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Hornets at Montana

Da Griz said:
You don't stand a snowball's change in hell. Hey, it's the Griz and it's WaGriz. Are you nuts?!?!

Ok, that said, playing you at Homecoming is going to make or break this team, I think. Even a close win for us would be devastating in many ways. With that statement I'm not focusing on the talents and abilities of SAC, and I apologize for the superior nature of this post. I'm of course focusing on what happens to a fairly new team with a first time head coach, teetering on the brink of tarnishing the pride and prestige of the Griz program. Harsh? Overblown? You ought to listen to the talk on the street in the Zoo!

My wife, who goes toe-to-toe in any football debate, says we ought to make sure to lose to every Big Sky team this year, let everyone celebrate their huge and overdue victory, and then hit the reset button - for the next 20 years. I've never head such pessimism before.

And THAT said, we will beat you. You know that, right?
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The fact that you're on this board shows that Griz nation is not feeling overly confident - you need to talk yourself into believing you're going to win. Although I do agree SAC will have to play a flawless game to win - I'm enjoying the level of discomfort coming from a once unflappable group!
 
Heck, you can only live off of success for so long. All successful programs will have down times. Its just the nature of the beast. What successful programs do for those that associate with others (i.e. conference mates), is help bring those programs up to their standards. The Big Sky with the exception of ISU has made a real commitment to improve their football facilities, really in part due to the success of Montana.
 
SactoHornetAlum said:
Heck, you can only live off of success for so long. All successful programs will have down times. Its just the nature of the beast. What successful programs do for those that associate with others (i.e. conference mates), is help bring those programs up to their standards. The Big Sky with the exception of ISU has made a real commitment to improve their football facilities, really in part due to the success of Montana.
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True dat! Good post.
 
SactoHornetAlum said:
Heck, you can only live off of success for so long. All successful programs will have down times. Its just the nature of the beast. What successful programs do for those that associate with others (i.e. conference mates), is help bring those programs up to their standards. The Big Sky with the exception of ISU has made a real commitment to improve their football facilities, really in part due to the success of Montana.
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This is true, but to go off the deep end this early and declare the Montana dynasty over is reckless and irresponsible, IMO. One could easily say (as SD has) that this is our best chance in years (and it is). But to drink the EWU Kool-Aid and declare it an auto-win is a REALLY bad move.

(And, no, I don't believe you're doing that, SHA. I just want to err on the side of caution. Yes, Mr. Sac-Will-Win-It-All is still leery of Montana. LOL.)
 
Super Hornet said:
SactoHornetAlum said:
Heck, you can only live off of success for so long. All successful programs will have down times. Its just the nature of the beast. What successful programs do for those that associate with others (i.e. conference mates), is help bring those programs up to their standards. The Big Sky with the exception of ISU has made a real commitment to improve their football facilities, really in part due to the success of Montana.
Click to expand...

This is true, but to go off the deep end this early and declare the Montana dynasty over is reckless and irresponsible, IMO. One could easily say (as SD has) that this is our best chance in years (and it is). But to drink the EWU Kool-Aid and declare it an auto-win is a REALLY bad move.

(And, no, I don't believe you're doing that, SHA. I just want to err on the side of caution. Yes, Mr. Sac-Will-Win-It-All is still leery of Montana. LOL.)
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I don't think any sane Hornet fan thinks this is an auto win. Montana is the best run program in the Big Sky and they will be tough as nails. It appears they might have some weaknesses, but any given game who knows what will happen. They will come out Saturday like wounded Griz and we can be assured they will fight to the finish in front of their great fans. That being said, I believe we can do it and that this is the year we will do it to them. They keys are we have to run the ball ... alot. Just like we did against Weber. We have to play perfect on special teams. The defense has to hold them to 50% or less 3rd down conversions and we have to stop their run game and keep it under 100 yards. Then we need to have very few penalties and execute on offense and most of all hold on to the ball. We must win the turnover battle.

