie for 8 and 9 spot. I will give edge to EWU.

9. Northern Colorado ---Showed much resilience against a good Abilene Christian team, but still came up short. NC is ready to move up.

10. Portland State ---PSU decided to not play due to Whooping cough exposure to the team.

11. Idaho State ---Took a hard loss on the road at North Dakota. The Bengals are poised for improvement.

12. Cal Poly ---CP got a W, but it was against a middling Div 2 team. I thought CP could not get much worse from last year, but I may be wrong in that assessment.

RECAP: 1-5 leaders, 6-7 Showing some promise, but a step behind, 8-11 Fighting for position in the middle of the pack, 12 way behind.

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 15, 2024 1:11 pm

Already started a post on this…

Sorry boss, this was posted before yours.

Win some lose some.

CelticCat wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 16, 2024 11:07 am

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 15, 2024 1:11 pm

Already started a post on this…

Sorry boss, this was posted before yours.

Win some lose some.

That’s my bad! Sorry @MSU01

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 16, 2024 6:05 pm

CelticCat wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 16, 2024 11:07 am

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 15, 2024 1:11 pm

Already started a post on this…

Sorry boss, this was posted before yours.

Win some lose some.

That’s my bad! Sorry @MSU01

No worries, two threads are better than none!

MSU is easily the most well-rounded team in the conference at this early juncture. They were last year, as well, so take that fwiw.

Idaho's offense is suspect, but defense has played great.
UM's offense is even more suspect, but defense looked incredible vs Morehead and I expect that to continue.
UC Davis struggled more than I thought they would with SUU

SAC is doing as expected.
WSU was doing as expected.
NAU is raising my eyebrows. Seems to be an almost annual thing with them.
ISU is also raising my brows. Not an annual thing. Loss to UND may be a little deceiving.

The rest...we'll see. Not really worth putting a lot of thought into at this point.

TomCat88 wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 8:46 am

MSU is easily the most well-rounded team in the conference at this early juncture. They were last year, as well, so take that fwiw.

Idaho's offense is suspect, but defense has played great.
UM's offense is even more suspect, but defense looked incredible vs Morehead and I expect that to continue.
UC Davis struggled more than I thought they would with SUU

SAC is doing as expected.
WSU was doing as expected.
NAU is raising my eyebrows. Seems to be an almost annual thing with them.
ISU is also raising my brows. Not an annual thing. Loss to UND may be a little deceiving.

The rest...we'll see. Not really worth putting a lot of thought into at this point.

I think WSU is looking better than last year even though they lost to Lamar by 1. WSU has a tough schedule though, at UM, SAC, NAU and Idaho

TomCat88 wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 8:46 am

MSU is easily the most well-rounded team in the conference at this early juncture. They were last year, as well, so take that fwiw.

Idaho's offense is suspect, but defense has played great.
UM's offense is even more suspect, but defense looked incredible vs Morehead and I expect that to continue.
UC Davis struggled more than I thought they would with SUU

SAC is doing as expected.
WSU was doing as expected.
NAU is raising my eyebrows. Seems to be an almost annual thing with them.
ISU is also raising my brows. Not an annual thing. Loss to UND may be a little deceiving.

The rest...we'll see. Not really worth putting a lot of thought into at this point.

I'm dubious. The defense has not tackled well and they got whipped in the trenches against UND. I would expect them to be able to win there versus Morehead but will wait to call it fixed for a couple more weeks. I think they can fix the tackling. I'm not sure they can fix the O and D line issues.

Idaho’s offense still is rolling even down to their 3rd qb.

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:29 pm

Idaho’s offense still is rolling even down to their 3rd qb.

I disagree. They had one good game against what is looking to be a mediocre Albany team. They had 225 yards against Wyoming. Against Oregon (nobody expected their offense to do anything) they had 217 yards, 40 of which came on a trick play. We'll know more about their offense in the next few weeks. Facing UC Davis, NAU, and the Cats to open conference play will tell us a lot.

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:29 pm

Idaho’s offense still is rolling even down to their 3rd qb.

The backup QB who got hurt against Wyoming was back in against Albany.

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:29 pm

Idaho’s offense still is rolling even down to their 3rd qb.

"...still is rolling..." from game to game this year or since last year?

The game vs Albany looked like last year's team, but this year collectively not so much. I don't think Idaho broke 225 yards of total offense vs Oregon or Wyoming, and the pass game has looked subpar in every game, including Albany (11-23, 173 yards). Yes, those are FBS teams and Oregon is supposed to be really good this year, but the Ducks didn't really show up until last week against Oregon State and not even until the second half of that game. They barely beat Boise State a week after playing Idaho and you would've thought the Ducks would be geared up for that game after the poor showing vs Idaho and the how highly anticipated the BSU game was.

How is it the frizzzzzz don't play Idaho every year?

TomCat88 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2024 8:00 am

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:29 pm

Idaho’s offense still is rolling even down to their 3rd qb.

