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Eastern Washington Eagles Scouting Report 2.0

BWahlberg

Well-known member
DONOR
Eastern Washington is coming to Wa-Griz on Friday after a solid win against a stout UNI team on the inferno this evening. While having made a late-season change at OC they’ve suddenly become quite stout on defense and come into this game with a major chip on their shoulder. We all saw the Limu-Jones interview last week where he said Montana didn’t deserve a seed over us – and know they’re headed here with a solid intention on proving their point. EWU is the #6 team in the country, Montana is #5. Thanks to regionalization we’re meeting this early. EWU should’ve also had a bye, but here we are. While other seeded hosts have easier matchups, we have one of the toughest matchups of the week (as does Sac State).

Of course we all know Montana has to be wanting revenge as well, they were in control for a good portion of that game in Cheney but after a messed up field goal and then two costly Humphrey picks, the game fell apart. The Griz still almost won it, with a game-tying (pending winning PAT kick) pass hitting Cole Grossman’s fingertips. Both teams come into this game with something to prove. It’s going to be a wild one in Wa Griz.

EWU’s fired up and Limu-Jones + others can’t wait.

https://twitter.com/EWUFootball/status/1464756800473894912

Eastern Washington Eagles 10-2

35-33 win vs UNLV: In a thrilling 2OT win EWU saw a 20-6 lead melt away in the face of a UNLV comeback, however EWU had a chance to seal it in regulation with a chip shot kick to win it on the UNLV 14 yard line… but they missed the kick. Into OT UNLV seemed to be unaware that EB3 is probably the best QB in the FCS. In both rounds EWU scored a TD on their first play. Barriere in both possessions found open targets in the endzone as UNLV didn’t seem to think they needed to defend that, lol. In the 2nd OT EWU did successfully complete their 2 point conversation. UNLV though did not. Stats were as you might have generally thought, EWU had major passing numbers, almost 375, but had 2 picks thrown. While UNLV had almost 200 rushing yards. UNLV went big time on ball control, counting in the OT they had over 47:00 TOP – but their inability to end more drives with TDs finally did them in.

63-14 win vs Central Washington: An expected outcome, D2 CWU couldn’t hang with EWU’s high powered offense. EWU passed for 323 and ran for 322 – almost perfectly balanced, while CWU had just about 240 total yards of offense. It looks to me that Barriere played the first possession of the 3rd quarter and then the backups came in after that.

62-56 win vs Western Illinois: A game of offensive firepower on both sides was on display. I know many of us followed this game. It was 55-21 EWU at the half, but WIU stormed back with 28 unanswered points (21 of which in the 4th quarter) to get the game much closer. WIU’s last score came with 2:00 to go in the game but they were unable to grab the onsides kick and EWU ran out the clock. In the game EWU passed for almost 550 yards while WIU passed for almost 470 – there was almost 1400 total yards of combined offense. This game certainly proved that getting in a shootout with EWU isn’t a good idea.

50-21 win vs Southern Utah: EWU lead the whole way but it was kind of close for a while, it was 30-21 mid-way through the 3rd quarter, but SUU just couldn’t hang and EWU rattled off the last 20 points (3 TDs, 1 pissed PAT) to push the game out of reach. Another big passing day for EB3, 518 yards through the air. SUU passed for 240 and ran for 101

34-28 win vs Montana: Think we all know what happened here. EB3 and Limu-Jones went crazy and Montana saw a game where they had good control for a while totally unravel. Add in this was the start of a major haul of injuries for Montana too.

63-17 win vs Northern Colorado: Yeah, UNC couldn’t hang. EWU had a kind of muted showing on offense with just 480 total yards of offense but they also held UNC to just 227 yards on offense.

71-21 win vs Idaho: EWU’s offense got back to what they do best with 624 passing and 213 rushing as they absolutely demolished Idaho. EB3 had 600 passing yards and 7 TDs in the game.

