In need of a solid bounce-back the Grizzlies now start a stretch where 4 of their next 5 games are at home. Up first is the Morehead State Eagles, a Pioneer Conference school that is currently 2-0, but against one D2 school and an NAIA school. Morehead has a new coaching staff this year and interestingly last year had one of the best turnover margins in the country. This year they’ve yet to lose a turnover, however they’ve already forced 6 turnovers in just 2 games (5 Ints).
As pointed out to us in attendance at QB Club, the Pioneer conf is currently undefeated against Big Sky teams in 2024 (San Diego beat Cal Poly, Drake beat EWU).
Morehead State Eagles
17-10 win vs Central State: I had this game on in week 1 but was following other games on the split screen a little more closely. It was tied 10-10 at the half, neither team was playing great football. Mid-way through the 4th Morehead would score the go-ahead TD. Morehead also missed 2 field goals in the 2nd half that would’ve helped pad the lead. Morehead had 283 yards of total offense, Central had 247. There were a lot of punts, some turnovers on downs, and the teams went a combined 9-29 on 3rd down.
48-7 win vs Kentucky Christian: Morehead passed for almost 240 and ran for 130 all while holding KCU to less than 150 total yards of offense. Morehead grabbed 4 picks in the game, took a punt to the house for a score, and held the ball for 37:30 of TOP.
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General Stats (from 2023)
Passing yards per game MORE (170 for GRIZ vs 183.5 for MORE)
Rushing yards per game GRIZ (163.5 for GRIZ vs 142.5 for MORE)
Total offense GRIZ (333 for GRIZ vs 326 for MORE)
Passing yards allowed per game MORE (177 for GRIZ vs 105.5 for MORE)
Rushing yards allowed per game MORE (171 for GRIZ vs 85.5 for MORE)
Total defense MORE (348 for GRIZ vs 191 for MORE)
Griz get 2, Morehead gets 4. Fair to say we have to consider the opponents early (2 MVFC teams for Montana vs 2 D2 schools for Morehead). However stats are the stats.
Offense points scored MORE (26.5 for GRIZ vs 32.5 for MORE)
Defense points allowed MORE (25.5 for GRIZ vs 8.5 for MORE)
Turnover margin MORE (+1 for GRIZ / +6 for MORE)
Fieldgoal % GRIZ (80% for GRIZ vs 50% for MORE)
Punt Returns MORE (11.3 yards for GRIZ vs 24 yards for MORE)
Kick Returns MORE (21.7 yards for GRIZ vs 23 yards for MORE)
T.O.P. MORE (23:00 for GRIZ vs 35:00 for MORE)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) PUSH (66% GRIZ / 66% MORE)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) MORE (83% GRIZ / 50% MORE)
3rd down offense MORE – (27% for GRIZ / 41% for MORE)
3rd down defense MORE – (44% allowed for GRIZ vs 13% allowed for MORE)
Once again a huge sweep for Morehead, they add 9, Griz get 2, and we have 1 push. That puts it at Morehead 13 – Griz 4 – Push 1.
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Morehead State Players to Watch:
#11 Conor Genal, QB – A 6-5 New Mexico transfer that’s a grad student. He’s averaging about 175 passing per game, has 3 TDs, and no picks. He doesn’t have any rushing stats to it seems so presumably more of a pocket QB. He’s completing his passes at about a 61% rate.
#1 Chance Harris, RB – A 6 foot tall, 185 pound back, he’s been a constant on the Morehead offense for the last 3 years. This year he’s got the most touches early, he leads the team with 108 yards and he has 1 rushing TD. He’s a pass catching threat too, he’s got just 3 catches this season but his prior season stats show he’s a constant target in the passing game.
#13 Ryan Upp, WR – A first team WR last year, I believe 2nd team preseason this year. His stats suggest they use this dude all over the field. While minimal he does have rushing and passing stats over the last few years, none yet this year. Last year he had 833 receiving yards and 9 TDs. So far this season he’s got 144 yards and 2 TDs on just 6 catches.
#8 Matthew Mcclelland – A 6-2, 200 pound DB he’s already got 3 interceptions this season, he also leads the team in tackles with 17, he’s got 0.5 TFLs so far as well.
#9 Jihad McCall – Not much in the stat books for him yet this season, however he’s a first team all conference player and had 6 interceptions last year, and he blocked a kick too.
#58 Noah Benza – A speedy D-end that will be a handful. Last year he had 10 TFLs and 4.5 sacks. This season so far he’s got 1.5 sacks and 2.5 TFLs already.
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Keys to a Grizzly victory
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I’m seeing a bounce back win for Montana, however it may start a little sluggish. Morehead will come in with good confidence, hopefully the Griz and the crowd can take that out of them fast. In a game that might feel a little tense early, I see it stretching out into a bigger Griz win, I’ll say Montana takes the day 48-10.
Go Griz!
As pointed out to us in attendance at QB Club, the Pioneer conf is currently undefeated against Big Sky teams in 2024 (San Diego beat Cal Poly, Drake beat EWU).
