7-34 Hornet loss. Aside from a strong start on both sides of the ball and a couple of decent drives in the 3rd quarter, the Hornets were completely dominated in a top 10 matchup in Missoula.
Offense had a strong start. The offensive line looked dominant early and the Hornet running game was gashing the Griz defense early. Marcus Fulcher (11 car, 87 yds, 1 TD) looked strong and broke some good runs early that allowed the Hornets to jump to an early 7 point lead. Kiaden Bennett (8/17, 52 yds, 12 car, 42 yds) made a few plays with his feet as well but struggled in the passing game. Carson Conklin (7/22, 67 yds) saw a lot of action but did not look comfortable at all. Conklin’s best play was a 24 yard strike late in the game to Carlos Hill (4 rec, 53 yds). The Hornet offense was held to a paltry 268 total yards of offense.
Similarly to the offense, the defense had a strong start as well. They jumped on the Griz offense early and had them on their heels. Unfortunately, the Hornet defense could not withstand the UM offense and eventually got ran off the field. The Hornet defense was not helped out by the fact that they lost time of possession by about 10 minutes in the first half as UM took a 21-7 lead into the half and never looked back. The Hornet defense had a solid 3rd quarter and kept the game within reach, unfortunately they got burned on too many plays and the game turned into a rout in the 4th quarter. The Hornet defense gave up an embarrassing 242 passing yards on 12 completions to a Griz offense that doesn’t throw the ball very well (at least until this game). Gavin Davis-Smith (11 tak, 1 sac) led the Hornets in tackling while 3 other players had 6 tackles.
Special teams was disappointing. A bad punt gave UM some good field position early and Zach Schreiner (0/2 FG, 1/1 PAT) missed a 44 yard field goal early, but more costly was a missed chip shot field goal following a long Hornet drive in the 3rd quarter. Whatever wind the Hornets had in the sails at that point quickly deflated. The lone bright spot was Cal McGough (44.6 ypp) but it’s never a good game when the punter is a bright spot.
Here are my takeaways from the game:
- The coaches had the Hornets prepared and ready to rock. I was impressed with the play in the first quarter. The Hornets jumped on the Griz early and momentum was building, things were looking good.
- Then Coach Fresques threw it all away with an ill-fated quarterback change/rotation that spelled doom for the Hornets. After a couple of effective drives mainly consisting of RPO with KB and Fulcher, Conklin was rotated in and all offensive mojo was lost. It was a head scratching move, not only considering the success the Hornets were having with KB and Fulch on the ground, but the weather conditions (wet and windy) were not conducive to a pass happy environment. The Hornets promptly had 2 short drives with little production with Conklin at the helm and before it was all said and done the Hornets were in a 14 point hole.
- Play calling and personnel just wasn’t up to snuff for a game of this magnitude. In addition to the QB swap, the one dimensional aspect of the run game with Conklin in the game put the Hornets at such a disadvantage that there was really no hope for success. It was most evident during that awful decision to run a dive to Zeke Burrnett (2 car, 2 yds) with Conklin under center on a critical 3rd and short in the 2nd quarter. Everyone knew what play was coming before the ball was snapped. The full house looks on that 3rd quarter red zone opportunity were also suspect. The 2nd down play had an execution issue (KB had his foot stepped on by the pulling guard), but a full house look on an obvious passing situation on the following 3rd down play was suspect.
- Offensive line was impressive early, but the Griz made some adjustments and shut things down. Kenndel Riley was benched (hurt?) in favor of Kaden Richardson as he was getting beat off the snap nearly every play.
- Hornet receivers got little to no separation in this game and every receiver was a non-factor in this game. A lot of credit is due to the UM secondary as they played tight coverage all game long.
- Penalties played a role early. As expected in a tough road environment like Wa-Griz, the noise caused several false start penalties. Most of these occurred as Conklin was trying to audible or change routes in the 2nd quarter. Then there was the stupid penalty by Jared Gipson (no stats) at the end of the 1st half that got himself ejected. Cameron Broussard (6 tak) also got bounced on a targeting call. It didn’t look like purposeful targeting as his momentum carried him into the receiver, but by the letter of the law it was the right call. Anytime the refs see helmet to helmet targeting the defender is getting tossed. It is what it is.
- Good aggression from the defense early. The Hornets really got after the ball and came out motivated to stop the run.
- The Hornet secondary just completely fell apart against the pass. Broussard’s ejection had a large role in that, but giving up that 97 yard house call due to blown coverage to put the game out of reach is just embarrassing.
- Overall I didn’t think the Hornet defense was aggressive enough in the 2nd half. The delayed blitz wasn't getting pressure and just opened things up for UM’s passing game. The defense seemed passive, but maybe they were just spent by that point in the game.
- Zach Schreiner missing that chip shot field goal at a moment of the game in which the Hornets were looking to claw their way back into it was devastating. That 6+ minute drive needed to be capped off with points.
- Following a Hornet defense interception, KB took a bad sack on the subsequent drive early in the 4th quarter. It was 3rd and 4 in a clear 4 down situation with the ball being at midfield in a 2 possession game. The Hornet running game was reestablished and we were moving the ball. Should have pounded the ball with Fulch and then gone for 4th if needed. In retrospect, the Hornets were still within reach had either of these 2 drives gotten points.
- A lot of experience was gained for the younger players. Once the game was clearly in hand, a lot of the defensive reserves played most of the 4th quarter. Even in garbage time, this experience will pay off down the road.
Nothing really more to say other than the Hornets need to turn the page and focus on winning the next game as there’s no way to sugar coat this turd of a game. The good news is the Hornets close out the regular season home schedule this week against a horrid Cal Poly team that is an absolute mess right now. The Hornets playoff hopes are on the line, so there’s still plenty to play for.
Stingers Up!