The Bobcats in the Post-Season
11/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Mike Kramer knew where to look when his Bobcat team was mired in its well-documented September malaise.
“It was all about us,” said Montana State’s seventh-year head coach. “Not to take anything away from the teams that beat us, because they played well, but it was never about anything other teams did. It was not about what others did to us. It was about us.”
After stunning college football with a win at Colorado to open the 2006 season, MSU suffered equally stunning home losses to Division II power Chadron State (now 12-0 and entering the Division II Quarterfinals) and UC Davis. After a conference-opening home loss to Eastern Washington, Kramer and the Bobcats took stock of their season.
“Even then,” he says, “we knew what we were capable of doing, and we knew because of our recent history (MSU overcame a 2-4 start in 2002 and a 1-3 start in ‘03) that we could get back on track. And we knew that to do so we’d have to take control of things ourselves.”
The Bobcats took control in a big way with a 39-32 romp at Northern Arizona, then earned what proved to be the team’s most important win of the year, a 14-0 whitewashing of Portland State. MSU held the Vikings to just seven first downs and 132 total yards, earning a win that likely propelled the team into the Playoffs in the final equation.
“We began to right ourselves against Eastern Washington,” Kramer said. “Even though we lost, we made some changes defensively that really allowed us to experience the prolonged success we’ve enjoyed.”
Although most see Saturday ‘s contest at Appalachian State as an uphill climb for the Bobcats, Kramer sees it simply as more of the same. “We’ve been in this mode since September 30,” he said. “Our backs have been to the wall this whole time, and we seem to like it that way. Appalachian State is a great program that has graduated itself to the elite of our level, but our performance is really about us.”
“It was all about us,” said Montana State’s seventh-year head coach. “Not to take anything away from the teams that beat us, because they played well, but it was never about anything other teams did. It was not about what others did to us. It was about us.”
After stunning college football with a win at Colorado to open the 2006 season, MSU suffered equally stunning home losses to Division II power Chadron State (now 12-0 and entering the Division II Quarterfinals) and UC Davis. After a conference-opening home loss to Eastern Washington, Kramer and the Bobcats took stock of their season.
“Even then,” he says, “we knew what we were capable of doing, and we knew because of our recent history (MSU overcame a 2-4 start in 2002 and a 1-3 start in ‘03) that we could get back on track. And we knew that to do so we’d have to take control of things ourselves.”
The Bobcats took control in a big way with a 39-32 romp at Northern Arizona, then earned what proved to be the team’s most important win of the year, a 14-0 whitewashing of Portland State. MSU held the Vikings to just seven first downs and 132 total yards, earning a win that likely propelled the team into the Playoffs in the final equation.
“We began to right ourselves against Eastern Washington,” Kramer said. “Even though we lost, we made some changes defensively that really allowed us to experience the prolonged success we’ve enjoyed.”
Although most see Saturday ‘s contest at Appalachian State as an uphill climb for the Bobcats, Kramer sees it simply as more of the same. “We’ve been in this mode since September 30,” he said. “Our backs have been to the wall this whole time, and we seem to like it that way. Appalachian State is a great program that has graduated itself to the elite of our level, but our performance is really about us.”
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