Today the Griz got a much expected win but at what could be a very big cost, the loss of starting QB Reese Phillips for presumably the season could be very costly for this team. Phillips was on a great streak until that freak injury. Personally I’m just sick about it. When you consider his journey and the time he put in to get to starting with this result its heartbreaking. Phillips is a leader on this team and his presence on the field could really be missed.
And so now for the foreseeable future Gresch Jensen takes the helm at QB. In this fan’s opinion (and many others) Jensen really does seem to have the most upside of all the QBs and seems to be a guy that could really grow and excel into this job. Now, much like Jordan Johnson in 2011, Gresch will be asked to do just that. He looked good today, hopefully we can see this kind of continued growth from him this year. He’s got a great group of WRs and a stout O-line and running game to help him ease into the rest of the season. Obviously there won’t be much time for Gresch to get locked in, EWU this weekend and then away at PSU and then ISU.
Some other takeaways from the game:
- Great overall stats, almost 200 rushing and almost 370 passing. 5.7 yards per rush, 8.1 yards per play! Defensively it was good but not great, allowed 254 yards, about 150 passing and 100 rushing.
- The Grizzly defense despite a few allowed deep plays did some great stuff today. SSU was held scoreless in 3 redzone trips. 8 sacks, 15 TFLs, 2 takeaways. There were a few deeper passes given up but no plays where they were beat over the top that I recall.
- Josh Buss had quite the day, and against a team like this it’s probably expected as SSU didn’t have the talent to even try to contain the guy. 8 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 2 sacks, 1 INT.
- In addition to Buss we saw James Banks once again lead the team in tackles and he also had some TFLs and shared a sack. Banks over the first three games has been the most steady guy on the defense it seems. Additionally we saw the return of Connor Strahm who split with Vika and was an immediate impact, forcing a bad pass that lead to a pick and then sealing a block to get McKinley in the endzone on the tail-end of the play. Vika did well too, we may see continued rotation from the two as the season goes on.
- Toure had himself a day, if he would’ve been able to get to the endzone on his 80 yard reception he would’ve been in the record books for the longest TD reception. Additionally for all the posters flipping Keenan Curran crap for a few drops… he made up for that today with 2 TD grabs and a nice deep catch too.
- Maybe one of the bigger unexpected showings today was that of Alijah Lee who lead the team in rushes and rushing yards (74). Two TDs on the ground plus 15 receiving yards. Lee has stepped up his play each week of this early season and is really looking to be a great option to help Calhoun rotate this whole season.
- The defensive line was such a force today. Shaw, Sims, Davidson, and Tilleman were wrecking the inside and Schye was doing his usual stuff. Some early frustrations with Favoroso with an offsides and then late hit penalty. Rodriguez continued to up his play.
- O-line protected pretty well again with limited QB pressure except when SSU blitzed the hell out of the QB. Running game was churning with great success.
- Outside of the Phillips injury some of the remaining concerns were a handful of bigger plays still given up. Nothing deep/over the top, but a few where it seemed like the coverage was a little too soft/casual at times.
On to conference play, the team is where we all expected it to be, 2-1, but without their senior leader at QB. I’m hopeful that they’ll be able to respond to this adversity with Gresch at the helm though! He’s got great weapons around him and the intensity and physical play by the defense seems to be ramping up at the right time.
Also hats off to Savannah State. Displaced from the hurricane, living in a hotel, messed up travel... and still came in and fought. I hope they can get things back to normal and put together a respectable season.
Let’s keep this rolling, go Griz!
And so now for the foreseeable future Gresch Jensen takes the helm at QB. In this fan’s opinion (and many others) Jensen really does seem to have the most upside of all the QBs and seems to be a guy that could really grow and excel into this job. Now, much like Jordan Johnson in 2011, Gresch will be asked to do just that. He looked good today, hopefully we can see this kind of continued growth from him this year. He’s got a great group of WRs and a stout O-line and running game to help him ease into the rest of the season. Obviously there won’t be much time for Gresch to get locked in, EWU this weekend and then away at PSU and then ISU.
Some other takeaways from the game:
- Great overall stats, almost 200 rushing and almost 370 passing. 5.7 yards per rush, 8.1 yards per play! Defensively it was good but not great, allowed 254 yards, about 150 passing and 100 rushing.
- The Grizzly defense despite a few allowed deep plays did some great stuff today. SSU was held scoreless in 3 redzone trips. 8 sacks, 15 TFLs, 2 takeaways. There were a few deeper passes given up but no plays where they were beat over the top that I recall.
- Josh Buss had quite the day, and against a team like this it’s probably expected as SSU didn’t have the talent to even try to contain the guy. 8 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 2 sacks, 1 INT.
- In addition to Buss we saw James Banks once again lead the team in tackles and he also had some TFLs and shared a sack. Banks over the first three games has been the most steady guy on the defense it seems. Additionally we saw the return of Connor Strahm who split with Vika and was an immediate impact, forcing a bad pass that lead to a pick and then sealing a block to get McKinley in the endzone on the tail-end of the play. Vika did well too, we may see continued rotation from the two as the season goes on.
- Toure had himself a day, if he would’ve been able to get to the endzone on his 80 yard reception he would’ve been in the record books for the longest TD reception. Additionally for all the posters flipping Keenan Curran crap for a few drops… he made up for that today with 2 TD grabs and a nice deep catch too.
- Maybe one of the bigger unexpected showings today was that of Alijah Lee who lead the team in rushes and rushing yards (74). Two TDs on the ground plus 15 receiving yards. Lee has stepped up his play each week of this early season and is really looking to be a great option to help Calhoun rotate this whole season.
- The defensive line was such a force today. Shaw, Sims, Davidson, and Tilleman were wrecking the inside and Schye was doing his usual stuff. Some early frustrations with Favoroso with an offsides and then late hit penalty. Rodriguez continued to up his play.
- O-line protected pretty well again with limited QB pressure except when SSU blitzed the hell out of the QB. Running game was churning with great success.
- Outside of the Phillips injury some of the remaining concerns were a handful of bigger plays still given up. Nothing deep/over the top, but a few where it seemed like the coverage was a little too soft/casual at times.
On to conference play, the team is where we all expected it to be, 2-1, but without their senior leader at QB. I’m hopeful that they’ll be able to respond to this adversity with Gresch at the helm though! He’s got great weapons around him and the intensity and physical play by the defense seems to be ramping up at the right time.
Also hats off to Savannah State. Displaced from the hurricane, living in a hotel, messed up travel... and still came in and fought. I hope they can get things back to normal and put together a respectable season.
Let’s keep this rolling, go Griz!