34-35 loss vs Weber State: The game that I assume playoff committee members circled as to why EWU didn’t get a seed. Fair or not, EWU was the only team in the Big Sky conference to a non-playoff bound school, and this was it. It was a tight game the whole way, but Weber’s stout rushing attack wore down the EWU defense as the game went on and it allowed Weber to secure the upset win. Weber was 4-4 on 4th down, including 3 fake punts. They out-gained Weber with 482 total yards (213 rush / 269 passing). EB3 was held to 245 passing and 2 TDs. He did have 85 rushing and 1 TD there as well. What really looms over EWU is their ongoing kicking issues, they missed a PAT with 2:51 remaining to set the score at 35-34… and never got the ball back.

20-23 loss vs Montana State: I think a lot of us watched this game. MSU’s stout defense held EWU to just 314 total yards, while the cats ran for almost 300 yards and passed for 250. EWU’s OC would be fired after this game. It was a windy and dismal day, that might’ve had an impact on EWU’s offense. Cats TOP was over 36:00 and they held EWU to 3-14 on 3rd down.

38-20 win @ UC Davis: Backs to the wall, EWU got a big win to put them back on track. It was a close game for 3 quarters with EWU leading 24-20 until about 11:00 left in the game, however they would score the last 14 points of the game and put UCD away. EWU’s offense did what they usually do, over 400 passing and over 200 rushing. What was more fascinating was their defense, holding UCD to 283 total yards of offense (123 rushing / 159 passing). EWU forced 2 turnovers and held the ball for over 36:00 of clock. One of UCD’s scores came on a kick return.

42-28 win @ Portland State: PSU was up 21-14 into the 3rd and it was looking like it might be a game… then EWU scored 28 points in the gap of 8:30 in the 3rd and 14:02 in the 4th and the game was effectively over. PSU actually had more passing yards (340 to 320) but lost 2 fumbles and had 4 turnvoers on downs – all of which lead to 21 points for EWU.

19-9 win vs Northern Iowa: First round playoff action, while EWU’s offense looked choppy, their defense came to play, again. Yes UNI out-gained them 423 to 412, however UNI had two turnovers on downs in the 1st and 4th quarters – both inside the EWU 5 yard line. UNI also tossed 3 interceptions.


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General Stats

Passing yards per game EWU (390 for EWU vs 236 for UM)
Rushing yards per game EWU (162 for EWU vs 132 for UM)
Total offense EWU (552 for EWU vs 368 for UM)
Passing yards allowed per game UM (227 for EWU vs 216 for UM)
Rushing yards allowed per game UM (158 for EWU vs 75 for UM)
Total defense UM (385 for EWU vs 290 for UM)

In a surprise to no one, EWU gets all the stats on offense, UM gets all the stats on defense. 3-3

Offense points scored EWU (44.2 for EWU vs 29.3 for UM)
Defense points allowed UM (25.4 for EWU vs 13 for UM)
Turnover margin EWU – (+14 for EWU / +6 for UM)
Fieldgoal % UM (55% for EWU vs 82% for UM)
Punt Returns UM (4 yards for EWU vs 11.4 yards for UM)
Kick Returns UM (17 yards for EWU vs 27.4 yards for UM)
T.O.P. UM (27:44 for EWU vs 28:04 for UM)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) UM (64% EWU / 46% UM)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) EWU (72% EWU / 49% UM)
3rd down offense EWU – (50% for EWU / 37% for UM)
3rd down defense UM – (31% allowed for EWU vs 29% allowed for UM)

Again, nothing that really is shocking here, Montana gets categories related to special teams and defense, while EWU gets all categories on offense – save TOP – which really doesn’t matter to them anyways. EWU gets 4, Montana gets 7. Final is EWU 7 – Montana 10. I went back and checked from the first game… it was identical, 10-7 Montana.

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Players to Watch:

#3 Eric Barrriere – QB: The best player on offense in the Big Sky, probably the front-runner for the Walter Payton as well. We all know EB3 and know what he can do. He can beat teams with his arm and his feet. We’ve seen that sometimes pressure can rattle the guy, but he also will stay in a play until the very last second – take a huge hit – and still deliver a pass on the money. He’s averaging almost 380 passing, and 20 rushing yards per game. 41 passing TDs, 4 rushing TDs, and just 7 interceptions.

