It's Roper's Team, Now

And, I believe Coach Pflu's offense will gel. The only thing that bothers me is why it took this injury to Selle for Coach Pflu to make up his mind. One can only wonder why he stuck with Selle as the starter, when it became clear that Selle struggled under Pflu's system. I believe if Roper had been named the starter early on, that Selle would still be playing. A backup, for sure, but I don't think that would have affected Andrew. Yes, Andrew could still have been injured, but it would have been less likely.

Now, it's Roper's team & he will fly with it. This UNC game will show that. I believe Pflu's offense will shine with Roper, and this will be the full separation from Coach Hauck's system, much as I liked that system. The OL will be improved. Some on this board have suggested that Opy go back to guard, which has been said is his natural position. There may be some other changes (I hope) on the OL, matching player's abilities better with their positions. I do not believe the OL lacks talent. It's there. It just has to be used better, and I think it will for the UNC game and following BSC games.

Roper has a talented receiving corps in his TEs & WRs. If Sambrano fumbles once again, he should be benched, rest of the game. Roper will win w/o Sambrano, if that's what it takes. As to the ground game, this also is a departure from Hauck's system. I do not believe Chase should play either this or the next game. The guy has to heal, whether he realizes it or not. He'll be needed later in the season. Plenty of time for that because if Roper excels, like I think he will, UM's ground game will only be one of keeping the defense honest and grinding out a 3d & 1, etc. I do not think we will see Chase racking up lots of ground yardage & TDs this year, and that's ok. Roper will be the top ground gainer this season.

As to the defense, what can I say? Ok, problems containing EWU's Taiwan Jones. Yes, SacSt ran up some points on us to where we beat them by only 3. Yet, if Roper uncorks this offense, that may be a minor problem. With the offense run by Roper, I do not believe defensive mistakes/weaknesses will be a factor, yet I know the defense, a UM football hallmark, will contribute as always.

This is Roper's team, now. Let's sit back & see what he does with it.

I think you can say Sac St. scored most of their 25 points due to our offense more than our defense.

I like our "D" but have huge ? about or "O". Hopefully they come around and I do have confidence they "CAN". We'll just have to wait and see if they "DO".

albinogriz said:

I think you can say Sac St. scored most of their 25 points due to our offense more than our defense.

I like our "D" but have huge ? about or "O". Hopefully they come around and I do have confidence they "CAN". We'll just have to wait and see if they "DO".

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Actually, 16 of their 25 points (two td's and a field goal) came at the expense of fumbles (one after an INT) and a blocked punt. I said we'd win 24-10 with Selle, and 38-10 with Roper. Well, lets split the difference. Our D should have only give up 9 points and Selle and Roper split the reps. Close enough for me. I agree with sitting Chase... He couldn't even attach his chin straps with his right arm. Ouch.

Totally sit Chase.... We are going to need him healthy at the end if we can right this ship and I feel we should be able to run with Moore/Kemp as long as the "O" can get their pad level lower and start pushing D-lines around a little. Sac St. had a much smaller D-line than our Offense yet we couldn't run block at all.

Hopefully Pflu's adjustments this week in practice pay dividends.

Hmm, I, Like, This, Thread, Now.

albinogriz said:

Totally sit Chase.... We are going to need him healthy at the end if we can right this ship and I feel we should be able to run with Moore/Kemp as long as the "O" can get their pad level lower and start pushing D-lines around a little. Sac St. had a much smaller D-line than our Offense yet we couldn't run block at all.

Hopefully Pflu's adjustments this week in practice pay dividends.

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I agree. Sit Chase. The Griz have WAYYYYYYY bigger fish to fry later in the season and playoffs and in order to beat the cats and make a playoff run we will need a healthy Chase Reynolds!

besides if we are going to keep running from the shotgun formation...we should be using kemp and peter anyway. speed from the gun power from the I.

I would sit Chase enough to let him heal while our O line gets things figured out. Hell even Emmit Smith could not make yards if no one is blocking. Let the O get it together and then bring Chase back in full stride.
I would not keep him out totally but limit it for sure.
I don't blame Selle for not knowing or feeling comfortable with the new system per say but we lost a ton of talent in the O line and of course #80. MM would make any QB look damn good.
One would think that with Roper getting the lions share It should help gel the team a bit more, and if we could get up on some teams let the #2 guy get reps as much as we can cause there is next year.

One great thing going our way is no game at ISU this year. No horrible injuries from there.

I would get the chemistry going with Moore running and sit Chase to get him healthy.

Need to see an emotional leader form OLine these next couple of games.

If that doesn't work then break out the cowbells

Mick and Gurns suggested on the radio that Jordan Johnson will get some playing time today in case they need him to step up later in the season, he'll have some experience and won't be so wide-eyed. I really hope this doesn't evolve into another rotation.

Oh noes!

Well that's interesting, guess we'll see. That should get quite the reaction on here if Johnson's RS is burned.

Didn't Pflu already say he's burning it starting this game??? Maybe I missed something, but I am curious as well to see how well he does at game speed. I'm wishing him the best of luck... I'm on board too, I like this thread much more than the rest of the top half of the Egriz mssg board page...

question where does one go to find out what channel the Griz will be televised on in different cities in MT.. I know there's got to be a web page for that.... Oh yeah, that is in reference to Bresnan cable...

From pflu's pre game interview. "EXPECT TO SEE JORDY JOHNSON AT QB TODAY." So much for the red shirt year. Bad move considering kemp, larson and zapata are all able to play qb in this offense but could go a long way getting JJ ready for his career at Montana. Also would give us some insurance if JJ does get injured later on, giving him a medical red shirt year.

I too think it's way too bad to burn Johnson's redshirt....

I'mHuntinBobKats said:

From pflu's pre game interview. "EXPECT TO SEE JORDY JOHNSON AT QB TODAY." So much for the red shirt year. Bad move considering kemp, larson and zapata are all able to play qb in this offense but could go a long way getting JJ ready for his career at Montana. Also would give us some insurance if JJ does get injured later on, giving him a medical red shirt year.

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Larson hasn't taken a snap at QB in two years. Think he might be a little rusty and behind the 8 ball a bit compared to the others??? Zapata doesn't fit the system and will probably transfer. That leaves Kemp and JJ as backups to an injury prone Roper. It's pretty obvious that JJ will be needed before the end of the season and if thats the case better start getting him some reps now. I didn't want to burn his reshirt either but with Selle going down it probably became a necessity.