Post Game: 4-1

[kemajic]

This was a game every Griz fan could dream about. Not a lot went wrong. In the real world, however, stuff does go wrong. This is one data point about how good we are. But there are other data points to the eventual graph. There will adversity coming up and we should not be so foolish to think every outcome will be as positive as Saturday's. Whether a letdown or just reality adjustment, I am cautious moving forward. Not yet sure we are as good as we showed Saturday. ISU game will be a good gander at that.

I love where we are at; let's just not get ahead of ourselves.

In other words, what do we really know about the Griz? Lol

Your words, not mine.

 

[Yukon]

https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizFB/status/1178382729122988033?s=20

 

[BWahlberg]

https://twitter.com/MontanaGrizFB/status/1178382729122988033?s=20

Dude totally deserves it!

 

[AZGrizFan]

But somehow he won’t win BSC Offensive POW....

 

[PlayerRep]

This was a game every Griz fan could dream about. Not a lot went wrong. In the real world, however, stuff does go wrong. This is one data point about how good we are. But there are other data points to the eventual graph. There will adversity coming up and we should not be so foolish to think every outcome will be as positive as Saturday's. Whether a letdown or just reality adjustment, I am cautious moving forward. Not yet sure we are as good as we showed Saturday. ISU game will be a good gander at that.

I love where we are at; let's just not get ahead of ourselves.

In other words, what do we really know about the Griz? Lol

Actually, we, or at least knowledge football fans, know alot. Those things have been mentioned in various threads in the past several weeks. The net results are that the Griz are good at this point, Sneed is great, the o-line is much improved, the rb situation is good and there is at least some running game, the team has shown it can finish games and play well or well enough in the 4th quarter, the team has nice depth, and the team has confirmed that it plays very hard, is physical, and has huge desire (probably huge heart too). Can they continue and improve? I assume so, but that remains to be seen. Admitting that we can't tell where the Griz will end up is not saying "we don't really know abut the Griz".

Also, most expected strengths have proven to have turned out to be true.

 

[AZGrizFan]

This was a game every Griz fan could dream about. Not a lot went wrong. In the real world, however, stuff does go wrong. This is one data point about how good we are. But there are other data points to the eventual graph. There will adversity coming up and we should not be so foolish to think every outcome will be as positive as Saturday's. Whether a letdown or just reality adjustment, I am cautious moving forward. Not yet sure we are as good as we showed Saturday. ISU game will be a good gander at that.

I love where we are at; let's just not get ahead of ourselves.

In other words, what do we really know about the Griz? Lol

Actually, we, or at least knowledge football fans, know alot. Those things have been mentioned in various threads in the past several weeks. The net results are that the Griz are good at this point, Sneed is great, the o-line is much improved, the rb situation is good and there is at least some running game, the team has shown it can finish games and play well or well enough in the 4th quarter, the team has nice depth, and the team has confirmed that it plays very hard, is physical, and has huge desire (probably huge heart too). Can they continue and improve? I assume so, but that remains to be seen. Admitting that we can't tell where the Griz will end up is not saying "we don't really know abut the Griz".

Also, most expected strengths have proven to have turned out to be true.

I realize you’re in Japan...but it was a joke, bro. Just a joke. :thumb:

 

[Bear Spray]

In probably the biggest win of Bobby Hauck's second tenure with the Grizzlies we saw a very convincing road win against the #4 team in the FCS. Davis was the pre-season top choice, with the pre-season MVP and the reigning coach of the year. They were at home and school had just started up against for UCD so they were hoping for a rowdy crowd to help push them past the Griz. Going off last year UCD knew the Griz could fight, but assumed they couldn't fight for long. Based on some of the pundits the belief was that the Griz weren't proven yet because they'd faced terrible defenses overall. The Griz had just come off a sloppy win against Monmouth and it was looking like an uphill battle for a team where the line in favor of UCD got a little bigger as the week went on.

Instead what they faced was a team that's dramatically moved forward. The Griz were far more physical than they were the year before and it showed. The Griz were balanced, continually attacked downfield, made UCD earn every yard, and were unphased by anything that came their way. And what came from it was a huge Griz win where they absolutely blew the doors off UCD to the point where Davis benched their MVP quarterback with over 8:00 to go in the game and all but waived the white flag.