Morehead State Eagles
17-10 win vs Central State: I had this game on in week 1 but was following other games on the split screen a little more closely. It was tied 10-10 at the half, neither team was playing great football. Mid-way through the 4th Morehead would score the go-ahead TD. Morehead also missed 2 field goals in the 2nd half that would’ve helped pad the lead. Morehead had 283 yards of total offense, Central had 247. There were a lot of punts, some turnovers on downs, and the teams went a combined 9-29 on 3rd down.
48-7 win vs Kentucky Christian: Morehead passed for almost 240 and ran for 130 all while holding KCU to less than 150 total yards of offense. Morehead grabbed 4 picks in the game, took a punt to the house for a score, and held the ball for 37:30 of TOP.
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General Stats (from 2023)
Passing yards per game MORE (170 for GRIZ vs 183.5 for MORE)
Rushing yards per game GRIZ (163.5 for GRIZ vs 142.5 for MORE)
Total offense GRIZ (333 for GRIZ vs 326 for MORE)
Passing yards allowed per game MORE (177 for GRIZ vs 105.5 for MORE)
Rushing yards allowed per game MORE (171 for GRIZ vs 85.5 for MORE)
Total defense MORE (348 for GRIZ vs 191 for MORE)
Griz get 2, Morehead gets 4. Fair to say we have to consider the opponents early (2 MVFC teams for Montana vs 2 D2 schools for Morehead). However stats are the stats.
Offense points scored MORE (26.5 for GRIZ vs 32.5 for MORE)
Defense points allowed MORE (25.5 for GRIZ vs 8.5 for MORE)
Turnover margin MORE (+1 for GRIZ / +6 for MORE)
Fieldgoal % GRIZ (80% for GRIZ vs 50% for MORE)
Punt Returns MORE (11.3 yards for GRIZ vs 24 yards for MORE)
Kick Returns MORE (21.7 yards for GRIZ vs 23 yards for MORE)
T.O.P. MORE (23:00 for GRIZ vs 35:00 for MORE)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) PUSH (66% GRIZ / 66% MORE)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) MORE (83% GRIZ / 50% MORE)
3rd down offense MORE – (27% for GRIZ / 41% for MORE)
3rd down defense MORE – (44% allowed for GRIZ vs 13% allowed for MORE)
Once again a huge sweep for Morehead, they add 9, Griz get 2, and we have 1 push. That puts it at Morehead 13 – Griz 4 – Push 1.
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Morehead State Players to Watch:
#11 Conor Genal, QB – A 6-5 New Mexico transfer that’s a grad student. He’s averaging about 175 passing per game, has 3 TDs, and no picks. He doesn’t have any rushing stats to it seems so presumably more of a pocket QB. He’s completing his passes at about a 61% rate.
#1 Chance Harris, RB – A 6 foot tall, 185 pound back, he’s been a constant on the Morehead offense for the last 3 years. This year he’s got the most touches early, he leads the team with 108 yards and he has 1 rushing TD. He’s a pass catching threat too, he’s got just 3 catches this season but his prior season stats show he’s a constant target in the passing game.
#13 Ryan Upp, WR – A first team WR last year, I believe 2nd team preseason this year. His stats suggest they use this dude all over the field. While minimal he does have rushing and passing stats over the last few years, none yet this year. Last year he had 833 receiving yards and 9 TDs. So far this season he’s got 144 yards and 2 TDs on just 6 catches.
#8 Matthew Mcclelland – A 6-2, 200 pound DB he’s already got 3 interceptions this season, he also leads the team in tackles with 17, he’s got 0.5 TFLs so far as well.
#9 Jihad McCall – Not much in the stat books for him yet this season, however he’s a first team all conference player and had 6 interceptions last year, and he blocked a kick too.
#58 Noah Benza – A speedy D-end that will be a handful. Last year he had 10 TFLs and 4.5 sacks. This season so far he’s got 1.5 sacks and 2.5 TFLs already.
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Keys to a Grizzly victory
- Get better on 3rd down. Seeing the Grizzlies right now are converting less than 30% of their 3rd down attempts is atrocious. The Grizzly offense needs to find far more success this weekend to keep the offense on the field and moving.
- Protect the ball. Morehead is known for forcing turnovers. Regardless if they’ve done it against lesser teams it’s in their DNA. If Montana plays sloppy and loses a few picks or fumbles they’ll be feeding into what Morehead wants to have happen. The Griz need to play a fairly clean game
- Force field goals out of Morehead when they get in the RZ. Their kicking stats suggest a shaky go of it. If they have a few drives that get into the Grizzlies redzone forcing a field goal attempt could lead to a visit or two that comes away with no damage.
- Solid ST coverage. They have a return for a score already, their kick return game is strong too. This seems to be a team that blocks and schemes well on returns. The Grizzly coverage team has done ok this year so far – save one UND return – they could be tested on Saturday.
- I want 200+ rushing from the Grizzly offense, control the trenches, control the clock.
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I’m seeing a bounce back win for Montana, however it may start a little sluggish. Morehead will come in with good confidence, hopefully the Griz and the crowd can take that out of them fast. In a game that might feel a little tense early, I see it stretching out into a bigger Griz win, I’ll say Montana takes the day 48-10.
Go Griz!
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