Takeaways

[84CatGrad]

Hopefully this teaches our coordinators to play a bit looser. Seemed like in the first half we were just trying to not lose. Second half we HAD to make plays and we made almost all of them.

ALWAYS it's the coordinators fault. How do you know they didn't call the perfect play and the players simply didn't execute it properly?

[84CatGrad]

"NDSU fans are a pretty entitled bunch."

If we had ten titles in 15 years (or whatever it is) pretty sure we'd be just as entitled. It is a very interesting dynamic though, where anything short of a 'ship is a giant disaster.

[tetoncat]

Crowd sounded awesome
O/D lines have work to do (we did not match them well)
Coaching was....? interesting?
Ortt has been great
Too many missed opportunities
Proud of this team

I disagree on the lines. RB on both sides were not factors. NDSU passing game took advantage of what we gave them with Miller checking to run when it was there and single covered guys if we went man. Tommy got his but missed a few open guys. O still scored 32. The QB that played the best won which is what many have said would happen. 2 30+ point shoot outs in last 2 years vs NDSU. TThere is no gap other than execution now.

[tetoncat]

We were owned on both lines again. We have to figure that out to get over the hump.

Disagree

[coloradocat]

Oh and one other takeaway— NDSU fans are classless jerks. They started a chant while Alexander was down, injured right in front of their side. It’s so sad to me that the fan base who has experienced so much success acts like that.

NDSU fans are a pretty entitled bunch. I have a lot of family members who are fans. One of them posted on social media that the announcers were far too biased on their coverage of Tommy. Pretty sure they gushed just as much about Cam…..and rightly so. Also, one of them texted me to give me a hard time all throughout halftime, right up until we started making a run. Then it was radio silence until after the onside kick.

Anyway, they don’t like it unless all the focus is on their team….and can’t handle any talk that they aren’t the center of the football universe.

On an aside….i thought ESPN did an excellent job of covering the game, and highlighted many of the great players on both teams. The pre-game show was pretty nice too. The prime time slot gave it more of a feel of a big time game, rather than the 11:00 a.m. weekend kickoff. Anyway, both schools got some great exposure.

That all sounds familiar. Imagine how annoying they'll be after going 20+ years without a title.

[luckyirishguy25]

We were owned on both lines again. We have to figure that out to get over the hump.

Disagree

Disagree.

[aucat]

I'm sorry but I put the loss squarely where it deserves to go: on Vigen. THe first half we were underprepared, outcoached and outplayed. The offense was WAY too conservative. Looked like they wanted to turn Touchdown Tommy into Fieldgoal Tommy. Going for it at midfield with two minutes to go in the first half was very risky because we were already down two TDs. We got the ball coming out of the second half. We didn't make it and NDSU went in and scored. So instead of being down 14-3 we were down 21-3. But my main complaint is the offensive play calling in the first half and not allowing Tommy loose with his throwing and running.

I'm sure our program will continue to be strong, but I don't know if we will have another chance like we had last night to get a national championship. It's a shame that Vigen played it so conservative the first half which is NOT how the Cats made it this far.

[tetoncat]

I'm sorry but I put the loss squarely where it deserves to go: on Vigen. THe first half we were underprepared, outcoached and outplayed. The offense was WAY too conservative. Looked like they wanted to turn Touchdown Tommy into Fieldgoal Tommy. Going for it at midfield with two minutes to go in the first half was very risky because we were already down two TDs. We got the ball coming out of the second half. We didn't make it and NDSU went in and scored. So instead of being down 14-3 we were down 21-3. But my main complaint is the offensive play calling in the first half and not allowing Tommy loose with his throwing and running.

I'm sure our program will continue to be strong, but I don't know if we will have another chance like we had last night to get a national championship. It's a shame that Vigen played it so conservative the first half which is NOT how the Cats made it this far.

Played it to conservative but you didn't like the one aggressive call he made because it didn't work? I didn't mind going for it but didn't like the play itself. Also think should have thrown more 1st half. Not deep shots necessarily but the controlled passing game they have used.

[tetoncat]

We were owned on both lines again. We have to figure that out to get over the hump.

Disagree

Disagree.

