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Post Game: Hopefully the rust is gone

BWahlberg

BWahlberg

Well-known member
DONOR
As I generally predicted the first half wasn't pretty. My score prediction was 37-17 and tense at the half so I was pretty damn close haha. CWU showed some great stuff in the first half that caught the Griz on their heels and made the most of it. As the game went on Montana's pure skill and talent was able to put CWU in the rear view mirror, which was nice. However, as we know, this is the only pass for sloppy play Montana will get, a real test in UND is showing up next week and if Montana plays the way they did to day (especially on defense) they very well might have a long day. Let's get into it:

- Eli Gillman is HIM. As you'd expect he looked like a man among boys tonight. Almost 200 yards on just 15 rushes and 3 TDs. It's only going to get more difficult so I hope this is just a preview of what to expect. When he got into the open field it wasn't a contest, he's so damn good. Add in Stevie Rocker was super solid tonight as well - i know Fonoti was out but the combo of Rocker and Gillman are a super solid 1-2 punch Fans want to really hype up the younger guys but Rocker is such a great 2nd back. Cant wait though for Fonoti to return and give a true triple threat.

- I thought Ah Yat played well. I'm not mad at 1 of it picks, it was a hurry up, "kill shot" pass that didn't work. He'll learn from that. Some good running and then some head scratching sacks too. I thought he did well in the face of pressure tonight. His connection to Drew Deck was awesome.

- Hopefully whatever knocked Wortham down late isn't too big because he showed Griz Nation how special he is.

- Loved the tip drill picks by Boyd and Harper.

- I'm a little concerned about OL play, at some early key moments they didn't look good. They did settle in though.

- CWU in the 2nd half had 56 yards until their last drive of the game which was 58 yards - effectively doubling their output. The Grizzly defense wasn't great in the first half with tackling and setting/holding the edge but it got better as it went.

- Further thoughts I'm hoping to not be too worried about the defense because they didn't look that good early. They did lock it in later but that first half was pretty rough. Tackling was BAD... and I know they didn't do much live tackling in fall camp so hopefully that gets cleaned up asap.

- I hyped up this defense a lot and I still believe in these guys but damn, they need to be tougher against the run. A D2 school had 221 rushing yards on them, that ain't gonna cut it. Although I will say CWU's QB who regularly runs for 100+ had just 39 tonight.

- I'll give the OL grade a C+ or B-, it was serviceable and got the job done but wasn't impressive to the point that I have a lot of confidence moving forward.

- Great game for Kyon Loud, Caleb Otlewski (The Centaur) had 3 TFLs. I saw a lot of individual stuff I liked from the defense but much like my ongoing concern - far too much "me" play that lead to open gaps and issues in coverage and assignments. The edges weren't set too well all night, and too much running room was given. Hopefully can be cleaned up but it gives me worry.

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I have a feeling the OL and defensive film will be a mixed bag of good and bad. Hopefully with 1 game under their belts both groups can work better on playing as a single unit. UND coming to town is going to be an all out battle and I'm really worried now. The Griz are 1-0 with hopefully some rust off their shoulders - let's get rolling guys!

Go Griz!
 
It’s gonna be a battle next week for sure. I don’t wanna make excuses but considering this was our first game, CWU already played one game and wouldn’t give us their film, we were breaking a completely new look defense, I’ll give them a pass tonight. Now that they knocked the rust off I expect them to lock in and look much more sharp. Perhaps I’m not as worried as you Brint but the first half was definitely ugly. Good news is they got it together in a big way in the second half.
 
Simple halftime adjustments to make. Don't over pursue. Don't react until CWUs offense commits. Mission accomplished in the 2nd half.