#1 Talolo Limu-Jones – WR: The best WR in the Big Sky, and one of the best in the FCS. Fans (our pod account included) has been bringing up what Limu-Jones has been saying about Montana, seeding, and the playoffs. Honestly, he’s probably earned the right to talk, and I have a feeling that the replies from fan accounts to him are helping motivate him even more. He put up 231 yards against Montana in the first matchup. On the year he’s averaging 90 ypg and has 4 receiving TDs. He’s 6-4, 200… total nightmare of a matchup.

#89 Efton Chism, III – WR: Averaging 60 ypg receiving, he’s got a team best 9 receiving TDs. This guy is what their fans are saying is their next Cooper Kupp. His production has slowed a bit in the prior few games, but he is a major redzone threat and has excellent hands.

#11 Freddie Roberson – WR: As Chism’s production has slipped a little of late, Roberson’s has gone way up. This 6-2 WR himself is averaging about 75 yards per game receiving and has 6 receiving TDs. Roberson had 93 yards against UCD and had 127 against UNI.

#6 Dennis Merritt – RB: One of the conference’s best RBs (top two I’d say – between him and Ifanse), this 5-10, 180 pound senior has 853 rushing yards and 14 total rushing TDs, he’s also got 368 receiving yards and 3 TDs there.

#24 Tamarick Pierce – RB: A guy we didn’t see in the first matchup, a bigger back at 215 pounds, he’s been adding workload since his return. In 4 games he’s averaging about 40 yards per game and has 1 TD. He had a heavier rotation against UCD and UNI. Expect to see a lot of him.

#3 Andrew Boston – WR: The 6-3 junior has the 2nd most receptions on the team, he’s averaging 69 yards per game (nice), and has 6 receiving TDs. He’s got a few rushing attempts and 1 rushing TD as well.

#18 Ty Graham – LB: This guy seems to be in on every play, a hard hitting linebacker with 107 total tackles this season. The Cheney native also has 8.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT, and 1 fumble recovery.

#8 Jack Sendelbech – LB: At 6-3, 225, he had maybe one of his best games against Montana this year. He’s 2nd on the team in tackles with 88. He’s got 10.5 TFLs and 1.5 sacks, with 1 forced fumble as well.

#55 Joshua Jerome – DL: A 280 pound lineman this guy leads the team in sacks (6.5), TFLs (14), and forced fumbles (3). He’s also 4th highest on the team with 56 total tackles.

#20 Marlon Jones, JR – DB: Jones has the team best in interceptions with 3, he’s also 5th best in stops with 47.

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Keys to a Grizzly Victory:

1. Keep EB3 uncomfortable and don’t let him beat you deep. This guy is a bear of a task to keep under wraps. Weber and MSU did it, UNI did a little as well too. Interestingly enough – all 3 of those teams mostly just sent their front 4 and kept a spy on Eric who would rush/rattle him if he got out of the pocket. It worked well enough to keep the EWU offense to an average of 24 points per game over that stretch. However, we know that’s not Montana’s style on defense. Last time we blitzed the hell out of him and it worked… until it didn’t. I think Montana needs to find a better blend of high pressure but then not allowing these badass EWU WR’s to get beyond the last line of defense – which they did in our fist matchup. If Montana can bend, but not break – as the field shortens – they could force EWU’s shaky kicking game into more field goal attempts than TDs. That’s got to be the big goal defensively.

2. Somehow find a way to get our red zone offense going. I love our guy #MoneyMacias and if the game comes down to him, I trust he’s going to drill the game winner. However, before that point Montana’s offense has to actually put multiple TDs on the board Friday night. The Grizzly offense has been downright bad this year in the red zone, and honestly just scoring TDs in general. We’ve had 3 games this year where the ST/D has “out-scored” the production of the Grizzly offense. If Montana’s offense can only account for 1 TD like they did against MSU and NAU on Friday, the Grizzlies will lose this game. I don’t have the ideal solution here, it needs to be a group effort of improved running, blocking from the OL, decisions by Cam, and for some WRs who’ve had bad RZ drops – to haul in all of those catches.

3. Find a way to get Flowers the ball. EWU’s not going to kick to him, get this guy in on the action somehow. More end-arounds/sweeps, have him creep up on kicks possibly. I’d like to see 8+ touches for Malik. I think he’s a mis-match in many ways against the EWU defense – especially if Akem/Roberts are drawing the primary coverage.

