That was one of the more wild non-conference / non-playoff games I can recall. WCU is a damn good team and that Gonzalez kid met all the hype and then some - he was / is a baller. I, like most of us, in the first quarter was trying not to panic but was growing more and more concerned by the play. The Grizzly defense couldn't make a single stop, and the Grizzly offense looked like it did in the 2nd half of the UND game. However, after falling down 17-0, Montana would come to life and outscore WCU 46-18 the rest of the way. It was great to see the offense come together and bounce back from early mishaps, and it was good to see the defense make needed corrections and tighten up in the 2nd half.
Some general thoughts from this fan:
- I hope the Ah Yat injury isn't bad, this felt like a "coming of age" game for him in some ways. He had a few great throws, the Q3 one off his back foot in the face of pressure was great. His scrambling saved the offense at times, and while I'm thankful he has the ability to do just that, I don't think it's sustainable. Teams will begin to spy him or scheme up zone defenses that won't allow that to keep happening. A lot of his runs were on breakdown plays, and of course we're assuming whatever his injury may be also came from a scramble too. We saw our RS freshman QB can run the offense to beat a ranked team, that's big.
- I also thought Logan Fife put together maybe one of the best drives I've seen from the Grizzlies this year, and if we've got Fife for a while now, I'm good with it. In maybe some of the better overall QB play - with clutch conversion throws - he masterfully lead a game-sealing TD drive. He found Bergen twice on a 3rd and long, and a 4th down, to keep the drive alive - and keep that damn WCU offense off the field.
- Eli Gillman isn't human
and he needs the ball more. Dude ran for 12.5 yards per carry - and if you take out his 66 yard TD run he's still at about 8.5 YPC. His jump over a defender was insane, and his breakaway speed is noticeable.
- For the first time in a meaningful game the offense and defense made halftime corrections that really paid off. I think especially defensively Coop and Hauck, whatever they did, it sure helped turn things around. Looking at the WCU drive chart. First half - 8 possessions, 305 yards, 27 points, 48 plays. Second half - 6 possessions (just 2 in Q4), 173 yards, 8 points, 31 plays. That is one hell of a turnaround for a defense that looked shell shocked in the first quarter.
- Loved seeing #37 grab a tide-turning pick, right after Montana takes a 1 point lead, to then set up the offense to stretch the lead out a few plays later.
- Good to see Hustead back, I think he brought some great energy and passion to the backer corps. I also think we're starting to see some of our younger secondary guys growing up, Rostad and Klucewich. Yeah there were breakdowns and errors but they were hitting hard and kept their heads up and fought through adversity. Lee leading the day in tackles, and Harris getting another sack which now has him at 5.5 in just 4 games played.
- 201 combined yards of penalties by both teams is way too much. I don't know if these were Big Sky refs or what, but they seemed to lose control of the game, maybe it was the crowd or two very strong willed head coaches? I think calls were missed on both sides, I don't feel that one or another team "benefitted" from calls per se. I think the Gradney PI where the WR stopped his route was a joke, and honestly the non-call a few plays later (which then WCU would miss a kick) was far more PI. I get why their coach was mad, I doubt he cares if it was a slight "make up" for the prior flag.
- Props again to WCU. That's a good club, as long as Gonzalez isn't too banged up they'll make some noise this year. They're a fun and scrappy team and played better in this game than I'd seen them play to date. Their fans that were there were super kind and fun, I had convos with a few - both before and after. Real nice folks, one parent said to me she's pretty sure we'll be meeting again in the playoffs!
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Big win, Griz are 3-1 headed into conference play. They're a little banged up and will be (presumably) without Wilson for half of the EWU game. Need to find some good momentum on the road this next weekend.
Go Griz!
Some general thoughts from this fan:
- I hope the Ah Yat injury isn't bad, this felt like a "coming of age" game for him in some ways. He had a few great throws, the Q3 one off his back foot in the face of pressure was great. His scrambling saved the offense at times, and while I'm thankful he has the ability to do just that, I don't think it's sustainable. Teams will begin to spy him or scheme up zone defenses that won't allow that to keep happening. A lot of his runs were on breakdown plays, and of course we're assuming whatever his injury may be also came from a scramble too. We saw our RS freshman QB can run the offense to beat a ranked team, that's big.
- I also thought Logan Fife put together maybe one of the best drives I've seen from the Grizzlies this year, and if we've got Fife for a while now, I'm good with it. In maybe some of the better overall QB play - with clutch conversion throws - he masterfully lead a game-sealing TD drive. He found Bergen twice on a 3rd and long, and a 4th down, to keep the drive alive - and keep that damn WCU offense off the field.
- Eli Gillman isn't human
and he needs the ball more. Dude ran for 12.5 yards per carry - and if you take out his 66 yard TD run he's still at about 8.5 YPC. His jump over a defender was insane, and his breakaway speed is noticeable. - For the first time in a meaningful game the offense and defense made halftime corrections that really paid off. I think especially defensively Coop and Hauck, whatever they did, it sure helped turn things around. Looking at the WCU drive chart. First half - 8 possessions, 305 yards, 27 points, 48 plays. Second half - 6 possessions (just 2 in Q4), 173 yards, 8 points, 31 plays. That is one hell of a turnaround for a defense that looked shell shocked in the first quarter.
- Loved seeing #37 grab a tide-turning pick, right after Montana takes a 1 point lead, to then set up the offense to stretch the lead out a few plays later.
- Good to see Hustead back, I think he brought some great energy and passion to the backer corps. I also think we're starting to see some of our younger secondary guys growing up, Rostad and Klucewich. Yeah there were breakdowns and errors but they were hitting hard and kept their heads up and fought through adversity. Lee leading the day in tackles, and Harris getting another sack which now has him at 5.5 in just 4 games played.
- 201 combined yards of penalties by both teams is way too much. I don't know if these were Big Sky refs or what, but they seemed to lose control of the game, maybe it was the crowd or two very strong willed head coaches? I think calls were missed on both sides, I don't feel that one or another team "benefitted" from calls per se. I think the Gradney PI where the WR stopped his route was a joke, and honestly the non-call a few plays later (which then WCU would miss a kick) was far more PI. I get why their coach was mad, I doubt he cares if it was a slight "make up" for the prior flag.
- Props again to WCU. That's a good club, as long as Gonzalez isn't too banged up they'll make some noise this year. They're a fun and scrappy team and played better in this game than I'd seen them play to date. Their fans that were there were super kind and fun, I had convos with a few - both before and after. Real nice folks, one parent said to me she's pretty sure we'll be meeting again in the playoffs!
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Big win, Griz are 3-1 headed into conference play. They're a little banged up and will be (presumably) without Wilson for half of the EWU game. Need to find some good momentum on the road this next weekend.
Go Griz!
