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2022 Griz Schedule Prediction

Griz til I die

Well-known member
DONOR
Alright, we're back with our 2022 Big Sky season previews. I've gotten in the habit of doing these over the last few years of previewing every team in the Big Sky by looking at their schedule and just some general facts that we know about each team headed into the fall. As is tradition we will start with the Griz, and then we will go in alphabetical order beginning with Cal Poly next week.

I think we all know what the story is with the Griz personnel wise, so I don't need to dive into that too much. I do think we're gonna get a couple of transfer O-line men (if we haven't already), and I know some of you are worried about this, but I do believe we are going to see some new big guys here within the next few weeks or so. With that being said, let's dive into the schedule:

September 3 vs. Northwestern State - W. This is a good opening game to the season. This will be a good game to break in the offense with Lucas Johnson at QB and finally see the long awaited return of Marcus Knight at RB. The Demons are the perennial cellar dwellers of the Southland Conference going 3-8 last year. They have not done anything this offseason that makes me believe they will be improved at all. All that said, I think the Griz blow the doors off the Demons and start the season 1-0.

September 10 vs. South Dakota - W. Things get a little bit tougher week 2 when the Coyotes come to town. This completes the home-and-home agreement with USD after we beat them in 2019 at their place in the first rendition of the Joe Glenn Bowl. USD was a playoff team in 2021 losing in the first round at home to SIU. I think USD will be decent, but I'm not buying the hype on them that some of the national writers like Sam Herder and Daniel Steenkamer are giving them, and the Valley's gonna be loaded this year and I just don't think their gonna have quite enough to be in the upper echelon of the MVFC this year. I think the Griz win this game by 14+.

September 17 @ Indiana State - W. This will be the first time since 2018 that the Griz will head East of the Mississippi in the regular season. The Sycamores looked like they had finally turned their football program around in 2019, only to come back down to earth in 2021 going 5-6 but losing to NDSU and SDSU by a combined score of 88-2. I'm always weary of these long east coast road trips as I tend to think we don't always play that well out east, but given that it's Indiana State and they shouldn't be very good this season, I believe we prevail by 14+. This is also the only game so far that we have a start time for as Indiana State's website lists the start time at 1pm ET, 11am MT, so It'll be an early day for those of us on the west coast.

September 24 vs. Portland State - W. After our east coast road trip, we come back home and dive into conference play by welcoming Barnie's crew back to Wa-Griz for homecoming. We did not play Portland State last season as they were a little bit underwhelming IMO going 5-6. This year I think the Viks are really gonna struggle with the loss of Davis Alexander. I would not be surprised if PSU is the worst team in the conference this year. We do however remember what happened the last time we played PSU on homecoming, it was one of the biggest stunners I've seen in Wa-Griz in my lifetime, so we need to stay focused in this one despite the fact that I think they will be total trash in this one. Griz roll.

October 1 @ Idaho State - W. Our first trip to Pocatello since 2017. We'll get our first taste of the new regime led by new head man Charlie Ragle who takes over the reins after spending the last 3 seasons as the Special Teams Coordinator at Cal. Rob Phenicie will make his triumphant return to Holt Arena in what should be a slaughtering of the Bengals as we welcome Ragle and company to the Big Sky. I think we win by 20+.

October 8 BYE. A much better positioned Bye week as opposed to last year with it coming in week 3. I hope we never see another bye week that early again, but this year it's right smack in the middle and will be a good break for the team that they will need as the competition will really ramp up after the bye week.

October 15 vs. Idaho - W. The Griz will look to defend the Little Brown Stein for the 4th consecutive season since the Vandy's rejoined the conference as there's finally a changing of the guard in Moscow with Jason Eck taking over as the new head man after leading a prolific offense at South Dakota State. Vandy's fans are very high on him, as am I. I think this was a great hire for the Vandy's and just what the doctor ordered in Moscow. That said, I think it takes him a year or 2 to get it rolling, but watch out for Idaho in the future. I think we win this game by 10+, mainly because I have no idea what they have at QB.

