FB: Northwest Conference

MonroviaCat · September 09, 2006, 11:49:19 PM

Game Over
Wolves 28
Cats 14

Pathetic performance by Cats today: Offense was stuffed like a Thanksgiving Turkey.

Defense was a little better but still got man handled.

For those of you who were at the game let us know what you saw and if there is anything to be positive about

cawcdad · September 09, 2006, 11:50:40 PM

Game over.

I'ld like to hear what those at the game have to say.
criswyly, when are you headed to the Bay Area?

criswyly · September 09, 2006, 11:51:44 PM

MonroviaCat
Thanks for all the play action? Even though it had to be painful.

CAWCDAD
November 6th.

Wildcat'64 · September 09, 2006, 11:51:49 PM

A sad "night" at the Catdome -- on the positive side sounds like we found a running back, now we have a few other things to work on!

MonroviaCat · September 09, 2006, 11:52:02 PM

signing off guys: hopefully we'll get a game next week

MonroviaCat · September 09, 2006, 11:53:09 PM

yeah we found a running back....but he attends WOU. If we could just find some linemen and a QB who can hit his targets.....O.K. no more negatives. Relaod for next week. Go Cats Bounce Back!!!!

cawcdad · September 10, 2006, 12:12:17 AM

Any update on the Whitworth game?

49-7 Oxy over L&C with about 8 minutes to go

desertcat1 · September 10, 2006, 12:15:33 AM

it sounded like the cats got pushed all over by the hungry wolves tonight

.. tough start so far.. Go cats special report later..

gordonmann · September 10, 2006, 12:23:56 AM

Whitworth is salting away a win over Redlands. The Pirates sounded pretty sharp from the parts of the game I heard.

MonroviaCat · September 10, 2006, 12:24:26 AM

Alright, Lewis and Clark scored at least 1 touchdown! Go Pios

cawcdad · September 10, 2006, 12:25:53 AM

It's over in Eagle Rock. Oxy 49 - L&C 7

ClassicCat · September 10, 2006, 12:49:28 AM

OUCH!! CatNation has not been in this state of mind for quite some time. But, it losing a first game happens. We had and still have some questions. First things first though, congrats to Western Oregon. From the sounds of things they played good, clean and deserved the win.

Now, the players and the coaches have a base from which to work. Every Cat knows it will take a lot of improvement to sustain the standard of excellence we have all grown to accept. I too am interested in feedback from those who attended the game.

We have a tough opponent next week, which is exactly what we need. The week will be long, but if you fall off a horse, you get right back on.

REBOUND CATS

calhsu · September 10, 2006, 12:51:42 AM

How does the thought of 0-2 sound cats. Texas is not a go place to start a new winning record. Before last week most of your team had never heard of Abilene, next week they will wish they had never heard of it.

swede · September 10, 2006, 01:09:32 AM

Quote from: desertcat1 on September 10, 2006, 12:15:33 AM
it sounded like the cats got pushed all over by the hungry wolves tonight .. tough start so far.. Go cats special report later..

First of all Congrats to the wolves on a good clean game. You were hungry for the win and you deserved it.

I was talking with a cat assistant coach last month about the team with the best chance of ending Linfields regular season win streak and he said Hardin Simmons which I and just about anybody else would agree with. However, when I mentioned the WOU game he insinuated it would be easy.
I don't think that's the kind of attitude any coach should have.

As for the running game, I posted earlier I felt Drew Regan could be the next David Russel and I still feel that way. I'd give him the ball more often on sweeps and let him pick his own hole. Granted Cruickshank has the experience but having him as the lone back at 5'7 and 165 lbs going against a big D line as WOU just won't get the job done.

As for Tim Benzel I wouldn't be hard on the kid. the wolves were all over him when he dropped back to pass.

I went over and had a chance to say Hi to Abby. I'll be honest and say its the best sounding pep band I've heard at the catdome ( no disrespect Bluenote and Tuxguy) now if only they could somehow pipe it into the speakers or borrow some portable units. I think she has 21 members and it didn't cost the AD a dime.

'Cats Fa Natic · September 10, 2006, 01:56:13 AM

Oi, chihuahua! Where to start?