4. +2 or better in turnovers. 2 bad picks the last time we played helped seal Montana’s fate. EWU’s turnover margin is WAY better than Montana’s too. The Griz are going to need to be as error free as possible and force EB3 and company into some mistakes – ones they don’t make much of, honestly.

5. A career day for Cam. I feel he has this in him too. We’ve not seen Cam’s best game yet and my hope is we can see it – or something close to it – on Friday. We’re going to have to see continued accuracy with very few overthrows (ahem – cat game) – and some great decisions on RPO and pass rush protection. Cam’s going to have to run again, EWU is great with bringing heat. Obviously he knows now to slide more – so avoid those giant hits for no reason please.

6. I really want to see a more physical and imposing Grizzly team than what I saw from them on TV against EWU the first time. It looked to me like EWU, especially on defense, was the more imposing team that night.

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Both teams come into this game with something to prove. Montana wants revenge, EWU wants to prove the playoff committee they were done dirty. One team on Friday is going to come away with a lot of bragging rights and will move on to (presumably) head to JMU. This is the closet ranked matchup in this round as well and probably the biggest toss-up game on the docket. I’m seeing the sports simulator sites are giving EWU a 2 point advantage, I see odds have Montana at 3.5. This one feels like a toss-up to me as well. I don’t expect Montana to beat the hell out of EWU like many hope. This Eastern team is loaded with seniors, pretty healthy, and is now finding it’s footing on defense as well. I expect this one to come down to the wire, just like the first matchup. If it does come down to a kick, I like our odds way more than I like theirs. I’m excited as hell for this game and just about as nervous as well. I could see it either way, but I’m putting on my maroon glasses and am going to say Montana wins in a thrilling game, 33-30.

Go Griz!
 
In game one Griz were without Gavin Robertson that is a huge plus for Griz D this game.
Grossman had his coming out party in the EWU game and has been a huge weapon since then.

One thing I hate about EWU having a shaky kicker is their willingness to go for it on 4th down. Griz have to stop them in those situations.

Griz are about as healthy for this matchup as they have been for any game this season since Washington. Having 2 healthy RB's and Bergen in the slot will be huge.
 
In the first game, the EWU defense was able to pressure Cam a lot more than I thought, but they weren't as good at pressure in their later games. Can anyone explain the difference? Was it injuries or scheme?
 
MontanaJack2006 said:
Cam getting a week off to rest that ankle is going to be huge. I can't friggin wait for Friday

And the swelling down on that throwing hand. He smacked a cat helmet pretty hard. X needed it as well. I’m sure he was sore all last week. Quite frankly this whole dang team needed this bye way more than that week 3 bye or whatever it was.
 
fencer24 said:
In the first game, the EWU defense was able to pressure Cam a lot more than I thought, but they weren't as good at pressure in their later games. Can anyone explain the difference? Was it injuries or scheme?

They didn't get to play against the Griz OL.
 
Mavman said:
In game one Griz were without Gavin Robertson that is a huge plus for Griz D this game.
Grossman had his coming out party in the EWU game and has been a huge weapon since then.

One thing I hate about EWU having a shaky kicker is their willingness to go for it on 4th down. Griz have to stop them in those situations.

Griz are about as healthy for this matchup as they have been for any game this season since Washington. Having 2 healthy RB's and Bergen in the slot will be huge.

We were also without Joe Babros and I think D'ari Todd got hurt in the game too.
 
Thanks again Brint! Your score of 33-30 makes me a little uneasy as I am thinking the Griz by 17+. As long as the Griz win, score doesn't matter.

Go Griz!
 
Primary thing that needs to change? SUSTAIN DRIVES. If we go 3-out 4/5 times in a row, it’ll be game over. We can NOT have that 15-20 minute stretch where we stop playing football against EWU….it’s happened literally every time we’ve lost to them in the past 10 years….and it happened again this year. We hit a prolonged scoreless drought in a close game (or with the lead) and they run off 21-24 points and win the game, scoring seemingly at will against a gassed defense. Can’t let that happen.
 
Griz need to limit their possessions, last game they wore out our defense. Not sure if that means better management of the game clock, obviously if we can get our running game going and have a few long drives it will help a bunch. They made a really good 2nd half adjustment last game, they kept their running back in to block our blitzes through the A gap, it gave them the extra time to get those passes off, we never could really adjust to that it seemed. Can't wait!!
 
