Montana v. App St: My Take

[Green26]

This will be a great game, and great battle. The two top teams in I-AA in this decade.

Griz stadium will be loud, rocking and electric. ESPN's coverage will be terrrific. The announcers will be friendly to both teams.

Both teams will be up to the challenge, neither team will back down or be afraid.

Based on the weather today and in the late afternoon, the weather will not be factor. The crowd noise is likely to be a factor, but who knows how much.

The Griz will have to find a way to stop App St's offense, which will be a big challenge. Armanti Edwards is one of the best and most special I-AA players ever. A great play maker, great runner and accurate passer. Griz nation hopes to find a way to make this his last collegiate game, but that remains to be seen.

The ASU fans seem to think that Edwards and their team's speed and athleticism will win the day. I'm not so sure.

The Griz seem to be on a roll. Talent on both sides of the ball, as well as special teams. Focus, intensity, and alot of homegrown Montana boys, combined with talent and speed from the Northwest, California and Arizona. And watch out for Mariani. The guy is a talent and a winner.

The Griz will have to play well, stay in their lanes, not make mistakes and tackle well--and not have turnovers or penalties. I think they will.

App St will make some yardage and get some scores, but hopefully not too much. There's no denying their talent and ability. Hopefully, the Griz will tackle well, and maybe force some turnovers.

I think Edwards is going to get hit hard. I think the Griz are going to cause some turnovers. I think the Griz are going to be able to run on App St and pound them, sooner or later. I just don't see how the App St d-line and linebackers are going to be able to withstand the strong blocking of the UM o-line, tight ends, and h-back. Maybe I will be proved wrong.

If App St explodes for big plays or big plays, too often, it will be a challenge for the Griz. I hope this doesn't occur.

Good luck to both teams. Great teams. Great programs. Great fans.

[Skjellyfetti]

xoutofrepx

Great post.

[Frosty The Snowbuff]

This will be a great game, and great battle. The two top teams in I-AA in this decade.

Griz stadium will be loud, rocking and electric. ESPN's coverage will be terrrific. The announcers will be friendly to both teams.

Both teams will be up to the challenge, neither team will back down or be afraid.

Based on the weather today and in the late afternoon, the weather will not be factor. The crowd noise is likely to be a factor, but who knows how much.

The Griz will have to find a way to stop App St's offense, which will be a big challenge. Armanti Edwards is one of the best and most special I-AA players ever. A great play maker, great runner and accurate passer. Griz nation hopes to find a way to make this his last collegiate game, but that remains to be seen.

The ASU fans seem to think that Edwards and their team's speed and athleticism will win the day. I'm not so sure.

The Griz seem to be on a roll. Talent on both sides of the ball, as well as special teams. Focus, intensity, and alot of homegrown Montana boys, combined with talent and speed from the Northwest, California and Arizona. And watch out for Mariani. The guy is a talent and a winner.

The Griz will have to play well, stay in their lanes, not make mistakes and tackle well--and not have turnovers or penalties. I think they will.

App St will make some yardage and get some scores, but hopefully not too much. There's no denying their talent and ability. Hopefully, the Griz will tackle well, and maybe force some turnovers.

I think Edwards is going to get hit hard. I think the Griz are going to cause some turnovers. I think the Griz are going to be able to run on App St and pound them, sooner or later. I just don't see how the App St d-line and linebackers are going to be able to withstand the strong blocking of the UM o-line, tight ends, and h-back. Maybe I will be proved wrong.

If App St explodes for big plays or big plays, too often, it will be a challenge for the Griz. I hope this doesn't occur.

Good luck to both teams. Great teams. Great programs. Great fans.


I have a bad feeling about this......

[AppStateold299]

The announcers are going to be talking about the Heisman ceremony the entire game. They are going to get our players names wrong and mispronounce Appalachian from the start. It is going to be yet another game that all FCS fans are going to be in an uproar about. I hope the crowd is rocking tomorrow to make up for that pathetic excuse for fan turnout last night. I have seen little league games with more people in the stands. That was an embarrassment last night. I have to say I unfortunately agree with Frosty the Snowbuff on this one. I am going to try to keep a tally of how many times they mention the Heisman tonight.

[WyomingGrizFan]

Weather forecast says something like a high of twenty-five with 70 - 80 % chance of light snow, which may not be too bad, heavier snow in the evening though for saturday.

I think it would have been far better to have had this game starting at noon. But I guess the television networks feel that they can dictate such items as when games should be played; for their convenience no less. Got to get those advertisements in and let's not foget the infamous 'Heidi' game!!! Nothing against Heidi but I mean, really.

[proasu89]

This could make things interesting for both teams if the timing of this moves up. From the NWS:

Issued by The National Weather Service
Missoula, MT
4:39 am MST, Sat., Dec. 12, 2009

... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 PM MST SUNDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 PM MST SUNDAY.

