The most unofficial Bobcat gameday thread - Eastern Washington

[VimSince03]

I neglected to look at the final defensive numbers after the game. I see that Neil Daily led the team in tackles with 10 and had a 1/2 TFL and a PBU. Paul Brott had 8 tackles from his DT position with a TFL, FF and QBH, which is exceptional. O'Reilly has been playing great all year and had another good game with a sack and another TFL.

Daily had a tough game.

Daily's 3rd quarter will likely be what all remaining teams try to attack going forward: his current inability to shed blocks and taking the long route to ball carriers trying to avoid blockers. However, Neil buckled down and had a tremendous 4th quarter. We also have a unique situation with Bryce Grebe. To me, Grebe really sees the middle of the field well in run and pass coverage whereas Neil is great sideline to sideline and on deeper drops in pass coverage. Daily had a tough game but he hung in there and kept competing...and got one more game better. These two just need more reps and they'll get plenty moving forward as they are literally it behind McCade in terms of guys the coaches trust.

Thanks Vim. I've been trying to see and understand the differences between Bryce and Neil and with my lack of skill in evaluating and lack of time
(mostly lack of skill 96%) I was getting nowhere on knowing how they compared/contrasted and what each was best at.

Put it this way, if we were playing against triple-option Cal Poly of five years ago, I would play Bryce over Neil. In a more spread system, Neil's the pick because of his length.

[catatac]

I neglected to look at the final defensive numbers after the game. I see that Neil Daily led the team in tackles with 10 and had a 1/2 TFL and a PBU. Paul Brott had 8 tackles from his DT position with a TFL, FF and QBH, which is exceptional. O'Reilly has been playing great all year and had another good game with a sack and another TFL.

Daily had a tough game.

Daily's 3rd quarter will likely be what all remaining teams try to attack going forward: his current inability to shed blocks and taking the long route to ball carriers trying to avoid blockers. However, Neil buckled down and had a tremendous 4th quarter. We also have a unique situation with Bryce Grebe. To me, Grebe really sees the middle of the field well in run and pass coverage whereas Neil is great sideline to sideline and on deeper drops in pass coverage. Daily had a tough game but he hung in there and kept competing...and got one more game better. These two just need more reps and they'll get plenty moving forward as they are literally it behind McCade in terms of guys the coaches trust.

So we have three linebackers... great. We sure seem to be super thin there. I do like what I've seen from Krahe, but maybe he's just not quite there for prime time yet, hopefully he can get there. Then I think Zach Waible has flashes a bit? Disappointed with the Cole's though, I thought they'd be close right now..... because behind all that I think it's just true Freshmem.

[VimSince03]

I neglected to look at the final defensive numbers after the game. I see that Neil Daily led the team in tackles with 10 and had a 1/2 TFL and a PBU. Paul Brott had 8 tackles from his DT position with a TFL, FF and QBH, which is exceptional. O'Reilly has been playing great all year and had another good game with a sack and another TFL.

Daily had a tough game.

Daily's 3rd quarter will likely be what all remaining teams try to attack going forward: his current inability to shed blocks and taking the long route to ball carriers trying to avoid blockers. However, Neil buckled down and had a tremendous 4th quarter. We also have a unique situation with Bryce Grebe. To me, Grebe really sees the middle of the field well in run and pass coverage whereas Neil is great sideline to sideline and on deeper drops in pass coverage. Daily had a tough game but he hung in there and kept competing...and got one more game better. These two just need more reps and they'll get plenty moving forward as they are literally it behind McCade in terms of guys the coaches trust.

So we have three linebackers... great. We sure seem to be super thin there. I do like what I've seen from Krahe, but maybe he's just not quite there for prime time yet, hopefully he can get there. Then I think Zach Waible has flashes a bit? Disappointed with the Cole's though, I thought they'd be close right now..... because behind all that I think it's just true Freshmem.

Cole Taylor is a redshirt freshman who never played LB in high school. He's already playing special teams so he's already on a Callahan O'Reilly track. Cole Bullock is a senior LB transfer who was brought here to bring quality competition and has instead done the latter. IMO, there should be zero disappointment with Cole Taylor as he's on the development track he should be on. Brody Grebe is also a redshirt freshman but we should have realized earlier that the Grebe family is just different. Krahe is close.

[PapaG]

I don’t think a 4th down PA is that crazy of a play call. The concept had been working multiple times before that. Probably thought they’d catch EWU off guard. Looked to me like somebody made a mistake, and EWU covered it well. Props to them, sometimes the other team makes a good play too.

