Pre-drive-home Post

El_Gato · Post by **El_Gato** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 6:40 am

Woke up early but don't want to deal with cranky kids for 5.5 hours so I decided to let them sleep a little longer before we head to Kali.

Overall reaction to Saturday's game:

To play a somewhat ragged & at times sloppy game & win by 36 against a respectable IAA opponent tells me we have a VERY impressive level of talent on this football team.

#14; what more can you say about this guy? When I return home today, I'm going to respond to a griz fan who wanted to compare Washington to Mike Vick. Well, there is a Vick-esque QB in the State of Montana; the thing is, he's white, has red hair, and plays for the Bobcats.

Murray is the real deal.

That was the worst officiated game I've seen in a long time. One of the refs had a big F on his back and that letter was appropriate on several fronts...

Defensively??? WOW!! We will be back atop the Sky, no question. We have the best LB's and Secondary without doubt, and our line will only get better as they continue to learn & adjust.

I predict that Groves will be our starting tailback by season's end.

Can't wait til we get Rick back.

Special teams? Ick. Although I'm sure it's been a long time since we kicked 3 FG's in a game.

Bottom line (for now): If this team "puts it all together" on Saturdays this season, I have no doubt that we can compete with ANY team in IAA.

FlatheadLakeCat · Post by **FlatheadLakeCat** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:04 am

I agree EG.

Making as many mistakes(turnovers & penalties) as we did on offense, our defense was almost flawless. SFA had some veterans on that offense, but wasn't able to get anything going aganist our defense.

Our secondary was great. LB's are great. DL did well. If it wasn't for one long run and 3 15yd penalities, SFA might not have scored any.

Our offense looked unstoppable at times. It looked like we were trying a lot of plays to see how effective they would be in the second half.

Our running game still needs work, but it showed signs of promise. Maybe Groves needs a chance. I think Lulay could've thrown or ran for about 5 more TDs if he wanted to.

The one series that showed me we have a lot of firepower in this offense, was when we were called for offensive pass interference in the endzone on 2nd and goal from the 3yd. line. Now its 3rd and goal from the 18, and Lulay just goes "oh well" and throws a strike to Murray for a TD. WOW.

Lulay had some time this game.

I think we could've racked up a bunch of points if we would've thrown all day. Our defense would've got us the ball back anytime we wanted.

Side note: When I was walking towards the fieldhouse after the game, some SFA fans were in front of me. They turned around and said, "Man, you guys are good. I didn't see any weaknesses." They also said that they don't think we'll lose another game and they hope if we have to play each other again, it will be in Texas during the playoffs.

If that team makes it from the Southland conference, we should be seeded.

HelenaCat · Post by **HelenaCat** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:49 am

I came away from this game feeling "disappointed" in our offense. Can you believe that after we put up 42 points?? But I just never felt we were real sharp on offense or that the O-line really had it going in terms of a running game. But the potential for this offense is limitless when we get it going. This is only our second game-but compare it to our second game last year and realize where that offense eventually made it to late in the year. Then think about the weapons this year's team has compared to last year. Wow-the potential is scary and this team could be real fun to watch. Tramaine Murray showed he is the real deal and when Ricky comes back, we are really very, very good at WR.

Mike Bass looks quick to the hole and very shifty. He is also surprisingly hard to bring down for a little guy (but built very well). I suspect he is our starter the rest of the year. JD did not do much to change that in his limited time. I agree Groves still looks faster and quicker than anyone, but he only played late in the game when SFA was probably tired and had given up. I would like to see Evin give a chance to play some more earlier in a game. He sure looks good everytime I see him run.

Travis was not sharp and still made up over 300 yards of offense on his own. He is not only our best QB, but he is still probably our best RB. Enjoy this year folks-a Travis Lulay does not make it to MSU very often. He is just a special player. His talent is obvious, but his toughness is maybe even a bigger component of his overall game. I don't know if NFL scouts have a way to measure that, but if they do, it really raises Travis's stock in my mind.

The defense was really a bright spot for anyone that watched last year's last 3 games. The DBs are another animal this year. Hunter did play great coverage all day and took away the deep threat consistently. Fuller and Austin both made great breaks on balls for their interceptions and broke up other passes. They both have really improved. We get even more firepower back soon with Chris Davis, so we have some real depth. Not sure what is up with Eddie Smith-I hope he can eventually make it back. Derrick Davis played some also-remember that he played a lot as a freshman a few years back.

The safeties looked real good. Both Force and Grenfell made some really nice plays. LeBlanc from Boise State also got some good playing time and he looks like an athlete.

I was really pleased with our D-line and LBs. SFA was absolutely huge on the O-line with all of their lineman well over 300 lbs. I was worried on SFA's early drive down the field when they marched easily inside our 5 yard line. But after that drive we made adjustments and SFA could not run effectively the rest of the day. On pass defense, I never felt like we blitzed very often, but really could have easily done a lot more of that if needed. I suspect we are saving a lot for some of the upcoming games that will be much tougher.

