The Griz seemed about as hungover as I was to start the game (Go Mariners!). But the Montana defense sparked yet another big comeback push and the Griz crushed The Mustangs late in the game. It really was a stressful first half as the Grizzly offense had an opening drive get stuff (the spot looked questionable to me on that 4th down). After that the rest of the first half Montana had just 92 yards on 5 drives and their best drive ended with a pretty ugly pick in the endzone. They then opened the 2nd half with more frustrations on offense too and it was looking like it was going to be a real long day in the office. Every time Montana would get some momentum, they had a hard time keeping it and two turnovers on the Poly side of the field really set them back. However, continuing to show poise in the face of challenge the Grizzly offense didn't waiver and finally got it rolling in the 4th.
Post game, chatting with GFP Luke, we joked about how odd parts of this game was. It seemed like the ex (Rosenbach) was back in town and the current relationship (Pease) was trying to really show off how much better things are right now
. There was quite a bit that baffled me, especially in that lull before the 4th quarter with max protect deep shots on 3rd and short. Early on the scripted series seemed to focus on getting Poly's skilled DT's to run laterally a lot, then it returned to some generally vanilla up the middle runs, that weren't as successful.
As I said to a few yesterday, I know some are probably rightfully concerned about yesterdays game, however if Montana put up 10 or 14 in the first half and won the game 38 or 42 to 9... I think we're all loving what we saw entirely. This team has a lot of guys new to the program, or new to an elevated role, and is adapting to the expectations and responsibilities that come with it. There's highs and lows that'll hit these guys and how they battle through it will define them. It's also wildly encouraging to know that this Grizzlies team is 6-0 and hasn't played even close to it's best football yet!
More general observations:
- The throwback color uniforms were incredible. Save them please, we'll need them again this year, I don't want these to be a 1 and done. I think UM Marketing and it's merchandise partners hit an absolute home run with the theme, colors, and presentation of everything. It's great to blend in nostalgia with so many of our newer fans too.
- Best game as a Griz for Stevie Rocker, Jr. 38 hard earned rushing yards with a few key conversions and 3 big receptions including a 41 yard catch and run to pick up a 3rd and 20ish - he almost had a TD as well but the Ah Yat pass was just a touch too long. Great use of him by the coaching staff to mix in some tempo as a receiving target and then to mix in and out as a runner as well.
- Wild to think that this is Wortham's first year playing generally as a WR. I don't know where Montana would be without him this year, honestly. He was the difference maker in the passing game, yet again, and helped put Montana in front for good.
- I think we're just going to have to accept that opposing teams are going to scheme up their offense to prevent the Grizzly defense from getting a lot of sacks. In 6 games Montana has 6 total. However, a lot pressures disrupted plays and forced throwaways or even picks. Wing, Solo, Centaur, Wilkinson, and others were fast after the Poly QB and at the end of the day Differenbach was 15-33 and Bo Kelly was 1-6. (side note - I know DIfferenbach was a turnover machine in the passing game but he could hit some deep shots, not sure why Wulff gave Kelly 2 series bc he was even more ineffective).
- Ah Yat settled in as the game went, it wasn't the best first half for him but I don't know how much of that was play calling / execution / pass blocking vs him just missing some stuff. I've not rewatched the game but at halftime I had people tell me he was missing some wide open shots in the middle. The endzone pick was bad - just trying to make a play and then airmailing the pass, he'll continue to learn. I will say, his 2nd half, mostly his 4th quarter, he was dialed. There's one play that really stood out to me. 3rd and 16, 4th quarter, Ah Yat takes a shotgun snap and his first few options are not what he wants. The edges get pushed back and he has to step up, and then move to his right to avoid pressure. Brooks Davis comes back to the sideline on that side of the field and Ah Yat fires a 22 yard strike to Davis who toe-taps in and the drive continues. Montana would eventually score and I think that was the drive that put them up 28-9. The pocket awareness, footwork, keeping eyes downfield, and finding a WR making an adjustment to help was something not a lot of QBs can do.
