Lulay Leads CardiaCats Back Again
10/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Mike Kramer had a simple message for his team after Saturday's heart-stopping 27-24 win over South Dakota State in Bobcat Stadium. Enjoy yourselves, but cut it out.
"I'm glad we won," Kramer said after his team won on its final possession of the game for the third consecutive week, "but I've had enough of this tomfoolery. We can not continue to win this way."
The Bobcats followed a different script on Saturday, leading throughout the game before the Jackrabbits tied the game with two touchdowns in the final 72 seconds. For the fourth week in a row, junior quarterback Travis Lulay engineered a stunning drive, taking his team 69 yards to set up EJ Cochrane's game-winning 22-yard field goal.
"Travis played a peerless game today," Kramer said. "He did an outstanding job operating the offense, staying within the system, delivering the ball. Terrific."
Lulay had his best day as a Bobcat, and the third-best passing day in school history. He completed 33 of his 51 passing attempts for 411 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 15 yards.
The Bobcats controlled the game throughout the first 58 minutes in spite of a slew of mistakes. "It's excruciating to win a game this way when you have so many silly penalties that resulted in major infractions," Kramer said. "Our mistakes in the first half made this a (close) game for South Dakota State."
MSU marched 60 yards on the team's first possession to take a 7-0 lead, but South Dakota State answered with a 78-yard drive to tie the score. After a scoreless second quarter, Lulay marched the Bobcats 69 yards for a score on the MSU's first second-half possession, , and after a three-and-out defensive stand EJ Cochrane nailed a 47-yard field goal to put the 'Cats on top 17-7. After Parker Douglass of SDSU nailed a short field goal early in the fourth quarter, the 'Cats marched 65 yards for what appeared to be a game-clinching TD with 4:57 to play.
Trailing 24-10, the Jackrabbits punted out of their own end zone with 3:44 to play, but MSU missed a scoring chance when Cochrane missed a 44-yard field goal. The new life sparked SDSU, as the Jackrabbits capped an eight-play, 69-yard drive with a Chris Molitor touchdown reception from Brad Nelson.
On the ensuing possession, Bobcat receiver Chaz Guinn failed to secure the on-side kick, and South Dakota State recovered. After an 11-yard pass to Josh Davis, Nelson found Brian Janecek in the end-zone for a 44-yard score to tie the game at 24.
With 23 seconds to play and 74 yards to cover, Lulay went to work. He found Domineck for a five-yard gain, then found his favorite receiver on the day, Blake Wolf, for 10 yards. Domineck caught a 16-yarder to move into Jacrabbit territory, and Guinn caught a soft 28-yarder in front of the Bobcat bench. After a 10-yard draw play to Domineck, Lulay moved the ball to the center of the field to set up Cochrane's game-winner.
Several players stood out for the 'Cats. Wolf had a career highs with 11 catches and 137 yards, while Rick Gatewood had 126 yards on nine catches with a pair of TDs. Defensively, Mac Mollohan had 12 tackles, three for a loss, and a sack. Roger Cooper had 10 tackles, 1.5 for a loss, while Ray Sebestyen had nine tackles, three for a loss, with two sacks.
Most of the days bouquets, though, belonged to Lulay. His 411 passing yards is the second-best effort in the Big Sky this year, behind Mark Hetherington's 415-yard day against Montana for Idaho State, but it gives Lulay two of the best three days in the league this year (he threw for 370 yards last week). His 51 passes on Saturday is the 11th-most in MSU annals, and his 33 completions is tied for sixth.
South Dakota State coach John Stiegelmeier, whose program is in its first season as a Division I-AA member and belongs to the Big West Conference, had high praise for Lulay. "That quarterback is a first-class guy," he said. "I love guys like that. I would love to get in the Big Sky, but not until after he graduates."
MSU moves its record to 5-2, and takes a 3-0 conference mark back into Big Sky action next Saturday at Northern Arizona. SDSU is 4-3, and travels to Georgia Southern next week.
"I'm glad we won," Kramer said after his team won on its final possession of the game for the third consecutive week, "but I've had enough of this tomfoolery. We can not continue to win this way."
The Bobcats followed a different script on Saturday, leading throughout the game before the Jackrabbits tied the game with two touchdowns in the final 72 seconds. For the fourth week in a row, junior quarterback Travis Lulay engineered a stunning drive, taking his team 69 yards to set up EJ Cochrane's game-winning 22-yard field goal.
"Travis played a peerless game today," Kramer said. "He did an outstanding job operating the offense, staying within the system, delivering the ball. Terrific."
Lulay had his best day as a Bobcat, and the third-best passing day in school history. He completed 33 of his 51 passing attempts for 411 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 15 yards.
The Bobcats controlled the game throughout the first 58 minutes in spite of a slew of mistakes. "It's excruciating to win a game this way when you have so many silly penalties that resulted in major infractions," Kramer said. "Our mistakes in the first half made this a (close) game for South Dakota State."
MSU marched 60 yards on the team's first possession to take a 7-0 lead, but South Dakota State answered with a 78-yard drive to tie the score. After a scoreless second quarter, Lulay marched the Bobcats 69 yards for a score on the MSU's first second-half possession, , and after a three-and-out defensive stand EJ Cochrane nailed a 47-yard field goal to put the 'Cats on top 17-7. After Parker Douglass of SDSU nailed a short field goal early in the fourth quarter, the 'Cats marched 65 yards for what appeared to be a game-clinching TD with 4:57 to play.
Trailing 24-10, the Jackrabbits punted out of their own end zone with 3:44 to play, but MSU missed a scoring chance when Cochrane missed a 44-yard field goal. The new life sparked SDSU, as the Jackrabbits capped an eight-play, 69-yard drive with a Chris Molitor touchdown reception from Brad Nelson.
On the ensuing possession, Bobcat receiver Chaz Guinn failed to secure the on-side kick, and South Dakota State recovered. After an 11-yard pass to Josh Davis, Nelson found Brian Janecek in the end-zone for a 44-yard score to tie the game at 24.
With 23 seconds to play and 74 yards to cover, Lulay went to work. He found Domineck for a five-yard gain, then found his favorite receiver on the day, Blake Wolf, for 10 yards. Domineck caught a 16-yarder to move into Jacrabbit territory, and Guinn caught a soft 28-yarder in front of the Bobcat bench. After a 10-yard draw play to Domineck, Lulay moved the ball to the center of the field to set up Cochrane's game-winner.
Several players stood out for the 'Cats. Wolf had a career highs with 11 catches and 137 yards, while Rick Gatewood had 126 yards on nine catches with a pair of TDs. Defensively, Mac Mollohan had 12 tackles, three for a loss, and a sack. Roger Cooper had 10 tackles, 1.5 for a loss, while Ray Sebestyen had nine tackles, three for a loss, with two sacks.
Most of the days bouquets, though, belonged to Lulay. His 411 passing yards is the second-best effort in the Big Sky this year, behind Mark Hetherington's 415-yard day against Montana for Idaho State, but it gives Lulay two of the best three days in the league this year (he threw for 370 yards last week). His 51 passes on Saturday is the 11th-most in MSU annals, and his 33 completions is tied for sixth.
South Dakota State coach John Stiegelmeier, whose program is in its first season as a Division I-AA member and belongs to the Big West Conference, had high praise for Lulay. "That quarterback is a first-class guy," he said. "I love guys like that. I would love to get in the Big Sky, but not until after he graduates."
MSU moves its record to 5-2, and takes a 3-0 conference mark back into Big Sky action next Saturday at Northern Arizona. SDSU is 4-3, and travels to Georgia Southern next week.
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