Griz make themselves at home (Missoulian).
Salukis maintain top spot, Georgia Southern narrows gap; Griz #4 (TSN).
Big Sky announces Players of the week (AP, Montana Standard).
Big Sky football notebook: 'Woozy' QB Lulay saves Cats (Missoulian).
Griz cook up win against Eastern Washington (Kaimin).
I-AA's House (Wallace, I-AA.org).

***

Vote for Monte as Mascot of the Year!

http://r.espn.go.com/espn/contests/capitalone04/index

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***


Griz make themselves at home

By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the Missoulian

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004 ... orts01.txt

In retrospect, that wasn't a sellout out at refurbished and expanded Woodward Field on the Eastern Washington campus Saturday. The head count was 10,754, below the 11,100 estimated capacity, and the number of empty seats made it sound like that was a fudge.

The majority of fans weren't wearing EWU red, either. At the end, after Shane MacIntyre's award-winning block of a field goal preserved Montana's 31-28 victory over the Eagles, that sign that used to pop up at Spokane's Joe Albi Stadium was unfurled again at Woodward: Welcome to Washington's Grizzly Stadium.

There were enough momentum switches to make a landlocked Griz fan seasick. Eastern came out and outgained Montana 147-18 in the first quarter. From there until UM's Dan Carpenter kicked a field goal to put the Griz up 31-21 with 5:45 left in the game, Montana outgained the Eagles 364-189.

The Grizzly defense came up huge after Eastern pulled off an accidental onside kick, squibbing the kickoff off one of Montana's up-men and recovering. Already up 10-0 and ready to seize control of the game, the Eagles ran five plays and punted. Their next two possessions ended in punts, and the next ended in an interception. All told, it was five possessions, 63 yards for EWU in the second quarter.

"We had an opportunity for great field position," said Eastern coach Paul Wulff of the accidental onside kick. "But they did a good job defensively of mixing things up. I give them a lot of credit. They kept us off balance enough.

"And we couldn't get our running game going quite good enough. We had spurts, but it wasn't quite good enough."

Eastern ran 40 times for 126 yards against the Grizzlies, for 3.15 yards a tote. Montana also did a decent job on Eagles quarterback Erik Meyer, who came in with a superhuman passing efficiency rating of 187.1, but rated a more mortal 126.6 Saturday.

Of course, on Eastern's last two drives he was lights out, going 10 for 13 for 117 yards (QB rating: 177.9).

"We'd done a pretty good job of containing him all game, and finally he just broke out on us," MacIntyre said. "He has the potential to do that at any time. You have to be ready for it. The last two drives, he picked us apart, essentially."

With their backs up against their own 6-yard line, the Grizzlies brought pressure on three straight plays, forcing the field goal that MacIntyre blocked. That was the only real difference from the closing 5:45, when the Eagles threatened to grab a huge Big Sky Conference win, and the last 5:25 of the first half, when Montana rang up two quick touchdowns.

The drive that put Montana up 14-10 covered 85 yards in all of 56 seconds.

"That was huge," MacIntyre said. "To come back and go into halftime with the lead.

"This game was absolutely huge. We knew they were a great team, so we knew it was a huge game. Biggest game we've played this year."

Carpenter provided the eventual game-winning points with his fourth-quarter field goal, in less than perfect conditions. It wasn't an easy day for the true freshman from Helena. His first kick - a 23-yard field goal attempt at 6:51 of the second quarter - began with a high snap, followed by a block by Eastern's Brandon Myers. Carpenter recovered the kick at the 14, and ran it nine yards before he was hit and fumbled. Eastern took over at the 5-yard line, which was where Montana had it first-and-goal.

Carpenter recovered to hit four PAT kicks and the game-winner.

"He did a good job (Saturday) because our snaps and holds weren't perfect," Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. "He had to fight through a couple of those, and really, he did a really good job, hanging in there. He showed some poise handling all that stuff."

Another true freshman made his debut for the Grizzlies Saturday - cornerback Tim Parks. The 5-foot-10, 170-pounder came in late in the first quarter and stopped EWU scat-back Reggie Witherspoon for a 1-yard loss.

