Its another road trip for Montana and now they’re off to Cal Poly to face a team that’s seemed to find some ability to put up points, the Grizzlies will face a more competent offense this week than they saw against UNC. This Poly team has a lot of familiar names on the staff. Paul Wulff, head coach. Erik Meyer, OC. Timm Rosenbach, WR’s Co-OC. Asa Jackson, CBs. Cody Von Appen, DC.
The Poly media guide is a little goofy. It states that Poly is returning 9 starters on offense and 10 starters on defense, but that they also lost 5 starters on offense and 3 starters on defense. It goes on to clarify that they count starters as kids that played 5 or more games.
Looking at conference wide stat rankings Poly is 11th scoring, only worse than UNC. However, they are middle of the pack defensively with the 3rd best rushing defense in the conference right now. Cal Poly’s pass defense is ranked dead last in terms of efficiency in the conference, just barely worse than EWU’s.
Cal Poly Mustangs
21-27 loss @ San Diego: What an odd stat line, Poly had 8 rushing yards on 18 attempts and 286 passing yards on 43 attempts but also had 3 interceptions thrown. While San Diego stuck to the ground and had about 185 rushing. In the 2nd half USD scored 17 unanswered including a pick 6 to seal the win.
7-41 loss @ Stanford: It was 14-7 Stanford at the half, but then the 2nd half saw Stanford score 24 points on 4 possessions while Poly would toss a pick and punt 4 times. Poly again has virtually no rushing yards, just 25, and 204 passing. Stanford would go on to pass for 318 in the game.
31-14 win vs Western Oregon: Another one that was kind of close at half, 14-6 Poly, and then WOU would tie it in the 3rd with a TD & 2 point conversion. Poly would answer with 14 fast points through the air while WOU would miss a field goal and toss a pick. WOU outgained Poly 386 to 315, they had a handful of drives that got a few yards but would eventually stall out.
28-7 win @ Northern Colorado: So, Poly put up 4 more points than Montana @ UNC. Poly in the game puts up nearly 500 yards and suddenly they found their rushing game with 290 total rushing yards. UNC had just 213 yards in the game.
38-41 loss vs Idaho State: Not a lot of defense played in this game. In an absolute shootout I count 10 lead changes as both teams just went score for score. After 5 consecutive scoring drives traded off between each team ISU would lose a fumble at midfield with the game tied 38-38 with 5:30 to go. Poly would get to the ISU 24 and go for it on 4th and 1 and get stuffed! ISU, with the ball and 3:11 of clock would go to the ISU 7, wind the whole clock out and kick a game winning field goal. ISU had 531 yards, Poly had 408. Poly would rush for almost 300, ISU would pass for 425.
10-56 loss @ UC Davis: Davis would pass for 500 yards in a total blowout win, scoring 35 points on 5 possessions in the first half.
29-34 loss @ Idaho: Poly had 14-6 lead at the half and things were looking like a total mess for Idaho. Bu the Vandals would storm back, scoring 3 TDs in the 3rd quarter – despite giving up a blocked / returned conversion for 2 points to Poly. And suddenly it’s 34-16 Idaho. In the 4th Poly would find the endzone late in the game, but then would also take a fumble for a scoop and score shortly after to set the final score. Poly’s onsides attempt would fail and Idaho would escape with a win. Poly fell back into older habits, not much rushing, just 77 yards, and 280 passing. Idaho with their 12th and 13th string QBs (jokes) would still pass for nearly 350 yards.
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General Stats
Passing yards per game CPSLO (228 for GRIZ vs 231 for CPSLO)
Rushing yards per game GRIZ (244 for GRIZ vs 123 for CPSLO)
Total offense GRIZ (472 for GRIZ vs 354 for CPSLO)
Passing yards allowed per game GRIZ (215 for GRIZ vs 301 for CPSLO)
Rushing yards allowed per game CPSLO (139 for GRIZ vs 133 for CPSLO)
Total defense GRIZ (354 for GRIZ vs 434 for CPSLO)
Poly grabs 2 and Montana gets the other 4, passing YPG super close though.
Offense points scored GRIZ (39.1 for GRIZ vs 23.4 for CPSLO)
Defense points allowed GRIZ (26.5 for GRIZ vs 31.4 for CPSLO)
Turnover margin GRIZ (+3 for GRIZ / +/- 0 for CPSLO)
Field goal % GRIZ (69% for GRIZ vs 50% for CPSLO)
Punt Returns CPSLO (8.5 yards for GRIZ vs 8.8 yards for CPSLO)
Kick Returns GRIZ (27.3 yards for GRIZ vs 18.8 yards for CPSLO)
T.O.P. GRIZ (31:32 for GRIZ vs 28:06 for CPSLO)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) GRIZ (56% GRIZ / 63% CPSLO)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) CPSLO (70% GRIZ / 76.5% CPSLO)
3rd down offense GRIZ – (46.7% for GRIZ / 36% for CPSLO)
3rd down defense GRIZ – (37.2% allowed for GRIZ vs 45.5% allowed for CPSLO)
Not much luck here for Poly to add some categories, they get two on punt returns and red zone TD efficiency on offense. Montana grabs the other 9 categories. That puts the final at Montana 13 – Cal Poly 4.
