CARDIAC CATS #2 (How many needed a defibrilator?)

CARDIAC_CATS · Post by **CARDIAC_CATS** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:11 am

WOW! What an exciting game! No quit in these Cats I tell you. This team may start out slow, but it is a VERY WELL conditioned team. Their big DL dominated pretty good in the first half, but they wore down again (like 2 years) ago and were pretty much a non factor in the 2nd half.

GAME BALLS: 1) EDDIE SULLIVAN 2) TRAVIS LULAY 3) CROWD THAT SHOWED UP AND WAS LOUD!

Great win Cats! I knew our offense would start clicking. I know that some of you are down on Bailey's play calling, but I thought this game was very well called and used a lot of trap play calling on their DL/LB's to gain a lot of yardage. Also, our receivers stepped up big time today and this crew could start becoming a force here. 475 yards is a lot of yards for an offense, and to think we could have had 6-10 more points that were missed in the Red Zone. I agree with everyone about the running it up the gut nonstop in the redzone (especially early in the game), our OL doesn't seem to have the POP it does early in the game as it does later in the game. If we can get our OL to start clicking better early (and not to mention that was a good defense we just played .. that front 7 is tough), then I think this offense might be putting up 500 yards per game numbers later in the year.

What this team has done with how young it is, might give me a heart attack watching them ... but what they have been doing with their youth/new players in the system has been truly amazing.

P.S - That reffing team needs to be deactivated by the Big Sky ... PATHETIC

CARDIAC_CATS · Post by **CARDIAC_CATS** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:14 am

ALso, if I were to give out game balls to Portland State (had they won), it would have gone out to their OL. Truly amazing job they did on our front 7. The QB had a lot of time to throw (except for OT), and that of course helped cause even more problems for our young secondary. Fuller is put on an island out there pretty much so its 1 on 1 usually. If the QB has time to throw, good receivers can get open. I haven't seen our DL shut down like that as far as rushing the passer for quite a while I thought. Their OL was good.

HelenaCat · Post by **HelenaCat** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:17 am

I probably can't add much that hasn't already been said by someone else about this game. But if people thought last weeks game was a miracle, you had to have seen this game. I thought I had seen everything from Travis Lulay before, but this game really demonstrated what he means to this team and why stats just don't even come close to showing his overall leadership an worth to the team. Did everyone feel as sick to their stomache as me when he was lying on the field for what seemed like an eternity?? I saw our season going down the drain. Then I felt great relief when he finally got up and walked off the field under his own power, but felt sure he had a concussion at the least and we would not see him the second half-therefore no way we could come back in this one. Then he does start the second half and the rest is history. You copuld almost feel the team rally behind Travis and they seemed so inspired the second half. Kramer said on the radio after the game that the Cats played the second half with a "fury" and that is the only way they could ahve come back. Another Kramerism, but it seemed like the best description I could ever have thought of.

Kramer also said that they checked Travis thoroughly at halftime and would never have played Travis inthe second half unless they were positive that he did not have a concussion. he said that they "love this kid too much to ever take a chance like that." But he also said the doctors said that Travis could not take another big hit, so they callled absolutely no plays that had Travis running etc and that he challenged his offensive line to protect Travis from getting hurt on the pass rush. And they did protect him the whole second half against a HUGE d-line. You couldn't dream this kind of stuff up in Hollywood!

Kramer also had some really nice things to say about Andre Fuller. He knows that Fuller is struggling and has a bullseye on his back now, but he just keeps praising the kid and said that a few years from now we would all be commenting what a great corner back this kid is and do you remember when he was a freshmen. I thought he did a nice job trying to reassure this kid when he obviously has to be having some confidence problems. Kane Ioane also had some nice things to say about him and commented that he and Joey and Jay hackett also had some growing pains when they were freshmen.