- Props to the Grizzly defense with 4 INTs, they got some nice gifts with a younger and far less accurate QB than we had last week. I did notice that at certain points in the game Poly would set up 1 on 1 plays, WR vs Prince Ford, and try to take shots at him. It worked a little in the first half but less as much in the 2nd. Montana was able to send more pressure this game and still fluster the passing game. We had some very close calls and lucky bounces too that better passing offenses could exploit.
- I texted the GFP guys this, this was the first game back for Bohannon in a few weeks, and the offense for a while was kind of choppy. His fault? No of course not. And this observation doesn't actually suggest causation - but the two weeks the WR corps was primarily Deck/Davis/Wortham the passing game was on fire. Bohannon's return and things kind of looked again like we saw against UND and CWU. By no means am I saying bench Bohannon - just something I noticed yesterday. Hoping the Grizzly offense can get it's consistency back and keep rolling in the weeks ahead with him out there!
- The crew we had officiating the game is fairly notorious for some goofy stuff, we've seen that white hat guy for years. For as bizarre as the game was... they did call things evenly so I wouldn't say they "hurt" one team more than another. I know Bobby himself would rather there's less calls per game - so he probably had to be happy that there were no holding calls at all - despite some seemingly egregious stuff out there haha.
- Middle running plays were tough sledding for a while, Poly has the best D-lineman in the conference, but that's two weeks in a row where the middle wasn't generating much for a good portion of the game.
- Glad to see Johnson walk off after getting his leg checked. Game was practically over but Amick played well at RT the rest of the way.
- Not sure why we have our starting QB doing a read-option and getting blown up with less than 5 min the game and up by multiple scores.
- It was a classic "weird crowd" for homecoming but I think the Lawler pick six reignited people and they got back into the game.
- Two guys on special teams that stood out again yesterday that don't get nearly enough love are Tanner Huff and Ian Finch. These guys are HITTING and getting after returners. Both guys have been on roster for quite some time and are excelling in roles. They don't show up with monster stats but these guys are so incredibly important to the Griz.
- A real good game for Hayden Schwartz. We're still seeing so many of our new guys progressing and getting in on the mix of things, if they can all keep building this D-line will continue to build and get better.
- Kind of unimpressed with Briscoe for Poly, the prior stat leader for the conference. Lawler did well on him.
-------------
Lots to build on for Montana, and a 5-2 Sacred Heart is coming to town this next weekend which suggests a tougher challenge than initially thought. I loved what I saw for most of the 2nd half, and had concerns with the 1st half play. This team is a work in progress but is undefeated with hopefully their best football still ahead of them. Lots to be positive about - lots to improve!
Go Griz!
Post game, chatting with GFP Luke, we joked about how odd parts of this game was. It seemed like the ex (Rosenbach) was back in town and the current relationship (Pease) was trying to really show off how much better things are right now
. There was quite a bit that baffled me, especially in that lull before the 4th quarter with max protect deep shots on 3rd and short. Early on the scripted series seemed to focus on getting Poly's skilled DT's to run laterally a lot, then it returned to some generally vanilla up the middle runs, that weren't as successful.As I said to a few yesterday, I know some are probably rightfully concerned about yesterdays game, however if Montana put up 10 or 14 in the first half and won the game 38 or 42 to 9... I think we're all loving what we saw entirely. This team has a lot of guys new to the program, or new to an elevated role, and is adapting to the expectations and responsibilities that come with it. There's highs and lows that'll hit these guys and how they battle through it will define them. It's also wildly encouraging to know that this Grizzlies team is 6-0 and hasn't played even close to it's best football yet!
More general observations:
- The throwback color uniforms were incredible. Save them please, we'll need them again this year, I don't want these to be a 1 and done. I think UM Marketing and it's merchandise partners hit an absolute home run with the theme, colors, and presentation of everything. It's great to blend in nostalgia with so many of our newer fans too.
- Best game as a Griz for Stevie Rocker, Jr. 38 hard earned rushing yards with a few key conversions and 3 big receptions including a 41 yard catch and run to pick up a 3rd and 20ish - he almost had a TD as well but the Ah Yat pass was just a touch too long. Great use of him by the coaching staff to mix in some tempo as a receiving target and then to mix in and out as a runner as well.
- Wild to think that this is Wortham's first year playing generally as a WR. I don't know where Montana would be without him this year, honestly. He was the difference maker in the passing game, yet again, and helped put Montana in front for good.
