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Post Game: meltdown

BWahlberg

BWahlberg

Well-known member
DONOR
It’s the next day after that rather humiliating letdown of a loss and there’s quite a bit to process about what this team needs to do to get back on track. As we all saw last night the Grizzlies opened up red hot scoring 21 points in the first quarter, and then just 3 after that. The offense had 34 total yards (25 rush / 9 pass) in the entire 2nd half on just 16 total plays all while UND held the ball for 24:07 of the total 30:00 allowed. It was a total mess.

As we reflected on what to expect early in this season many of us suggested the defense would have a rougher start and the offense needs to help them out as they grow and improve. 6 lost starters, 3rd new DC in 3 years, lots of transfers that haven’t played much ball together – if at all. On the other side there’s the offense where a vast majority were on this team last year, yes breaking in a new QB, but loaded with skill from last year. What disappointed me the most was the offense’s inability to do anything, it gradually got worse in the 2nd quarter and then totally packed it in in the 3rd / 4th. I think until this defense can settle in (if they can settle in) this offense needs to regularly be putting up 30+ per game.

I think there were some real great early positives. X Harris is looking great in his role as a WR and when you add Bergen back in that mix is only going to be tougher to defend. I thought mostly in the first half that Ah Yat looked great in his role. The OL was opening holes up as well for a good while. Klucewich had a nice heads up play for an INT. Loved the reverse call to Fontes.


Some additional thoughts:

  • The key moment (I think) where the game turned was the 4th and 1 at midfield. Shotgun snap, delayed handoff, Ostmo stopped for a 3 yard loss. Meanwhile as the game went on with short yardage needs to go, UND was under center and going fast. Yes I know the Kluce pick came after this play but the UM OL / offense didn’t really recover after that.
  • Eli Gillman goes off in the 1st half but in the need of balance and lack of times with the ball we hardly see him again. This guy needs far more than 8 rush attempts per game.
  • Still way too many issues with wrapping up / edge containment / tackling / play recognition from the defense. One of UND’s touchdowns their QB dropped the damn ball first.
  • Didn’t love the tunnel screen call to try to get the team closer for the tying field goal. Guess it would’ve been easy to heap praise on it, if it worked, but yikes.
  • I think the easy blame on the amount of sacks is bad pass protection. It looked to me the tackles were getting beat a lot by speed rushers on the edge. However I think our QBs were hanging on to the ball too much at times, was that due to lack of experience or due to the intended play design?
  • Any word on Ryder Meyer? I was just sick to see him get hurt there and taken off the field. He’s one of our few experienced defenders out there.
I’m really not too panicked about this loss because it’s early and it’s not a conference game, ranked team on the road. I am concerned, I’m sure the players and coaches are too. Many good Griz teams have lost in bad/ugly fashions on the road before – hell it even happened last year. Griz nation certainly is reverting right back into calls that the sky is falling, but I think we just need to be patient and see. The Grizzlies next two games are at home and we need to see them improve and “get right” over this stretch. Then it’s EWU on the road (who just lost to Drake) so hopefully a nice path to correct at home and then hopefully get a road win.

Let’s keep the faith Griz Nation – show up and support our guys! Go Griz!
 
To me, except for one call in the first quarter, a very plain, vanilla offense.
Open up the playbook when the defense is crowding the box and going after the QB.
We have the horses to run variations of jet sweeps.
We also have the power to run either pro set or wing formations for runs.
Stop the vanilla crap on offense. Vanilla offense makes the QBs think they have to do all the work, which is what we saw yesterday.
 
fltheadgriz said:
To me, except for one call in the first quarter, a very plain, vanilla offense.
Open up the playbook when the defense is crowding the box and going after the QB.
We have the horses to run variations of jet sweeps.
We also have the power to run either pro set or wing formations for runs.
Stop the vanilla crap on offense. Vanilla offense makes the QBs think they have to do all the work, which is what we saw yesterday.
Click to expand...
I would agree. With our stable of running backs and receivers there’s no reason to put the game on a freshman’s shoulders like we did in the second half. There’s all sorts of ways to get them the ball in space without dropping back.

