eGriz
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Joined: 27 Mar 2002
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Location: Missoula, Montana
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Grizzlies not taking Hofstra lightly (Missoulian).
Griz notebook: Pride players remember 9-11 well (Missoulian).
Another Atlantic 10 foe for the Grizzlies (The Daily Inter Lake).
Grizzlies take on the Pride (Kaimin).
Griz can't dog it against Hofstra (Great Falls Tribune).
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The I-AA College Football Weekly Preview (Gemunder).
The Weekend Quarterback: Week Three (Johnson, CSN/I-AA.org).
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Grizzlies not taking Hofstra lightly
By RIAL CUMMINGS of the Missoulian
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/09/11/sports/sports02. txt
Seniors Cory Procter and Jonny Varona, two of the Grizzlies' more grizzled linemen, had the same reaction following Montana's season-opening 27-20 football victory over Maine in a showdown of nationally ranked Division I-AA powers.
"Jonny and I agreed it felt great," said Procter, the leader of a relatively untested offensive line. "When it's your last year, coming into that opener, there are always questions. Shoot, I know we're going to have a real good team, but in the back of your mind, you're always wondering.
"Well, now we can just get down to work."
The No. 2-ranked Grizzlies try to build on their promising start Saturday afternoon against unranked Hofstra, which lacks No. 17 Maine's credentials but looms as a spoiler, particularly if its run-and-shoot offense gets fully airborne as it did last week in a 45-0 laugher over Albany, N.Y.
Kickoff is 1:07 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. KECI will televise the game.
Montana generated just three first-half points and 334 total yards against stubborn Maine, while the young Griz defense surrendered 359 yards. The Big Sky favorites survived the physical contest by committing only one turnover
- albeit, a costly one - and getting help from a dozen Maine penalties.
"Our biggest emphasis is on playing better," said second-year Montana coach Bobby Hauck. "We're far from being a finished product in any area. The players, as individuals, have to take it upon themselves to carry out their responsibilities."
Hofstra, once a I-AA playoff regular, beat Montana 10-9 in the Grizzlies'
home opener in 2000. But while Montana rebounded to reach the I-AA title game that season, win its second national championship the next, and extend a playoff streak that has reached a record 11 straight years, Hofstra regressed. The Pride went 6-6 and then 2-10 last season, the worst mark in Coach Joe Gardi's 15-year tenure.
Continued…
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/09/11/sports/sports02. txt
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Griz notebook: Pride players remember 9-11 well
By RIAL CUMMINGS of the Missoulian
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/09/11/sports/sports03. txt
Saturday is the third anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.
The events of that day still resonate across the country, particularly so at Hofstra. The university is located on Long Island in Hempstead, N.Y., not far from New York City.
"That's a day I'll remember forever," said junior quarterback Bobby Seck, who leads the Pride into Washington-Grizzly Stadium to face the Grizzlies.
"It's just an honor to be from this area, where so many brave people gave their lives. You look at what the New York firemen and policemen did that day, and it's still an inspiration to all of us."
Seck was in a psychology class on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when cell phones started buzzing around him.
"That's how we learned what was happening," said Seck, who is from Westbury, near the Hofstra campus. "Even the professor's phone went off. They let everybody go, and we went back to the dorms and watched on TV. You're sitting there, in a state of shock."
"It was a nice September day, but no one was outside," added Seck. "It was weird. It was like the campus was deserted. Everyone was inside."
Like many Hofstra students, Seck's first thought was to call his family, to check and see if any relatives were downtown.
"As it turned out none were, but it wouldn't have been unusual," Seck said.
A total of 26 Hofstra alumni perished at the World Trade Center. Among them were three former football players, including New York Fire Department Lt.
Glenn Wilkinson (Class of '78).
All Hofstra athletic teams wear a memorial patch on their uniforms. It includes the Twin Towers, the American flag and the Hofstra flag, to honor the victims of 9-11.
Senior quarterback Craig Ochs' scrambling in Montana's season-opening 27-20 victory over Maine was a source of enjoyment - and anxiety - for Griz fans.
Ochs ran 13 times for 57 yards, although three sacks left his net total at 33. He even kept the ball on an option play, picking up 2 yards.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Ochs didn't have much chance to demonstrate his running ability last season, when he was hobbled by ankle and shoulder problems. He suffered several concussions while playing at Colorado before transferring to Montana after the 2002 season.
Given Ochs' fragile history, every dash beyond the line of scrimmage is going to produce some sweaty palms. But until UM's relatively unseasoned offensive line gains more experience and cohesiveness, Ochs may not have much choice. Montana coach Bobby Hauck said the offensive line played better as the game went on against Maine, but, like the rest of the Grizzlies, has plenty of room for improvement.
Continued…
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/09/11/sports/sports03. txt
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Another Atlantic 10 foe for the Grizzlies
By Andrew Hinkelman, The Daily Inter Lake
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/NewsEngine/SelectStory_AD.tpl?co mmand=search&db=news.db&eqskudata=2-734131-80#
Second-ranked Montana plays host to its second Atlantic 10 foe in as many weeks when the Pride of Hofstra invade Washington Grizzly Stadium today.