BWahlberg said:
Eastern Washington is coming to Wa-Griz on Friday after a solid win against a stout UNI team on the inferno this evening. While having made a late-season change at OC they’ve suddenly become quite stout on defense and come into this game with a major chip on their shoulder. We all saw the Limu-Jones interview last week where he said Montana didn’t deserve a seed over us – and know they’re headed here with a solid intention on proving their point. EWU is the #6 team in the country, Montana is #5. Thanks to regionalization we’re meeting this early. EWU should’ve also had a bye, but here we are. While other seeded hosts have easier matchups, we have one of the toughest matchups of the week (as does Sac State).

Of course we all know Montana has to be wanting revenge as well, they were in control for a good portion of that game in Cheney but after a messed up field goal and then two costly Humphrey picks, the game fell apart. The Griz still almost won it, with a game-tying (pending winning PAT kick) pass hitting Cole Grossman’s fingertips. Both teams come into this game with something to prove. It’s going to be a wild one in Wa Griz.

EWU’s fired up and Limu-Jones + others can’t wait.

https://twitter.com/EWUFootball/status/1464756800473894912

Eastern Washington Eagles 10-2

35-33 win vs UNLV: In a thrilling 2OT win EWU saw a 20-6 lead melt away in the face of a UNLV comeback, however EWU had a chance to seal it in regulation with a chip shot kick to win it on the UNLV 14 yard line… but they missed the kick. Into OT UNLV seemed to be unaware that EB3 is probably the best QB in the FCS. In both rounds EWU scored a TD on their first play. Barriere in both possessions found open targets in the endzone as UNLV didn’t seem to think they needed to defend that, lol. In the 2nd OT EWU did successfully complete their 2 point conversation. UNLV though did not. Stats were as you might have generally thought, EWU had major passing numbers, almost 375, but had 2 picks thrown. While UNLV had almost 200 rushing yards. UNLV went big time on ball control, counting in the OT they had over 47:00 TOP – but their inability to end more drives with TDs finally did them in.

63-14 win vs Central Washington: An expected outcome, D2 CWU couldn’t hang with EWU’s high powered offense. EWU passed for 323 and ran for 322 – almost perfectly balanced, while CWU had just about 240 total yards of offense. It looks to me that Barriere played the first possession of the 3rd quarter and then the backups came in after that.

62-56 win vs Western Illinois: A game of offensive firepower on both sides was on display. I know many of us followed this game. It was 55-21 EWU at the half, but WIU stormed back with 28 unanswered points (21 of which in the 4th quarter) to get the game much closer. WIU’s last score came with 2:00 to go in the game but they were unable to grab the onsides kick and EWU ran out the clock. In the game EWU passed for almost 550 yards while WIU passed for almost 470 – there was almost 1400 total yards of combined offense. This game certainly proved that getting in a shootout with EWU isn’t a good idea.

50-21 win vs Southern Utah: EWU lead the whole way but it was kind of close for a while, it was 30-21 mid-way through the 3rd quarter, but SUU just couldn’t hang and EWU rattled off the last 20 points (3 TDs, 1 pissed PAT) to push the game out of reach. Another big passing day for EB3, 518 yards through the air. SUU passed for 240 and ran for 101

34-28 win vs Montana: Think we all know what happened here. EB3 and Limu-Jones went crazy and Montana saw a game where they had good control for a while totally unravel. Add in this was the start of a major haul of injuries for Montana too.

63-17 win vs Northern Colorado: Yeah, UNC couldn’t hang. EWU had a kind of muted showing on offense with just 480 total yards of offense but they also held UNC to just 227 yards on offense.

71-21 win vs Idaho: EWU’s offense got back to what they do best with 624 passing and 213 rushing as they absolutely demolished Idaho. EB3 had 600 passing yards and 7 TDs in the game.

