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Nice Win; Griz Looked Good

mthoopsfan

Well-known member
From start to finish, the Griz played well and looked good. I hate giving up late and unnecessary TD's, but at least the Griz took control and stayed in control, even if they couldn't quite put Idaho away.

The Idaho QB is slippery and obviously can and did extend plays. Good for him, but that wasn't close to enough. The UM D stopped the Idaho running backs and the QB was off on many of his passes until later in the game when the Griz D loosened up and let the QB run around too much.

Gillman was truly a beast. He ran so hard and so well. He finally got his 27 carries and was the main running back the whole game. He covers up the ball nicely. Some elements of old school. He's the current leader for conference MVP, and if he keeps this up and the Griz keep winning, he will be in the running for the Payton. A long way and long time to go, though.

The D played well. I think the frosh corner fell on the long pass play going south in the 3d quarter, to no. 89. Griz put alot of pressure on the QB most of time, but couldn't get the sack, except once. Peck had several very nice players. The tackling was very good. The team got to the ball fast, except the QB when he was moving around at times, tackled well, hit hard, and made plays. There were some great, and noticeable, tackles/plays on the edge by the secondary. The D hustles and plays hard. So does the O.

Ah Yat looked good, the whole way. He's throwing well. Seeming to make good decisions. Can run. And is taking care of the ball. I can now see why the coaches have been high on him all along. He was sacked twice, for very short losses.

Too bad on Loud. Hopefully it's not really bad, like surgery. He's a terrific player. The secondary and the corners played well tonight. It's tough to cover receivers for 7 or 8 seconds.

UM gave up 3 2-pt conversions.

22 FD's for UM, to 15 for Idaho.

Idaho averaged 3.2 per rush. UM averaged 4.3. Gillman 5.3, with 2 TD's.

Wortham played well. Great catch in the end zone. Deck and played well too. I didn't see Bohanan suited up. No catches by our TE's.

Our kicker/punter/KO guy, Morrison, is terrific.

In real time, I didn't like either of the big PI calls against the Griz, especially the last one on the Idaho sideline going north. I would have called that one offensive PI, if anything. Haven't seen a replay.

Idaho rushed only for 108. Brint's scouting report says Idaho was averaging 203.

Did anyone see the Wing targeting?

Griz are 4-0 for first time since 2022.

Attendance: 27025.

Bobby said the Griz haven't played their best football yet, and really "not even close" to best.

The quote I posted earlier in Brint's thread was prophetic. It wasn't my quote.

"This week should be an amazing game. Yes, we are very talented this season, we just need to play as one, as well as not be asleep in the first half. Need to come out swinging."
 
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Oline play was much improved - both on the run and pass. Great to see the Oline bring it and gel. Special teams play and tackling was fantastic! Defense, except for the long passes and tackling in the second half, played well.
 
Looking at the first TD run by Woods, the rushers did not stay connected with one another and created too much open space at the line of scrimmage for Woods to run through. Once he made it through the first level, it was an easy run to the end zone.
 
“In a playoff-like atmosphere that was nationally televised on ESPN 2, the UM faithful packed Washington-Grizzly Stadium with 27,025 fans to see the win – the second largest crowd in program history. It kept up Montana’s trend of sold-out shows this season, with now four of the top 16 highest attended games occurring this season.”

“This was a really complete win for us over a team who was ranked in the top 10. I thought going into the game we might be able to do this to them. I’m excited about where our team is right now,” said head coach Bobby Hauck.

“They couldn't handle us in the kicking game, the defense was special for three quarters, and we beat them up physically. I thought we had great balance tonight offensively and I thought the guys did a good job moving the chains and making plays when they had to.”