We do all of this and we beat these guys just like we did Weber 24-17. Go HORNETS!!!!!!!
 
The writers on Sportsnetwork.com are predicting that Sac State beat the Griz 23-21!

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/...ork&page=cfoot2/news/newstest.aspx?id=4344041

SACRAMENTO STATE (2-1, 1-0 BIG SKY) AT NO. 14 MONTANA (1-2, 0-1)

Kickoff: 3 p.m.

Series record: Montana leads, 15-0

What to know: Montana has fallen to a No. 14 ranking after coming into the season at No. 2 and then moving up to No. 1 for a week. Mistakes and sloppy play have plagued the Griz in losses at Cal Poly and Eastern Washington.

Sacramento State won its Big Sky opener against then-No. 21 Weber State last Saturday. Standout running back Bryan Hilliard racked up 136 rushing yards and a touchdown in the 24-17 win.

The Grizzlies were gashed by EWU running back Taiwan Jones last Saturday as he ran for 224 yards on 27 carries - both career highs. Jones utilized his elusiveness to carve up the Griz, and although Sacramento State's Hilliard is a force, Montana should be more adept at stopping his downhill, straight-ahead running style.

Scoring may be at a premium in this one. Sacramento State held dangerous Weber State quarterback Cameron Higgins in check and for Montana neither Andrew Selle nor Justin Roper has excelled at quarterback.

The sky may fall in Missoula if the Griz drop to 1-3 on the season.

Prediction: Sacramento State, 23-21
 
Despite our injuries and playing against a hungry team, I like our chances. Loosing 2 straight could be making the Griz doubt themselves a little, and after a huge win against Weber and what I felt was a strong showing against a top ranked Cardinal team, this Hornet team has to know they can pull it off. Fleming has made a believer out of me and if we can get a run game going we will be able to throw up some big points against them. Scoring big will be important as still think our secondary is our Achilles heel and Montana will be putting up big numbers.

I can still see us disappointed at the end of the day, but this is the best chance we've had against Montana. We cannot take this game lightly or assume the Griz will be demoralized and will be easy targets. Montana is a good team. I don't know if they are great, but they will let us know today. We are a good team and this is the game to determine if we are great. I have a feeling the playoff hopes of Montana and Sac State rest on the score at the end of the game today.

Prediction: Sac State 35 Montana 28
 
Im even more nervous about this game than last week. We have to play flawless to win this game and take the crowd out early.

Go Hornets!!!
 
Da Griz said:
My wife, who goes toe-to-toe in any football debate, says we ought to make sure to lose to every Big Sky team this year, let everyone celebrate their huge and overdue victory. I've never head such pessimism about a football season.
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DaGriz, By the looks of half time, your wife may get her wish! I am taking her side of the argument this time.
 
HornetHope said:
Da Griz said:
My wife, who goes toe-to-toe in any football debate, says we ought to make sure to lose to every Big Sky team this year, let everyone celebrate their huge and overdue victory. I've never head such pessimism about a football season.
Click to expand...

DaGriz, By the looks of half time, your wife may get her wish! I am taking her side of the argument this time.
Click to expand...
I think some tried really hard to make that happen! You almost pulled it off. Wish I could say it was great Sac State play, but I fear it was more a lousy Griz year. And, with the Frosh Redshirt QB the Griz have on hold for next year, I'm afraid you've lost your chance for some time to come. But you are getting considerably better, so who the hell knows!
 
Recap

The Hornets had their chance to finally beat the Griz and they couldn’t pull through. This was a very tough loss, especially since the Hornets were able to go toe-to-toe with UM for the entire game. The back breaker was the inability to score TD’s early in the game and the constant settling for FG’s. Also the passing attack looked in complete disarray. Fleming was not accurate on most of his throws and worst of all, when it was crunch time, the OL couldn’t protect Fleming. The Griz had another sloppy game with turnovers and some penalties and the Hornets were unable to capitalize on them. The Hornets also had some costly penalties of their own.