"What is that now? Nine?" asked Hauck. "Nine freshmen (playing). That's where we are."

It's 10 counting Carpenter. Eight of them are on defense.

Quick kicks: Levander Segars had one punt return Saturday, for one yard. With that he finally became the I-AA leader in career punt returns, with 124. He has 1,325 punt return yards, and needs 123 to match the I-AA record of 1,448, set by James Madison's Delvin Joyce (1997-2000) S Montana's recent red-zone success has moved the Griz up to fourth in the Big Sky in that category, but only Weber State and Sacramento State, with 21 each, have given up more touchdowns than Montana (20). Opponents have scored 26 out of 35 times in the red zone against the Grizzlies (74.3 percent). Leading the conference is Montana State, which has allowed opponents to score eight of 13 times (61.5 percent) from inside its 20-yard line.

***



***


Salukis maintain top spot, Georgia Southern narrows gap

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.as ... 555814.htm

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - On the heels of a convincing, 38-10, win against No. 4 Western Kentucky, the Southern Illinois Salukis earned the No.1 ranking in The Sports Network I-AA top 25 for the fifth straight week and sixth time this season. Southern Illinois (6-1) defeated captured 73 of a possible 97 first-place votes and 2,395 points total. The Salukis are at Southwest Missouri State Saturday.

No. 2 Georgia Southern was equally impressive in a 54-7 win against No. 15 Appalachian State. The Eagles gained some ground on the Salukis, garnering 19 first-place votes and 2,332 points to come within 63 points of Southern Illinois' total. Delaware held the No. 3 spot with a 20-19 win against Hofstra. Montana and Wofford each moved up one position to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. The Grizzlies won, 31-28, at No. 23 Eastern Washington.

Cal Poly, one of three remaining undefeated teams, vaulted three positions to No. 6 with a 38-21 win against Texas State. Furman went up one spot to No. 7, while Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State each moved two rungs to No. 8 and No. 9, respectively. Western Kentucky fell six places to No. 10 after the loss to Southern Illinois.

Sam Houston State moved up two positions to No. 11, while undefeated Jacksonville State rose two rungs to No. 12. The Atlantic 10 rounds out the top 15. James Madison vaulted four positions to No. 13, while William & Mary comes in at No. 14 and New Hampshire is at No. 15.

In at No. 16 is Lehigh, followed by Hampton, Colgate, Maine and South Carolina State to round out the top 20. South Carolina State moved into the rankings for the first time since 2002.

Rounding out the top 25 is Penn, Harvard, Appalachian State, Villanova and UC Davis.

24 of the 25 teams in The Sports Network poll will be in action this weekend, with three games between ranked opponents. No. 14 William & Mary goes to No. 3 Delaware, No. 5 Wofford travels to No. 23 Appalachian State and No. 17 Hampton is at No. 20 South Carolina State.

---

Sports Network's I-AA College Football Poll

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.as ... a-poll.htm

Team (First-place votes) 2004 Record Points Previous Rank 1. Southern Illinois Salukis (73) 6-1 2,395 1 2. Georgia Southern Eagles (19) 6-1 2,332 2 3. Delaware Blue Hens (2) 5-1 2,142 3 4. Montana Grizzlies (1) 6-1 2,099 5 5. Wofford Terriers 5-1 1,905 6 6. Cal Poly Mustangs (1) 6-0 1,804 9 7. Furman Paladins 5-2 1,796 8 8. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 5-1 1,697 10 9. Northwestern State Demons 5-1 1,639 11 10. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 4-2 1,548 4 11. Sam Houston State Bearkats 5-1 1,402 13 12. Jacksonville State Gamecocks 6-0 1,335 14 13. James Madison Dukes 5-1 1,230 17 14. William & Mary Tribe (1) 5-1 1,214 16 15. New Hampshire Wildcats 4-2 1,030 7 16. Lehigh Mountain Hawks 5-1 915 18 17. Hampton Pirates 6-1 695 22 18. Colgate Raiders 4-2 623 20 19. Maine Black Bears 3-3 508 12 20. South Carolina State Bulldogs 5-1 411 NR 21. Penn Quakers 4-1 401 25 22. Harvard Crimson 5-0 394 NR 23. Appalachian State Mountaineers 4-3 380 15 24. Villanova Wildcats 4-3 377 24 25. UC Davis Aggies 5-1 338 21