Lets get after Cal Poly next week and lose that monkey off our back Then thew NDSU game in two weeks looks like a real barnburner. We need to absolutely pack that stadium and get it rocking!!

longhorn_22 · Post by **longhorn_22** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:00 am

Groves wont start unless Bass gets injured. He will start next season. He will be a stud. And he will lead the Sky in rushing next year.

El_Gato · Post by **El_Gato** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 12:52 pm

Groves may start if Bass continues to lose the handle 2 or 3 times a game...

And yes, I made it home safely!

Btowncat · Post by **Btowncat** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 1:59 pm

Great job by the Cat defense, particularly linebackers and dbs. Having said that, I thought SFA's quarterback was, on the whole, terribly inaccurate. He threw over and behind several open receivers. Does CalPoly have any kind of passing game to speak of? Seems like last time we played, all I could remember was that their defense was really tough.
On offense, Travis proved again he is amazingly dangerous with both his arm and his feet. HOWEVER, Travis threw a couple of balloon balls for interceptions. On the second interception, our receiver had at least one step on the db. If Travis puts the ball out far enough, it would have been 6. But Travis didn't get the ball out far enough, our receiver had to pull up, and it was a jump ball that SFA picked.
On special teams, I was ready to run our kicker out on a rail after he missed his second extra point. But he did give us reason to take heart with 3 late field goals. On punt return, put Force back in. He can catch the ball and hang onto it.
In sum, the Cats are a formidable team, but it's still early in the season with several areas to work on. Go Cats!

El_Gato · Post by **El_Gato** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 2:16 pm

In Travis' defense (not that he needs it after yesterdays performance), Murray TERRIBLY mis-timed his jump on interception #2; at the very least, that play should have been incomplete. If Murray jumps at the proper time, however, he was in front of the DB and would have gotten his hands on it first.

TL's first pick was simply a "chuck & hope" play; you get single coverage on an outside receiver and a few times a game, you've got to just lay it out there and take your chances. I don't think that ball was under/over thrown; it just was thrown to an area and their guy came down with it.

94VegasCat · Post by **94VegasCat** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 6:30 pm

The play of the defense was such a bright spot, that I almost forgot about the long run to start the game. the team speed is awesome. King is so fast. Probably doesn't happen very often that a LB can cover a WR stride for stride. LeBlanc looked a little lost at times, but the potential is there for sure.

Post by **kmax** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:49 pm

El_Gato wrote:In Travis' defense (not that he needs it after yesterdays performance), Murray TERRIBLY mis-timed his jump on interception #2; at the very least, that play should have been incomplete. If Murray jumps at the proper time, however, he was in front of the DB and would have gotten his hands on it first..

Exactly El_G, while Lulay underthrough it, the reciever should have been able to "defend" against the INT on that one. That is one thing I notice a couple times was that when the ball was not perfect the recievers weren't going after it. One throw on a crossing route in the endzone was behind the reciever slightly, he stopped, but didn't come forward to the ball and the DB ran right in front and almost picked it. Sometimes the WR's need to help out on a bad throw and come to the ball.

Btowncat · Post by **Btowncat** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:50 am

kmax wrote:
El_Gato wrote:In Travis' defense (not that he needs it after yesterdays performance), Murray TERRIBLY mis-timed his jump on interception #2; at the very least, that play should have been incomplete. If Murray jumps at the proper time, however, he was in front of the DB and would have gotten his hands on it first..
Exactly El_G, while Lulay underthrough it, the reciever should have been able to "defend" against the INT on that one. That is one thing I notice a couple times was that when the ball was not perfect the recievers weren't going after it. One throw on a crossing route in the endzone was behind the reciever slightly, he stopped, but didn't come forward to the ball and the DB ran right in front and almost picked it. Sometimes the WR's need to help out on a bad throw and come to the ball.

You're dead on regarding the ball that was almost picked in the endzone. On the second pick, Murray had at least a step on the db, had to slow down to come back for the ball, and did mistime his jump. In Murray's defense, that's a tough play to make (similar to playing outfield in baseball, overrunning a deep fly ball, and having to shift gears to get back to the right spot -- without having to worry about a player on the other team trying to get the same ball or knock your socks off). Also, Murray did make a great adjustment and a hell of a catch on at least one ball that was a bit off the mark. Unfortunately, I think that was the same play where Murray got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct (speculation was that it was for giving the first down signal). Long story short, there is still some work to do, but our quarterback and receivers (talent and depth) are the best we've had in decades.

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:08 am

Okay, my thoughts pretty much are a repeat of El_Gatos. Really impressed with the 3-4 and the zone the secondary's using. Should make a tremendous difference against Cal Poly and NDSU, and yeah, loved to see Bass lower the shoulder and run over people. Justin even looked good, so we'll have the ability to control the clock as the season moves on. The main advantage we'll have against Cal Poly is we won't have Big Sky officials

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:18 am

Cat Grad wrote:The main advantage we'll have against Cal Poly is we won't have Big Sky officials

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