The Bobcat Nation

Based on last night's performance against a Big 12 team it would seem that the Bobcats are going to be good.

But there's an old addage in sports that one tends to play to the level of one's competition. Nothing could be more indicative of that than 2002 when MSU went to Pullman, Washington to take on the highly ranked Washington State Cougars. With Tyler Thomas at the helm and Ryan Johnson in the backfield MSU marched down the field and took a 7-0 lead. The Bobcats played tough all day-even knocking out WSU's highly touted quarterback Jason Gesser. But WSU's superior speed in special teams, and an untimely fumble by Johnson deep in WSU territory spelled MSU's undoing. But as we were leaving Martin Stadium several Cougar fans commented to me about our quarterback and how good he was-and truely Tyler Thomas was impressive on that day.

A week or so later-MSU plays a good D-II Central Washington team on homecoming-and get's their butts kicked. Tyler Thomas was pulled late in the game and never saw the field again that season.

This next week is huge in the evolution of this football team. Do they go into next week against a rebuilding Stephen F. Austin team and take them lightly-feeling good about what they almost accomplished in Stillwater, or do they push that much hard to get better, clean up the silly mistakes they made against OSU, and make a statement with a decisive win. Time will tell. One thing different from that 2002 season-I don't expect Travis Lulay to have to get pulled in fourth quarter for a poor performance-no way!

That's something Kramer brought out in the post game show. He said that it's up to him and his coaching ability to make sure that there's improvement and no let down.

Good points guys. If this team is truly special and can be as good as we all hope, they have to have a different mindset than previous Bobcat teams. we have to get past this "being ranked" bugaboo and get better each week.

That said, I have a good feeling, mostly because of No. 14. Travis is not just a great QB physically. He is truly the definition of a leader. Last year's collapse will not be forgotten by him or people like Mac, etc, and that may make us that much better this year inm the end.

The next 3 weeks will tell a lot about thid team. I expect a super crowd for SFA next Saturday. If the Cats can't get exciteed about their first home game in front of a rabid crowd, we may be overly excited about this team. But I expect we will see some nervousness early due to being a bit too jacked, then they will settle down and play to their potential. I really can't wait until Saturday!!!