October 22 @ Sacramento State - L. This is where things get tough. We set out on the road for a 2 game road trip with Weber the following week, and these are places we have not won at in a long time. On paper, I truly do believe we have a better team than Sac, however they have kicked our ass the last two seasons. Troy Taylor has our number right now and we need to get back on the winning side of this series. I do realize that we were on our lips when we played these guys last season with all kinds of starters out and having to start multiple backups and even a couple third stringers. The bad news for us is we got carved up by Sac State's 2 QB system they ran last year, and unfortunately for us both of those guys (Jake Dunniway and Asher O'Hara) are back once again this season. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but right now I have us losing this game in a close one. I think Sac State generally is just a tough matchup for us, and with all the weapons they have coming back on both sides of the ball, I'm worried it could be a long night for us. Plus, we haven't beaten Sac State since 2018 and we haven't beaten them in Sacramento since 2013. Like I said, on paper I believe we are the better team, but it just seems that the odds are stacked against us in this one. Man I really hope I'm wrong.

October 29 @ Weber State - W. Jay Hill is a phenomenal head coach and he will always have his teams in it at the end, but I think Weber as a program hit their peak in 2019. They were 5-6 last year and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2015, but they had a brutal schedule last year. They had by far the toughest schedule of anyone in the Big Sky, and injuries weren't kind to them last year either. Weber's defense was hit hard by graduation this offseason, and also lost all-conference D-end George Tarlas to Boise State. This will be the youngest defense Weber's had in quite some time, and because of that and the fact that Weber hasn't really had a good QB room the last 2 seasons, I think Weber is gonna struggle this season. Would it blow your mind if I told you we haven't beat Weber in Ogden since 2012???? That said, we're gonna beat Weber this year. I think Jay Hill is starting to get burned out at Weber and I wouldn't be surprised if he started looking for a gig as an assistant in the P5 after this season.

November 5 vs. Cal Poly - W. After a 2 game road trip to close out October, we return home for a 2 game home stand as the calendar turns to November. I still think Beau Baldwin has quite the re-build on his hands in San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly should be more competitive this year (by competitive I mean not 1-10), but I don't think they will be a contender for the playoffs. We almost always play Cal Poly early in the season so I'm interested to see if the weather is not that nice how Cal Poly handles it. I think we win by 21+.

November 12 vs. Eastern Washington - W. I'd like to think Eastern's gonna be rebuilding this year, but every time they lose a star QB they just happen to have another one waiting in the wings. Barriere's gone, along with their top 2 receivers and their top RB, but they still have tons of weapons at receiver (of course), but their defense which wasn't all that good last year, I believe will be even worse this year with the amount of guys that graduated. I really don't like that we play these guys the week before cat-Griz, but I do ultimately believe this will be a re-building year for Eastern, especially with how brutal their schedule is they might not have much left in the tank by the time they get to us. We win at home.

November 19 @ Montana State. After a 2 game homestand, we will head east of the divide for the Brawl for the first time since 2019. We have not beaten the cats in Bozeman since 2015 and as we know, throw the records out the window for this game because regardless of record, this game is always 50-50. The key to victory in this one will be up front. The Griz will have to take advantage of the very young cat O-line that was decimated by graduation and the transfer portal. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that right now the cats starting O-line is set to be like 4 freshmen and a Sophomore. I'm sure they'll try to get some line men out of the portal but we're going to have to take advantage of their young O and D lines. As you all know though, I am extremely superstitious and I will not pick the winner of this game now or anytime soon.

