SHSU - The good and the bad

[EWURanger]

The good:

-I think our running game is going to be pretty good this year. I was impressed by Forte, and Moore and Bronson had some nice runs as well.
-Great game by Cory Mitchell.
-So/So game by VA.
-I honestly can't think of too much else that was good.

The bad:

- No run defense whatsoever. I refuse to believe we don't have the athletes, so I gotta think it's the schemes.
- Penalties. Are you kidding me?
- Poor offensive line play. They were in the backfield way too much. I think not having Rodgers in there is hurting us a little at Right Tackle, although I could be wrong about that. At the very least, we don't have as much depth without him.

 

[MLEagle]

The penalties were backbreakers!

The defense has not been the same since 2010. We do not stop the run worth a crap and that could be a huge problem against the Montana's. We can't give up 40+ and expect to win; it happened against OSU and we won because we scored on almost every possession.

Defense has to improve or we will be done early this year! Hopefully we see some adjustments out of Graham because the same old thing is getting old.

 

[Seattle Eagle]

The most dis-heartening thing about this loss is that this is a team we are likely to face if/when we win enough Big Sky games to even make the playoffs, and we were out-matched badly in some areas. I think our defense is designed to stop Big Sky offenses and that's why we struggle so much against these type
of teams.

 

[DefendtheRed]

There were some positives in this game but unless we shore up some things with the defense I don't see us winning more than 4 or 5 more games this season. Montana, Poly, and Portland will absolutely run us over.

 

[Seattle Eagle]

The problem is we most likely need to win 7 of 8 remaining games to even make the playoffs. That could be a stretch with many difficult games on the schedule. UM, MSU, CPSLO, and PSU are all capable of beating us.
We do not look like a Big Sky Championship team right now, and I think it boils down to the fact that we are young (albeit talented) on offense and our D is just suspect. Beau Baldwin, "We need to get better."

 

[clawman1]

Football begins and ends at the line of scrimmage and the Bearcats controlled the line on both sides of the ball.
By the 4th qtr our guys were gassed on both sides of the line and the Bearcats controlled the game.

 

[EWURanger]

Football begins and ends at the line of scrimmage and the Bearcats controlled the line on both sides of the ball.
By the 4th qtr our guys were gassed on both sides of the line and the Bearcats controlled the game.

Definitely. They had some great skill players, but the way they dominated our D-Line was the real difference.

Anyway, I think we'll go back, make the adjustments, and absolutrly kick the crap out of Weber State at home next weekend.

 

[kalm]

Football begins and ends at the line of scrimmage and the Bearcats controlled the line on both sides of the ball.
By the 4th qtr our guys were gassed on both sides of the line and the Bearcats controlled the game.

Definitely. They had some great skill players, but the way they dominated our D-Line was the real difference.

Anyway, I think we'll go back, make the adjustments, and absolutrly kick the crap out of Weber State at home next weekend.

I agree with the importance of line pay, but this looked to me to be a team effort. NDSU hit Bell time and again, with the ball, without the ball in both championship games. He was battered and bruised by the end.

Yesterday, it seemed like our backers were committing to the pitch man, or getting sealed inside, getting very few shots on Bell, and our corners weren't fighting off blocks very well.

Three out of our last five opponents are run first teams with some version of the option/spread/read. They are all playoff caliber teams. Assuming Plufgrad is running something similar at Weber we'll find out right away next week how we are adjusting.