Griz vs NDSU

[Cat Grad]

Despite Stitts innovation, he is going to have a hard time covering the thin spots as the injury bug takes hold. Attrition is the the real bugaboo of this game. His defense is thin in some spots and one or two injuries will put them in a bind. It takes planning, luck and quality depth to stay at the top. Just saying, one good win at home, does not a season make.

Walsh has been in this conference forever it seems like. Next couple will tell whether this is just early success with relatively unknown variables to the NDSU staff or if they are real. Poly and Liberty will have tape to look at and prepare for their games.

[[cat_bracket]]

You mainly won because NDSU just isn't that good defensively right now. You had more points and more yards on them than you did on our sorry defense last year. I wouldn't be giving all the credit to Stitt so fast.

Yeah, I'm sure the new offense had nothing to do with us scoring more points and gaining more yards than we did against you.

Are you just trying to look stupid at this point?

No, but you appear to be giving it your best shot. Where did I say your offense had nothing to do with it? Please point that out as I can't seem to find it in my three sentence post.

[[cat_bracket]]

This is beautiful. So NDSU has a lame, sorry-ass defense. I wish the fools who ranked NDSU #1 in the nation had thought to call these geniuses first. Now we've circled back to the reasoning that Montana owes its win to NDSU's mediocrity. If only the national writers would tap into the Einsteins of Bobcatnation forum chat.

Did you actually think the pollsters looked that closely? They almost always rank the previous champ #1. In FCS they have most of the quarter finalists ranked 1-8.

Allowing 544 yards is lame, yes. Even NDSU fans will tell you that.

[John K]

Congrats to the griz for a great win. It was a well played game. However I look at this game in being like an FCS team knocking off an FBS team on the first game of the year. NDSU has been pretty dominant the last 4-5 years and have knocked of big time FBS teams on their own.

I hope most griz fans can see that although it is a great win not the national championship, there is still the rest of the season to go and a lot can happen. MSU beat Colorado in Boulder but didn't we lose to a D2 school that same season?

Yep, we lost to D-II Chadron (i.e. "Woodhead U") the very next game, in our home opener. We also lost the next two games, both at home, to fall to 1-3. Then we turned things around, and ended up going to the QF in the playoffs for the first time in 22 years. The moral of the story...that was obviously a great win for UM, but it's still only one game, and they're likely to go through a few peaks and valleys during the course of the season.

That final drive was particularly impressive. They marched 80 yards in 1:37 against the four time national champs, and ran 16 plays! Running that many plays in a minute and a half is pretty incredible. And I don't believe they even burned any of their timeouts until right at the very end, once they got down close to the goal line. Most teams probably average only about 65 plays for an entire game, and they ran 25% of that number on that one final drive, in only 1:37 of game time. It seems that they really can play very fast, if they need/want to.

Something that I found a bit odd, which no one else has commented about, was that Stitt was not particularly aggressive when it came to going for it on 4th down, when UM was in FG range. If they had not come back and won, Griz fans would have crucified him for kicking the FG on their next to last possession (cutting the deficit to 35-31), rather than going for the TD when they were at the 2-yard line, with only about three minutes remaining. With just one or two first downs, NDSU could have run out the clock, and UM never would have gotten the ball back again. Since they won, no one is talking about that call, but if they had lost, we'd be hearing a lot about it.

[Htowngriz]

You mainly won because NDSU just isn't that good defensively right now. You had more points and more yards on them than you did on our sorry defense last year. I wouldn't be giving all the credit to Stitt so fast.

Yeah, I'm sure the new offense had nothing to do with us scoring more points and gaining more yards than we did against you.

Are you just trying to look stupid at this point?

No, but you appear to be giving it your best shot. Where did I say your offense had nothing to do with it? Please point that out as I can't seem to find it in my three sentence post.

I'm not sure how else you would expect people to interpret this:

You mainly won because NDSU just isn't that good defensively right now.

We'll have to see how the rest of their games go, but I doubt you'll see many, if any, teams put up 38 points on them.

[LTown Cat]

I listened to the 4th qtr on the radio and I came away thinking about how huge getting Ellis Henderson back is. It seemed like he really came alive late in the game after being relatively quiet early. He's a heck of a player.