Others receiving votes:
26. Montana State 253
27. Eastern Washington 136
28. Alabama State 120
29. Southern 74
30. Southwest Missouri State 66
31. Northeastern 62
32. Northern Arizona 49
33. Southeastern Louisiana 44
34. Lafayette 28
35. Arkansas Pine-Bluff 14
36. Northern Iowa 10
37. Princeton 10
38. Western Illinois 9
39. North Dakota State 9
40. South Dakota State 8
41. Bethune-Cookman 7
42. Massachusetts 6

***


Big Sky announces Players of the week

Associated Press, Montana Standard

http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2004 ... jbfhgj.txt

OGDEN, Utah (AP) - Montana linebacker Shane MacIntyre and Montana State quarterback Travis Lulay won player of the week honors Monday in the Big Sky Conference.

MacIntyre won the weekly defensive honor after a career-high 10 tackles, including three for loss, and a pass breakup in the Grizzlies' (6-1, 3-0) 31-28 win at Eastern Washington.

Three points behind with less than 20 seconds left, the Eagles attempted a 28-yard field goal. MacIntyre blocked that kick to secure the Griz win. Montana also stayed undefeated in conference play.

Lulay led the Bobcats (4-2, 3-0) to a 31-24 comeback overtime win against Portland State to keep Montana State undefeated in conference play. He threw for a career-high 375 yards and one touchdown in Bozeman Saturday.

Lulay also was named a weekly All-Star by I-AA.org for his play over the weekend.

Northern Arizona's Paul Ernster won the special teams player of the Week award.

***


Big Sky football notebook: 'Woozy' QB Lulay saves Cats

By RIAL CUMMINGS of the Missoulian

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004 ... orts02.txt

Travis Lulay may or may not have been rendered unconscious last Saturday afternoon in Bozeman. What can't be disputed is that the Bobcat quarterback got off the deck and helped deliver the knockout blow in Montana State's 31-24 overtime victory over Portland State.

The junior from Aumsville, Ore., took a licking and kept on ticking, passing for a career-high 375 yards as MSU forged a tie with rival Montana for the Big Sky lead. It marked the second straight week that the Cats rallied from a double-digit deficit, and the seventh time in Lulay's 25 career starts that he's sparked a victorious second-half comeback.

"I was woozy, quite woozy," Lulay told the Great Falls Tribune after being hit and forced to the sidelines late in the first half. "But it wasn't like I was in some other world. I knew where I was."

"I don't know if he had a concussion or not, or had his bell rung and started seeing little Tweety Birds or what," added tight end Blake Wolf.

MSU coach Mike Kramer said the team's medical staff was concerned about a concussion at halftime, but Lulay was tested and cleared to return. To give him some protection, the Bobcats didn't run any option plays, or quarterback counters or draws after intermission. Limited to a net 96 yards rushing, MSU turned to the air, where Lulay completed 27 of 56 with one touchdown and one interception.

Lulay rallied MSU from a 17-0 deficit two weeks ago in a 20-17 victory over Weber State, and is now 3-0 against PSU, the school he spurned as a small-town star at Regis High School to sign with the Cats.

"He's a great player and played like it," said PSU coach Tim Walsh. "I give him a lot of credit for that team's success."

If you want to know how Big Sky championships are won (or lost), last Saturday was a revealing lesson.

The offensive units for Montana and Portland State both had clinching chances in the final 2fi minutes - and failed. Griz quarterback Craig Ochs couldn't connect with receiver Jefferson Heidelberger behind the Eastern Washington secondary, while PSU's Ryan Fuqua was stuffed for no gain on a third-and-short run in MSU territory.

The difference is what happened after each team punted the ball away.