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I have us going 10-1 or 9-2 depending on the result of the Brawl. I do think there's a scenario where we could go 11-0, but we got some tough road games this year so we'll see, but they're more than capable of doing it. I really hope I'm wrong about the Sac State game because we need to get back on the right end of that game. Really for the Griz, it's gonna be a tale of two halves this season. There's no excuse for why we shouldn't be 5-0 going into our bye week, and if we're not then I think we should be seriously concerned about this season, because after the bye week is when we will find out if we are legit national title contenders, which I think we are. It's gonna be a dog fight week in and week out in the second half of the season but this team is more than capable of getting through it. This schedule prediction is also contingent on the Griz getting at least 2 O-line men out of the portal, and we will get some guys, I'm confident in that. That's my prediction. Thoughts????
 
Griz til I die said:
October 22 @ Sacramento State - L. This is where things get tough. We set out on the road for a 2 game road trip with Weber the following week, and these are places we have not won at in a long time. On paper, I truly do believe we have a better team than Sac, however they have kicked our ass the last two seasons. Troy Taylor has our number right now and we need to get back on the winning side of this series. I do realize that we were on our lips when we played these guys last season with all kinds of starters out and having to start multiple backups and even a couple third stringers. The bad news for us is we got carved up by Sac State's 2 QB system they ran last year, and unfortunately for us both of those guys (Jake Dunniway and Asher O'Hara) are back once again this season. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but right now I have us losing this game in a close one. I think Sac State generally is just a tough matchup for us, and with all the weapons they have coming back on both sides of the ball, I'm worried it could be a long night for us. Plus, we haven't beaten Sac State since 2018 and we haven't beaten them in Sacramento since 2013. Like I said, on paper I believe we are the better team, but it just seems that the odds are stacked against us in this one. Man I really hope I'm wrong.
SasSt is a tough matchup for all of the BSC, not just us. They've lost only one conf. game in the last two years on their way to back to back conf. championships and it's not just because of scheduling. Their OL has been outstanding and will be a good challenge for our great defense, hopefully healthy for this one. Griz will be up for this one; 50/50 for me.
 
kemajic said:
Griz til I die said:
October 22 @ Sacramento State - L. This is where things get tough. We set out on the road for a 2 game road trip with Weber the following week, and these are places we have not won at in a long time. On paper, I truly do believe we have a better team than Sac, however they have kicked our ass the last two seasons. Troy Taylor has our number right now and we need to get back on the winning side of this series. I do realize that we were on our lips when we played these guys last season with all kinds of starters out and having to start multiple backups and even a couple third stringers. The bad news for us is we got carved up by Sac State's 2 QB system they ran last year, and unfortunately for us both of those guys (Jake Dunniway and Asher O'Hara) are back once again this season. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but right now I have us losing this game in a close one. I think Sac State generally is just a tough matchup for us, and with all the weapons they have coming back on both sides of the ball, I'm worried it could be a long night for us. Plus, we haven't beaten Sac State since 2018 and we haven't beaten them in Sacramento since 2013. Like I said, on paper I believe we are the better team, but it just seems that the odds are stacked against us in this one. Man I really hope I'm wrong.
SasSt is a tough matchup for all of the BSC, not just us. They've lost only one conf. game in the last two years on their way to back to back conf. championships and it's not just because of scheduling. Their OL has been outstanding and will be a good challenge for our great defense, hopefully healthy for this one. Griz will be up for this one; 50/50 for me.
Ya I agree, they're a tough matchup for everyone in the BSC. It should be a tough game but it's definitely a winnable game if we do everything right.
 
Great analysis, GTID. I agree with your points. I just think we always have one snake-bitten game every year where everything seems to go wrong. I hope it doesn't happen, but if I had to guess, it would be @Weber. I'm thinking 9-2 with losses to Sac and Weber.
 
...sac is a tough one...
...very will coached...
...+ blazing speed...

... :?: :?: :?: ...
 
I liked your assessment .....I say 9-2 as I'm not sure what we have at qb and o-line.....otherwise 11-0.....Go Griz !
 
alabamagrizzly said:
Through my maroon shaded view of the future I see us at 15-0.

From your lips to God's ears!

