The Grizzlies short spring season is over, finishing 2-0 with two blow-out wins where the Grizzly offense and defense showed off their depth, talent, and physical nature of play. After last week's blowout the talk was if they could do it again, this time against and equal opponent and today Montana proved they sure could. I know there's been some chatter from coaches/media about PSU being a possible top-5 team, I didn't see that today. They looked rusty, limited in skill on offense, and way overmatched on defense. I don't think they're probably as bad of a team as they showed today, but at this point it's pretty hard to see them as a possible bubble team to make the playoffs in the fall of 2021.
The Griz though, sure as hell looked the part, and even in two games with plenty of errors and issues to still bring up, they were dominant for the full stretch of the game. If this team can come through the summer healthy and strong they will stand great chance to be the team that finishes on top of the Big Sky.
Montana had 511 yards that was pretty well balanced, there was a blend of big plays and some wonderfully executed, dominant drives on the ground game. Defensively they held PSU to under 300 yards (78 of which on one deep pass play). They had multiple short yardage stops yet again. PSU only got into Montana territory 3 times (one of which was the TD pass). PSU was 2-13 on 3rd down and 0-4 on 4th down according to the stat sheet.
A few observations I had from this game:
1. Cam Humphrey looked better today than he did last week but still had some issues. First and foremost I hope he's ok from that wicked hit. He appeared to be out cold for a few seconds, that was really scary. His TD pass to Sulser was a strike, he found some good / open targets, he moved the offense well. He had better help with a stronger running game today, and he once again didn't take any sacks. The endzone pick was a bad throw into cover-2, he had some misses on crossing routes, and the last scoring drive of the half had a few pretty poor throws - but he recovered from that. I'm not sure if he's the "put the team on my back" guy like Sneed was, but I'm also not sure if he needs to be, especially if our ground game can keep up what they showed today. Biggest improvements I'd like to see from him over the summer has to be timing on some of these routes we saw in both games where the passes were behind.
2. Last week the stat sheet for Ostmo and Harris weren't the greatest, I brought up the low YPC numbers. That got corrected today in a major way. The O-line was dominant in all phases today and it was awesome to see - even with a high rotation of different guys, showcasing the talent at depth in this group too. 5.5 YPC, 250 rushing, and monster days for Ostmo and Harris. The injury to AJ Forbes is super concerning and didn't look good - hoping for the best for him bc he seemed to be kicking ass at center. Ostmo (IMO) had to silence a bit of the chatter on here that I saw last week that suggested he was too slow, unable to make good cuts, and not starter material. He was forceful and unstoppable today. Harris made great strides from last week as well, looking far more comfortable in his role, with 109 on the ground. I'm guessing his injury is a sprain, he was still limping after the game, but didn't need assistance.
3. I tweeted this too, I don't recall the last time we had such a physical and hard hitting secondary. Huge hits all over the place, some ending drives, disrupting passes, and stopping ball carriers short of gain. I think we're in far better shape at corner than we've maybe ever been - and the safety group has done well too. PSU was using a lot of double moves today, one went for a TD, another was successful but called back on a PSU penalty. That seems to be the key to attack the Griz corners at times - catch them on their heels bc in many situations they have no safety help. Once the defense went to a little more safer coverage (after the deep TD) PSU's ability to stretch the field was totally gone. Great adjustment there.
4. Great day for Jace Lewis, team leading 8 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 0.5 sacks, 1 INT. Really happy to have him leading the defense into the fall.
5. The defensive line showed some great stuff too. They were not pushed around at all, got some good pressure on the PSU QB, and had a bunch of big stops. McGourin and Belknap making some plays, Alford and Gubner stuffing the middle. There was some good pressure too - also that many times didn't allow the QB to escape the pocket laterally - that disrupted a lot of things too. This group will go down without the flashy stats but make no mistake - they're going to do a great job setting things up for the linebackers and safeties.
6. Another good day on special teams. PSU got one longer return off and a missed PAT. I have a feeling the kicking game might be a little shaky at times in the fall. Punt unit was great again. Flowers an awesome block, Sulser another big return.
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It's pretty hard to find much to really complain about in a blowout win against another FCS / conference school. There's plenty to clean up, need guys to get healthy, get back into the S&T routine over the summer, and get back out in the fall ready to rock.