Elaborate. LB and safety for NDSU made multiple shoe string tackles keeping 4yd gains from being 20+. Pass design let Miller throw a few lobs quickly. Spread d line with no LB gave up only real long run play.

[Cledus]

I'm sorry but I put the loss squarely where it deserves to go: on Vigen. THe first half we were underprepared, outcoached and outplayed. The offense was WAY too conservative. Looked like they wanted to turn Touchdown Tommy into Fieldgoal Tommy. Going for it at midfield with two minutes to go in the first half was very risky because we were already down two TDs. We got the ball coming out of the second half. We didn't make it and NDSU went in and scored. So instead of being down 14-3 we were down 21-3. But my main complaint is the offensive play calling in the first half and not allowing Tommy loose with his throwing and running.

I'm sure our program will continue to be strong, but I don't know if we will have another chance like we had last night to get a national championship. It's a shame that Vigen played it so conservative the first half which is NOT how the Cats made it this far.

Played it to conservative but you didn't like the one aggressive call he made because it didn't work? I didn't mind going for it but didn't like the play itself. Also think should have thrown more 1st half. Not deep shots necessarily but the controlled passing game they have used.

The tv graphic for statistical analysis said punt. A $72 million NFL qb said punt. Then the eye test should have told you punt as we hadn't had much offensive success to that point. As desperate as we were at that point the last thing the coach should have done was put the team in position where he made everything worse.

[Monymony]

Hopefully this teaches our coordinators to play a bit looser. Seemed like in the first half we were just trying to not lose. Second half we HAD to make plays and we made almost all of them.

ALWAYS it's the coordinators fault. How do you know they didn't call the perfect play and the players simply didn't execute it properly?

The play calling in the second half had significantly more success than the first half.

[GoldstoneCat]

I'm sorry but I put the loss squarely where it deserves to go: on Vigen. THe first half we were underprepared, outcoached and outplayed. The offense was WAY too conservative. Looked like they wanted to turn Touchdown Tommy into Fieldgoal Tommy. Going for it at midfield with two minutes to go in the first half was very risky because we were already down two TDs. We got the ball coming out of the second half. We didn't make it and NDSU went in and scored. So instead of being down 14-3 we were down 21-3. But my main complaint is the offensive play calling in the first half and not allowing Tommy loose with his throwing and running.

I'm sure our program will continue to be strong, but I don't know if we will have another chance like we had last night to get a national championship. It's a shame that Vigen played it so conservative the first half which is NOT how the Cats made it this far.

The way we made it this far was leaning on teams in the run game until they broke. While getting some defensive stops. By the time it was clear that wasn't going to play last night it was 14-3. I didn't love the 4th down decision but if you get it and go score you flip the game immediately. If we make the throw or catch on 3rd Down in the 4Q. If we get a 3rd Down stop in the 4Q drive they had. If Scottre wasn't shoestringed 4 times. If Bryce lance doesn't make a circus catch. If if if

[technoCat]

I'm sorry but I put the loss squarely where it deserves to go: on Vigen. THe first half we were underprepared, outcoached and outplayed. The offense was WAY too conservative. Looked like they wanted to turn Touchdown Tommy into Fieldgoal Tommy. Going for it at midfield with two minutes to go in the first half was very risky because we were already down two TDs. We got the ball coming out of the second half. We didn't make it and NDSU went in and scored. So instead of being down 14-3 we were down 21-3. But my main complaint is the offensive play calling in the first half and not allowing Tommy loose with his throwing and running.

I'm sure our program will continue to be strong, but I don't know if we will have another chance like we had last night to get a national championship. It's a shame that Vigen played it so conservative the first half which is NOT how the Cats made it this far.

The way we made it this far was leaning on teams in the run game until they broke. While getting some defensive stops. By the time it was clear that wasn't going to play last night it was 14-3. I didn't love the 4th down decision but if you get it and go score you flip the game immediately. If we make the throw or catch on 3rd Down in the 4Q. If we get a 3rd Down stop in the 4Q drive they had. If Scottre wasn't shoestringed 4 times. If Bryce lance doesn't make a circus catch. If if if

Yeah NDSU pretty much made every play they needed to when it counted and we didn't. Until we figure that out it'll be rinse and repeat.