My thinking:
IF we get some OL transfers, and
IF Lucas Johnson lives up to expectations, and
IF Marcus Knight stays healthy, and
IF the staff has a better game plan against Sac,

THEN I could see us going undefeated in the regular season. Beating NDSU is a whole different challenge (unless some other team knocks them out in the playoffs but when does that actually happen?)
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re sitting at 1-1 after week 2. Gotta gel fast and be ready. USD is not garbage.
 
kemajic said:
Griz til I die said:
October 22 @ Sacramento State - L. This is where things get tough. We set out on the road for a 2 game road trip with Weber the following week, and these are places we have not won at in a long time. On paper, I truly do believe we have a better team than Sac, however they have kicked our ass the last two seasons. Troy Taylor has our number right now and we need to get back on the winning side of this series. I do realize that we were on our lips when we played these guys last season with all kinds of starters out and having to start multiple backups and even a couple third stringers. The bad news for us is we got carved up by Sac State's 2 QB system they ran last year, and unfortunately for us both of those guys (Jake Dunniway and Asher O'Hara) are back once again this season. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but right now I have us losing this game in a close one. I think Sac State generally is just a tough matchup for us, and with all the weapons they have coming back on both sides of the ball, I'm worried it could be a long night for us. Plus, we haven't beaten Sac State since 2018 and we haven't beaten them in Sacramento since 2013. Like I said, on paper I believe we are the better team, but it just seems that the odds are stacked against us in this one. Man I really hope I'm wrong.
SasSt is a tough matchup for all of the BSC, not just us. They've lost only one conf. game in the last two years on their way to back to back conf. championships and it's not just because of scheduling. Their OL has been outstanding and will be a good challenge for our great defense, hopefully healthy for this one. Griz will be up for this one; 50/50 for me.

what this dude said. their o-line plays how we wish ours would play. they are solid and athletic up front.
 
We always seem to piss one away that we shouldn’t and then sometimes we win one that surprises us so I think 9-2 is pretty realistic. But I’ll guess we land at 8-3.
 
dupuyer griz said:
I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re sitting at 1-1 after week 2. Gotta gel fast and be ready. USD is not garbage.
With our defense, I like our chances with USD at home.
 
CDAGRIZ said:
I just think we always have one SNAKE-BITTEN game every year where everything seems to go wrong. ber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClwIj3x24Q
"Snakes! I HATE SNAKES!!!"
 
kemajic said:
dupuyer griz said:
I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re sitting at 1-1 after week 2. Gotta gel fast and be ready. USD is not garbage.
With our defense, I like our chances with USD at home.
I really don't think USD will be all that good. They were fortunate to make the playoffs last year, and I see no way they make it this year. We'll be fine in this one.
 
retiredpopo said:
We have the easiest path to 11-0 so 11-0 is likely,10-1 is possible, 9-2 unlikely and no way 8-3.

Yes, 10-1 is understandable losing one of two to WSU and Sac, 9-2 would be mildly disappointing, 8-3 would feel like a big step backward.
 
Griz til I die said:
Alright, we're back with our 2022 Big Sky season previews. I've gotten in the habit of doing these over the last few years of previewing every team in the Big Sky by looking at their schedule and just some general facts that we know about each team headed into the fall. As is tradition we will start with the Griz, and then we will go in alphabetical order beginning with Cal Poly next week.

I think we all know what the story is with the Griz personnel wise, so I don't need to dive into that too much. I do think we're gonna get a couple of transfer O-line men (if we haven't already), and I know some of you are worried about this, but I do believe we are going to see some new big guys here within the next few weeks or so. With that being said, let's dive into the schedule:

September 3 vs. Northwestern State - W. This is a good opening game to the season. This will be a good game to break in the offense with Lucas Johnson at QB and finally see the long awaited return of Marcus Knight at RB. The Demons are the perennial cellar dwellers of the Southland Conference going 3-8 last year. They have not done anything this offseason that makes me believe they will be improved at all. All that said, I think the Griz blow the doors off the Demons and start the season 1-0.

