The Bobcat Nation

Montana has a tough 1st round game but I think the Griz' defensive speed matches up well with Wofford's option attack.

Here's the printable bracket:
http://www.ncaasports.com/football/mens ... n/2007/FCS

I don't think UM will have much trouble with Wofford. Has Wofford ever been in the playoffs? I doubt they'll be ready for W-G. UMass was pretty good last year and they didn't have that game won until late. Looks like UM won't have trouble until the semi-finals, which will probably be against either ASU at home or at McNeese. EKU or Richmond might push them a little, but I expect to see the usual UM blow outs for the first two home playoff games.

Wofford has a very imaginative offense that we haven't seen all year.

Only thing we can compare it to is NAU's spread, and that's not all that accurate. They'll hit us with a lot of mis-direction and tricks, if we contain those, we'll contain Wofford.

Looking ahead, quarterfinal showdown in Missoula between the Griz and App. St. would be a great matchup.

Hope they both get there; that game would be fun to watch!

El_Gato wrote:Looking ahead, quarterfinal showdown in Missoula between the Griz and App. St. would be a great matchup.

Hope they both get there; that game would be fun to watch!

I think that would have to be a semifinal game. Appy would have to win at McNeese for that to happen. But you're correct, it'll be a great game.

Re/Max Griz wrote:Only thing we can compare it to is NAU's spread, and that's not all that accurate. They'll hit us with a lot of mis-direction and tricks, if we contain those, we'll contain Wofford.

It's all about every defensive player sticking with his assignment. Defending the option always is.
We don't see a lot of this stuff, but I like that fact that Hauck is a fan of the option and is at least a little familiar with it.
Remember in 2003 when Ochs and Disney went out and we had a week to prepare for Idaho. The Griz put together a veer option package with little Marc Sampson as quarterback and did just fine.
If you can put together and option game plan in six days, then you should be able to defend it as well.

IMO this is the worst possible first-round game for UM. A very fast Wofford defense will keep the game close, and can the UM defense adjust to a multi-faceted Wofford attack?

I saw the Wofford-Appy game on TV. Wofford is very, very good on defense.

PapaG wrote:IMO this is the worst possible first-round game for UM. A very fast Wofford defense will keep the game close, and can the UM defense adjust to a multi-faceted Wofford attack?

I saw the Wofford-Appy game on TV. Wofford is very, very good on defense.

Yep. No favors from the committee for the Griz or the Eags.

GrizinWashington wrote:

PapaG wrote:IMO this is the worst possible first-round game for UM. A very fast Wofford defense will keep the game close, and can the UM defense adjust to a multi-faceted Wofford attack?

I saw the Wofford-Appy game on TV. Wofford is very, very good on defense.

Yep. No favors from the committee for the Griz or the Eags.

We agree on something.

That said, it's not like there were a bunch of no-brainer options, and I've been to enough playoff games at WashGriz to see how a first-time visitor from the South can be affected.

PapaG wrote:IMO this is the worst possible first-round game for UM. A very fast Wofford defense will keep the game close, and can the UM defense adjust to a multi-faceted Wofford attack?

I saw the Wofford-Appy game on TV. Wofford is very, very good on defense.

My thoughts exactly.


Scared yet?

PapaG wrote:

GrizinWashington wrote:

PapaG wrote:IMO this is the worst possible first-round game for UM. A very fast Wofford defense will keep the game close, and can the UM defense adjust to a multi-faceted Wofford attack?

I saw the Wofford-Appy game on TV. Wofford is very, very good on defense.

Yep. No favors from the committee for the Griz or the Eags.

We agree on something.

That said, it's not like there were a bunch of no-brainer options, and I've been to enough playoff games at WashGriz to see how a first-time visitor from the South can be affected.

I agree, I think it might be Montana in general, after seeing Furman come to Bozeman last year.

I'm sure the Wofford fans feel like they got the short end of the stick since they are the only team(I think) that has to travel across the country in the first round.

This game could determine whether the easy schedule was the way to go; hard schedule vs. easy schedule. Montana with the easier schedule goes 11-0 albeit playing some close games that probably shouldn't have, and Wofford going 8-3 with one of the toughest schedules in the country (IMO).

Montana seems to be playing it's best ball as of late and Wofford has lost 2 of it's last 4 games. One of those was a 47-44 win over Western Carolina (1-10) and the other Chattanooga (2-9).

