Griz versus the UND Fighting Hawks

[Bobcat4Ever]

I didn't see any of this one, but there's something about the box score that I find utterly confusing.

Griz RB's in the first half:14 carries for 123 yards (8.8 YPC)

Griz RB's in the second half: 3 carries for 10 yards

How does that happen? I understand abandoning the run if you're down three scores, but the Griz were up 17 coming out of the half. Seems like the offensive staff kind of gave the game away.

One other interesting trend:

If my numbers are right from the play-by-play, Ah Yat was 4/10 for 9 yards and took 3 sacks in the second half. That would mean that in the first half he was 17/19 for 136 yards and a TD.

Last week, he started with 5 straight completions to open the game and then finished the first half going something like 5/13. He got benched after a costly fumble to start the second half.

It seems like he's able to start games effectively when things are scripted for him but once it becomes less pre-determined he starts to fall apart. We will see if he can round into form as the season progresses. To be fair, he played effectively deeper into this game than against Missouri State so he may be on the right track. Last year, the Griz season was rescued by Clifton McDowell's excellence in relief of Vidlak. It's unclear whether Hauck has anything like that in his back pocket this time around.

Looks like two contrasting halves. UND seems to have made adjustments and "slammed the door" on the gris. Or gris coaching really messed the bed.

Wasn't last weeks qb play just the opposite, Fife coming on to, so to speak, save the day.

Only 11000+ in attendance.

Isn't next week a cake walk for them?

I don’t think the Alerus Center seats a great many more than that. Still, not a sellout.

[Lord Vigo]

I didn't see any of this one, but there's something about the box score that I find utterly confusing.

Griz RB's in the first half:14 carries for 123 yards (8.8 YPC)

Griz RB's in the second half: 3 carries for 10 yards

How does that happen? I understand abandoning the run if you're down three scores, but the Griz were up 17 coming out of the half. Seems like the offensive staff kind of gave the game away.

One other interesting trend:

If my numbers are right from the play-by-play, Ah Yat was 4/10 for 9 yards and took 3 sacks in the second half. That would mean that in the first half he was 17/19 for 136 yards and a TD.

Last week, he started with 5 straight completions to open the game and then finished the first half going something like 5/13. He got benched after a costly fumble to start the second half.

It seems like he's able to start games effectively when things are scripted for him but once it becomes less pre-determined he starts to fall apart. We will see if he can round into form as the season progresses. To be fair, he played effectively deeper into this game than against Missouri State so he may be on the right track. Last year, the Griz season was rescued by Clifton McDowell's excellence in relief of Vidlak. It's unclear whether Hauck has anything like that in his back pocket this time around.

Looks like two contrasting halves. UND seems to have made adjustments and "slammed the door" on the gris. Or gris coaching really messed the bed.

Wasn't last weeks qb play just the opposite, Fife coming on to, so to speak, save the day.

Only 11000+ in attendance.

Isn't next week a cake walk for them?

My read on it is that the Griz coaching staff had a really excellent script for how they wanted to open the game offensively, but once that script ran out, Ah Yat was pretty helpless to read the opposing defense and execute.

But the in-game coaching was horrific. Up 24-14, they run the ball with their best offensive player once and then have Ah Yat air it out twice. Next drive, up 24-21, they open with a pass attempt and take a big sack which removes running as an option.

So they needlessly went away from what was working best and put the game on the shoulders of an overwhelmed freshman. If they had just ridden Gilman and Ostmo in the 2nd half, they win that game.

What remains to be seen is how much progress Ah Yat can make over the course of the season. If he can take meaningful steps, they're going to be pretty good. If he can't, and Fife isn't the answer, it's going to be up and down for them.

[catatac]

Looked like the Griz also had one of their DL dudes go down... Hayden? Then Meyer as someone else posted, ouch.

