Griz look to stay in Big Sky title hunt (Missoulian).
UM GameDay: No. 10 Montana vs. Northern Arizona (Billings Gazette).
Cal Poly at EWU: A meeting of like minds (San Luis Obispo Tribune).


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Griz look to stay in Big Sky title hunt

By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the Missoulian

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

The little things added up to big losses last week for both the Montana Grizzlies and Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. Now Saturday's Big Sky Conference battle on the Washington-Grizzly Stadium turf is one big game for both.

Especially for the 10th-ranked Grizzlies, suddenly in third place in the Big Sky behind Montana State (4-0 in conference play) and Eastern Washington (5-1). The good news for the Griz is they still control their own destiny.
The bad news is that nothing is going to come easy, including against an NAU team coming off its worst loss since joining the Big Sky in 1970.

"I think that Mike Kramer said it best when he called (NAU's 60-14 loss to
MSU) an aberration," Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. "They always have good athletes there."

The list starts with running back Roger Robinson and includes the reigning Big Sky Offensive MVP, quarterback Jason Murrietta. The Lumberjacks' passing attack hasn't put up the big numbers this year, but conceivably could against a Montana defense still ranked last in I-AA in passing yards given up. NAU has a big target in 6-foot-6 receiver Kory Mahr, and plenty of speed in Simoron Wade, a 5-10 junior averaging a team-best 14.7 yards per catch.

But the Lumberjacks' second-leading receiver, behind Raufeem Jackson, is Robinson, with 29 catches.

"He's like (San Diego Charger) LaDanian Tomlinson, you know? He can do it all," Montana linebacker Nick Vella said. "We've got to stop him. We've been watching film and taking keys from what other teams have been able to do.
He's going to get his yards - he's a great player. We'll just have to contain him as best we can."

Three of NAU's last four opponents have done that, although Robinson still leads the Big Sky in all-purpose yards, and is fourth in rushing.

"They all did it different ways, and we're going to try to pattern our plan after Eastern Washington's," Hauck said. "Not that we're going to play the same front and coverage, but we're going to attack him like they did."

Northern Arizona's offensive line is fairly young, anchored by 300-pound sophomore Jake Sanders, but it has allowed just 16 sacks. Montana led the Big Sky in defensive sacks after the Weber State game but is now sixth in the league. But sacks may be less important than containing Robinson.

"They've got good players, they've always had good skill there," Hauck said.
"And I think it comes back to winning the battle up front."

Montana's offensive front has to adjust to NAU's "double-flex" look, with three down linemen and three linebackers and a safety shadowing the line of scrimmage.

"You can't really do the same thing you do week in and week out," Montana center Jay Green said. "You have to go to a different game plan, basically.
Blocking schemes are a lot different, I mean, everything's different. But we went through the stuff (Tuesday), and I thought we'd be more confused than we were. We got through it well."

In the absence of injured all-conference pick Bruce Branch and fellow linebacker Ian Gunderman (suspended), the Lumberjacks have been led by a pair of Laurel products - end John Perrigo and strong side linebacker Vince Henman - plus strong safety Jeremy Thornburg.

Special teams could be key, since it was such a huge lift in Montana's 59-21 win over Northern Arizona last year, and such a weak spot last week in a
35-32 loss at Portland State. The little things, like an offsides on a kickoff or letdowns in the punting game, kept the Grizzlies from staying perfect in Big Sky play.

At NAU, whose other Big Sky loss was also lopsided - 45-14 at Eastern Washington - they're saying the same thing.

"We came off that loss against Eastern Washington and said, 'Geez, it was little things more than anything,' " Henman said. "That's kind of what happened last week again."

Next up is Montana, where NAU hasn't won since 1986.

"They have an offense that has a lot of weapons," Henman said. "It's hard to look at one game and say, 'That's what their plan is.' We're just going to have to be ready for everything. We need to play assignment football better than what we did last week."

Running backs Justin Green and Lex Hilliard continue to get good yardage when the opportunity arises - each averages 11-13 carries a game - and the Grizzlies' spread offense has picked up good yardage, with the occasional slow quarter thrown in. Craig Ochs is completing 63 percent of his passes and has thrown for 1,931 yards. He's on pace to pass Brent Pease (3,655
yards) for eighth on Montana's career passing list. His main targets have been receivers Jefferson Heidelberger (16.1 yards a catch), Levander Segars (13.5), Jon Talmage (17.9) and Tate Hancock (10.0).

"We have a lot of respect for Ochs, and Montana has a power-running aspect as well," NAU coach Jerome Souers said. "If you look at how they're performing now, they're making plays.

"What we're trying to do is improve the details that we've been missing, and to play a better game than we have."

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UM GameDay

No. 10 Montana vs. Northern Arizona

By Greg Rachac, Billings Gazette

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.ph ... ameday.inc

When: Noon

Where: Missoula

When Montana has the ball: A week after they scored 32 points and still lost, the Grizzlies' goal on offense should be to simply keep it going. And a week after Montana State dropped 60 points on the Lumberjacks' defense, Montana hopes to excel today with the same blueprint. Senior quarterback Craig Ochs (280 yards, two touchdowns last week against Portland State) continues to put up numbers for Montana. Whenever UM's running game struggles, and it has for much of this season, Ochs will be the key to the Grizzlies' offense.

