Looking back I thought we’d see a 19-10 Wyoming win which I simply based that upon an inexperienced Griz O-line having problems with Wyo’s d-line while the Grizzly defense would be able to do enough to keep them in the game. As it turned out the Griz lost 17-12 and those issues popped up, but what might’ve contributed more to this loss than the O-line play for the Griz was an uncharacteristically bad game from JJ and a defense that looked pretty darn good until 10:00 left (or so) in the game when they suddenly fell apart and couldn’t make tackles.
So let’s take a deep breath, realize this was an underdog game where many of us were worried about getting ripped, and take a look at a few things objectively.
1. Our defensive line is legit. Wags had a monster game, Holmes started good but an ankle sprain slowed him down. Two sacks and a few TFLs for Takai. A fumble recovery for Rehm. Wags started of his Buck Buchanan campaign with a bang. The D-line couldn’t plug every hole but save the first drive and the late 4th quarter, they were very good.
2. Our pass coverage was improved. However lets call it for what it is, Wyo’s QB is not very good, he probably wouldn’t start for nearly half of the Big Sky schools. However for a defense that was labeled as soft in coverage, allowing everything in front of them, and unable to attack the passing game they showed some good improvement. They allowed the D-line pressure to help them out, forced a pick in the endzone, and had some good stops.
3. Jordan Johnson is a warrior and plays his BEST FOOTBALL in the hurry up. It was looking pretty rough for the Grizzly offense in the 2nd half but suddenly, and just like last season, JJ is given the green light to go hurry up and move the offense. All he does is suddenly inject life into the offense and they quickly score a TD. JJ was getting blitzed and running for his life but suddenly in the hurry up Wyo couldn’t get to him in time and he found his targets.
4. The O-line did OK. Yes… I said they did OK. No I’m not saying it was great but keep in mind the discussion all week. A lot on here were saying that JJ was going to get hurt, we wouldn’t do a single thing, the OL would totally collapse and be entirely worthless. Were they? No. This was maybe the 2nd best defensive line the Griz will see this year. There were errors, breakdowns, and issues. However form what I saw, JJ had more time than I thought he would. The running game didn’t have much going but some holes were opened up. Surprisingly for all of the worry about the tackles… it was those two who had the better games and the interior line that showed more issues.
5. TraVon Van could be a make or break this season. He is the x-factor of this team and getting him out in space as a WR was an excellent move by the coaching staff. He had a handful of big plays and made both of Wyo’s starting corners look silly trying to tackle him.
6. Lots of big plays from our linebackers. Kose picks a pass, KVA and Gamboa multiple TFLs. These guys are all about the big plays, you can tell. However they need to find more consistency and their tackling late got real bad.
7. How about our TEs, especially Saylor and Ralston? JJ loves the TE and he’s showing it again as those two guys were recipients of a ton of passes and his only TD.
8. Josh Janssen turned a strong fall camp into the first receiving TD of the season. This guy is a rising Griz star, look for more and more of this guy as he gets comfy in this offense.
OK, so here we go, now let’s talk about what everyone is grumbling about. But I’m going to start where many wont.
1. This was probably one of the very worst games I’ve ever seen JJ play. How many open targets did he sling passes to that went way over their heads. For a guy that opened last season as the epitome of efficient QB play Jordan was very inaccurate and was darn lucky he didn’t throw 3 interceptions. I don’t know if it was the pressure or something else but early on he would only opt for the short passes. Once he started going downfield he was unable to find his targets. Many completed passes were even way behind WRs too. While there’s lots of areas to pick apart that contributed to this loss… JJ’s poor performance might be one of the bigger factors.
2. I expected OL issues, but I’m not going to give them a pass because inconsistencies and bad pass protection at the wrong times might explain why JJ was having such a rough time. As I said earlier it seemed to me more of the interior line was the issue. That 4th and 3 on the Wyo 40, Logan Hines lets the DT right through to sack JJ. Stunts and blitzes were effective and mostly up the middle. Other teams will take note and the interior line is going to get attacked big time until they prove otherwise.
3. I can’t blame Kfense and Gragg on playcalling because I think they were limited with the OL and JJ’s play today. However lets dissect that last Griz drive. Down 5 with a chance to take the lead we start with a handoff that’s not worked almost all day long, loss of 4. That one you could place on the coaches. Then JJ hits Saylor in the hand 15 yards up the field, Mitch starts going up field before the ball is secured and drops it. Then 3rd down JJ checks down when he should’ve probably risked a deep throw instead, and it’s nowhere near a first down. Insult to injury, Ellis was hit late with no flag. However relying upon the refs to help convert isn’t the name of the game.