Some thoughts:

- This was Dalton Sneed's best game as a Griz. He has other games with better stats but this game by far was his best overall showing. Almost 270 passing, 81 rushing, 5 passing TDs, no turnovers. UCD clearly did not prepare enough for Sneed as a runner, a little too much emphasis on this year's film and forgetting what he did last year, and let him beat them with his feet and his arm. Sneed's passes, especially his TD passes, were dimes. His 2 TDs to JLM were incredible. His connection to Deming to stretch a key drive in the 4th and end and UCD comeback hopes was a perfectly thrown ball that was either a Griz catch or an incomplete. If there was a game to point at for an MVP resume for Dalton, so far, this is it.

- This was also the best game of the O-lines to date as well. No sacks on Sneed and a whopping 6 yards per carry average allowed. This OL is getting good much quicker than many would expect. They'll have bigger challenges down the road but today was a great showing by these guys.

- The defense did it's job. I don't think this group is world beaters but I think many of us knew they were better overall than they'd showed statistically. Today I think we got a good dose of what this defense can do to help. Force 3 turnovers, force a few punts, make the opposing team really earn their yards, and leave the opposing offense bruised and battered. Mission accomplished today. There's still some concerns on pass defense, but I think overall we saw some great stuff from these guys today.

- I think we have a game-breaking pass rusher in the making. Through 5 games Patrick O'Connell has 3 sacks. Last year our highest total on the season was Dante with 6. O'Connell is getting better each week it seems, today he went from flashing a few big plays to being a threat quite a bit. 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 other QB hit, 1 TFL.

- Dante's pick was a thing of beauty. Bummer the offense lost the following possession on a fumble.

- Frustrated with Davis's first TD drive, honestly. Yes the Griz previously benefited from a missed PI call but that drive had a 4th and short appear to be stopped, marked and called a first without a review, despite a timeout. Then a really marginal PI on roughing the punter.

- At the half, here's what I liked the best. The Griz lead wasn't a fluke. It wasn't some dumb luck or odd plays that got them there. Davis didn't have a lot of near misses either. In prior years halftime leads against tough opponents were attained by what felt like a lot of luck. Today's was by solid and physical execution.

- Another solid game on the ground. Yeah Knight lost a fumble, and paid the price by missing a series. Ostmo provided a great mix too, Turner had a late good run, and Sneed worked some magic on plays where he had no options and on some others with clearly designed runs for him.

- Sneed taking a free play and turning it into an Akem TD was a thing of beauty. That's what you see from top tier QBs and NFL teams. The ability to recognize and attack the Davis mis-cues impressed me.

- Speaking of mis-cues, Davis had 9 penalties for 73 yards and as we all recall, many negated first downs. Ouch.

- Griz were great again on 3rd down offensively 7-13, just about 54%. Unfortunately this time they weren't as proficient defensively on 3rd, Davis was 10-19, about 53% for them.

- Kind of an up/down game for some of the WRs. JLM, Toure, and I believe also Deming had a drop or two that weren't great. They each also had some incredible catches and plays too. It's wild to think the offense could have shown even more if a few of these drops didn't happen.

- Over 31:00 of TOP in the game including almost 10:00 in the 4th. Any hope Davis had to mount a comeback was wiped out because the Griz offense wouldn't let them get the ball back quickly. The Griz only had one 3 and out that ended with a punt, their first possession.

- I still really want to see the Griz bringing Sulser up on kickoffs. UCD popped a few up to negate Flowers that lead to fair catches. Missed opportunity there I think.

- Great heads up play by Marcus Welnel to let UCD's onsides attempt harmlessly bounce out of bounds

- 6 targets today with multiple catches. This offense is great about how they spread out their attack. JLM's two TD catches were unreal. Akem's was just his sheer skill and ability once the catch was made. Toure's was awesome too. Deming made a hell of a grab on a pass slightly behind him. Hard to not love this group.

- Maier's fumble, with guys running right at him, he'd had enough. The physical play of this defense had worn him down. It's been quite some time where I've seen a Griz team play to this level that lead to such errors. Maier is the supposed MVP of this conference and was done with it over halfway through the game.

- Awesome afternoon from some of the usual suspects. A big day for Jace Lewis with 13 tackles, another double-digit day for Robby, and some solid/key play by Olson and Sandry too.