Another big difference from the past few weeks comebacks is that this time we did it against what I feel is a pretty good team. PSU has by far the biggest team I have seen in some time at the 1AA level. Their D-line is especially huge and they were good. Even their safeties loooked like linebackers and they hit hard (often they also hit late-as dirty a team as we have seen in some time also). As frustrating as our offense has been lately, we have to be encouraged again as we put up nearly 500 yards against the No. 1 rated defense in the league. And most of those yards were again in the second half-if we ever start playing 60 minutes, this team actually could become almost scary good. I do think PSU's defense is not a fluke at No. 1. W wore them out a bit, but they will be tough on other teams also all year.

Oops-my wife says breakfast is ready-I'll finish with more later

HelenaCat · Post by **HelenaCat** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:13 pm

Speaking of my wife... we have been married quite some time and she is slowly becoming a bit more knowledgeable about football, but she is still far from an expert. But , in the first half she kept asking me why do we always try to run it up the middle when the other team is so big?????? Of course, I really had no good answer for her. But I was thinking of sending her up to the coaches booth and have her ask Bailey that question. Maybe she could help him call plays??

Actually, as we have seen the last few weeks, Bailey did much better again in the second half. My theory now is that we are desperate in the second half and have to open things up a bit-hence, our offense suddenly becomes much better. Hmmmmm...

The last drive to tie the game is still a miracle to me. How do you run 18 plays and go 82 yards in less than 2 minutes? Three 4th down conversions, scoring with 0 on the clock. It was just amazing and still indescribable. If you could not see the game, you just have to get a tape of it somehow to believe it.

Kudos to Ricky Gatewood and of course Eddie Sullivan. I have been very critical of Gatewood as seeming to have a lot of talent, but just not making plays. But he made some great plays yesterday and seems to now becoming more and more of a big time threat. And I have always like Eddie as someone who does not seem to have the overall skills, but he does make plays. well, he had just a phenomenal game and was really our go to receiver on the last drive. It was really fun when the crowd started yelling "Eddie..Eddie..Eddie" late in the game-just seeing how excited he gets anyway, he must have just loved that. Good for him-he is a great example to his teammates for the way he works hard, the way he cheers for his teammates even when he wasn't playing, the way he stuck with it until he did get to play, etc.

Chaz Guinn still seems in a funk and is not playing like he was earlier this year. But he still has some obvious skills. What is encouraging to me is that if he comes on, we have three pretty darn good receivers all of the sudden. And Blake Wolf had a huge game as well. So all of the sudden, we have some threats on offense and the ability to spread it around some. Like I said earlier, this was a very good defense and we put up almost 500 yards. Pretty encouraging.

PSU's offense is also not too shabby. Their O-line is also huge and pretty good. I thought they held all day long and got away with it (why not hold if the refs are never calling it?? I would hold too), but they did better against our defensive front seven that anyone else I have seen for some time. We did well against Fuqua and held him from a big game, but the threat of his running and the O-line blocking well gave Wiser all day to throw every time. Especially with our problems at cornerback, we just have to find a way to put more pressure on the QB much faster in the future.

Ah....the refs. Wow-they were the worst. I want to see the replay of the interception we had for an apparent TD return by Force. The actual play and the replay on the big screen sure looked like the ball never hit the ground to me. And the play clock no-calls were just rediculous. I have never seen Kramer lose it like that..he was HOT! I am glad for him that Kwiatowski grabbed him and held him-I thought Mike was going physically hurt that one ref.

Finally, my wife also said another thing after the game that struck me. She said that her whole impression during the 4th quarter was that the only reason we won this game was that our kids played with the most heart. She couldn't believe how much smaller we were than PSU across the board and yet we kept finding a way to make plays and somehow come back against all odds. She's pretty smart isn't she?

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:59 pm

I feel the reason we run the ball up the middle is just to let the other team know that we will do it. If we completely get away from attacking the middle they will start pinning their ears back and the passing game will disappear. If you don't try and run the middle once in awhile, the defense becomes easier as they can put less people in the box, and you make yourself one dimensional. (run outside or pass.)

