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Portland State @ Montana

G

Grant H

Active member
So I'd like to retract my statement that the Griz have looked excellent. App State is 1-3 with two home losses (albeit close ones against what appear to be pretty good teams) and North Dakota State has a horrendous defense and one dimensional offense, they may be one if the worst teams in the Big Sky.

This should be a close game, I've been conditioned to believe the Viks will find a way to lose, but really hoping to be proven wrong. A win here erases all of the ground lost against Cal Poly, and we have the talent to get it done.

With respect to the Montana-NAU game, it would have been better for our strength of schedule if Montana had won as we don't play NAU this year, but it's hard to get mad at a Griz loss. The fumble returns for touchdowns were a big factor, and there is some luck involved in those kinds of plays, but NAU does appear to have an great defense. Btw of the one of those returns was by Ryan Reardon, former Vik. I think he initially walked on at Arizona State when Glanville left, but I didn't realize he ended up NAU.
 
Good comments all around.

I think you mean North Dakota has a bad defense as North Dakota State is likely the best team top-to-bottom in all of FCS. They don't dink around.

The game in Missoula is winnable. Let's hope, as you say, that the Viks do not seize defeat from the jaws of victory. Green-and-white teams like the NY Jets tend to be choke-artists for some reason. Wonder if it's the colors. :mrgreen: The game is winnable, and this is good news.

And it is good of Notre Dame to honor the state of North Dakota by using their interlocking ND logo each and every game. :lol:
 
UM got dinged up pretty bad after their beatdown in Flagstaff. If you got a chance to watch the game on ROOT, some of the weaknesses were dicsovered & exploited by the NAU staff: blitz pick-ups, weak tackling angles, downfield blocking, and sloppy routes.

The O-line.....ugh. Holding calls, jumping offsides, and chop blocks really hurt 'em.

Let's hope they don't clean things up.
 
Browsing their forums, they are worried about what Dean might do to them. If I were the Griz, I'd be scared of what DJ might do to their defense. Bauman absolutely destroyed Montana. I don't think this will be an easy game. But, it is very winnable. Montana's defense and OL were exposed last week. If we cut penalties (at this point can it be corrected?), I think we upset the Griz.
 
PSU will be penalized to death in Montana. We have to accept that and forget about it. Burton has publicly said that he doesn't harp on the players about penalties, because he doesn't want them to play tentatively (paraphrasing). I have given up on the idea that PSU will improve in this area. What I hope, is that they can get away from the big play penalties and the multiplying penalties that seem to follow them.

The more I think about the last game against Cal Poly, the more convinced I am the Barnum won't be the play caller to take this team to the next level. He is too reliant on the big play. At some point your offense has to grind out a win or a first down, and it seems on third and three he is more comfortable going to the promise land.

Having said all that, I think Montana has some obvious weaknesses. They played a weak non conference schedule, and PSU has played a couple of tough games. It is going to come down to a big play or two, and whether the Refs are going to be intimidated by the home crowd in Missoula.

This game is a toss up. Only because PSU is on the road though.
 
I like Greengiant's read. I won't guess at a points spread this time. A toss up. Reading the Grizzlies board, they are talking a lot about Dean and Closs, but they've also noticed DJ. Sounds like they're figuring on a toss up too.
 
GreenGiant said:
The more I think about the last game against Cal Poly, the more convinced I am the Barnum won't be the play caller to take this team to the next level. He is too reliant on the big play. At some point your offense has to grind out a win or a first down, and it seems on third and three he is more comfortable going to the promise land.
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Good point.

I noticed in the Poly game when we were up late in the first, we seem out of our element when trying to kill time.

Also, what happened to under center on 3rd/4th and short? Or on the goal line for that matter?
 
From this weeks release notes, the following guys did not play last week, presumably due injury:
Roston Tatum, Mishawn Cummings, and Darnell Adams, also John Wall, Mike Davis, and Dame Ndiaye had played in the first four games and didn't play vs. Cal Poly, but that may have just been a result of playing the starters more.

On the depth chart Tatum was moved down to #2 at X WR for the first time this season, so I'm not expecting him back this week, Cam Keizer has passed Thomas Robertson as the starter at Right Guard, Cummings is still
listed as one of the starters at Cornerback (so it seems possible he could be back this week), and Talalemotu returned after missing the UC Davis game.
 