At Cheney, Wash., Montana preserved its 31-28 margin, and a share of the conference lead, when EWU drove to the Griz 4 but came up empty. Ends Michael Potts and Mike Murphy slammed the door on consecutive plays, and then linebacker Shane MacIntyre blocked a tying field-goal attempt to turn back the hottest team in the conference.

At Bozeman, Montana State drove 82 yards in 18 plays in the final 1:55 to tie the score on Justin Domineck's 1-yard plunge as time expired. Domineck then scored on a 17-yard run in overtime, capping a comeback from deficits of 14-0 and 21-10.

Linebacker Mac Mollohan, a former Kalispell standout, had the key stop on Fuqua.

"No one touched me and I was wide open to make the tackle," Mollohan said.

The Bobcats' latest unlikely hero is senior receiver Eddie Sullivan, who had seven catches for a career-high 140 yards. Sullivan, buried in the depth chart when the season began, had a 62-yard reception to set up one TD against PSU, and had four key catches on the tying drive.

The first 17 plays of the no-huddle march were passes. Lulay twice kept the Bobcats going with fourth-down completions, and displayed poised clock management at the end, when the Bobcats had no timeouts. A 6-yard pass to Rick Gatewood - on fourth-and-5 - gave MSU a first down at the PSU 8. Lulay spiked the ball twice to stop the clock, sandwiched around a 7-yard completion to Gatewood. On fourth-and-goal, Domineck leaped over the right side and into the end zone, followed by E.J. Cochrane's conversion kick to bring on overtime.

"We converted third downs and fourth downs, and played the game to the (top) degree," Kramer said. "That was a Big Sky game, the way we're used to feeling in the Big Sky chase. It ain't over until it's over."

"That one will rank with one of the best I've ever been involved with, period," Kramer added.

The Sacramento State Hornets, who hadn't nabbed an interception all season, had four in a 31-12 victory over winless Weber State. Ramon Payne had two thefts, and Matt Logue returned another for a score.

Tyronne Gross ran for two TDs behind an offensive line bolstered by the return of center Dustin Nicolodi from a broken leg suffered during preseason practice. Gross' 19-yard TD run in the first quarter snapped a string of 10 scoreless quarters for the Hornets, who were shut out the previous two weeks by Northern Arizona and Portland State.

"I just wanted to score," Sac State coach Steve Mooshagian told the Sacramento Bee. "We were a four-cylinder car playing in an eight-cylinder league."

It was a tough loss for Weber (0-7), which is off to the second worst start in school history. Weber coach Jerry Graybeal went through gall bladder surgery early last week, but was back at practice a day later.

"They took my gall bladder out, they didn't take my heart out," Graybeal said. "I'm going to work every bit as hard as I always do, even harder."

Quick kicks: MSU's offense has scored just two first-half touchdowns in six games. The Bobcats have led only once in the first 30 minutes. "We've just got to relax earlier and get in a rhythm," Lulay said. ... PSU receiver Ryan Brown, returning from a knee injury, had four catches for 45 yards against the Cats. ... NAU linebacker Ian Gunderman, arrested on a DUI charge, has been suspended indefinitely by Lumberjacks coach Jerome Souers. Gunderman, a team captain and the squad's third-leading tackler, was replaced by redshirt freshman Niko Saipale in Saturday's 34-14 non-conference win over Western New Mexico. ... In a bizarre incident, NAU defensive back Shannon Butler suffered an injured knee during pregame warmups. A WNM player ran into Butler. ... Weber sophomore receiver Mike Mathis broke two bones in his left arm against Sacramento State and is out for the season. Weber star Nick Chournos, listed as questionable because of bruised ribs, wore a flak jacket and rushed for 97 yards on 24 carries.

***


Griz cook up win against Eastern Washington

Peter Bulger, Montana Kaimin

http://www.kaimin.org/viewarticle.php?id=2965

Montana's recipe for success before homecoming - the 4-1 record variety -was simple:

Mix talented and experienced players with strong backups. Add proficiency on special teams and a tenacious red zone defense. The number of yards allowed hasn't mattered, but it's been vital that the cook avoids penalties and forces turnovers.