34-35 loss vs Weber State: The game that I assume playoff committee members circled as to why EWU didn’t get a seed. Fair or not, EWU was the only team in the Big Sky conference to a non-playoff bound school, and this was it. It was a tight game the whole way, but Weber’s stout rushing attack wore down the EWU defense as the game went on and it allowed Weber to secure the upset win. Weber was 4-4 on 4th down, including 3 fake punts. They out-gained Weber with 482 total yards (213 rush / 269 passing). EB3 was held to 245 passing and 2 TDs. He did have 85 rushing and 1 TD there as well. What really looms over EWU is their ongoing kicking issues, they missed a PAT with 2:51 remaining to set the score at 35-34… and never got the ball back.

20-23 loss vs Montana State: I think a lot of us watched this game. MSU’s stout defense held EWU to just 314 total yards, while the cats ran for almost 300 yards and passed for 250. EWU’s OC would be fired after this game. It was a windy and dismal day, that might’ve had an impact on EWU’s offense. Cats TOP was over 36:00 and they held EWU to 3-14 on 3rd down.

38-20 win @ UC Davis: Backs to the wall, EWU got a big win to put them back on track. It was a close game for 3 quarters with EWU leading 24-20 until about 11:00 left in the game, however they would score the last 14 points of the game and put UCD away. EWU’s offense did what they usually do, over 400 passing and over 200 rushing. What was more fascinating was their defense, holding UCD to 283 total yards of offense (123 rushing / 159 passing). EWU forced 2 turnovers and held the ball for over 36:00 of clock. One of UCD’s scores came on a kick return.

42-28 win @ Portland State: PSU was up 21-14 into the 3rd and it was looking like it might be a game… then EWU scored 28 points in the gap of 8:30 in the 3rd and 14:02 in the 4th and the game was effectively over. PSU actually had more passing yards (340 to 320) but lost 2 fumbles and had 4 turnvoers on downs – all of which lead to 21 points for EWU.

19-9 win vs Northern Iowa: First round playoff action, while EWU’s offense looked choppy, their defense came to play, again. Yes UNI out-gained them 423 to 412, however UNI had two turnovers on downs in the 1st and 4th quarters – both inside the EWU 5 yard line. UNI also tossed 3 interceptions.


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General Stats

Passing yards per game EWU (390 for EWU vs 236 for UM)
Rushing yards per game EWU (162 for EWU vs 132 for UM)
Total offense EWU (552 for EWU vs 368 for UM)
Passing yards allowed per game UM (227 for EWU vs 216 for UM)
Rushing yards allowed per game UM (158 for EWU vs 75 for UM)
Total defense UM (385 for EWU vs 290 for UM)

In a surprise to no one, EWU gets all the stats on offense, UM gets all the stats on defense. 3-3

Offense points scored EWU (44.2 for EWU vs 29.3 for UM)
Defense points allowed UM (25.4 for EWU vs 13 for UM)
Turnover margin EWU – (+14 for EWU / +6 for UM)
Fieldgoal % UM (55% for EWU vs 82% for UM)
Punt Returns UM (4 yards for EWU vs 11.4 yards for UM)
Kick Returns UM (17 yards for EWU vs 27.4 yards for UM)
T.O.P. UM (27:44 for EWU vs 28:04 for UM)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) UM (64% EWU / 46% UM)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) EWU (72% EWU / 49% UM)
3rd down offense EWU – (50% for EWU / 37% for UM)
3rd down defense UM – (31% allowed for EWU vs 29% allowed for UM)

Again, nothing that really is shocking here, Montana gets categories related to special teams and defense, while EWU gets all categories on offense – save TOP – which really doesn’t matter to them anyways. EWU gets 4, Montana gets 7. Final is EWU 7 – Montana 10. I went back and checked from the first game… it was identical, 10-7 Montana.

--------------------
Players to Watch:

#3 Eric Barrriere – QB: The best player on offense in the Big Sky, probably the front-runner for the Walter Payton as well. We all know EB3 and know what he can do. He can beat teams with his arm and his feet. We’ve seen that sometimes pressure can rattle the guy, but he also will stay in a play until the very last second – take a huge hit – and still deliver a pass on the money. He’s averaging almost 380 passing, and 20 rushing yards per game. 41 passing TDs, 4 rushing TDs, and just 7 interceptions.