--------------

What a huge, momentum gaining win for Montana. There's a lot of season in front of them still but it's hard not to be optimistic about where they're headed. So far, by the account of many fans posting on here, the Griz have won 2 games that many assumed they might not, South Dakota and UC Davis. They're ahead of where they should be now and can hopefully keep riding this wave. I'm hoping there's a great crowd for the homecoming game as these guys deserve one hell of a welcome after this win.

Go Griz!

great write-up, dude. gonna be in trouble if Sneed gets hurt. also its "waved" not "waived."

Good analysis. Spot on. With all the 'concern' for MSU's situation, what makes you think you're not one hit away from a season disaster? Not wishing it - far from it. I've posted in the past that I want to see the very best of both teams injury-wise for our game - but posters on this site are all over MSU for playing 6 different qbs each game - even though that offense has scored in the high 40's 2 weeks running. Sneed's a stud, throws accurately, and runs when the opportunity arrises. So.....what makes you think you're not a hit on a running qb away from trouble?

 

[AZGrizFan]

In probably the biggest win of Bobby Hauck's second tenure with the Grizzlies we saw a very convincing road win against the #4 team in the FCS. Davis was the pre-season top choice, with the pre-season MVP and the reigning coach of the year. They were at home and school had just started up against for UCD so they were hoping for a rowdy crowd to help push them past the Griz. Going off last year UCD knew the Griz could fight, but assumed they couldn't fight for long. Based on some of the pundits the belief was that the Griz weren't proven yet because they'd faced terrible defenses overall. The Griz had just come off a sloppy win against Monmouth and it was looking like an uphill battle for a team where the line in favor of UCD got a little bigger as the week went on.

Instead what they faced was a team that's dramatically moved forward. The Griz were far more physical than they were the year before and it showed. The Griz were balanced, continually attacked downfield, made UCD earn every yard, and were unphased by anything that came their way. And what came from it was a huge Griz win where they absolutely blew the doors off UCD to the point where Davis benched their MVP quarterback with over 8:00 to go in the game and all but waived the white flag.

Some thoughts:

- This was Dalton Sneed's best game as a Griz. He has other games with better stats but this game by far was his best overall showing. Almost 270 passing, 81 rushing, 5 passing TDs, no turnovers. UCD clearly did not prepare enough for Sneed as a runner, a little too much emphasis on this year's film and forgetting what he did last year, and let him beat them with his feet and his arm. Sneed's passes, especially his TD passes, were dimes. His 2 TDs to JLM were incredible. His connection to Deming to stretch a key drive in the 4th and end and UCD comeback hopes was a perfectly thrown ball that was either a Griz catch or an incomplete. If there was a game to point at for an MVP resume for Dalton, so far, this is it.

- This was also the best game of the O-lines to date as well. No sacks on Sneed and a whopping 6 yards per carry average allowed. This OL is getting good much quicker than many would expect. They'll have bigger challenges down the road but today was a great showing by these guys.

- The defense did it's job. I don't think this group is world beaters but I think many of us knew they were better overall than they'd showed statistically. Today I think we got a good dose of what this defense can do to help. Force 3 turnovers, force a few punts, make the opposing team really earn their yards, and leave the opposing offense bruised and battered. Mission accomplished today. There's still some concerns on pass defense, but I think overall we saw some great stuff from these guys today.

- I think we have a game-breaking pass rusher in the making. Through 5 games Patrick O'Connell has 3 sacks. Last year our highest total on the season was Dante with 6. O'Connell is getting better each week it seems, today he went from flashing a few big plays to being a threat quite a bit. 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 other QB hit, 1 TFL.

- Dante's pick was a thing of beauty. Bummer the offense lost the following possession on a fumble.

- Frustrated with Davis's first TD drive, honestly. Yes the Griz previously benefited from a missed PI call but that drive had a 4th and short appear to be stopped, marked and called a first without a review, despite a timeout. Then a really marginal PI on roughing the punter.

- At the half, here's what I liked the best. The Griz lead wasn't a fluke. It wasn't some dumb luck or odd plays that got them there. Davis didn't have a lot of near misses either. In prior years halftime leads against tough opponents were attained by what felt like a lot of luck. Today's was by solid and physical execution.

