Suddenly it's Griz, Cats up front again
10/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
The jury's still out on why there wasn't a Northern Arizona Lumberjack within six or seven yards of Montana State's Corey Smith when he recovered that onside kick Saturday.
It probably doesn't matter -- the kick, off the foot of Nate Cook, was perfect. "Nathan made just a great kick," said Smith. "It just rolled to me and all I had to do was wait a couple seconds for it to pass 10 yards, and land on it."
Asked how many times it worked like that in drills, Smith shook his head. "(We) never, never get it right in practice," he said.
MSU went on to drive 54 yards for the winning score in its 21-17 victory over then-No. 10 Northern Arizona. The Bobcats are 4-4 and -- despite three turnovers and three personal fouls in the first half against the Lumberjacks -- very much in the Big Sky Conference race at 2-1 in league play. Montana (2-1) and NAU (4-1) battle this weekend in Flagstaff, Ariz., while the Bobcats host Sacramento State (1-3, 2-6), which has lost four straight; Idaho State dropped to 3-2 in the league by getting beat 38-21 at Weber State.
Not that the Bobcats can rely on the onside kick many more times. Better to get Travis Lulay, whose fourth-quarter performance earned him Big Sky offensive player of the week honors, and Scott Turnquist going a little earlier. Turnquist, a senior out of Billings Skyview, had six of his career-high 14 catches in the final 2:13.
"I knew that I was going to have an opportunity to make catches just by the coverages they play," he said. "Coach (Don) Bailey put me in a lot of great positions to make plays down the stretch. I really wanted that coming into this year -- to be that type of player.
"This game is just one of those games that I'm really proud of, that I'm going to remember for a long time."
... Northern Arizona coach Jerome Souers will remember it as well. "You look at our kicking game (1-for-3 on field goals), our offense and our defense, and we have all kinds of areas we can improve," said NAU's sixth-year head coach. "Which we will do. But you have to give credit to the Montana State football team. They played hard, they didn't give up and they made the plays down the stretch."
The Lumberjacks began last year 4-1, then lost four of five league games to fall out of the Big Sky race. They were 6-1 going into Saturday, but defensive end John Perrigo maintains a similar collapse isn't in store. "I think this might've woke us up more," he said.
"We're going to go back to the tape and look back at the opportunities that we missed that we should've cashed in on," Souers said. "And look at the plays that we gave up we probably shouldn't have, and correct those things that we can.
"Any time you play a road game in the Big Sky, the game ain't over 'til it's over."
... Lost in this is that Saturday marked the lone league road loss this season for the Lumberjacks, who dropped to No. 15 in The Sports Network/CSTV I-AA poll. They're home the next two weeks against first No. 10 Montana, then No. 24 Idaho State.
Montana coach Bobby Hauck is taking the "waking the sleeping giant" approach to Saturday's game in Flagstaff. "I talked to our players tonight," the Grizzlies' first-year coach said Monday. "And I said I think they've got the best receivers, quarterback and running back that we've played all year."
Those would be Clarence Moore and Johnny Marshall, Jason Murrietta and Roger Robinson. Murrietta and Robinson accounted for 470 yards of offense between them (Moore and Marshall caught six passes each for a total of 233 yards). NAU had 480 yards total.
Montana had 335 yards of offense in its 42-14 win over Portland State, which was also keyed by a big fourth quarter. The total could've been higher but the Grizzlies went backwards from PSU's 1-yard line late; Craig Ochs was also sacked five times for 55 yards. Still, it was the Griz's most lopsided league win since their 39-7 win at Weber State last season. They played six defensive backs most the game and held Portland State to 105 yards on the ground.
And Ochs also had a nine-yard scoring run. "Craig's finally healthy, it looks like," Hauck said. "I think last week was the first time where he looked kind of nimble, running the ball."
The Grizzlies played the numbers game against the Vikings: Anytime they outnumbered PSU up front, they ran the ball -- 55 times in all, for 186 yards. They also held onto it. "Winning the turnover battle four-nothing was big for us," said Hauck, who'd seen his team cough up the ball seven times in the previous two games.