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CPSLO Players to Watch:
#3 Bo Kelly, QB – Cal Poly rotates QBs a bit, but Kelly is the guy that we’ll presumably see the most, they have a few other guys that will run some more read-option / wildcat stuff too. Kelly this year 1115 passing yards so far and 6 TDs, he also has a league leading 6 interceptions thrown as well. It appears Poly’s had some QB health issues but if you see #3 sub out and #11 or #17 come in – expect more rushing from those guys – however both have missed some time/games.
#10 Michael Briscoe, WR – Briscoe is a 6-2 WR and he’s got TDs in all categories on offense. He’s got 76 rushing yards and 1 rushing TD, 371 receiving yards and 3 TDs there, and he’s 1-1 passing for 22 yards and has 1 passing TD.
#2 Giancarlo Woods, WR – Opposite Briscoe, Woods is 6-1, also 195, and leads the team in receptions and yards, he’s got 415 yards and 3 receiving TDS. His 30 catches this season is 12 more than Briscoe who is 2nd in receptions. Woods might be seen on punt returns as well. Woods has been a starting WR for Poly since 2021 and his younger brother (#7 Jake Woods) is their 3rd leading target as a big 6-4 TE.
#5 Aiden Ramos, RB – Poly uses a handful of backs and QBs to run the ball but Ramos has the most amount of touches. He leads the team with 290 rushing yards and 1 rushing TD. He’s also go 61 receiving yards. They’ll mix in #19 for a change of pace back, and as mentioned earlier the QB #17 will come in especially in the redzone and do some zone-read stuff.
#14 Elijah Ponder, DL – Ponder started on the DL for Poly in their shortened 2020 covid season, and has started since. On his career he has 39.5 TFLs, 24.5 sacks, 1 INT, 3 FF, 2 FR, and has blocked 2 kicks. This season he’s 5th on the team in tackles, he’s got 8.5 TFLs and 5 sacks. He’s forced 2 fumbles and blocked 1 kick. He was named 1st team all conference in the preseason and will present a force of a man for our OL. He’s one of the best D-linemen in the conference.
#32 Mason Rivera, S – A 6 foot tall, 190 pound safety, he leads the team in tackles with 46, he’s got 3 TFLs and 1 sack. He’s got a knack for knocking the ball out, 2 forced fumbles this season, which is tied with a few others for best in the conference.
#60 Ethan Rodriguez, DL – A big 270 pound dude on the D-line. He’s got 18 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, and 2 sacks. He’s also forced 1 fumble and blocked 1 kick. He pairs well with Ponder and you can see why these two help Poly’s rush defense be their strong suit.
#43 Judaea Moon, LB – Poly’s got some good backers and Moon is the grizzled vet of the group. He’s been on the team and playing since 2019. He has 34 tackles and 2 TFLs.
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Keys to a Grizzly victory
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Poly will be well rested and they have coaches very familiar with Montana, this game will be more difficult than the last road game. In 4 of their last 5 games (removing the Davis game) they’re scoring 31.5 ppg. If you add the Davis game in that number moves to 27.2. Conversely, UNC hasn’t scored more than 21 this whole season. This is a better offense and it’s going to test a Montana defense that has shown improvements but still has many of us worried.
The Griz are going to have to flex a bit more of what they do well, that’s controlling the line and moving the ball on offense. As long as that can happen they should get out of Poly with a win, but I’m seeing a more tense game for a while here. With it maybe being a 1 score game at half we see Montana pull away as things go on, I’ll say the Griz come out victorious 38-24.
Go Griz!
The Poly media guide is a little goofy. It states that Poly is returning 9 starters on offense and 10 starters on defense, but that they also lost 5 starters on offense and 3 starters on defense. It goes on to clarify that they count starters as kids that played 5 or more games.
Looking at conference wide stat rankings Poly is 11th scoring, only worse than UNC. However, they are middle of the pack defensively with the 3rd best rushing defense in the conference right now. Cal Poly’s pass defense is ranked dead last in terms of efficiency in the conference, just barely worse than EWU’s.