- Another solid game on the ground. Yeah Knight lost a fumble, and paid the price by missing a series. Ostmo provided a great mix too, Turner had a late good run, and Sneed worked some magic on plays where he had no options and on some others with clearly designed runs for him.

- Sneed taking a free play and turning it into an Akem TD was a thing of beauty. That's what you see from top tier QBs and NFL teams. The ability to recognize and attack the Davis mis-cues impressed me.

- Speaking of mis-cues, Davis had 9 penalties for 73 yards and as we all recall, many negated first downs. Ouch.

- Griz were great again on 3rd down offensively 7-13, just about 54%. Unfortunately this time they weren't as proficient defensively on 3rd, Davis was 10-19, about 53% for them.

- Kind of an up/down game for some of the WRs. JLM, Toure, and I believe also Deming had a drop or two that weren't great. They each also had some incredible catches and plays too. It's wild to think the offense could have shown even more if a few of these drops didn't happen.

- Over 31:00 of TOP in the game including almost 10:00 in the 4th. Any hope Davis had to mount a comeback was wiped out because the Griz offense wouldn't let them get the ball back quickly. The Griz only had one 3 and out that ended with a punt, their first possession.

- I still really want to see the Griz bringing Sulser up on kickoffs. UCD popped a few up to negate Flowers that lead to fair catches. Missed opportunity there I think.

- Great heads up play by Marcus Welnel to let UCD's onsides attempt harmlessly bounce out of bounds

- 6 targets today with multiple catches. This offense is great about how they spread out their attack. JLM's two TD catches were unreal. Akem's was just his sheer skill and ability once the catch was made. Toure's was awesome too. Deming made a hell of a grab on a pass slightly behind him. Hard to not love this group.

- Maier's fumble, with guys running right at him, he'd had enough. The physical play of this defense had worn him down. It's been quite some time where I've seen a Griz team play to this level that lead to such errors. Maier is the supposed MVP of this conference and was done with it over halfway through the game.

- Awesome afternoon from some of the usual suspects. A big day for Jace Lewis with 13 tackles, another double-digit day for Robby, and some solid/key play by Olson and Sandry too.

--------------

What a huge, momentum gaining win for Montana. There's a lot of season in front of them still but it's hard not to be optimistic about where they're headed. So far, by the account of many fans posting on here, the Griz have won 2 games that many assumed they might not, South Dakota and UC Davis. They're ahead of where they should be now and can hopefully keep riding this wave. I'm hoping there's a great crowd for the homecoming game as these guys deserve one hell of a welcome after this win.

Go Griz!

great write-up, dude. gonna be in trouble if Sneed gets hurt. also its "waved" not "waived."

Good analysis. Spot on. With all the 'concern' for MSU's situation, what makes you think you're not one hit away from a season disaster? Not wishing it - far from it. I've posted in the past that I want to see the very best of both teams injury-wise for our game - but posters on this site are all over MSU for playing 6 different qbs each game - even though that offense has scored in the high 40's 2 weeks running. Sneed's a stud, throws accurately, and runs when the opportunity arrises. So.....what makes you think you're not a hit on a running qb away from trouble?

That Choach....crazy like a fox, right?

 

[Grizzoola]

Sneed invites injury by diving headfirst to finish his runs. I hope some coach gets to him & tells him to slide. He has to remember he's the QB, not an RB.

 

[hm.grwn.grizfan]

If you only count the fcs games Montana is scoring 46 points a game while only allowing 20. If they keep playing like this I like our odds of getting to the post season. Still a long ways to go. Hard to not have a little ptsd with this team though since we’ve been here so many times before in the recent past. I want to see a Griz team finish again. Been a while since we’ve seen that.

 

[Buttegrizzle]

Re the Cat poster who wonders how the Griz would fare should Sneed be injured? Far better my feline friend, than the Cats will ever be this year. You see, Cam Humphrey is eminently qualified to run the offense. Sneed is the man and without him we would be less effective for sure, so to answer your question:
with Sneed, Griz 45 Bobcats 10
With Humphrey, Griz 32, Bobcats 21
See how that works?

 

[kemajic]

Sneed has now played 16 games and missed no time. He has taken serious hits and exhibited enormous toughness. There is nothing fragile about him like there is about many QBs. He is a stud. The probability of the one hit destroying his season is lower than with any other QB I can think of. He is not overplaying his running ability like he had to do last year.

