I don't think teenagers read the newspapers anymore.
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Frank Gogola Article
- Thread starter 72 CHAMPS
- Start date
Their parents and coaches do.
That was March 29, 2012.
You can't argue or spin playoff results, and we have underperformed more than not when we get to the playoffs. The question is whether that's acceptable or not, I for one an not in favor of moving the goal posts for Bobby
StumptownGriz
Well-known member
Good job Frank. Bobby is particularly shitty to Gogola in press conferences it seems and this certainly won't change that. It needed to be written. Bobby is very coddled if not feared by local media and this is the type of media attention he deserves right now. Good to see someone step up and be critical.
That was the day Rolls Royce set the Griz back 30 years. I still have hatred in my heart for him, that reporter from the town rag, and Krakw***. I deliberately wrote this so their names aren’t easily searchable. So much that could have been, wasted and squandered by small minded people.
Unfortunately there’s nothing but truth in that article. No amount of spinning can deny cold hard facts
I’ve been critical of the Missoulian for biased reporting, but there is no arguing with this one. One person pointed out an anti-Bobby slant to it, but I think the facts on their own are pretty damming. Hats off to Frank for really coalescing the issue into a bigger argument for change. Not that Robert Hauck will read it… I hope Haslam does and has that frank conversation that is clearly needed. I just don’t think he will.
oldngrizzly
Well-known member
Another Missoulian Article by Frank:
The Montana football team fell far short of expectations in 2024.
The end result of the Grizzlies' inconsistency was a 9-5 record and an unceremonious second-round playoff exit. They had come into the year ranked No. 3 in the FCS Top 25 poll following a national runner-up finish.
Over the final several weeks of the season, multiple players brought up the need to put together a complete game. It was something they thought could return them to the championship caliber they were at last year.
It was also something that eluded them week after week. They never put together that all-around performance against a scholarship opponent.
By the midpoint, the Griz had become an improving offensive juggernaut that seemingly forgot how to play defense. After the bye, they became a maturing defensive unit that seemingly lost its memory of how to play offense.
The offense performed one final disappearing act against South Dakota State in the second round, being held to 10 points until garbage time. In the regular-season finale, the Griz managed just 11 points in a loss to Montana State. Two weeks earlier, they put up only 14 in a loss to UC Davis.
The defense came to play all three of those days and kept the team in the game in the early going. That side of the ball then broke while trying to carry a vanishing offense on its shoulders.
The offense had also disappeared for a good portion of the first-round win over Tennessee State. Junior Bergen and the special teams came to the rescue to prevent another embarrassing home loss. The Griz finished 6-2 in Wa-Griz after going into the season at 30-2 over their previous 32 home games.
The offense had hit its crescendo in Weeks 4-6. The Griz won a shootout over Western Carolina, 46-35. They won another high-scoring affair at Eastern Washington, 52-49, the next week. It was the most points ever given up in a win in program history.
Then it was a 55-48 overtime loss to Weber State the week after that. It was the most points Montana ever allowed inside Wa-Griz and tied for the second-most points scored in a loss in school history.
The offense had carried the load in that stretch while the defense sputtered with tackling woes and miscues from veterans while a spattering of new starters were being worked in.
The loss to Weber State, which finished with a 4-8 record, was a backbreaker for the Griz in terms of playoff seeding, which could've prolonged their season maybe one more week. That loss was the impetus for switching from man coverage in the secondary to playing more zone coverage, which improved the defense, although they went back to man at times and got burned.
Both offensive and defensive successes and struggles were on display in Week 2. The Griz put together what wound up being arguably their most complete half all season when they took a 24-7 lead at North Dakota, which finished the year with a 5-7 record.
They then were outscored 20-0 in maybe their worst half of the year. Whether it was Logan Fife or Keali'i Ah Yat at quarterback, neither could get the ball moving with a trio of three-and-outs until the final drive as they totaled 34 yards. The only way the defense got off the field was by allowing points.
