IdaGriz01 said:More pump-priming. (For those new on this thread, do go back and browse … there are some great memories here.)
After free-associating a bit, I did come up with an odd memory -- more strange than “great” perhaps. Had to do with the 2001 NC under Joe Glenn.
I went looking for some numbers (yeah, I know) and was reminded of something weird from that season. For reasons that escape me now -- probably some kind of old contractural thing -- the Griz played Idaho after the regular season and before the first playoff game. At that point, the Spuds had been FBS for about five years (I think), but the 2001 team was terrible. The Griz won that game in double-OT when Yohance Humphery scored from way out after Idaho missed a FG. (I seem to recall it was a particularly bad, windy day … both kickers had trouble.)
After that, the Griz got to play at home all the way to the Nattie in Chattie. Looking at some old headlines, I’m reminded that the Griz got off to a rocky start against Northwestern State. But after that, they pounded people … including a 38-zip beatdown of Northern Iowa in the semi.
The opponent that year was a very good Furman team, which had just knocked off a very good Georgia Southern team. (The two were seeded #2 - #3, I think.) Anyway, the odd memory started with the fact that the Nattie was (should have been, anyway) a home game for them. Admittedly, the school is not that big, but it’s been around a looong time. Plenty of alumni around … right? Well, if there were, they were not great football fans.
In one sense, the crowd in Chattanooga was a major comedown for the Griz. WaGriz was close to, or over, capacity (18,800 … before the expansion) all through the playoffs. The crowd number for the championship was about 12,700. But here’s the weird memory: I swear, half the crowd were Griz fans. Of course, UM football was very popular in Chattanooga back then, so some of the folks in Griz colors might have been locals. But I found an old article from the Missoulian that said at least 5000 Griz fans flew or drove from -- literally -- all over the world. So our impression about the crowd being half Griz would not have been far off. Amazing!
First, with the "makeup" coming so late, I totally forgot about the 9/11 connection. Thanks for that timely reminder. We must NEVER forget! (At the time, we were in Cali, closing out my mother's affairs.)503Griz said:...
IdaGriz, I appreciate you keeping this rolling and enjoy reading these.
You are correct that the Idaho game came after Griz-Cat but it was not contractual, the game had originally been scheduled for Sept 15 but was postponed - like the rest of the sporting world - the week of 9/11.
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IdaGriz01 said:First, with the "makeup" coming so late, I totally forgot about the 9/11 connection. Thanks for that timely reminder. We must NEVER forget! (At the time, we were in Cali, closing out my mother's affairs.)503Griz said:...
IdaGriz, I appreciate you keeping this rolling and enjoy reading these.
You are correct that the Idaho game came after Griz-Cat but it was not contractual, the game had originally been scheduled for Sept 15 but was postponed - like the rest of the sporting world - the week of 9/11.
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Aside from that ... it's my total pleasure to spark these memories. If I could figure a way to couple it with the "Classic Game Thread," I would. See the game video replay, and then read about memories of those games. Might allow us to limp through to spring (hopefully) football.
Bonus coverage (story posted a long, long time ago): For the '95 championship, Griz fans had to stay in Charleston because Huntington couldn't handle the crowds. (Don't get me started on the Charleston airport.) My wife and I took a walk to relax after our charter flight landed. We ended up with a mid-evening dinner in the little hotel dining room. We happened to get a table near the lounge, in the adjacent room.
We ordered and then, while we were waiting, I overheard the bar manager (he had apparently been called in by the bartender) on the phone. I have no idea who he was calling, but I distinctly heard him say (in more or less these words), "I don't give a damn! Beer, wine, moonshine ... as long as its got alcohol in it. Make it fast, these people are cleaning me out. We'll straighten out the bill later."
I wonder if, somewhere, there's a "highlight reel" of Mariani's great plays. Now that would be something to watch!GRIZ PHAN said:I remember the last touchdown in a 35-17 Griz win. I reviewed a couple of sources to refresh my memory. So here goes.
The place was Cedar City on November 15, 2014. ...
Name drop. I do not know him, but I did see Marc M with his family. He was wearing a Titan’s ball cap. ...
Even a 10 yard completion by Nate Montana. Be careful about throwing shade on the UCA QB's name, we had one of our own. https://gogriz.com/sports/football/roster/nate-dick/3012IdaGriz01 said:I was still on the Thanksgiving kick and snooping through old schedules. I discovered another somewhat surprising (to me) point. For some reason, I had thought the Griz had played Central Arkansas several times. But there has only been one matchup … in the second round of the 2011 playoffs.
That year, the Griz had a first-round bye -- seeded 4th -- and didn’t play right after Thanksgiving. The Bears pounded Tennessee Tech, 34-14, in the opening round (Nov 26) and came into Mizzou on an eight-game winning streak. Also, one of their losses was to FBS Louisiana Tech in double-OT. Then, in their last regular-season game, they won a squeaker against Texas State (which was FBS by then).
Looking back there was a good deal of concern on eGriz because of those two games and more. The Bears could light it up, and their QB, a dropdown from Arkansas, had played in crazy venues … including a start at LSU where they won an upset. For him, the raucous WaGriz would not be a factor. Besides a solid QB and corps of receivers, UCA were proven ball-hawks … with a bunch of forced turnovers.
Then the Bears had three turnovers of their own, right out of the gate … giving the Griz a 17-0 lead. But people were reminded: “Not so fast. Southland team. They have the game to come back. Guy hit like 80% of his passes last week and put up over 300 years. Something like six receivers had multiple catches.”
As I recall, most of us didn’t really start to breath until the defense showed they could handle the Bear’s passing attack in the second quarter. I just looked at the game stats, and see that UCA had virtually no running game (26 yards net). Which reminded me that their fifth-year senior QB -- Nathan Dick, which was good for endless “humor” on here -- spent most of the game ducking pass rushers. (He still hit two of of three, just nothing big.)
The numbers for the game were definitely strange. NAU won just about every stat except the final score. More first downs, more yards passing, more yards rushing (and, obviously, more total yards), plays, and time-of-possession. (FWIW: They also had more penalties and penalty yards. ) UM would have eked out a slight lead in rushing, except that Hill lost 11 yards in his one series in the game (a losing run attempt, and a sack). Luckily, Jerry Louie-McGee won the punt return stat, 62-38, including his 48-yard return for a TD.MissoulaMarinerFan said:The above mentioned NAU game was something else. It seemed like every other play was just QB power or something. I was pretty impressed that Stitt ditched his offensive philosophy to just "do what worked" (though he was forced into it due to injury) to win the game.
My favorite NAU game was probably the 2010 game where the Griz WR caught a 1 yard TD pass on a fade type play. It was a bonkers catch as he caught the ball mostly with his helmet/facemask with a defender draped all over him.