The Grizzlies, who defeated Maine 27-20 last week, hope to avoid a repeat of the last time Hofstra visited Missoula. The Pride stunned Montana 10-9 to start the 2000 season.
“Hofstra has a great team,” UM coach Bobby Hauck said Tuesday. “They have a lot of offense, defense and a good kicking game.”
The Pride waxed Albany 45-0 on Sept. 2 to start their season, their first shutout in six seasons.
Junior quarterback Bobby Seck threw for 424 yards and four touchdowns. He added a fifth TD on the ground as Hofstra piled up 504 yards of total offense.
“They’ve got a good quarterback who’s a big time player,” Hauck said.
Seck, who is second in the nation in total offense, is making a comeback from an injury that limited him to just four games last year, part of the reason why Hofstra fell to 2-10, only the third time in coach Joe Gardi’s 14 seasons the Pride finished below .500.
Continued…
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/NewsEngine/SelectStory_AD.tpl?co mmand=search&db=news.db&eqskudata=2-734131-80#
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Grizzlies take on the Pride
Peter Bulger, Montana Kaimin
http://www.kaimin.org/viewarticle.php?id=51
The Montana Grizzly football team has got it good. After opening the season with a quality win at home over a tough opponent, they get to play another home game. Anyone who thinks that’s not a big advantage obviously hasn’t been to a game in Washington-Grizzly stadium. Ask Maine what it’s like to play here. Their star running back and their head coach said the 23,228 people at the game last week was the biggest and loudest crowd they had ever played in front of.
Hofstra head coach Joe Gardi, whose team plays the Grizzlies Saturday at
1:05 p.m. in Missoula, knows the drill. He brought teams here twice before, once in a 1992 loss and again in a win in 2000.
"It’s one of the toughest places to play," said Gardi about Washington-Grizzly stadium. "You can’t prepare because it’s hard to simulate that type of atmosphere.
"Last time we came they were No. 1 and we beat them. It’s no different now,"
he said. Montana head coach Bobby Hauck acknowledged the other teams’
disadvantage. "I think the travel’s hard from far away," Hauck said. "But I think the kids enjoy the atmosphere. It’s a good game day."
The Pride, as the Hofstra team is called, doesn’t plan on rolling over in the face of a little noise from the North end zone. Hofstra will bring an experienced squad with 16 returning starters fresh off of a 45-0 trouncing of Albany on Aug. 2. Led by junior quarterback Bobby Seck who threw for 434 yards and accounted for five touchdowns last week, the high-octane Pride offense will test the young Grizzly defense.
"We’re going to have our hands full, especially with their quarterback,"
said Hauck. "He’s a great player."
The Pride put up 14 points in the first quarter and 24 points in the second against Albany. All of this without senior receiver Marques Colston, arguably their best player, who is expected to miss the season with a shoulder injury. Playing in place of Colston, senior Isaac Irby had eight catches for 168 yards and two touchdowns in the Albany game. The other Pride receivers, junior Devale Ellis and freshman Charles Sullivan also had explosive outings for Hofstra.
Hofstra’s ground game looked less solid, only compiling 80 rushing yards against Albany. Sophomore running back Terry Crenshaw will be the team’s main runner. He had 49 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown last week.
Continued…
http://www.kaimin.org/viewarticle.php?id=51
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Griz can't dog it against Hofstra
By GEORGE GEISE, Great Falls Tribune
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040911/localsp orts/1217689.html
MISSOULA -- Nine days ago, Hofstra tamed the Albany Great Danes 45-0 in an
NCAA Division I-AA football mismatch. But the opponent's pedigree will be
better this afternoon when the Pride (1-meets No. 2 Montana at
Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
"We're running with the big dogs this week," said Hofstra coach Joe Gardi.
"We felt like we played well against Albany, we were pretty sharp. But we
all know there's a big difference between Albany and Montana."
The Grizzlies (1-0) outlasted Atlantic 10 powerhouse Maine 27-20 here last
week. Hofstra also plays in the Atlantic 10, and was picked to finish last
in the league's six-team Northern Division, five spots below Maine.
"We think we're better than that," said Gardi. "If our quarterback (Bobby
Seck) was healthy a year ago, we would would have won a lot more games
(Pride was 2-10). But we
have to prove it on the field, and they don't come much tougher than
Montana."
UM coach Bobby Hauck has a healthy respect for Hofstra's program, which
upset UM 10-9 on this field in 2000, then lost to the Grizzlies 21-0 two
years later in New York.
"Hofstra is better than people think," he said. "Theyre a typical Atlantic
10 team, big and physical. They're not going to have two bad years in a
row."
Hauck was generally pleased with his team's effort against Maine, a
power-based team that played UM even on the line of scrimmage. Penalties and
turnovers pretty much beat the Black Bears, who are still ranked No. 17 in
I-AA.
