Seventh-ranked Griz prevail over Bears
9/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
The Montana Grizzly defense proved that the "red zone" was their zone, earning a 27-16 non-conference win against a potent Northern Colorado offense in front of 23,220 fans at Washington-Grizzly Stadium Saturday.
"It was just a bunch of kids that decided that they were going to make plays and not let them in," Griz coach Bobby Hauck said of his defense's strength when Northern Colorado was within 20 yards of the end zone, also called the red zone.
Although Northern Colorado had a blistering 506 total yards on offense, once the Bears came into the red zone they only scored one touchdown on five tries.
"We came together as a defense today," Griz linebacker Adam Hoge said. "Our performance in the red zone was better than the previous three games and it was a good time for that to happen."
"It's a lot of offense to lose the game," Northern Colorado coach Kay Dalton said.
Most of Northern Colorado's offense came from Vincent Jackson who had 15 catches for 227 yards. Griz fans couldn't help but admire this athlete, especially Hauck.
"Vincent Jackson, I hazard to say, was one of the best athletes to play in that stadium," Hauck said. "I'd love to have that guy on our team not only for what he does on the field but for who he is as a person, he's a great guy. We tried to take him away to a degree and we couldn't do it. We might have played great, but we just couldn't match up (against Jackson)."
Montana countered with a solid mix of running and passing. Running backs Justin Green and Lex Hilliard combined for 119 yards and a touchdown (Hilliard). Through the air, Jon Talmage caught three balls for 109 yards, Levander Segars had four catches for 45 yards and Jefferson Heidelberger caught three passes for 59 yards and two touchdowns.
For as long as he could, Griz quarterback Craig Ochs fought through soreness in his calf from an injury that occurred last week.
"Any quarterback will tell you that you throw from your feet," Ochs said. "In the third quarter it progressively got worse. It got to the point where I thought I was hurting the team more than I was helping."
Fortunately for Montana's offense, backup quarterback Jeff Disney showed that he can lead the team by completing 6-of-8 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.
"We have a lot of confidence in Jeff," Hauck said. "He's always ready. He's always there. He's in tune with the plan, which shows his discipline. He deserves a lot of credit for what he does."
After a scoreless first quarter, Northern Colorado got on the board first, 0-3, with a 21-yard field goal by Justin Zaitz early in the second quarter.
Montana, spurred by a 50-yard Ochs-to-Talmage reception, scored on an 11-yard Hilliard run to give the Griz a 7-3 lead with 11:12 remaining in the second quarter.
Griz kicker Dan Carpenter missed his first field goal of the season, a 52-yarder, but came back to make his personal best 49-yard field goal, which put Montana up 10-3 with 1:17 to go in the half. This capped off a nine play, 52-yard drive when Ochs threw 21-yard passes to tight end Willie Walden and Segars.
Before the half expired, Northern Colorado decided to unveil their not-so-secret weapon. Their only touchdown drive consisted of five plays for 78 yards, all from the Christensen-to-Jackson connection. Jackson, No. 81, caught receptions of 9, 13, 22, 18 yards and a final 1-yard catch for the touchdown.
"It's a luxury to have No. 81 on my team," Christensen said, who threw for 370 yards and a touchdown. "He's a quarterback's dream."
After halftime, Montana came out firing. On the first drive of the half, Green had two carries for 31 yards to set up the 15-yard Ochs touchdown pass to Heidelberger giving the Griz a 17-10 advantage.
Northern Colorado went to the ground on their next scoring drive. Andre Wilson had six carries for 56 yards, but they were stopped in the red zone and had to settle for a 19-yard Zaitz field goal, cutting away at the Grizzly lead.
With 1:22 remaining in the third period Montana countered the Bear field goal with a 41-yard kick by Carpenter, putting UM up 20-13.
Northern Colorado kicked a 41-yard field goal with 9:46 remaining in the fourth quarter to bring it with four points, 20-16.
Disney came in for Ochs at the start of the fourth quarter. He found Talmage twice for 26 and 33 yards. Disney connected with Heidelberger deep in the corner of the end zone for a 29-yard reception touchdown for the game's final score.
"If I ever get pressed I know I can fire it as far as I can and I know (Heidelberger) can go get it," Disney said.
"I was surprised when threw it," Heidelberger said. "He was just getting rid of it and put it in one of those spots where we have a chance to make the play and they don't. It was perfect right on my outside shoulder."
Northern Colorado was again denied a red-zone touchdown at the end of the game, giving Hauck something to be proud of from a defense that gave up 506 yards.
"Good to be at 3-1," Hauck said. "I like some of the things I saw. I liked how physical we played. I like the fire we played with and I like the fact that we're back on track."