* IMPACTS/TIMING: LIGHT SNOWFALL WILL BEGIN THIS AFTERNOON AND GRADUALLY BECOME MORE INTENSE OVERNIGHT. PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOWFALL CAN BE EXPECTED BY SUNDAY MORNING... CREATING DIFFICULT DRIVING CONDITIONS.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES ARE EXPECTED... ESPECIALLY IN THE MISSOULA AND NORTHERN BITTERROOT VALLEYS.

[ThompsonThe]

I just hope, beyond hope, that they do not spend 1/3 of the game interviewing the Heisman candidates and ignoring the game like they have done before.
ESPN is going to get worse since in 2011 they start broadcasting the BCS bowls.

Game at 4PM Eastern.....snow starts at 5PM Eastern.....hope we have a lead by then. Maybe before they turn the game into a Heisman pre show show.

(Maybe the snow starts at 5PM Mountain time, if so should be almost all snow free during the game.)

[appst97]

Nice post, fair assessment, A lot of 'ifs' and 'thinking', but thats what we as fans do best:)
good luck to both teams and safe travels for all that are attending. Lets get it on!

[appstate1998]

unfortunately since it is on ESPN before the Heisman show with only a short sportscenter in between, you can forget much talk about the game. We will probably miss half the game while they are showing highlights of Tebow crying.

[HenZoneNation]

There's been one top team this decade...and you're playing them. Just getting to the NC isn't good enough. You have to win and you've won the same amount of NC's this decade as UD, Richmond, JMU, GSU, and WKU. This kinda goes back to our arguement about teams in the BSC who almost beat UM and that being grounds for why they should be considered the #2 conference. You gotta win...That being said...I think you have a really good chance of doing that.

I don't think there is any doubt that this is the more exciting of the two games. ASU has the most exciting player in the country, UM has the stadium and fan base that is tops in the country. This will be an awesome game. There will be talk about the Heisman but I think the play on the field is going to over shadow that. I hope they spend some time addressing how much better the playoff system is than the Bowls...Robert Smith doesn't seem to think so.

As far as W&M/Nova game...xsmhx...I hate Nova...hate them. But they are about as strong as it gets. If they went head to head with Richmond's team last year I think they win...even with Richmond's DE's and Vaughn. They can be beat, but their offense struggled because of W&M's D. Their speed on D and their 3-3-5 will match up well with ASU. I think UM is a better match up. I guess we'll see.

Have fun out there guys, stay warm, drink beer...or Moonshine...xthumbsupx...and show the BCS why a playoff system is the only way to go...when does the tailgaiting start?

[MR. CHICKEN]

There's been one top team this decade...and you're playing them. Just getting to the NC isn't good enough. You have to win and you've won the same amount of NC's this decade as UD, Richmond, JMU, GSU, and WKU. This kinda goes back to our arguement about teams in the BSC who almost beat UM and that being grounds for why they should be considered the #2 conference. You gotta win...That being said...I think you have a really good chance of doing that.

I don't think there is any doubt that this is the more exciting of the two games. ASU has the most exciting player in the country, UM has the stadium and fan base that is tops in the country. This will be an awesome game. There will be talk about the Heisman but I think the play on the field is going to over shadow that. I hope they spend some time addressing how much better the playoff system is than the Bowls...Robert Smith doesn't seem to think so.

As far as W&M/Nova game...xsmhx...I hate Nova...hate them. But they are about as strong as it gets. If they went head to head with Richmond's team last year I think they win...even with Richmond's DE's and Vaughn. They can be beat, but their offense struggled because of W&M's D. Their speed on D and their 3-3-5 will match up well with ASU. I think UM is a better match up. I guess we'll see.

Have fun out there guys, stay warm, drink beer...or Moonshine...xthumbsupx...and show the BCS why a playoff system is the only way to go...when does the tailgaiting start?


DIDN'T ANY-BODAH...NOTICE WHAT BILL & MARE.....DID IN CARBONDALE....xconfusedx........AWK!

[Green26]

The weather is changing a bit. I just looked at 3 websites. It's 13, 13 and 15 now. Game time to end of game hourly looked something like this: 21 to 21, with snow and storm starting at 5; 23 to 22; 17 to 18 (snow starting at 5). Not much wind.

The refs are from the Patriot League. (I didn't look to see if reported elsewhere.)

Both ESPN announcers are well-known by UM's coach Hauck. He is expecting good coverage from them (for both schools and teams).

There were quite a few App St fans out in the downtown bars last night.

[APPS]

We are not scared of crowds and cold weather. No factor. The teams will matter, period.