Cal Poly Mustangs
21-27 loss @ San Diego: What an odd stat line, Poly had 8 rushing yards on 18 attempts and 286 passing yards on 43 attempts but also had 3 interceptions thrown. While San Diego stuck to the ground and had about 185 rushing. In the 2nd half USD scored 17 unanswered including a pick 6 to seal the win.
7-41 loss @ Stanford: It was 14-7 Stanford at the half, but then the 2nd half saw Stanford score 24 points on 4 possessions while Poly would toss a pick and punt 4 times. Poly again has virtually no rushing yards, just 25, and 204 passing. Stanford would go on to pass for 318 in the game.
31-14 win vs Western Oregon: Another one that was kind of close at half, 14-6 Poly, and then WOU would tie it in the 3rd with a TD & 2 point conversion. Poly would answer with 14 fast points through the air while WOU would miss a field goal and toss a pick. WOU outgained Poly 386 to 315, they had a handful of drives that got a few yards but would eventually stall out.
28-7 win @ Northern Colorado: So, Poly put up 4 more points than Montana @ UNC. Poly in the game puts up nearly 500 yards and suddenly they found their rushing game with 290 total rushing yards. UNC had just 213 yards in the game.
38-41 loss vs Idaho State: Not a lot of defense played in this game. In an absolute shootout I count 10 lead changes as both teams just went score for score. After 5 consecutive scoring drives traded off between each team ISU would lose a fumble at midfield with the game tied 38-38 with 5:30 to go. Poly would get to the ISU 24 and go for it on 4th and 1 and get stuffed! ISU, with the ball and 3:11 of clock would go to the ISU 7, wind the whole clock out and kick a game winning field goal. ISU had 531 yards, Poly had 408. Poly would rush for almost 300, ISU would pass for 425.
10-56 loss @ UC Davis: Davis would pass for 500 yards in a total blowout win, scoring 35 points on 5 possessions in the first half.
29-34 loss @ Idaho: Poly had 14-6 lead at the half and things were looking like a total mess for Idaho. Bu the Vandals would storm back, scoring 3 TDs in the 3rd quarter – despite giving up a blocked / returned conversion for 2 points to Poly. And suddenly it’s 34-16 Idaho. In the 4th Poly would find the endzone late in the game, but then would also take a fumble for a scoop and score shortly after to set the final score. Poly’s onsides attempt would fail and Idaho would escape with a win. Poly fell back into older habits, not much rushing, just 77 yards, and 280 passing. Idaho with their 12th and 13th string QBs (jokes) would still pass for nearly 350 yards.
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General Stats
Passing yards per game CPSLO (228 for GRIZ vs 231 for CPSLO)
Rushing yards per game GRIZ (244 for GRIZ vs 123 for CPSLO)
Total offense GRIZ (472 for GRIZ vs 354 for CPSLO)
Passing yards allowed per game GRIZ (215 for GRIZ vs 301 for CPSLO)
Rushing yards allowed per game CPSLO (139 for GRIZ vs 133 for CPSLO)
Total defense GRIZ (354 for GRIZ vs 434 for CPSLO)
Poly grabs 2 and Montana gets the other 4, passing YPG super close though.
Offense points scored GRIZ (39.1 for GRIZ vs 23.4 for CPSLO)
Defense points allowed GRIZ (26.5 for GRIZ vs 31.4 for CPSLO)
Turnover margin GRIZ (+3 for GRIZ / +/- 0 for CPSLO)
Field goal % GRIZ (69% for GRIZ vs 50% for CPSLO)
Punt Returns CPSLO (8.5 yards for GRIZ vs 8.8 yards for CPSLO)
Kick Returns GRIZ (27.3 yards for GRIZ vs 18.8 yards for CPSLO)
T.O.P. GRIZ (31:32 for GRIZ vs 28:06 for CPSLO)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) GRIZ (56% GRIZ / 63% CPSLO)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) CPSLO (70% GRIZ / 76.5% CPSLO)
3rd down offense GRIZ – (46.7% for GRIZ / 36% for CPSLO)
3rd down defense GRIZ – (37.2% allowed for GRIZ vs 45.5% allowed for CPSLO)
Not much luck here for Poly to add some categories, they get two on punt returns and red zone TD efficiency on offense. Montana grabs the other 9 categories. That puts the final at Montana 13 – Cal Poly 4.
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CPSLO Players to Watch:
#3 Bo Kelly, QB – Cal Poly rotates QBs a bit, but Kelly is the guy that we’ll presumably see the most, they have a few other guys that will run some more read-option / wildcat stuff too. Kelly this year 1115 passing yards so far and 6 TDs, he also has a league leading 6 interceptions thrown as well. It appears Poly’s had some QB health issues but if you see #3 sub out and #11 or #17 come in – expect more rushing from those guys – however both have missed some time/games.