The Griz move to 3-1 on the season while the Bears fall to 1-3. The Griz begin their conference season next weekend with a road contest at Weber State.
"It was just a bunch of kids that decided that they were going to make plays and not let them in," Griz coach Bobby Hauck said of his defense's strength when Northern Colorado was within 20 yards of the end zone, also called the red zone.
Although Northern Colorado had a blistering 506 total yards on offense, once the Bears came into the red zone they only scored one touchdown on five tries.
"We came together as a defense today," Griz linebacker Adam Hoge said. "Our performance in the red zone was better than the previous three games and it was a good time for that to happen."
"It's a lot of offense to lose the game," Northern Colorado coach Kay Dalton said.
Most of Northern Colorado's offense came from Vincent Jackson who had 15 catches for 227 yards. Griz fans couldn't help but admire this athlete, especially Hauck.
"Vincent Jackson, I hazard to say, was one of the best athletes to play in that stadium," Hauck said. "I'd love to have that guy on our team not only for what he does on the field but for who he is as a person, he's a great guy. We tried to take him away to a degree and we couldn't do it. We might have played great, but we just couldn't match up (against Jackson)."
Montana countered with a solid mix of running and passing. Running backs Justin Green and Lex Hilliard combined for 119 yards and a touchdown (Hilliard). Through the air, Jon Talmage caught three balls for 109 yards, Levander Segars had four catches for 45 yards and Jefferson Heidelberger caught three passes for 59 yards and two touchdowns.
For as long as he could, Griz quarterback Craig Ochs fought through soreness in his calf from an injury that occurred last week.
"Any quarterback will tell you that you throw from your feet," Ochs said. "In the third quarter it progressively got worse. It got to the point where I thought I was hurting the team more than I was helping."
Fortunately for Montana's offense, backup quarterback Jeff Disney showed that he can lead the team by completing 6-of-8 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.
"We have a lot of confidence in Jeff," Hauck said. "He's always ready. He's always there. He's in tune with the plan, which shows his discipline. He deserves a lot of credit for what he does."
After a scoreless first quarter, Northern Colorado got on the board first, 0-3, with a 21-yard field goal by Justin Zaitz early in the second quarter.
Montana, spurred by a 50-yard Ochs-to-Talmage reception, scored on an 11-yard Hilliard run to give the Griz a 7-3 lead with 11:12 remaining in the second quarter.
Griz kicker Dan Carpenter missed his first field goal of the season, a 52-yarder, but came back to make his personal best 49-yard field goal, which put Montana up 10-3 with 1:17 to go in the half. This capped off a nine play, 52-yard drive when Ochs threw 21-yard passes to tight end Willie Walden and Segars.
Before the half expired, Northern Colorado decided to unveil their not-so-secret weapon. Their only touchdown drive consisted of five plays for 78 yards, all from the Christensen-to-Jackson connection. Jackson, No. 81, caught receptions of 9, 13, 22, 18 yards and a final 1-yard catch for the touchdown.
"It's a luxury to have No. 81 on my team," Christensen said, who threw for 370 yards and a touchdown. "He's a quarterback's dream."
After halftime, Montana came out firing. On the first drive of the half, Green had two carries for 31 yards to set up the 15-yard Ochs touchdown pass to Heidelberger giving the Griz a 17-10 advantage.
Northern Colorado went to the ground on their next scoring drive. Andre Wilson had six carries for 56 yards, but they were stopped in the red zone and had to settle for a 19-yard Zaitz field goal, cutting away at the Grizzly lead.
With 1:22 remaining in the third period Montana countered the Bear field goal with a 41-yard kick by Carpenter, putting UM up 20-13.
Northern Colorado kicked a 41-yard field goal with 9:46 remaining in the fourth quarter to bring it with four points, 20-16.
Disney came in for Ochs at the start of the fourth quarter. He found Talmage twice for 26 and 33 yards. Disney connected with Heidelberger deep in the corner of the end zone for a 29-yard reception touchdown for the game's final score.
"If I ever get pressed I know I can fire it as far as I can and I know (Heidelberger) can go get it," Disney said.
"I was surprised when threw it," Heidelberger said. "He was just getting rid of it and put it in one of those spots where we have a chance to make the play and they don't. It was perfect right on my outside shoulder."
Northern Colorado was again denied a red-zone touchdown at the end of the game, giving Hauck something to be proud of from a defense that gave up 506 yards.
"Good to be at 3-1," Hauck said. "I like some of the things I saw. I liked how physical we played. I like the fire we played with and I like the fact that we're back on track."
The Griz move to 3-1 on the season while the Bears fall to 1-3. The Griz begin their conference season next weekend with a road contest at Weber State.
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