GreenGiant said:
I think Montana has some obvious weaknesses. They played a weak non conference schedule, and PSU has played a couple of tough games. It is going to come down to a big play or two, and whether the Refs are going to be intimidated by the home crowd in Missoula.
True. UM was exposed last weekend, the Viks need to take advantage of the opportunity when it comes a knckin'. This is the weekend to put together 4 quarters of snot-bubbling football.

FINISH
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Things that drive me nuts whenever the Viks play in Missoula are (1) the refs become loath to call late hits on Grizzlies after the Vik being tackled is already out-of-bounds. If they were playing in any other conference, Montana would have about three or four 15-yard penalties called on them, and (2) their solution to winning games becomes violent injury to key players in the opposition; don't be surprised, for example, if they plan out and execute a season-ending injury to Closs, especially if they are down at halftime and he has had some TD receptions. :twisted: :evil: :twisted:

Barnum, I agree, has got to learn to make first downs much more consistently. He is too much "all-or-nothing" in the way he manages offensive series. Cal Poly would come out with 5-7 year gains on first down and convert 3rd and 4th downs again and again to keep their drives alive. I trust DC Hill, but OC Barnum has yet to earn my trust and respect.
 
I understand Whalen is out for the season and Halverson left the team but what is going on with Rothstein. I saw him in a few games for a few minutes and he looked great. Is he injured?

I looked up his stats and he is 18th in the Big Sky for TFL with 4 and noticed he had a big sack at UC Davis. He has about the same amount of tackles and more TFL than other LB's we have starting but he plays very sparingly. I didn't see him accept on special teams against CP and he got us 30 yards in penalties by using his brain and not retaliating when he was slapped in the head and hit in the back.

Why are we not playing this kid? He was one of our 3 star recruits in 2012 and started several games as a freshman and did very well. I heard he's played less than a quarter in each of the first 4 games and had 13 tackles 4 for a loss and 1 sack. I saw him on TV against Cal and I didn't see the guys he covered catch a pass that game.

Is he injured and if so why did they have him playing special teams against CP? Is there something we don't know going on with him?

Anyone know anything?
 
BroadwayVik said:
Things that drive me nuts whenever the Viks play in Missoula are (1) the refs become loath to call late hits on Grizzlies after the Vik being tackled is already out-of-bounds. If they were playing in any other conference, Montana would have about three or four 15-yard penalties called on them, and (2) their solution to winning games becomes violent injury to key players in the opposition; don't be surprised, for example, if they plan out and execute a season-ending injury to Closs, especially if they are down at halftime and he has had some TD receptions. :twisted: :evil: :twisted:

Barnum, I agree, has got to learn to make first downs much more consistently. He is too much "all-or-nothing" in the way he manages offensive series. Cal Poly would come out with 5-7 year gains on first down and convert 3rd and 4th downs again and again to keep their drives alive. I trust DC Hill, but OC Barnum has yet to earn my trust and respect.
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Your first paragraph will be enough to send the EGriz boys into a lather. They'll start in ranting about some phantom cheap shot that was supposedly undertaken by the Vikings back in 1979 and say PSU has ALWAYS played dirty.
 
A Vik incident here or there does not make a habitually dirty team, but a habitually dirty Montana team has made their behavior predictable season to season.

What else can a Montana program do but project their dirty play on to the Vik opposition? They may not be able to admit the truth about this, to face their true character, such as it is now. Rather, they historically have relied on "fear and arrogance" and "loyalty without conscience."

If MT can play clean, then they ought to choose to play clean. Let's witness the game to see how they decide to play this week. If they begin to break their habit of dirty play, I'll be the first to praise them, win or lose. It is always a pleasure to see a contest between teams of good character (e.g. Oregon & Stanford).

They are making progress. They've overcome a degree of their former fear by agreeing to play Wyoming. They've taken on risk in losing to a border state. They have a chance to win that game but, admirably, they've chosen to play a game they're likely to lose. Why is this admirable? Because it is not like playing Iowa where they're expected to lose big. There's no shame in that and so it is safe. By engaging Wyoming, they have a chance to win but it will be against the odds. Games like this build character.

They should also look to playing Fresno State and maybe even BYU one day. This would be very good therapy for them in realizing their truer identity and building character.

