On Friday night, the Wildcats fell to the Cy-Fair Bobcats 35-17 at Pridgeon stadium for the Homecoming game. A recap of this game can be found here, and below I will be reviewing how each positional group played.

Quarterbacks: C-

The quarterbacks could not seem to stay wary of what was in front of them the whole night, especially in a disappointing second half. Though they did improve on turnovers, with only one Kainer INT by the end of the night, the passing game was fairly nonexistent- really a result of bad decisions. Barrientez and both Sherill twins constantly escaped coverage and would have scored sure-fire TDs if only they had been thrown to. The QB run game was even worse- with Kainer only achieving 35 yards on 16 attempts (2.2 ypc). If this offense is going to shape up next week they are going to need to beef up the passing game too, there was not really an attempt at the deep pass (probably why there was only one QB turnover) along with only 11 pass attempts-  if the Wildcats would like to improve, they will need to take some risks without an INT every other pass.

Runningbacks: B-
Though the running backs were yet again without CJ Jones, Barrientez and Surtain made it easy to forget. Barrientez stunned with 96 yards on only 9 attempts, a dominant player of this offense who was the backbone of the emotion behind the game- invigorating the team with a 74 yard run that rocked the student section. Surtain did alright, with 10 attempts and 56 yards, which isn’t too noteworthy but still solid.  I foresee great things for these two RBs, and hope they will be used well in the next two games of this lacking season.

Receivers: C-
Only 11 passes were attempted to this positional group, giving them limited opportunity to make a presence at Pridgeon. There was a diverse group of receivers- giving Kainer a chance to explore multiple great options when he actually did decide to throw the ball, however this also created an air of inconsistency when many of these receivers were open and ready to score when Kainer chose poorly. However, the only issue with this positional group that was actually their fault was incompletions- even though there were only 6- usually the result of the ball thrown into coverage- they only brought up 66 yards. This simply will not work if the Wildcats want to end the season with more than two wins. The Sherrill brothers I believe are an undervalued asset of this positional group, with only one pass thrown to Cullen Sherrill.These over 6 foot tall receivers, who towered over their defenders, need to be put to better use.

Offensive Line: B-
The offensive line performed alright in this game. Although Kainer was injured and had to come out a few times, it is kind of expected at this point in the season. He really was protected at most points during the game, though there were some struggles when he attempted to run or scramble. With this performance by the offensive line, it is odd to compare how the passing game panned out the way it did- in my opinion it was the play style- but this group did fairly well, save for a few fourth downs that could not be converted because of inefficient blocking.

Defensive Line: C+
The defensive line did a fairly good job through the first half, holding a dominant Cy-Fair team to an eleven point lead at the half. Although the stats tell a different story, with an allowance of over 200 rush yards, the first quarter consisted of a few easy 3-and-outs for this defense, something a great improvement from the last game I attended. However, by the end of the game it was easy to tell they had been worn ragged after too many 3-and-outs by their own offense- resulting in a positional group that barely had time to get water before returning to the turf to battle again. As a result, cheap points near the end of the game made the score look worse than it was. In my opinion, giving up cheap points at the end of a hard-fought game is just disappointing for your team- something not just the defensive line did wrong but all aspects of the defense.

Linebackers: C+
Missing playmaker OLB Collin Fewox really hurt the Wildcat linebacking corps, with the group not being able to claim one turnover to their performance. Even with three fumbles by the Bobcat offense, the linebacking corps was unable to even pick up one. Though this group did perform some great plays, sacking the Bobcat QB more than once and forcing them to run more than pass, there is some improvement needing to be made on the more risky side. All of these players need to be able to create the kind of pressure that leads to recovered turnovers, not just rely on one player to do it for them.

Secondary: B-
The secondary could not keep the Bobcats from making completions. By the end of the night, the Bobcat quarterback ended up with an 85% completion rate out of 20 passes, some of which easily could have been prevented if not for a little more effort on the secondaries’ parts. Though there were only 101 yards passing from the Bobcat offense, the secondary could have made themselves more of a presence in a homecoming game where emotions are high and anyone can take home the W.

Special Teams: A-
The only bad thing about the special teams was a fumble recovered by Fair on a return near the end of the fourth. Other than that the kicking game was stellar- with Reyes averaging an enormous 50.5 yards per punt and nailing every scoring opportunity, along with a perfect onside kick recovered by Jack Barrientez that made a statement to everyone at Pridgeon. Also, the return crew- other than the fumble- did a great job gaining better field position for the Wildcat offense, a sign of improvement from the stagnation in past weeks’ games. This positional group consistently does some of the best work of all the groups, with results that show they put in effort to do so,