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More or Less Confident?

Are you more or less confident of a GRIZ win Saturday than you were prior to the Brawl?

  • More

    Votes: 140 79.1%

  • Less

    Votes: 20 11.3%

  • bobcats suck

    Votes: 86 48.6%
  • Total voters
    177
Actually, now that I think about the way that the cats played Yale and SFA, and how close those games were, I'm not really worried. Both of those teams had a chance to win their games but SFA receivers couldn't catch anything and Yale just made mistakes. Griz are a far better team than either of those guys. GRIZ for the win!!
 
Honestly, I feel the same level of confidence. Nothing is guaranteed but I believe our guys are going to win.

I know this year's Grizzlies are as good as any team in the country. The cats are good but we can certainly beat them. That was evident last time. Even though the game is in Bozo it remains the same, this Grizzly team is the better one. If the cats draw another Royal Flush and play perfectly again then we are toast. In that case, my hat is off to them. I just don't see them being able to do it. The cats won't be able to play perfect a second time around. Griz win in a tight one.

Looking forward to those sad / angry cat fans on TV. Hope Davis and Vegan don't hurt anyone this week expressing their post game respect.
 
Going into Brawl 1 the Griz didn't look that inspiring. Yes they were undefeated but we had to survive against EWU before rolling over cupcake PSU. A lot of our games were slow starts and the defense looked suspect. I didn't feel great about them beating the Cats and just hoped that Wa-Griz was enough. It obviously was not.

This time though. Griz look like a completely different animal. They not only beat two top tier MVFC teams going into this game but they pulled their pants down and bullied them for 4 quarters. We look focused and confident. I strangely do feel better about our chances this time around than I did the first time. Loud back on defense is a complete game changer.

I also feel like we are playing with house money now. Nobody expects us to win this game. Nobody thinks we can go into Bozeman and knock these guys off. The pressure is on Bozeman and they have shown a tendency over the years to play tight in high pressure games against the best opponents which I can confidently say we are right now. It's going to be a bloodbath but we can win this damn game.
 
One of the things I am excited about that has me more confident we can go in and win is that the play calling from Brent Pease has opened up in the playoffs. And he's throwing in wrinkles in the play calling.

The Statue of Liberty against SDSU,
That backwards pass lateral from Wortham to Gillman against USD.

It seems like that Montana is now putting it all out there. And the proof that this is different now is that we blew out very good teams in SDSU and USD. Nobody does that to these teams in the playoffs.

SDSU gave up 50 to Montana a week ago. The most they gave up all year was 38 to NDSU when Mason was out.

USD gave up 52 to Montana this weekend. The most they gave up all year was 51 to NDSU (55 if you count their FBS game against Iowa State).
 
BozAngelesGriz said:
I voted “Less.” Doesn’t mean that the Griz can’t win, but damn bozeman has been like kryptonite for this team in the last 10 years. I feel like the crowd and environment will disrupt Ah Yaht’s rhythm (which is critical to this offense) and it could be an ugly, slug match type of game. Hoping it’s like the ‘08 JMU type of result.
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Have you seen the high snaps? KAY is steady Eddie.
 
BrownBear9501 said:
Obviously I’m biased but the first time around the boobcats played perfect and had to in order to win. They didn’t turn the ball over, blocked a fg, were on the lucky side of a holding penalty that took away a Griz TD and were on the lucky side of a deflected pass that led to a pick 6 for them. cat fans can talk all they want but they haven’t played to that level since…..not even close. The Griz are playing notably better since then, especially on defense. I just don’t see how the Griz lose this game….i really don’t. The cats are a damn good team but the Griz have looked like the best team in the nation the past two weeks and cat fans know it too, they just won’t admit it.
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From a Cat fan’s perspective, I think the narrative over here that the Cats played perfect in the first game is flawed. Did the ball bounce their way some, yes. Did the ball bounce in the direction of the griz some, also yes. Both teams forced fumbles that they were unable to recover, one for the griz and two for the Cats. Both teams also had TDs called back on a penalty.

The griz are certainly playing well and the bye week was much needed. I think the Cats had a bit of a hangover against Yale after a hard fought win against their rivals. In recent years they haven’t come out very strong in games after the bye either. All that said, I think I am more nervous this week than any other brawl…simply due to the stakes. Both are well coached, talented football teams that are going to put everything into this Saturday. In my mind, it’s as simple as which team wins the turnover battle. If neither team turns it over, there will be tight sphincters from both sides late in the 4th. Winner should have a very good chance to bring the NC back to the state of MT. I hope that it’s the Cats. You all hope it’s the griz. Can’t wait to find out Saturday. Safe travels down to Bozeman for those making the trip.
 
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Totally confident ~ There is a true sense of fun and excitement this team feels and believes!! Losing is never good, however, that loss to the Cats have literally lit the last light bulb for this team they played well, real well against the Cats 2 / 4 plays never went the Griz way, however, they as a team knew, knew damn well they could have definitely won that game!! Then they had a needed week off with the thought in mind we (Griz Team can do this). They will win on Saturday they believe that and they know that as a team ~ It won’t be easy we have to play extremely well and we have to get off the field as a defense on 3rd downs we need to make the majority of third downs plays when on defense!! In a nutshell the Griz , win you have to believe!!!
 