HelenaCat · Post by **HelenaCat** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:22 pm

Helcat: I agree and I actually did try to explain that to my wife. But why try it two times in a row on 1st and second down on about the eight yard line in the first half?? Then the defense knew we had to try to pass on third down and we had to settle for a field goal. That frustrated me immensely at the time.

CARDIAC_CATS · Post by **CARDIAC_CATS** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:38 pm

HelenaCat wrote:Helcat: I agree and I actually did try to explain that to my wife. But why try it two times in a row on 1st and second down on about the eight yard line in the first half?? Then the defense knew we had to try to pass on third down and we had to settle for a field goal. That frustrated me immensely at the time.

Yep, we have to keep our play calling balanced. We have to run it up the middle a certain amount of plays a game. I would just like to see more of a spread in the Red Zone though as the defense pinches up and it gets even harder to block/gain positive yardage!

Unless you hurdle over the TOP! TD BOBCATS!

Wow, HelenaCat is right .... if you thought the Weber game was exciting, this game would have knocked your socks off. That last drive with the clock winding down and 2-3 4th down conversions was one for the Bobcat archives! I was sooooooo impressed with the crowd as well. It was LOUD! Great job everyone who attended the game. My throat is still hoarse today

I totally agree with Kramer too. Fuller is put on an island out there and he's gonna give up a long TD or two this season, but as long as he keeps his head and keeps improving this is gonna be a blessing in disguise in the next few years for the CATS! They let him press up late in the 2nd half and he MORE THAN held his own! That WR he was guarding definately was faster than he was, but Fuller gave it his all many times w/o a cover safety blanket behind him!

I think we give Cochrane one more game to prove himself, and if he misses 2-3 more ... I would give Force a try if he is a darn good kicker from 35 yards in etc.? I know Cochrane kicked the big one against Weber and I LOVED IT. But we cannot go inside the 20 and come out with 0 points. This offense needs all the points it can earn and getting nothing at the end of a long drive (sullivan long pass) is a real downer for the offense/defense having to go back on the field. It keeps the momentum flowing!

1 game at a time! SDSU is up next ..... Lets get those Jackrabbits!

89rabbit ... are you heading to the game this weekend?

BozoneCat · Post by **BozoneCat** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:47 pm

I think you have to go a little easier on E.J. Granted, he did miss a couple pretty short FGs, but he also made one. I was happy to see that they were just a little poorly-aimed, instead of duck-hooked - they were really nice kicks, just barely off-line. I think he'll be fine.

At the same time, you have to give E.J. major props for nailing those extra points! Sure, they are just little chip shots, but you have to think he had a lot of pressure on him to make those, especially the game-tying XP. Can you imagine if he had missed that - after that whole amazing drive?!?! I thought that he stepped up big when we needed him most for the second time in two weeks.

profisme · Post by **profisme** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:57 pm

Hey Cardiac,

I was there and I am still fairly hoarse at this moment. We were yelling as loud as we could in the student section. One thing I would like to add though, when we have the ball, people need to stop cheering when we try and run a play, use the noise to pump us up after a play, but not when Travis is trying to communicate to the guys on the field. I guess when I was looking, I didn't see the people on the reserved side up and screaming much at all. Maybe that is only for we students to do, but I think it would create a lot more problems for the opposing team if the alumni did that.

I talked to E.J. extensively after the game, and he said that as soon as he kicked those two that he knew they were off. He wasn't able to follow through because of the crown on the field. Evidently the crown is a foot too high and it makes kicking from the hashes very tough. I have known E.J. for quite a while, and he isn't a guy who makes excuses, he just tries to do his job. I wouldn't be so quick to excuse him from the job though, his leg still could prove to be one of the things that could get us to the playoffs this year. Did anyone else notice that he had a 55.75 yard per punt average on his four punts?

This being said, my game ball goes to Eddie Sullivan. He is such a force both on the field and off, he is a joy to see play and to talk to. Travis played one hell of a game as well, and I held my breath after he took that hit. He is a lot gutsier than most people will give him credit for. You really do have to see him week in and week out to truly appreciate his ability because it doesn't always show up in the stats column (although this week it did). The Cats played with heart, something that they definitely are not lacking.