 

[PlayerRep]

This was a game every Griz fan could dream about. Not a lot went wrong. In the real world, however, stuff does go wrong. This is one data point about how good we are. But there are other data points to the eventual graph. There will adversity coming up and we should not be so foolish to think every outcome will be as positive as Saturday's. Whether a letdown or just reality adjustment, I am cautious moving forward. Not yet sure we are as good as we showed Saturday. ISU game will be a good gander at that.

I love where we are at; let's just not get ahead of ourselves.

In other words, what do we really know about the Griz? Lol

Actually, we, or at least knowledge football fans, know alot. Those things have been mentioned in various threads in the past several weeks. The net results are that the Griz are good at this point, Sneed is great, the o-line is much improved, the rb situation is good and there is at least some running game, the team has shown it can finish games and play well or well enough in the 4th quarter, the team has nice depth, and the team has confirmed that it plays very hard, is physical, and has huge desire (probably huge heart too). Can they continue and improve? I assume so, but that remains to be seen. Admitting that we can't tell where the Griz will end up is not saying "we don't really know abut the Griz".

Also, most expected strengths have proven to have turned out to be true.

I realize you’re in Japan...but it was a joke, bro. Just a joke. :thumb:

My return post was a joke. I guess you missed it. Many of my posts are said with a bit or
bunch of humor. All of my dumb posts are
meant as jokes. Japan is great. Much cooler
than I expected.

 

[PlayerRep]

Sneed has now played 16 games and missed no time. He has taken serious hits and exhibited enormous toughness. There is nothing fragile about him like there is about many QBs. He is a stud. The probability of the one hit destroying his season is lower than with any other QB I can think of. He is not overplaying his running ability like he had to do last year.

Good observation. I don’t care if he doesn’t slide enough, but he doesn’t always need to fight for more yards. Securing the ball is much more important. At this point of the season, if the truth be told, he has been the top qb in the
conference and probably one of the best in FCS. Love how he plays. Have since the first game I saw him play.

 

[EverettGriz]

In probably the biggest win of Bobby Hauck's second tenure with the Grizzlies we saw a very convincing road win against the #4 team in the FCS. Davis was the pre-season top choice, with the pre-season MVP and the reigning coach of the year. They were at home and school had just started up against for UCD so they were hoping for a rowdy crowd to help push them past the Griz. Going off last year UCD knew the Griz could fight, but assumed they couldn't fight for long. Based on some of the pundits the belief was that the Griz weren't proven yet because they'd faced terrible defenses overall. The Griz had just come off a sloppy win against Monmouth and it was looking like an uphill battle for a team where the line in favor of UCD got a little bigger as the week went on.

Instead what they faced was a team that's dramatically moved forward. The Griz were far more physical than they were the year before and it showed. The Griz were balanced, continually attacked downfield, made UCD earn every yard, and were unphased by anything that came their way. And what came from it was a huge Griz win where they absolutely blew the doors off UCD to the point where Davis benched their MVP quarterback with over 8:00 to go in the game and all but waived the white flag.

Some thoughts:

- This was Dalton Sneed's best game as a Griz. He has other games with better stats but this game by far was his best overall showing. Almost 270 passing, 81 rushing, 5 passing TDs, no turnovers. UCD clearly did not prepare enough for Sneed as a runner, a little too much emphasis on this year's film and forgetting what he did last year, and let him beat them with his feet and his arm. Sneed's passes, especially his TD passes, were dimes. His 2 TDs to JLM were incredible. His connection to Deming to stretch a key drive in the 4th and end and UCD comeback hopes was a perfectly thrown ball that was either a Griz catch or an incomplete. If there was a game to point at for an MVP resume for Dalton, so far, this is it.

- This was also the best game of the O-lines to date as well. No sacks on Sneed and a whopping 6 yards per carry average allowed. This OL is getting good much quicker than many would expect. They'll have bigger challenges down the road but today was a great showing by these guys.

- The defense did it's job. I don't think this group is world beaters but I think many of us knew they were better overall than they'd showed statistically. Today I think we got a good dose of what this defense can do to help. Force 3 turnovers, force a few punts, make the opposing team really earn their yards, and leave the opposing offense bruised and battered. Mission accomplished today. There's still some concerns on pass defense, but I think overall we saw some great stuff from these guys today.

