Apologies on the late report. As some of you know my travel home this week from the year end Realtor convention got pretty twisted up and it threw me off schedule for a bit.
Senior day is here for our Griz and it’s our last guaranteed time to celebrate our senior class. The Griz have some seniors that have been here since covid, and others that just got here this spring/summer. Coming to town is Portland State who, despite a 2 win season, have played some mutual Griz opponents pretty tough. As you recall from last week’s report, PSU really truly did have Davis beat at home, but wound up losing to them on a controversial final TD – the loss was by 1.
PSU this year had to overhaul some of their offense, losing 5 starters there, they returned 8 starters on defense. Their team had 7 transfers this off season. If you pull up their stats they have an odd disconnect. Their offense in most categories is in the bottom 3 or 4 teams. 8th in scoring, 11th in total plays, 9th in TDs scored, 10th in total offense, 5th in rushing, and 9th in passing. However, their QB Dante Chachere is 2nd highest in total offense behind only UCD’s Miles Hasting, he’s 5th best overall in scoring, 3rd best in scoring TDs, and 5th best in total offense yards. Only Tommy Mellot and Miles Hastings have accounted for more TDs than him. He’s the 6th leading rusher in the Big Sky – 5th is Eli Gillman, 7th is Nick Ostmo.
We all know there’s some family ties here in this game. Robby Hauck is coaching for PSU and we’ve got Cooper Barnum as an LB on this team.
Portland State Vikings
30-70 loss @ Washington State: WSU had nearly 650 yards and PSU had about 450. WSU had 49 points at the half, it was an early blowout.
16-43 loss @ Weber State: Weber was up just 16-10 at the half, and 18-10 at the end of the 3rd. But they ripped the lid off in the 4th with 24 points, including a 75 yard TD run. Weber ran for 316 and passed for about 220, they also forced 2 turnovers from PSU.
Cancelled vs South Dakota: Whooping Cough won the day
14-56 loss @ Boise State: When it’s a money game suddenly PSU is healthy again haha. Boise had 610 yards, with 350 of which came running the ball. Boise had almost 10 yards per rush in the game!
30-45 loss @ Chattanooga: Chatty ran for about 170 and passed for just under 400 in the game. PSU on the other side of the field ran for 157 and passed for just over 300. PSU lost two picks in the game. Chatty held onto the ball for 35 min of TOP and was 11 for 13 on third down.
26-27 loss vs UC Davis: A controversial finish! Davis scored on the last play of the game and the Big Sky did not have good cameras to review if the ball actually crossed the plane. In the game Davis had to drive the field, starting at their own 6 with just 1:50 left. Davis with 20 seconds left has a player tackled short of gain with no timeouts, but, Portland picks up a roughing call, stopping the clock at 5 seconds. On the next play a pass gets thrown out of the endzone and the clock hits 0:00 but the refs get together and give Davis 1 more second. On the next play Hastings finds a WR on the goal line, but one video highlight seems to suggest the WR’s feet were in the endzone but the ball was caught around the 1 and then he was shoved out. The refs call TD… go to review, have no good angles, call stands, game over. Davis did earlier block a PSU extra point and in the end, that turned out to be the difference. Davis’s offense came alive in this one, 398 passing, a total of 548 yards of offense, but they had 3 promising drives end in a turnover on downs, a lost fumble, and then one that would wind up in a punt.
42-38 win @ Idaho State: 6 lead changes through the game, PSU and ISU traded a few early scores but then the Bengals would continually go from a 10 point to 3 point lead for a while. PSU, late in the 3rd would score twice – both on 50+ yard TD plays to take the lead. ISU would grab it back, and PSU would score right after. It was shaping up to be a wild scoring 4th quarter. But… it wasn’t. At that point it was 42-38 with 11:34 to go in the game. ISU would go 3 and out, PSU would as well, ISU gets another 3 and out, PSU goes about 40 yards and punts, and ISU then finally puts a late drive together but turns it over on downs at the PSU 36. Both teams went for over 500 yards, PSU had 300 rushing, while ISU had almost 300 passing.
14-44 loss vs Montana State: Cats were up 41-0 before PSU would score. The cats had over 600 yards of offense, 325 rushing and 275 passing. While PSU’s offense was pretty much shut out. 235 total yards of offense and 1 lost pick. I think they had just 3 first downs in the first half.
