The Bobcat Nation

What are people's thoughts on the play-calling today against ISU.

I gotta hand it to Bailey today. I think the play-calling was well-done. Not too crazy, but not too conservative. Just the right mix of run and pass. And he got the ball into Jefferson's hands in many different ways.

I'm curious about other's thoughts.

HelenaCat95 wrote:What are people's thoughts on the play-calling today against ISU.

I gotta hand it to Bailey today. I think the play-calling was well-done. Not too crazy, but not too conservative. Just the right mix of run and pass. And he got the ball into Jefferson's hands in many different ways.

I'm curious about other's thoughts.

Love it.

He played to Rolo's strengths, and clearly ISU was going to make Rolo beat them as opposed to Mason.

Jefferson...WOW!!!!!!!

Now let's just keep sequestering the team the night before home games, PLEASE.

I'd like to see 'em slam the door shut when they have a lead, not just sit on the clock.

Case in point: final TD for the Cats versus the prior few possessions.

Totally agree. You have to give credit when credit is due. As you said they found lots of ways to get the ball in the hands of their best playmaker. I especially liked the fact that they were aggressive throughout. Great job by the o-line as well.

I thought the play calling on both sides of the ball was very good again. As good as the D played all day, we either got caught in the wrong play call on the long throw, or it was an individual breakdown on coverage.

It honestly felt like the defense went from an attacking cat (ears bent back) to a relaxed state on the field in the fourth quarter once we went up by 17. That third down play that turned into a long gain down to the 1 would not have been a first down had Marcosus made the tackle. Or, another 4-5 yards had Cory made the tackle, or Epi taking the proper pursuit angle (he was chasing the play instead of getting upfield on the runner).

Now, this could be the result of coaches not staying on top of the players on the sidelines (no way to know this). I do know that Kramer has had to adopt a "pressuring thumb" approach to this team. Maybe they too relaxed at some point.

More then likely it's probably a shared fault.

Overall, though, I thought the D did a great job of making ISU one dimensional and taking Barnett out of the game.

There were moments were I scratched my head, but if you can throw up 42 pts...

I thought the play calling was pretty decent. Rolo looked good in the shotgun and our draws kept them honest. Our tight ends played well and made some plays. Jefferson was of course the key and should get plays in his direction every series. How bad was ISU secondary though. He was wide open. Can we just blow a team out. I hate these close games sometimes.

G.W.Bush wrote:There were moments were I scratched my head, but if you can throw up 42 pts...

Must've been someones fault.

It seemed to work. With Rolo I think it's best to spread 'em out and let him sling away. I just hope he can throw more touchdowns than interceptions.

You outcoached us, yes! I know our coach will never say it. It is what it is and we got spanked. Now that we are probably out of the race,yea were out I am rooting you cats on. Beat the living hell out of the Griz and we will try to next week to make your road easier. good luck with the rest of the season.
Just a tad bit of feed back for you guys. Get a new punter. I had flashbacks of Lulay and he could kick good.

bcats wrote:I thought the play calling was pretty decent. Rolo looked good in the shotgun and our draws kept them honest. Our tight ends played well and made some plays. Jefferson was of course the key and should get plays in his direction every series. How bad was ISU secondary though. He was wide open. Can we just blow a team out. I hate these close games sometimes.

Hell no. I'd rather have close games than a blowout and an end of the season slide (See NAU 2003).

Bengal00 wrote:You outcoached us, yes! I know our coach will never say it. It is what it is and we got spanked. Now that we are probably out of the race,yea were out I am rooting you cats on. Beat the living hell out of the Griz and we will try to next week to make your road easier. good luck with the rest of the season.
Just a tad bit of feed back for you guys. Get a new punter. I had flashbacks of Lulay and he could kick good.

I tell you what though man, Lacey is one hell of an athlete!!! Teams almost need to double team him

I felt that our play calling was very good. One thing that I noticed was that Rolo plays better from under center, than he does in the shotgun. I think he plays in rythym better while dropping back. I would like to see us run the ball a little better in the second half. Maybe put in Groves for a series to see how a fresh back can maybe do.

One other thought. I think it would be a good idea to pass to Lewis and Wheaton more in order to keep defenses from keying on Jefferson. Obviously Jefferson is going to be the go to guy, but to put the ball into the hands of other recievers will pay dividends later.

STREETCAT wrote:

Bengal00 wrote:You outcoached us, yes! I know our coach will never say it. It is what it is and we got spanked. Now that we are probably out of the race,yea were out I am rooting you cats on. Beat the living hell out of the Griz and we will try to next week to make your road easier. good luck with the rest of the season.
Just a tad bit of feed back for you guys. Get a new punter. I had flashbacks of Lulay and he could kick good.

I tell you what though man, Lacey is one hell of an athlete!!! Teams almost need to double team him

Their other threat is Thompson right? We either did an awesome job of covering him or something was up. Normally he catches a pile of balls for ISU and in watching the game, I was most impressed with him.

catsrback76 wrote:I felt that our play calling was very good. One thing that I noticed was that Rolo plays better from under center, than he does in the shotgun. I think he plays in rythym better while dropping back. I would like to see us run the ball a little better in the second half. Maybe put in Groves for a series to see how a fresh back can maybe do.

One other thought. I think it would be a good idea to pass to Lewis and Wheaton more in order to keep defenses from keying on Jefferson. Obviously Jefferson is going to be the go to guy, but to put the ball into the hands of other recievers will pay dividends later.

I definitely agree with you. But, I have to wonder if Jefferson is the first read and perhaps he was just always open.

Jefferson was wide open on those big plays. I listened to the radio at work and then watched the game on DVR at home and my god he was wide open all day. Great job Rolo for recognizing the short comings of the ISU secondary.

I mostly like the offensive play calls. However, one minor gripe: after Mason ran for the TD on that draw, I don't think that play was ever called again. Maybe ISU made the adjustments to stop that play, but I doubt it.

On D, if you are going to sit in cover 3 and give up a bunch of points late, you might as well play man and blitz more and make the QB throw sooner.

Even though we basically gave ISU 17 points, late, and let them make the game close, I never was worried that we would choke the game away.....THAT's a GREAT feeling to have.

The end around play is opening a lot of doors with trickery. Also the quick (almost lateral pass to a wide receiver) allowed Rolo to fake the quick pass and hit Jefferson for the 70 yard TD. We've done the RB throw twice now. The one in ISU was a sure TD if Mason wouldn't have overthrown. Now the next step in this trick play is to set it up the same way but have Rolovich roll out and Mason throw it to him. He should be wide open.

I thought the play calling was very good. I was concerned that the Cats couldn't put a long drive together though. There were several three and outs. The big play certianly was the savior this weekend. That was sure a fun game to watch from the stands. Bobcat and Bengal fans are a lot alike. Very respectful fans!

Overall I thought the play calling was good but I am shocked that no one has mentioned the draw called on 3 and 21. That was a head scratcher to say the least. You might catch a team off guard with a HB draw on 3 and 10 or 12, but even if they are playing the pass back to the first down markers they have time to react and stop the runner before the first down. That was my only real complaint on the day. Overall it was a fun game to be at and exciting to see the offense and defense do so many things right!

Was that the series where Mason ran for about 15 and then ISU got the penalty to make a 4th and 1? If memory serves, we punted and the next ISU series was where we got the safety? Is that right?

I didn't have a problem with the draw play at that point in the game. Really, the only other options would be for a screen, which wouldn't have worked because ISU was sitting back in zone and not blitzing, or throw a bomb and hope for the best.