Bobcat Team Attitude

[catsrback76]

So, after processing how the season went and obviously how it ended, there has been many people scratching their heads and wondering how to respond going forward.

This year was built by going forward with a 1-0 attitude as a team. Let’s NOT get in front of ourselves and take each week as it’s own and play ONLY that team. In fact, take it 1 play at a time. Clearly a healthy attitude and approach…. HOWEVER…

I picked up something from Colter and Brooks Nuanez in there response to the Natty result that I absolutely believe is more than just a point to make, but is a point of focus going forward.

Brooks made a point of saying that as he talked to Bobcats all through the stadium on gameday about the Cats taking down NDSU, that almost all responses that he got were, “well, yeah, I HOPE we play well and get the win, but you know it’s NDSU….”.

Okay, I get that you take every team seriously but to have a sense of “pause” when it comes to playing any team…is maybe a sign of a lack of confidence in who we are and how we’ll play. We HAD that very same attitude following the years of losing to the griz constantly UNTIL we beat them, and then started to win, and are now winning consistently when we play them. Now, it’s safe to say that we expect to beat the griz consistently!

But the mighty Bizon? Well???

Brooks made the point that the Bobcats may in fact did NOT expect to win, but hoped to win. And while it likely wasn’t a team wide attitude, Rylan Ortt didn’t play that way, Tommy didn’t, Marcus didn’t…but could it be that the coaches did???


I actually think he’s onto something that needs to be addressed from day 1 of this years prep. Brooks suggested that it’s time to trash the 1-0 mentality and replace it with a, “we’re better than everyone else and we will win because we’re a top program that has only 1-2 teams that will really we have a challenge from. the xdsu’s! NDSU has had our number, and won this year not because they were better, bigger, stronger, but because they expected to win…and we didn’t really attack this game with the attitude of WE, WILL, BEAT, NDSU. After getting down in the first half, conservative play calling, tentative and gambling calls made to “spark the team” cost us the game…but the 2nd half we played aggressively and we outscored and outplayed the Bizon. IF we’d have played even 1 quarter more we’d have won with that attitude.

So, this year, the attitude is, “BEAT the BISON!!! Everything else falls because of that attitude…


What say you?

[TomCat88]

That’s a great take. I’m not so sure about the NDSU side of it but the UM part is definitely accurate. As is the process.

I think things at MSU were so low and UM was so high and that’s why it took so long for the Bobcats to get to where they are vs UM, which is head and shoulders above. It took a lot of work because even when MSU pulled even there was still an entrenched fear or awe of them.

The Bison are similar but not as entrenched. A lot is made of MSU’s losing streak to NDSU but the 2010 game is so long ago and the 2018 and 2019 games were mere formalities. Similar to how losing to UM was like that for most of the 16 games. After MSU broke through and won 3 of 4 the Griz were still making deep playoff runs and MSU didn’t develop a persona of anything that would make it equal. Despite improving and hitting some milestones under Ash, it still didn’t accomplish catching and moving past UM until Choate got here and instilled a new mindset and Vigen cast it in stone. They basically solved the UM dilemma. The gap isn’t as big as it was when UM was on top but it’s big enough to move on to the next job at hand. Ndsu.

It really started with NDSU in 2021. Losing Mellott early made the outcome of that game much worse than it would’ve been and it kinda gave MSU a faint glimmer of hope but that was blasted away by the loss to sdsu the next year, which was actually a gift and key moment as it forced msu to change its mindset.

MSU is every bit as good as ndsu. The last two losses are mostly due to some fluky plays and circumstances. The attitude needs to be one of pressing forward. Avoid feeling snakebit and embrace feeling like you’re on the cusp of something great because no doubt they are. The entire university is in a place it’s never been and the athletic programs are in lockstep with that. MSU hasn’t just pulled away from UM but is also positioned much better than any of the schools on its borders sans Boise State.

[GoldstoneCat]

The obvious caveat: I'm just a fan and in no way does anything I say or think affect the football team. That said, I was outwardly confident all week, and i really did think we'd win. I thought we were 2 touchdowns better. But I still always had a little niggle in the back of my mind: these guys always beat us. Can we get over the hump? And I think they maybe are in our head to a degree. They're also either way better than i thought or played out of their minds. We had no answer for much of anything on defense for the first time all year, and that was due to both their scheme and them having excellent players. Lance and Miller were a nightmare and their line was great. But back to the OP, I think they probably are in our head and we have to beat them to get past it. Should have last year in Bozeman and fell apart. Hope we keep getting chances because that means we'll continue to be at the very top.

