MISSOULA — Last week we saw a lot of young Montana Griz football players getting thrown into big game minutes early due to injuries. Something UM head coach Bobby Hauck said he wanted to see was maturity in these younger players after they struggled offensively last week against Dixie State.
“Our inexperience shows sometimes when the picture changes for us," Hauck said after Saturday's loss to Sacramento State.
Throughout the game against the Hornets, the Grizzlies had plenty of opportunities after forcing defensive and special teams turnovers, but weren’t able to capitalize on offense following those forced turnovers.
"You get presented opportunities in games to either do or don’t, and they did more than we did," added Hauck.
In redshirt freshman Kris Brown’s past two starts at quarterback, he has thrown one touchdown and rushed for four touchdowns. However, being young and lacking in experience, he has also thrown two interceptions and has been sacked eight times. But Hauck says it is a team effort day in and day out.
“Sometimes the ball is not coming out quick enough or we are not trusting that protection rather than it being a protection breakdown," Hauck said. "Now at the end (of the game) there was a couple we got beat."
With starting quarterback Cam Humphrey and wide receiver Gabe Sulser still out, as well as now being down to their fifth-string running back due to injury to others at that position, the Griz offense is still looking for a spark. The performance overall as a team wasn't good enough to get the win on Saturday, and this will be a week of reflection as they head into next week’s game against Idaho.
“We made some plays but when you come up short it is not good enough, it is not good enough by anybody and then you look in the mirror," Hauck said. "That all starts with me. So if we are coming up short, whether that is on the scoreboard or any position, that is me. I got to get it fixed.”
