Post
by BozoneCat » Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:56 am
I also think that most rational people would agree that preseason and early-season rankings don't hold a lot of water. I would say that I don't put much credence into the national rankings (especially in I-AA) until maybe about week 8 or 9. A lot changes during the year, and teams that look great early on can become stagnant once opposing teams get some footage and learn their tendencies. This is where good coaching comes into play, and I think our coaching staff as a whole has proven themselves quite well with the way our teams have finished off the last two years.
To say that most/all Bobcat fans aren't a little disappointed with how the Cats have played so far this year is probably a drastic understatement, but to say that we have thrown in the proverbial towel after only 3 weeks is just ridiculous. This week's game should reveal a lot about how the rest of this year will go. Idaho State looks to be down this year - they had no defense last year and then lost their only good player (Allen), and they have no running game to balance out their very potent passing attack. Last year, they could beat you both ways with Isaac Mitchell running the ball. If we get pressure consistently on Hetherington, and I think we will, I don't think this will be the shoot-out everyone seems to think it will. I thought that Fuller played pretty well last week, considering. He made a lot of mistakes, as you would expect, but he also made a lot of really nice plays. He damn near almost intercepted a pass (made a great read on teh ball, but slipped just a tad on the grass while making his cut) and would have returned it for a TD, and made a great play to knock down a TD pass (of course, he got beat on the next play for a TD). These are just 2 examples, of course. He also tackled very, very well in the open field, which is hugely important in a man-cover defense. He will learn a ton from those mistakes, and the receivers he covers won't be quite as good as the CSU guys. It is good to know that Kory Austin will play this week, we need someone who can play to spell these guys. It will be interesting to see what ISU pulls out of the bag, closed practices and all, but it says something that their coach is so worried about this game that he closed practice this week. Our young secondary will have to be careful not to give up on a play until the whistle blows, because they will probably try to catch the young'uns with a RB pass or something like that. Should be fun!
GO CATS GO!!!