[Sportin' Life]

Something that I found a bit odd, which no one else has commented about, was that Stitt was not particularly aggressive when it came to going for it on 4th down, when UM was in FG range. If they had not come back and won, Griz fans would have crucified him for kicking the FG on their next to last possession (cutting the deficit to 35-31), rather than going for the TD when they were at the 2-yard line, with only about three minutes remaining. With just one or two first downs, NDSU could have run out the clock, and UM never would have gotten the ball back again. Since they won, no one is talking about that call, but if they had lost, we'd be hearing a lot about it.

The Griz offense really looked disorganized at the end of that second to last field goal drive. It was a great long drive, but the end was strange, and I agree Stitt should have gone for it. I think the reason he didn't was that up to that point the Griz were looking lousy in the red zone. On a previous drive there were six chances inside the ten and still they had to settle for a field goal. I think the reasoning was that with all the time outs, there would be plenty of chances to get the ball back if they could stop the run.

The worst decision of the game was for NDSU to pass it on second down of their last drive. I couldn't figure that one out at all. NDSU was running reasonably well all half, and not completing that pass was a killer. That decision was even worse than Stitt's decision to go for it at the end of the first half that handed NDSU a short field that led to their touchdown lead at the half.

[TomCat88]

Next to winning the most impressive thing was how UM was always within striking distance of NDSU. They didn't get way behind like they've done the past few times against EWU. Had they fallen way behind and then made a last ditch effort I'd be more inclined to chalk it up to luck.

After reading AG1's insightful post game post on maroonblood.com and seeing cat-bracket's posts here on their heavy losses to graduation, however, I'm going to be watching the NDSU defense. Take away 2-3 Pro Bowlers from an NFL team and you'd expect a drop off, too. NDSU lost two consensus All America players on defense and three other all-MVFC defenders. Not to mention Smith being out. Depending on who's coming up the ladder that could be a significant hit.

[91catAlum]

Next to winning the most impressive thing was how UM was always within striking distance of NDSU. They didn't get way behind like they've done the past few times against EWU. Had they fallen way behind and then made a last ditch effort I'd be more inclined to chalk it up to luck.

After reading AG1's insightful post game post on maroonblood.com and seeing cat-bracket's posts here on their heavy losses to graduation, however, I'm going to be watching the NDSU defense. Take away 2-3 Pro Bowlers from an NFL team and you'd expect a drop off, too. NDSU lost two consensus All America players on defense and three other all-MVFC defenders. Not to mention Smith being out. Depending on who's coming up the ladder that could be a significant hit.

That's true, all it takes is a couple players to change everything. Look at MSU's defense from 2013 to 2014. In 2013 it was one of the best in the league. We lost an all-American DE and a good but not great CB, returned 9 starters, and in 2014 it was one of the worst in the league.

[LTown Cat]

Next to winning the most impressive thing was how UM was always within striking distance of NDSU. They didn't get way behind like they've done the past few times against EWU. Had they fallen way behind and then made a last ditch effort I'd be more inclined to chalk it up to luck.

This! I was saying the same thing yesterday at work. They never trailed by more than 7. I think if they ever go down by 10+ (2 scores), they don't win. That was a key. That and nobody is talking about it but getting another year from Ellis Henderson was huge. He's a player. Shows up at the biggest moments--always has.

[GetEm_Griz]

Something that I found a bit odd, which no one else has commented about, was that Stitt was not particularly aggressive when it came to going for it on 4th down, when UM was in FG range. If they had not come back and won, Griz fans would have crucified him for kicking the FG on their next to last possession (cutting the deficit to 35-31), rather than going for the TD when they were at the 2-yard line, with only about three minutes remaining. With just one or two first downs, NDSU could have run out the clock, and UM never would have gotten the ball back again. Since they won, no one is talking about that call, but if they had lost, we'd be hearing a lot about it.

The Griz offense really looked disorganized at the end of that second to last field goal drive. It was a great long drive, but the end was strange, and I agree Stitt should have gone for it. I think the reason he didn't was that up to that point the Griz were looking lousy in the red zone. On a previous drive there were six chances inside the ten and still they had to settle for a field goal. I think the reasoning was that with all the time outs, there would be plenty of chances to get the ball back if they could stop the run.

The worst decision of the game was for NDSU to pass it on second down of their last drive. I couldn't figure that one out at all. NDSU was running reasonably well all half, and not completing that pass was a killer. That decision was even worse than Stitt's decision to go for it at the end of the first half that handed NDSU a short field that led to their touchdown lead at the half.