[Prodigal Cat]

Idaho State could do the funniest thing this weekend

[Bocephus]

Akem and Colter said last week that Hauck could out coach anyone in the FCS, i think he set out to prove them wrong. His interview is almost unwatchable. Have some class Bobby, I can’t ever imagine Vigen acting like that.

[RickRund]

Akem and Colter said last week that Hauck could out coach anyone in the FCS, i think he set out to prove them wrong. His interview is almost unwatchable. Have some class Bobby, I can’t ever imagine Vigen acting like that.

I might need to listen to this one...

[Lord Vigo]

Akem and Colter said last week that Hauck could out coach anyone in the FCS, i think he set out to prove them wrong. His interview is almost unwatchable. Have some class Bobby, I can’t ever imagine Vigen acting like that.

It legitimately blows my mind that Skyline markets Akem's analysis on all things Cat/Griz as being unbiased. He is such a homer.

[91catAlum]

Akem and Colter said last week that Hauck could out coach anyone in the FCS

SERIOUSLY?? This makes me laugh! A year ago it was up in the air whether Hauck would even keep his job. They went on a magical run and had a great season but it's the only time they've made it past the quarters since Hauck's return.
2018 - no playoffs, loss to MSU
2019 - embarrassed by MSU, loss in the quarters?
2021 - beat MSU for the first time since rtd; playoff loss in quarters
2022 - again embarrassed by MSU, loss in quarters
2023 - creamed MSU, made Frisco but lost.

Best coach in the FCS??? Gimme a break.

[BelligerentBobcat]

Akem and Colter said last week that Hauck could out coach anyone in the FCS, i think he set out to prove them wrong. His interview is almost unwatchable. Have some class Bobby, I can’t ever imagine Vigen acting like that.

I’m shocked that Sammy and Colter would be biased.

[MSU01]

I dislike Hauck as much as the next Bobcat fan, but you have to admit that he did an incredible job last year of taking a team that was left for dead after the awful NAU loss and ending up making it to Frisco without losing another game. Maybe he's not the best coach in FCS but he's very high up there.

[91catAlum]

I dislike Hauck as much as the next Bobcat fan, but you have to admit that he did an incredible job last year of taking a team that was left for dead after the awful NAU loss and ending up making it to Frisco without losing another game. Maybe he's not the best coach in FCS but he's very high up there.

He's a good coach. He's not the best coach in FCS, not even close.

[MSU01]

I dislike Hauck as much as the next Bobcat fan, but you have to admit that he did an incredible job last year of taking a team that was left for dead after the awful NAU loss and ending up making it to Frisco without losing another game. Maybe he's not the best coach in FCS but he's very high up there.

He's a good coach. He's not the best coach in FCS, not even close.

So who's definitely above him in the rankings? Not trying to argue on Hauck's behalf but interested to know what people think. NDSU's guy is brand new and SDSU's in his second year but with one more title already than Bobby. Vigen has a gaudy win percentage but a couple bad losses to UM and hasn't gotten over the hump in the playoffs yet either. Several of the coaches I clearly would have ranked higher (Jay Hill of Weber, Troy Taylor of Sac, John Stiegelmeier of SDSU) are no longer around.

[91catAlum]

I dislike Hauck as much as the next Bobcat fan, but you have to admit that he did an incredible job last year of taking a team that was left for dead after the awful NAU loss and ending up making it to Frisco without losing another game. Maybe he's not the best coach in FCS but he's very high up there.

He's a good coach. He's not the best coach in FCS, not even close.

So who's definitely above him in the rankings? Not trying to argue on Hauck's behalf but interested to know what people think. NDSU's guy is brand new and SDSU's in his second year but with one more title already than Bobby. Vigen has a gaudy win percentage but a couple bad losses to UM and hasn't gotten over the hump in the playoffs yet either. Several of the coaches I clearly would have ranked higher (Jay Hill of Weber, Troy Taylor of Sac, John Stiegelmeier of SDSU) are no longer around.