A tasty dish it's been for Grizzly fans for the first five games of the 2004 season. The pollsters also seemed to enjoy it, rewarding Montana the seventh place in the top 25 I-AA poll going into homecoming.

But some games, as shown last week against rival Idaho State and this weekend at Eastern Washington, require a little extra to tickle the taste buds of spectators like the icing on the cake.

That's in Montana's cookbook, too. Just add a dominating performance by a running back and a last-second blocked field goal to the above recipe and bon appetite. Fans and pollsters continue to eat it up.

After defeating ISU 24-22 on Oct. 9, Montana moved up to fifth in the nation. By following it with a 31-28 win over No. 23 Eastern on Saturday, they improved to 3-0 in conference play and 6-1 overall. The win moved the Grizzlies up to fourth in the nation and tied them with Montana State for the lead in the Big Sky.

"The team that won wasn't going to win the conference championship, but they got to take a step forward," said Montana head coach Bobby Hauck of Saturday's game. "That's what we did."

The real story emerging from the last two games isn't where Montana is now - it's how they got there. The Grizzlies' ground game started slow this season but the ISU and Eastern games featured the best performances by Grizzly running backs thus far in 2004.

Senior running back Justin Green was second-team all-conference in 2003, but struggled early this year. He had his best game of the year against ISU with 91 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries.

It was sophomore running back Lex Hilliard's turn Saturday, as he sliced through Eastern's defense for career highs in yards and touchdowns. He finished with 116 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries and 26 receiving yards on two catches.

Hilliard's performance was particularly important against an Eastern team that usually dominates in time of possession. The Eagles had the ball for nearly 12 of the 15 minutes in the first quarter, but the Grizzlies finished the game only 40 seconds behind them in time of possession.

"Those guys are good football players," Hauck said. "They played well but when running backs have good games, part of that can generally be attributed to the play of the offensive line."

Even with the strong running game, though, it took some luck in the form of last-second field goal blocks for Montana to beat ISU and Eastern. But was it really luck?

"We work on them (field goal blocks) before practice everyday and again at the end," said junior linebacker Shane MacIntyre, who blocked the Eagles' last-second attempt at a tie. "We definitely work really hard at them at practice. I guess it's paying off."

Senior defensive tackle Jonny Varona had the block against ISU. On the season, the Grizzlies have blocked 5 kicks, 2 field goals and 3 PATs. Both last-second blocks came after a long drive by the opposing offense and a goal line stand by Montana.

The Grizzlies' play in the red zone has been their strength defensively and, as Hauck said, has carried them at times. Five of their opponents have out-gained them this year but only one managed a victory, Sam Houston State in week four.

"We're definitely concerned," MacIntyre said of being out-gained. "We're thrilled we're doing what we need to win but we want to eliminate the yards so we're not in a position at the end where it takes a huge play."

Both Montana and Eastern got the huge plays they needed Saturday from the players who have provided them all season.

Senior Grizzly quarterback Craig Ochs threw for 230 yards on 16-of-31 passing with a touchdown and an interception. Junior Erik Meyer, the Eagles' quarterback and the league leader in passing efficiency, finished with 320 yards and a touchdown on 27-of-41 passing and also threw two interceptions.

Senior receiver Tate Hancock led the Grizzlies with five catches for 61 yards. Junior Eagle receiver Eric Kimble had six grabs for 91 yards and a touchdown for EWU.

Hilliard led Montana's rushing attack, while Eastern's senior running back Darius Washington had two touchdowns on 26 carries for 82 yards, well below his yard-per- game average.

"I liked our balance," Hauck said of Montana's offense. "We ran the ball and threw the ball and that makes you hard to stop."

Defensively, MacIntyre, who was named the Big Sky Conference's Defensive Player of the Week, added 10 tackles to his team-leading total of 46. Junior defensive end Lance Spencer, coming off a back injury that made him miss the ISU game, had four tackles and one and a half sacks.