Offense I'm guessing around 550 yards. Running game was terrific. AhYat recognized things much better and got rid of the ball much quicker. He slid or dived appropriately. His 1st interception was the right decision, but executed the wrong type of pass. The defense gave him a touch lob pass toward the end line, not a quick mid level pass. The 2nd interception was a good decision. Unfortunately, it was an inaccurate high throw, tipped by the WR. Again, an easy coaching adjustment. The 1st half ending sacks, the OL gave him no time to see or do anything. Definitely not on him. He made passing plays while scrambling, by keeping his eyes up field. Best yet, Hauck STUCK with a qb! In turn, AhYat did a solid job. AhYat made the right decisions and showed great leadership.

I loved Wortham"s utilization.
The return game was terrific. Too bad, Deck's return was called back.

Oh 10 of the 17 points we gave up were thanks to the officials.

Despite to close of a 1st half, I'm encouraged by the 1st game. The improvements are relatively easy coaching adjustments. I'm not 1 bit worried.
 
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One last thing is clean up the penalties!!!
Could of had a TD on a kick return but a penalty nullified that one
As was said tackling. Wrap up. Don't expect to bump the guy who has the ball and he will fall down
Hope Wortham is fine...will there be any updates on him?
Great halftime adjustments by the Griz
Gillman is more than a special runner. I love his patience when he runs
 
BWahlberg said:
As I generally predicted the first half wasn't pretty. My score prediction was 37-17 and tense at the half so I was pretty damn close haha. CWU showed some great stuff in the first half that caught the Griz on their heels and made the most of it. As the game went on Montana's pure skill and talent was able to put CWU in the rear view mirror, which was nice. However, as we know, this is the only pass for sloppy play Montana will get, a real test in UND is showing up next week and if Montana plays the way they did to day (especially on defense) they very well might have a long day. Let's get into it:

- Eli Gillman is HIM. As you'd expect he looked like a man among boys tonight. Almost 200 yards on just 15 rushes and 3 TDs. It's only going to get more difficult so I hope this is just a preview of what to expect. When he got into the open field it wasn't a contest, he's so damn good. Add in Stevie Rocker was super solid tonight as well - i know Fonoti was out but the combo of Rocker and Gillman are a super solid 1-2 punch Fans want to really hype up the younger guys but Rocker is such a great 2nd back. Cant wait though for Fonoti to return and give a true triple threat.

- I thought Ah Yat played well. I'm not mad at 1 of it picks, it was a hurry up, "kill shot" pass that didn't work. He'll learn from that. Some good running and then some head scratching sacks too. I thought he did well in the face of pressure tonight. His connection to Drew Deck was awesome.

- Hopefully whatever knocked Wortham down late isn't too big because he showed Griz Nation how special he is.

- Loved the tip drill picks by Boyd and Harper.

- I'm a little concerned about OL play, at some early key moments they didn't look good. They did settle in though.

- CWU in the 2nd half had 56 yards until their last drive of the game which was 58 yards - effectively doubling their output. The Grizzly defense wasn't great in the first half with tackling and setting/holding the edge but it got better as it went.

- Further thoughts I'm hoping to not be too worried about the defense because they didn't look that good early. They did lock it in later but that first half was pretty rough. Tackling was BAD... and I know they didn't do much live tackling in fall camp so hopefully that gets cleaned up asap.

- I hyped up this defense a lot and I still believe in these guys but damn, they need to be tougher against the run. A D2 school had 221 rushing yards on them, that ain't gonna cut it. Although I will say CWU's QB who regularly runs for 100+ had just 39 tonight.

- I'll give the OL grade a C+ or B-, it was serviceable and got the job done but wasn't impressive to the point that I have a lot of confidence moving forward.

- Great game for Kyon Loud, Caleb Otlewski (The Centaur) had 3 TFLs. I saw a lot of individual stuff I liked from the defense but much like my ongoing concern - far too much "me" play that lead to open gaps and issues in coverage and assignments. The edges weren't set too well all night, and too much running room was given. Hopefully can be cleaned up but it gives me worry.