Ursa Major said:
Have you seen the high snaps? KAY is steady Eddie.
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Or the play where he went one way and Eli went the other and he didn't get rattled at all, just held on to the ball and turned upfield to make a several yard loss turn into a 2-yard gain. He doesn't get rattled even when things go wrong. He finds a way to make a play or he just moves on to the next one. He doesn't let stuff get to him. It's really remarkable for a redshirt sophomore to be so composed. And I think that composure and steadiness inspires the team to play the same way.
 
EverettGriz said:
I'm far more confident about Saturday's game than I was for the game a month ago, for many reasons:

The bye: Simply cannot overstate how desperately needed that week off was.

Loud's return: Obviously getting your best defensive player back would help any team. But he is so critically important to the style of defense the GRIZ play, and I'd say they are automatically 7 points better with him in the lineup.

The way both teams have looked in the playoffs: Look, I know the cats are trying to hype up the teams they played, but please. We're talking about the 2nd place team in the Ivys (Ivys!!); and a team in SFA who quite literally could not catch a forward pass. And the cats looked mostly discombobulated and unmotivated in each. Meanwhile, the GRIZ absolutely boatraced two MoValley teams who began the year ranked in the top 3, and would have remained there but for injuries to guys who were all back for the playoffs.

Intangibles: I have to think Sixx openly looking for other jobs has impacted the buy-in in the locker room, and when you throw the Davis thing ("I respect, he respects, all respect") into the mix, there is something clearly wrong with the cat program. Meanwhile, the GRIZ are playing their best ball of the year at the right time.
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Agree. In my opinion this isn't the same Griz team from a few weeks ago. Ah Yat has been ON FIRE the last 7 games and increased on that in the last 2 playoff games. I couldn't believe how impressive his final stretch was for throwing 20 TD's to only 2 picks. IMPRESSIVE. I am in know way thinking this will be a blowout, but I can guarantee you there are some nerves in the coaches corner game planning against this offense.

Here we Go!
 
This notion that Bobby was “saving something” and “playing vanilla” in the first brawl has GOT to be hogwash. So you’re telling me that he’d rather LOSE the brawl AND HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE THROUGHOUT THE PLAYOFFS than show them “too much” because we might see them later on in the playoffs???

That makes zero sense. Hell, it makes LESS than zero sense. I am 110% confident Bobby did everything in his power to get his team to win that Brawl…if there were things “left on the table” its because there weren’t situations where those things could be utilized.

Loud being back is the difference maker. His presence makes that defense hum. Defenses targeting Gillman allow the offense to hum through Wortham, Deck, Davis, Shafer, Gale, Ah Yat, Hendrix, et.al. And Gillman will STILL get his.

We win this 31-27.
 
4_0_6 said:
I didn't have an idea of how good Lamson was and with it being a home game, I was more confident of a Griz win during brawl. But like others said above, I think staff will have a plan and Griz seem to be playing best football. I'm also concerned Griz haven't played in a hostile environment.
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This is a Gene Hackman coaching moment. 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide. The field of play doesn’t change. The ball is the same size, the team is the same one that beat 13 opponents this year and lost to one by 3 points when tired and banged up. Crowd noise be damned. Let it motivate the players and get out of their way.
 
Cat fans may not admit this, but they didn't look very sharp against SFA. Had SFA been able to catch a pass, they may have found themselves in a dog fight. I was talking about this with some friends over the weekend, but somebody on our defense needs to try and get under Julius Davis' skin. With how undisciplined he's been the last two weeks, it could be pretty easy to draw him into a personal foul or two. Now are they gonna false start 5 times again? Definitely not, but it might be worth it once or twice to see if we can get them to move early a time or two.

And according to Vigen today, it sounds like Paul Brott is gonna try and give it a go, albeit not at 100%. Double teaming him and making him uncomfortable could be advantageous in the run game.
 
WFCAT said:
From a Cat fan’s perspective, I think the narrative over here that the Cats played perfect in the first game is flawed.
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Lamson only missed 2 throws all day. Dowler had a pick 6 off a tipped pass and the duck hunter blocked a field goal…..that’s a 10 point swing in a game decided by 3. I’m not sure how much more perfect things could go. Sure you could point to a missed tackle or two, but the Griz could also make that argument with a couple plays where Lamson picked up a drive sustaining 1st down on 3rd and long or when he broke loose for the TD.
 
I've been seeing a number of Cat fans (just a handful) say that SFA had an Elite defense that Montana State put 44 point up on, and point to that as they're going to be just fine on Saturday, and the classic "Yale was better than USD. Even saw some say Yale + SFA > SDSU +USD.

I get trying to be confident in your chances, but talk about being blissfully ignorant to the fact that the Ivy league and the UAC are not nearly as good as the MVFC is.
 
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