McDowell to the Portal

[GoldStandardGriz]

What's with Nebraska besides this?... Out of all the teams, why do Griz players go to that bottom feeder?

I have wondered the same. We have gotten some from them, as well, and I've wondered why the pipeline in both directions.

Shann Schillinger possibly. Was an assistant there.

 

[craigsmith89]

Excited to see Ah Yat and Luke flowers compete this spring. Should be fun.

BRING Britt back :shock:

 

[WaGriz4life]

I have wondered the same. We have gotten some from them, as well, and I've wondered why the pipeline in both directions.

Shann Schillinger possibly. Was an assistant there.

LOL. Shann hasn’t been there for like 5 years. Colter said they have a 3rd party company they pay to recruit athletes, coaches, and administrators at other schools. In the un-regulated world we live in, this is completely legal. I believe 4th Grizzly athlete or coach Nebraska has signed

 

[Triwest]

Excited to see Ah Yat and Luke flowers compete this spring. Should be fun.

BRING Britt back :shock:

I do not believe Luke is an early enrollee. Will not be at University until Fall unless it has been announced he is an early high school graduate.

 

[maroonandsilver]

It surprises me that he is leaving, given what I thought he thought of UM and the team, and what his tweet tag lines were recently.

However, UM will be fine and potentially better without him. I like Ah Yat, Vidlak and Huot. I assume Flowers will be very good sooner or later. There are still some qb's in the portal, and there will be more portal qb's in the spring.

McDowell didn't play great on Sunday, nor in the prior two playoff games. We needed a much better game from him on Sunday, but didn't get it. I thought he'd play better, being the championship game and in Texas.

I agree that he had a nice season and was big in taking us to the championship game. Showed nice improvement. I think he had more potential too. But he probably wasn't going to be one of the top UM qb's, in my view. Not even close.

He was not accurate enough throwing and had other limitations. Some qb experts and coaches have told me that qb's tend not to get more accurate with time and practice. They pretty much have it early or they don't. Accuracy is only one important skill for a qb, though.

My view is that the coaches never had good confidence in him, let alone full confidence. I believe they limited the offense because of that. I know they limited the offense earlier in the season. Maybe he felt or sensed the coaches lack of confidence in him.



He threw some nice downfield passes in a game or two earlier in the season, but for the most part, threw shorter passes. He didn't throw many picks, but I wonder if that is because the offense was limited with and for him. He did throw over the middle, short, relatively well.

I wonder why he seemed to quit running and scrambling in the last several games. That seemed odd. He turned down some open field and even first downs. Just seemed weird to me.

I wonder if he was having some issues with the coaches in the last game, or recent games. Don't know, just wonder. He seemed to get hurt late in the first half in the last game. I saw him running on sideline a lot after halftime, and also on the exercise bike. Had never seen him do that in prior games.

A parent told me that he never seemed to fit in. His mom told me that he and the family liked Missoula. I don't think he loved the weather, and he hasn't even had a Montana winter yet.

I liked what he said when he came to UM and a few other times. However, I thought it was odd he had committed to Southern and then changed his mind right away. Made me wonder if he was a bit flaky.

On the one hand, I wish him well. On the other hand, I think F-him. He can do what he wants. It's his choice and his life. Maybe he will get to a situation where he excels. I can see him improving, but I don't see him being a great qb at a higher level.

I assume I will get some better and more specific information. I'm curious. His departure does not concern me in the least. I think Gillman's younger brother is coming to UM. My impression is that recruiting has gone very well. I assume there are or will be schollies held back for some portal guys.

It will be interesting to see what else comes out. I don't know Nebraska has for qb's. If they are thin at qb, then he may have a nice opportunity. He could get some decent NIL money.

Nebraska has landed a top qb recruit, actually the top recruit. The recruit's uncle is the Neb. o-line coach. "Nebraska has landed a game-changing addition in quarterback Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 signal-caller in the Top247 rankings, who signed with the Cornhuskers on Wednesday morning as National Signing Day began. Raiola flipped from Georgia after a late charge from the Cornhuskers, and he becomes the highest-rated recruit in program history."

