It's the next day and whew, that win was too close for comfort. I'm glad the Grizzlies are 1-0 but they have A LOT to clean up and it was pretty clear they were really missing some of their key players last night. It's funny, I looked back on the Grizzlies first win last year and fans really wringing their hands over a 35-20 win over Butler then too, and we knew what that team grew into. It sure was an odd game overall last night, we saw some real uncharacteristic things from a Hauck-coached Griz team, which I'm hopeful will be cleaned up. If you pull back and look at the game though, the Grizzlies played sloppy as hell and were missing their most electric playmakers on both offense, defense, and special teams, and still came away with a win.
I would be remiss to not give Missouri State some props here for a hard fought game. Bobby talked a lot about their experience as a whole and it showed last night. That team played far more "in sync" as an offense and defense, their team speed overall was pretty good. Their OL could move dudes as well. I would bet they win more games this year than they did last year.
Some thoughts of mine:
- Hayden Harris had the game of his life last night, and I'm looking forward to many more from him. 2.5 sacks, multiple more pressures, I feel like he's missing some credit for a few stops as well. He really stepped up when the pressure increased and the defense seemed to reciprocate. He was a guy who started to "figure it out" as the season went on last year, and last night he was firing on all cylinders. Of the 4 sacks the Grizzlies had the Grizzly DL were credited with 3.5 of them. I can't recall seeing a stat line with the DL holding a majority of the sacks.
- It wasn't great seeing the amount of missed tackles and over-pursuit by a defense that we know prides itself on far cleaner and efficient play than that. We had safeties and linebackers whiffing on tackles that would've stopped plays for short or no gains, we had corners not wrapping up... it was maybe one of the worst showings I've seen, from a point of just sound play, that I've seen from a Hauck-coached team in quite some time. I said on the pod the other week that I think this defense is in for some growing pains with so many new guys, and unfortunately we saw that a lot last night. There's a lot of season left but that mess has to be cleaned up fast or this defense will get cooked all season.
- I thought Ah Yat played really well in the first half until that near disastrous lost fumble. His completion % wasn't the greatest, he had some nervous throw aways and drops from WRs, but he ran well, was throwing into tight spaces, and looked to have good command for the most part. Fife seemed more self-sustained within what MSU was giving him, he clearly operated far more efficiently though. It *seemed* to me he was a little more comfortable within the game when he came in, he played a little better with pressure in his face than Ah Yat did. Going off a hunch, I think Fife starts next week, but I don't see this QB competition as "settled" at all.
- Eli Gillman is a special talent you guys, we'd better enjoy him. His blend of breakaway speed, power, and some added patience in running lanes is something we don't normally see for a "younger" guy like him. His maturation into a more complete RB is going far more rapid than I thought and I think until our QB play gets locked in he need to be the centerpiece of the offense.
- Super gross first half for special teams. A doinked PAT and a muffed punt that MSU eventually turned into a TD. Credit both Deck and Morrison though, a solid bounce-back 2nd half and super clutch pay with higher stakes pressure on them.
- Rough early go of it for Aaron Fontes. Two drive killing drops and a little later on a personal foul away from the ball that would take a drive that had crossed midfield back, which would eventually lead to a punt. He bounced back with a clutch catch and far better play after that. He tends to play with his energy / emotions cranked up to 10 every time, I hope moving forward we see far more of the playmaker we know he is, without as many mental errors.
- I thought the OL did pretty well last night, nearly 5 YPC rushing, only 1 sack allowed. I would have liked to have seen them end the game but a false start created a first and 15 and then the ensuing run play went backwards. That put the whole offense in a hole.
- (fan observation that could be totally wrong) I looked like a lot of softer zone coverage for a while, MSU then adapted at halftime and started throwing more screens at it and the Grizzly defense didn't seem to be adapting well to it. I think MSU had three first down conversions that were over 15 yards (I know they had 2) and in some of these cases all 3 Griz DB's and 2 Griz corners were standing in a line at the MSU line to gain. One time they ran a screen and wrecked the defensive call, another time a missed tackle and then no one else nearby lead to another first. I was a little baffled by what the intent was at times with the design. It seemed to be more conservative for a while, keep everything in front of the guys, then it would go aggressive on 1st and 2nd, and then peel back again on 3rd down. MSU counter-punched really well it seemed.
- I hope we can get Wilson and Bergen back soon. Rileys pass rush and more aggressive / experienced play was missed. Junior's ability in the return game and as a dynamic WR was missed. I wish we could have had a glimpse at how Grossman would've fared with this offense. Geno Leonard & Garret Hustead would've been great help with the pass rush too. We had more guys out than I anticipated, I hope this isn't a trend and that we can get all/most back soon.
- I'd wonder if in film study / review if the coaches thought the steady rotation of guys on the OL was working well or not. It seemed to me like they played 9 or 10 guys on the OL yesterday.
- Loving the use of Xavier all over the field. That TD on 4th and 2 was something else, great blocks as well!
- I was surprised to see Pat Hayden was credited with just 3 tackles, 1.5 TFLs. Felt like he was 1 man wrecking crew in the middle most of the night.
Just lots of odd stuff last night. I didn't have my tailgate spot, there was no "fog" when the team came out of the tunnel, crowd was fun but you could sense frustration as the game went on, and MSU got a ton of lucky breaks. Officiating overall was probably balanced, but holy crap how do you not throw that flag where White gets tackled in the endzone?
Griz are 1-0, lots to clean up and now they hit the road to face North Dakota who was voted 3 spots higher than Missouri State in the MVFC. The room for error is going to shrink a bit - hopefully a lot can be cleaned up fast!
Go Griz!