 
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A struggling Idaho offense

The Vandal offense had trouble moving the ball for most of the game. The short and intermediate routes that Ford and offensive coordinator Matt Linehan enjoy so much that they call them “layups” and the “engine of the offense” were not present in this contest. Ford said that the Grizzlies were simply forcing the Vandals to take deeper passes, essentially eliminating the layups. “When they’re playing press man, you can’t take layups,” Ford said. “They’re forcing it into deeper passes with conversions and things like that. But again, that’s part of the process. They do a good job here on defense, and I think they tried to take those layups away from us, and so we had to look elsewhere.” Missing both starting running backs, senior Elisha Cummings and sophomore Art Williams, is not something that went unnoticed. Idaho relies on the run to unlock the rest of its offense and senior running back Nate Thomas was stuffed a multitude of times. Thomas finished with 19 carries for 70 yards and no scores, averaging just 3.7 yards per carry. The first half was the biggest struggle for the offense. Sophomore quarterback Joshua Wood threw 5-for-14 for 35 yards through the end of the first half. But Wood did come alive more in the second half. He finished the game 14-for-28 for 262 yards and no passing TDs. He ran the ball 10 times for 32 yards and three touchdowns.
Late in the third quarter, Wood threw for two explosive plays that flipped the field for the Vandals. Wood scrambled outside the pocket to the right and hit freshman receiver Ryan Jezioro on a deep route for a 62-yard gain. And then a similar play happened, with Wood scrambling to his right and then hitting sophomore receiver Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar for a gain of 47 yards late in the third quarter. Idaho also converted on three 2-point conversions, but it was not enough to overcome the Grizzlies’ strong offensive presence.”
 
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A struggling Idaho offense

The Vandal offense had trouble moving the ball for most of the game. The short and intermediate routes that Ford and offensive coordinator Matt Linehan enjoy so much that they call them “layups” and the “engine of the offense” were not present in this contest. Ford said that the Grizzlies were simply forcing the Vandals to take deeper passes, essentially eliminating the layups. “When they’re playing press man, you can’t take layups,” Ford said. “They’re forcing it into deeper passes with conversions and things like that. But again, that’s part of the process. They do a good job here on defense, and I think they tried to take those layups away from us, and so we had to look elsewhere.” Missing both starting running backs, senior Elisha Cummings and sophomore Art Williams, is not something that went unnoticed. Idaho relies on the run to unlock the rest of its offense and senior running back Nate Thomas was stuffed a multitude of times. Thomas finished with 19 carries for 70 yards and no scores, averaging just 3.7 yards per carry. The first half was the biggest struggle for the offense. Sophomore quarterback Joshua Wood threw 5-for-14 for 35 yards through the end of the first half. But Wood did come alive more in the second half. He finished the game 14-for-28 for 262 yards and no passing TDs. He ran the ball 10 times for 32 yards and three touchdowns.
Late in the third quarter, Wood threw for two explosive plays that flipped the field for the Vandals. Wood scrambled outside the pocket to the right and hit freshman receiver Ryan Jezioro on a deep route for a 62-yard gain. And then a similar play happened, with Wood scrambling to his right and then hitting sophomore receiver Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar for a gain of 47 yards late in the third quarter. Idaho also converted on three 2-point conversions, but it was not enough to overcome the Grizzlies’ strong offensive presence.”
Thanks Hoops for finding and posting this.

The Spuds seem to have several underclassmen playing on offense. They will be tough next season if they stay.
 
Idaho was a disciplined football team. I don’t think they had a single false start in the game. I was amazed they handled the noise so well.
I was absolutely amazed with how composed Idaho was with the environment, because the crowd last night was chaotically loud. There was 100% at least one false start in the last 20 seconds I think that the officials threw a flag for but Idaho was saved by Montana calling a timeout right before the snap.

Mightily impressed with how they handled the noise.
 
Idaho was a disciplined football team. I don’t think they had a single false start in the game. I was amazed they handled the noise so well.
Disciplined except when they weren’t. Resorting to extracurriculars and feigning injuries when you can’t execute on defense probably isn’t a trait of a well disciplined team. Also has anyone ever seen a receiver flop like a fish for an entire game, or such an unhinged WR coach on the sideline.
 
