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Post game: A red hot first half, but then a choppy 3rd quarter

BWahlberg said:
In a day of top 25 carnage Montana made sure very quickly that they were not going to be another ranked team with an unranked loss. The Grizzlies started just about as great as you could ask, forcing a fumble, scoring, responding to a field goal with a long catch and run, and using all the weapons in your offense to get a 21-3 lead in the first quarter. Had the Griz not scored again, their 1st quarter effort on offense would be enough to win the day. Early on Ah Yat was dialed in, hitting targets in stride, rapidly seeing breakdowns in coverage, and beating Weber with his feet when needed - he'd finish with 296 passing, 16 rushing, and 3 total TDs. Eli Gillman just a suuuuuper casual 10.2 YPC haha - 122 yards on 12 rushes + 1 TD. And while it was a quiet day for Michael Wortham, we saw Brooks Davis run in a TD and have 83 receiving, Blake Bohannon haul in 131 yards and 1 TD (would've been 2 if Ah Yat hits him just a little better), and Evan Shafer haul in a TD, now two weeks in a row. Lots to be really positive about from the offense early on.

Then the 3rd quarter hit and the Griz offense suddenly had a lot of issues. First possession, starting the half, 3 and out. Second possession, a good drive deep into Weber territory, on 3rd and short it's a stretch play that loses yards, on 4th and 3 it's a pass that's behind the line to gain and a turnover on downs. Third possession, 3 and out with a few poorly placed passes. And now it's 31-17 Griz after Weber puts together a real long drive that the Griz defense had no answers for. Fortunately the Grizzly offense settled back in, sparked by a long Gillman run to start it off. They would pick up a key 4th and 1 running right up the middle, and Ah Yat would find Shafer in the endzone to put the game on ice and give the starters on offense the rest of the day off. The 2nd & 3rd team would take it from here with some mixed results, as expected. I did think Flowers looked better than Jensen at QB. 522 total yards for the Grizzly offense, despite such a malaise in the 3rd and backups in the 4th.

Defensively, generally good stuff, love the multiple forced turnovers. Due to the Grizzly offense scoring so fast, so often, the defense was on the field A LOT. It did seem like they went to experimenting with man coverage a lot more than they typically do as well (maybe I'm wrong though) and it had mixed results. Weber's one stud WR beat the Grizzly defense up again - lining up in the slot, drawing safety coverage, and beating them - he finished the day with 107 yards and 2 TDs. Weber's long, early TD drive really mixed well run plays that the Grizzly defense could not really figure out much.

Obviously the real bizarre thing with the defense yesterday was the offsides penalties, and maybe just the penalties in general. Montana would finish with 10 penalties called against them, there were 6 flags thrown for offsides, I think 5 were enforced because one of them the Griz committed 3 penalties on ONE PLAY! In that play you had a guy off-sides, you had a substitution error, and a pass interference. At halftime you could see the frustration on Hauck as he addressed the issue. Just 1 off sides in the 2nd half but that one, as I recall, converted a 4th and short. I'm not sure what Mickey Mental and the Weber staff saw/figured out on film but they knew how to really fool the Griz defense and force them into continued errors due to their aggressive nature. That's going to be out there now, I'm sure the Griz staff will drill this into our guys this week in practice.

Other quick thoughts:

- I really enjoy how lethal this offense can be, so far no team has really been able to shut them down for long. If you key in on one guy, another will beat you. This game Weber attempted to focus on Gillman (didn't work) and with Wortham carrying a lighter load we saw Bohannon and Davis get a ton of action and respond to it. Jordan Tripp even talked about it during the game, this offense is a nightmare to prepare for.

- Colin Amick had a day at RT, at least on TV. He was setting the edge well, pushing guys back, pass blocking well, and getting into the 2nd level of Weber's defense quite often.

- Congrats to Eli Gillman, he surpassed 3000 yards as a Griz running back. His 13 rushing TDs puts him near the top of the FCS, his total scoring is one of the best in the Big Sky, and his 965 total rushing yards is tops in the Big Sky - the 2nd place guy has 203 less yards than Eli! It seems at time his contribution and efforts can be taken for granted by some fans, he really is the foundation of this team. When he ripped off that 35 yard run in the 3rd to get the offense going again it just seemed to be that calming effect across the offense that it's ok, we got this, let me work.

- I thought Lawler had another good day with some timely pass breakups but especially adding support in the run game. Weber started using their big back more often and he had a few plays where really helped get that guy to the ground.

- It seemed to me the Grizzly defense really started doing rotations in this game like they did for Sacred Heart - getting 2s and younger players a lot more reps mixed in with the starting group. It interestingly lead to many of your expected stat monster guys like Tolbert, Wilkinson, Haper, Solo, and Peck having quieter days at least in the stat sheets.

- I'm a little concerned with how well Weber was able to open up running lanes against the Grizzly defensive line - things aren't going to get any easier in the road ahead.

