A big NAU Injury, and a new QB, gives MSU hope this weekend
After dropping last Saturday’s game to lowly Sacramento State, the Montana State Bobcats (2-3) are hosting the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (1-4). NAU was the preseason favorite to win the Big Sky, but thanks, in part, to an injury to starting QB Case Cookus and a brutal early schedule, they now find themselves 4.5 point underdogs heading into Bozeman. Can the Cats rebound, who will Coach Choate go with at QB, and is there anything for MSU fans to be happy about?
Hot Take Nate (Cats fan): Man, I read Bobcat Nation last night and the sky is falling for MSU fans. I’ve never seen a more downtrodden group.
Minty Coach (Cats fan): I’m pissed the Cats lost to Sac State, but I think there is a silver lining – Chris Murray should now be our starting QB. How can Choate NOT make him the starter after last week?
Bear Tycoon (Griz fan): Murray was so much fun to watch last week, but according to Skyline Sports (at least according to the beginning of the article not behind their ridiculous paywall), Choate won’t name Murray the starter.
Hot Take Nate (Cats fan): Murray played a great game against Sac State and deserves to start. His overall numbers were skewed from all of the drops. If he completes the three passes that were dropped and a high school receiver could have caught, his QB rating would have been 250+. I don’t think he’s as far away as people think from being a dual threat QB. Obviously not there now, but he made throws that showed it’s not THAT far away
Jasper Moonshot (Griz fan): Remember when Nate Montana came in for the Griz and threw a TD pass on his first passing attempt? Same sample size = uncertainty. Choate will bring in at least 3 QBs next year.
Z-Train (Griz fan): I think you are all overvaluing the potential impact of Murray. I would be concerned about the extreme one dimensionality of the Cats offense with Murray at QB. I know Bruggman isn’t great, but Murray doesn’t seem like he knows any passing plays. For an extreme example, against Sac State, the Cats had the ball with about two minutes left and up 3. They needed a first down. The Cats ran, on 2nd and 24, a wildcat like QB direct snap run around the right side for no gain. On 3rd and 24, needing a first to preserve the win, THE CATS RAN THE EXACT SAME PLAY FOR NO GAIN AND PUNTED. And then lost.
At least Bruggman pretended to throw (although I read the combined 6 completions of Bruggman and Murray was the least for the cats in over 25 yrs.). Murray is electric, but teams are going to put 8 in the box every down.
I agree the potential is there, but right now, he’s going to have a rough go of it. And it seems like choate is hesitant to get him blasted.
Hot Take Nate (Cats fan): Moving on to this week, NAU is winnable this week especially with them losing to UNC and Cookus being out. Just like Minty Coach said, anything can happen in conference play… And usually does. And he was spot on this week actually.
Bear Tycoon (Griz fan): The Cats have not shown me a single thing on offense this year to be excited about. I fell off my couch when I saw they were favored in this game. NAU is 1-4, but three of those losses were to very good teams (FBS Arizona State, #13 Western Illinois, and #4 Eastern Washington). The Northern Colorado loss is a head scratcher, but I’m not too worried. NAU has talent on the roster, and I’m viewing the Cats as a mess until they show me something. NAU is going to win this game.
Minty Coach (Cats fan): Obviously the Cats are “licking their wounds” after a “nail-biter” last week. Prior to the game I said “anything can happen and usually does” when it comes to Big Sky Conference games. Welp, that’s just what we saw. This week I expect both squads to fight “tooth and nail” to secure a victory. The Cats should debut Murray as the starter and we now know the Lumberjills are without their starter. “Throw the records out the window” because this one “could go down to the wire.” “Time is of the essence” for the Cats as they’ve already got two league losses. They’ve really “dug themselves a hole.” A Bobcat win here just might “turn the tide of the season” and allow the MSU offense to “gain some momentum.” Cats 36 – Jills 28
Hot Take Nate (Cats fan): At least the Cats have something to be happy about – former QB Dakota Prukop was officially benched by Oregon. What could have been if that dude stays. Wentz got drafted from FCS. So did Flacco. And Romo. And Gus could. He could have had it all at MSU and now he’s benched 4 games in!!!
Z-Train (Griz fan): UUUUUge mistake. But to each their own. Dakota took a chance and got burned, but can’t fault a guy for trying to take a big shot at success.
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