58-38 win @ Sacramento State: Another game with 6 lead changes but as it went on Sac was unable to keep up with the PSU offense. PSU had just about 300 rushing and 250 passing in the game. Sac was able to pass for 350 but couldn’t rush for much. PSU was 11-15 on 3rd down in the game. Chachere had 4 rushing TDs and 1 passing in this game.
30-39 loss vs Idaho: PSU kept this game close the whole way. They lead just one point, 21-14, but late in the game found themselves closing the gap with two made fieldgoals to get within just 1 point (31-30) with just 5:11 to go in the game. Idaho was able to answer with a TD, and a 2 point conversion. PSU with the ball back, now down 9 with just 1:51 to go would go 4 and out, turnover on downs, and not get the ball back. Idaho had a nice balanced game, about 260 rushing and 210 passing, while PSU had 134 rushing and 180 passing.
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General Stats
Passing yards per game GRIZ (210 for GRIZ vs 195 for PSU)
Rushing yards per game GRIZ (230 for GRIZ vs 185 for PSU)
Total offense GRIZ (440 for GRIZ vs 380 for PSU)
Passing yards allowed per game GRIZ (221 for GRIZ vs 310 for PSU)
Rushing yards allowed per game GRIZ (130 for GRIZ vs 240 for PSU)
Total defense GRIZ (351 for GRIZ vs 550 for PSU)
All 6 go to the Griz here – that PSU defense, yikes.
Offense points scored GRIZ (36.9 for GRIZ vs 26.9 for PSU)
Defense points allowed GRIZ (24.9 for GRIZ vs 44.4 for PSU)
Turnover margin GRIZ (+3 for GRIZ / -2 for PSU)
Field goal % PSU (69% for GRIZ vs 82% for PSU)
Punt Returns GRIZ (15.3 yards for GRIZ vs 11 yards for PSU)
Kick Returns GRIZ (22 yards for GRIZ vs 20 yards for PSU)
T.O.P. GRIZ (30:51 for GRIZ vs 31:01 for PSU)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) GRIZ (55% GRIZ / 79% PSU)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) PSU (72% GRIZ / 77% PSU)
3rd down offense GRIZ – (46.2% for GRIZ / 46% for PSU)
3rd down defense GRIZ – (36.3% allowed for GRIZ vs 52.4% allowed for PSU)
Pretty big sweep again for Montana, the Griz get 9 while PSU adds 2. The totals come out to Montana 15 – PSU 2.
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Portland State Players to Watch:
#15 Dante Chachere, QB – As previously hinted, this guy is the everything in the PSU offense. He leads the team with 637 rushing yards and 12 rushing TDs. As a QB he’s got an average of 181 passing yards, he’s got 12 TDs passing and 4 INTs
#24 Delon Thompson, RB – he’s 2nd leading in rushing on the team with 534 yards on the ground and 5 rushing TDs. He’s also got about 100 receiving yards.
#2 Brandon Alvarez, WR – a 5-11 WR, he’s tops on the team in receptions (34), yards (453), and TDs (5). Looks like we could see him return a few punts as well.
#8 Michael Montgomery, LB – PSU’s lone first team all conference player, a 6-3, 235 pound linebacker, he’s 2nd best on the team with 72 tackles, he’s got 3 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, and a team high 4 pass break ups.
#5 Tyrese Shakir, S – Seems we’ve seen this dude for years, a senior at safety he’s 3rd best on the team with 47 tackles, and he’s got 1 INT – which is technically tied for first.
#7 Peyton Wing, LB – Wing leads the team in tackles, he’s got 79, and has a team high 7 TFLs. He’s got 1 sack this season and 2 QB hits.
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Keys to a Grizzly victory
I’m worried that Chachere is going to give the Griz major fits. This could be somewhat of a tune-up for the cat game, managing a mobile QB, so some good reps here. I’m worried where this team’s headspace is. If they’re checked out and having issues then this one could be closer and more tense than it should be. If they’re locking in they should put this one away easily.
I’ll land somewhere inbetween and say Griz win it 31-21. (revising my prediction from the GFP)
Go Griz!
Senior day is here for our Griz and it’s our last guaranteed time to celebrate our senior class. The Griz have some seniors that have been here since covid, and others that just got here this spring/summer. Coming to town is Portland State who, despite a 2 win season, have played some mutual Griz opponents pretty tough. As you recall from last week’s report, PSU really truly did have Davis beat at home, but wound up losing to them on a controversial final TD – the loss was by 1.
