The Bobcat Nation

Good Recruiting article in the Chronicle.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articl ... otball.txt

That is a good summary of where we are right now. I was especially disappointed to see that Jimmy Beal is looking to transfer.

That should save us at least a dumb penaly or two each game not to mention the occasional fumble when he did get to handle the ball.

I thought that there was a ton of information in this article. Dumas did a very good job of breaking everythng down by position.

Does anyone know why Sherman is leaving? The coaching staff seemed to be pretty high on him last spring/summer. This really surprised me.

Jimmy Beall seems like a nice enough kid, but he really made one bonehead play after another.

I know Alley leaving is old news, but has anyone heard exactly why he is leaving?

Rick Coppack as a receiver?? I thought that was VERY intersting. He sounds like quite an athlete.

CATS MAJOR WEAKNESS ... DL DL DL DL DL DL DL ... we need 2-3 players/transfers I think or drop downs on our DL. We absolutely have no competitive/big guys depth in that spot. It may be easier to find a guard on the OL and then move Birkland/Saucedo back to DL??? Kramer knows what those guys can do the best though I guess. I really see our DL lacking overall this year until we can get some guys to fill those holes. Koffe might be a good one too.

Yea the Coppack at WR comments surprised me as well. I would assume it is a depth chart thing and he must be a good enough athlete that they want to get him on the field wherever they can. I think that is what they tried with Beal and we all know how well that worked out. Let's hope things go a lot better for Rick.

After talking to many of the EWU faithful, the main complaint they had with coach was (and is) the way he moves the qbs he brings in; their primary example is Jon Kitna who you'll remember left EWU for Western Washington (?) and Erickson brought him to the SewageHawks because Kitna was his nephews roomy? Am I talking about the correct qb? Anyway, aren't both Barnhart and now Coppick going to have to do the same thing he's done with Rick Gatewood? It's really hard to take a kid and teach him how to catch a ball if they didn't start out as a receiver and then learn qb in high school.

Not sure if I'm following what you just said (was it positive or negative??), but it seems like Gatewood turned out alright. I thought that Barnhart was a Tight End in high school...am I missing something?

Cat Grad wrote:After talking to many of the EWU faithful, the main complaint they had with coach was (and is) the way he moves the qbs he brings in; their primary example is Jon Kitna who you'll remember left EWU for Western Washington (?) and Erickson brought him to the SewageHawks because Kitna was his nephews roomy? Am I talking about the correct qb? Anyway, aren't both Barnhart and now Coppick going to have to do the same thing he's done with Rick Gatewood? It's really hard to take a kid and teach him how to catch a ball if they didn't start out as a receiver and then learn qb in high school.

Gatewood was a QB?

If Coppack is going to be the 3rd string QB, I don't see any problem with looking at him at WR.

Do you think the Coppack wr talk has to do with this being his third year coming up? To be a solid third string his third year and coaches wanting him to stay, it might be a way of keeping him here and giving him a reason to stay. He's actually a pretty good quarterback and will be very much needed if not to compete for the first string job at least as a backup the year after Travis leaves. Are there any rumors even of a young qb coming in?

MSU01 wrote:If Coppack is going to be the 3rd string QB, I don't see any problem with looking at him at WR.

Exactly. If he's good enough to play football, and Rick is willing to do whatever it takes to get on the field....good move by both parties. Any word on Tyler Lulay playing at the wideout position?

Neither postitive nor negative; just observation and I hope we won't need immediate help at any positions next year.

Cat Pride wrote:

MSU01 wrote:If Coppack is going to be the 3rd string QB, I don't see any problem with looking at him at WR.

Exactly. If he's good enough to play football, and Rick is willing to do whatever it takes to get on the field....good move by both parties. Any word on Tyler Lulay playing at the wideout position?

I don't think any of last year's freshmen are on the depth charts right now. Coach wouldn't want to pencil them in and then have them fail. He would rather recruit an experienced player and then have the Tyler Lulay's and Wesley Mauia's surprise him and earn a starting position.

Makes sense. Not many kids can get stuck out there and not feel that stress, especially if you've got everybody in the stadium telling you what to do and how you screwed up the last play...instead of repeating over and over to just play the next play...

CARDIAC_CATS wrote:CATS MAJOR WEAKNESS ... DL DL DL DL DL DL DL ... we need 2-3 players/transfers I think or drop downs on our DL. We absolutely have no competitive/big guys depth in that spot. It may be easier to find a guard on the OL and then move Birkland/Saucedo back to DL??? Kramer knows what those guys can do the best though I guess. I really see our DL lacking overall this year until we can get some guys to fill those holes. Koffe might be a good one too.

And it would appear that the O-line is solid and has some depth. Chris Smith comes to mind. I think he's slated for the O but he played D-line in the shrine game and looked like an animal out there. Any word on his status?