The positive from the Montana game

[OrygunBison]

I have now been able to fully watch the game on TV (DVR) and am not nearly overtaken by that sick feeling that I had Saturday evening. The boys actually played pretty well and at most positions. Mistakes, yes. But there is a ton to be happy about and I cannot wait to see what these guys look like with a little bit of more experience. Things that particularly popped out to me:

1.) Defense - To my little brain, and with my limited knowledge, they actually played very well. I believe that once the secondary gets healthy and more experience, this will be a very good defense. There's a ton of speed and the boys like to hit shit.
2.) DeLuca - what a beast! 'nuff said.
3.) Tanguay - see above.
4.) Linebacker group - I think this and the interior defensive line will be the strength of the defensive unit. They are fast ball hawks that can cover the pass and stuff the run. With more experience, these guys are going to be very impressive.
5.) Offense - Obviously some great ability. When the playcalling is solid, there's not much stopping these guys.
6.) CW - duh.
7.) King - I've actually never been a big fan of his previously. I've never been convinced that he's the real deal. Screw that. He's now hitting the hole hard and was getting 5 yards a carry up the middle. I think if he improves his outside game, he'll be a hell of a back. One thing that I'm particularly excited about is the potential return of the quality middle screen. DJ was a master of that 4 years ago and we haven't really had the same back to do it again. (Of course, we have run it successfully since but just not the same.) King did a hell of a job on that play on Saturday and made the most of the opportunity.
8.) #20 - still not sure who that guy is yet but he was all over the field, particularly in the first half. His future seems pretty bright.
9.) Chase - Looks bigger and faster to me. He ran the ball very well when he got the reps.
10.) Eric fucking Perkins!! - Where the hell did that come from?!? Average starting position when returning a kick in the first half was the 38 yard line. I don't know if he's the guy to break one this year but I feel like he's the kinda guy to consistently hit the seam that is given him and make the most out of it. He also had a great catch on offense.
11.) Kickoff return team - Those guys provided some great lanes for Perk to hit on Saturday. That was nice to see, particularly given some of the young guys on that unit.

I gotta get back to work but I wanted to get a few of these thoughts out and encourage you do do the same. The sky is not falling, Bison fans. There is much to be encouraged by...even with what we saw on Saturday.

It is good to be a Bison fan. Please keep this thread positive. (I know, I know...just not the nature of BV but at least I can hope...)

[Bison 4 Life]

I just watch until the first touchdown. The perfect game.

[Bisonwinagn]

We are a young team and made a bunch of mistakes, but if not for the holding call/fumble in the 4th we probably win by 10-14 points. Also I don't think we will face a better offense the rest of the regular season. Nobody has better receivers and maybe QB than Montana. I still belive we run the table and get a top seed especially with the early bye weeks to improve and get healthy.

[silkamilkamonico]

Our offense was so good I thought when Carson was healthy. He looked like a man among boys. Running the offense, great arm, rushing with the ball - our offense looked so bad I thought when he went down. I don't believe we scored a point the rest of the way after his ankle went down. What was our offensive production when he hurt his ankle?

So here's a question - is Carson the only thing we have going for our offense? Or was our scheme against Montana so Carson heavy that when he rolled his ankle we had absolutely nothing else? Is it hard to make adjustments throughout the game if you lose the strengths of one of your players?

[CaBisonFan]

Our offense was so good I thought when Carson was healthy. He looked like a man among boys. Running the offense, great arm, rushing with the ball - our offense looked so bad I thought when he went down. I don't believe we scored a point the rest of the way after his ankle went down. What was our offensive production when he hurt his ankle?

So here's a question - is Carson the only thing we have going for our offense? Or was our scheme against Montana so Carson heavy that when he rolled his ankle we had absolutely nothing else? Is it hard to make adjustments throughout the game if you lose the strengths of one of your players?

We've been very dependent on Carson's ability to run. It changed everything when he couldn't. And...it affected his passing.

Good original post.

[CAS4127]

Our offense was so good I thought when Carson was healthy. He looked like a man among boys. Running the offense, great arm, rushing with the ball - our offense looked so bad I thought when he went down. I don't believe we scored a point the rest of the way after his ankle went down. What was our offensive production when he hurt his ankle?

So here's a question - is Carson the only thing we have going for our offense? Or was our scheme against Montana so Carson heavy that when he rolled his ankle we had absolutely nothing else? Is it hard to make adjustments throughout the game if you lose the strengths of one of your players?

CW got hurt on the last play of the 3rd quarter. We did not score a point in the 3rd quarter. So, O production after he was hurt was actually better than before he was hurt.

CW also over-threw two wide open WR in this game that would have been TD's and also was responsible for losing at least one fumble, and involved in another. He has a lot of work to do IMO.