[kwcat]

So, after processing how the season went and obviously how it ended, there has been many people scratching their heads and wondering how to respond going forward.

This year was built by going forward with a 1-0 attitude as a team. Let’s NOT get in front of ourselves and take each week as it’s own and play ONLY that team. In fact, take it 1 play at a time. Clearly a healthy attitude and approach…. HOWEVER…

I picked up something from Colter and Brooks Nuanez in there response to the Natty result that I absolutely believe is more than just a point to make, but is a point of focus going forward.

Brooks made a point of saying that as he talked to Bobcats all through the stadium on gameday about the Cats taking down NDSU, that almost all responses that he got were, “well, yeah, I HOPE we play well and get the win, but you know it’s NDSU….”.

Okay, I get that you take every team seriously but to have a sense of “pause” when it comes to playing any team…is maybe a sign of a lack of confidence in who we are and how we’ll play. We HAD that very same attitude following the years of losing to the griz constantly UNTIL we beat them, and then started to win, and are now winning consistently when we play them. Now, it’s safe to say that we expect to beat the griz consistently!

But the mighty Bizon? Well???

Brooks made the point that the Bobcats may in fact did NOT expect to win, but hoped to win. And while it likely wasn’t a team wide attitude, Rylan Ortt didn’t play that way, Tommy didn’t, Marcus didn’t…but could it be that the coaches did???


I actually think he’s onto something that needs to be addressed from day 1 of this years prep. Brooks suggested that it’s time to trash the 1-0 mentality and replace it with a, “we’re better than everyone else and we will win because we’re a top program that has only 1-2 teams that will really we have a challenge from. the xdsu’s! NDSU has had our number, and won this year not because they were better, bigger, stronger, but because they expected to win…and we didn’t really attack this game with the attitude of WE, WILL, BEAT, NDSU. After getting down in the first half, conservative play calling, tentative and gambling calls made to “spark the team” cost us the game…but the 2nd half we played aggressively and we outscored and outplayed the Bizon. IF we’d have played even 1 quarter more we’d have won with that attitude.

So, this year, the attitude is, “BEAT the BISON!!! Everything else falls because of that attitude…


What say you?

Slight correction on who Brooks talked to… specifically administration and staff at MSU

[AFCAT]

I think the losses to NDSU prior to 2023 had to do more with NDSU being way better at football than the Cats were. In 2023 and at the Championship this year, the teams were even and NDSU came out on top, barely, both times. Lots of things went into Mondays loss, poor coaching decisions, bad defense, etc., but not attitude.
Someone is just trying to fill up time on a sports show.

[RootinfortheCats]

I think this take is overplayed. The admin could have been really confident, but they were giving deserved respect to a tough opponent when speaking to a sports journalist.

If you think the Bison Admin weren’t worried the Cats would win you’re nuts.

The Cats coached and played a bad half at a bad time. If that isn’t something the coaches and players can learn and improve from, it’s time for them to move on from competitive sports. This close NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP loss could and should be a motivator.

Time to suck it up and get to work. It’s a new season. That goes for coaches, players, and us fans. Do what you can. Support the NIL. Support the QB club. Show your support for the program with logo gear. Reach out to players, coaches and Admin and let them know you support them and the program.

This was likely the best Cats team ever. Next year’s could be even better.

Next play.

[MSU01]

I think the losses to NDSU prior to 2023 had to do more with NDSU being way better at football than the Cats were. In 2023 and at the Championship this year, the teams were even and NDSU came out on top, barely, both times. Lots of things went into Mondays loss, poor coaching decisions, bad defense, etc., but not attitude.
Someone is just trying to fill up time on a sports show.

Yeah, this to me is not something to overthink and over-analyze. Two great teams played each other and not surprisingly, the margin of victory was 3 points and one or two plays going the other way, or one particular coaching decision working out could have changed the outcome. That's what most of us expected going in and unfortunately MSU came out on the wrong end of it. I don't think 'attitude' had anything to do with what actually happened on the field.

[nanacat]

I think this take is overplayed. The admin could have been really confident, but they were giving deserved respect to a tough opponent when speaking to a sports journalist.

If you think the Bison Admin weren’t worried the Cats would win you’re nuts.

The Cats coached and played a bad half at a bad time. If that isn’t something the coaches and players can learn and improve from, it’s time for them to move on from competitive sports. This close NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP loss could and should be a motivator.

Time to suck it up and get to work. It’s a new season. That goes for coaches, players, and us fans. Do what you can. Support the NIL. Support the QB club. Show your support for the program with logo gear. Reach out to players, coaches and Admin and let them know you support them and the program.