Let's have an admirably clean contest in Missoula this Saturday. Go Viks!
 
I understand Whalen is out for the season and Halverson left the team but what is going on with Rothstein. I saw him in a few games for a few minutes and he looked great. Is he injured?
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From what I understand Rothstein moved from Safety to OLB and moved down the depth chart a bit as he's learning a new position. It's a better position for him and I expect he'll get more PT down the road.
 
BroadwayVik said:
A Vik incident here or there does not make a habitually dirty team, but a habitually dirty Montana team has made their behavior predictable season to season.

What else can a Montana program do but project their dirty play on to the Vik opposition? They may not be able to admit the truth about this, to face their true character, such as it is now. Rather, they historically have relied on "fear and arrogance" and "loyalty without conscience."

If MT can play clean, then they ought to choose to play clean. Let's witness the game to see how they decide to play this week. If they begin to break their habit of dirty play, I'll be the first to praise them, win or lose. It is always a pleasure to see a contest between teams of good character (e.g. Oregon & Stanford).

They are making progress. They've overcome a degree of their former fear by agreeing to play Wyoming. They've taken on risk in losing to a border state. They have a chance to win that game but, admirably, they've chosen to play a game they're likely to lose. Why is this admirable? Because it is not like playing Iowa where they're expected to lose big. There's no shame in that and so it is safe. By engaging Wyoming, they have a chance to win but it will be against the odds. Games like this build character.

They should also look to playing Fresno State and maybe even BYU one day. This would be very good therapy for them in realizing their truer identity and building character.

Let's have an admirably clean contest in Missoula this Saturday. Go Viks!
Click to expand...
Wow?? I've never thought of us as a dirty team. However, I'll keep that in mind as I watch the game on Saturday in Zoo town. The fan base hates the DII games, however we probably gross a million bucks off of them and the powers above say we need one. I'm looking forward to playing WYO as are the large majority of Griz Nation. NDSU is also on our schedule next year...so I'd say we are NOT attempting to skate. I don't want to see ANY PSU athletes hurt this week... :nod:
 
rimrockgriz said:
BroadwayVik said:
A Vik incident here or there does not make a habitually dirty team, but a habitually dirty Montana team has made their behavior predictable season to season.

What else can a Montana program do but project their dirty play on to the Vik opposition? They may not be able to admit the truth about this, to face their true character, such as it is now. Rather, they historically have relied on "fear and arrogance" and "loyalty without conscience."

If MT can play clean, then they ought to choose to play clean. Let's witness the game to see how they decide to play this week. If they begin to break their habit of dirty play, I'll be the first to praise them, win or lose. It is always a pleasure to see a contest between teams of good character (e.g. Oregon & Stanford).

They are making progress. They've overcome a degree of their former fear by agreeing to play Wyoming. They've taken on risk in losing to a border state. They have a chance to win that game but, admirably, they've chosen to play a game they're likely to lose. Why is this admirable? Because it is not like playing Iowa where they're expected to lose big. There's no shame in that and so it is safe. By engaging Wyoming, they have a chance to win but it will be against the odds. Games like this build character.

They should also look to playing Fresno State and maybe even BYU one day. This would be very good therapy for them in realizing their truer identity and building character.

Let's have an admirably clean contest in Missoula this Saturday. Go Viks!
Click to expand...
Wow?? I've never thought of us as a dirty team. However, I'll keep that in mind as I watch the game on Saturday in Zoo town. The fan base hates the DII games, however we probably gross a million bucks off of them and the powers above say we need one. I'm looking forward to playing WYO as are the large majority of Griz Nation. NDSU is also on our schedule next year...so I'd say we are NOT attempting to skate. I don't want to see ANY PSU athletes hurt this week... :nod:
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rimrockgriz-

Don't get too lathered up over BV's diatribe. We here on this forum have come to accept BroadwayVik's lack of nuance and passioned rhetoric.
 
So we blew the Cal Poly game. That means each of the remaining games are must wins.

After watching the PSU/Cal Poly game film, look for Montana to stack the box and let PSU try to pass.
 
I don't think any college team is "dirty", though young ones - like ours - get carried away. We've got to cut back on the penalties, especially in Mizzoula, with its well-known home advantage. We may well lose, but I'd hate to see us lose in a sloppy fashion. I cringe - and scream - at every mistake. Don't we all.
 
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