Griz vs. North Alabama Predictions

[TxGriz]

To quote a political phrase from the last century, let me make this perfectly clear.

NDSU has rendered the entire FCS concept meaningless, to the point that the FCS national championship is a contest between a body bag opponent and NDSU putting on a football clinic. The only real question is how the attendance at the FCS championship game is NDSU fans in numbers that well exceed the capacity of the Fargo Dome.

 

[bgbigdog]

[media]https://twitter.com/frankgogola/status/1169427323155730432?s=21[/media]

Not something I expected to wake up to this morning.

 

[Grizbballfan14]

I dont get why so many people are saying this. I dont consider 38-7 tough by any stretch of the imagination. If anything they got drubbed just as badly as most.

Pretty obvious you didn't watch the game. I was impressed by their performance against ndsu, particularly the front 7 in the first half.

You're right, I didnt watch the game. A 38-7 loss isnt a performance to hang your hat on though, no matter how "impressive" you looked doing it. For a team in UNAs position it may be a good result, but that doesnt mean they played them tough. "Tough" would be something closer to 38-21. When a team is up 24-0 going into the 4th qtr it wasnt a tough game

You should've stopped after your first sentence. The rest is needlessly added common sense. And I didn't say they played them tough, someone else did, I stated that their front 7 looked the part against the best team in the country. If you'd have actually watched the game, you'd have been impressed with them in the first half, they didn't get pushed around like most teams do in Fargo. They're not great, but they're not bad and definitely have some athletes and physical kids upfront. They're good enough that if we play poorly, we won't win. If we play well, we're the better team.

I never accused you of saying they played them tough, I was simply supporting my initial argument which you had refuted by saying I didnt watch the game.

As for the rest, if it were common sense then you would've gotten the point but you clearly didnt. If we lost 38-7 to any team, there would be no positives to take from it. We wouldnt be proud of how our front 7 looked. We would be thoroughly embarrassed and disappointed. If MSU lost to NDSU 38-7 we would make fun of them, not say they played tough.

If we want to return to a point of even obscure relevance we need to have a higher standard for what is tough competition. EWU played NDSU tougher than most last year. Beating them should be our goal, not squeaking by mediocre competition.

If you would have read the rest of what I wrote, you wouldve seen that I admitted there are plenty of reasons to take UNA seriously. That front 7 is at the top of the list, but as far as my original comment goes, I stand by it. UNA didnt play NDSU tough by any definition of the word.

Speaking of front 7s, USD had arguably one of the best we will see all season with returning all mvfc and all American talent and our O Line did a great job for week 1 in my opinion. I'm not worried about UNA.

 

[Grizbballfan14]

If we're just going to anoint NDSU champions before the season starts why do people even watch the season? Last time I checked they arent invincible. We beat them this decade. Other teams have beaten them.

Also, we should know all too well how quickly a decade of dominance can turn around. For those who may have forgotten, The Montana Grizzlies were the most successful D1 team during the 2000s decade, winning more games than even Oklahoma did. We saw that dominance shift quickly and the same can happen here.

 

[Lion1983]

[media]https://twitter.com/frankgogola/status/1169427323155730432?s=21[/media]

Not something I expected to wake up to this morning.

Western Illinois was a big favorite as well. But yall are a lot better, I would think yall would be more like 35-40 point favorites.

 

[first11]

Recall when ndsu, a team transitioning to fcs, beat us at home. I expect a good game that we should win. I think WIU expected no less prior to getting beat by lions

 

[bgbigdog]

[media]https://twitter.com/frankgogola/status/1169427323155730432?s=21[/media]

Not something I expected to wake up to this morning.

Western Illinois was a big favorite as well. But yall are a lot better, I would think yall would be more like 35-40 point favorites.

We’ll see if they’re better Saturday night. I would have guessed @ being the favorite, but this seems way out of whack.

 

[1981Griz]

It will be closer than one thinks. N. Alabama will be pumped to take on a historic FCS team and this would be a great start to their FCS transition, so Griz will win, but won't cover the spread.
Griz 38
Lions 27

 

[cclarkblues]

[media]https://twitter.com/frankgogola/status/1169427323155730432?s=21[/media]

Not something I expected to wake up to this morning.

Western Illinois was a big favorite as well. But yall are a lot better, I would think yall would be more like 35-40 point favorites.

Are y'all going to be able to come to the game?

 

[mtmopars]

42- 28 Griz , but I believe UNA will play pretty tough!!

 

[get'em_griz]

The scary thing about UNA is that they are playing with absolutely nothing to lose, and that can be deadly. Adding a win over WIU also has given them confidence.

They also have been saying "We've played at NDSU and we'll handle the environment in Montana", but WA-Griz is another animal compared to the Fargodome. I think the 12th man will give them some problems early on until they adjust.

I believe the Griz aren't taking UNA lightly. With this game being the home-opener under the lights, I think we see a similar score to what we had @ South Dakota.

Montana 35
N Alabama 21

 

[Lion1983]

[media]https://twitter.com/frankgogola/status/1169427323155730432?s=21[/media]

Not something I expected to wake up to this morning.

Western Illinois was a big favorite as well. But yall are a lot better, I would think yall would be more like 35-40 point favorites.

