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@ USU

Chex

Chex

Active member
I think after the beat down by Alabama, USU will want to have a big day against the Wildcats. If Weber State is a Big Sky Conference competitor, I think they should be able to hold their own and keep it competitive (14 or less). I think the O is still too rough to put long drives or points together, which will eventually tire out the defense. I think 38–10 is my guess for USU. Hope I am wrong, and they can pull the upset, or at least make it close. Seems like Weber State never catches a break when they play FBS teams, those teams are usually not playing the Wildcats in down years…many close calls, but no wins vs FBS for the Wildcats in recent history. Hoping they can get win #2 in Logan Saturday.
 
I just don't see how we are going to score points. The OL isn't convincing me that this is a championship level team. I really hope I am wrong, but after last week, I would change the conditioning for the OL. It isn't about how heavy you are, but OL movement and strength.

14 Cats
31 Aggies

Anything closer would be a huge victory for the Cats. No matter, I would love to eat crow and see an upset. That would be sooooo beautiful.
 
N.OgdenCat said:
I just don't see how we are going to score points. The OL isn't convincing me that this is a championship level team. I really hope I am wrong, but after last week, I would change the conditioning for the OL. It isn't about how heavy you are, but OL movement and strength.

14 Cats
31 Aggies

Anything closer would be a huge victory for the Cats. No matter, I would love to eat crow and see an upset. That would be sooooo beautiful.
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I mostly agree with what you are saying here. Run blocking takes strength and quicknes. I'm sure our guys are strong enough, but they were getting punked by some smaller quicker D11 defensive linemen. That, my friend, can not be addressed in just a few weeks. That can only be addressed with recruiting and the right kind of coditioning in the winter, spring and summer. So, for now, do the things that they can do well and skip all of the pulling and trying to get guys on the edges. We might have to pass more than we want or go more with multiple back formations. I think that there are ways to address that weakness. I'm sure that the coaches are working on those solutions.

Our D will be tested with USU's quickness and our O will be facing real quickness as well. I'll be happy if we can keep it close for at least a little while. We did that against SDSU a few years ago and I feel that our D is similar now. :coffee:
 
Utah State is 94th in Sagarin and 86th in SP+. Vegas and the major rating systems think USU is about 6 points better than us on a neutral field. This is one of the best chances we’ve had to knock off an FBS team in the last 10-15 years. I felt very confident about our matchup after watching USU putz around with UConn, but I can’t unsee how mediocre our o-line looked against a D2.

I think our defense can keep us in the game. Not sure how we generate offense though. Run game is likely to struggle and I’m not sure we can protect Barron well enough for him to sustain drives. The recipe for a win involves big special teams plays flipping field position and winning the turnover battle definitively. I’d say 19-7 USU but I’m hoping i’m wrong and we see a big step forward this week.
 
Been away for a bit. But, what a great time to repost. I went to the game last week, probably got some type of heat sickness and went home a little disappointed. However, lets put things in perspective. First, this is the first game of the season. There were a lot of guys playing substantial minutes for the first time and it is a time to work out some of the bugs. Second, it was really hot. Athletics should have moved the open kick back an hour. Third, new offense. Not only a new offense but the third offense in five seasons. Also, this new offense is drastically different from the previous offense. Its going to take some time for the guys to get comfortable with. Fourth, there have been some slightly serious changes with the offensive line. Losing Cormac for the season -starting C- to a knee injury late in camp is going to take time to replace. The center position is the most important on the offensive line. Ethan has his hands full. He was getting a chance to get comfortable playing in the middle. Casto also got some snaps in the second half. Good chance to get game experience. Finally fifth, a lot of guys were playing. This was such a great chance to see guys lower on the depth charts get some snaps and play some downs. Frankly, the only starter that played a lot was Barron. That is good. Give the kid as many snaps as possible to help him get comfortable with the offense in game situations.

A game like this gives the coaches a chance to see more player options, work on some plays the team might have struggled with in camp and have a clearer view of what needs to be worked on. Personally, the play calling wasn't necessarily vanilla. It seemed like Mental (OC) wanted to work on some situations that his players might have been struggling with. If so, genius time to do it. Some of the plays were straight forward and needed to be, got to score points. Others seemed weirdly timed and complex. Plays the offense need to do in game type situations to truly understand their worth and how they can perfect them. This game definitely made the Cats better.

NOW...time to travel to Lolgan. The competition is totally different. If the Cats played USU 10 times, they might win 2. SO, not out of the realm of possibility that they will win on Saturday, just not planning on it. Keep it close and limit injuries. I'd love to see a win. BUT, there are a lot of bigger games after this one.
 
USU Coach Anderson said the Wildcats will come in Sat. with "their hair on fire...", "this is the super bowl for some of them...". Nah!...really don't think so, sure for Weber State it's against a FBSer with a chance to get a RARE win. There are a lot of bigger games later, including the FCS playoffs to get excited and aim for! Me thinks the Aggies are wanting to break out of a somewhat funk & prove themselves, even if it's against a FCS team. It's a Instate game! So... Aggies 34 - 10. :coffee:
 
Aggies come out sloppy with a bunch of penalties but Barron gifts them a terrible interception to end the first drive. Just cannot have that.
 
Weisser needs to play 2nd half. Decent QB play and Weber State would be up 17. Now most likely down despite dominating first half.
 
Chex said:
Weisser needs to play 2nd half. Decent QB play and Weber State would be up 17. Now most likely down despite dominating first half.
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I disagree on this one. Offensive line has been mediocre again and that INT at the end was clearly on them. Defense has been great and the offense has moved the ball. Two weeks in a row of piss poor special teams, and that is what’s helping USU the most. Thompson is a turd at FG kicker and our coverage for punts and kick offs have been bad!!

All in all I’m encouraged by this one half and hope they can keep it respectable in the 2nd.
 
CrazyJ said:
Offensive Coordinator is CLEALY better. Thank. GOD!
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1,000 % agree!!! We have the ability to call different plays and schemes that’s been sorely lacking the past few years. Go Cats!!
 
WAY TO GO WILDCATS !!! Hope the lead holds but irregardless..."waiter, I'll have my crow medium well please!" :thumb: :notworthy:

PS. I got my predicted score wrong...it should have been reverse (like alot of things with my choices) :clap:
 
I was thinking we’d see a big push by USU in second half, but Wildcats dominated and Barron played better.

Very happy for Coach Hill, the staff, and the team! Way to go Wildcats!
 
1978 (?) & 2022...beating USU...how sweet it is! CONGRATULATIONS to the WILDCATS - coaches & players for a solid spanking! Enjoy this win over a FBS, you deserve to. :thumb:
 
With a kick ass defense and O-line, plus great running backs we will definitely compete for Big Sky championship.

Plus… we FINALLY have an Offensive Coordinator that KNOWS how to use our talent.

Playoffs look good.

But interceptions might kill us to make a deep run.

But DAMMMNNN… physical team. Beat the shit out of them!
 
IMHO, the good thing about this game is that we are still a long ways from playing our best ball. Yes there was improvement from the first game, in many ways. However, there are still a ton of things to clean up.

I think it would be a mistake to get too high on our performance against the Aggies. We need to clean up the turnovers and special teams play.

Our D is playing at a high level and will just get better. It's all a process.

GOOD JOB!!

Now get back to work. :coffee:
 
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