This was likely the best Cats team ever. Next year’s could be even better.

Next play.

[PapaG]

Slight correction on who Brooks talked to… specifically administration and staff at MSU

I was wondering which players would be saying that on gameday.

Makes more sense now. I felt the same as them going into the game, but I don’t think my opinion of NDSU had any impact on how the players went out on the field or their effort.

NDSU’s lines got the Cats a bit shook early. The Bobcats adjusted nicely and with the final stats, it’s as close as two teams can be by the end of the game. More time left and my guess is Rommy gets the winning TD drive. That didn’t happen and the Bison won a well-fought game with no excuses or blame. Great game and worthy of ESPn prime time Monday night.

[Bobcat Sig]

Maybe? Maybe not.

What I do know, and what I ask, do not - ever - spell biSon with a Z. Just because those window-lickers are unwilling to correctly pronounce bison, doesn’t mean that we need to perpetuate such a dumb thing.

[aucat]

From my view we had a better team than NDSU. Not by a lot but we were better. The Bobcat team that we saw in the first half was NOT the Bobcat team we had watched all year. We were underprepared, outcoached and outplayed, in that order. THAT, I do not understand. Going for it on 4th and 5 from midfield, already down 14-3, with two minutes left in the half, and the fact that we would receive the ball to open the second half was a really bad decision. That one coaching decision may have cost the Cats the game.

The second half is the Bobcat team we watched all year. I think if we played NDSU again next week we would beat them by two TDs.

What is so sad to me is, this was out best chance to end the 40 year National Championship drought and we did not give it four quarters of our best shot. It was two quarters. But the bottom line is, NDSU won. Credit to them. They might have been more highly motivated as I'm sure they were sick of hearing about 15-0 and Tommy (especially with him winning the award over Miller.)

Next year is another chapter. Who knows how it will play out? But I'm confident our program is strong going forward. Getting to the FCS championship game is not an easy accomplishment however.

[catsrback76]

So, after processing how the season went and obviously how it ended, there has been many people scratching their heads and wondering how to respond going forward.

This year was built by going forward with a 1-0 attitude as a team. Let’s NOT get in front of ourselves and take each week as it’s own and play ONLY that team. In fact, take it 1 play at a time. Clearly a healthy attitude and approach…. HOWEVER…

I picked up something from Colter and Brooks Nuanez in there response to the Natty result that I absolutely believe is more than just a point to make, but is a point of focus going forward.

Brooks made a point of saying that as he talked to Bobcats all through the stadium on gameday about the Cats taking down NDSU, that almost all responses that he got were, “well, yeah, I HOPE we play well and get the win, but you know it’s NDSU….”.

Okay, I get that you take every team seriously but to have a sense of “pause” when it comes to playing any team…is maybe a sign of a lack of confidence in who we are and how we’ll play. We HAD that very same attitude following the years of losing to the griz constantly UNTIL we beat them, and then started to win, and are now winning consistently when we play them. Now, it’s safe to say that we expect to beat the griz consistently!

But the mighty Bizon? Well???

Brooks made the point that the Bobcats may in fact did NOT expect to win, but hoped to win. And while it likely wasn’t a team wide attitude, Rylan Ortt didn’t play that way, Tommy didn’t, Marcus didn’t…but could it be that the coaches did???


I actually think he’s onto something that needs to be addressed from day 1 of this years prep. Brooks suggested that it’s time to trash the 1-0 mentality and replace it with a, “we’re better than everyone else and we will win because we’re a top program that has only 1-2 teams that will really we have a challenge from. the xdsu’s! NDSU has had our number, and won this year not because they were better, bigger, stronger, but because they expected to win…and we didn’t really attack this game with the attitude of WE, WILL, BEAT, NDSU. After getting down in the first half, conservative play calling, tentative and gambling calls made to “spark the team” cost us the game…but the 2nd half we played aggressively and we outscored and outplayed the Bizon. IF we’d have played even 1 quarter more we’d have won with that attitude.

So, this year, the attitude is, “BEAT the BISON!!! Everything else falls because of that attitude…


What say you?

Slight correction on who Brooks talked to… specifically administration and staff at MSU

Yeah, I take that correction. After reading what I wrote it certainly did sound like the team had that attitude. Brooks reference was from people in Bobcat Nation (admin, fans etc) and he mentioned all save Bill Kolar who said, “yeah we’re going to rip them up”… had pause.