The Griz had gone through another early season shocker in 2023 at Northern Arizona as they were still rotating quarterbacks. They then picked and stuck with Clifton McDowell and went on a 10-game winning streak.
They didn't make that choice this year, instead rotating Fife and Ah Yat for the vast majority of the season. The moves were based on what Hauck called "feel" for when to play a specific guy from series to series, leaving the quarterbacks looking over their shoulder to see who would take the field. Perhaps that's why it felt like a leader never emerged on the offense.
Injuries to Ah Yat led to Fife getting more playing time and being named the Big Sky offensive player of the week after his first start. Fife threw for 1,890 yards, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions. Ah Yat finished with 1,121 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions.
Fife didn't play against SDSU as Ah Yat got the whole game, a decision that surprised both coach Jimmy Rogers and Jackrabbits players after the game. He then entered the transfer portal the day after the season ended.
The calamity of the quarterback carousel isn't the only thing that appeared to derail the offense. Play calling is a factor in putting them in the proper position. The variability in that aspect left the Griz without an offensive identity.
They went from taking and hitting deep shots in their early shootouts into becoming allergic to that, often settling for short passes. That was highlighted in a puzzling game against MSU, throwing mainly horizontal passes. They took more downfield shots against SDSU, but it couldn't salvage their season.
Montana wide receiver Junior Bergen (5) returns a punt against Tennessee State punter Mark Shenouda (39) during first round of the NCAA FCS Division I Playoffs between Montana and Tennessee State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. Bergen tied the NCAA record and broke the FCS record for punt return touchdowns.
Keelan White, Junior Bergen and Aaron Fontes — which opposing coaches had called the best receiver room in the Big Sky and possibly the FCS — had worse seasons in 2024 than 2023. That trio totaled 2,206 yards and 14 touchdowns on 161 catches last year. That dropped to 1,577 yards and eight scores on 146 catches this year. Xavier Harris and Sawyer Racanelli saw their stats increase, but the Griz struggled to get their best players the ball, especially in space.
The same could be said of the run game. The Griz went from a team that ran the ball at will to one that struggled. They totaled 1,096 yards on the ground over a three-game stretch (365.3 per game) in Weeks 3-5. They then totaled 1,318 rushing yards over their next nine games (146.4) to close the season. Montana Grizzlies running back Eli Gillman (10) runs the ball down the field before scoring a touchdown during a college football game between the Montana Grizzlies and the Weber State Wildcats on Saturday, Oct. 5 in Washington Grizzly Stadium.
Eli Gillman has played in 31 games at UM but didn't have a 20-carry game until his 30th outing. His 1,104 rush yards are the most by a Griz since Jordan Canada had 1,195 in 2014 and his 15 TD runs are the most since Marcus Knight had 23 in 2019. Those stats came despite his carries falling from 194 in 2023 (12.9 per game) to 167 in 2024 (11.9 per game)
He spent the first half of the season among the top three players in all of college football at around 10 yards per carry. That dropped off, although he did still have big performances to help the Griz earn wins over Portland State and Tennessee State. SDSU bottled him up for the second year in a row as he had 17 carries for 30 yards in those two games.
The ability to run the ball or get time in the pocket to deliver the ball starts at the line of scrimmage. The play of the offensive line in primetime matchups showed the disparity between the Griz and other elite teams, and it's seemingly a larger gap than anticipated. Winning in the trenches should be a primary focus moving forward — even more than who's playing quarterback.
Those performances echoed on the defensive line as Montana struggled against top-tier O-lines. Hayden Harris did have 17 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and three forced fumbles, all of which are the most since Patrick O'Connell had 21.5 TFLs, 14 sacks and four forced fumbles in 2021.
A lack of pressure up front forced the secondary to stay in coverage longer. Trevin Gradney did finish with 10 pass breakups, which are the most since Justin Ford and Omar Hicks Onu each had 11 in 2021.
