What a deflating and demoralizing loss. It's hard to take away anything good from this game.
Lets start with what's due. Congrats to NAU, Zach Bauman, Cary Gossart, and Jerome Souers. They didn't go into panic mode and were the better team today on the field. That NAU O-line opened big holes and took good advantage of our D-ends in blocking. Bauman is a beast, before the game and in my scouting report I said you DON'T want him out in space - well... he got out in space A LOT. Burned us badly. Gossart was steady, his deep passes were light and if they were more on-target he might've thrown for a few deep TDs as well. The NAU defense really didn't impress me much in the first half but they adjusted well and showed what really makes McKinney fall apart - edge blitzing. Souers adjusted well at the half, Delaney did not. In all aspects of the game NAU outplayed and out-coached the Griz. They deserved this win and got it. You can't even look back and say the Griz "gave" them this win (the excuses for many 2010 losses) because they just came out there today and smashed the Griz.
Being the areas of concern, lets start there:
1. I'm seeing parallels to 2010, players are trying to do more than their 1/11th. We had DEs and LBs over-pursuing and getting caught out of position. We had turnovers forced in similar fashion to 2010's. This is a leadership and discipline issue and it's bad when you see the team leaders making these errors. I expect out-of-position or over-pursuit errors from young guys but not our dudes that have been out there for in excess of a full season or two. The coaching staff in 2010 had issues controlling this and it appears that they're having it again.
2. I'm serious, and I don't care if it's EWU next, lets start Lebsock and Rominger. I'm sick and tired of watching Tully get burned and watching both him and Hermanson get caught on their heels and have their arm tackles do nothing. I mean... hell... if we're going to get beat in the passing game anyways lets see if Rominger and Lebsock can at least friggin tackle. Gossart's lame duck passes in the middle of the field would've been picked by just about any other starting safety we've had in the last 15 years. Bo Tully has played 2 seasons now and Hermanson has a full year under his belt, this is not the type of play I expected for/hoped for out of those two.
3. How bad did our play calling on offense get in the 2nd half? Wow, NAU knew what was coming and just rattled our whole system. This is the first game I've seen where watching the game-plan unfold I've really been at a loss for what was sent out there. The first half was so agressive, and then the tone just changed on the drive in the 2nd qtr with Moore's fumble and downhill it went from there. We lost the edge and took our foot off the gas, went into "protect the lead" mode and 34 unanswered points later we were sunk.
4. Jordan Canada looks like he hasn't played football in years. Running right into the backs of his linemen, no cuts, no burst. I know he's been out of sync but he was tearing it up in fall ball. Where is this explosive player we saw last year?
5. Pure speculation here but I can't help but wonder if RS Frosh TMac let his 1st half success get to his head and affect his game. He was on FIRE the first 4 drives, making good reads, going through his progression, just rocking it. But once trouble hit all that swag was gone and suddenly we saw a happy-foot QB with lame-duck throws that could not get his game back. Trent needs to learn from this and make sure to stay consistent throughout the game and not get cocky when you're on a good roll.
6. 3 man front with no edge blitz against a heavy-set run? Yeah.....
7. What's happened with Sean Haynes? Great hands, burner in fall camp, starts game 1, now doesn't play until the very last series of the game.
8. Insult to injury the coaching staff fell apart too. Down 10 with the ball on our own 1 and coming out of a TV timeout everyone in the stands realizes that there's only 10 Griz players on the field. People are shouting it, finally as the team lines up Gratton runs out to the slot with his arms up not knowing the play call. Then after we punt we've got 3 timeouts but don't use them when stuffing NAU. Finally on the kneel-down we call a timeout. A guy in front of me shouts, "Mick you gave up ten minutes ago, don't pull this play till the last snap BS now!"
9. 4th game in a row that our staff has not made the right halftime adjustments. This was a staple of Hauck's and Pflugrads. Work out the kinks in the first half, adjust and win in the 2nd. These Griz have been
outscored by a compiled 69-42 in the 2nd half of the game this season. That's just gross.
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It's tough to come away from this and think about the positives, but with some thought here's what I have.
1. Gotta give props on the aggressive nature of the first 4 possessions on offense. It looked like we were going to blow the hinges off the door. Good calls all around, the punt block was well scouted and executed, the offense had the NAU D on their heels, McKinney was looking at his progressions, and the O-line was protecting and opening up holes really well. We need that team this season if the Griz want a winning record, and we need that team for the FULL GAME.
2. How about Anthony "Chief" Goodwin starting over Nate Harris today? Pretty good for the most part, a few nice break-ups. Tackling against Bauman and breaking blocks needs work but he had some pretty good moments.
3. Need to find Ellis Henderson deep more often, dude has wheels and good hands.
4. Nice game by our two freshman d-line kids, both Holmes and Kidder had a few good plays and pressures. It's great to see Kidder "getting it" and stepping up. He's a great change of pace guy in the middle right now.
5. Not too bad of KRs for Naccarato, ball was in the right hand and he followed his blocking lanes well.
6. Special teams was solid again, some punts were kinda crappy, but of the big 3 teams I'd say ST is playing at the most consistent level right now.
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This loss is tough pill to swallow because right now there's not much that will convince me otherwise that the Griz will return from EWU 2-3 and not ranked in the top 25 for the first time... in probably what... 30 years? Ugh.
This team needs to re-examine itself and it's got pretty much no time to do it. Last year's team was also 2-2 if I recall correctly with a ton of question marks. This one has even more, they could turn it around and a road win vs EWU would help. Also the 2008 team got their mojo going with a win at EWU... so maybe... yeah.
Remember it's how you respond to these games that defines you. This team now sits on a razor-thin margin of error and can either set the tone for the rest of the season... or just fall further apart. I still have some major faith in this team but they've got so many question marks. A win on the road will start to answer that. It's time to step up.
Go Griz!
