Gameday on Oct. 8
Here’s the most recent look at Saturday’s game between No. 16 Montana and the Idaho State Bengals, who are playing in a better-lighted, nicer-carpeted, noisier Holt Arena these days. It’s the first of several possible tipping points for the Griz, who played their most complete game way back in week 2, in a 37-23 win over Cal Poly. This is week 6: The Griz are 3-2, the Bengals are 2-3 and getting back on track with Mike Kramer.
Nick Lockridge pointed this out in the Gameday Edge, but it will be interesting to see if Caleb McSurdy of the Griz crosses paths with his little brother Daniel today. Daniel is a freshman receiver for the Bengals. Caleb — “Dirty” — is a senior linebacker for the Grizzlies.
Another major subplot will be the play at quarterback for the Grizzlies. Jordan Johnson established himself as the starter but — again, with the exception of the Cal Poly game — hasn’t done well in the passing game. He can run the heck out of it, but so can Gerald Kemp, the subject of this week’s Q&A. Count Montana coach Robin Pflugrad among those who hope Johnson plays well against ISU. With Kemp and Nate Montana both playing well last week, he could soon have a QB controversy on his hands (if he hasn’t already).
One final note: Kemp, a San Diego native, has his favorite quote from the comedy cult classic, “Anchorman,” and you have to agree it’s solid. But I still like Ben Stiller’s cameo:
“Como esta, (deleted)! Spanish language news is here. Tonight’s top story, the sewers run red with Burgundy blood.”
-Fritz Neighbor
In “any” first half of “any” game, the Griz should be scoring at least 14 pts (without the help of turnovers) if they expect to go anywhere deep into the playoff season. So against one of the absolute worst defenses in the FCS, our defense get us 5 turnovers in the first half. And what do we get, but 13 pts. With the exception of two long passes and a successful reverse, our offense under the management of JJ clearly sucks. And that makes 3 pathetic games in a row under JJ’s leadership that makes our offense one of the worst in the FCS. And in the ISU game, when Kemp comes in at quarterback, his script is to run an option attack only. He was only allowed to throw one pass the entire game (a completion). He had only “one” game this entire season to play Q-Back, with the option of either running “or” passing. And the result was our undisputed best offensive performance of the season. Kemp is undoubtedly the most talented player we have on offense. Give him the ball and let him use his talents where needed. JJ is at least a year away from the level of play for our offense to succeed. Please coach, open your eyes. Success on game day should be as important as drills in practice. You say JJ knows our offense better than anyone. What offense? Griz football is simply too big to allow you or any one person to run our beautiful program into the ground.
Griz70