#10 Michael Briscoe, WR – Briscoe is a 6-2 WR and he’s got TDs in all categories on offense. He’s got 76 rushing yards and 1 rushing TD, 371 receiving yards and 3 TDs there, and he’s 1-1 passing for 22 yards and has 1 passing TD.
#2 Giancarlo Woods, WR – Opposite Briscoe, Woods is 6-1, also 195, and leads the team in receptions and yards, he’s got 415 yards and 3 receiving TDS. His 30 catches this season is 12 more than Briscoe who is 2nd in receptions. Woods might be seen on punt returns as well. Woods has been a starting WR for Poly since 2021 and his younger brother (#7 Jake Woods) is their 3rd leading target as a big 6-4 TE.
#5 Aiden Ramos, RB – Poly uses a handful of backs and QBs to run the ball but Ramos has the most amount of touches. He leads the team with 290 rushing yards and 1 rushing TD. He’s also go 61 receiving yards. They’ll mix in #19 for a change of pace back, and as mentioned earlier the QB #17 will come in especially in the redzone and do some zone-read stuff.
#14 Elijah Ponder, DL – Ponder started on the DL for Poly in their shortened 2020 covid season, and has started since. On his career he has 39.5 TFLs, 24.5 sacks, 1 INT, 3 FF, 2 FR, and has blocked 2 kicks. This season he’s 5th on the team in tackles, he’s got 8.5 TFLs and 5 sacks. He’s forced 2 fumbles and blocked 1 kick. He was named 1st team all conference in the preseason and will present a force of a man for our OL. He’s one of the best D-linemen in the conference.
#32 Mason Rivera, S – A 6 foot tall, 190 pound safety, he leads the team in tackles with 46, he’s got 3 TFLs and 1 sack. He’s got a knack for knocking the ball out, 2 forced fumbles this season, which is tied with a few others for best in the conference.
#60 Ethan Rodriguez, DL – A big 270 pound dude on the D-line. He’s got 18 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, and 2 sacks. He’s also forced 1 fumble and blocked 1 kick. He pairs well with Ponder and you can see why these two help Poly’s rush defense be their strong suit.
#43 Judaea Moon, LB – Poly’s got some good backers and Moon is the grizzled vet of the group. He’s been on the team and playing since 2019. He has 34 tackles and 2 TFLs.
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Keys to a Grizzly victory
- Bend, don’t break on defense. Poly’s offense is going to be more efficient than UNC’s by a good margin. They have 2 good WRs and a big possession TE. They’re going to hope to find some 1 on 1 matchups that they can test against our corners. With Timm Rosenbach as their co-OC you can bet he’s going to have the offense schemed up well to attack a defensive scheme he’s very familiar with.
- Poly’s defense has shown some major issues in prior games defending the pass. I think our QBs are going to need to have a solid day passing. They’re going to face some extra pressure as the Poly defense likes to dial it up a bit, stay calm and find the quick hits and let the YAC build up.
- Protect the ball. Poly forced a lot of fumbles, they’ve knocked the ball out 13 times this year and recovered 6. The Griz ball carriers need to execute and protect that ball bc Poly will be punching for it.
- Force some field goal attempts. Poly’s kicker is just 3-6 on the season with a long of 40 yards. Their offense has been pretty stout in the RZ – finding paydirt 76.5% of the time. I think if the Grizzly defense can stand tall a bit and force some attempts here they may get a win with a Poly drive that ends in a missed kick.
- Positive turnover margin. I said this on the Griz Pod the other week that I wanted to see the Griz force more than 1 turnover per game in their two road games. They got 3 picks against UNC and now they face a QB that is tied for the most thrown picks in the conference. I’d love to see 2 or more forced turnovers again.
- The Grizzly OL has to show this stout Poly D-line who is the better group. This game will be won in the trenches, be it through pass protection / blitz pickup, or paving the way for Ostmo and Gillman.
- 30+ points on offense. I don’t think low 20’s will get it done for Montana this week.
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Poly will be well rested and they have coaches very familiar with Montana, this game will be more difficult than the last road game. In 4 of their last 5 games (removing the Davis game) they’re scoring 31.5 ppg. If you add the Davis game in that number moves to 27.2. Conversely, UNC hasn’t scored more than 21 this whole season. This is a better offense and it’s going to test a Montana defense that has shown improvements but still has many of us worried.
The Griz are going to have to flex a bit more of what they do well, that’s controlling the line and moving the ball on offense. As long as that can happen they should get out of Poly with a win, but I’m seeing a more tense game for a while here. With it maybe being a 1 score game at half we see Montana pull away as things go on, I’ll say the Griz come out victorious 38-24.
Go Griz!