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/dylan-raiola-signs-with-nebraska-no-1-qb-in-2024-flips-from-georgia-becomes-programs-highest-rated-recruit/

Go Griz!

Good post. And I quote you: "F-him". We move on. We will be better. Go Griz!!

 

[SinCityGriz2005]

Has unfortunately entered the transfer portal

I don't understand why people are surprised. I expected him to enter the portal.

I have my own opinion of him, it's not bad, but it's not good either. There will be strong competition for the starting position this coming year. I think fans are going to see a lot more of Ah Yat 2.0. Luke Flowers is on his way in. For now, Mollet is just another rumor.

He did a decent job for UM. He helped get the team to the National Championship. He did his job, sometimes really well, sometime not so good.

Big IF he goes to Nebraska, he will never see playing time there. Dylan Raiola will be the starter. Maybe he goes back to Texas. That's his home, and I wouldn't blame him for that. He will never play professionally. He is absolutely not NFL or CFL material. I don't think he would make it in the XFL either. Maybe he could play in the Indoor Football League, maybe.

This will be his fifth transfer; he has shown he has no loyalty to any school or program. That's a fact, not an opinion.

 

[Cuervohola]

HAHAHAHA.... I post VERY VERY MINOR criticism of him and I get ripped to shreds!

I LOVE being the HEEL!

HAHAHHAHAHAHA

 

[AZGrizFan]

Just got text from a parent. "I think we can do better than McDowell. He hasn't played well since the Cat game."

So that parent is saying that as the competition got better the performance suffered? Whodathunkit?

Guess what? Same thing happened to Furman's QB. NDSU's QB. Even SDSU's all world QB went from 73% to 61% completion against better competition.

Date Opponent PASSING RUSHING RECEIVING
CMP ATT INT % YDS TD Long ATT YDS TD Long REC YDS TD Long

09/30/2023 Idaho St. 13 20 0 65.0% 160 1 39 20 66 1 16 0 0 0 0
10/07/2023 at UC Davis 18 32 0 56.3% 243 3 41 10 49 0 20 0 0 0 0
10/14/2023 at Idaho 11 18 0 61.1% 176 1 76 13 38 1 13 0 0 0 0
10/28/2023 UNColorado 7 14 0 50.0% 81 1 20 18 78 0 19 0 0 0 0
11/04/2023 Sacramento St. 11 21 1 52.4% 218 2 97 15 83 0 42 1 24 0 24
11/11/2023 at Portland State 9 14 0 64.3% 127 0 26 8 72 3 20 0 0 0 0
11/18/2023 Montana St. 17 22 0 77.3% 200 1 38 12 69 1 20 0 0 0 0
12/02/2023 Delaware 10 19 1 52.6% 186 2 55 5 51 1 27 0 0 0 0
12/08/2023 Furman 17 31 1 54.8% 208 1 42 21 118 1 40 0 0 0 0
12/16/2023 North Dakota St. 16 30 0 53.3% 160 1 31 12 17 0 15 0 0 0 0
01/07/2024 vs South Dakota St. 22 39 1 56.4% 165 0 21 13 2 0 10 0 0 0 0

Honestly, his performance in the 'Scat game is the outlier. The rest of the games were fairly similar. His rushing yards declined after Furman because he got sacked more often. Against NDSU he had just 17 yards rushing, but lost 28 on 3 sacks. Against SDSU he had 2 yards net rushing, but lost 23 on sacks.

There were some weaknesses on this team. QB wasn't one of them. Now we start from ground zero again.

 

[AZGrizFan]

Has unfortunately entered the transfer portal

I don't understand why people are surprised. I expected him to enter the portal.

I have my own opinion of him, it's not bad, but it's not good either. There will be strong competition for the starting position this coming year. I think fans are going to see a lot more of Ah Yat 2.0. Luke Flowers is on his way in. For now, Mollet is just another rumor.

He did a decent job for UM. He helped get the team to the National Championship. He did his job, sometimes really well, sometime not so good.

Big IF he goes to Nebraska, he will never see playing time there. Dylan Raiola will be the starter. Maybe he goes back to Texas. That's his home, and I wouldn't blame him for that. He will never play professionally. He is absolutely not NFL or CFL material. I don't think he would make it in the XFL either. Maybe he could play in the Indoor Football League, maybe.