[CrackerRiley]

The announcers are going to be talking about the Heisman ceremony the entire game. They are going to get our players names wrong and mispronounce Appalachian from the start. It is going to be yet another game that all FCS fans are going to be in an uproar about. I hope the crowd is rocking tomorrow to make up for that pathetic excuse for fan turnout last night. I have seen little league games with more people in the stands. That was an embarrassment last night. I have to say I unfortunately agree with Frosty the Snowbuff on this one. I am going to try to keep a tally of how many times they mention the Heisman tonight.

I think the announcers did a pretty good job last night. I did notice that one of them never called us Appalachian. Always referred to us as "App State" or just "App." I guess he didn't want to get it "wrong."



Edit: cool, 1000 :)

[Skjellyfetti]

I think the announcers did a pretty good job last night. I did notice that one of them never called us Appalachian. Always referred to us as "App State" or just "App." I guess he didn't want to get it "wrong."



Edit: cool, 1000 :)

I was listening to Bobby Hauck's press conference a day or so ago. The first time he mentioned Appalachian he pronounced it "Appalacyshan" and he immediately corrected it to "Appalatchun." I thought it was a good move by him. xthumbsupx

And grats on 1k!! xbowx

[ncbears]

I just hope, beyond hope, that they do not spend 1/3 of the game interviewing the Heisman candidates and ignoring the game like they have done before.
ESPN is going to get worse since in 2011 they start broadcasting the BCS bowls.

Game at 4PM Eastern.....snow starts at 5PM Eastern.....hope we have a lead by then. Maybe before they turn the game into a Heisman pre show show.

(Maybe the snow starts at 5PM Mountain time, if so should be almost all snow free during the game.)


yeah, they always seem to do that. I'll be watching on espn 360 as i don't have cable. Are they the same announcers as regular espn???

[gbhmt]

yeah, they always seem to do that. I'll be watching on espn 360 as i don't have cable. Are they the same announcers as regular espn???

Yeah the 360 feed will be the same broadcast as the normal ESPN one.

[GRIZCLAW]

We are not scared of crowds and cold weather. No factor. The teams will matter, period.

Every team that comes to WA-Griz says the same thing...the crowd, the weather, don't mean a thing. SFA said that last week. The #1 scoring team in the nation put up a goose egg....zip, zero, de nada, etc. Piping in noise won't help, you gotta be there to understand. We hope you come in as cocky and arrogant as a few of your posters. Many, however, are as respectful of the Griz as we are of Appy. Mutual respect, take your smack elsewhere. xnonoxxnonoxxnonoxxnonoxxnonoxxnonox

[APPS]

Every team that comes to WA-Griz says the same thing...the crowd, the weather, don't mean a thing. SFA said that last week. The #1 scoring team in the nation put up a goose egg....zip, zero, de nada, etc. Piping in noise won't help, you gotta be there to understand. We hope you come in as cocky and arrogant as a few of your posters. Many, however, are as respectful of the Griz as we are of Appy. Mutual respect, take your smack elsewhere.

I posted no smack like you did. App won't giftwrap the game for the Griz like SFA and SDSU did. The crowd and the weather aren't playing the game is my point. We have played in cold weather and snow before and in front of bigger crowds than the Griz one - even at home. The teams will decide the game. xnodx

[Skjellyfetti]

Every team that comes to WA-Griz says the same thing...the crowd, the weather, don't mean a thing. SFA said that last week.

We're not SFA. I'm sure y'all didn't see our team out at bars Thursday night. I'm sure y'all didn't see us playing in a frozen creek the day before the game yesterday like a bunch of morons:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Y1lemd81A

Y'all might beat us. But, it's not going to be because of the crowd or the weather. It will be because y'all are a better team. I have faith we will win anyway... but, just saying-- crowd and weather will not be an excuse for us.

It's not any kind of smack to say our boys aren't scared.

[gbhmt]

We're not SFA. I'm sure y'all didn't see our team out at bars Thursday night. I'm sure y'all didn't see us playing in a frozen creek the day before the game yesterday like a bunch of morons:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Y1lemd81A

Y'all might beat us. But, it's not going to be because of the crowd or the weather. It will be because y'all are a better team. I have faith we will win anyway... but, just saying-- crowd and weather will not be an excuse for us.

It's not any kind of smack to say our boy aren't scared.

xlolxxlolxxlolx Where did you find that video?!?! That's hilarious!

[Skjellyfetti]

xlolxxlolxxlolx Where did you find that video?!?! That's hilarious!

Haha, someone posted it on egriz.

[gbhmt]

They just look like they've landed on another planet and can't figure out what the hard, slippery cold stuff is. xlolx

[APPS]

They just look like they've landed on another planet and can't figure out what the hard, slippery cold stuff is. xlolx

I does snow at SFA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qugge9bc2Pk xlolx

[ronpayne]

I does snow at SFA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qugge9bc2Pk xlolx

" This is crazy as hell " - goes right along with "what is this white, slippery, cold surface?"