- I think we have a game-breaking pass rusher in the making. Through 5 games Patrick O'Connell has 3 sacks. Last year our highest total on the season was Dante with 6. O'Connell is getting better each week it seems, today he went from flashing a few big plays to being a threat quite a bit. 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 other QB hit, 1 TFL.

- Dante's pick was a thing of beauty. Bummer the offense lost the following possession on a fumble.

- Frustrated with Davis's first TD drive, honestly. Yes the Griz previously benefited from a missed PI call but that drive had a 4th and short appear to be stopped, marked and called a first without a review, despite a timeout. Then a really marginal PI on roughing the punter.

- At the half, here's what I liked the best. The Griz lead wasn't a fluke. It wasn't some dumb luck or odd plays that got them there. Davis didn't have a lot of near misses either. In prior years halftime leads against tough opponents were attained by what felt like a lot of luck. Today's was by solid and physical execution.

- Another solid game on the ground. Yeah Knight lost a fumble, and paid the price by missing a series. Ostmo provided a great mix too, Turner had a late good run, and Sneed worked some magic on plays where he had no options and on some others with clearly designed runs for him.

- Sneed taking a free play and turning it into an Akem TD was a thing of beauty. That's what you see from top tier QBs and NFL teams. The ability to recognize and attack the Davis mis-cues impressed me.

- Speaking of mis-cues, Davis had 9 penalties for 73 yards and as we all recall, many negated first downs. Ouch.

- Griz were great again on 3rd down offensively 7-13, just about 54%. Unfortunately this time they weren't as proficient defensively on 3rd, Davis was 10-19, about 53% for them.

- Kind of an up/down game for some of the WRs. JLM, Toure, and I believe also Deming had a drop or two that weren't great. They each also had some incredible catches and plays too. It's wild to think the offense could have shown even more if a few of these drops didn't happen.

- Over 31:00 of TOP in the game including almost 10:00 in the 4th. Any hope Davis had to mount a comeback was wiped out because the Griz offense wouldn't let them get the ball back quickly. The Griz only had one 3 and out that ended with a punt, their first possession.

- I still really want to see the Griz bringing Sulser up on kickoffs. UCD popped a few up to negate Flowers that lead to fair catches. Missed opportunity there I think.

- Great heads up play by Marcus Welnel to let UCD's onsides attempt harmlessly bounce out of bounds

- 6 targets today with multiple catches. This offense is great about how they spread out their attack. JLM's two TD catches were unreal. Akem's was just his sheer skill and ability once the catch was made. Toure's was awesome too. Deming made a hell of a grab on a pass slightly behind him. Hard to not love this group.

- Maier's fumble, with guys running right at him, he'd had enough. The physical play of this defense had worn him down. It's been quite some time where I've seen a Griz team play to this level that lead to such errors. Maier is the supposed MVP of this conference and was done with it over halfway through the game.

- Awesome afternoon from some of the usual suspects. A big day for Jace Lewis with 13 tackles, another double-digit day for Robby, and some solid/key play by Olson and Sandry too.

--------------

What a huge, momentum gaining win for Montana. There's a lot of season in front of them still but it's hard not to be optimistic about where they're headed. So far, by the account of many fans posting on here, the Griz have won 2 games that many assumed they might not, South Dakota and UC Davis. They're ahead of where they should be now and can hopefully keep riding this wave. I'm hoping there's a great crowd for the homecoming game as these guys deserve one hell of a welcome after this win.

Go Griz!

great write-up, dude. gonna be in trouble if Sneed gets hurt. also its "waved" not "waived."

Good analysis. Spot on. With all the 'concern' for MSU's situation, what makes you think you're not one hit away from a season disaster? Not wishing it - far from it. I've posted in the past that I want to see the very best of both teams injury-wise for our game - but posters on this site are all over MSU for playing 6 different qbs each game - even though that offense has scored in the high 40's 2 weeks running. Sneed's a stud, throws accurately, and runs when the opportunity arrises. So.....what makes you think you're not a hit on a running qb away from trouble?

What team in America wouldn’t struggle if they lost an All American QB. The difference you highlight is that the GRIZ HAVE an All American QB, while the kitties have as their best option, a LB who moonlights as a QB.

