Summer work pays off for Griz in opening practice

The 2019 edition of the Montana Grizzly football team officially opened the season on the grass at Dornblaser Field on a toasty Tuesday afternoon in Missoula.

Head coach Bobby Hauck entered the practice excited to see where his team sits following what he has called "the best offseason he's ever been around," but still knew he'd see a bit of the first-day jitters.

"It was a typical first day. We were rusty and didn't look sharp, but the expectation is that will be corrected quickly," said Hauck.

"We've just got to keep working, continue to improve throughout the camp for the next two weeks, then put it all together."

The temperatures may have been hovering in the mid-90's during the opening practice, but that's was one of the reasons he could tell the summer program was better than before.

In usual first-practice style, the energy and enthusiasm were high, but the legs kept churning for nearly three hours in the blazing sun thanks to the work the team put in prior to camp.

"I thought the effort level was good, and I can tell the guys worked hard this summer because it was hot and a fairly up-tempo practice and we didn't have a lot of guys falter conditioning-wise, so we're in good shape," said Hauck.

Gallery: (8/6/2019) FB:: Fall Camp Practice 1

Junior receiver Samori Toure had especially fresh legs on opening day, hauling in a pair of deep touchdown passes from incumbent starting QB Dalton Sneed, one in seven-on-seven play, the other in the first team run of the day. He also got his hands on a near interception by Darion Nash, and scooped up the loose ball in contact before it hit the turf for a big gain.

The junior from Portland also gave a nod to his teammates, crediting them for his solid performance after grinding together over the summer.

"It felt good. I feel like we have a lot of team chemistry because we were out here during the summer and the work that we put in this summer definitely showed today," said Toure.

"I feel like the entire offense is on the same page. We've been putting in a lot of work with player-run practices, running routes on our off days, and that really showed."

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Dressed in shorts and helmets, the Griz ran through 26 periods in their opening practice with three team sessions and plenty of time devoted to the install.

In addition to Toure, other standouts included sophomore safety Michael McGinnis, who picked off a Garrett Graves pass and returned it for a touchdown.

Graves, who could prove to be one of the most versatile players on the team this season, wore a white shirt in practice, taking reps at both quarterback and ball carrier.

D-line transfer Joe Babros showed the skills that brought him to North Carolina State before coming to Montana in one-on-one defensive drills, shedding some blocks with ease.

Montana retakes the field on Wednesday at 2:30 for the second practice of fall camp at Dornblaser Field.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Joe Babros

Garrett Graves

Michael McGinnis

Dalton Sneed

Samori Toure

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