The Bobcat Nation

BleedingBLue wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 8:39 pm

Similar to 21, having our best DT healthy would have helped.

VimSince03 wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 8:58 pm

BleedingBLue wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 8:39 pm

Similar to 21, having our best DT healthy would have helped.

Felt Dowler and Danny would've been helped more but at the end of the day it was Miller and Lance making clutch plays when needed.

Monymony wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 6:44 pm

We didn’t quite control the LOS the way I thought we would. I still think we need to get a bit better. The most frustrating thing is we need to find a way to keep big guys at our program. If we had Aigbedion, Valdez, etc. hard to not think we win, at least in the trenches. NDSU and SDSU have kept them around thanks to winning or having local kids. Seems like the Dakotas produce more big nasty kids than Montana imo. To finally get the big ring we need to find a way to keep some dudes around.

mslacatfan wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 9:12 pm

That is all I have been thinking about……

What if Valdez, Omar and Reimer were still here.

It’s hard for me not to feel bitter about their decision to leave…. I bet we win yesterday had they stayed in bozeman.

91catAlum wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 10:03 pm

Blame the system which currently has no guard rails nor any enforced punishment for player tampering. I hate it too and hope that changes will be made soon. Perhaps player contracts with buy-outs or something. And big fines for contacting players not in the portal. Just spitballing.

BLACKnBLUEnGOLD wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 3:53 am

91catAlum wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 10:03 pm

Blame the system which currently has no guard rails nor any enforced punishment for player tampering. I hate it too and hope that changes will be made soon. Perhaps player contracts with buy-outs or something. And big fines for contacting players not in the portal. Just spitballing.

"Guard rails" for whom? Who exactly would they be protecting? Omar was honorable mention all-conference, Sebastian started every game, and Rush started all but one. Rush gets a degree from a more prestigious school and Omar moved much closer to home. Plus, they got some money so they can start life after college with some savings instead of broke. None of those guys were misled into a bad situation by a coach who just wanted a body for the third string.

91catAlum wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 8:01 am

BLACKnBLUEnGOLD wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 3:53 am

91catAlum wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 10:03 pm

Blame the system which currently has no guard rails nor any enforced punishment for player tampering. I hate it too and hope that changes will be made soon. Perhaps player contracts with buy-outs or something. And big fines for contacting players not in the portal. Just spitballing.

"Guard rails" for whom? Who exactly would they be protecting? Omar was honorable mention all-conference, Sebastian started every game, and Rush started all but one. Rush gets a degree from a more prestigious school and Omar moved much closer to home. Plus, they got some money so they can start life after college with some savings instead of broke. None of those guys were misled into a bad situation by a coach who just wanted a body for the third string.

Odd that you deleted 1 sentence out of my 6- sentence post that stated I don't blame the players at all. Why is that, I wonder??

Guard rails would be protecting college sports themselves, as well as the student-athletes. It should be mostly about what's best for the athletes, but what's best for college sports also needs to be considered.
The current system is the wild west with student-athlete free agency to the highest bidder with FBS schools illegally contacting athletes and the FCS and G5 being the farm league for the P4 schools. As a fan I sure don't want that and if you start to alienate fans and boosters, guess what eventually will happen to attendance and the money coming in to the FCS and G5 schools?

It's also my opinion that it's not good for a student-athlete to be allowed to transfer every year to a new school and team. They learn to just run away from a situation rather than figure out how to deal with it and make it better. The Clifton McDowells of the world will be better served in life if they are not allowed to transfer to 7 different schools in their college career.

There needs to be some rules in place for NIL and the transfer portal. I'm not alone in this opinion and I don't know why anybody would disagree with having some basic "guards rails" in place for both the schools and the student- athletes.

91catAlum wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 8:01 am

BLACKnBLUEnGOLD wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 3:53 am

91catAlum wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 10:03 pm

Blame the system which currently has no guard rails nor any enforced punishment for player tampering. I hate it too and hope that changes will be made soon. Perhaps player contracts with buy-outs or something. And big fines for contacting players not in the portal. Just spitballing.

"Guard rails" for whom? Who exactly would they be protecting? Omar was honorable mention all-conference, Sebastian started every game, and Rush started all but one. Rush gets a degree from a more prestigious school and Omar moved much closer to home. Plus, they got some money so they can start life after college with some savings instead of broke. None of those guys were misled into a bad situation by a coach who just wanted a body for the third string.

Odd that you deleted 1 sentence out of my 6- sentence post that stated I don't blame the players at all. Why is that, I wonder??

Guard rails would be protecting college sports themselves, as well as the student-athletes. It should be mostly about what's best for the athletes, but what's best for college sports also needs to be considered.
The current system is the wild west with student-athlete free agency to the highest bidder with FBS schools illegally contacting athletes and the FCS and G5 being the farm league for the P4 schools. As a fan I sure don't want that and if you start to alienate fans and boosters, guess what eventually will happen to attendance and the money coming in to the FCS and G5 schools?

It's also my opinion that it's not good for a student-athlete to be allowed to transfer every year to a new school and team. They learn to just run away from a situation rather than figure out how to deal with it and make it better. The Clifton McDowells of the world will be better served in life if they are not allowed to transfer to 7 different schools in their college career.

There needs to be some rules in place for NIL and the transfer portal. I'm not alone in this opinion and I don't know why anybody would disagree with having some basic "guards rails" in place for both the schools and the student- athletes.