Last season Montana, MSU and ISU all tied at the top of the Big Sky at 5-2. We could have a repeat this year. "We (the Griz) have so many games left, it's hard for us to say," Hauck said. "I think the winner of our game this week goes a long way toward winning this thing.
"And NAU -- they've got the easiest road, because they're the most talented team in the league. I'm hoping we can find a way to slow 'em down."
... What a difference a week made for Idaho State. A week after edging Montana 43-40 in double overtime, the Bengals fell flat at Weber State. Nobody embodied the collapse better than ISU quarterback Mark Hetherington, whose 398-yard performance in Missoula earned him a share of the I-AA national offensive player of the week honors. In Ogden, Utah, the junior was 9-for-30 for 148 yards, with four interceptions. Two of those picks went for Weber touchdowns.
"I take it upon myself," Hetherington told the Ogden Standard-Examiner. "It's my job to deliver the ball on time and accurate. We just got beat on every aspect of our offense. We couldn't get open; I couldn't throw it on time. We felt confused and slow."
Eighty-nine of Hetherington's yards came on two TD passes. Emery Beckles also had an 83-yard punt return. Meanwhile, Weber ran for 306 yards, including a career-high 225 from Nick Chournos.
"Their safeties, about halfway through the third quarter, had had enough," said Chournos, who added that one ISU player told him: "I hate tackling you, man."
In coach Larry Lewis' reign at ISU, the Bengals are 3-15 in road conference games. They're home this week against Portland State, and at NAU the next. "The one place I never won at was Weber, and I lost my chance to do that," ISU defensive end Jared Allen said. "It sucks bad."
... Sacramento State quarterback Blake Mori had a rough game as well, as the Hornets lost at home to Eastern Washington. The sophomore threw two interceptions -- the second one was returned 54 yards to set up an Eric Kimble 7-yard scoring run -- then threw his helmet, then came back out and was intercepted again, this time inside EWU's 20-yard line. The Hornets hurt themselves further when defensive end Ben Fox got a roughing-the-passer penalty inside the Sac State 10-yard line -- nullifying a fourth-down stop by his defense. Kimble then scored from four yards out for 21-0 lead.
The good news is that Sac State is off this week, along with Eastern Washington. Portland State is at Idaho State in the league's other game.
It probably doesn't matter -- the kick, off the foot of Nate Cook, was perfect. "Nathan made just a great kick," said Smith. "It just rolled to me and all I had to do was wait a couple seconds for it to pass 10 yards, and land on it."
Asked how many times it worked like that in drills, Smith shook his head. "(We) never, never get it right in practice," he said.
MSU went on to drive 54 yards for the winning score in its 21-17 victory over then-No. 10 Northern Arizona. The Bobcats are 4-4 and -- despite three turnovers and three personal fouls in the first half against the Lumberjacks -- very much in the Big Sky Conference race at 2-1 in league play. Montana (2-1) and NAU (4-1) battle this weekend in Flagstaff, Ariz., while the Bobcats host Sacramento State (1-3, 2-6), which has lost four straight; Idaho State dropped to 3-2 in the league by getting beat 38-21 at Weber State.
Not that the Bobcats can rely on the onside kick many more times. Better to get Travis Lulay, whose fourth-quarter performance earned him Big Sky offensive player of the week honors, and Scott Turnquist going a little earlier. Turnquist, a senior out of Billings Skyview, had six of his career-high 14 catches in the final 2:13.
"I knew that I was going to have an opportunity to make catches just by the coverages they play," he said. "Coach (Don) Bailey put me in a lot of great positions to make plays down the stretch. I really wanted that coming into this year -- to be that type of player.
"This game is just one of those games that I'm really proud of, that I'm going to remember for a long time."
... Northern Arizona coach Jerome Souers will remember it as well. "You look at our kicking game (1-for-3 on field goals), our offense and our defense, and we have all kinds of areas we can improve," said NAU's sixth-year head coach. "Which we will do. But you have to give credit to the Montana State football team. They played hard, they didn't give up and they made the plays down the stretch."
The Lumberjacks began last year 4-1, then lost four of five league games to fall out of the Big Sky race. They were 6-1 going into Saturday, but defensive end John Perrigo maintains a similar collapse isn't in store. "I think this might've woke us up more," he said.
