Thanks to my evening work schedule, I only watched 3 quarters before work.
Anyway, I watched the final quarter just now (gotta love a dvr). Going into this season, I expected the team to be 2-1, at this stage. I thought we would lose a tight one to Northern Iowa, and win tight one against Cal Poly. We always have difficulty with Poly's triple option attack. Unfortunately, this game was no exception. It really has not mattered who our DC is. That option attack is a pain in the ass!!! We struggled against it even when Hauck was coaching. Our defense was not helped at all by the offense turning the ball over to give them short fields for scores.
PR, summed it up well. This is a team loss. The offense looked much better, but turnovers are costly. Even more costly when they are deep in your own territory. So, that is 14 points on the offense. Speaking of offense, I am very encouraged by the improvement, since the UNI game. I expected this offense to be inconsistent through 5 to 6 games this season. The passing game looked terrific. We saw the offense starting to use the middle of the field a little more (still have a way to go). We are seeing the impact a go to YAC type of player, JLM does for this offense. Granted, he had a game for the ages, statistically. However, what I like even more is how his presence is helping his other WR's play roles in this offense. Justin Calhoun, Keenan Curran, Caleb Lyons are all having their development made easier because of JLM. We already know what we get from Horner.
The offense will likely use this game as a foundation. A few things need to happen to continue progressive improvement. As a whole, the WR's need to learn to create separation. They are really struggling with that. Hence, 1 of the reasons for this offense not using the long ball as much as Stitt and Gustafson would like. The sign of the timing passes sure is encouraging though. The OL has to become more consistent, in both run blocking and pass blocking. So far, Gus and the WR's do not consistently have the time to improve the deeper passing game. Also, there is very little threat of running game. Run blocking needs a lot more consistency. Right now, Calhoun is the best back for this offense, being he hits the LOS much quicker than Nguyen. To me, the reliance on JLM and the short passing game really is not all that surprising, and actually makes sense why the GRIZ are relying on it.
Considering the offense still being a work in progress, the passing numbers and Gus's performance is actually quite encouraging. Hard to believe, an offense with much to improve on can put up 40+ points and 400 plus yards. Imagine how this offense can be when they are able to use a running game and deep passes? Overall, great job by the offense. I am looking forward to watching this offense continue to add more wrinkles and become more consistent over the next 3 games.
Defensively, I am disappointed by another struggle for a GRIZ defense to better contain Poly's triple option. I am disappointed and surprised, this defense gave up big passing plays this game. That was a huge problem last season as well, even under another DC. Then again, this is an offense we very seldom see. The good news, the GRIZ will face more conventional offenses rest of the regular season. I actually like how the GRIZ defense match up against non triple option offenses. Yes, there are some great offenses in this conference, but I really am not that worried about the defense.
In my opinion, this team is headed for great things. The quicker the OL and running game can become better, the quicker this offense can begin to meet it's potential. I think this offense will have it together quite well after mid October. In the meantime, the defense needs to find it's mojo again.
Be patient, GRIZ NATION. There is a lot to like about this team, despite the loss to Poly.
