What is the best case scenario for the Griz against Washington?
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One week in and the Cats are 0-1/the Griz are 1-0. No surprises. This week, the Cats take on #4 in the FCS South Dakota State and the Griz will attempt to play #7 in the FBS Washington, who PLAYED IN THE NATIONAL SEMIFINALS LAST YEAR. Things could get ugly. Our thoughts on the games and much more below.
Also, go subscribe to our podcast! You can give it a listen here or just search “Montana Mint Sports” in you podcast app. This week, we grade the new Griz Lager beer, recap our weekend in Pullman, and accidentally refer to South Dakota State as San Diego State a half dozen times.
This Week’s Predictions
Montana State vs. South Dakota State
The line from Vegas: South Dakota State -12.5
CompughterRatings.com simulated score:
Montana State 21
South Dakota State 35
Montana @ Washington
The line from Vegas: Washington -39
CompughterRatings.com simulated score:
Montana 47
Washington 8
Griz @ Washington. Sad news Griz fans – we’re gonna get our teeth kicked in on Saturday. 406MTSport’s Amie Just points out in her weekly preview that “this year’s Washington Husky team — at No. 7 — is the highest ranked FBS opponent the Griz have likely ever played. The highest ranked team before this? 1951’s Husky team at No. 8.”
In speaking about this week’s game against #7 Washington, Coach Bob Stitt said “To go against the best, that can’t do anything but help us.” Anything but help us? What about if a star get injured or the team is demoralized by a 100 point loss? That could hurt.
We asked the Z-Train what he hopes to in this weekend’s game:
Z-Train (Griz Fan): These FBS games are really just an exercise in not derailing your season. I don’t think UM thinks it has a realistic shot at an upset, no one thinks that, so getting out relatively injury free would be the biggest win. Jerry Louie McGee not getting hurt. I think JLM could have a big year if he can stay on the field. I also think it’s important for Philips to improve ball security. I’d like to see <2 turnovers, less than a 35 pt differential, and three scores (whether FG or TD). That’d be a great day.
Money, money, money…Money! One thing that will help the Griz is the $625k paycheck due to them for showing up on Saturday. Coach Stitt also gets a $10k bonus for playing an FBS school, which doubles if they win.
The Griz will travel. A little birdy in the UM ticket office tells us that they expect between 6-8,000 Griz fans to be in attendance in Seattle on Saturday.
MSU vs. SDSU. After getting pummeled by Washington State, the Bobcats take on the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State. SDSU comes in with two NFL caliber players in WR Jake Wieneke and TE Dallas Goedert. Greg Rachac has a good rundown of what else to expect.
We asked Bobcat experts Minty Coach and Hot Take Nate what they want to see this weekend against a tough South Dakota State squad:
Minty Coach (Cats Fan): I’d like our o-line to protect better so we have a passing game and I’d like to see more of a run game. This game will tell us more about our season than the first week will. Looking to Murray to complete some passes and utilize our receiving corps. We also need a veteran running back to step up so we aren’t relying on a frosh running back and an 18-year old QB. Need to get some pressure from our d-line too. They’re supposed to be an experienced, talented group. Maybe a strong point of our d.
Hot Take Nate (Cats Fan): I can’t wait to see if Murray can be as electric against an FCS team as he was against UM at the end of last year. Wazzu keyed in on MSU’s rushing attack and had the bodies to disrupt it. Hoping we can establish the run more and hopefully open up some space for Murray to pass the ball too… if he can. I also want to see the Huskies put up 70 on the Griz in Seattle and for there to be a recall on Griz Lager.
More Griz/Valpo Thoughts. The Mint’s Senior Missoula Correspondent Jasper Moonshot was in attendance for last week’s game, and had some thoughts that didn’t make it onto the pod.
Jasper Moonshot (Griz Fan): On offense, I thought the Griz had a great showing. As a team, the Griz passed for almost 400 yards (399) and rushed at 4.0 yards per carry. I made a few friends on the Rhino Patio (which is just an alley) late Saturday night who didn’t love our O-Line play, but from what I saw they did a great job. How critical can you be of an offensive line that gives up no sacks?
I was thrilled to see our WR core in action. JLM was fantastic. You can see he put on some lean body mass in the off season and I think it’ll help reduce his risk of being injured. I think him staying health is critical. While I loved his 21 reception game, the kind of pounding that puts on a body isn’t sustainable. Fortunately Keenan Curran was outstanding. This dude had 10 TDs last year and over 600 yards receiving! Other Griz wideouts that played well were Toure and Akem. These are both big bodied R-Freshmen that showed promise. Calhoun ran the ball hard and caught 5 passes. In Calhoun’s mold is running back Alijah Lee, a transfer drop down from Washington State, who showed he’s a duel threat from the backfield.
Griz defense was what made the game somewhat intriguing. It should be mentioned that the Griz stayed in man coverage the entire game. Obviously the team needed work here and they kept working even after giving up yards and scores. Ultimately, they’ll be stronger for this exercise. We have these early non-conference games to develop skills…and to make money in exchange for an FBS ass-whoopin’. So I don’t fault the Griz here. I was disappointed in some of the secondary play but it’s impossible to know what broke down without knowing the defensive calls. What I do know is that Mr. #37, Tucker Schye, lived up to legacy. He came up with a huge 3rd down sack and recorded a forced and recovered fumble. I’m always happy for Hi-Line dudes.
Why Griz fans should be excited. Last season, the Griz struggled big time in the kicking game and with their red zone offense. Last week against Valopo? 6-6 on PATs, 1-1 on FGs, and 5-5 on red zone opportunities.
Sad News. The much anticipated game between the lowly University of Northern Colorado and the University of Florida Gators has been cancelled. 🙁
Before you complain. This week’s email is a little Griz heavy. We know. It’s just that there’s not much to say about the Washington State game beyond what we covered on the podcast. We’ll make it up to you next week.
Speaking of the podcast. Thanks to all of you that downloaded and subscribed to the Montana Mint Sports podcast. We are blown away with the response and are excited to roll out more stuff to Mint Nation. This week Jasper Moonshot made his debut to talk about the UM vs. Valpo game and Montana Parlay debuted to talk about this week’s line.
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