4. Special teams. Ugh. Greenberg gets the nod at kicking and the PAT is rolled and then mis-held, he stops, starts, puts a foot on it, but it’s shanked. Total mess. Then a blocked punt that anyone could see coming from a mile away. Wyo was almost getting there time and time again and then they put on a full rush and Shaw’s easily blocked. It got cleaned up after that but Shaw needs to keep that faster wind up and kicking motion going. On the good side we got a blocked punt out of Peevey and clean punts caught by Nguyen… although he did fumble and recover a kickoff…
5. Tackling late in the game. The defense opened allowing a fieldgoal. It was looking like it’d be a long day. But suddenly they buckled down. Made stops, prevented first downs. For the half of the 1st qtr, all of the 2nd, and most of the 3rd the defense was stuffing the run, pressuring the QB, and forcing 3 and outs. I was beaming, the defense was showing GREAT improvement. But then… the wheels fell off. As the announcers pointed out suddenly the linebackers were not getting off their blocks and our safeties were taking real bad angles to the ball. Hermanson got called out by the Root announcers repeatedly, he went from a good first half to a real bad 4th qtr that I’m sure most egrizzers here will continue to bitch about. Suddenly the Griz couldn’t tackle, they were getting dragged down the field, the pile was driving them back multiple yards, sure fire short gainers turned into missed tackles and big gains. The defense kept the Griz in this game but when it was needed the most, it lost its edge. Again if you’re looking for “blame” look on both sides of the ball. The offense didn’t help by not being able to do much either, the D had to go out time and time again and make a stand. Also it’s hard to keep momentum going when the offense isn’t putting any points on the board.
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So lets take this for what it is, a loss that by many thought – was going to happen. There were some quirks we did not expect and some surprises that were both bad and good. We’ll have to hear word but it seems injuries were hopefully minimal and we’ve got a good D2 school coming to town that will test us but should allow the Griz to build off the positives and work on the challenges.
What becomes challenging I think for some is that a lot of us expected a loss, but suddenly its halftime and the Griz are up and the defense is looking good. We get our hopes up, but then late in the game we see the game slip out of the Grizzlies grasp. So now some of us are pissed. I’m not. I’m encouraged with some of the nice surprises in this team and I’m looking forward to seeing these guys get on track next week.
Safe travels home Griz and Griz fans – we’ve got a game to win next week! GO GRIZ!
So let’s take a deep breath, realize this was an underdog game where many of us were worried about getting ripped, and take a look at a few things objectively.
1. Our defensive line is legit. Wags had a monster game, Holmes started good but an ankle sprain slowed him down. Two sacks and a few TFLs for Takai. A fumble recovery for Rehm. Wags started of his Buck Buchanan campaign with a bang. The D-line couldn’t plug every hole but save the first drive and the late 4th quarter, they were very good.
2. Our pass coverage was improved. However lets call it for what it is, Wyo’s QB is not very good, he probably wouldn’t start for nearly half of the Big Sky schools. However for a defense that was labeled as soft in coverage, allowing everything in front of them, and unable to attack the passing game they showed some good improvement. They allowed the D-line pressure to help them out, forced a pick in the endzone, and had some good stops.
3. Jordan Johnson is a warrior and plays his BEST FOOTBALL in the hurry up. It was looking pretty rough for the Grizzly offense in the 2nd half but suddenly, and just like last season, JJ is given the green light to go hurry up and move the offense. All he does is suddenly inject life into the offense and they quickly score a TD. JJ was getting blitzed and running for his life but suddenly in the hurry up Wyo couldn’t get to him in time and he found his targets.
4. The O-line did OK. Yes… I said they did OK. No I’m not saying it was great but keep in mind the discussion all week. A lot on here were saying that JJ was going to get hurt, we wouldn’t do a single thing, the OL would totally collapse and be entirely worthless. Were they? No. This was maybe the 2nd best defensive line the Griz will see this year. There were errors, breakdowns, and issues. However form what I saw, JJ had more time than I thought he would. The running game didn’t have much going but some holes were opened up. Surprisingly for all of the worry about the tackles… it was those two who had the better games and the interior line that showed more issues.
5. TraVon Van could be a make or break this season. He is the x-factor of this team and getting him out in space as a WR was an excellent move by the coaching staff. He had a handful of big plays and made both of Wyo’s starting corners look silly trying to tackle him.