#1 Talolo Limu-Jones – WR: The best WR in the Big Sky, and one of the best in the FCS. Fans (our pod account included) has been bringing up what Limu-Jones has been saying about Montana, seeding, and the playoffs. Honestly, he’s probably earned the right to talk, and I have a feeling that the replies from fan accounts to him are helping motivate him even more. He put up 231 yards against Montana in the first matchup. On the year he’s averaging 90 ypg and has 4 receiving TDs. He’s 6-4, 200… total nightmare of a matchup.

#89 Efton Chism, III – WR: Averaging 60 ypg receiving, he’s got a team best 9 receiving TDs. This guy is what their fans are saying is their next Cooper Kupp. His production has slowed a bit in the prior few games, but he is a major redzone threat and has excellent hands.

#11 Freddie Roberson – WR: As Chism’s production has slipped a little of late, Roberson’s has gone way up. This 6-2 WR himself is averaging about 75 yards per game receiving and has 6 receiving TDs. Roberson had 93 yards against UCD and had 127 against UNI.

#6 Dennis Merritt – RB: One of the conference’s best RBs (top two I’d say – between him and Ifanse), this 5-10, 180 pound senior has 853 rushing yards and 14 total rushing TDs, he’s also got 368 receiving yards and 3 TDs there.

#24 Tamarick Pierce – RB: A guy we didn’t see in the first matchup, a bigger back at 215 pounds, he’s been adding workload since his return. In 4 games he’s averaging about 40 yards per game and has 1 TD. He had a heavier rotation against UCD and UNI. Expect to see a lot of him.

#3 Andrew Boston – WR: The 6-3 junior has the 2nd most receptions on the team, he’s averaging 69 yards per game (nice), and has 6 receiving TDs. He’s got a few rushing attempts and 1 rushing TD as well.

#18 Ty Graham – LB: This guy seems to be in on every play, a hard hitting linebacker with 107 total tackles this season. The Cheney native also has 8.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT, and 1 fumble recovery.

#8 Jack Sendelbech – LB: At 6-3, 225, he had maybe one of his best games against Montana this year. He’s 2nd on the team in tackles with 88. He’s got 10.5 TFLs and 1.5 sacks, with 1 forced fumble as well.

#55 Joshua Jerome – DL: A 280 pound lineman this guy leads the team in sacks (6.5), TFLs (14), and forced fumbles (3). He’s also 4th highest on the team with 56 total tackles.

#20 Marlon Jones, JR – DB: Jones has the team best in interceptions with 3, he’s also 5th best in stops with 47.

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Keys to a Grizzly Victory:

1. Keep EB3 uncomfortable and don’t let him beat you deep. This guy is a bear of a task to keep under wraps. Weber and MSU did it, UNI did a little as well too. Interestingly enough – all 3 of those teams mostly just sent their front 4 and kept a spy on Eric who would rush/rattle him if he got out of the pocket. It worked well enough to keep the EWU offense to an average of 24 points per game over that stretch. However, we know that’s not Montana’s style on defense. Last time we blitzed the hell out of him and it worked… until it didn’t. I think Montana needs to find a better blend of high pressure but then not allowing these badass EWU WR’s to get beyond the last line of defense – which they did in our fist matchup. If Montana can bend, but not break – as the field shortens – they could force EWU’s shaky kicking game into more field goal attempts than TDs. That’s got to be the big goal defensively.

2. Somehow find a way to get our red zone offense going. I love our guy #MoneyMacias and if the game comes down to him, I trust he’s going to drill the game winner. However, before that point Montana’s offense has to actually put multiple TDs on the board Friday night. The Grizzly offense has been downright bad this year in the red zone, and honestly just scoring TDs in general. We’ve had 3 games this year where the ST/D has “out-scored” the production of the Grizzly offense. If Montana’s offense can only account for 1 TD like they did against MSU and NAU on Friday, the Grizzlies will lose this game. I don’t have the ideal solution here, it needs to be a group effort of improved running, blocking from the OL, decisions by Cam, and for some WRs who’ve had bad RZ drops – to haul in all of those catches.

3. Find a way to get Flowers the ball. EWU’s not going to kick to him, get this guy in on the action somehow. More end-arounds/sweeps, have him creep up on kicks possibly. I’d like to see 8+ touches for Malik. I think he’s a mis-match in many ways against the EWU defense – especially if Akem/Roberts are drawing the primary coverage.

