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Post Game: Improvement in the 2nd half

A win is a win, no matter how ugly it is done. The third quarter was the highlight for the Griz, not the entire second half...

Playing a school like SFU with only 45 scholarships and a short travel team, I would of like to see better results that were demonstrated Sat. evening.

Early to say this, although, Im sure that it is on the mind of many fans, athletes is not the problem, offensive leadership just might be and will make for a long season.

After all lets look at history, just last years divine intervention victory over NDSU.

About closed practice, from the looks of the first game, hard to believe there was a practice.
 
Lots of negativity re: Gus.

The first half was bad, but you have to view the game as a whole. The stat that jumped out to us was the number of WRs that got involved in the game.

Last year under pre-injury Gus, the Griz were averaging 8.5 different WRs with a catch per game. Post-injury Gus it dropped to 6. Last night it was 10. I think it's safe to say that this is Stitt's system functioning how it should.
 
I worry that my highlight of the game was the much improved kicking game. And special teams, which have sucked since Hauck left, may well end up costing us a couple games. Also, the continuing inconsistency of Gustafson (a fifth year senior!) is a big concern.
 
Here's a positive to think about. Many are complaining of our struggles against a school that offers x scholarships. We could have had psu's game and struggled against central Washington. They pulled away like us and won 43-26. At least when all is said and done the game yesterday counts for playoffs. Psu's game doesn't. How shitty would that be?


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'68griz said:
I worry that my highlight of the game was the much improved kicking game. And special teams, which have sucked since Hauck left, may well end up costing us a couple games. Also, the continuing inconsistency of Gustafson (a fifth year senior!) is a big concern.
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Unfortunately, that is who Gus has been. Boom or bust. It could be the number one Griz discussion topic this season. But let's hope not....
 
I think it's pretty simple. Stitt does not yet have the complete O line or the quarterback he needs for his system, but has shown the recruiting ability to get them given a little more time. BG is often great, but due to some pretty wild inconsistency, is not the guy all the time. Stitt has improved the line considerably, but hasn’t got all the pieces in place. There are stretches when you can see how the machine will work once it’s all oiled up. He’s got his own D man in there and that part appears to be on track … another year of recruiting and I think we’ve got a powerhouse.
 
RobGriz said:
MissoulaMarinerFan said:
Some thoughts I had on the game:

This was a great first game test - St. Francis' D was pretty good and they had a solid run game, as well as a stud SS / Kick returner / punt returner. They gave the Griz trouble with some things that hopefully the Griz will be able to take care of between now and UNI.

Things I thought were good to see:
- Semenza going 2 for 2 on field goals - one from 46 yards and the other from 30ish(?) And hitting all his PATs. Let's see if he can hang onto that from game to game.

- Solid game punting for Williams as well.

- Gus figuring things out in the second half. Most of the time last season, you knew if you were getting "Good Gus" or "Bad Gus" very early in the game. If "Bad Gus" showed up in the first qtr, it usually stayed that way. It was good to see him put it back together after having a rough go the last half of the SDSU playoff game, a terrible NDSU rematch and a very blah first half of this game. Let's be honest, "Bad Gus" is pretty terrible, while "Good Gus" could keep you in any game you were playing. It seems like these games that he had last year where "Bad Gus" showed up it turned into a loss (PSU, Liberty (yes he got hurt, but he wasn't playing well at all before that), the NDSU playoff game.

- Favors looking good on the few carries he had and picked up his blitz assignments - he continues to grow in those areas.

- The running game getting going in the fourth quarter - we got the ball with about 7 minutes left and ran every play but two, and scored our last TD with about 3 ish minutes left.

- Both Calhouns and Keenan Curran had an excellent game.

- Josh Horner continues to be Mr. Reliable. He catches almost everything his way and it doesn't seem like he is "fast enough" to get as open as he does, but when he's open, it is usually by quite a bit. I really liked Horner getting in Brady's ear after he missed them having numbers on the outside about 3 times in a row when he gave the ball to the RB who got stuffed in the middle of the line.

- Sandry and Strong might be the best FS and SS combo we've had in the back of the D for quite some time.

- Buss had a nice game at linebacker.

Things I didn't like:
- Special teams coverage - though watching on TV you rarely get a good idea of if it was someone blowing their lane coverage. I can't really say for sure if it was bad coverage, SFU's returner being really good, or maybe a combination of both. I will say it was good to see the coaches adjust and trying different things after they'd been burned doing standard Kickoffs - it didn't always work but it was nice to see them switch strategy.

- Nguyen (as usual) and was it Lyons? Making questionable decisions on returning the punt or letting it bounce.

- Seeing "Bad Gus" in the first half. Woof.

- SFU's RB just spinning and bulling his way out of tackles - it looked like guys were there and were wrapping, but he was running through them. Something to watch the rest of the year.

- The D giving up a looong pass play toward the end of the game after doing so well at taking care of it - looked like Sandry just didn't get enough depth in his zone and got caught flat footed.

- Seeing Weyer go down - nut good when you lose your starting center.

- The OL not being able to do anything in the running game outside of the first drive and the 4th quarter.

- Sometimes the OL pass blocking was good, other times not so good. Would like to see s
more consistency there, though not sure how much of that is on Gus.