Good point about all that coaching talent leaving the FCS recently, I didn't think about that. But...
Just based on results (1 deep playoff run since 2018), there are many coaches I'd consider better than him starting with Vigen.
Hauck is a great special teams coach, I'll give him that. Other than that, why do you think he's so great? What are you basing that on?
With all their support, facilities, and their stadium, you could put any decent college coach in missoula and he could make 1 deep playoff run every 5 years.

He's a good coach, don't get me wrong. But he's not going to "outcoach everybody in the FCS."

[Cataholic]

I dislike Hauck as much as the next Bobcat fan, but you have to admit that he did an incredible job last year of taking a team that was left for dead after the awful NAU loss and ending up making it to Frisco without losing another game. Maybe he's not the best coach in FCS but he's very high up there.

He's a good coach. He's not the best coach in FCS, not even close.

So who's definitely above him in the rankings? Not trying to argue on Hauck's behalf but interested to know what people think. NDSU's guy is brand new and SDSU's in his second year but with one more title already than Bobby. Vigen has a gaudy win percentage but a couple bad losses to UM and hasn't gotten over the hump in the playoffs yet either. Several of the coaches I clearly would have ranked higher (Jay Hill of Weber, Troy Taylor of Sac, John Stiegelmeier of SDSU) are no longer around.

Good point about all that coaching talent leaving the FCS recently, I didn't think about that. But...
Just based on results (1 deep playoff run since 2018), there are many coaches I'd consider better than him starting with Vigen.
Hauck is a great special teams coach, I'll give him that. Other than that, why do you think he's so great? What are you basing that on?
With all their support, facilities, and their stadium, you could put any decent college coach in missoula and he could make 1 deep playoff run every 5 years.

He's a good coach, don't get me wrong. But he's not going to "outcoach everybody in the FCS."

Just watch last Saturday’s game. He gave it away.

[Bocephus]

I dislike Hauck as much as the next Bobcat fan, but you have to admit that he did an incredible job last year of taking a team that was left for dead after the awful NAU loss and ending up making it to Frisco without losing another game. Maybe he's not the best coach in FCS but he's very high up there.

He's a good coach. He's not the best coach in FCS, not even close.

So who's definitely above him in the rankings? Not trying to argue on Hauck's behalf but interested to know what people think. NDSU's guy is brand new and SDSU's in his second year but with one more title already than Bobby. Vigen has a gaudy win percentage but a couple bad losses to UM and hasn't gotten over the hump in the playoffs yet either. Several of the coaches I clearly would have ranked higher (Jay Hill of Weber, Troy Taylor of Sac, John Stiegelmeier of SDSU) are no longer around.

Good point about all that coaching talent leaving the FCS recently, I didn't think about that. But...
Just based on results (1 deep playoff run since 2018), there are many coaches I'd consider better than him starting with Vigen.
Hauck is a great special teams coach, I'll give him that. Other than that, why do you think he's so great? What are you basing that on?
With all their support, facilities, and their stadium, you could put any decent college coach in missoula and he could make 1 deep playoff run every 5 years.

He's a good coach, don't get me wrong. But he's not going to "outcoach everybody in the FCS."

Just watch last Saturday’s game. He gave it away.

One of his greatest weaknesses as a coach is being stubborn and unwilling to change his game plan on the go. He was unwilling to do the thing that would win him the game at UND. Run the ball, take the pressure of your young QB.

At this point Jason Eck is moving up the ranks pretty fast. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him land a big time job soon. He has the personality and passion big programs like.

[Cataholic]

I dislike Hauck as much as the next Bobcat fan, but you have to admit that he did an incredible job last year of taking a team that was left for dead after the awful NAU loss and ending up making it to Frisco without losing another game. Maybe he's not the best coach in FCS but he's very high up there.

He's a good coach. He's not the best coach in FCS, not even close.