From start to finish, the Griz played well and looked good. I hate giving up late and unnecessary TD's, but at least the Griz took control and stayed in control, even if they couldn't quite put Idaho away.

The Idaho QB is slippery and obviously can and did extend plays. Good for him, but that wasn't close to enough. The UM D stopped the Idaho running backs and the QB was off on many of his passes until later in the game when the Griz D loosened up and let the QB run around too much.

Gillman was truly a beast. He ran so hard and so well. He finally got his 27 carries and was the main running back the whole game. He covers up the ball nicely. Some elements of old school. He's the current leader for conference MVP, and if he keeps this up and the Griz keep winning, he will be in the running for the Payton. A long way and long time to go, though.

The D played well. I think the frosh corner fell on the long pass play going south in the 3d quarter, to no. 89. Griz put alot of pressure on the QB most of time, but couldn't get the sack, except once. Peck had several very nice players. The tackling was very good. The team got to the ball fast, except the QB when he was moving around at times, tackled well, hit hard, and made plays. There were some great, and noticeable, tackles/plays on the edge by the secondary. The D hustles and plays hard. So does the O.

Ah Yat looked good, the whole way. He's throwing well. Seeming to make good decisions. Can run. And is taking care of the ball. I can now see why the coaches have been high on him all along. He was sacked twice, for very short losses.

Too bad on Loud. Hopefully it's not really bad, like surgery. He's a terrific player. The secondary and the corners played well tonight. It's tough to cover receivers for 7 or 8 seconds.

UM gave up 3 2-pt conversions.

22 FD's for UM, to 15 for Idaho.

Idaho averaged 3.2 per rush. UM averaged 4.3. Gillman 5.3, with 2 TD's.

Wortham played well. Great catch in the end zone. Deck and played well too. I didn't see Bohanan suited up. No catches by our TE's.

Our kicker/punter/KO guy, Morrison, is terrific.

In real time, I didn't like either of the big PI calls against the Griz, especially the last one on the Idaho sideline going north. I would have called that one offensive PI, if anything. Haven't seen a replay.

Idaho rushed only for 108. Brint's scouting report says Idaho was averaging 203.

Did anyone see the Wing targeting?

Griz are 4-0 for first time since 2022.

Attendance: 27025.

Bobby said the Griz haven't played their best football yet, and really "not even close" to best.

The quote I posted earlier in Brint's thread was prophetic. It wasn't my quote.

"This week should be an amazing game. Yes, we are very talented this season, we just need to play as one, as well as not be asleep in the first half. Need to come out swinging."

Was Wing called for targeting and ejected?

TV went to commercial. Upon their return there was a comment about targeting but no explanation or replay of anything. Though it appeared the ball had been advanced for Idaho. Presumably someone was penalized for it
 
Was Wing called for targeting and ejected?

TV went to commercial. Upon their return there was a comment about targeting but no explanation or replay of anything. Though it appeared the ball had been advanced for Idaho. Presumably someone was penalized for it
Yes.
 
Thanks Hoops for finding and posting this.

The Spuds seem to have several underclassmen playing on offense. They will be tough next season if they stay.
I clipped it out of PGM's Pullman article thread. That was a good and substantive article.
 
Disciplined except when they weren’t. Resorting to extracurriculars and feigning injuries when you can’t execute on defense probably isn’t a trait of a well disciplined team. Also has anyone ever seen a receiver flop like a fish for an entire game, or such an unhinged WR coach on the sideline.

One might have thought it was Petrino coaching on the sidelines again 😂
 
Wortham played well. Great catch in the end zone. Deck and played well too. I didn't see Bohanan suited up. No catches by our TE's.
I looked for Bohanan dressed out on the sideline and could not find him. Thought I saw him in street clothes, but I very well could be mistaken there. Also, thought I saw Jake Mason in street clothes too, but again, could be wrong.

This was Gurnsey’s first game “back” but I don’t think he got in.
 
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