Monymony wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 6:44 pm

We didn’t quite control the LOS the way I thought we would. I still think we need to get a bit better. The most frustrating thing is we need to find a way to keep big guys at our program. If we had Aigbedion, Valdez, etc. hard to not think we win, at least in the trenches. NDSU and SDSU have kept them around thanks to winning or having local kids. Seems like the Dakotas produce more big nasty kids than Montana imo. To finally get the big ring we need to find a way to keep some dudes around.

AFCAT wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 11:21 am

Monymony wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 6:44 pm

We didn’t quite control the LOS the way I thought we would. I still think we need to get a bit better. The most frustrating thing is we need to find a way to keep big guys at our program. If we had Aigbedion, Valdez, etc. hard to not think we win, at least in the trenches. NDSU and SDSU have kept them around thanks to winning or having local kids. Seems like the Dakotas produce more big nasty kids than Montana imo. To finally get the big ring we need to find a way to keep some dudes around.

Not really, check the NDSU and SDSU rosters and see how many of their players actually come from those states, about half as many as on the Montana schools rosters. Part of those lower local kid roster numbers is because their states don't have large populations, but Montana State and um have more local talent on their rosters than the Dakota schools do. We also don't lose many local Montana players to bigger schools, it has been happening more and more lately, but it isn't a big issue. There is a reason why the Badlands bowl isn't played any more and that's because North Dakota players couldn't keep up with the Montana players.

thefrank1 wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 11:04 am

One person's "guard rails" is another person's illegal barrier. All of us will need to adapt to the changing landscape as we see fit.

nanacat wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 11:39 am

AFCAT wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 11:21 am

Monymony wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 6:44 pm

We didn’t quite control the LOS the way I thought we would. I still think we need to get a bit better. The most frustrating thing is we need to find a way to keep big guys at our program. If we had Aigbedion, Valdez, etc. hard to not think we win, at least in the trenches. NDSU and SDSU have kept them around thanks to winning or having local kids. Seems like the Dakotas produce more big nasty kids than Montana imo. To finally get the big ring we need to find a way to keep some dudes around.

Not really, check the NDSU and SDSU rosters and see how many of their players actually come from those states, about half as many as on the Montana schools rosters. Part of those lower local kid roster numbers is because their states don't have large populations, but Montana State and um have more local talent on their rosters than the Dakota schools do. We also don't lose many local Montana players to bigger schools, it has been happening more and more lately, but it isn't a big issue. There is a reason why the Badlands bowl isn't played any more and that's because North Dakota players couldn't keep up with the Montana players.

Ya, someone posted on FB that NDSU only had 9 players from ND. Their pride isn't in representing their state but rather their program. I think there is something to that. I mean having rosters full of MT players is super great, and very important, but getting the out of state guys to buy in is key too, and something that the DSUs have done better. With guys like Julius, who respect and appreciate the culture of MSU football, sharing that publicly like he did, can only help. But we need to sell the program and success of the program rather than only "Montana". It's got to be a package deal. The Montana focus works well for the rivalry, but this program, and Vigen's, goal is making it to January and the NC, which will require program focus over state pride. That's what I'm seeing anyway.

AFCAT wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 11:21 am

Monymony wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 6:44 pm

We didn’t quite control the LOS the way I thought we would. I still think we need to get a bit better. The most frustrating thing is we need to find a way to keep big guys at our program. If we had Aigbedion, Valdez, etc. hard to not think we win, at least in the trenches. NDSU and SDSU have kept them around thanks to winning or having local kids. Seems like the Dakotas produce more big nasty kids than Montana imo. To finally get the big ring we need to find a way to keep some dudes around.

Not really, check the NDSU and SDSU rosters and see how many of their players actually come from those states, about half as many as on the Montana schools rosters. Part of those lower local kid roster numbers is because their states don't have large populations, but Montana State and um have more local talent on their rosters than the Dakota schools do. We also don't lose many local Montana players to bigger schools, it has been happening more and more lately, but it isn't a big issue. There is a reason why the Badlands bowl isn't played any more and that's because North Dakota players couldn't keep up with the Montana players.

AFCAT wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 11:55 am

nanacat wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 11:39 am

AFCAT wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 11:21 am

Monymony wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2025 6:44 pm

We didn’t quite control the LOS the way I thought we would. I still think we need to get a bit better. The most frustrating thing is we need to find a way to keep big guys at our program. If we had Aigbedion, Valdez, etc. hard to not think we win, at least in the trenches. NDSU and SDSU have kept them around thanks to winning or having local kids. Seems like the Dakotas produce more big nasty kids than Montana imo. To finally get the big ring we need to find a way to keep some dudes around.

Not really, check the NDSU and SDSU rosters and see how many of their players actually come from those states, about half as many as on the Montana schools rosters. Part of those lower local kid roster numbers is because their states don't have large populations, but Montana State and um have more local talent on their rosters than the Dakota schools do. We also don't lose many local Montana players to bigger schools, it has been happening more and more lately, but it isn't a big issue. There is a reason why the Badlands bowl isn't played any more and that's because North Dakota players couldn't keep up with the Montana players.

Ya, someone posted on FB that NDSU only had 9 players from ND. Their pride isn't in representing their state but rather their program. I think there is something to that. I mean having rosters full of MT players is super great, and very important, but getting the out of state guys to buy in is key too, and something that the DSUs have done better. With guys like Julius, who respect and appreciate the culture of MSU football, sharing that publicly like he did, can only help. But we need to sell the program and success of the program rather than only "Montana". It's got to be a package deal. The Montana focus works well for the rivalry, but this program, and Vigen's, goal is making it to January and the NC, which will require program focus over state pride. That's what I'm seeing anyway.

I thought it was more than nine, more like 20ish, but I haven’t looked at their rosters in a while.