Something to remember when thinking about the offensive struggles - Pflu's offense WITH JJ struggled the coaches first full year and about 3 /4 games into the second year in started to come together, then when JJ went bananas against BBQ-U throwing 6 TDs is when it really took off. I wouldn't be surprised if we see something similar this year.

Overall, a mixed bag. Definitely some real bright spots but also some things to really clean up. It was great to get the win, and hopefully they'll have a solid week of practice leading up to the UNI game. That will be a tough game for sure. I think it'll be a real measuring stick early on. Go Griz!
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Brady didn't play at PSU
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You are correct. My apologies - I've edited the original post.
 
A 45 schollie team pulled ahead of the Grizzlies in the second Q, and then again in the 3rd Q. In the last eight minutes of the game, SFU still managed to score two touchdowns, indeed scoring 21 points in the second half.

UM's unanswered touchdowns that won the game occurred in a very tight time period, the last 4:05 seconds of the 3rd Q, and both of those off of SFU punts.
 
Am I the only one that thought Gus looked miles better running the ball last night than he did all last year? To me it looks like he's added at least a little speed.

He's by no means a great running QB, but he looked a lot more fluid with the ball last night.
 
dupuyer griz said:
Here's a positive to think about. Many are complaining of our struggles against a school that offers x scholarships. We could have had psu's game and struggled against central Washington. They pulled away like us and won 43-26. At least when all is said and done the game yesterday counts for playoffs. Psu's game doesn't. How shitty would that be?


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Or we could've been Sac St who lost to Western Oregon... :?
 
uofmman1122 said:
Am I the only one that thought Gus looked miles better running the ball last night than he did all last year? To me it looks like he's added at least a little speed.

He's by no means a great running QB, but he looked a lot more fluid with the ball last night.
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And most all decisions of when to run were perfect and had good results.
 
Things get a lot better if the QB gets rid of the ball faster and special teamers stay in their lanes. That pass out to the flat needs to be a bullet. I'm sure there's a UNI corner watching those throws and thinking pick 6.
 
BWahlberg said:
Bob Meseroll seems to still be pretty bent out of shape about closed practices doesn't he?
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He's the ultimate Monday morning quarterback.


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After reviewing the " The Preditions For The Saint Francis Game " it is easy to come to the conclusion that,opinions are like $ssholes every one got one, and not only the ones that never played the game, but most that post on egriz know very little about football, but are great with opinions, including myself.
 
spsyk said:
After reviewing the " The Preditions For The Saint Francis Game " it is easy to come to the conclusion that,opinions are like $ssholes every one got one, and not only the ones that never played the game, but most that post on egriz know very little about football, but are great with opinions, including myself.
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bingo
 
Eriul said:
spsyk said:
After reviewing the " The Preditions For The Saint Francis Game " it is easy to come to the conclusion that,opinions are like $ssholes every one got one, and not only the ones that never played the game, but most that post on egriz know very little about football, but are great with opinions, including myself.
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bingo
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You two must be new around here.....
Welcome to egriz..... :fuel:
 
A couple points I would like to make. I love a game like this that wakes us up. Almost everyone, myself included thought the griz would roll SFU. We had so many reasons to speak of that lead everyone to believe we would roll. It's good to have an early season tough test to wake us up. New turf doesn't win games. No video boards don't win games. Higher rankings, pre-season accolades, tradition, hype. None of those things win games. I think many of the players and coaches even thought we were going to roll them. The thing is is that we have to actually play the game. Play it at a high level and dominate. So I think an early test to give us a gut check, knock some rust off and remind us of how you need to play the game is a good thing.

Secondly, it is all about peaking at the right time. I've said this time and time again. As long as you get better every week, maybe survive some scares, and win enough of them, by the time the cats and playoffs come around we should be peaking. Haucks teams did this, the Seahawks and NDSU always seem to do this. Unlike the cats who seem to peak early and trail off. As long as we continue to improve, gel as a team, and get some of these young guys some game time experience, we will be better than fine.
 
I think many posters, including myself, only predicted about a 10 point game. I expected less points but I never expected a rolling. I think a lot of people on egriz think we will roll every single team we've never heard of(see Coastal Carolina a few years a go in the playoffs.)
 
My prediction was spot on, except the part where SFU scores 21 points on two kick returns and a lopsided field fumble. Besides that, pretty much nailed it :)

I think the Griz will look good but not great. I'll say they have some kinks to work out on the offensive side but that our defense looks solid

Griz 38
SFU 14
 
Well the season is off to maybe a slow start (first half for sure) but a W is a W. I will always take an ugly win over a beautiful loss any day. Once again the Griz showed it can score quick and often when its clicking, but looks silly when its not. Defense I thought in general played pretty good even though they gave up some late game blown plays. The kickoff returns for TDs sucked for sure and I bet the coaches were just as pi$$ed as anyone in the stands but give that #22 credit, who would not want him in their uniform.
I did feel like this 300lb Oline did get pushed around a bit more than I thought it would but time will tell. I thought the D did a great job of swarming to the ball most of the night. All in all I would give the team about a 7 out of 10, because it was a win and the first game of the season jitters.
Confidence is what needs to be built right now.
 
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