We are two days away from the season home opener for the Bobcats who begin their dark horse quest for their fourth national championship. Last week's game was not the beginning of the quest. It was the money game. $650,000.00 to go to East Lansing. I listened to the game on XM and my way to Billings (yes, it was on XM. That's how the Cats roll baby). I DVR'd it at home and watched it Monday. I honestly didn't think the Cats looked horrible. Despite losing 44-3, their were some bright spots. They didn't turn the ball over. They didn't kill themselves with penalties (7 for 55 yards), and they kept hitting til the end.
Akpla should have caught at least three more passes. If he does, they may have put another 7 or 14 on the board. He and Iddins were just a bit off it seemed. The balls were catchable though so I'm hanging this on Elvis. Ricky Evans and Everette Gilbert both looked great and I expect big things. CJ Palmer should be the feature back and getting the ball 20 times a game. Evans and Gilbert are true freshmen while Palmer and Akpla are sophomores. That right there is enough to get you excited.
The biggest thing you could see is the speed difference (do you hear me Van Diest?). Michigan State is going to be a top 25 program this year. Their defense is great and they will come together offensively to crush the homos from ND in a couple of weeks. You could tell the Cat players were just off in the angles they took in their tackles because they haven't seen speed like that this fall. Our corners are young and got exposed but I firmly expect them to improve with every game and have an impact with turnovers by mid-season.
Dixie State comes to town this weekend. I don't make predictions on this blog as it has been the kiss of death for the Cats. Let's just say I expect the Bobcats to play much better. I think their will be a lot of guys seeing playing time this weekend on both sides of the ball for the Cats. Did I mention that I am sitting with AD Peter Fields in his box for the game? I didn't? Well, I am going to sit with Peter and drink as much of his beer as he will let me. Maybe I'll wander out onto his observation deck and take some action photos while I'm at it.
Meanwhile, in the land of soot and smog..................................
Sign entering Missoula
The u of m travels to Mexifornia to play UC Davis. I have no idea what to expect here. The griz will be tough and I'm sure they've already greased the officials for this game. I look at UCD's schedule from last year and wasn't overly impressed. They lost to a couple of Big Sky Conference teams that the griz rolled so this should be another game for Coach Roberta to pad his W-L record.
Coach Bobbie at the post game last week. Looks like he's been working out.
The big game for the grizzlies is on October 10th when Cal-Poly comes to the smog infested dump of Missoula to play the dark pink for homecoming. If it wasn't homecoming for the Bobcats, I'd drive to Missoula, cover myself in Lysol and go root for the Mustangs.
Speaking of the Mustangs, the 3M Company travels to Huntley Project to play the defending state champions. After squeaking by Conrad 14-12 last week, the Mustangs face an even bigger challenge this week. This will be a tough test for Malta. Huntley is a great program. They are well coach, always prepared and never need any motivation to get up for this game. The winner of this game will almost assuredly be the favorite to win the Class B crown.
In South Bend, the Irish rolled over an inept and highly overrated Nevada team. Nevada? Really? The vaunted "tough schedule" of the Irish impresses me yet again. Coach Eatseverythinginsight will have a little more of a challenge this week. Even with Michigan's program sliding further into obscurity they are not Nevada. I may have to DVR this just to see how the Irish look. The Sports Pickle has a great write up on the Irish this year. Give it a read if you have a moment.
Coach Weiss leaving practice Tuesday.
I'm adding a new feature this year. It's part of my "Bret Favre hasn't been a relevant QB in at least five years and is only playing for his own personal records" campaign. I call it BFHBARQIALFYAIOPFHOPR for short. Each week I'll break down Favre's performance and give you the insight you yearn to receive from the World Wide Leader in sports but never get. Favre's touchdown to interception ratio is at an even 0-0. I predict no less than 28 picks this year and not as many touchdowns as the Viking will not make the playoffs. If my brother Bill is correct, Favre quits by week six. Oh please God, oh please.
Well that's all for now. Go Cats!!
1 comment:
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
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