AZGrizFan said:
A) I agree. I’d take a HEALTHY Johnson and the Griz O-line over the ‘Scats. Problem was, we didn’t really see a healthy Johnson after the break.
B) Cole Sain wasn’t a “Griz reject”. He left of his own accord.
Not one damn thing about their offense "gimmicky." They ran some inside but a mostly outside zone scheme, which has been around for decades and is even run by current professional teams like the LA Rams. Their passing game was mostly sideline fades, but regardless of where it went, they completed 60% of their throws.
I did misspeak when I said everyone though, because I didn't account for you being a the consumate narcissist. SDSU was the only team to shut them down, and most of that was having both of the QB's out. You don't average more than 300 a game if your o-line can't block their assess off. They had a wide receiver run for more than 200 in a game when they didn't have someone from the normal running back room to trot out there. They're not maulers in terms of size, they get to a spot, cut off the other guy and hold a block long enough for the runner to get by them. In fact, if you watched them play, you noted that their receivers actually blocked very well, which made that even easier in terms of gaining yards.
Everyone would have loved a healthy Johnson. But as has been said on multiple occasions here, its been two seasons in the last fifteen or sixteen that a QB made it the distance. 2021 wasnt an aberation. Runnng QB's get dinged up or worse. That they spent all their time trying to get an injured QB ready post the idaho game is what it is. QB's are good passers without their legs, and he was a streak passer at best. Johnson's absence wasn't any more of an impact on the season than the whole team coming out flat against Weebs, bozeman, (two of the four that mattered most before the post season) and the Semo. Regardless of Johnson's performance, they would have lost the Semo game without the heroics of 19 and 5.
bozeman played fourteen games last season because it didnt matter which of their QB's were playing, it was the o-line that paved the way for their offense to be successful enough to win. No one was going to beat SDSU last season. I'd put money on them to repeat that feat this season.
And finally, If you'd like to DM me, I'd be happy to explain when and from whom I heard that Sain wasn't all that and bag of chips. And it wasn't anyone who spends any time on the message board.