So who's definitely above him in the rankings? Not trying to argue on Hauck's behalf but interested to know what people think. NDSU's guy is brand new and SDSU's in his second year but with one more title already than Bobby. Vigen has a gaudy win percentage but a couple bad losses to UM and hasn't gotten over the hump in the playoffs yet either. Several of the coaches I clearly would have ranked higher (Jay Hill of Weber, Troy Taylor of Sac, John Stiegelmeier of SDSU) are no longer around.

Good point about all that coaching talent leaving the FCS recently, I didn't think about that. But...
Just based on results (1 deep playoff run since 2018), there are many coaches I'd consider better than him starting with Vigen.
Hauck is a great special teams coach, I'll give him that. Other than that, why do you think he's so great? What are you basing that on?
With all their support, facilities, and their stadium, you could put any decent college coach in missoula and he could make 1 deep playoff run every 5 years.

He's a good coach, don't get me wrong. But he's not going to "outcoach everybody in the FCS."

Just watch last Saturday’s game. He gave it away.

One of his greatest weaknesses as a coach is being stubborn and unwilling to change his game plan on the go. He was unwilling to do the thing that would win him the game at UND. Run the ball, take the pressure of your young QB.

At this point Jason Eck is moving up the ranks pretty fast. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him land a big time job soon. He has the personality and passion big programs like.

His stubbornness runs into other areas as well. Both stubbornness and arrogance have hurt him with personnel, coaching, player retention and dealing with the media. All are important aspects of being a head coach and I give him C’s or lower in those areas.

[91catAlum]

I dislike Hauck as much as the next Bobcat fan, but you have to admit that he did an incredible job last year of taking a team that was left for dead after the awful NAU loss and ending up making it to Frisco without losing another game. Maybe he's not the best coach in FCS but he's very high up there.

He's a good coach. He's not the best coach in FCS, not even close.

So who's definitely above him in the rankings? Not trying to argue on Hauck's behalf but interested to know what people think. NDSU's guy is brand new and SDSU's in his second year but with one more title already than Bobby. Vigen has a gaudy win percentage but a couple bad losses to UM and hasn't gotten over the hump in the playoffs yet either. Several of the coaches I clearly would have ranked higher (Jay Hill of Weber, Troy Taylor of Sac, John Stiegelmeier of SDSU) are no longer around.

Good point about all that coaching talent leaving the FCS recently, I didn't think about that. But...
Just based on results (1 deep playoff run since 2018), there are many coaches I'd consider better than him starting with Vigen.
Hauck is a great special teams coach, I'll give him that. Other than that, why do you think he's so great? What are you basing that on?
With all their support, facilities, and their stadium, you could put any decent college coach in missoula and he could make 1 deep playoff run every 5 years.

He's a good coach, don't get me wrong. But he's not going to "outcoach everybody in the FCS."

Just watch last Saturday’s game. He gave it away.

One of his greatest weaknesses as a coach is being stubborn and unwilling to change his game plan on the go. He was unwilling to do the thing that would win him the game at UND. Run the ball, take the pressure of your young QB.

At this point Jason Eck is moving up the ranks pretty fast. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him land a big time job soon. He has the personality and passion big programs like.

Eck is another coach I might put above Hauck. Eck lost his entire team to the transfer portal last year, and still puts together a team good enough to go beat an FBS team and be competitive with Oregon! Thats impressive.

[coloradocat]

I dislike Hauck as much as the next Bobcat fan, but you have to admit that he did an incredible job last year of taking a team that was left for dead after the awful NAU loss and ending up making it to Frisco without losing another game. Maybe he's not the best coach in FCS but he's very high up there.

He's a good coach. He's not the best coach in FCS, not even close.

So who's definitely above him in the rankings? Not trying to argue on Hauck's behalf but interested to know what people think. NDSU's guy is brand new and SDSU's in his second year but with one more title already than Bobby. Vigen has a gaudy win percentage but a couple bad losses to UM and hasn't gotten over the hump in the playoffs yet either. Several of the coaches I clearly would have ranked higher (Jay Hill of Weber, Troy Taylor of Sac, John Stiegelmeier of SDSU) are no longer around.