My take is that MOMENTUM is a funny thing, it ebbs and flows…and it’s not about physicality as much as it’s that something “extra”. What is it? Confidence, passion, enthusiasm that is just a notch above the other team. Grab it and a win is likely, lose it and loss can be as well. When entering a game against… say Northern Colorado, nobody expects a loss which is no disrespect to them but it is history and expectation and then execution. BUT, the opposite may be working in the heads of “The Nation”…even as we know we’re close/even to NDSU, we’ve not beaten them in a long time and the mystique is real.

I’m saying, this year, trash the mystique…crush the BISON and beat everyone else in between!!! I expect them to be there at the end of the season…and I expect us to be there to crush them!

[liqud360]

Will Vigen be doing a presser here soon? Will the QB club be meeting and have some good questions ready to ask? Or, is this all delayed now till Fall?

[AFCAT]

Will Vigen be doing a presser here soon? Will the QB club be meeting and have some good questions ready to ask? Or, is this all delayed now till Fall?

There was an email that went out a few days ago about a possible QB club meeting.

[4KornerKat]

Will Vigen be doing a presser here soon? Will the QB club be meeting and have some good questions ready to ask? Or, is this all delayed now till Fall?

If nothing else I'd think there will be a signing day press conference in early February.

[onceacat]

The obvious caveat: I'm just a fan and in no way does anything I say or think affect the football team. That said, I was outwardly confident all week, and i really did think we'd win. I thought we were 2 touchdowns better. But I still always had a little niggle in the back of my mind: these guys always beat us. Can we get over the hump? And I think they maybe are in our head to a degree. They're also either way better than i thought or played out of their minds. We had no answer for much of anything on defense for the first time all year, and that was due to both their scheme and them having excellent players. Lance and Miller were a nightmare and their line was great. But back to the OP, I think they probably are in our head and we have to beat them to get past it. Should have last year in Bozeman and fell apart. Hope we keep getting chances because that means we'll continue to be at the very top.

MSU is stacked with dudes & coaches that are as good or better than their peers at NDSU.

But for whatever reason (and I think posters are getting close to it) EVERY single Bizen outplayed every single Cat. Cam Miller played a vastly better game than Tommy, our RBs went down on shoestring tackles multiple times, Rohan dropped a bunch of easy catches, etc...

(Caveat, I think maybe Ortt is the exception)

These teams are pretty closely matched, although I agree that the Cats in theory are a 1 score better team....just failed to execute (mostly in the 1st half) at every single position group & thats the 3 point difference. I think the 2nd half Cat team was more what I expected...put two halfs together like that & this is a 3 score game.

[Herd]

Really great game. High respect for your players and Coaches. Really respect Vigen, and I’m sure we’ll play again soon. 2 closely matched teams.

I’ve been on the losing end of a few big games. Playing the, were the better team card is something I haven’t tried. It’s pretty weak, for the record. But as long as it makes you feel good, cause it’s all about your feelings.

I think a lot of your fans say, we’re the better team, we were 15-0. Well, you played a Big Sky schedule, and you didn’t play Colorado. With our schedule, your not 15-0, just the way it is.

[catscat]

I don't know about any other fans, but I, as a fan, have adopted the attitude that I expect the Bobcats to win every game and have confidence that they will. I believe the team is already there. If all us fans have that expectation, it can only help the team, knowing we have that confidence in them.

[liqud360]

Really great game. High respect for your players and Coaches. Really respect Vigen, and I’m sure we’ll play again soon. 2 closely matched teams.

I’ve been on the losing end of a few big games. Playing the, were the better team card is something I haven’t tried. It’s pretty weak, for the record. But as long as it makes you feel good, cause it’s all about your feelings.

I think a lot of your fans say, we’re the better team, we were 15-0. Well, you played a Big Sky schedule, and you didn’t play Colorado. With our schedule, your not 15-0, just the way it is.

Wrong

[RootinfortheCats]

Really great game. High respect for your players and Coaches. Really respect Vigen, and I’m sure we’ll play again soon. 2 closely matched teams.

I’ve been on the losing end of a few big games. Playing the, were the better team card is something I haven’t tried. It’s pretty weak, for the record. But as long as it makes you feel good, cause it’s all about your feelings.

I think a lot of your fans say, we’re the better team, we were 15-0. Well, you played a Big Sky schedule, and you didn’t play Colorado. With our schedule, your not 15-0, just the way it is.

Well, sometimes the better team just has a bad game … or just a bad half even.

I mean, do you really think USD is a better team than NDSU? I don’t.

Your team won the game. Got the trophy for the tenth time. If you want to boost your feelings by spending your time on this board taking a victory lap … ok I guess.