I think Pease really does want to see us get back to having a standout QB, but even our best QB’s didn’t do it all alone. KAY is not a shiny new toy, nor should he be thrown to the wolves for trial by fire. On the other side he doesn’t need to be coddled. A balance would be nice. I think he’s done a damn good job for a RS freshman.

I am really curious why we seemingly moved away from our defensive game plan in the second half which was make that QB beat us with his arm. We didn’t load up the box until the 4th quarter. That QB was not making throws. I would have been fine if he thew a dime over our defense in a one on one, but it had to be demoralizing for the players to have them just grind that run game. On the first 2 td drives.
 
You haven't been to many Griz games where the QB was sacked six times and the team still won. Lament all you want about the plays the Griz didn't run, but the Griz O line struggled mightily to to protect their QB, who also took some bad late hits.

The O line should have channeled their inner JD Quinn and planted one of those defenders for cheap shots on the Griz QB. If you can't do that, go get busy on your history degree.
 
For the second game in a row our opponent had the better quarterback. Ah Yat has a huge upside but makes and will continue to make glaring freshman mistakes. We’re going to have to be patient because there’s no savior on the bench like last year or upside to Fife

But given that, where was our heralded Walter Payton candidate and vaunted running game to ease the pressure on Ah Yat? Eight carries for Gilman? Unless he was hurt I don’t get it.
 
We need to give Fife a chance, not one series. I frankly think Fife is the QB that should be starting. Nothing against Ah Yat, who is only a freshman, but that second half was ugly !!! That of course was not all on him, but he owns some of it !!! I just don't see a freshman QB leading us to another Big Sky title or back to Frisco this year.
 
I agree that Eli Gillman needs more than 8 touches per game. To me, this offense needs to run the ball far more than we need to pass it. Start with getting Gillman at least 20 carries per game than get Otsmo the same. Develop a running game first, then passing game will take care of itself.
Ah Yat's arm didn't look very strong on the one deep ball I watched him throw coming up short.
Sitting on the 50-yard line in North Dakota, what a cool atmosphere! Their pregame with their band is really nice! Not music inside though and the lighting give a dim, dull atmosphere. The fireworks display after the game was Outstanding! Lasted at least 10-15 minutes. Lots of money there.
 
My thoughts:
1) UND's OL played the way we all wish our OL would play.
2) Keali'i' Ah Yat's athleticism is impressive, but he relies on it too much.
3) Only 8 carries for a healthy Eli Gillman is an inexplicable play-calling blunder.
4) We are really missing coach Ronnie Bradford.
 
fltheadgriz said:
To me, except for one call in the first quarter, a very plain, vanilla offense.
Open up the playbook when the defense is crowding the box and going after the QB.
We have the horses to run variations of jet sweeps.
We also have the power to run either pro set or wing formations for runs.
Stop the vanilla crap on offense. Vanilla offense makes the QBs think they have to do all the work, which is what we saw yesterday.
Click to expand...
Yup. 3 TD's were a busted pass play, a busted run play and a trick play. Not a single sustained drive all day. The halftime score was very misleading...
 
Ringneck said:
My thoughts:
1) UND's OL played the way we all wish our OL would play.
2) Keali'i' Ah Yat's athleticism is impressive, but he relies on it too much.
3) Only 8 carries for a healthy Eli Gillman is an inexplicable play-calling blunder.
4) We are really missing coach Ronnie Bradford.
Click to expand...

1) Interesting, considering we got THEIR O-line coach...
 
Wolf777 said:
I would agree. With our stable of running backs and receivers there’s no reason to put the game on a freshman’s shoulders like we did in the second half. There’s all sorts of ways to get them the ball in space without dropping back.

I think Pease really does want to see us get back to having a standout QB, but even our best QB’s didn’t do it all alone. KAY is not a shiny new toy, nor should he be thrown to the wolves for trial by fire. On the other side he doesn’t need to be coddled. A balance would be nice. I think he’s done a damn good job for a RS freshman.