I do feel that Coach Kramer might have some sort of racket going with the cardiologists in the area. I know my heart has problems taking this sort of stress every week. I just hope that next week we can blow SDSU out, I won't be there so cheer hard for me.

CARDIAC_CATS · Post by **CARDIAC_CATS** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:03 pm

BozoneCat wrote:I think you have to go a little easier on E.J. Granted, he did miss a couple pretty short FGs, but he also made one. I was happy to see that they were just a little poorly-aimed, instead of duck-hooked - they were really nice kicks, just barely off-line. I think he'll be fine.

At the same time, you have to give E.J. major props for nailing those extra points! Sure, they are just little chip shots, but you have to think he had a lot of pressure on him to make those, especially the game-tying XP. Can you imagine if he had missed that - after that whole amazing drive?!?! I thought that he stepped up big when we needed him most for the second time in two weeks.

I agree, just a little steamed on our red zone possessions in the first half. Is all this EJ's fault, not at all ... but if Kramer knows that FORCE can make those on a consistent basis, I say give it a try. I agree with letting EJ go a couple more games. The kicking game is a lot better than I thought it would be at this point in time, but it HAS TO start taking form. I was very worried in OT that it was going to become a FG kicking contest. Special Teams/Kicking game is VERY important to keep TEAM consistency/wins coming! EJ nailed all his extra points which were CRUCIAL in the game .. I agree. So I do give him credit there, especially 2 very pressure packed ones at the end of the game.

In all reality ... I don't WANT TO KICK FG's, I want the TD!

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:51 pm

Hey, look at it this way-EJ's misses might be a blessing in disquise, as we'll now go for it on 4th down in the redzone from here on out. And after Saturday, our 4th down conversion percentage must be really high!

If the kick is in the middle of the field Cochrane will nail it. If it's from the hash-go for it. He also missed from the hash at Colorado State.

raincat · Post by **raincat** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:20 pm

Back from Bozeman, some thoughts....

In my opinion the PSU OC made Bailey look like Bill Walch. Their QB had all day to throw and they had better than average receivers. Early on they were thowing deep and hurting us. For some reason they quit and seemed intent on establishing a running game which the Cats stuffed time after time. Their play calling in the overtime was awful! Not making excuses because the Bobcats were truly in control at the end of the game. But their OC helped.
Bailey has found out the value of throwing to the tight end. Good job on that, coach.
I don't think I'll ever see refs miss the time clock twice in one game again.
Lulay is magnificiant when improvising and throwing on the run. He has some release technique problems when throwing from the pocket which causes the ball to take a nose-up attitude and results in overthrows.
Molock is a stud.
We need to find a punt returner.
Why not try Bolton on the <40 yard fieldgoals?
Cochrane REALLY covered us when Lulay was unable to punt.
This was not a bad PSU team and beating them for the third season in a row is a good sign. Anyone else need to get beaten three times in a row?

BozoneCat · Post by **BozoneCat** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:55 pm

Bolton had to have surgery on the big toe of his kicking foot, and is not going to play this season - I think everyone is hoping he can get a medical redshirt, which should happen since he only attempted something like two or three kicks.

Like it or not, E.J. is our kicker. I was pretty critical of him at the start of this season, but I am confident he will do the job now. I think two things are going to make him successful: (1) he doesn't have to worry about kicking off, which seemed to give him fits in the past. He can focus solely on place kicking - although I think it would be a hell of an idea if he practiced kicking inside the stadium the week before home games, and on the practice field the week before road games. (2) he really doesn't have to worry about getting pulled if he misses a kick, so he can just relax and focus on the kick, not the consequences.

Keep your head up, E.J. I think he probably knows he missed a couple chippies, and it probably irks him more than any of us. He continues to come up big when it matters most, though. I'll take that!

profisme · Post by **profisme** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:01 am

Trust me, E.J. is irritated about missing those 2 field goals. When I was talking to him yesterday, he brought those up a few times, but he knows that he is fully capable of putting the team on his back when he needs to. Pressure is something that he thrives under in game situations. I actually pointed him to this website yesterday, and he was intrigued by some of the things said, although he never got down about some comments, and he doesn't get a big head when something positive is said either.