When Northern Arizona has the ball: The Grizzlies' pass defense is still ranked dead last in the entire Division I-AA, yielding 313.5 passing yards per game. Because of this, sophomore quarterback Jason Murrietta has to have a smile on his face entering this game. Murietta, the reigning Big Sky Conference offensive player of the year, is more than capable of picking Montana's secondary apart, and will try to do it as successfully as other teams have. Murrietta has thrown for 1,590 yards and 11 touchdowns thus far.

Key matchup: Montana punt returner Levander Segars vs. the Northern Arizona special teams. With both offenses figuring to put up big points, this game could be won or lost with special teams. This is where the Grizzlies have an advantage. A year ago, Segars returned two punts for touchdowns in the first half to lead the Grizzlies to 35 unanswered points and a 59-21 victory at Walkup Skydome. This time around, the Lumberjacks punting unit will have to keep the ball away from the always dangerous Segars as much as possible.

Notes: Linebackers Vince Henman and John Perrigo, teammates at Laurel High School, are both returning All-Big Sky honorable mention picks for the Lumberjacks.

… Griz defensive lineman Jonny Varona will not play in today's game due to an ACL injury.

… Northern Arizona has never won at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The Lumberjacks' last victory in Missoula came in 1986, a few weeks prior to the opening of the then-brand new facility.

… Montana head coach Bobby Hauck was an assistant coach at Northern Arizona under Steve Axman in 1993 and 1994.

… The Lumberjacks are playing on the road for the first time since Oct. 9, while Montana is at home for the first time since that same day.

… The Grizzlies have not lost two consecutive conference games since 1997, and have only lost two conference home games since 1993 (Eastern Washington in 1997 and Montana State in 2002).

… Northern Arizona's Roger Robinson rushed for 288 yards and four touchdowns in his first two league games, but has accumulated just 83 yards and no TDs in his last three.

… The Grizzlies have won six in a row against Northern Arizona.

… Montana ranks second in Division I-AA attendance numbers, averaging 23,283 fans per game.


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Cal Poly at EWU:

A meeting of like minds

Brian milne, San Luis Obispo Tribune

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanlui ... 115319.htm

CHENEY, Wash. - No. 11 Cal Poly and No. 21 Eastern Washington are meeting
for just the third time today at Woodward Field, but have so many
similarities their football coaches sound like identical twins.

Just listen to what the two were saying about each other's team this week.

"They have a good football team," said Cal Poly head coach Rich Ellerson,
whose team travels to Eastern Washington today for a nonconference game.
"They have a great return game. They're very efficient and disguise what
they do well on offense. And defensively, they're one of the better teams
we're going to face."

Said Wulff, Eastern Washington's coach, in a separate interview some 1,100
miles away: "They're a good football team. They have a great defense and
they have some weapons on offense. ... It's going to be a heck of a match."

No kidding.

Both teams are ranked. Both programs have playoff hopes on the line. Both
squads are trying to remain focused on each other and not on the big
conference finales that loom next weekend.

Eastern Washington, which plays first-place Montana State next weekend, is
one Big Sky Conference victory away from at least a share of its first title
since 1997.

Cal Poly, which hosts Northern Colorado next Saturday, is a conference
victory away from clinching a piece of the inaugural Great West Conference
crown.

But neither coach, of course, wants to talk about that.

"We need to do everything we can to get into the playoffs, so this week's
game is like a playoff game to us," Wulff said. "We play a nationally ranked
team, and this game has huge implications for the future for both teams."

Ellerson couldn't have said it better himself.

The Mustangs (7-1 overall), coming off a 36-33 loss to UC Davis last
weekend, are trying to get back on track and into the top 10 again with
hopes of garnering an at-large bid to the postseason.

Eastern Washington is shooting for its seventh victory in eight tries,
hoping to make the powers that be in Division I-AA forget all about the
Eagles' 0-2 start.

"There are definitely some parallels there," Wulff admits, "but Cal Poly has
proven they are one of the best teams in the nation."

Eastern Washington is getting there.

The Eagles (6-3 overall and 4-1 at home) are off to a 4-1 record in the Big
Sky with their lone loss coming to perennial power Montana, 31-28, after the
potential game-tying field goal was blocked in the waning seconds.

Even with the Oct. 16 loss, the Eagles are climbing up the polls. Last week,
they were ranked 25th. But after their 45-10 thrashing of Sacramento State,
Eastern Washington moved up to No. 21 in both polls.

The Eagle defense held Sacramento State to minus-34 yards rushing and is now
ranked 35th in Division I-AA (allowing 321.7 yards per game).

On top of the defense, Eastern Washington brings in the Big Sky's leading
offense, which is averaging 449.9 yards per game (sixth nationally). The
Eagles also lead the league in scoring at 36.7 points per game (eighth
nationally) and pass efficiency with a rating of 156.91 (seventh
nationally).

The Eagles' intermediate passing game is led by junior quarterback and
Walter Payton Award candidate Erik Meyer. The Eagles' co-captain has the
second-best quarterback rating in the country (170.44) and is 12th in total
offense (267.6 yards). He's thrown for 19 touchdowns and just six
interceptions.

"He's getting better as he gets more comfortable and more experience," Wulff
said. "He's had his good games and he's had some games that he hasn't played
well. But he always does a good job of not trying to force things."

Then there's senior running back Darius Washington, the Big Sky's leading
rusher at 106.7 yards a game. He also leads the league with 8.25 points per
game.

"Those guys are going to have to make plays, because we have a huge
challenge this week going up against Cal Poly's defense," Wulff said. "(Cal
Poly's) played so well defensively against everyone they've played this
season, so it's going to be a battle."