As for the KO returns, well, MT did a horse shit job kicking off, as most KOs were at or inside (meaning toward the middle) of the field. KOs either need to go out of or deep into the endzone, or deep left or right if not in the endzone as described. A KO to deep middle that is not deep in the endzone should result in a very good return.

[Grizzled]

We are a young team and made a bunch of mistakes, but if not for the holding call/fumble in the 4th we probably win by 10-14 points. Also I don't think we will face a better offense the rest of the regular season. Nobody has better receivers and maybe QB than Montana. I still belive we run the table and get a top seed especially with the early bye weeks to improve and get healthy.

If you would have said we won't see better WRs the rest of the season I would agree.

Montana could have a lot of what ifs about this game as well. I also think we will see better overall offenses this season. Besides the tempo and WRs, their offense was nothing spectacular. Their QB missed some easy throws that could have led to points.

[OrygunBison]

We've been very dependent on Carson's ability to run. It changed everything when he couldn't. And...it affected his passing.

Good original post.

Not true. We scored after he got hurt. That was the drive I was particularly thinking about for King. Also, the OL was moving the pile for King to hit 5 up the middle consistently in the second half...we just did not run the play as much as we could have. The only thing that they stopped short on the run was the outside...and we got several of those as well.

[Bison81]

I have now been able to fully watch the game on TV (DVR) and am not nearly overtaken by that sick feeling that I had Saturday evening. The boys actually played pretty well and at most positions. Mistakes, yes. But there is a ton to be happy about and I cannot wait to see what these guys look like with a little bit of more experience. Things that particularly popped out to me:

1.) Defense - To my little brain, and with my limited knowledge, they actually played very well. I believe that once the secondary gets healthy and more experience, this will be a very good defense. There's a ton of speed and the boys like to hit shit.
2.) DeLuca - what a beast! 'nuff said.
3.) Tanguay - see above.
4.) Linebacker group - I think this and the interior defensive line will be the strength of the defensive unit. They are fast ball hawks that can cover the pass and stuff the run. With more experience, these guys are going to be very impressive.
5.) Offense - Obviously some great ability. When the playcalling is solid, there's not much stopping these guys.
6.) CW - duh.
7.) King - I've actually never been a big fan of his previously. I've never been convinced that he's the real deal. Screw that. He's now hitting the hole hard and was getting 5 yards a carry up the middle. I think if he improves his outside game, he'll be a hell of a back. One thing that I'm particularly excited about is the potential return of the quality middle screen. DJ was a master of that 4 years ago and we haven't really had the same back to do it again. (Of course, we have run it successfully since but just not the same.) King did a hell of a job on that play on Saturday and made the most of the opportunity.
8.) #20 - still not sure who that guy is yet but he was all over the field, particularly in the first half. His future seems pretty bright.
9.) Chase - Looks bigger and faster to me. He ran the ball very well when he got the reps.
10.) Eric fucking Perkins!! - Where the hell did that come from?!? Average starting position when returning a kick in the first half was the 38 yard line. I don't know if he's the guy to break one this year but I feel like he's the kinda guy to consistently hit the seam that is given him and make the most out of it. He also had a great catch on offense.
11.) Kickoff return team - Those guys provided some great lanes for Perk to hit on Saturday. That was nice to see, particularly given some of the young guys on that unit.

I gotta get back to work but I wanted to get a few of these thoughts out and encourage you do do the same. The sky is not falling, Bison fans. There is much to be encouraged by...even with what we saw on Saturday.

It is good to be a Bison fan. Please keep this thread positive. (I know, I know...just not the nature of BV but at least I can hope...)

yes to all above nice post #7 king have not been impressed to date- really nice game #8 #20 true freshman - cool, solid will be true asset.

Upon rewatching the tape- at 6 minutes left ahead by 7 with ball - if CW is healthy good chance no fumble and we score up by 14
- run the ball its over. hats off to the griz!

[Buffalo.Rider]

So here's a question - is Carson the only thing we have going for our offense? Or was our scheme against Montana so Carson heavy that when he rolled his ankle we had absolutely nothing else? Is it hard to make adjustments throughout the game if you lose the strengths of one of your players?

At the end of the first half, the Bison play calling (and perhaps Carson himself when he had option plays) suggested that the offensive leaders (coaches mainly) did not believe in their running backs or their O-line and its ability to create holes. It was Carson, Carson, Carson (or it seemed so) for the last dozen or so plays. At halftime, I commented to the people I was with that NDSU better fix this in the second half because it was a good formula for getting the quarterback injured.

As for positives: the run defense, defense against screen plays, was pretty good. Offense minus the long ball was pretty good. Could have, should have, given Morlock more carries. He was playing well.