What an equally fun and stressful night! The Grizzlies put up 701 yards of total offense, I believe their 2nd best ever, and held on for dear life as EWU attempted to storm back late.
There's a lot to digest on this game and many things to be positive about, and worried about, however the biggest thing is this - the Griz won. They won in a place they've not won in for a long time, and they beat a team that was playing their "super bowl" of the season. We saw a Grizzly offense hit on all cylinders and score in the air, on the ground, and in clutch moments too. Yes the defense is a BIG worry.
Some thoughts:
- If you follow me on twitter it got entertaining post game, but I firmly believe it. Logan Fife is QB1 until he proves he isn't. The EWU defense was maybe the worst I've seen in a long time, however, it's not as if they weren't trying to make plays out there. Fife was dealing, 5 TDs, no INTs, he threw two touchdowns on 4th down. He wasn't perfect, there were some missed options downfield and a few plays where he needs to make better decisions as well. I saw him make a lot of throws in this game I've not seen Ah Yat make (yet). He played with patience, poise, and put the ball in spots that allowed this skilled WR corps the ability to make plays. It's hard to say what would've happened with Ah Yat today, the offense probably piles up yards too, but do some of the most clutch plays happen? We don't know what Ah Yat's timeline is, I guess we'll see, but for now, I'm riding with Fife.
- As many have opined here and elsewhere, this defense is in trouble. Weber and NAU are frisky, Davis is good, the Cats will be salivating to face this. I don't know what the "fix" is. Is it just the emotional level of the game and the pace that it got going - did things just get out of control fast? Sometimes it's just a momentum thing, and the defense simply could not find it. We saw Efton Chism, the best WR in the FCS, wide open a lot or being guarded by weaker links in the passing game. We saw EWU rush for 6.7 yards per carry. EWU went 9-14 on 3rd down too. I.... just don't know, I'm not sure what can happen with this group, is it baby steps? I do think Kyon Loud had a few nice plays, as did Jaxon Lee. There were little moments where good things happen. Can they build on that more?
- More special teams errors, yikes. The kick coverage unit gets caught running back before the ball is kicked - that sparked the tightening of the game. The onsides they were lucky that the ball just shot out of bounds. Another missed field goal too. ST errors could be a thing to reflect on here and realize they took a comfortable(ish) lead into a tight game.
- Eli Gillman isn't human and that was maybe one of the best games (considering the circumstances) Nick Ostmo has had. The O-line was grading the lane, hats off to those dudes.
- Glad to see White with a big game. Bergen played well but did it seem his top speed/explosiveness was a little limited? Seemed odd to see him get caught from behind.
- How about these Griz TEs? Erik Barker has 45 yards and 2 TDs, before tonight on his career he had 49 yards and 1 TD. Jake Olson catches his first career Griz TD as the final go-ahead score. Evan Schaefer hauls in a key conversion catch too.
- Big props to Griz Nation who showed out as well. It sounded like they were out in force, drank the stadium out of beer by halftime, and now have a night to party it up.
- It feels like we're going to need to get used to these types of tense games this year. It's just the way things are going to be.
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It wasn't pretty on one side of the ball and now we have QB debates brewing, but the Griz are 4-1, and 1-0 in conference. We've shook off the demon of that damned red carpet, and they're headed home for two monumental conference games that will need the fans behind them in a major way.
Go Griz!
There's a lot to digest on this game and many things to be positive about, and worried about, however the biggest thing is this - the Griz won. They won in a place they've not won in for a long time, and they beat a team that was playing their "super bowl" of the season. We saw a Grizzly offense hit on all cylinders and score in the air, on the ground, and in clutch moments too. Yes the defense is a BIG worry.
Some thoughts:
- If you follow me on twitter it got entertaining post game, but I firmly believe it. Logan Fife is QB1 until he proves he isn't. The EWU defense was maybe the worst I've seen in a long time, however, it's not as if they weren't trying to make plays out there. Fife was dealing, 5 TDs, no INTs, he threw two touchdowns on 4th down. He wasn't perfect, there were some missed options downfield and a few plays where he needs to make better decisions as well. I saw him make a lot of throws in this game I've not seen Ah Yat make (yet). He played with patience, poise, and put the ball in spots that allowed this skilled WR corps the ability to make plays. It's hard to say what would've happened with Ah Yat today, the offense probably piles up yards too, but do some of the most clutch plays happen? We don't know what Ah Yat's timeline is, I guess we'll see, but for now, I'm riding with Fife.
- As many have opined here and elsewhere, this defense is in trouble. Weber and NAU are frisky, Davis is good, the Cats will be salivating to face this. I don't know what the "fix" is. Is it just the emotional level of the game and the pace that it got going - did things just get out of control fast? Sometimes it's just a momentum thing, and the defense simply could not find it. We saw Efton Chism, the best WR in the FCS, wide open a lot or being guarded by weaker links in the passing game. We saw EWU rush for 6.7 yards per carry. EWU went 9-14 on 3rd down too. I.... just don't know, I'm not sure what can happen with this group, is it baby steps? I do think Kyon Loud had a few nice plays, as did Jaxon Lee. There were little moments where good things happen. Can they build on that more?
- More special teams errors, yikes. The kick coverage unit gets caught running back before the ball is kicked - that sparked the tightening of the game. The onsides they were lucky that the ball just shot out of bounds. Another missed field goal too. ST errors could be a thing to reflect on here and realize they took a comfortable(ish) lead into a tight game.
- Eli Gillman isn't human and that was maybe one of the best games (considering the circumstances) Nick Ostmo has had. The O-line was grading the lane, hats off to those dudes.
- Glad to see White with a big game. Bergen played well but did it seem his top speed/explosiveness was a little limited? Seemed odd to see him get caught from behind.
- How about these Griz TEs? Erik Barker has 45 yards and 2 TDs, before tonight on his career he had 49 yards and 1 TD. Jake Olson catches his first career Griz TD as the final go-ahead score. Evan Schaefer hauls in a key conversion catch too.
- Big props to Griz Nation who showed out as well. It sounded like they were out in force, drank the stadium out of beer by halftime, and now have a night to party it up.
- It feels like we're going to need to get used to these types of tense games this year. It's just the way things are going to be.
---------
It wasn't pretty on one side of the ball and now we have QB debates brewing, but the Griz are 4-1, and 1-0 in conference. We've shook off the demon of that damned red carpet, and they're headed home for two monumental conference games that will need the fans behind them in a major way.
Go Griz!