I’ll take the former situation and risk the injury, knowing the GRIZ backup QB would start at cow U

 

[PlayerRep]

In probably the biggest win of Bobby Hauck's second tenure with the Grizzlies we saw a very convincing road win against the #4 team in the FCS. Davis was the pre-season top choice, with the pre-season MVP and the reigning coach of the year. They were at home and school had just started up against for UCD so they were hoping for a rowdy crowd to help push them past the Griz. Going off last year UCD knew the Griz could fight, but assumed they couldn't fight for long. Based on some of the pundits the belief was that the Griz weren't proven yet because they'd faced terrible defenses overall. The Griz had just come off a sloppy win against Monmouth and it was looking like an uphill battle for a team where the line in favor of UCD got a little bigger as the week went on.

Instead what they faced was a team that's dramatically moved forward. The Griz were far more physical than they were the year before and it showed. The Griz were balanced, continually attacked downfield, made UCD earn every yard, and were unphased by anything that came their way. And what came from it was a huge Griz win where they absolutely blew the doors off UCD to the point where Davis benched their MVP quarterback with over 8:00 to go in the game and all but waived the white flag.

Some thoughts:

- This was Dalton Sneed's best game as a Griz. He has other games with better stats but this game by far was his best overall showing. Almost 270 passing, 81 rushing, 5 passing TDs, no turnovers. UCD clearly did not prepare enough for Sneed as a runner, a little too much emphasis on this year's film and forgetting what he did last year, and let him beat them with his feet and his arm. Sneed's passes, especially his TD passes, were dimes. His 2 TDs to JLM were incredible. His connection to Deming to stretch a key drive in the 4th and end and UCD comeback hopes was a perfectly thrown ball that was either a Griz catch or an incomplete. If there was a game to point at for an MVP resume for Dalton, so far, this is it.

- This was also the best game of the O-lines to date as well. No sacks on Sneed and a whopping 6 yards per carry average allowed. This OL is getting good much quicker than many would expect. They'll have bigger challenges down the road but today was a great showing by these guys.

- The defense did it's job. I don't think this group is world beaters but I think many of us knew they were better overall than they'd showed statistically. Today I think we got a good dose of what this defense can do to help. Force 3 turnovers, force a few punts, make the opposing team really earn their yards, and leave the opposing offense bruised and battered. Mission accomplished today. There's still some concerns on pass defense, but I think overall we saw some great stuff from these guys today.

- I think we have a game-breaking pass rusher in the making. Through 5 games Patrick O'Connell has 3 sacks. Last year our highest total on the season was Dante with 6. O'Connell is getting better each week it seems, today he went from flashing a few big plays to being a threat quite a bit. 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 other QB hit, 1 TFL.

- Dante's pick was a thing of beauty. Bummer the offense lost the following possession on a fumble.

- Frustrated with Davis's first TD drive, honestly. Yes the Griz previously benefited from a missed PI call but that drive had a 4th and short appear to be stopped, marked and called a first without a review, despite a timeout. Then a really marginal PI on roughing the punter.

- At the half, here's what I liked the best. The Griz lead wasn't a fluke. It wasn't some dumb luck or odd plays that got them there. Davis didn't have a lot of near misses either. In prior years halftime leads against tough opponents were attained by what felt like a lot of luck. Today's was by solid and physical execution.

- Another solid game on the ground. Yeah Knight lost a fumble, and paid the price by missing a series. Ostmo provided a great mix too, Turner had a late good run, and Sneed worked some magic on plays where he had no options and on some others with clearly designed runs for him.

- Sneed taking a free play and turning it into an Akem TD was a thing of beauty. That's what you see from top tier QBs and NFL teams. The ability to recognize and attack the Davis mis-cues impressed me.

- Speaking of mis-cues, Davis had 9 penalties for 73 yards and as we all recall, many negated first downs. Ouch.

- Griz were great again on 3rd down offensively 7-13, just about 54%. Unfortunately this time they weren't as proficient defensively on 3rd, Davis was 10-19, about 53% for them.

- Kind of an up/down game for some of the WRs. JLM, Toure, and I believe also Deming had a drop or two that weren't great. They each also had some incredible catches and plays too. It's wild to think the offense could have shown even more if a few of these drops didn't happen.