Good crowd today - had to be more than the 4600 announced (I was told some scanners weren't working). I'd like to see Montana continue this, even if it's just 1 home game each spring - this was a lot of fun and could do some real good for fan engagement, fund raising, and work for the team.
I'm excited for the fall, I know Bobby and the players/staff are too - today showcased part of why.
Go Griz!
The Griz though, sure as hell looked the part, and even in two games with plenty of errors and issues to still bring up, they were dominant for the full stretch of the game. If this team can come through the summer healthy and strong they will stand great chance to be the team that finishes on top of the Big Sky.
Montana had 511 yards that was pretty well balanced, there was a blend of big plays and some wonderfully executed, dominant drives on the ground game. Defensively they held PSU to under 300 yards (78 of which on one deep pass play). They had multiple short yardage stops yet again. PSU only got into Montana territory 3 times (one of which was the TD pass). PSU was 2-13 on 3rd down and 0-4 on 4th down according to the stat sheet.
A few observations I had from this game:
1. Cam Humphrey looked better today than he did last week but still had some issues. First and foremost I hope he's ok from that wicked hit. He appeared to be out cold for a few seconds, that was really scary. His TD pass to Sulser was a strike, he found some good / open targets, he moved the offense well. He had better help with a stronger running game today, and he once again didn't take any sacks. The endzone pick was a bad throw into cover-2, he had some misses on crossing routes, and the last scoring drive of the half had a few pretty poor throws - but he recovered from that. I'm not sure if he's the "put the team on my back" guy like Sneed was, but I'm also not sure if he needs to be, especially if our ground game can keep up what they showed today. Biggest improvements I'd like to see from him over the summer has to be timing on some of these routes we saw in both games where the passes were behind.
2. Last week the stat sheet for Ostmo and Harris weren't the greatest, I brought up the low YPC numbers. That got corrected today in a major way. The O-line was dominant in all phases today and it was awesome to see - even with a high rotation of different guys, showcasing the talent at depth in this group too. 5.5 YPC, 250 rushing, and monster days for Ostmo and Harris. The injury to AJ Forbes is super concerning and didn't look good - hoping for the best for him bc he seemed to be kicking ass at center. Ostmo (IMO) had to silence a bit of the chatter on here that I saw last week that suggested he was too slow, unable to make good cuts, and not starter material. He was forceful and unstoppable today. Harris made great strides from last week as well, looking far more comfortable in his role, with 109 on the ground. I'm guessing his injury is a sprain, he was still limping after the game, but didn't need assistance.
3. I tweeted this too, I don't recall the last time we had such a physical and hard hitting secondary. Huge hits all over the place, some ending drives, disrupting passes, and stopping ball carriers short of gain. I think we're in far better shape at corner than we've maybe ever been - and the safety group has done well too. PSU was using a lot of double moves today, one went for a TD, another was successful but called back on a PSU penalty. That seems to be the key to attack the Griz corners at times - catch them on their heels bc in many situations they have no safety help. Once the defense went to a little more safer coverage (after the deep TD) PSU's ability to stretch the field was totally gone. Great adjustment there.
4. Great day for Jace Lewis, team leading 8 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 0.5 sacks, 1 INT. Really happy to have him leading the defense into the fall.
5. The defensive line showed some great stuff too. They were not pushed around at all, got some good pressure on the PSU QB, and had a bunch of big stops. McGourin and Belknap making some plays, Alford and Gubner stuffing the middle. There was some good pressure too - also that many times didn't allow the QB to escape the pocket laterally - that disrupted a lot of things too. This group will go down without the flashy stats but make no mistake - they're going to do a great job setting things up for the linebackers and safeties.
6. Another good day on special teams. PSU got one longer return off and a missed PAT. I have a feeling the kicking game might be a little shaky at times in the fall. Punt unit was great again. Flowers an awesome block, Sulser another big return.
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It's pretty hard to find much to really complain about in a blowout win against another FCS / conference school. There's plenty to clean up, need guys to get healthy, get back into the S&T routine over the summer, and get back out in the fall ready to rock.
Good crowd today - had to be more than the 4600 announced (I was told some scanners weren't working). I'd like to see Montana continue this, even if it's just 1 home game each spring - this was a lot of fun and could do some real good for fan engagement, fund raising, and work for the team.
I'm excited for the fall, I know Bobby and the players/staff are too - today showcased part of why.
Go Griz!