Bob Stitt is a Velociraptor (and Griz fans should calm down)
The #14 ranked Griz won against St. Francis in Week 1, but starting QB Brady Gustafson looked shaky at times. How worried should Griz fans be about the last week’s hiccups?
Bear Tycoon (Griz fan): Griz fans are right to be worried about the game this weekend (NIU is a 14 point favorite), but in general need to calm down about last week’s win over St. Francis. Fans are distraught over Gus’s first half performance, but you have to view the game as a whole.
Z-Train (Griz fan): Right. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that he is 5th in the nation in yardage.
Bear Tycoon (Griz fan): Not only that, but he spread the ball around to everyone. Last year before his injury, Gus was averaging 8.5 different WRs with a catch per game. Post-injury Gus it dropped to 6. Against St. Francis it was 10. I think it’s safe to say that this is Stitt’s system functioning how it should.
Z-Train (Griz fan): I don’t get the hate Gus–super small sample size, but it portends good things.
Here are his 2015 game stats:
NDSU: 434 yds/3 TDs/1 INT
Cal Poly: 353//1/ 3 (crappy game)
Liberty: Left game with injury
EWU: 266 /1/0 (btw, we won 57-16!!!)
MSU: 353/4/ 1
SDSU: 294/2/0
NDSU: 229/1/ 4 (bad game but in the Fargo Dome against an all-time great team)
Combined with the 2016 opener, that’s five great games against pretty good teams and two duds to me. How does that equal hate? He missed 6 games last year and still had a top 25 season in MT history: 1900 yds, 12 TDs and 57% completion. PLAYING SEVEN GAMES.
Jasper Moonshot (Griz fan): One slow first half, and people are freaking out. I’m willing to allow two quarters to dust off the cobwebs. Gus and the entire Griz team got better in the second half and will continue to get better.
Also, it takes some time to see what the defense is doing and how they react to a unique offense like the Griz play. Last year the Griz played much better in the latter half of game because I think Stitt is a velociraptor, meaning he tests the fences and learns throughout the game. The more he sees of a defense, the more he knows where the weakness are. Take a look at this clip! He’s talking about Bob Stitt!
Z-Train (Griz fan): He is a velociraptor! Check out this quote from Montanasports.com:
“[W]e keep our offense pretty basic, because then we are going to attack how they are going to attack us,” explained Stitt. “Where their weakness is, and if there is holes in their defense, or if they are over-aggressive, or whatever they are. And that’s what you saw in the game against St. Francis. As we went through the game, we were attacking the areas that they weren’t covering. So it makes it fun. It’s a blank canvas every week. And then you build the gameplan as the game goes on.”
Bear Tycoon (Griz fan): And like a velociraptor, Bob Stitt is patient. Stuck to his offense gameplan, and waited for the St. Francis defense to get tired and slow down. Much like a raptor tracking down a park visitor that wandered off the trail.
Jasper Moonshot (Griz fan): Plus the defense looked solid last week. When people ask me, “How’s the Griz Defense?” I respond, “The Griz Defense is BOOMIN’!” And Yamen Sanders will be back this week. He anchors the UM secondary. He’s a shredded beast that calls himself Aquaman.
yoked
Tough to be worried with that dude taking over the defense. Rest easy, Griz fans.
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