Senior linebacker Doug Vincent led the Eagles in tackles with 16. Junior linebacker Joey Cwik had nine tackles and an interception for Eastern.

"The defense did a good job, maybe the best of the season," Hauck said. "We took some of their great players out of the game to a degree."

The Grizzlies have a bye week and will see their next action at Portland State on Oct. 30.

"I think it's definitely a great time for a bye as far as I'm concerned," MacIntyre said. "That's a huge game to come off of with the emotional impact that it had. It'll be nice to have some time to recover from that."

With an extra week, there's no telling what the Grizzlies will be able to cook up.


*** ***



I-AA's House

Ralph Wallace, I-AA.org

http://www.i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=62262

I realized a dream of mine this past weekend, to step onto the stadium grounds of the most storied program in I-AA history. I traveled from afar to see the "OUR HOUSE" of I-AA.

My "Mecca" travels of this year brought me to the place that flies the most championship flags of any I-AA program, Paulson Stadium, the home of the mighty Eagles of Georgia Southern University.

This day the #14 Mountaineers of Appalachian State were to take on #2 Georgia Southern.

The Buchanan's of Boone, NC and Lancaster, SC hosted and transported me, they in full Appalachian State apparel. They are lifelong ASU fans who had made this trip many times before.

My purpose was to soak up the atmosphere of the Statesboro, GA stadium for the first time and to view the dedication of their rabid fans.

As we turned onto the entrance road for Paulson Stadium and passed the gates, I caught my breath.

Finally, I had made it.

The winding road to the parking lot was attended by various folk with GSU apparel, heightening my excitement.

My feet were about to be stepping where so many had walked before seeing the best of I-AA.

The ASU/GSU rivalry was one based on a hatred bred from having to best each other every year for playoff berths and this year they were to battle for the top spot in the Southern Conference.

The bad eggs of fandom are notorious in every rivalry and this one was no different.

The stories of misdeeds are legendary.

From plunking women and children with beer cans and profanity, to ramming player busses with goalposts and vandalizing cars with the other team's regalia, both sides claim their reasons for dislike.

Luckily, I experienced nothing excessive except for the spirited "you stink" yells.

As we drove into the vast parking lot/field, I was still floating on my dream.

These were the tailgaters of triumph and partiers of passion.

When we finally arrived at our space and began our walk through the throng I spied the flagpole, the one flying the six I-AA title flags.

Like a magnet, I was drawn to it.

Through the massive amount of fans anticipating the clash of the SoCon titans I walked towards the stadium and history.

Many welcomed me to their place of prominence offering gifts of generosity.

Unfortunately I was in a trance.

I was here, here where the champions of yore had traversed.

Here, where GSU had twice won and Youngstown State had once won the I-AA title.

Here where history was wrote and continues to be written.

After depositing my gear in the pressbox and conversing with the literary luminaries and official dignitaries I hustled back down to the tailgaters.

3S and RFG were the main spots of messageboard posters and gracious Eagle fans though I spanned much more of the area.

I enjoyed meeting you all.

The "religious" experience began to wear off as the reminder that I was here to do a job, relating all of this to you in I-AA land, set in.

I hustled back to the stadium and caught the opening ceremonies, the skydivers, the national anthem, and the taking of the field by the respective teams.

I traipsed around the grass and viewed the filled stands plus the first two GSU TDs at close range.

I saw the ASU fans scratching their heads and the GSU fans building their cheers.

When the third quarter began with GSU up 30-0 the trance returned.

A well-documented chant began from the overflowing crowd shouting from one side of the field and answered by the other.

"Who's House?" ... "Our House!!"

"Who's House?" ... "Our House!!"

"Who's House?" ... "Our House!!"

Maybe some are jaded to the point where this fails to impress.

Maybe some have seen it so many times or have been on the wrong end of the reception that it is irritating.

I have to tell you that as a general I-AA fan, one not for one team or another, that it is transcendant.

When they ask "WHO'S HOUSE" and chant back "OUR HOUSE," they are really saying it is I-AA's house.

We can all be proud to know that under the six flags are some of the best fans in I-AA.