[luckyirishguy25]

We were owned on both lines again. We have to figure that out to get over the hump.

Disagree

Disagree.

Elaborate. LB and safety for NDSU made multiple shoe string tackles keeping 4yd gains from being 20+. Pass design let Miller throw a few lobs quickly. Spread d line with no LB gave up only real long run play.

The o-line did better than the D line and they also did better in Run pro than pass pro. But the biggest difference in the game is Miller had all day to survey and throw. Tommy was running for his life all game. We did not control the LOS on either side of the ball.

[technoCat]

We were owned on both lines again. We have to figure that out to get over the hump.

Disagree

Disagree.

Elaborate. LB and safety for NDSU made multiple shoe string tackles keeping 4yd gains from being 20+. Pass design let Miller throw a few lobs quickly. Spread d line with no LB gave up only real long run play.

The o-line did better than the D line and they also did better in Run pro than pass pro. But the biggest difference in the game is Miller had all day to survey and throw. Tommy was running for his life all game. We did not control the LOS on either side of the ball.

Miller never needed all day. He knew where he was going pre-snap 90% of the time and it was always either a quick out/slant because we were giving a 10 yard cushion, or he was going to huck it up and let his guy go get it and they either did or got a pass interference. Really hard to judge our dlines impact given how quick he almost always got the ball out. I really don't understand going with the cheetah package on third and short either...

I don't want this to seem like I'm picking on him because he's leaving but Moore had a really bad game. He got beat multiple times on an inside spin move and forced Tommy out of the pocket early. As far as run-blocking, the holes were there but as I've mentioned in other places, they were stacking the box and the safeties were ALWAYS there to clean up. We needed to challenge them over the top early and waited far too long to do so and it made the job for the oline infinitely harder because they didn't have enough bodies to block everyone.

I would really be interested to see the coaches break down the tape and find out just how much of the perceived lack of impact of our lines was because of execution and how much was them just having a better scheme from the get-go and us not adapting fast enough.

[utucats]

I'm sorry but I put the loss squarely where it deserves to go: on Vigen. THe first half we were underprepared, outcoached and outplayed. The offense was WAY too conservative. Looked like they wanted to turn Touchdown Tommy into Fieldgoal Tommy. Going for it at midfield with two minutes to go in the first half was very risky because we were already down two TDs. We got the ball coming out of the second half. We didn't make it and NDSU went in and scored. So instead of being down 14-3 we were down 21-3. But my main complaint is the offensive play calling in the first half and not allowing Tommy loose with his throwing and running.

I'm sure our program will continue to be strong, but I don't know if we will have another chance like we had last night to get a national championship. It's a shame that Vigen played it so conservative the first half which is NOT how the Cats made it this far.

Vigen has hours and hours invested into making Tommy the dynamic all around QB he was this season. Sure, easy to second guess with the benefit of hindsight but that player that had such a great 2nd half is not self made. Fans do this. We are hurt because we didn’t get what we wanted so we look to assign blame and forget about all the good that went into even getting the opportunity. 95% of the time, Vigen is a great coach and 5% of the time he is human and his plans don’t work out exactly as he’d hope. I’ll take it.

[liqud360]

We won the toss...why didnt we take to the field first on offense as we have always done??

[4KornerKat]

We won the toss...why didnt we take to the field first on offense as we have always done??

We don't, we always defer when we win the toss. . . as do 99% of football teams.
When we get the ball first we have typically lost the toss.

[rivercat]

Oh and one other takeaway— NDSU fans are classless jerks. They started a chant while Alexander was down, injured right in front of their side. It’s so sad to me that the fan base who has experienced so much success acts like that.

Yep, that really pissed me off. I let some biSon fans in our section know it and they didn't have much to say. That was BS.

As Cat fans chant eat ****** bison...

[BleedingBLue]

Oh and one other takeaway— NDSU fans are classless jerks. They started a chant while Alexander was down, injured right in front of their side. It’s so sad to me that the fan base who has experienced so much success acts like that.

Yep, that really pissed me off. I let some biSon fans in our section know it and they didn't have much to say. That was BS.

As Cat fans chant eat ****** bison...

Yep, dont like that either. We're not doing it with an injured player down on our sideline though.