PSU this year had to overhaul some of their offense, losing 5 starters there, they returned 8 starters on defense. Their team had 7 transfers this off season. If you pull up their stats they have an odd disconnect. Their offense in most categories is in the bottom 3 or 4 teams. 8th in scoring, 11th in total plays, 9th in TDs scored, 10th in total offense, 5th in rushing, and 9th in passing. However, their QB Dante Chachere is 2nd highest in total offense behind only UCD’s Miles Hasting, he’s 5th best overall in scoring, 3rd best in scoring TDs, and 5th best in total offense yards. Only Tommy Mellot and Miles Hastings have accounted for more TDs than him. He’s the 6th leading rusher in the Big Sky – 5th is Eli Gillman, 7th is Nick Ostmo.
We all know there’s some family ties here in this game. Robby Hauck is coaching for PSU and we’ve got Cooper Barnum as an LB on this team.
Portland State Vikings
30-70 loss @ Washington State: WSU had nearly 650 yards and PSU had about 450. WSU had 49 points at the half, it was an early blowout.
16-43 loss @ Weber State: Weber was up just 16-10 at the half, and 18-10 at the end of the 3rd. But they ripped the lid off in the 4th with 24 points, including a 75 yard TD run. Weber ran for 316 and passed for about 220, they also forced 2 turnovers from PSU.
Cancelled vs South Dakota: Whooping Cough won the day
14-56 loss @ Boise State: When it’s a money game suddenly PSU is healthy again haha. Boise had 610 yards, with 350 of which came running the ball. Boise had almost 10 yards per rush in the game!
30-45 loss @ Chattanooga: Chatty ran for about 170 and passed for just under 400 in the game. PSU on the other side of the field ran for 157 and passed for just over 300. PSU lost two picks in the game. Chatty held onto the ball for 35 min of TOP and was 11 for 13 on third down.
26-27 loss vs UC Davis: A controversial finish! Davis scored on the last play of the game and the Big Sky did not have good cameras to review if the ball actually crossed the plane. In the game Davis had to drive the field, starting at their own 6 with just 1:50 left. Davis with 20 seconds left has a player tackled short of gain with no timeouts, but, Portland picks up a roughing call, stopping the clock at 5 seconds. On the next play a pass gets thrown out of the endzone and the clock hits 0:00 but the refs get together and give Davis 1 more second. On the next play Hastings finds a WR on the goal line, but one video highlight seems to suggest the WR’s feet were in the endzone but the ball was caught around the 1 and then he was shoved out. The refs call TD… go to review, have no good angles, call stands, game over. Davis did earlier block a PSU extra point and in the end, that turned out to be the difference. Davis’s offense came alive in this one, 398 passing, a total of 548 yards of offense, but they had 3 promising drives end in a turnover on downs, a lost fumble, and then one that would wind up in a punt.
42-38 win @ Idaho State: 6 lead changes through the game, PSU and ISU traded a few early scores but then the Bengals would continually go from a 10 point to 3 point lead for a while. PSU, late in the 3rd would score twice – both on 50+ yard TD plays to take the lead. ISU would grab it back, and PSU would score right after. It was shaping up to be a wild scoring 4th quarter. But… it wasn’t. At that point it was 42-38 with 11:34 to go in the game. ISU would go 3 and out, PSU would as well, ISU gets another 3 and out, PSU goes about 40 yards and punts, and ISU then finally puts a late drive together but turns it over on downs at the PSU 36. Both teams went for over 500 yards, PSU had 300 rushing, while ISU had almost 300 passing.
14-44 loss vs Montana State: Cats were up 41-0 before PSU would score. The cats had over 600 yards of offense, 325 rushing and 275 passing. While PSU’s offense was pretty much shut out. 235 total yards of offense and 1 lost pick. I think they had just 3 first downs in the first half.
58-38 win @ Sacramento State: Another game with 6 lead changes but as it went on Sac was unable to keep up with the PSU offense. PSU had just about 300 rushing and 250 passing in the game. Sac was able to pass for 350 but couldn’t rush for much. PSU was 11-15 on 3rd down in the game. Chachere had 4 rushing TDs and 1 passing in this game.
