Takeaways

[BobcatDel]

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.

I hobnobbed with plenty of very classy NDSU fans, before, during, and after the game. Too broad a brush to make a statement like that.

I have quite a few ND personal friends…. Great folks. But I agree the chant when Alexander was down in their bench area was “classless jerks”.

[GoCats18]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

[Bobcat Sig]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

Heh, I sure hope not. Despite a massive rebuild, the griz got the nod this year, no?

We’ll be starting a new QB, a few portal losses, and some graduations - perhaps that drops us to second or third in the preseason conference rankings…

[Bobcat Sig]

The other takeaways - which we were likely mentioned here or elsewhere - top-seeded, undefeated teams from the west, in the playoffs, wasn’t their year. Undefeated into or deep in the playoffs is a heavy crown. Neither the Cats nor the Ducks could hold the crown up for that long. And it sucks.

[aucat]

Four things stand out: 1. Cam Miller killed us with his quick passing. He recognized the soft cushion we were giving him and totally exploited it.
2. The NDSU WR Lance played a great game. The best WR we saw all year. He made some huge plays.
3. Vigen wanted to run the damn ball. Who doesn't? But it took him too long to recognize that it wasn't working and he needed to spread the field and use Tommy's running and arm more.
4. Vigen made a critical error in going for it on 4th and 5 from midfield with two minutes left in the half, ESPECIALLY since we received to open the second half. Even the announcers said at the time that the ESPN analytics predicted a low probablity of success. If Brendon had punted it down inside the 15 yard line there is a high probability that we would have gone to half down 14-3 or at the WORST 17-3 instead of being down 21-3. This one call alone may have cost us the game.
Despite all of this we came within three points.

[Monymony]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

I don’t see another team to vote for though. Sac maybe just because of the tons of FBS kids pouring in. But the Eck gone I think the conference is going to be weak.

[jaquelethargic]

Four things stand out: 1. Cam Miller killed us with his quick passing. He recognized the soft cushion we were giving him and totally exploited it.
2. The NDSU WR Lance played a great game. The best WR we saw all year. He made some huge plays.
3. Vigen wanted to run the damn ball. Who doesn't? But it took him too long to recognize that it wasn't working and he needed to spread the field and use Tommy's running and arm more.
4. Vigen made a critical error in going for it on 4th and 5 from midfield with two minutes left in the half, ESPECIALLY since we received to open the second half. Even the announcers said at the time that the ESPN analytics predicted a low probablity of success. If Brendon had punted it down inside the 15 yard line there is a high probability that we would have gone to half down 14-3 or at the WORST 17-3 instead of being down 21-3. This one call alone may have cost us the game.
Despite all of this we came within three points.

I don’t fault for going for it on 4th, but dont play prevent on the ensuing possession. NDSU was able to just pick their way down with all three timeouts.

I thought they played the field position perfectly all game. In hindsight, when they punted on 4th and 1 looked good but during the game I thought this is where it happens. Nope, 3 and out.

[GoCats18]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

I don’t see another team to vote for though. Sac maybe just because of the tons of FBS kids pouring in. But the Eck gone I think the conference is going to be weak.

I think UC Davis could get #1. If you look back over the last several years, I don’t remember once when the team picked to win the conference actually won the conference.

[Bocephus]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

I don’t see another team to vote for though. Sac maybe just because of the tons of FBS kids pouring in. But the Eck gone I think the conference is going to be weak.

I think UC Davis could get #1. If you look back over the last several years, I don’t remember once when the team picked to win the conference actually won the conference.

Everybody knows the gris are preseason champs! Haven’t you heard about their QB transfer?!

[91catAlum]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

I don’t see another team to vote for though. Sac maybe just because of the tons of FBS kids pouring in. But the Eck gone I think the conference is going to be weak.

I think UC Davis could get #1. If you look back over the last several years, I don’t remember once when the team picked to win the conference actually won the conference.

Everybody knows the gris are preseason champs! Haven’t you heard about their QB transfer?!

No I haven't. Is he as good as Vidlak and McDowell and Fife?

[Bocephus]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

I don’t see another team to vote for though. Sac maybe just because of the tons of FBS kids pouring in. But the Eck gone I think the conference is going to be weak.

I think UC Davis could get #1. If you look back over the last several years, I don’t remember once when the team picked to win the conference actually won the conference.

Everybody knows the gris are preseason champs! Haven’t you heard about their QB transfer?!

No I haven't. Is he as good as Vidlak and McDowell and Fife?

I'm told he came from the same school as Caleb Williams, sooooo, probably a number 1 draft pick.

[TomCat88]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

They almost always pick the previous winner to win it and the previous winner isn’t the best team returning or has a tough schedule or suffers debilitating injuries. Very little thought is put into it and it’s also hard to do. MSU will be picked to win it.

[Monymony]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

I don’t see another team to vote for though. Sac maybe just because of the tons of FBS kids pouring in. But the Eck gone I think the conference is going to be weak.

I think UC Davis could get #1. If you look back over the last several years, I don’t remember once when the team picked to win the conference actually won the conference.

They lost Lan and Hastings I thought. That should leave a big hole to fill

[onceacat]

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.

I'm not sure who makes the decisions (OC or HC) but under Vigen there are some real head scratchers. The team has long stretches of super conservative play calling...then they throw in some high risk/low reward plays.

Dan Cambell would have gone for it-so I don't mind the call-but then he would have followed up the miss by bringing pressure & trying to force Miller into a mistake instead of going into a prevent-style D with 90 seconds & 2 time outs only needed 20 or so yards to be in field goal range.

If you are going to roll the dice & make high risk calls....then make high risk/high reward calls consistently. Not just weird calls at inopportune times.

[onceacat]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

Heh, I sure hope not. Despite a massive rebuild, the griz got the nod this year, no?