"...still is rolling..." from game to game this year or since last year?

The game vs Albany looked like last year's team, but this year collectively not so much. I don't think Idaho broke 225 yards of total offense vs Oregon or Wyoming, and the pass game has looked subpar in every game, including Albany (11-23, 173 yards). Yes, those are FBS teams and Oregon is supposed to be really good this year, but the Ducks didn't really show up until last week against Oregon State and not even until the second half of that game. They barely beat Boise State a week after playing Idaho and you would've thought the Ducks would be geared up for that game after the poor showing vs Idaho and the how highly anticipated the BSU game was.

The eye test said to me they still have dynamic players, even without McCoy and Hatton. They still have good rhythm and play calls.

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2024 8:31 am

TomCat88 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2024 8:00 am

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:29 pm

Idaho’s offense still is rolling even down to their 3rd qb.

"...still is rolling..." from game to game this year or since last year?

The game vs Albany looked like last year's team, but this year collectively not so much. I don't think Idaho broke 225 yards of total offense vs Oregon or Wyoming, and the pass game has looked subpar in every game, including Albany (11-23, 173 yards). Yes, those are FBS teams and Oregon is supposed to be really good this year, but the Ducks didn't really show up until last week against Oregon State and not even until the second half of that game. They barely beat Boise State a week after playing Idaho and you would've thought the Ducks would be geared up for that game after the poor showing vs Idaho and the how highly anticipated the BSU game was.

The eye test said to me they still have dynamic players, even without McCoy and Hatton. They still have good rhythm and play calls.

I take you’re only referring to the Albany game and are saying that Idaho is “still rolling” from the end of last year - skipping the first two games of this year - and into the Albany game?

TomCat88 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2024 4:26 pm

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2024 8:31 am

TomCat88 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2024 8:00 am

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:29 pm

Idaho’s offense still is rolling even down to their 3rd qb.

"...still is rolling..." from game to game this year or since last year?

The game vs Albany looked like last year's team, but this year collectively not so much. I don't think Idaho broke 225 yards of total offense vs Oregon or Wyoming, and the pass game has looked subpar in every game, including Albany (11-23, 173 yards). Yes, those are FBS teams and Oregon is supposed to be really good this year, but the Ducks didn't really show up until last week against Oregon State and not even until the second half of that game. They barely beat Boise State a week after playing Idaho and you would've thought the Ducks would be geared up for that game after the poor showing vs Idaho and the how highly anticipated the BSU game was.

The eye test said to me they still have dynamic players, even without McCoy and Hatton. They still have good rhythm and play calls.

I take you’re only referring to the Albany game and are saying that Idaho is “still rolling” from the end of last year - skipping the first two games of this year - and into the Albany game?

I’ve seen bits and pieces of each of their games. They look good to me. That’s all I’m going to say.

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2024 4:44 pm

TomCat88 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2024 4:26 pm

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2024 8:31 am

TomCat88 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2024 8:00 am

Common Cat wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:29 pm

Idaho’s offense still is rolling even down to their 3rd qb.

"...still is rolling..." from game to game this year or since last year?

The game vs Albany looked like last year's team, but this year collectively not so much. I don't think Idaho broke 225 yards of total offense vs Oregon or Wyoming, and the pass game has looked subpar in every game, including Albany (11-23, 173 yards). Yes, those are FBS teams and Oregon is supposed to be really good this year, but the Ducks didn't really show up until last week against Oregon State and not even until the second half of that game. They barely beat Boise State a week after playing Idaho and you would've thought the Ducks would be geared up for that game after the poor showing vs Idaho and the how highly anticipated the BSU game was.

The eye test said to me they still have dynamic players, even without McCoy and Hatton. They still have good rhythm and play calls.

I take you’re only referring to the Albany game and are saying that Idaho is “still rolling” from the end of last year - skipping the first two games of this year - and into the Albany game?

I’ve seen bits and pieces of each of their games. They look good to me. That’s all I’m going to say.

The Idaho game, based purely on what I have been able to catch from my end, is the one team I am most concerned about for the Cats this season.

TomCat88 wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 17, 2024 8:46 am

MSU is easily the most well-rounded team in the conference at this early juncture. They were last year, as well, so take that fwiw.

Idaho's offense is suspect, but defense has played great.
UM's offense is even more suspect, but defense looked incredible vs Morehead and I expect that to continue.
UC Davis struggled more than I thought they would with SUU

SAC is doing as expected.
WSU was doing as expected.
NAU is raising my eyebrows. Seems to be an almost annual thing with them.
ISU is also raising my brows. Not an annual thing. Loss to UND may be a little deceiving.

The rest...we'll see. Not really worth putting a lot of thought into at this point.

SUU might be decent this year - skunked at Utah but they rebounded and beat UTEP The following week and hung with Davis. So it may be more of a SUU is decent than UCD is bad, but too early to tell.