- Over 31:00 of TOP in the game including almost 10:00 in the 4th. Any hope Davis had to mount a comeback was wiped out because the Griz offense wouldn't let them get the ball back quickly. The Griz only had one 3 and out that ended with a punt, their first possession.

- I still really want to see the Griz bringing Sulser up on kickoffs. UCD popped a few up to negate Flowers that lead to fair catches. Missed opportunity there I think.

- Great heads up play by Marcus Welnel to let UCD's onsides attempt harmlessly bounce out of bounds

- 6 targets today with multiple catches. This offense is great about how they spread out their attack. JLM's two TD catches were unreal. Akem's was just his sheer skill and ability once the catch was made. Toure's was awesome too. Deming made a hell of a grab on a pass slightly behind him. Hard to not love this group.

- Maier's fumble, with guys running right at him, he'd had enough. The physical play of this defense had worn him down. It's been quite some time where I've seen a Griz team play to this level that lead to such errors. Maier is the supposed MVP of this conference and was done with it over halfway through the game.

- Awesome afternoon from some of the usual suspects. A big day for Jace Lewis with 13 tackles, another double-digit day for Robby, and some solid/key play by Olson and Sandry too.

--------------

What a huge, momentum gaining win for Montana. There's a lot of season in front of them still but it's hard not to be optimistic about where they're headed. So far, by the account of many fans posting on here, the Griz have won 2 games that many assumed they might not, South Dakota and UC Davis. They're ahead of where they should be now and can hopefully keep riding this wave. I'm hoping there's a great crowd for the homecoming game as these guys deserve one hell of a welcome after this win.

Go Griz!

great write-up, dude. gonna be in trouble if Sneed gets hurt. also its "waved" not "waived."

Good analysis. Spot on. With all the 'concern' for MSU's situation, what makes you think you're not one hit away from a season disaster? Not wishing it - far from it. I've posted in the past that I want to see the very best of both teams injury-wise for our game - but posters on this site are all over MSU for playing 6 different qbs each game - even though that offense has scored in the high 40's 2 weeks running. Sneed's a stud, throws accurately, and runs when the opportunity arrises. So.....what makes you think you're not a hit on a running qb away from trouble?

What team in America wouldn’t struggle if they lost an All American QB. The difference you highlight is that the GRIZ HAVE an All American QB, while the kitties have as their best option, a LB who moonlights as a QB.

I’ll take the former situation and risk the injury, knowing the GRIZ backup QB would start at cow U

Two very good points.

 

[Grizzoola]

There's risk & there's unnecessary risk. I don't care how tough Sneed is; that's a given, but some defensive players, if not their coaching, are going to aim for him before he's down. Yes, Humphrey can step up, but it shouldn't be necessary in this case. I'm not saying he shouldn't run; that's one of his strengths, but when the D is converging, slide, baby, slide!

 

[signedbewildered]

There's risk & there's unnecessary risk. I don't care how tough Sneed is; that's a given, but some defensive players, if not their coaching, are going to aim for him before he's down. Yes, Humphrey can step up, but it shouldn't be necessary in this case. I'm not saying he shouldn't run; that's one of his strengths, but when the D is converging, slide, baby, slide!

He slides just fine. Pattented. #sneedslide

Head first. Legs a churnin.

 

[Grizzoola]

He slides just fine. Pattented. #sneedslide Head first. Legs a churnin.

:roll:

 

[AZGrizFan]

In other words, what do we really know about the Griz? Lol

Actually, we, or at least knowledge football fans, know alot. Those things have been mentioned in various threads in the past several weeks. The net results are that the Griz are good at this point, Sneed is great, the o-line is much improved, the rb situation is good and there is at least some running game, the team has shown it can finish games and play well or well enough in the 4th quarter, the team has nice depth, and the team has confirmed that it plays very hard, is physical, and has huge desire (probably huge heart too). Can they continue and improve? I assume so, but that remains to be seen. Admitting that we can't tell where the Griz will end up is not saying "we don't really know abut the Griz".

Also, most expected strengths have proven to have turned out to be true.

I realize you’re in Japan...but it was a joke, bro. Just a joke. :thumb:

My return post was a joke. I guess you missed it. Many of my posts are said with a bit or
bunch of humor. All of my dumb posts are
meant as jokes. Japan is great. Much cooler
than I expected.

Well its now apparent we both suck at humor. Don’t quit your day job.