Montana Post Game Thoughts & Discussion

[TAILG8R]

I don't usually show much emotion when NDSU is playing... but I was going to throw my remote through the TV if NDSU actually punted pm 4th and 5 with under 4 minutes to play.

Say what you will about NDSU coaching, but we all would have lost our damn minds if we were in Montana's position and didn't defend against the fake.

100% same thoughts on both points.

[DuckDuckGriz]

I don't usually show much emotion when NDSU is playing... but I was going to throw my remote through the TV if NDSU actually punted pm 4th and 5 with under 4 minutes to play.

Say what you will about NDSU coaching, but we all would have lost our damn minds if we were in Montana's position and didn't defend against the fake.

I absolutely lost my mind. How could you not see that coming.

That and the 15 yd PF definitely put that old familiar pit in my stomach.

[Son of a Bison]

Montana brought many linebacker blitzes and got home more than us. We would delay blitz without LBs creeping up which gave their QB 5 extra yards of vision to see it coming and it also created some vertical gaps between DL and LB. I also liked how Montana brought their LB from outside and used Dline up the middle. The outside blitzes were just faster the DL and their speed didn’t allow Cam to break the pocket contain. I do understand some of this is base scheme designed by personnel differences but maybe we could sub in a LB for DE every so often to get more edge speed/contain.

[BigHorns]

Why all the hate on Bulldog. It seems he came here with good intentions and wanted to talk about FBS vs FCS. Nothing wrong with that.

You missed one of the initial posts he deleted, plus he's generally here to gloat and act superior. Its a pattern.
Part of the group that thinks they had a dynasty, too.

[CaBisonFan]

So many things factored into the loss at Montana. Hard to list all of them. I've heard and read a lot about how awful Cam Miller played... but my take on it is that he threw the ball to the receivers' hands many times. Apparently that's not the way to throw the ball. And... on the last play... why take the ball out of his hands and box him and the receivers into the right corner? Why limit his options?

[Bisonator98]

So many things factored into the loss at Montana. Hard to list all of them. I've heard and read a lot about how awful Cam Miller played... but my take on it is that he threw the ball to the receivers' hands many times. Apparently that's not the way to throw the ball. And... on the last play... why take the ball out of his hands and box him and the receivers into the right corner? Why limit his options?

He also over threw 2 glaring wide open deep shots that would have been TD's. He also held onto the ball way too long when there were plenty of opportunities to scramble for big yardage. The offense should have had way more then 16 points in regulation. I've been a huge supporter of Cam and he's a very good QB but he absolutely comes up small in big games.

[GreenfieldBison]

He also over threw 2 glaring wide open deep shots that would have been TD's. He also held onto the ball way too long when there were plenty of opportunities to scramble for big yardage. The offense should have had way more then 16 points in regulation. I've been a huge supporter of Cam and he's a very good QB but he absolutely comes up small in big games.

I have been a Cam supporter too but some of these observations are just hard to argue.
Agreed that Cam held the ball too long IMHO. Could be a reason for his high completion rate stat: he only throws to large windows.
Those two long ball misses I will still believe were caused by elevation. The ball sailed on him when he threw harder. But you would think he could have adjusted to that in pre-game. He didn't in Bozeman or Missoula.
He did not seem to recognize when pressure was coming. I did not notice if there was a TE or RB outlet but it did not seem like it. Is that just a pro thing to throw a quick pass to where the pressure is coming from?
I have not recognized Cam changing plays at LOS. Changing protection I think yes but not a play call as far as I could tell. I wonder about his ability to read a defense and thus the look to sideline crap.
Offense should have scored more, absolutely. False starts were just drive killers. Six freaking times! Just terrible.
Pound. The. Rock. MORE 22.
I have been critical of their defense all year but in this one they held up their end in regulation. Fell apart in OT but that game should have never gone to OT IMHO.

Contrary to CaBisonFan's recall Cam only completed 9 of 22 in this one for a completion percentage of 41%. 157 yards among 5 receivers, 1 TD, 0 INT and 3 sacks. McDowell had almost identical numbers at 16 of 30 for 160 yards across 6 receivers, 1 TD, 0 INT and 3 sacks. As for rushing McDowell gets the edge there with 17 net yards on 12 attempts and Cam has -16 net yards on 7 attempts. QB play was about a wash in this one.

Montana had 160 yards receiving and 124 yards rushing for 284 total
NDSU had 157 yards receiving and 175 yards rushing for 332 total.

Punting was a wash however NDSU punted one more time than Montana.
Penalties favored MT with 2 for 30 yards vs NDSU 9 for 60 yards. Subtract this difference from total offense and NDSU (332-60)= 272 outgained MT (284-30) = 254 by 18 yards.

The glaring difference was the single punt return by MT for 47 yards and a TD. This was the difference maker.

So, why in the ever living fuck did Steindorf kick that ball to Junior Bergen?

[gavin2126]

He also over threw 2 glaring wide open deep shots that would have been TD's. He also held onto the ball way too long when there were plenty of opportunities to scramble for big yardage. The offense should have had way more then 16 points in regulation. I've been a huge supporter of Cam and he's a very good QB but he absolutely comes up small in big games.

Rewatching the game last night, when they showed the replay of the one he overthrew Raja, he had to slow a little and sidestep a Griz defender that was coming across him at about the same time Cam was throwing it. I think that throw would have been on target had Raja been able to keep running straight. The other points are accurate, he airmailed the other one badly and held the ball way too long too often.

[MyOhMy]

Rewatching the game last night, when they showed the replay of the one he overthrew Raja, he had to slow a little and sidestep a Griz defender that was coming across him at about the same time Cam was throwing it. I think that throw would have been on target had Raja been able to keep running straight. The other points are accurate, he airmailed the other one badly and held the ball way too long too often.

What's the excuse for the overthrow of Green on 3rd down on the 1st drive? Green was WFO, Cam was under 0 pressure and a little touch on the pass to the outside drops it right into his hands, instead he throws a bullet to the back corner and Green only gets the fingertips of a single hand to it. A TD to open there and it's a completely different ballgame IMO.

[IndyBison]

Maybe Indy can comment on this. On the punt NDSU was flagged for roughing the punter, it is my understanding that a rugby still punter once outside the tackle box is not allow protection since it could be a fake punt. Now unless he was still in the box I am not fully sure. It really does not matter now. It was a heck of a game and the boys really played their butts off the last several weeks of the season. To lose in double overtime in a semi-final game with the road schedule we had to play was a incredible feat. No I am not into moral victories. But still more than proud of the team.

Correct. In NCAA rules, the kicker loses that protection outside the tackle box. I haven't seen most of the game yet so I didn't see the play in question.

A new change this year also removed that protection if the kicker is more than 5 yards behind his original position. By rule the tackle box goes from the line of scrimmage to the end line. But if the kicker ends up back there to pick up a bad snap and gets hit as he's kicking it he's not protected. Before you had to make a judgement if he was going to kick it or try to run with it. This was a nice change.

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