This will be his fifth transfer; he has shown he has no loyalty to any school or program. That's a fact, not an opinion.

He did a "decent job for UM". Yeah, he got us to our first Natty in 14 years. I'd say that's a bit better than "decent".

 

[Griz66]

If MCDowell goes to Nebraska, he will be a back up at best. They just signed the #1 0r #2 QB in the country who had originally committed ,to UGA. Name is Dylan Riola, dad played at Nebraska and uncle or some other relative is on staff there. Maybe they are paying him to be the back up

 

[UncleRico]

If MCDowell goes to Nebraska, he will be a back up at best. They just signed the #1 0r #2 QB in the country who had originally committed ,to UGA. Name is Dylan Riola, dad played at Nebraska and uncle or some other relative is on staff there. Maybe they are paying him to be the back up

Looks like he signed with some group called First Class Prospects and they have a video of him throwing on Twitter. And they tagged South Carolina and Virginia Tech coaches. Thanks Cliff for all you did for Griz this year but if there are people advising him thinking he can play in the SEC or for Virginia Tech that is malpractice. Kid is getting some real bad advice.

 

[3-7-77]

It dawned on me that this all boils down to academics. Someone, early in this post, stated he was, or WOULD BE, Psych grad. Presumably, he wants to be a Psychologist.
I know of a UM Psych major who graduated but was not accepted into UM Psych Grad School. Maybe THIS is part of the problem. He would be done at UM. Now, he would have to not only have to find a Psych Grad School for admittance, but also offer his services as a backup QB, for some nice NIL $$$.
We all view the world as football oriented. After all, this isn't t the UM Academic Forum. Food for thought.

 

[AZGrizFan]

It dawned on me that this all boils down to academics. Someone, early in this post, stated he was, or WOULD BE, Psych grad. Presumably, he wants to be a Psychologist.
I know of a UM Psych major who graduated but was not accepted into UM Psych Grad School. Maybe THIS is part of the problem. He would be done at UM. Now, he would have to not only have to find a Psych Grad School for admittance, but also offer his services as a backup QB, for some nice NIL $$$.
We all view the world as football oriented. After all, this isn't t the UM Academic Forum. Food for thought.

Interesting...

 

[daGrizJ]

The best thing I can add about "Big Cliff" is, he was instrumental in reducing my 50 year Griz fan anxiety about 3rd and short. He picked up a lot of those this year. Thank you Cliff.

 

[GrizLawGrad]

I don't understand why people are surprised. I expected him to enter the portal.

I have my own opinion of him, it's not bad, but it's not good either. There will be strong competition for the starting position this coming year. I think fans are going to see a lot more of Ah Yat 2.0. Luke Flowers is on his way in. For now, Mollet is just another rumor.

He did a decent job for UM. He helped get the team to the National Championship. He did his job, sometimes really well, sometime not so good.

Big IF he goes to Nebraska, he will never see playing time there. Dylan Raiola will be the starter. Maybe he goes back to Texas. That's his home, and I wouldn't blame him for that. He will never play professionally. He is absolutely not NFL or CFL material. I don't think he would make it in the XFL either. Maybe he could play in the Indoor Football League, maybe.

This will be his fifth transfer; he has shown he has no loyalty to any school or program. That's a fact, not an opinion.

He did a "decent job for UM". Yeah, he got us to our first Natty in 14 years. I'd say that's a bit better than "decent".

Let's be honest here, Junior Bergen and the defense got us to the first Natty in 14 years.

But McDowell was definitely the best option for the 2023 squad and he obviously did positively contribute to the run they had. I will forever be thankful for those contributions in what turned out to be a really fun season that blew expectations completely out of the water.

Best of luck in your future endeavors, Cliff!

 

[mthoopsfan]

Just got text from a parent. "I think we can do better than McDowell. He hasn't played well since the Cat game."

So that parent is saying that as the competition got better the performance suffered? Whodathunkit?

Guess what? Same thing happened to Furman's QB. NDSU's QB. Even SDSU's all world QB went from 73% to 61% completion against better competition.