Klieman said that the reason they didn't run on their last possession was due to Montana stacking the box up front. Klieman felt that they would have more success throwing it to the side and took that chance.

[grizatwork]

Congrats to the griz for a great win. It was a well played game. However I look at this game in being like an FCS team knocking off an FBS team on the first game of the year. NDSU has been pretty dominant the last 4-5 years and have knocked of big time FBS teams on their own.

I hope most griz fans can see that although it is a great win not the national championship, there is still the rest of the season to go and a lot can happen. MSU beat Colorado in Boulder but didn't we lose to a D2 school that same season?

Spot on. One game. Early in the year. Lots of emotion. Trap game against a very difficult option team this week. Be happy for the win, but if it defines the season, I would be disappointed as fan, because it means they didn't do much after it.

[grizatwork]

Despite Stitts innovation, he is going to have a hard time covering the thin spots as the injury bug takes hold. Attrition is the the real bugaboo of this game. His defense is thin in some spots and one or two injuries will put them in a bind. It takes planning, luck and quality depth to stay at the top. Just saying, one good win at home, does not a season make.

Again spot on. Injuries to a defensive tackle and we are in trouble.

[Cataholic]

If you genuinely care, and if you understand offensive formations, the pitch piece of the fly sweep out of the shotgun was invented by Stitt. How could you have watched the game and say you saw nothing new unless you don't understand what you are watching? See link below.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... te-coaches

If you believe the no-huddle, 90-play, 4-for-6 on fourth down conversions was just plain old nothing new, you still can't deny the innovation you saw in the play formation -- unless you are smarter than all the people in the article noted above. True?

Griznationalist must be either Stitt or Stitt's agent. Whole lotta creepy love happening there!

[Cataholic]

Congrats to the griz for a great win. It was a well played game. However I look at this game in being like an FCS team knocking off an FBS team on the first game of the year. NDSU has been pretty dominant the last 4-5 years and have knocked of big time FBS teams on their own.

I hope most griz fans can see that although it is a great win not the national championship, there is still the rest of the season to go and a lot can happen. MSU beat Colorado in Boulder but didn't we lose to a D2 school that same season?

Yep, we lost to D-II Chadron (i.e. "Woodhead U") the very next game, in our home opener. We also lost the next two games, both at home, to fall to 1-3. Then we turned things around, and ended up going to the QF in the playoffs for the first time in 22 years. The moral of the story...that was obviously a great win for UM, but it's still only one game, and they're likely to go through a few peaks and valleys during the course of the season.

That final drive was particularly impressive. They marched 80 yards in 1:37 against the four time national champs, and ran 16 plays! Running that many plays in a minute and a half is pretty incredible. And I don't believe they even burned any of their timeouts until right at the very end, once they got down close to the goal line. Most teams probably average only about 65 plays for an entire game, and they ran 25% of that number on that one final drive, in only 1:37 of game time. It seems that they really can play very fast, if they need/want to.

Something that I found a bit odd, which no one else has commented about, was that Stitt was not particularly aggressive when it came to going for it on 4th down, when UM was in FG range. If they had not come back and won, Griz fans would have crucified him for kicking the FG on their next to last possession (cutting the deficit to 35-31), rather than going for the TD when they were at the 2-yard line, with only about three minutes remaining. With just one or two first downs, NDSU could have run out the clock, and UM never would have gotten the ball back again. Since they won, no one is talking about that call, but if they had lost, we'd be hearing a lot about it.

Great post. I heard some Griz fans say they thought Stitt was content with losing by 4. Couldn't understand them not going for it with the game on the line.

[John K]

Congrats to the griz for a great win. It was a well played game. However I look at this game in being like an FCS team knocking off an FBS team on the first game of the year. NDSU has been pretty dominant the last 4-5 years and have knocked of big time FBS teams on their own.

I hope most griz fans can see that although it is a great win not the national championship, there is still the rest of the season to go and a lot can happen. MSU beat Colorado in Boulder but didn't we lose to a D2 school that same season?

Yep, we lost to D-II Chadron (i.e. "Woodhead U") the very next game, in our home opener. We also lost the next two games, both at home, to fall to 1-3. Then we turned things around, and ended up going to the QF in the playoffs for the first time in 22 years. The moral of the story...that was obviously a great win for UM, but it's still only one game, and they're likely to go through a few peaks and valleys during the course of the season.