Montana cornerback Trevin Gradney (37) intercepts a deflected pass during the college football game between Montana and Western Carolina at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.
Montana never did flip a game with a defensive score. It was the first season since 2014 the Griz failed to score a defensive touchdown.
Montana did have to replace a lot of sixth-year seniors from last year's team. Gone were stalwarts like nose tackle Alex Gubner, linebacker Braxton Hill, safeties TraJon Cotton and Nash Fouch, cornerback Corbin Walker and center AJ Forbes. It was seemingly too much experience to replenish at once.
They then lost key pieces to the transfer portal. McDowell helped turn McNeese State from a 1-10 team into a 6-6 team. Quarterback Sam Vidlak became an All-Southland second-teamer at Stephen F. Austin.
Defensive end Kale Edwards went to FBS New Mexico State, taking away UM's top pass rusher on the D-line from 2023. Linebacker Vince Genatone left for FBS Nebraska, depleting an already thin group when he could've started.
The Griz tried to plug some holes with transfers. They found success stories with newcomers like center Cade Klimczak and punter/kicker Ty Morrison.
But Montana maybe didn't hit on as many plug-and-play transfers as it hoped and at the high level that it had wanted, especially on the defensive side, where it can take time to get in the flow with UM's unorthodox 3-3-5 defense.
"I hope we're remembered (as) just a bunch of hard-fought kids, love the game, love to compete, love each other," Gradney said. "I think we did a good job exemplifying that."
White added: "Tough-ass football team that no matter who we play, where we play, we're going to fight all the way to the end."
As much as they tried, the Griz could never get in sync and put it all together. That lack of being able to play a complete game left them looking like an incomplete team. Montana was full of potential but was ultimately flawed.
The Montana football team fell far short of expectations in 2024.
The end result of the Grizzlies' inconsistency was a 9-5 record and an unceremonious second-round playoff exit. They had come into the year ranked No. 3 in the FCS Top 25 poll following a national runner-up finish.
Over the final several weeks of the season, multiple players brought up the need to put together a complete game. It was something they thought could return them to the championship caliber they were at last year.
It was also something that eluded them week after week. They never put together that all-around performance against a scholarship opponent.
By the midpoint, the Griz had become an improving offensive juggernaut that seemingly forgot how to play defense. After the bye, they became a maturing defensive unit that seemingly lost its memory of how to play offense.
The offense performed one final disappearing act against South Dakota State in the second round, being held to 10 points until garbage time. In the regular-season finale, the Griz managed just 11 points in a loss to Montana State. Two weeks earlier, they put up only 14 in a loss to UC Davis.
The defense came to play all three of those days and kept the team in the game in the early going. That side of the ball then broke while trying to carry a vanishing offense on its shoulders.
The offense had also disappeared for a good portion of the first-round win over Tennessee State. Junior Bergen and the special teams came to the rescue to prevent another embarrassing home loss. The Griz finished 6-2 in Wa-Griz after going into the season at 30-2 over their previous 32 home games.
The offense had hit its crescendo in Weeks 4-6. The Griz won a shootout over Western Carolina, 46-35. They won another high-scoring affair at Eastern Washington, 52-49, the next week. It was the most points ever given up in a win in program history.
Then it was a 55-48 overtime loss to Weber State the week after that. It was the most points Montana ever allowed inside Wa-Griz and tied for the second-most points scored in a loss in school history.
The offense had carried the load in that stretch while the defense sputtered with tackling woes and miscues from veterans while a spattering of new starters were being worked in.
The loss to Weber State, which finished with a 4-8 record, was a backbreaker for the Griz in terms of playoff seeding, which could've prolonged their season maybe one more week. That loss was the impetus for switching from man coverage in the secondary to playing more zone coverage, which improved the defense, although they went back to man at times and got burned.