*cue ESPN music*
Did the tough schedule get the Terrier's ready for the Griz or are the Grizzlies rested and ready for a title run. We'll find out on Saturday!
*da da da da dunt!*

Good coffee today!

Personally, I still think the griz got very lucky with their seeding. McNeese gets a very underrated team in Eastern Washington, who have shown the ability to go on the road and win in the playoffs. They are the only team that really should have beaten UM, and that game was in Missoula. I won't be surprised at all if they beat McNeese. After that, McNeese (or EWU) gets to play the winner of ASU vs. JMU, winners of the last three NC's. UM's second round game will likely be against Richmond, and I think they will smoke them easily. The griz certainly have a tough game against Wofford, but I think they will fare much better with whatever their second round matchup is.

El_Gato wrote:Looking ahead, quarterfinal showdown in Missoula between the Griz and App. St. would be a great matchup.

Hope they both get there; that game would be fun to watch!

If you need a ride to the game, I've got room. Might even have a ticket for you.

BozoneCat wrote:Personally, I still think the griz got very lucky with their seeding. McNeese gets a very underrated team in Eastern Washington, who have shown the ability to go on the road and win in the playoffs. They are the only team that really should have beaten UM, and that game was in Missoula. I won't be surprised at all if they beat McNeese. After that, McNeese (or EWU) gets to play the winner of ASU vs. JMU, winners of the last three NC's. UM's second round game will likely be against Richmond, and I think they will smoke them easily. The griz certainly have a tough game against Wofford, but I think they will fare much better with whatever their second round matchup is.

There's little doubt in my mind that the bottom half of the draw is MUCH more difficult than the top half. You look at the top half, and realistically there are probably 2-3 teams that have a chance to win the NC. In the bottom half, it's safe to say there are twice that many at least.

GrizinWashington wrote:

BozoneCat wrote:Personally, I still think the griz got very lucky with their seeding. McNeese gets a very underrated team in Eastern Washington, who have shown the ability to go on the road and win in the playoffs. They are the only team that really should have beaten UM, and that game was in Missoula. I won't be surprised at all if they beat McNeese. After that, McNeese (or EWU) gets to play the winner of ASU vs. JMU, winners of the last three NC's. UM's second round game will likely be against Richmond, and I think they will smoke them easily. The griz certainly have a tough game against Wofford, but I think they will fare much better with whatever their second round matchup is.

There's little doubt in my mind that the bottom half of the draw is MUCH more difficult than the top half. You look at the top half, and realistically there are probably 2-3 teams that have a chance to win the NC. In the bottom half, it's safe to say there are twice that many at least.

I agree. Wow! Look at us, ol' buddy! Yeah, the Griz definitely have a lot of work to do. No one knows how good UM is. The only good team they've played all year is EWU and they escaped with a win at home. MSU and NAU were just average teams, the rest were just bad.

Wofford is good, Richmond is good. App State and McN State are really good. App is back playing the way they were last year. There last three games have been phenomenal, esp. Edwards. They remind me of the Yankees back in the late 90s. Just mope through the regular season, then turn it on in the end. Edwards was hurt early, but now he's on fire.

Look at the boxscores of McN State's games. They have punished everyone they've played. No close games. Closest was six points, but that one had a late TD by the losing team. A lot of Griz fans keep pointing to last year's game when they beat McN bad in Missoula. You have to remember that McNeese was hit hard by Katrina and only played nine games in 2005 and just came out of it last year when they went to UM. It was 10-6 UM just before the end of the half, but UM scored in the last seconds to take control. I guess we can wait-n-see how EWU does down there. If they get pasted, I'd say the writing is on the wall.

Pick your poison...App State in Msla or McNeese down there. Maybe they'll both get knocked off, but I doubt it. I admit you guys looked good against us. Bergquist is better than I thought. Lex was rolling, but the main thing you did was what you didn't do...turn the ball over.

I thought I saw something on ESPN about how this is the first time that Delaware and Delaware State have played each other, or something like that. They have the ESPN game for the 1st round, which could be cool to watch.

Egg Salad wrote:I thought I saw something on ESPN about how this is the first time that Delaware and Delaware State have played each other, or something like that. They have the ESPN game for the 1st round, which could be cool to watch.

It is the first game between those schools, which is remarkable (and rather sad).