Post game thoughts

[bisonmike2]

Out coached and out played. Champ played poorly at best.

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Don't know about out coached. Their coach made some bone headed calls. Definitely out executed. The rare game where literally one play wins our loses the game and we didn't make it. Hats off to Montana.

[AKBison]

Congrats to the Griz, it was fun to see two championship programs duking it out on ESPN and have it come down to the last play. I wish we could play annually....

[NovaBison]

Always love this team! Thinking this is a wake up call for many -- lets hope this puts a fire in their belly!

[JMB]

Champ was outmatched again 6-4 receivers. They picked on him a ton and even when he was in position, the receiver made plays.

They had some good players, I also think the defensive backfield needs to "gel" a bit. guys were just in the wrong spot it seemed. On the last long play on 4th down, the guy covering the seam route was at the line of scrimmage at the snap. Sure it was probably the read we were trying to give, but he couldn't make it back in time. I have faith we will come around...

[bloodmakesthegrassgrow]

1) Play calling was abysmal. No excuse for one run and two passes when you're up by 4 with two minutes left. Took no time and didn't force Montana to use any time outs.
2) In addition to #1 the four back system needs to go away. Frazier looked good but never got into a stride. Move Morlock to the slot and run Frazier/Dunn in a two back system. Alternate drives like we did in the past.
3) Our kicking game spoiled me in the past. I'm not used to having to hold my breath on extra points.
4) CJ Smith would have been a difference maker. We missed him but no one missed him more than Champion.
5) Wentz is going to surpass the lofty expectations if we don't get him killed in the process.

I agree with all of this, just awful offensive play calling in the 4th quarter and especially on that last potential game winning drive (one first down would have made the difference). The worst of it was their defense was tiring fast and the run game was getting good gains. Throw in that Wentz couldn't pass for shit in this game. After last years season under his belt, I didn't think Wentz could play that bad. And, and, and number 5 needs to be trying out for a DII team at best. I told my brother when we missed the FG, I sure hope that doesn't come back to bite us in the ass. We're going to have to score 50 points a game this year.

[westnodak93bison]

No pass rush. Their qb had all day.

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[THEsocalledfan]

I agree with all of this, just awful offensive play calling in the 4th quarter and especially on that last potential game winning drive (one first down would have made the difference). The worst of it was their defense was tiring fast and the run game was getting good gains. Throw in that Wentz couldn't pass for shit in this game. After last years season under his belt, I didn't think Wentz could play that bad. And, and, and number 5 needs to be trying out for a DII team at best. I told my brother when we missed the FG, I sure hope that doesn't come back to bite us in the ass. We're going to have to score 50 points a game this year.

Montana never really did stop power. I am baffled at what our OC and HC were thinking......

[Rock]

I think for the NDSU power run offense to work in the 4th it needs to be run first mindset in all four quarters so that ndsu can lean on the other team in the fourth.

too many long pass plays on first down that went for nothing and stopped the clock throughout the game. 3 and outs when situations could have been 3rd and short with a better opportunity to convert.

Revisit the UNI game from last year.

[td577]

Gotta give Coach Stitt and the Griz a lot of credit. They outplayed the Bison today.

My thoughts are the defense is young and there will be growing pains but that was to be expected. They went up against an unknown in Stitts offense. The Griz receivers made some unbelievable catches but our DB's definitely got exposed. Hopefully getting CJ back and some more game reps will help. I'm most disappointed with the offense. We failed to control the LOS like I thought we would be able to considering this was supposedly the best oline. Obviously that talk needs to be tabled for now. I thought the offensive play calling, especially in the 4th was questionable. Can't be giving them more timeouts there when your trying to burn clock. We also need to find a place kicker. I love Ben but he needs to stick to punting and kickoffs IMO. There is plenty to work on over the next 2 weeks!

That will come with time. Our DBs are small and they will learn how to use positioning to neutralize receiver size advantages. They were there most of the game, they just got outsized and manhandled. Jones is a really good receiver who looked really good. Roberts is really athletic for a big guy and looked athletic. CJ would have helped because he knows how to play bigger guys. Champion normally hasn't lined up against a team's best receiver. Allison has good height, but doesn't have the reps yet. There isn't anything to worry about with these guys. The offense looked out of sorts in the second half more than the defense.

[td577]

No pass rush. Their qb had all day.

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They were relying on pressure from just the front four. LBers were dropping back to help underneath. Without even the threat of a LBer coming in, Montana wasn't even looking at blocking nothing but the four down lineman. The couple of times they did blitz a LBer, their QB was just throwing the ball to where he left from and completing underneath throws.