Sagan Gronauer just knew he had to grab his helmet. A lot was happening around him, players running on and off the field as possession changed hands during last weekend’s Idaho State/Northern Colorado contest, and the Bengals’ backup quarterback, Hunter Hays, had just gone down with an injury. It wasn’t exactly chaos, not with the game out of reach, but it came close. “In that moment,” Gronauer said, “you just think, it’s your time to go.” It was Gronauer’s time to go at the tail end of that game and, since starter Tyler Vander Waal is still on the shelf with an injured collarbone and now that Hays will miss time with an ankle injury, it’s his time to go this weekend too. When Idaho State hosts No. 2 Montana at 1 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+, the sophomore Gronauer will start at quarterback, meaning the Bengals will send out their third-string quarterback to face one of the nation’s very best defenses.
. . . If Gronauer succeeds against Montana’s defense, it might look a little like Hays’ approach, only with fewer rushing attempts. Gronauer fashions himself more of a pocket passer, so the Bengals will likely ask him to complete short and intermediate routes, to spray it around to playmakers like Xavier Guillory, Benji Omayebu, Jalen Johnson, Cyrus Wallace. Those guys have proven themselves. They look like legitimate weapons. The only question will be how Gronauer utilizes them. In previous weeks, the Bengals have lost several costly turnovers, interceptions and fumbles alike. If Gronauer can limit those, he’ll have his group off to a good start. Against Montana, you take what you can get. “I think we could go up against the Packers, we could go up against Pocatello High,” Idaho State head coach Charlie Ragle said earlier this week. “When you’re playing without your two starting quarterbacks and you’ve got your third-string quarterback in there — again, he’s plenty capable — but it makes it difficult for the football team.”
https://www.idahostatejournal.com/sports/what-will-isu-s-offense-look-like-with-qb-sagan-gronauer-at-the-controls/article_1e79c8d6-4030-11ed-9825-5757613fef7c.html