Are y'all going to be able to come to the game?

I cant, could not get off to go and my son plays football Saturday as well. He is 7 in his first year, plays center and DE... cant believe I would get this into youth football...

 

[Maxim]

I think this game will be closer than many expect. I think North Bama has a really good d.
Griz 27
Northbama 20

 

[granitegriz]

Griz: 37
NA: 17

 

[signedbewildered]

Griz have a good day all around. 2 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions. We turn it over once.

D buckles down when it counts. Holds Non Alcoholic to three FGs and a garbage time TD.

Lots of 3rd string sees the field and can't help but to show what they got.

GRIZ 37
NA 16

 

[timjayko]

27-13 good guys

 

[Jaredkuehn]

Maybe someone can explain to me why North Alabama is getting so much love around here? They went 7-3 last year against a mostly D-II schedule. They beat a Southern Utah team that went 1-7 in conference last year, so what? Their FCS opponents last year were mostly SWAC schools, which generally aren't competitive in FCS.

They just beat Western Illinois at home. So what? WIU went 5-6 last year and lost a ton of their play makers from last year's team. WIU was picked to finish 8th in the 10 team MVFC this year.

North Alabama's recruiting footprint and tradition at the D-II level can only take them so far. I'm always careful not to underestimate these unfamiliar opponents. North Alabama is going to have some athletes and I expect they'll put up a fight despite the adversity, but I just don't see why this should be anything but a blowout.

I think this years Griz team will protect its home field with a new attitude and they aren't going to be challenged by a subpar team in their home opener.

Griz 41
Lions 17

Griz win it going away. Cam Humphrey sees solid playing time in the 4th quarter.

Go Griz!

2004 NDSU - DII school at the time and the last time the Griz lost a home opener.

I was there, in the student section. I'll never forget it. A game that was played 15 years ago has no bearing on this weeks game, it also doesn't explain what it is about this team that makes everyone think they'll surprise the Griz.

Everyone keeps referring to them as a 7-3 team. Half of their schedule last year was against D-II opponents. Their FCS wins have been underwhelming against sub-par teams. There is just nothing in their recent history that stands out to me, but maybe I'm missing something. Maybe the talent gap between FCS and D-II isn't as large as I think. Maybe this years WIU team will be better than last years 5-6 team. Sure teams can always go on the road and upset the favored team, but it rarely happens. I think the Griz are the superior team and think the coaching staff will have the Griz ready to go. I expect a solid win.

I could be wrong, time will tell.

 

[behappp]

Malik returns one for a TD

 

[granitegriz]

I bet you are right behappp!!!

 

[casewinter13]

Pretty obvious you didn't watch the game. I was impressed by their performance against ndsu, particularly the front 7 in the first half.

You're right, I didnt watch the game. A 38-7 loss isnt a performance to hang your hat on though, no matter how "impressive" you looked doing it. For a team in UNAs position it may be a good result, but that doesnt mean they played them tough. "Tough" would be something closer to 38-21. When a team is up 24-0 going into the 4th qtr it wasnt a tough game

You should've stopped after your first sentence. The rest is needlessly added common sense. And I didn't say they played them tough, someone else did, I stated that their front 7 looked the part against the best team in the country. If you'd have actually watched the game, you'd have been impressed with them in the first half, they didn't get pushed around like most teams do in Fargo. They're not great, but they're not bad and definitely have some athletes and physical kids upfront. They're good enough that if we play poorly, we won't win. If we play well, we're the better team.

I never accused you of saying they played them tough, I was simply supporting my initial argument which you had refuted by saying I didnt watch the game.

As for the rest, if it were common sense then you would've gotten the point but you clearly didnt. If we lost 38-7 to any team, there would be no positives to take from it. We wouldnt be proud of how our front 7 looked. We would be thoroughly embarrassed and disappointed. If MSU lost to NDSU 38-7 we would make fun of them, not say they played tough.

If we want to return to a point of even obscure relevance we need to have a higher standard for what is tough competition. EWU played NDSU tougher than most last year. Beating them should be our goal, not squeaking by mediocre competition.

If you would have read the rest of what I wrote, you wouldve seen that I admitted there are plenty of reasons to take UNA seriously. That front 7 is at the top of the list, but as far as my original comment goes, I stand by it. UNA didnt play NDSU tough by any definition of the word.

Speaking of front 7s, USD had arguably one of the best we will see all season with returning all mvfc and all American talent and our O Line did a great job for week 1 in my opinion. I'm not worried about UNA.

Imagine writing that many words just to further illustrate my point. That you really struggle with context and nuance. We already lost to ndsu in a similar matter and no one was impressed. I didn't say UNA was tough, which you admit, I said you didn't watch the game because you had nothing to offer or take away from that game. Which was that UNA's front 7 was impressive during much of that game. Watch the game. It wasn't a physical beating like ndsu regularly hands out. You don't care to watch it because you'll have to drop this silly argument you keep making. Here, I'll help, since you're struggling. UNA is average or slightly above. They have some good athletes and play very physical at times. Montana is better. If Montana plays well, they'll win. If they don't, they'll be challenged. Montana SHOULD win. No one here has low standards for the griz. No one here thinks Montana and UNA play with the same expectations. Stop being ridiculous.