- I think we're just going to have to accept that opposing teams are going to scheme up their offense to prevent the Grizzly defense from getting a lot of sacks. In 6 games Montana has 6 total. However, a lot pressures disrupted plays and forced throwaways or even picks. Wing, Solo, Centaur, Wilkinson, and others were fast after the Poly QB and at the end of the day Differenbach was 15-33 and Bo Kelly was 1-6. (side note - I know DIfferenbach was a turnover machine in the passing game but he could hit some deep shots, not sure why Wulff gave Kelly 2 series bc he was even more ineffective).
- Ah Yat settled in as the game went, it wasn't the best first half for him but I don't know how much of that was play calling / execution / pass blocking vs him just missing some stuff. I've not rewatched the game but at halftime I had people tell me he was missing some wide open shots in the middle. The endzone pick was bad - just trying to make a play and then airmailing the pass, he'll continue to learn. I will say, his 2nd half, mostly his 4th quarter, he was dialed. There's one play that really stood out to me. 3rd and 16, 4th quarter, Ah Yat takes a shotgun snap and his first few options are not what he wants. The edges get pushed back and he has to step up, and then move to his right to avoid pressure. Brooks Davis comes back to the sideline on that side of the field and Ah Yat fires a 22 yard strike to Davis who toe-taps in and the drive continues. Montana would eventually score and I think that was the drive that put them up 28-9. The pocket awareness, footwork, keeping eyes downfield, and finding a WR making an adjustment to help was something not a lot of QBs can do.
- Props to the Grizzly defense with 4 INTs, they got some nice gifts with a younger and far less accurate QB than we had last week. I did notice that at certain points in the game Poly would set up 1 on 1 plays, WR vs Prince Ford, and try to take shots at him. It worked a little in the first half but less as much in the 2nd. Montana was able to send more pressure this game and still fluster the passing game. We had some very close calls and lucky bounces too that better passing offenses could exploit.
- I texted the GFP guys this, this was the first game back for Bohannon in a few weeks, and the offense for a while was kind of choppy. His fault? No of course not. And this observation doesn't actually suggest causation - but the two weeks the WR corps was primarily Deck/Davis/Wortham the passing game was on fire. Bohannon's return and things kind of looked again like we saw against UND and CWU. By no means am I saying bench Bohannon - just something I noticed yesterday. Hoping the Grizzly offense can get it's consistency back and keep rolling in the weeks ahead with him out there!
- The crew we had officiating the game is fairly notorious for some goofy stuff, we've seen that white hat guy for years. For as bizarre as the game was... they did call things evenly so I wouldn't say they "hurt" one team more than another. I know Bobby himself would rather there's less calls per game - so he probably had to be happy that there were no holding calls at all - despite some seemingly egregious stuff out there haha.
- Middle running plays were tough sledding for a while, Poly has the best D-lineman in the conference, but that's two weeks in a row where the middle wasn't generating much for a good portion of the game.
- Glad to see Johnson walk off after getting his leg checked. Game was practically over but Amick played well at RT the rest of the way.
- Not sure why we have our starting QB doing a read-option and getting blown up with less than 5 min the game and up by multiple scores.
- It was a classic "weird crowd" for homecoming but I think the Lawler pick six reignited people and they got back into the game.
- Two guys on special teams that stood out again yesterday that don't get nearly enough love are Tanner Huff and Ian Finch. These guys are HITTING and getting after returners. Both guys have been on roster for quite some time and are excelling in roles. They don't show up with monster stats but these guys are so incredibly important to the Griz.
- A real good game for Hayden Schwartz. We're still seeing so many of our new guys progressing and getting in on the mix of things, if they can all keep building this D-line will continue to build and get better.
- Kind of unimpressed with Briscoe for Poly, the prior stat leader for the conference. Lawler did well on him.
-------------
Lots to build on for Montana, and a 5-2 Sacred Heart is coming to town this next weekend which suggests a tougher challenge than initially thought. I loved what I saw for most of the 2nd half, and had concerns with the 1st half play. This team is a work in progress but is undefeated with hopefully their best football still ahead of them. Lots to be positive about - lots to improve!
Go Griz!
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