Date Opponent PASSING RUSHING RECEIVING
CMP ATT INT % YDS TD Long ATT YDS TD Long REC YDS TD Long

09/30/2023 Idaho St. 13 20 0 65.0% 160 1 39 20 66 1 16 0 0 0 0
10/07/2023 at UC Davis 18 32 0 56.3% 243 3 41 10 49 0 20 0 0 0 0
10/14/2023 at Idaho 11 18 0 61.1% 176 1 76 13 38 1 13 0 0 0 0
10/28/2023 UNColorado 7 14 0 50.0% 81 1 20 18 78 0 19 0 0 0 0
11/04/2023 Sacramento St. 11 21 1 52.4% 218 2 97 15 83 0 42 1 24 0 24
11/11/2023 at Portland State 9 14 0 64.3% 127 0 26 8 72 3 20 0 0 0 0
11/18/2023 Montana St. 17 22 0 77.3% 200 1 38 12 69 1 20 0 0 0 0
12/02/2023 Delaware 10 19 1 52.6% 186 2 55 5 51 1 27 0 0 0 0
12/08/2023 Furman 17 31 1 54.8% 208 1 42 21 118 1 40 0 0 0 0
12/16/2023 North Dakota St. 16 30 0 53.3% 160 1 31 12 17 0 15 0 0 0 0
01/07/2024 vs South Dakota St. 22 39 1 56.4% 165 0 21 13 2 0 10 0 0 0 0

Honestly, his performance in the 'Scat game is the outlier. The rest of the games were fairly similar. His rushing yards declined after Furman because he got sacked more often. Against NDSU he had just 17 yards rushing, but lost 28 on 3 sacks. Against SDSU he had 2 yards net rushing, but lost 23 on sacks.

There were some weaknesses on this team. QB wasn't one of them. Now we start from ground zero again.

Very good qb’s don’t stumble against better competition or in the playoffs. Failing to scramble for 10 or 15 yards to get a first down is not because of better competition. Throwing a bad pitch is not because of better competition. In a prior game, throwing a bad pick because you missed the play signal is not due to better competition.

 

[mthoopsfan]

Has unfortunately entered the transfer portal

I don't understand why people are surprised. I expected him to enter the portal.

I have my own opinion of him, it's not bad, but it's not good either. There will be strong competition for the starting position this coming year. I think fans are going to see a lot more of Ah Yat 2.0. Luke Flowers is on his way in. For now, Mollet is just another rumor.

He did a decent job for UM. He helped get the team to the National Championship. He did his job, sometimes really well, sometime not so good.

Big IF he goes to Nebraska, he will never see playing time there. Dylan Raiola will be the starter. Maybe he goes back to Texas. That's his home, and I wouldn't blame him for that. He will never play professionally. He is absolutely not NFL or CFL material. I don't think he would make it in the XFL either. Maybe he could play in the Indoor Football League, maybe.

This will be his fifth transfer; he has shown he has no loyalty to any school or program. That's a fact, not an opinion.

I think you nailed it.

 

[AZGrizFan]

Man...I'm shocked at how deep the hatred runs for a guy who got us to a Natty. Unreal.

 

[AZGrizFan]

He did a "decent job for UM". Yeah, he got us to our first Natty in 14 years. I'd say that's a bit better than "decent".

Let's be honest here, Junior Bergen and the defense got us to the first Natty in 14 years.

But McDowell was definitely the best option for the 2023 squad and he obviously did positively contribute to the run they had. I will forever be thankful for those contributions in what turned out to be a really fun season that blew expectations completely out of the water.

Best of luck in your future endeavors, Cliff!

Yeah, I'm sure his 13 TD passes, 9 rushing TD's, etc., etc. after not playing three of the first four games had nothing to do with getting us there.

 

[GrizLawGrad]

Man...I'm shocked at how deep the hatred runs for a guy who got us to a Natty. Unreal.

You're mistaking nonchalance for hatred. Cliff was solid, if unspectacular. He did just enough to keep the defenses honest, which is what the team needed this year. But is it hatred for the fanbase to want an actual gamechanger at the QB position going forward? I don't think so at all.