- Hoping Ty Morrison worked out whatever funk he was in, an early miss, and then a doink that was after Weber called a timeout - once the kick mattered he drilled it.
- Peyton Wing should be playing his way into the talk for DPOY. Not sure he'll win it, but the level he's playing at right now is insane.

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I know it wasn't the all-out 4 quarter dominant win that we'd all like, but it also never really felt like Weber had a chance in this game. Montana's seemingly working in more players and more designs on defense and it's leading to some ups and downs. Griz are 9-0 and coming home to face and EWU team who just had their small shred of a hope for the post season dashed. Big game this weekend to get to 10-0 and the first time the Griz have been home in a few weeks - should be a fun one!

Go Griz!
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Really appreciate our safety play this year. Harper, Wilkinson, Rausch and Huff. Very strong and always around the ball.
 
mthoopsfan said:
Not dominating all 4 quarters means the team isn’t good enough to go deep in the playoffs. It also means the OL and defense aren’t good. And it shows UM doesn’t have good enough coaches. And it also shows the fans are demanding enough.
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mthoopsfan said:
I'm just trying to learn from other posters who have posted over the years. I might be coming around to the their views, so I'm trying to learn to post like they do.
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Finally! I figured, over time, that you'd see it my way.:ROFLMAO:

On the other hand,
"The phrase "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" means that when someone copies you, it is a high form of praise because they find what you do or who you are worthy of being copied. While this is the common understanding, the saying can also be used sarcastically or with a negative twist, particularly in its full form attributed to Oscar Wilde: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness".
  • Literal meaning: When people imitate you, it shows they admire you and think what you do is worth copying, which is a form of high praise.
  • Sarcastic usage: The phrase can be used ironically to comment on someone who is copying you for their own gain.
  • Oscar Wilde's twist: The full quote, "$Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness$" is often interpreted to mean that those who are unoriginal are the ones most likely to copy others. "

I got a chuckle out of it either way!(y)
 
The Griz rotated through a lot of players. QBs 2 and 3, who are from Utah and Idaho, got to play which I thought was great. They won't forget that and neither will their families.

When was the game in doubt? Never. Not once. I not a fan of Hauck turning the intensity level down to "punt," but it's not the end of the world.

This is one of those games that's just a little too close to justify a the team flying, though Bob in his early career at UM did. It's a 7 hour drive, not including the the time necessary to load 58 guys onto a bus. The Griz bused to ISU, too.
 
GriznMN said:
Tell me you don't know anything about football without telling me you don't know anything about football.
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I know a heck of alot more than you do. Part of what you said is wrong and stupid. Please don't tell us you think that pass rushers look at QB's eyes when they are in the early part of rushing. Please don't tell us you think QB's should not look at the receiver when he throws the ball. Feel free to show us how our QB was "dropping his release point".
 
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mthoopsfan said:
I know a heck of alot more than you do. Part of what you said is wrong and stupid. Please don't tell us you think that pass rushers look at QB's eyes when they are in the early part of rushing. Please don't tell us you think QB's should not look at the receiver when he throws the ball. Feel free to show us how our QB was "dropping his release point".
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There were a couple plays when he purposefully “dropped his release point”. Us old-timers call it a sidearm throw. Matt Stafford and Pat Mahomes do it a fair amount also to avoid having a pass knocked down. If the lineman has his arms raised, “throw it by him at tit level”. Haha.
 
griz4life said:
The Griz rotated through a lot of players. QBs 2 and 3, who are from Utah and Idaho, got to play which I thought was great. They won't forget that and neither will their families.

When was the game in doubt? Never. Not once. I not a fan of Hauck turning the intensity level down to "punt," but it's not the end of the world.

This is one of those games that's just a little too close to justify a the team flying, though Bob in his early career at UM did. It's a 7 hour drive, not including the the time necessary to load 58 guys onto a bus. The Griz bused to ISU, too.
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I thought I saw them getting on a plane on Friday?
 
mtgriz said:
There were a couple plays when he purposefully “dropped his release point”. Us old-timers call it a sidearm throw. Matt Stafford and Pat Mahomes do it a fair amount also to avoid having a pass knocked down. If the lineman has his arms raised, “throw it by him at tit level”. Haha.
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And I assume none of those throws were blocked or tipped.
 
garizzalies said:
All of you pussies crying about how KAY throws too hard need to be slapped right across your vaginas.
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Brings back way ancient memories. The team where I went to high school was very much a run-first offense (two bigs and a scat back). But the coach liked to change things up now and then. One of our bigs (boy was he big!) could pass pretty well, but he could only throw a rocket. I knew most of our receivers and they all said they tried hard to catch the ball ... to protect themselves. Miss it, and you'd have your bell rung or end up with bruises. :D Maybe KAY needs to crank it up even more.
 
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