We’ll be starting a new QB, a few portal losses, and some graduations - perhaps that drops us to second or third in the preseason conference rankings…

If you had a vote, who would you put above the Cats? UM was pretty mediocre & lost a lot of their best players. The entire Idaho program is decimated. Davis? Without Hastings & Larison?

Sure, someone is going to have a breakout year, but out of the 4 BSC playoff teams, MSU lost by far the least & has more depth to backfill dudes like Humphry & Tommy than anyone else in the conference, maybe in all FCS.

[KIX]

Four things stand out: 1. Cam Miller killed us with his quick passing. He recognized the soft cushion we were giving him and totally exploited it.
2. The NDSU WR Lance played a great game. The best WR we saw all year. He made some huge plays.
3. Vigen wanted to run the damn ball. Who doesn't? But it took him too long to recognize that it wasn't working and he needed to spread the field and use Tommy's running and arm more.
4. Vigen made a critical error in going for it on 4th and 5 from midfield with two minutes left in the half, ESPECIALLY since we received to open the second half. Even the announcers said at the time that the ESPN analytics predicted a low probablity of success. If Brendon had punted it down inside the 15 yard line there is a high probability that we would have gone to half down 14-3 or at the WORST 17-3 instead of being down 21-3. This one call alone may have cost us the game.
Despite all of this we came within three points.

Even with Miller recognizing our soft cushions that could have been overcome. IMO, the two things that hurt us the most were the defensive debacle that led to the 64 yard Miller run and not playing high safety help on Lance (Polidore). Our CB's were on an island for all his big catches. I guess I'd shade to his side and let the CB on Nelson one-on-one. Hindsight...

[TomCat88]

MSU struggled in short yardage plays all year. Had 2+ weeks to put in some kind of qb sneak or tushpush or heavy backfield play and didn’t do it. The third and 3 from the 14 would’ve been a great time to have that play. Hadn’t shown it all year so NDSU would’ve been caught off guard.

The defensive gaffe on long TD run.

The coaching gaffe at halftime.

The hitched incomplete bad pass to Rohan.

The missed onside kick recovery.

The inability to stay away from the RBs running on back to back plays.

[LTown Cat]

Four things stand out: 1. Cam Miller killed us with his quick passing. He recognized the soft cushion we were giving him and totally exploited it.
2. The NDSU WR Lance played a great game. The best WR we saw all year. He made some huge plays.
3. Vigen wanted to run the damn ball. Who doesn't? But it took him too long to recognize that it wasn't working and he needed to spread the field and use Tommy's running and arm more.
4. Vigen made a critical error in going for it on 4th and 5 from midfield with two minutes left in the half, ESPECIALLY since we received to open the second half. Even the announcers said at the time that the ESPN analytics predicted a low probablity of success. If Brendon had punted it down inside the 15 yard line there is a high probability that we would have gone to half down 14-3 or at the WORST 17-3 instead of being down 21-3. This one call alone may have cost us the game.
Despite all of this we came within three points.

Even with Miller recognizing our soft cushions that could have been overcome. IMO, the two things that hurt us the most were the defensive debacle that led to the 64 yard Miller run and not playing high safety help on Lance (Polidore). Our CB's were on an island for all his big catches. I guess I'd shade to his side and let the CB on Nelson one-on-one. Hindsight...

I would've loved to see Lance actually beating a CB more often rather than just handing him 8-10 yards unchallenged.

[Joe Bobcat]

I just hope we aren’t picked to win the Big Sky Conference next season. That thing is a curse to the team that is picked to win it.

I don’t see another team to vote for though. Sac maybe just because of the tons of FBS kids pouring in. But the Eck gone I think the conference is going to be weak.

I think UC Davis could get #1. If you look back over the last several years, I don’t remember once when the team picked to win the conference actually won the conference.

They lost Lan and Hastings I thought. That should leave a big hole to fill

If the Bobcats appear to be the best team I have no problem with us being picked to take first place in the BSC. Yeah that may seem crazy to laugh in the face of the 1st place curse but some team some day is going to break that so why not us why not now. If the Cats were picked 1st and ended up 1st, the fact of breaking that curse might give the team confidence to break the curse that NDSU has also been.

[KIX]

Four things stand out: 1. Cam Miller killed us with his quick passing. He recognized the soft cushion we were giving him and totally exploited it.
2. The NDSU WR Lance played a great game. The best WR we saw all year. He made some huge plays.
3. Vigen wanted to run the damn ball. Who doesn't? But it took him too long to recognize that it wasn't working and he needed to spread the field and use Tommy's running and arm more.
4. Vigen made a critical error in going for it on 4th and 5 from midfield with two minutes left in the half, ESPECIALLY since we received to open the second half. Even the announcers said at the time that the ESPN analytics predicted a low probablity of success. If Brendon had punted it down inside the 15 yard line there is a high probability that we would have gone to half down 14-3 or at the WORST 17-3 instead of being down 21-3. This one call alone may have cost us the game.
Despite all of this we came within three points.

Even with Miller recognizing our soft cushions that could have been overcome. IMO, the two things that hurt us the most were the defensive debacle that led to the 64 yard Miller run and not playing high safety help on Lance (Polidore). Our CB's were on an island for all his big catches. I guess I'd shade to his side and let the CB on Nelson one-on-one. Hindsight...

I would've loved to see Lance actually beating a CB more often rather than just handing him 8-10 yards unchallenged.

I guess he got the best of both worlds....Cam Miller pass complete to Bryce Lance for 14 yds to the MTST 43 for a 1ST down. Cam Miller pass complete to Bryce Lance for 39 yds to the MTST 2 for a 1ST down. Cam Miller pass complete to Bryce Lance for 18 yds to the MTST 48 for a 1ST down.