6. Lots of big plays from our linebackers. Kose picks a pass, KVA and Gamboa multiple TFLs. These guys are all about the big plays, you can tell. However they need to find more consistency and their tackling late got real bad.
7. How about our TEs, especially Saylor and Ralston? JJ loves the TE and he’s showing it again as those two guys were recipients of a ton of passes and his only TD.
8. Josh Janssen turned a strong fall camp into the first receiving TD of the season. This guy is a rising Griz star, look for more and more of this guy as he gets comfy in this offense.
OK, so here we go, now let’s talk about what everyone is grumbling about. But I’m going to start where many wont.
1. This was probably one of the very worst games I’ve ever seen JJ play. How many open targets did he sling passes to that went way over their heads. For a guy that opened last season as the epitome of efficient QB play Jordan was very inaccurate and was darn lucky he didn’t throw 3 interceptions. I don’t know if it was the pressure or something else but early on he would only opt for the short passes. Once he started going downfield he was unable to find his targets. Many completed passes were even way behind WRs too. While there’s lots of areas to pick apart that contributed to this loss… JJ’s poor performance might be one of the bigger factors.
2. I expected OL issues, but I’m not going to give them a pass because inconsistencies and bad pass protection at the wrong times might explain why JJ was having such a rough time. As I said earlier it seemed to me more of the interior line was the issue. That 4th and 3 on the Wyo 40, Logan Hines lets the DT right through to sack JJ. Stunts and blitzes were effective and mostly up the middle. Other teams will take note and the interior line is going to get attacked big time until they prove otherwise.
3. I can’t blame Kfense and Gragg on playcalling because I think they were limited with the OL and JJ’s play today. However lets dissect that last Griz drive. Down 5 with a chance to take the lead we start with a handoff that’s not worked almost all day long, loss of 4. That one you could place on the coaches. Then JJ hits Saylor in the hand 15 yards up the field, Mitch starts going up field before the ball is secured and drops it. Then 3rd down JJ checks down when he should’ve probably risked a deep throw instead, and it’s nowhere near a first down. Insult to injury, Ellis was hit late with no flag. However relying upon the refs to help convert isn’t the name of the game.
4. Special teams. Ugh. Greenberg gets the nod at kicking and the PAT is rolled and then mis-held, he stops, starts, puts a foot on it, but it’s shanked. Total mess. Then a blocked punt that anyone could see coming from a mile away. Wyo was almost getting there time and time again and then they put on a full rush and Shaw’s easily blocked. It got cleaned up after that but Shaw needs to keep that faster wind up and kicking motion going. On the good side we got a blocked punt out of Peevey and clean punts caught by Nguyen… although he did fumble and recover a kickoff…
5. Tackling late in the game. The defense opened allowing a fieldgoal. It was looking like it’d be a long day. But suddenly they buckled down. Made stops, prevented first downs. For the half of the 1st qtr, all of the 2nd, and most of the 3rd the defense was stuffing the run, pressuring the QB, and forcing 3 and outs. I was beaming, the defense was showing GREAT improvement. But then… the wheels fell off. As the announcers pointed out suddenly the linebackers were not getting off their blocks and our safeties were taking real bad angles to the ball. Hermanson got called out by the Root announcers repeatedly, he went from a good first half to a real bad 4th qtr that I’m sure most egrizzers here will continue to bitch about. Suddenly the Griz couldn’t tackle, they were getting dragged down the field, the pile was driving them back multiple yards, sure fire short gainers turned into missed tackles and big gains. The defense kept the Griz in this game but when it was needed the most, it lost its edge. Again if you’re looking for “blame” look on both sides of the ball. The offense didn’t help by not being able to do much either, the D had to go out time and time again and make a stand. Also it’s hard to keep momentum going when the offense isn’t putting any points on the board.
-----------------
So lets take this for what it is, a loss that by many thought – was going to happen. There were some quirks we did not expect and some surprises that were both bad and good. We’ll have to hear word but it seems injuries were hopefully minimal and we’ve got a good D2 school coming to town that will test us but should allow the Griz to build off the positives and work on the challenges.
What becomes challenging I think for some is that a lot of us expected a loss, but suddenly its halftime and the Griz are up and the defense is looking good. We get our hopes up, but then late in the game we see the game slip out of the Grizzlies grasp. So now some of us are pissed. I’m not. I’m encouraged with some of the nice surprises in this team and I’m looking forward to seeing these guys get on track next week.
Safe travels home Griz and Griz fans – we’ve got a game to win next week! GO GRIZ!