September 10 vs. South Dakota - W. Things get a little bit tougher week 2 when the Coyotes come to town. This completes the home-and-home agreement with USD after we beat them in 2019 at their place in the first rendition of the Joe Glenn Bowl. USD was a playoff team in 2021 losing in the first round at home to SIU. I think USD will be decent, but I'm not buying the hype on them that some of the national writers like Sam Herder and Daniel Steenkamer are giving them, and the Valley's gonna be loaded this year and I just don't think their gonna have quite enough to be in the upper echelon of the MVFC this year. I think the Griz win this game by 14+.

September 17 @ Indiana State - W. This will be the first time since 2018 that the Griz will head East of the Mississippi in the regular season. The Sycamores looked like they had finally turned their football program around in 2019, only to come back down to earth in 2021 going 5-6 but losing to NDSU and SDSU by a combined score of 88-2. I'm always weary of these long east coast road trips as I tend to think we don't always play that well out east, but given that it's Indiana State and they shouldn't be very good this season, I believe we prevail by 14+. This is also the only game so far that we have a start time for as Indiana State's website lists the start time at 1pm ET, 11am MT, so It'll be an early day for those of us on the west coast.

September 24 vs. Portland State - W. After our east coast road trip, we come back home and dive into conference play by welcoming Barnie's crew back to Wa-Griz for homecoming. We did not play Portland State last season as they were a little bit underwhelming IMO going 5-6. This year I think the Viks are really gonna struggle with the loss of Davis Alexander. I would not be surprised if PSU is the worst team in the conference this year. We do however remember what happened the last time we played PSU on homecoming, it was one of the biggest stunners I've seen in Wa-Griz in my lifetime, so we need to stay focused in this one despite the fact that I think they will be total trash in this one. Griz roll.

October 1 @ Idaho State - W. Our first trip to Pocatello since 2017. We'll get our first taste of the new regime led by new head man Charlie Ragle who takes over the reins after spending the last 3 seasons as the Special Teams Coordinator at Cal. Rob Phenicie will make his triumphant return to Holt Arena in what should be a slaughtering of the Bengals as we welcome Ragle and company to the Big Sky. I think we win by 20+.

October 8 BYE. A much better positioned Bye week as opposed to last year with it coming in week 3. I hope we never see another bye week that early again, but this year it's right smack in the middle and will be a good break for the team that they will need as the competition will really ramp up after the bye week.

October 15 vs. Idaho - W. The Griz will look to defend the Little Brown Stein for the 4th consecutive season since the Vandy's rejoined the conference as there's finally a changing of the guard in Moscow with Jason Eck taking over as the new head man after leading a prolific offense at South Dakota State. Vandy's fans are very high on him, as am I. I think this was a great hire for the Vandy's and just what the doctor ordered in Moscow. That said, I think it takes him a year or 2 to get it rolling, but watch out for Idaho in the future. I think we win this game by 10+, mainly because I have no idea what they have at QB.

October 22 @ Sacramento State - L. This is where things get tough. We set out on the road for a 2 game road trip with Weber the following week, and these are places we have not won at in a long time. On paper, I truly do believe we have a better team than Sac, however they have kicked our ass the last two seasons. Troy Taylor has our number right now and we need to get back on the winning side of this series. I do realize that we were on our lips when we played these guys last season with all kinds of starters out and having to start multiple backups and even a couple third stringers. The bad news for us is we got carved up by Sac State's 2 QB system they ran last year, and unfortunately for us both of those guys (Jake Dunniway and Asher O'Hara) are back once again this season. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but right now I have us losing this game in a close one. I think Sac State generally is just a tough matchup for us, and with all the weapons they have coming back on both sides of the ball, I'm worried it could be a long night for us. Plus, we haven't beaten Sac State since 2018 and we haven't beaten them in Sacramento since 2013. Like I said, on paper I believe we are the better team, but it just seems that the odds are stacked against us in this one. Man I really hope I'm wrong.