Just got back in from the game, and that was one of, if not THE worst performance I have seen from the Cats in a long, long time. It was miserable on both sides of the ball. Last couple years, when one side was bad, the other picked up the slack and inspired the other side and they eventually got it together. Tonight, it was just bad.

For what it's worth, here are my impressions:

The #1 thing that sticks out in my mind was that it was an absolutely lackluster performance. Anyone watch that Boise-OSU game? Boise got down 14-0 and they battled back. They WANTED that game. Watching the Cats on the sidelines... they could've cared less. Zero passion. None. How's it feel getting your butt kicked on opening day on your home turf? It make you mad? Tick you off? Not these guys. They looked like they were making dinner plans for afterward or like they were spectators watching the bullpen at a baseball game. God! That just really burns me. That utter lack of passion. Astounding.

Someone said on here somewhere a while ago that we would be surprised by Benzel. It's true. I was. Except at the time someone said it, I believe the word "pleasantly" was in there (as in, "I think folks will be pleasantly surprised"). Nope. I was surprised at how BAD he was. I know, I know. You've got to give the kid time and all that but he had time. He had two years behind Elliot and apparently didn't learn squat about being a leader. Again, what I saw on the sidelines should be an embarassment. He just stood there, actually behind the other players, didn't grab his players and say "come on! we can do this! And here's how we'll do it." He just didn't lead.

As for his passing, it was just... off. He over threw his first long pass but it looked like the kid slowed down. Another long one was juuust off the fingertips when the game was out of reach. That debate a few months ago about run after catch statistics would have been a good one tonight. I think the longest pass, meaning longest in the air, was about 15 yards. We had some go for longer than that but he didn't hit (that I recall) any longer than 15. And he'd miss by a fairly wide margin. Three, four, five feet. They just weren't catchable. I hope (pray) they can get that timing down a.s.a.p. He has the arm, just not the accuracy.

But, overall, he just flat out didn't look too good. Okay, he did have a couple nice passes on the one and only TD drive. He looked okay from 10-15 yards, but any longer and he was over throwing and anything shorter and he was throwing too hard, trying to kill the guy. Yes, I know he had a bad line tonight. WOU was like a hot knife through soft butter. But even so, you've GOT to know where your hot read is. You've GOT to know what to do in the face of a rush and the last two years, he had a cushie ride behind Elliot because when he came in the game was well in hand and the other team was pretty dispirited. Even my father-in-law who has watched the Cats since he played for them back in the 40s said he was surprised at how bad Benzel was.

The play calling was attrocious. No imagination, nothing to shake things up, nothing to motivate, and it was like they were in a rut. If the running plays up the middle aren't working, for heaven's sake, STOP trying. It was painful to watch. Like watching someone beat their head against the wall. The wall wasn't moving. Try something else. SOmeone asked if they tried any draw plays. Yes! Far too many. They weren't working and weren't fooling anyone.

Someone needs to tell both cruickshank and montalvo that if the play is designed to go up the middle, and if there are 19 guys at the point of attack, TRY SOMETHING ELSE. Time and again, right up the middle, smack into the wall! Up the middle, smack! Over and over. Ugh.

The D. I'd still like to know when they plan on taking the field.

I've been watching the Cats since 1997 and that was the worst, bar none, example of open-field tackling I have EVER seen by the Cats. I saw more missed tackles in this one game than I think I saw all last year. Yes, that TE was big and impressive but those two long runs by the RB, we had no safety help. Totally out of position. The RB got past the line of scrimmage and there was no one between him and a direct line to the end zone.

On one play in the 2nd half, WOU took to the line, the left WR was completely uncovered. He waved to the QB, who saw the naked matchup, and threw a quick out to him. The left corner was no where to be found. If our boys didn't run him down from behind, it would have been an easy score.

I was really expecting a much better, tougher, more innovative D now that the Defensive Coordinator took over but that was just amazingly bad. All night it looked like we had our second string in.

And then the illegal substitution on the 4th down punt. That's innexcusable. I know Coach Joe needs some time to make this team his own, but come on. You've had all summer to be ready. These kids were not. And again, NO leadership. I didn't see anyone getting this team inspired. We need leaders and we need them fast.

I know the season's not over and there's a long way to go, but this was shockingly bad. Come on, Cats. Pull it together.