"We're going to go back to the tape and look back at the opportunities that we missed that we should've cashed in on," Souers said. "And look at the plays that we gave up we probably shouldn't have, and correct those things that we can.
"Any time you play a road game in the Big Sky, the game ain't over 'til it's over."
... Lost in this is that Saturday marked the lone league road loss this season for the Lumberjacks, who dropped to No. 15 in The Sports Network/CSTV I-AA poll. They're home the next two weeks against first No. 10 Montana, then No. 24 Idaho State.
Montana coach Bobby Hauck is taking the "waking the sleeping giant" approach to Saturday's game in Flagstaff. "I talked to our players tonight," the Grizzlies' first-year coach said Monday. "And I said I think they've got the best receivers, quarterback and running back that we've played all year."
Those would be Clarence Moore and Johnny Marshall, Jason Murrietta and Roger Robinson. Murrietta and Robinson accounted for 470 yards of offense between them (Moore and Marshall caught six passes each for a total of 233 yards). NAU had 480 yards total.
Montana had 335 yards of offense in its 42-14 win over Portland State, which was also keyed by a big fourth quarter. The total could've been higher but the Grizzlies went backwards from PSU's 1-yard line late; Craig Ochs was also sacked five times for 55 yards. Still, it was the Griz's most lopsided league win since their 39-7 win at Weber State last season. They played six defensive backs most the game and held Portland State to 105 yards on the ground.
And Ochs also had a nine-yard scoring run. "Craig's finally healthy, it looks like," Hauck said. "I think last week was the first time where he looked kind of nimble, running the ball."
The Grizzlies played the numbers game against the Vikings: Anytime they outnumbered PSU up front, they ran the ball -- 55 times in all, for 186 yards. They also held onto it. "Winning the turnover battle four-nothing was big for us," said Hauck, who'd seen his team cough up the ball seven times in the previous two games.
Last season Montana, MSU and ISU all tied at the top of the Big Sky at 5-2. We could have a repeat this year. "We (the Griz) have so many games left, it's hard for us to say," Hauck said. "I think the winner of our game this week goes a long way toward winning this thing.
"And NAU -- they've got the easiest road, because they're the most talented team in the league. I'm hoping we can find a way to slow 'em down."
... What a difference a week made for Idaho State. A week after edging Montana 43-40 in double overtime, the Bengals fell flat at Weber State. Nobody embodied the collapse better than ISU quarterback Mark Hetherington, whose 398-yard performance in Missoula earned him a share of the I-AA national offensive player of the week honors. In Ogden, Utah, the junior was 9-for-30 for 148 yards, with four interceptions. Two of those picks went for Weber touchdowns.
"I take it upon myself," Hetherington told the Ogden Standard-Examiner. "It's my job to deliver the ball on time and accurate. We just got beat on every aspect of our offense. We couldn't get open; I couldn't throw it on time. We felt confused and slow."
Eighty-nine of Hetherington's yards came on two TD passes. Emery Beckles also had an 83-yard punt return. Meanwhile, Weber ran for 306 yards, including a career-high 225 from Nick Chournos.
"Their safeties, about halfway through the third quarter, had had enough," said Chournos, who added that one ISU player told him: "I hate tackling you, man."
In coach Larry Lewis' reign at ISU, the Bengals are 3-15 in road conference games. They're home this week against Portland State, and at NAU the next. "The one place I never won at was Weber, and I lost my chance to do that," ISU defensive end Jared Allen said. "It sucks bad."
... Sacramento State quarterback Blake Mori had a rough game as well, as the Hornets lost at home to Eastern Washington. The sophomore threw two interceptions -- the second one was returned 54 yards to set up an Eric Kimble 7-yard scoring run -- then threw his helmet, then came back out and was intercepted again, this time inside EWU's 20-yard line. The Hornets hurt themselves further when defensive end Ben Fox got a roughing-the-passer penalty inside the Sac State 10-yard line -- nullifying a fourth-down stop by his defense. Kimble then scored from four yards out for 21-0 lead.
The good news is that Sac State is off this week, along with Eastern Washington. Portland State is at Idaho State in the league's other game.
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