I am really curious why we seemingly moved away from our defensive game plan in the second half which was make that QB beat us with his arm. We didn’t load up the box until the 4th quarter. That QB was not making throws. I would have been fine if he thew a dime over our defense in a one on one, but it had to be demoralizing for the players to have them just grind that run game. On the first 2 td drives.
Click to expand...
These are literally the exact same things we were all freaking out about last year. Myself included. Everyone was screaming at coaches about how we don’t get the ball in the hands of our playmakers.

They seemed to actually figure it out last year so I have confidence that they can do it again this year.
 
BadlandsGrizFan said:
These are literally the exact same things we were all freaking out about last year. Myself included. Everyone was screaming at coaches about how we don’t get the ball in the hands of our playmakers.

They seemed to actually figure it out last year so I have confidence that they can do it again this year.
Click to expand...
Last year the staff seemingly hit every right button and corrected all the mistakes which we hadn’t seen in the previous couple years. There seems to be more to correct this year in some ways and less in some ways. I think the staff has to gel as much as the players do this time around. This non conference didn’t afford as many mistakes, and we made a big one on Saturday. I think it will be a wake up call.

The most disappointing thing Saturday was the offense. Our defense and special teams carried this team for the last half decade. The offense is our veteran group and for once needs to feel the pressure and urgency to perform as our defense did every damn time they were on the field. That first quarter showed the capability and explosiveness. Hope we start to see that as the strength of our team.
 
Last year the defense and special teams were able to minimize or camouflage the deficiencies/short-comings of the offense. That has been far from the case so far this season.
 
The difference between then and now is the amount of talent and veteran leadership on the defense, in addition to a highly experienced DC.
 
I honestly felt like the Coaching staff got cocky and cute after our 4th drive. We had 3 straight TD's. That final TD drive went run, run, run, run, run, pass, TD Run. We were absolutely dominating them. The next drive is 6 pass plays and 1 run before a scramble and a run that gets stuffed on 4th and short.

Why the hell are we calling that ratio of pass plays with our freshman QB? Step on their throat and keep doing what is working! The next series we then sub in Fife and that drive stalls. We never got any momentum back after that. To me it just feels like our coaching staff tries to outsmart themselves sometimes. Or they're trying to get KAY more passing reps before Fife comes in but good god man the time to do that is next week vs Morehead not on the road vs a playoff caliber team.
 
AZGrizFan said:
1) Interesting, considering we got THEIR O-line coach...
Click to expand...
It didn't occur to me until you made this point that perhaps because of Pawlak's history with the UND program, they knew exactly how he would respond to their defensive schemes and just simply remained a step ahead of him the whole time. That would at least offer some explanation as to how our O-Line just got absolutely owned the whole second half.
 
20 years of Hauck and its still the same old shit.

No QB
Every game is close
Kicks too many FGs
Promises next time will be different

Nothing will change its been proven over and over again year after year.
 
This was literally the week prior.

Tony Clifton said:
Ah Yat is the guy that should be playing and it's not worth debating.

There is nothing any QB on the roster does better than KAY plus he has the intangibles you don't see from any QB we have had since Jordan Johnson
 
Bobby and his coaches do seem to have stubborn streaks and blinders that require this kind of melt down for them to see the light. Let's hope they see it. Like when they saw all those critical comments the last couple years on egriz about how stupid it is to go conservative and slow the game down with 3 straight runs after half time and then punt, and stupidly sticking with that formula two and 3 times in a row. We all know the view of what's happening on the field is better in the limited TV screen view, over the sidelines and coaches boxes, because you can really focus on the minutiae of one part of the play and on reruns. I know he's spoken about how this kind of meltdown doesn't phase the coaches and they all subscribe to the theory that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And isn't being stronger at the end of the year what football is all about? Please know I talked to him and he felt the inevitable letdown game needed to come early this year so they could ride a 9 game win streak into the playoffs. So really folks, all is well.
 
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