That final drive was particularly impressive. They marched 80 yards in 1:37 against the four time national champs, and ran 16 plays! Running that many plays in a minute and a half is pretty incredible. And I don't believe they even burned any of their timeouts until right at the very end, once they got down close to the goal line. Most teams probably average only about 65 plays for an entire game, and they ran 25% of that number on that one final drive, in only 1:37 of game time. It seems that they really can play very fast, if they need/want to.

Something that I found a bit odd, which no one else has commented about, was that Stitt was not particularly aggressive when it came to going for it on 4th down, when UM was in FG range. If they had not come back and won, Griz fans would have crucified him for kicking the FG on their next to last possession (cutting the deficit to 35-31), rather than going for the TD when they were at the 2-yard line, with only about three minutes remaining. With just one or two first downs, NDSU could have run out the clock, and UM never would have gotten the ball back again. Since they won, no one is talking about that call, but if they had lost, we'd be hearing a lot about it.

Great post. I heard some Griz fans say they thought Stitt was content with losing by 4. Couldn't understand them not going for it with the game on the line.

Despite Stitt's reputation for being hyper aggressive, he was actually quite conservative in those situations the entire game. Three times he chose to kick a FG when they had 4th down inside NDSU's 10 yard line, rather than going for the TD/1st down. I'm not saying he didn't make the right call in those situations, but it was a bit surprising.

[Placidlakegriz]

Great post. I heard some Griz fans say they thought Stitt was content with losing by 4. Couldn't understand them not going for it with the game on the line.

How would "some Griz fans" know if Stitt was content with losing by 4?????? They obviously don't know Stitt.

[Cataholic]

Great post. I heard some Griz fans say they thought Stitt was content with losing by 4. Couldn't understand them not going for it with the game on the line.

How would "some Griz fans" know if Stitt was content with losing by 4?????? They obviously don't know Stitt.

Direct from the lips of a Griz homer. You go for it on 4th down most of the game and then kick a FG inside the 10 with the game on the line. Also playing a running team that can chew up the clock. First game with a super demanding fan base and a heavy underdog on top of it. It worked out, but did you think it was the right call the time? Do you have a good explanation?

[SonomaCat]

Great post. I heard some Griz fans say they thought Stitt was content with losing by 4. Couldn't understand them not going for it with the game on the line.

How would "some Griz fans" know if Stitt was content with losing by 4?????? They obviously don't know Stitt.

Direct from the lips of a Griz homer. You go for it on 4th down most of the game and then kick a FG inside the 10 with the game on the line. Also playing a running team that can chew up the clock. First game with a super demanding fan base and a heavy underdog on top of it. It worked out, but did you think it was the right call the time? Do you have a good explanation?

I'll say that by this point in the game I had decided that I really wanted UM to win (as I need a rooting interest to watch almost any game, and I saw a UM win as a great plus for the BSC), and I was pissed that he opted to kick a FG at that juncture. Starting with a first and goal at the 2, nothing less than a TD seemed good for me. But then they held to a three and out and I was mumbling to myself, "Good call, coach." I still didn't think they'd be able to march the length of the field, but they pulled it out, and I was pretty happy they did.

I guess the point is that anybody can second-guess the decision of any coach in any of these not-obvious situations. My gut instinct was that they needed to score a TD to win with less than 3 minutes left, but I was wrong. Stitt made the right call at the right time. I can't question that -- it worked. If it was my team in that situation, I'd still want to go for the TD, but there's also a reason why I'm not a college football coach -- I suck as this sort of thing with every fiber of my being. I don't have the guts to make the calls these guys have to make (that goes for all sorts of people in all sorts of professions where the public watches and only seems to notice when things bounce the wrong way).

[Placidlakegriz]

Great post. I heard some Griz fans say they thought Stitt was content with losing by 4. Couldn't understand them not going for it with the game on the line.

How would "some Griz fans" know if Stitt was content with losing by 4?????? They obviously don't know Stitt.

Direct from the lips of a Griz homer. You go for it on 4th down most of the game and then kick a FG inside the 10 with the game on the line. Also playing a running team that can chew up the clock. First game with a super demanding fan base and a heavy underdog on top of it. It worked out, but did you think it was the right call the time? Do you have a good explanation?

I'm not the coach. Can you argue with the results??? He had faith in the defense to make a stop and had all three time outs. He is obviously smarter than you or I.