30-39 loss vs Idaho: PSU kept this game close the whole way. They lead just one point, 21-14, but late in the game found themselves closing the gap with two made fieldgoals to get within just 1 point (31-30) with just 5:11 to go in the game. Idaho was able to answer with a TD, and a 2 point conversion. PSU with the ball back, now down 9 with just 1:51 to go would go 4 and out, turnover on downs, and not get the ball back. Idaho had a nice balanced game, about 260 rushing and 210 passing, while PSU had 134 rushing and 180 passing.
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General Stats
Passing yards per game GRIZ (210 for GRIZ vs 195 for PSU)
Rushing yards per game GRIZ (230 for GRIZ vs 185 for PSU)
Total offense GRIZ (440 for GRIZ vs 380 for PSU)
Passing yards allowed per game GRIZ (221 for GRIZ vs 310 for PSU)
Rushing yards allowed per game GRIZ (130 for GRIZ vs 240 for PSU)
Total defense GRIZ (351 for GRIZ vs 550 for PSU)
All 6 go to the Griz here – that PSU defense, yikes.
Offense points scored GRIZ (36.9 for GRIZ vs 26.9 for PSU)
Defense points allowed GRIZ (24.9 for GRIZ vs 44.4 for PSU)
Turnover margin GRIZ (+3 for GRIZ / -2 for PSU)
Field goal % PSU (69% for GRIZ vs 82% for PSU)
Punt Returns GRIZ (15.3 yards for GRIZ vs 11 yards for PSU)
Kick Returns GRIZ (22 yards for GRIZ vs 20 yards for PSU)
T.O.P. GRIZ (30:51 for GRIZ vs 31:01 for PSU)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) GRIZ (55% GRIZ / 79% PSU)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) PSU (72% GRIZ / 77% PSU)
3rd down offense GRIZ – (46.2% for GRIZ / 46% for PSU)
3rd down defense GRIZ – (36.3% allowed for GRIZ vs 52.4% allowed for PSU)
Pretty big sweep again for Montana, the Griz get 9 while PSU adds 2. The totals come out to Montana 15 – PSU 2.
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Portland State Players to Watch:
#15 Dante Chachere, QB – As previously hinted, this guy is the everything in the PSU offense. He leads the team with 637 rushing yards and 12 rushing TDs. As a QB he’s got an average of 181 passing yards, he’s got 12 TDs passing and 4 INTs
#24 Delon Thompson, RB – he’s 2nd leading in rushing on the team with 534 yards on the ground and 5 rushing TDs. He’s also got about 100 receiving yards.
#2 Brandon Alvarez, WR – a 5-11 WR, he’s tops on the team in receptions (34), yards (453), and TDs (5). Looks like we could see him return a few punts as well.
#8 Michael Montgomery, LB – PSU’s lone first team all conference player, a 6-3, 235 pound linebacker, he’s 2nd best on the team with 72 tackles, he’s got 3 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, and a team high 4 pass break ups.
#5 Tyrese Shakir, S – Seems we’ve seen this dude for years, a senior at safety he’s 3rd best on the team with 47 tackles, and he’s got 1 INT – which is technically tied for first.
#7 Peyton Wing, LB – Wing leads the team in tackles, he’s got 79, and has a team high 7 TFLs. He’s got 1 sack this season and 2 QB hits.
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Keys to a Grizzly victory
- Reestablish the line of scrimmage and get back to running the ball well. The Griz OL needs to find some momentum again and this soft PSU defense could be just the group to do that.
- Keep Chachere under wraps. He’s their whole offense. He’ll break loose on broken plays, run outside zone, and some RPO mix as well. He’s going to be a handful. Don’t let him go off.
- Find some continuity in the passing game. PSU’s pass defense seems to be especially poor this year. If the ongoing concerns of having a split QB system are getting louder then this could be a game to lock in a guy ahead of the brawl.
- The Grizzly offense cannot fall into turnover hell again and have a negative margin.
- All gas, no brakes. This PSU offense has shown it can score a lot in some games. The Grizzlies cannot get complacent in this game
I’m worried that Chachere is going to give the Griz major fits. This could be somewhat of a tune-up for the cat game, managing a mobile QB, so some good reps here. I’m worried where this team’s headspace is. If they’re checked out and having issues then this one could be closer and more tense than it should be. If they’re locking in they should put this one away easily.
I’ll land somewhere inbetween and say Griz win it 31-21. (revising my prediction from the GFP)
Go Griz!