Good point about all that coaching talent leaving the FCS recently, I didn't think about that. But...
Just based on results (1 deep playoff run since 2018), there are many coaches I'd consider better than him starting with Vigen.
Hauck is a great special teams coach, I'll give him that. Other than that, why do you think he's so great? What are you basing that on?
With all their support, facilities, and their stadium, you could put any decent college coach in missoula and he could make 1 deep playoff run every 5 years.

He's a good coach, don't get me wrong. But he's not going to "outcoach everybody in the FCS."

Just watch last Saturday’s game. He gave it away.

One of his greatest weaknesses as a coach is being stubborn and unwilling to change his game plan on the go. He was unwilling to do the thing that would win him the game at UND. Run the ball, take the pressure of your young QB.

At this point Jason Eck is moving up the ranks pretty fast. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him land a big time job soon. He has the personality and passion big programs like.

His stubbornness runs into other areas as well. Both stubbornness and arrogance have hurt him with personnel, coaching, player retention and dealing with the media. All are important aspects of being a head coach and I give him C’s or lower in those areas.

Is this stubbornness and arrogance really hurting him off the field or do we all just want it to? Sure he's a terrible person when he has a griz shirt on but I don't think coaches and players are fleeing him. He protects his own.

[77matman]

I’d use NIL $s and stadium along with wins to determine coaching abilities. Doubt NIL will be available so judging is difficult at best, isn’t it.

[Cataholic]

I dislike Hauck as much as the next Bobcat fan, but you have to admit that he did an incredible job last year of taking a team that was left for dead after the awful NAU loss and ending up making it to Frisco without losing another game. Maybe he's not the best coach in FCS but he's very high up there.

He's a good coach. He's not the best coach in FCS, not even close.

So who's definitely above him in the rankings? Not trying to argue on Hauck's behalf but interested to know what people think. NDSU's guy is brand new and SDSU's in his second year but with one more title already than Bobby. Vigen has a gaudy win percentage but a couple bad losses to UM and hasn't gotten over the hump in the playoffs yet either. Several of the coaches I clearly would have ranked higher (Jay Hill of Weber, Troy Taylor of Sac, John Stiegelmeier of SDSU) are no longer around.

Good point about all that coaching talent leaving the FCS recently, I didn't think about that. But...
Just based on results (1 deep playoff run since 2018), there are many coaches I'd consider better than him starting with Vigen.
Hauck is a great special teams coach, I'll give him that. Other than that, why do you think he's so great? What are you basing that on?
With all their support, facilities, and their stadium, you could put any decent college coach in missoula and he could make 1 deep playoff run every 5 years.

He's a good coach, don't get me wrong. But he's not going to "outcoach everybody in the FCS."

Just watch last Saturday’s game. He gave it away.

One of his greatest weaknesses as a coach is being stubborn and unwilling to change his game plan on the go. He was unwilling to do the thing that would win him the game at UND. Run the ball, take the pressure of your young QB.

At this point Jason Eck is moving up the ranks pretty fast. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him land a big time job soon. He has the personality and passion big programs like.

His stubbornness runs into other areas as well. Both stubbornness and arrogance have hurt him with personnel, coaching, player retention and dealing with the media. All are important aspects of being a head coach and I give him C’s or lower in those areas.

Is this stubbornness and arrogance really hurting him off the field or do we all just want it to? Sure he's a terrible person when he has a griz shirt on but I don't think coaches and players are fleeing him. He protects his own.

I don’t know. It has become common knowledge that Bobby has his favorites. That has resulted in kids leaving the program. Mostly low profile guys but the brothers from Billings that left are a good example. Kids eventually talk about their treatment and I am guessing that has led to some guys not choosing UM from the get go.