---------

I have a feeling the OL and defensive film will be a mixed bag of good and bad. Hopefully with 1 game under their belts both groups can work better on playing as a single unit. UND coming to town is going to be an all out battle and I'm really worried now. The Griz are 1-0 with hopefully some rust off their shoulders - let's get rolling guys!

Go Griz!
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Loved the defensive adjustments as the game went on. Pitching a second half shutout was definitely what the dr ordered, because I too was a bit less enthused at halftime. Ha.

I'd grade out the oline a bit higher, with some moments of Breakdown. .end of first half as an example. For the most part l, I thought it was pretty solid. Run game was fun, and KAY had time for the most part in the passing game.

Anyone see what the personal foul on matan was? This position group sits right in front of us, he has definitely assumed the emotional leadership role of that room.

Getting a game under their belts and film to learn from id assume we'll see significant improvement this week. Nodak will be a different animal!! GO GRIZ
 
Ut-Grizfan said:
Pease was also at fault for that first Interception IMO, at the time we were I think 10 rushes for 146 yards and we were running it down their throats on that drive. Stupid decision to get cute with a pop pass from inside the 5 yard line and cost us 7pts.
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Pease didn't throw the pass. AhYat tends to throw interceptions because he looks at one receiver.
 
I feel like I've watched this game every year of the Hauck 2.0 era.

Kinda played to our competition

Looked very rusty

Hopefully our transfers gel going forward
 
I think this game was good for Ah Yat...next week should be even better...CWU was well coached and played hard...I still hate playing a DII school first game out even a top tier DII school...at least we will show what we have next week...
 
The defense looked pretty porous the first half. Having said that,they stepped up the second half. They are in for a real test next week with NDU coming to town. The defense will need to start tough and stay that way for 4 quarters. We need the dola back, go Griz!
 
I rewatched the game and I am very pleased with this squad! We have depth! We have explosive players! Defense plays with incredible effort.

If Ah Yat can become more accurate in the pocket, this offense can be really good.

Once the defense starts gelling, we’ve got the dudes. Raush #10 struggles out there. He’s a liability in coverage and doesn’t make plays. Besides him, the safeties looked really really good.


Overall - we have a really talented football team that can win a bunch of football games. Go Griz.
 
I loved the full house look on offense and Wortham as the QB in the wildcat formation. Now put the two together as the Griz formation and have a four-headed monster. KAY played great overall with excellent avoidance of the rush and a strike to a wide-open Drew Deck. In addition, he made some excellent passes on the move to both the right and the left. The last was a 76 yd TD to Wortham. That's an example of KAY's work this past year because it is exceptionally tough to move to your left as a right-handed QB and make an on target throw to a WR moving to the right. KAY made a bad decision to throw the ball away within the tackle box as he was getting sacked for a grounding call and a late pass across the middle that was almost intercepted. Interception in the end zone was on both whomever called the play and KAY. Better play calling and better execution and it's a TD and we are rolling over CW. The other interception was a tip by the WR on an overthrown pass.

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers (3 of them) will decide games in the future. Need to possess the ball to score and this needs to be cleaned up.

Defense played like I thought they would, great effort with a little too much exuberance in the first half and then made great adjustments at half and settled down. However, I expected better tackling with the first guy making the tackle. There were great tackling moments but, overall, too many missed first tackles and this needs to get cleaned up before North Dakota.

Special teams was above average with explosive plays and no glaring opportunities for improvement. I thought on the first Wortham return one more block and he would've broke it off for a TD. Drew Deck's returns reminded me of Marc Mariani.

The biggest improvement happens between week 1 and 2 and I'm looking forward to next Saturday. It's going to be a tougher game than I thought before the season.
 
garizzalies said:
Seemed like once they made the switch from Botner to Klimczak the OL played better. Did anyone hear an explanation there? Not sure I believe the story I got. My guess is Klimczak may have taken back his position from his buddy.
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When did they switch in Kilmczak? I didn’t even notice that.
 
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