October 29 @ Weber State - W. Jay Hill is a phenomenal head coach and he will always have his teams in it at the end, but I think Weber as a program hit their peak in 2019. They were 5-6 last year and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2015, but they had a brutal schedule last year. They had by far the toughest schedule of anyone in the Big Sky, and injuries weren't kind to them last year either. Weber's defense was hit hard by graduation this offseason, and also lost all-conference D-end George Tarlas to Boise State. This will be the youngest defense Weber's had in quite some time, and because of that and the fact that Weber hasn't really had a good QB room the last 2 seasons, I think Weber is gonna struggle this season. Would it blow your mind if I told you we haven't beat Weber in Ogden since 2012???? That said, we're gonna beat Weber this year. I think Jay Hill is starting to get burned out at Weber and I wouldn't be surprised if he started looking for a gig as an assistant in the P5 after this season.

November 5 vs. Cal Poly - W. After a 2 game road trip to close out October, we return home for a 2 game home stand as the calendar turns to November. I still think Beau Baldwin has quite the re-build on his hands in San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly should be more competitive this year (by competitive I mean not 1-10), but I don't think they will be a contender for the playoffs. We almost always play Cal Poly early in the season so I'm interested to see if the weather is not that nice how Cal Poly handles it. I think we win by 21+.

November 12 vs. Eastern Washington - W. I'd like to think Eastern's gonna be rebuilding this year, but every time they lose a star QB they just happen to have another one waiting in the wings. Barriere's gone, along with their top 2 receivers and their top RB, but they still have tons of weapons at receiver (of course), but their defense which wasn't all that good last year, I believe will be even worse this year with the amount of guys that graduated. I really don't like that we play these guys the week before cat-Griz, but I do ultimately believe this will be a re-building year for Eastern, especially with how brutal their schedule is they might not have much left in the tank by the time they get to us. We win at home.

November 19 @ Montana State. After a 2 game homestand, we will head east of the divide for the Brawl for the first time since 2019. We have not beaten the cats in Bozeman since 2015 and as we know, throw the records out the window for this game because regardless of record, this game is always 50-50. The key to victory in this one will be up front. The Griz will have to take advantage of the very young cat O-line that was decimated by graduation and the transfer portal. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that right now the cats starting O-line is set to be like 4 freshmen and a Sophomore. I'm sure they'll try to get some line men out of the portal but we're going to have to take advantage of their young O and D lines. As you all know though, I am extremely superstitious and I will not pick the winner of this game now or anytime soon.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have us going 10-1 or 9-2 depending on the result of the Brawl. I do think there's a scenario where we could go 11-0, but we got some tough road games this year so we'll see, but they're more than capable of doing it. I really hope I'm wrong about the Sac State game because we need to get back on the right end of that game. Really for the Griz, it's gonna be a tale of two halves this season. There's no excuse for why we shouldn't be 5-0 going into our bye week, and if we're not then I think we should be seriously concerned about this season, because after the bye week is when we will find out if we are legit national title contenders, which I think we are. It's gonna be a dog fight week in and week out in the second half of the season but this team is more than capable of getting through it. This schedule prediction is also contingent on the Griz getting at least 2 O-line men out of the portal, and we will get some guys, I'm confident in that. That's my prediction. Thoughts????
I think your synopsis is pretty good but you may want to buy map Indiana is a long way from the east coast. That kinda like guys here in Florida who talk about going way up north to Atlanta.
 
I agree with this. I think it will be pretty disappointing if we don’t start 6-0. After that things get much tougher. I see us losing one maybe two of our final 5 games.
 
AZGrizFan said:
dupuyer griz said:
I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re sitting at 1-1 after week 2. Gotta gel fast and be ready. USD is not garbage.

Care to make a wager on that? :geek: :geek: :geek:

Not much of a gambler, but I’d buy you one beers if I’m wrong in celebration for sure.
 
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