4. +2 or better in turnovers. 2 bad picks the last time we played helped seal Montana’s fate. EWU’s turnover margin is WAY better than Montana’s too. The Griz are going to need to be as error free as possible and force EB3 and company into some mistakes – ones they don’t make much of, honestly.

5. A career day for Cam. I feel he has this in him too. We’ve not seen Cam’s best game yet and my hope is we can see it – or something close to it – on Friday. We’re going to have to see continued accuracy with very few overthrows (ahem – cat game) – and some great decisions on RPO and pass rush protection. Cam’s going to have to run again, EWU is great with bringing heat. Obviously he knows now to slide more – so avoid those giant hits for no reason please.

6. I really want to see a more physical and imposing Grizzly team than what I saw from them on TV against EWU the first time. It looked to me like EWU, especially on defense, was the more imposing team that night.

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Both teams come into this game with something to prove. Montana wants revenge, EWU wants to prove the playoff committee they were done dirty. One team on Friday is going to come away with a lot of bragging rights and will move on to (presumably) head to JMU. This is the closet ranked matchup in this round as well and probably the biggest toss-up game on the docket. I’m seeing the sports simulator sites are giving EWU a 2 point advantage, I see odds have Montana at 3.5. This one feels like a toss-up to me as well. I don’t expect Montana to beat the hell out of EWU like many hope. This Eastern team is loaded with seniors, pretty healthy, and is now finding it’s footing on defense as well. I expect this one to come down to the wire, just like the first matchup. If it does come down to a kick, I like our odds way more than I like theirs. I’m excited as hell for this game and just about as nervous as well. I could see it either way, but I’m putting on my maroon glasses and am going to say Montana wins in a thrilling game, 33-30.

Go Griz!

Great report as always, Brint. You are the Treasure of the Treasure State.

My problem is, quarterback is the most important position on the field. And at that position, Eastern has the best quarterback at our level, while on our side we're hoping for a "career day" from a quarterback who not only makes bad throws and the occasional bad decision (going into a slide two yards short of what seemed a makeable and critical first down against the Cats), but lacks the explosive dimension to put a lot of points on the board in short in a short period of time, should we fall behind.

I love what Hauck has done with this program. And with our defense, we're not going to be out of any game.

But before Montana ascends to championship level, he's got to get us back to elite status at quarterback.
 
I have a feeling Akem is going to dominate the secondary and take over the game......in my mind he is due and has the ability....he is a senior, now is the time.....we win 27-21
 
If the offense can score 28 points and we can hold them below 100 yards rushing, I think we'll come away with a win.

The offense absolutely cannot go stone cold for longer than a drive or so in this game, or we will be watching EWU move on at the end of the night.
 
Excellent job as always. I think the Griz can run the ball some on these guys. I would love to see Grossman get 7 or 8 catches and that would open up stuff for Sammy and Roberts. I think he is an exceptional athlete and is so tough to cover for LB's and smaller DB's. He only had one catch in first matchup. I think he has a BIG night! Go Griz!
 
BW - In your 33-30 guesstimate are you thinking we can score 33 on Offense?
Or do you (and others) think we are going to have to score some on D/ST?

We will definitely have to win or not lose the turnover battle in this one.
 
EWU isn't a great match up for the Griz. I see the Eags coming in and imposing their will on offense, and this place is going to be an epic shit show Friday night. :twocents:
 
Mavman said:
In game one Griz were without Gavin Robertson that is a huge plus for Griz D this game.
Grossman had his coming out party in the EWU game and has been a huge weapon since then.

One thing I hate about EWU having a shaky kicker is their willingness to go for it on 4th down. Griz have to stop them in those situations.

Griz are about as healthy for this matchup as they have been for any game this season since Washington. Having 2 healthy RB's and Bergen in the slot will be huge.

We were also missing Babros on the end.
 
…thinking brint has it half right…
…griz get the 33..edub only gets 10…
…just like the cats..smackm..faakem…

… :shock: …
 
D gets home, 34-17 good guys just like 2019. Also lama Jones gets fucking popped in the mouth. The only running his mouth is doing after the game is drooling blood.
 
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