You guys are calling it a bad play because of the result, when the thinking process itself was just fine.

To be fair, I and others at our watch party called it a bad formation prior to the snap and the result was even worse than expected. I’d have certainly eaten crow had it worked, but it didn’t, so I was correct. Bad play! Ha! No big deal, but I still didn’t like it at all for reasons already mentioned.

Odd, that no one is mentioning the fact that MSU has failed twice on fourth downs by running the ball up the gut with Humphrey (vs PSU and UNM (a huge non-conversion)). So, this call doesn't seem all that bad based on the fact that they weren't going to do that again and probably didn't want to go with RPO or Tommy sneaking it, since they knew the defense is keying on him and you might be reluctant to use Davis in that (Humphrey) roll in his first game back.

Like I said, it’s just my opinion. I’m not sure I recall a time Tommy took a snap from center and had to turn his back to the receivers on a true drop back pass.

[PapaG]

I don’t think a 4th down PA is that crazy of a play call. The concept had been working multiple times before that. Probably thought they’d catch EWU off guard. Looked to me like somebody made a mistake, and EWU covered it well. Props to them, sometimes the other team makes a good play too.

You guys are calling it a bad play because of the result, when the thinking process itself was just fine.

To be fair, I and others at our watch party called it a bad formation prior to the snap and the result was even worse than expected. I’d have certainly eaten crow had it worked, but it didn’t, so I was correct. Bad play! Ha! No big deal, but I still didn’t like it at all for reasons already mentioned.

Odd, that no one is mentioning the fact that MSU has failed twice on fourth downs by running the ball up the gut with Humphrey (vs PSU and UNM (a huge non-conversion)). So, this call doesn't seem all that bad based on the fact that they weren't going to do that again and probably didn't want to go with RPO or Tommy sneaking it, since they knew the defense is keying on him and you might be reluctant to use Davis in that (Humphrey) roll in his first game back.

Like I said, it’s just my opinion. I’m not sure I recall a previous time that Tommy took a snap from center and had to turn his back to the receivers on a true drop back pass.

Both the Bobcats and Ducks are 9-0 and legitimate national championship contenders so it’s a great season so far. I didn’t like a play call. Oh well.

[TomCat88]

I don’t think a 4th down PA is that crazy of a play call. The concept had been working multiple times before that. Probably thought they’d catch EWU off guard. Looked to me like somebody made a mistake, and EWU covered it well. Props to them, sometimes the other team makes a good play too.

You guys are calling it a bad play because of the result, when the thinking process itself was just fine.

To be fair, I and others at our watch party called it a bad formation prior to the snap and the result was even worse than expected. I’d have certainly eaten crow had it worked, but it didn’t, so I was correct. Bad play! Ha! No big deal, but I still didn’t like it at all for reasons already mentioned.

Odd, that no one is mentioning the fact that MSU has failed twice on fourth downs by running the ball up the gut with Humphrey (vs PSU and UNM (a huge non-conversion)). So, this call doesn't seem all that bad based on the fact that they weren't going to do that again and probably didn't want to go with RPO or Tommy sneaking it, since they knew the defense is keying on him and you might be reluctant to use Davis in that (Humphrey) roll in his first game back.

Like I said, it’s just my opinion. I’m not sure I recall a time Tommy took a snap from center and had to turn his back to the receivers on a true drop back pass.

N=1
I’m not sure you can say it’s a bad formation or a bad play because it didn’t work once. It might’ve been a bad idea if, for instance, it wasn’t practiced much.

A couple years ago MSU ran a play where it handed the ball on a reverse to Chambers, who then threw a pass across the field. First time they tried it he was sacked. Second time it was a TD.

[PapaG]

I don’t think a 4th down PA is that crazy of a play call. The concept had been working multiple times before that. Probably thought they’d catch EWU off guard. Looked to me like somebody made a mistake, and EWU covered it well. Props to them, sometimes the other team makes a good play too.

You guys are calling it a bad play because of the result, when the thinking process itself was just fine.

To be fair, I and others at our watch party called it a bad formation prior to the snap and the result was even worse than expected. I’d have certainly eaten crow had it worked, but it didn’t, so I was correct. Bad play! Ha! No big deal, but I still didn’t like it at all for reasons already mentioned.

Odd, that no one is mentioning the fact that MSU has failed twice on fourth downs by running the ball up the gut with Humphrey (vs PSU and UNM (a huge non-conversion)). So, this call doesn't seem all that bad based on the fact that they weren't going to do that again and probably didn't want to go with RPO or Tommy sneaking it, since they knew the defense is keying on him and you might be reluctant to use Davis in that (Humphrey) roll in his first game back.