Both offensive and defensive successes and struggles were on display in Week 2. The Griz put together what wound up being arguably their most complete half all season when they took a 24-7 lead at North Dakota, which finished the year with a 5-7 record.
They then were outscored 20-0 in maybe their worst half of the year. Whether it was Logan Fife or Keali'i Ah Yat at quarterback, neither could get the ball moving with a trio of three-and-outs until the final drive as they totaled 34 yards. The only way the defense got off the field was by allowing points.
The Griz had gone through another early season shocker in 2023 at Northern Arizona as they were still rotating quarterbacks. They then picked and stuck with Clifton McDowell and went on a 10-game winning streak.
They didn't make that choice this year, instead rotating Fife and Ah Yat for the vast majority of the season. The moves were based on what Hauck called "feel" for when to play a specific guy from series to series, leaving the quarterbacks looking over their shoulder to see who would take the field. Perhaps that's why it felt like a leader never emerged on the offense.
Injuries to Ah Yat led to Fife getting more playing time and being named the Big Sky offensive player of the week after his first start. Fife threw for 1,890 yards, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions. Ah Yat finished with 1,121 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions.
Fife didn't play against SDSU as Ah Yat got the whole game, a decision that surprised both coach Jimmy Rogers and Jackrabbits players after the game. He then entered the transfer portal the day after the season ended.
The calamity of the quarterback carousel isn't the only thing that appeared to derail the offense. Play calling is a factor in putting them in the proper position. The variability in that aspect left the Griz without an offensive identity.
They went from taking and hitting deep shots in their early shootouts into becoming allergic to that, often settling for short passes. That was highlighted in a puzzling game against MSU, throwing mainly horizontal passes. They took more downfield shots against SDSU, but it couldn't salvage their season.
Montana wide receiver Junior Bergen (5) returns a punt against Tennessee State punter Mark Shenouda (39) during first round of the NCAA FCS Division I Playoffs between Montana and Tennessee State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. Bergen tied the NCAA record and broke the FCS record for punt return touchdowns.
Keelan White, Junior Bergen and Aaron Fontes — which opposing coaches had called the best receiver room in the Big Sky and possibly the FCS — had worse seasons in 2024 than 2023. That trio totaled 2,206 yards and 14 touchdowns on 161 catches last year. That dropped to 1,577 yards and eight scores on 146 catches this year. Xavier Harris and Sawyer Racanelli saw their stats increase, but the Griz struggled to get their best players the ball, especially in space.
The same could be said of the run game. The Griz went from a team that ran the ball at will to one that struggled. They totaled 1,096 yards on the ground over a three-game stretch (365.3 per game) in Weeks 3-5. They then totaled 1,318 rushing yards over their next nine games (146.4) to close the season. Montana Grizzlies running back Eli Gillman (10) runs the ball down the field before scoring a touchdown during a college football game between the Montana Grizzlies and the Weber State Wildcats on Saturday, Oct. 5 in Washington Grizzly Stadium.
Eli Gillman has played in 31 games at UM but didn't have a 20-carry game until his 30th outing. His 1,104 rush yards are the most by a Griz since Jordan Canada had 1,195 in 2014 and his 15 TD runs are the most since Marcus Knight had 23 in 2019. Those stats came despite his carries falling from 194 in 2023 (12.9 per game) to 167 in 2024 (11.9 per game)
He spent the first half of the season among the top three players in all of college football at around 10 yards per carry. That dropped off, although he did still have big performances to help the Griz earn wins over Portland State and Tennessee State. SDSU bottled him up for the second year in a row as he had 17 carries for 30 yards in those two games.
The ability to run the ball or get time in the pocket to deliver the ball starts at the line of scrimmage. The play of the offensive line in primetime matchups showed the disparity between the Griz and other elite teams, and it's seemingly a larger gap than anticipated. Winning in the trenches should be a primary focus moving forward — even more than who's playing quarterback.