Sperbeck called a run heavy game plan and it was very predictable. There is absolutely no balance to this offense. This team will need to work on its passing attack because a one dimensional attack will be easy to stop. There were just not enough deep shots taken to loosen up the defense. Hilliard had 124 yards on 26 carries but was kept out of the endzone. Fleming had a laughable 73 passing yards and was 10 of 21 with 2 TD and one late INT. This will need to improve and it has to be addressed immediately. Sperbeck also dug into his bag of tricks and used some trick plays. The fake snap reverse pass to Fleming worked well and opened up the game. The HB pass with the shortest player on the roster on 2nd and goal was disastrous. Fortunately UM immediately fumbled and gave the ball right back and the Hornets scored a TD.

The defense allowed some big plays and made some big plays by means of forcing some turnovers. The bottom line is they kept the Hornets in the game and completely shut down the UM run game. Reynolds rushed 21 times for 42 yards. That is an amazing job by the front seven. UM’s final rushing numbers was 35 rushes for 40 yards. The secondary is still suspect but again, this defensive unit kept the Hornets in the game. I have a hard time faulting them for this loss. UM finished with 21 if 28 for 274 yards and 3 TD’s through the air.

The special teams did their job as well. Diniz was perfect on his FG’s and the Hornets blocked a UM punt as well. Diniz and Heath also did a tremendous job at kicking the ball away from the dangerous UM returners. The special teams did their job and had a solid game. My only complaint is seeing Diniz too many times early in the game, but that is obviously beyond his control.

Here is a link to the Big Sky Box Score for the game:
http://www.bigskyconf.com/custompages/football/2010/stats/um-sac.htm

What we learned:
  • • The UM announcers and camera crew are a mockery to all announcers and camera men in the nation. Worst effort ever.
    • Fleming needs to get it together and regroup. He had an awful game. There is no excuse for not getting the ball to the open receivers.
    • Sperbeck is hesitant to throw the ball. 3rd and 15 and a draw play is called? C’mon man, that’s not exactly coaching to win.
    • This team is horrible at converting 3rd downs. 2/14 in Missoula is not going to get it done. Perhaps the run-run-pass (or the run cubed) play calling is playing into this.
    • OL seemed to struggle in protection. I have to believe the environment of Wa-Griz Stadium played into this. They can do better and I think they will do better.
    • This defense is doing a tremendous job defending the run. LB’s are filling holes and the DL is putting up a solid effort as well. They did struggle to apply pressure in the 2nd half and they need to stay hungry.
    • The Hornet secondary needs to tighten it up. They got burned and allowed some big plays which proved to be the difference yesterday.
    • This Hornet team has a lot of fight. They didn’t back down or give in at all. They will need to maintain this fire throughout the season.

The Hornets lost to a 14th ranked UM team who has a lot of talent. As sloppy as UM played, they still have a lot of playmakers on both sides of the ball. There is no reason for this Hornet team to hang its head. They went into one of the most hostile environments in college football and had a chance to win. This team needs to get over this game and focus on MSU. Their backs are now against the wall and MSU is now a must win if this team wants to taste the playoffs.

GO HORNETS!
 
The Hornets are way too predictable offensively. You can anticipate what they are going to do by which RB is in the game.
I was there and to say the atmosphere was intimidating is an understatement! It was the loudest sporting event I have ever been to. But the Hornets adapted and played through the noise with vigor. It was clear at the outset of the game that we could battle with this team and beat them.
The officiating was horrendous. The hometown calls were pretty obvious.
The UM fans are good people and very accomodating as we drank a lot of their beer.
 
Say it simple. The Defense played well but not well enough. The offense couldn’t score enough points to stay ahead of the homer refs.
 
watched the game online. while we didn't get the W, what a great effort from the hornets. while improvements could be made, we definately look like a different team from the past couple of years. we kept coming back at them and didn't lay down.

way to go guys, keep your heads up and take your frustrations out on saturday!
 
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