I believe this was the biggest non-Orientation crowd ever for the stadium and puts this season in the driver seat to be the best attended in school history. Vibes of that 2013 ESPN basketball game where like 6,000 people saw the Ags almost knock off Long Beach -- even a close loss there arguably started some special in terms of attendance and home advantage.
Definitely glad the student section was rocking and (much of it) stayed to see the comeback. That's hopefully the kind of story that spreads by word of mouth more than the final score.
Not being prepared for the biggest game of the season was embarrassing for the vendors. It was ridiculous how quick it ran out...two big chests of beers in the back when they should've brought 10!
They could've tripled their profit if they did a little pregame recon.
There were plenty of lines, the lines shortened by the mid/late 2nd quarter because they gave word to game watchers that they were out of 'everything except water and soda', no joke
I don't see USD beating NDSU even in Vermillion. If you drop to #5 today I think Next week the selection committee will put you at #4. If you hadn't rallied late in the game I think you might have dropped a few spots.
just curious....when did you guys start planning to make this trip? when we were in the pregame, we saw a bus pull up with a full load of Cat fans. I'm guessing that they were coming as part of some trip package. very impressive. i think that was part of what made the night so electric. big contingent of Cat fans, and a strong showing of Ag fans. what was also neat was the large showing of Aggie alumni. We met up the locker room to cheer them on as they walked down to the stadium. Lots of guys, mostly the 90's era, but everyone was fired up and high on this team. Sometimes, the guys from my era was a bit cranky when the current teams get high praise....like to trot out that old 'we were smaller and slower than everybody, but we found ways to win'. it just seems to me back-to-back Montana games are a tad more challenging than the Chico-San Francisco State gautlent. Even when we had to face them with slow,small Ken O'Brien and Bo Eason. Go Ags!
We got to the game around 3 pm and walked around the stadium before going to the Team Aggie tent to get something to eat before the game. Generally, the food is just so-so, but the beer selection is always good and the fajitas they served for this game, however, was pretty darn good. I like the Gunrock Hazy IPA but they were all out and it was only 3:15 pm. So even Team Aggie members were drinking early as well.
Midway into the 2nd quarter, a guy in front of us went to get some food and drinks and came back with a Coors Light and some Belgian brew and told his friend, "they said this is all they have left." So, yes, the vendors and Aggie Athletics were not prepared for the crowd's demand for food and beer. The merch line was busy all game as well.
The Athletics Department and the vendors should have known that the demand for food and beer would be high given the hype of the game and the near dinner time kickoff of 5 pm. They left some money on the table for sure...
I didn't make this trip but I heard about a charter about 3 weeks ago, the Alumni association does it and I think it was down and back same day.
Usually we have charters for away playoffs games, this is the first one I remember being for a BSC game. Cats usually have pretty good turn out for CA games, we have a lot of alum and former players from CA
SVP features our game on “Bad Beats” on SportsCenter tonight. Lots of Davis highlights bc of the flurry at the end of the game. Wish they would’ve shown Lan’s one handed catch.
I noted that there was only 1 completion, and I believe only 1 target to an Aggie tight end. I suspect that may be due to strategy for run blocking and added pass protection.
I think a somewhat missed weapon is Josh Gale. Connecting with him over the linebackers has, in multiple times resulted in big gains and house calls over the years. He generally outruns defensive backs. The tight end group is deep, and between that and a lot of 12 personnel, I think there has been limited opportunities for him to make big plays. The Ags have a lot of receiving options so many ways to go.
I do think Chaz Davis really stepped up and was more aggressive in using his big body to block out defenders. My wife was amused when he was looking back to ward off defenders on that big run, and she also noticed his “splay-footed” running. Against EWU she had noted how Larison ran as track coaches would teach. I would assume running backs and receivers would all receive coaching on how to improve their running speed?
Chaz Davis is productive against the best competition, e.g., Cal, Oregon State, Idaho, Montana, Not always huge games but some big catches. I don’t know whether he improved his speed, that is hard to do,as it’s mostly a gift you have or not. But Chaz is a more fluid athlete than I thought he was initially.