Those performances echoed on the defensive line as Montana struggled against top-tier O-lines. Hayden Harris did have 17 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and three forced fumbles, all of which are the most since Patrick O'Connell had 21.5 TFLs, 14 sacks and four forced fumbles in 2021.
A lack of pressure up front forced the secondary to stay in coverage longer. Trevin Gradney did finish with 10 pass breakups, which are the most since Justin Ford and Omar Hicks Onu each had 11 in 2021.
Montana cornerback Trevin Gradney (37) intercepts a deflected pass during the college football game between Montana and Western Carolina at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.
Montana never did flip a game with a defensive score. It was the first season since 2014 the Griz failed to score a defensive touchdown.
Montana did have to replace a lot of sixth-year seniors from last year's team. Gone were stalwarts like nose tackle Alex Gubner, linebacker Braxton Hill, safeties TraJon Cotton and Nash Fouch, cornerback Corbin Walker and center AJ Forbes. It was seemingly too much experience to replenish at once.
They then lost key pieces to the transfer portal. McDowell helped turn McNeese State from a 1-10 team into a 6-6 team. Quarterback Sam Vidlak became an All-Southland second-teamer at Stephen F. Austin.
Defensive end Kale Edwards went to FBS New Mexico State, taking away UM's top pass rusher on the D-line from 2023. Linebacker Vince Genatone left for FBS Nebraska, depleting an already thin group when he could've started.
The Griz tried to plug some holes with transfers. They found success stories with newcomers like center Cade Klimczak and punter/kicker Ty Morrison.
But Montana maybe didn't hit on as many plug-and-play transfers as it hoped and at the high level that it had wanted, especially on the defensive side, where it can take time to get in the flow with UM's unorthodox 3-3-5 defense.
"I hope we're remembered (as) just a bunch of hard-fought kids, love the game, love to compete, love each other," Gradney said. "I think we did a good job exemplifying that."
White added: "Tough-ass football team that no matter who we play, where we play, we're going to fight all the way to the end."
As much as they tried, the Griz could never get in sync and put it all together. That lack of being able to play a complete game left them looking like an incomplete team. Montana was full of potential but was ultimately flawed.
HelenaHandBasket
Well-known member
As for the Griz, it has been the fact for well over a decade.
Again, I can’t argue with it. Frank is batting for 1000 today…
Hauck certainly has a different approach when dealing with the media and recruits. Makes me wonder if a stronger personality in the AD position would help improve relationships and program perception.
Hauck, if he reads it, will just do what he always does and double down. His ego will not allow him to admit the writer is correct
GrizProtocol
Well-known member
Ahhh, you are correct, yet he will try. Just stand by. Brace yourself for posts about Griz crushing Cats twice, National Championship run, and cherry picked stats and W\L comparisons.
HikeGlacier
Well-known member
If you think it was him your naïve.
GrizRealist
Well-known member
If he gets that program humming he might finally be out of the doghouse.
mthoopsfan
Well-known member
It happened after Hauck departed, and now he's brought UM back towards the top. In the last handful of years, I think 5, UM has the 4th average highest post-season poll of any FCS teams. Cats not as good as Griz in past 2 seasons so far. We'll see if Cats can win the national championship and better the Griz in past 2 years. I like how some Cats and some Griz cheery pick. Their calculation involves throwing out the best Griz years and just looking at the others. And definitely throw out the most recent full season.
mthoopsfan
Well-known member
You are the cherry picker. You try throw out the best years and the immediately prior year.
Gogola is wrong about at least one thing for this Griz fan. There is not one thing about the Cat program that I would like the Griz to be. And, 8-4 with home playoff loss last year. Won't get it done this year. Rumors the coach wants to leave already. Keep on 2 coordinators who alcohol arrests (now convictions) and other legal issues, for a year or so. Extra cold and snowy weather. Lower attendance. Much worse stadium. Weaker game day atmosphere in town and stadium. Maybe that's what Google thinks Griz fans want, but I don't think so.
