6 Thoughts on the Griz win over Southern Utah
The Griz looked great in their win over Southern Utah on Saturday. Six things jumped out at me from the game…
BEEF HOUSE!
Montana’s offensive play has been awesome and everything starts up front with the offensive line. The Griz have their best offensive line since their 2001 O-Line, anchored by the Hungarian Hulk, Thatcher Szalay. Their play is remarkable considering they lost Center, Ben Weyer, and they play a redshirt freshman, Angel Villanuev. Montana produced 202 rushing yards and 425 through the air. In the last two weeks Gus has thrown the ball 109 times and the O-Line surrendered only two sacks—both coverage sacks from what I can tell. These beef houses are a huge part of the reason I predicted the Griz would go undefeated—a prediction I STILL stand by because I’m that confident in the O-Line.
333.2 YPG
That’s the total yards per game that the Griz defense gives up, good for the best in the Big Sky Conference. I can’t say enough about this squad. They’re tough and punishing and fast. Ryan Johnson hasn’t been mentioned much this year but he’s a very talented player who was outstanding last year too. His INT was a BIG BALLS play and it came at a critical moment for the Griz. Caleb Kidder, Jesse Sims, and Brant Davidson dominated up front and the front forced SUU into 3rd and long situations all day. I actually started to feel bad for SUU’s QB, Patrick Tyler. He got hit on nearly every drop back and it looked like he was trying to throw from a mosh pit. By the end of the day he had the sad eyes of an emo kid who was finally tired of feeling all that pain.
KICKING SWEATS
I’m prone to over reacting and I know this about myself. But who in Griz Nation wasn’t caught at some point yesterday with the sweats after wondering if this great team will fall apart at the foot of a 5-7, 167 pound 20-year old? Coach Stitt felt it too when after Semenza shanked two extra point attempts he brought out his next in line, Brandon Purdy, who also missed his attempt. I’m upping my chill pill dosage for the time being, but I felt the sweats, and so did you.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
We saw our first glimpses of Joey Counts and Chaz Chalich. Seeing them out there reminded me how exciting both players were last year. Both players flashed their ability and reminded us that UM is deeper than a Sylvia Plath poem.
EXECUTION
The Griz went 4-4 in the red zone and converted over half of their third down attempts. Jerry Louie-McGee gets a lot of attention from defensive coordinators, but ultimately, Gus takes what the defense gives. You can see this in the way he distributes the ball. UM had 9 players register a catch, every Missoula’s Colin Bingham—a Big Sky High School product and a man with a beard well beyond his age.
TARGETING
I thought the officials blew the targeting call on Justin Strong. Read the rule here. It doesn’t appear Strong specifically targeted the head. Sure, there was forcible contact, but targeting means a purposeful hit to the head. It’s not obvious Strong aims at the head. I’m hoping officials will realize the SUU player started his slide too late. Strong was already within Hit Stick range before the slide begins. These dudes move fast and starting a slide that late quickly changes the X,Y,and Z coordinates of your head in space. There will be forcible contact with the head in football, and every time it isn’t targeting.
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