[gbhmt]

" This is crazy as hell " - goes right along with "what is this white, slippery, cold surface?"

Hahahahaha. xlolxxlolx

[Skjellyfetti]

I does snow at SFA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qugge9bc2Pk xlolx

'Dis crazzzzzzzzzy as helllllllllllllllll. xlolxxlolxxlolx

Again, we're not SFA.

[GRIZCLAW]

Every team that comes to WA-Griz says the same thing...the crowd, the weather, don't mean a thing. SFA said that last week. The #1 scoring team in the nation put up a goose egg....zip, zero, de nada, etc. Piping in noise won't help, you gotta be there to understand. We hope you come in as cocky and arrogant as a few of your posters. Many, however, are as respectful of the Griz as we are of Appy. Mutual respect, take your smack elsewhere. xnonoxxnonoxxnonoxxnonoxxnonoxxnonox

You missed my point entirely, you have to be there to appreciate it. Beyond that, read what I said. Many are as respectufl of the Griz as we are of Appy. Mutual Respect does not include demeaning the teams the Griz beat, nor down playing their accomplishments. I suspect many would say this is almost as big as the NC for Griz fans. We just want a good, clean well played game. And, by the way, the fans will have a say - you will have delay penalties, and false starts, etc. I'm just saying...probably just like your stadium.... Have some fun, don't take yourself serioously..xbowxxbowxxbowx

[gbhmt]

'Dis crazzzzzzzzzy as helllllllllllllllll. xlolxxlolxxlolx

Again, we're not SFA.

I know, just havin a good laugh at those guys.:p

[Green26]

What a great battle and great game. I thought the Griz would come out on top, but that was obviously not assured until the clock went to 0.

Armanti Edwards is a great talent. Without him, the Griz would have won more handily, in my view. He was terrific.

Chase Reynolds established himself today as one of the premier backs in I-AA. He was terrific. Note that his first TD ended with him causing the all-american safety to completely whiff.

The crowd noise was clearly a factor, with 5 false starts and other communication issues for App St. Some of you were non-believe on the crowd noise, but I would hope more of you now understand. This was the loudest crowd ever at Griz stadium.

The weather was a factor, especially in the second half, altho I'm not sure how to analyze it.

App St had alot of very good athletes and very good speed, but as I said earlier, that's only one of several important factors. The Griz didn't let the speed and athleticism hurt, and the Griz were more disciplined and harder hitters, in my view.

What was with all the App St drops? There must have been 6 or 8 absolute drops. I suppose the weather caused some, but what's with the others? The drops didn't seem to come under pressure, but how about some of the Griz hits, including Thompson's hit on the Griz sideline?

Just noticed 11 App St penalties to 2 for the Griz. That stat surprises me. Some of you had said App St had sometimes done stupid things in some games and gotten penalties.

I met alot of App St fans and athletic dept people in the last 2 days. All very nice and friendly. I hope they had a good experience in Missoula, despite the disappointing result.

I haven't looked at Villanouva, but I feel the Griz are on a roll and will win on Friday. The Griz celebrated on the field after the game, but there was less celebration in the locker room. The coaches and team believe they have unfinished business, from last year as well as this year. The coach told them they have the chance to do something that no other Griz team has done, and that is to go undefeated and win the national championship.

I can't wait to get to Chatty. My family booked airfare earlier this week. I had booked our hotel rooms the week after the Griz clobbered Weber St in late October. That was the first game that made me think this team could go deep in the playoffs.

Lots of new snow in Missoula tonight. Very pretty and fluffy. Go Griz!

[putter]

Nice Green xthumbsupx. Noise did affect App..doesn't mean they couldn't check into their play but you could see AE having to talk into the ear of the lineman, man I was screaming. App is the real deal and I hope AE gets a legit shot to play on Sundays.xnodx I am glad the discussion on this board is not like Apps home board...kind of like JMU's last year. I was going to post congrats over there but I just left the board, it was ticking me off reading their posts. Better representatives of the teams fans here...

[TokyoGriz]

We're not SFA. I'm sure y'all didn't see our team out at bars Thursday night. I'm sure y'all didn't see us playing in a frozen creek the day before the game yesterday like a bunch of morons:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Y1lemd81A

Y'all might beat us. But, it's not going to be because of the crowd or the weather. It will be because y'all are a better team. I have faith we will win anyway... but, just saying-- crowd and weather will not be an excuse for us.

It's not any kind of smack to say our boys aren't scared.

HAHA !

Thats not a creek though its the Clark Fork River runs right through town. The pics were taken just outside the hotel they were staying next to the river in the middle of town.

You know " a river runs through it" early 90s brad pitt ... the movie... thats it the clark fork river.

Nice Polka music BTW lol funny stuff

xlolxxlolxxlolx