CARDIAC_CATS · Post by **CARDIAC_CATS** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 8:19 am

raincat wrote:Back from Bozeman, some thoughts....

In my opinion the PSU OC made Bailey look like Bill Walch. Their QB had all day to throw and they had better than average receivers. Early on they were thowing deep and hurting us. For some reason they quit and seemed intent on establishing a running game which the Cats stuffed time after time. Their play calling in the overtime was awful! Not making excuses because the Bobcats were truly in control at the end of the game. But their OC helped.
Bailey has found out the value of throwing to the tight end. Good job on that, coach.
I don't think I'll ever see refs miss the time clock twice in one game again.
Lulay is magnificiant when improvising and throwing on the run. He has some release technique problems when throwing from the pocket which causes the ball to take a nose-up attitude and results in overthrows.
Molock is a stud.
We need to find a punt returner.
Why not try Bolton on the <40 yard fieldgoals?
Cochrane REALLY covered us when Lulay was unable to punt.
This was not a bad PSU team and beating them for the third season in a row is a good sign. Anyone else need to get beaten three times in a row?

Bailey called a darn nice game on Saturday ... we are getting our basic plays down now and he is starting to open up the playbook a little. The PSU offense isn't as young as our offense is which is a big difference. I don't see how racking up 475 total yards you can criticize Bailey. The kids need to execute. Yeah, the 2-3 tries going up on the tough middle of PSU is rough to take (I Agree), but like someone else said .. We have to do that to 1) keep the defense honest (anyone heard of play action? .. if you don't run up the middle .. can you run a true play action play? NOOO!).

P.S - How about the call on the Domineck TD in OT? Was that not a good call against the defense scheme lined up? Bailey isn't going anywhere! If you look at our total yards from the CSU game on, what is happening to our total yardage each game since then? (Its called young skill positions starting to GROW and make plays). 475 yards against the Big Sky's best defense how can you not give Bailey some KUDO's!

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 8:26 am

I just haven't made up my mind on whether Bailey is to blame for our pitiful first half performances, or if the offense itself is. I personally am still leaning towards the offense just not executing, but something has to be done. Face it, the magic will run out one of these days, and we won't be able to come back. It already happened vs Cal Poly.

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:22 pm

Maybe they should start the "no huddle" in warmups. They should try an up tempo warmup like running plays one after another up and down the field 15 minutes before kickoff!...get their blood circulating. They usually seem to be in neutral and need to get revved up! They look out of synche and lethargic.

I don't think you can just tell them to play like they are behind from the get go...unless they actually get behind, but the "up tempo warmup" could get them into a rhythm so making the throws, running the patterns and making the blocks could be "in rhythm" rather than out of synche!

They could also use a cheerleader like Eddie Sullivan on defense. A Dick Butkus or Jack Lambert type. Maybe someone like Mollohan, Sebeysten or Beau Clark. Someone who is physical and the others respect. They are a tremendously talented defense, but need to get fired up from the beginning rather than give up two scores before they start to assert themselves.

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:47 pm

Also, why don't we try receiving the ball first? I may be mistaken, but I think we have won every coin toss this year, with the exception of the OT toss against PSU. We always elect to kick. Why don't we start the game with the ball, and go right into the no huddle offense and try and get a quick score!

velochat · Post by **velochat** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 2:14 pm

I don't know if Kramer has always deferred on the kick-off, but it made sense the past couple of years when something good was more likely to happen on defense than on offense.

It does seem like if you give the other team the ball first, in the course of the season, the other teams are going to have more possessions. But again, the past few years, our offense has scared us more than the opponents, particularly in the first half.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 2:19 pm

If we defer, then we get the ball first in the second half (maximizing the number of possessions in the 2nd half in theory). Since the offense doesn't show up until the second half anyway, that seems like a good strategy.