"I was happy with our effort level, and our physical play against a good
team," said the second-year head coach (10-4 overall). "The offensive line
played better as the game went on ... we're still a work in progress there."
Continued…
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040911/localsp orts/1217689.html
*** ***
The I-AA College Football Weekly Preview
Volume XIII, Issue 3, Week of September 9-11, 2004
http://www.columbia.edu/~ebg6/football/preview.html
Is it any wonder why we love I-AA college football? Their first game of the
year, and Delaware --the defending national champions, and pre-season No. 1
team -- loses at home to an unranked team, and their championship hopes are
still alive. If this was I-A football, people would be talking about how the
Blue Hens will have a 'long road back' if they want to defend their title,
and how their season might be over less than four hours after it began. But
with a 16-team playoff following the regular season, UD can lose one or even
two more games and still get invited to the post-season with a chance to
defend their crown. And a team like New Hampshire -- which finished (5-7) in
2003, and started 2004 unranked in the polls -- would have no chance to move
up to one of the top 2 spots in the BCS starting from such a low position.
But with an automatic playoff berth for their conference, even a "team like
New Hampshire" can have Championship aspirations after upsetting the
top-ranked team in the country.
Speaking of Delaware, how on earth did they garner two #1 votes this week?
Northern Iowa plays Minnesota State this week. Am I the only one who gets
the theme song from "Coach" going through their head when they read that?
Last week, The Sports Network announced it's first official "Payton Watch"
and "Buchanan Battle" members. The "Payton Watch" and "Buchanan Battle"
pages track of the quest for the 18th Walter Payton Award, presented
annually to the top player in I-AA football, and the 10th Buck Buchanan
Award, which goes to the top defensive player in I-AA.
Ten players who appeared on last year’s final Walter Payton Award ballot are
among this year’s initial pool of 16 Payton candidates. That group includes
Grambling State quarterback Bruce Eugene, who has finished in the top three
in the Payton voting the past two seasons. Eugene threw for 3,805 yards and
34 touchdowns a season ago, but was injured in Grambling's season opener
last week, and will most likely be out for the season with a torn ACL .
Hopefully Eugene will be granted a medical redshirt so he can return in
2005.
Continued…
http://www.columbia.edu/~ebg6/football/preview.html
***
The Weekend Quarterback: Week Three
Walter L. Johnson II, College Sporting News/I-AA.org Columnist
http://www.i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=60228
Last week, your's truly got 26 games right, and 17 games wrong, for a .605
percentage. That brought the totals for the 2004 season thus far to 32 games
right, and 20 wrong, for a .615 percentage. One of the games that was missed
came from Collegeville, Minn., of all places. There, the defending NCAA
Division III National Champion Johnnies of Saint John's University trailed
30-7 against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, then scored 21
unanswered points in the second half. But the Blugolds managed to hold on
for a 30-28 upset win over their Minnesota hosts.
The shocking victory on the road denied legendary Head Coach John Gagliardi
his 415th career win, and may have hampered the Johnnies efforts to even
make the D-III playoffs, let alone repeat as national champions. But, of
course, it's still just one game. As for Eau Claire, a win like that has to
be a huge confidence builder for the Blugolds, who struggled to a mediocre
5-5 overall record, and 4-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference, or WIAC last year after posting back-to-back 8-2 marks the last
two years.
Meanwhile, on Sept. 2, another defending National Champion went down to
defeat in its opener, as the University of New Hampshire Wildcats came down
south to Delaware, and the upset the Blue Hens 24-21 in Division I-AA action
last week. Last season, the Wildcats had a disappointing 5-7 overall record,
including a 3-6 mark in Atlantic 10 Conference action. Maybe this victory
will be the spark Head Coach Bill Bowes and his charges need to contend in
this always-tough conference. Meanwhile, the Blue Hens and Head Coach K.C.
Keeler head into this weekend's contest against Towson asking one simple
question: "What happened?" Towson, by the way, went on the road, and
defeated Elon, 34-13. That win gave the Tigers a 1-0 mark to open the 2004
campaign.
In NCAA Division II action, the Grand Valley State University (MI) Lakers
crushed the Golden Knights of Gannon University 48-17 on the road last week
in Erie, Pa. That win improved the two-time defending National Champions
record to 2-0 on the season. Meanwhile, in Grand Forks, N.D., the University
of North Dakota Fighting Sioux also ran its record to 2-0, by running over
Mesa State (CO) 65-7. Could we see a possible re-match of these two teams in
the playoffs? Yes, it's possible. But, if it does happen, unfortunately, it
won't be in the championship game, as was the case two of the last three
years. That's because the new alignment for D-II football has placed both
GVSU and UND in the Northwest region, which, of course, has the largest land
mass of any of the four regions. Still, there's a lot of football left to be
played, as the Lakers look to go 3-0 at home against Indianapolis, while the
Fighting Sioux will look to do the same against Central Washington, also at
home.
Continued…
http://www.i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=60228
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