Like I said, it’s just my opinion. I’m not sure I recall a time Tommy took a snap from center and had to turn his back to the receivers on a true drop back pass.

N=1
I’m not sure you can say it’s a bad formation or a bad play because it didn’t work once. It might’ve been a bad idea if, for instance, it wasn’t practiced much.

A couple years ago MSU ran a play where it handed the ball on a reverse to Chambers, who then threw a pass across the field. First time they tried it he was sacked. Second time it was a TD.

I can say whatever ai want about it. Didn’t like the formation prior to the snap or the call and result after the snap. No big deal. I understand it’s a sample size of one. Thanks though.

[tetoncat]

Still waiting to see a power formation with Mellott under center in short yardage. It seems OL is great in zone blocking, spread type formations, but struggle a little getting push in true Short yard type plays

Tommy has been under center a number of times.

With multiple backs. I do remember him being under center more, but don't remember many with h back and rb or h back and 2 rb and in short yardage. I know some didn't like play action I would have preferred it on 3rd down. It just seemed messed up, not true play action as it seemed Tommy tried to roll out after the fake.

[WalkOn79]

Would've liked to see a stronger showing from the defense today but the bottom line is that we won. And the fact that it was close instead of another blowout will probably serve this team well in the long run.

Will serve them extremely well. Eastern has the offense to stay in the game against anyone in the FCS. Aside from 2021, this has been the best showing of the Cats defense. Losing Danny U was bad. Of course losing anyone is, however, that’s one position we lacked depth at. They seemed to play a bend but don’t break, however, the gashing runs were concerning. We did not bring much pressure, and today, probably for the best. Our defensive front got faked out a few times, bit hard and were punished. I trust they will get this fixed, coming off a bye week is great for the rest, terrible for the flow at times, especially when the next game is on the road, in crappy Cheney, with poor weather, on the most obnoxious field in all sports.

With the exception of the fake reverse, Coach said our d-line had one of it's best games. We lacked some gap integrity behind them.

[TomCat88]

I don’t think a 4th down PA is that crazy of a play call. The concept had been working multiple times before that. Probably thought they’d catch EWU off guard. Looked to me like somebody made a mistake, and EWU covered it well. Props to them, sometimes the other team makes a good play too.

You guys are calling it a bad play because of the result, when the thinking process itself was just fine.

To be fair, I and others at our watch party called it a bad formation prior to the snap and the result was even worse than expected. I’d have certainly eaten crow had it worked, but it didn’t, so I was correct. Bad play! Ha! No big deal, but I still didn’t like it at all for reasons already mentioned.

Odd, that no one is mentioning the fact that MSU has failed twice on fourth downs by running the ball up the gut with Humphrey (vs PSU and UNM (a huge non-conversion)). So, this call doesn't seem all that bad based on the fact that they weren't going to do that again and probably didn't want to go with RPO or Tommy sneaking it, since they knew the defense is keying on him and you might be reluctant to use Davis in that (Humphrey) roll in his first game back.

Like I said, it’s just my opinion. I’m not sure I recall a time Tommy took a snap from center and had to turn his back to the receivers on a true drop back pass.

N=1
I’m not sure you can say it’s a bad formation or a bad play because it didn’t work once. It might’ve been a bad idea if, for instance, it wasn’t practiced much.

A couple years ago MSU ran a play where it handed the ball on a reverse to Chambers, who then threw a pass across the field. First time they tried it he was sacked. Second time it was a TD.

I can say whatever ai want about it. Didn’t like the formation prior to the snap or the call and result after the snap. No big deal. I understand it’s a sample size of one. Thanks though.

So, you changed your mind based on what I said or do you still think it was a bad play call?

[TomCat88]

MSU’s iPads weren’t working at EWU. Someone may have already posted this.

[Bocephus]

MSU’s iPads weren’t working at EWU. Someone may have already posted this.

Is that like the old headset rule? If one team’s isn’t working the other team can’t use theirs?

[Montanabob]

MSU’s iPads weren’t working at EWU. Someone may have already posted this.

that is not as bad as the FBS conference (all of them) issue with the helmet communication system that the radio frequency was unsecure? and they were very slow to let others know there was a problem.

[TomCat88]

MSU’s iPads weren’t working at EWU. Someone may have already posted this.

Is that like the old headset rule? If one team’s isn’t working the other team can’t use theirs?

Yes, I think so. Vigen mentioned it during the BBW show that Keaton does. He said something about talking to the league about it. ??