WIU at Montana State (8/30/2018)

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sealhall74
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Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2014 1:18 pm
Location: Wherever, Windblows

Wind has really kicked up. Gusts around 25 to 30mph. Special teams and passing game will be affected big time if it stays like this.

Walked thru student union. They have a theatre or something named the Procrastination Theatre. I would have fit right in here.

Update: wind is not that bad inside stadium. Most of it blocked by the tall stands on west side.
Embrace the pace of the race.
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ST_Lawson
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Lakesbison
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Joined: Fri May 23, 2014 4:09 pm

Lets go Necks!!

GO Missouri Valley!
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dustinthorn93
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Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2017 8:04 pm

The missed PAT and FG early in the game killed us. That and long returns. Should have won that one. Honestly, I'm just glad WIU football is back though! Gotta get ready for the Illini next week!
WIU2DC
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Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2015 3:31 pm

dustinthorn93 wrote:The missed PAT and FG early in the game killed us. That and long returns. Should have won that one. Honestly, I'm just glad WIU football is back though! Gotta get ready for the Illini next week!

My quick assessment is this

1. O-Line had a decent first game. We had two or three sacks but overall our run game was probably 3-4 yards a carry.

2. Defense is pretty good and played well. Mobile QBs may be our downfall.

3. Where were our WR’s? I am walking out of the Bobcat stadium right now but I would put money on our WRs betting under 100 yards together. Our pass offense was only there because of our TE and RB.

And finally, we should have won by at least ten. I’m hoping this is a wake up call because our remaining non-conference games will be better teams.


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sealhall74
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Location: Wherever, Windblows

After 3 qtrs, the score was tied at 20. We opened the 4th with possesion of the ball and when all was said and done in the quarter, we were negative yardage on the ground. That ain't going to win many ball games. Also thought our clock management near end of game was not the best. Seemed like we let a minute or minute and half slip away by spending too much time in huddle. That last drive, we should have called mutiple plays and run in no-huddle fashion. IIRC, they went to no-huddle earlier in the 2nd half and seemed to make it work to their benefit.

Also at end of 1st half, we did have that urgency to score. That one surprised me as I thought we run out the clock. That ended costing us 3 with the turnover.

Give a lot of credit to the MSU crowd. They were into from the beginning to the end. Very tough environment.
Embrace the pace of the race.
wiu712
Posts: 6864
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 2:05 pm

From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle:

Bobcats show important defensive improvements in season-opening win.
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/s ... b4ebe.html

Andersen’s second-half spark spurs Bobcats’ season-opening win.
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/s ... ning%20win

Attendance at Montana State = 18,507.
letsgonecks
Posts: 980
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 6:19 am

They stepped up and we didn't, but we should have won that game. We miss an extra point and long field goal and they made 2 long field goals and that's the difference.

I like the aggressiveness at the end of the half and with Sean not typically making mistakes it made sense, but costs us 3 points. Not a fan of the late 3rd quarter 3rd and short wheel route, when our line was still doing a good job clearing space. The youthfulness of the OL showed late in the game, with penalties and missed blocks. The last drive when we had short yardage and ran a trap, it looked like the left guard didn't get to the next level and the pulling guard ran right into him. Needed to convert there and might have been the difference in the game.

I'm sure they were focusing on Saunders, but he was no where and the quick pace had him dragging. A few times he wasn't even down at the snap and wasn't making any push. Moon was quite and made me really miss Taylor, but pretty sure they'll both be huge for us this year.

I'm sure the holding calls on those big plays called back might have helped the yardage, but those really hurt. It's tough to hold blocks on jet sweeps and screens when you're not sure which way they're going to cut it up, but need to do a better job of not holding on and just let the play happen.

Like I said before, I really missed Taylor, but not as much as I missed Acklin and Lenior in years past. Nice to have plenty of go to options in backs in the passing game, but nothing from the WR's. Maybe it's partly having a young OL, but we need to be able to push it down field through the air with our receivers.

Saw plenty of potential last night in this team, but very disappointed in the outcome. They'll learn and grow stronger from it and will need it moving through this tough schedule.
DriscollCat
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Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 2:34 pm

Great game guys. Your boys really came to play.

Trust me when I say that you guys faced a much better team (barring passing game) than anyone thought we were.

The speed of your defense is going to be huge for you guys this year. As many points as we got, we really didn't get a lot of yards, and we have freak speed at a few offensive positions that you guys kept pretty much quiet.

Thanks for the credit to the crowd. We pride ourselves on showing out for the team.

Another thing, our pass rush is completely revamped from last year and they did just what we thought they would do. Your veteran QB (and O-line) will look much better when you are not facing our FBS level guys.
Leatherneck177
Posts: 70
Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 7:02 pm

So either MSU played one of their better halfs or football in quite some time or the Necks might have a pretty challenging year. Is it just me or did anyone feel like last year's squad would have put up 35+ on this team? Obviously we are breaking in some new guys in roles, but it just felt lacking...and the fourth quarter play calling seemed really conservative while MSU seemed to really open it up in the second half.

OLine - good run block at times, pass block not so great, seemed to always be pressured on the blind side.
DLine - not bad, although pass rush wasn't very strong...perhaps they hung back to read the running QB.
Secondary - seemed OK, although I'm not sure why we didn't adjust on the bubble screens and short routes? QB obviously could not throw a deep ball.
Special Teams - kicking didn't bother me, tackling and covering the punts/kick offs did.

With that being said, some new good faces on both sides of the ball. There is potential on the team. I thought Illinois was winnable, now not so sure about that. Montana is an absolute must.

Hoping for 7-4 this year, that should get it done playoff wise....but I could also see a 5-6 season coming our way as well if last night's trends continue.
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