Sunday Notebook: Sneed shines in Griz win over South Dakota
9/1/2019 5:48:00 PM | Football
The No. 25 ranked Montana Grizzlies opened the 2019 season in emphatic fashion on Saturday, making an early case for their postseason intentions with a 31-17 victory at South Dakota that snapped the Coyote's 16-game home-opener win streak.
The Grizzlies racked up 510 yards of total offense and the defense posted a pair of goal-line stands while holding one of the most potent passing attacks in the Missouri Valley Conference to just 246 yards in the air.
Yes, it's just week one, the win over the 'Yotes (who entered the game as four-point favorites) gives Montana a considerable leg up come playoff time with a quality road victory over a strong FCS opponent. It also puts the Big Sky Conference up 2-0 in the annual Big Sky/MVFC Challenge Series after Northern Arizona opened with a win on week zero.
The win put the Grizzlies toward the top of several national statistical categories with big numbers from Dalton Sneed (more on him later), and career-high receiving days for Samuel Akem (158 yards) and Samori Toure (142 yards).
Here's a breakdown of the numbers and keys to the win.
Saturday's Stars: Montana Player of the Week Nominations
Offense: Dalton Sneed: Sneed posted one of the best offensive games in UM history and one of best in FCS football this season to lead the No. 25 Grizzlies to a 31-17 win over the Missouri Valley Conference's South Dakota Coyotes in Vermillion to earn Montana's nomination for STATS FCS and Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
The senior orchestrated the Montana offense masterfully, throwing for a career-high 427 yards and adding 11 more on the ground for 438 yards of total offense in a game with potential playoff implications. As prolific as he was, his accuracy was maybe more impressive, completing an eye-catching 37 of his 52 passes.
Those number stack up amongst the best in FCS football on week one, and made the most significant impact of nearly any player in meaningful games across the subdivision and the Big Sky Conference.
Sneed's 427 yards in the air are the most from any winning quarterback in the nation this week, and enter the UM record books as the 18th-best passing game in school history. Similarly, his 37 completions are the fourth-most in Montana single-game history, and the third most by any FCS QB so far this season. His 438 yards of total offense also ranks third-most in the nation so far this season.
The Scottsdale, Ariz., native now has 3,150 career passing yards at UM to move to 14th-all-time amongst Grizzly coaches. He needs just 506 more yards to surpass current Grizzly wide receiver coach Brent Pease on the Montana career passing list.
Defense: Robby Hauck: Hauck continued his emergence as one of the top defensive backs in FCS football at South Dakota on Saturday, racking up 10 tackles (7 solo) and one huge pass breakup to earn Montana's nomination for Defensive Player of the Week.
With the Coyotes driving early in the fourth quarter, Hauck put a stop to the home team's momentum with a diving pass breakup and led all players with 10 tackles. On fourth and two, USD QB Austin Simmons went for the end zone from the UM 26 and a score that would have made it a seven-point game with nine minutes to play. But Hauck stretched out to knock the ball out of the air to keep the 'Yotes scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Special Teams: Sophomore Malik Flowers picked up where he left off in the kick return game his freshman season, running four kickoffs back for a total of 116 yards against the Coyotes.
With a long return of 34 yards, Flowers averaged 29-per-return and posted the third-most all-purpose yards of any Grizzly in a game where several new UM career-highs were set. One hundred sixteen yards is the second-best single-game performance of Flowers' career behind his breakout performance at Western Illinois as a freshman where he ran a kick back 95 yards for a TD and totaled 136 return yards.
NOTEABLE:
Overall, the Griz won the possession battle by more than 10 minutes, keeping control for 35:27. That's :27 longer than any game total in 2018.
UP NEXT: North Alabama: Montana returns home to the friendly confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium seeking win No. 201 in stadium history when the North Alabama Lions make their first trip to Missoula.
Just two years after moving up to the FCS after decades as a D-II powerhouse, the Lions have already made a statement in the subdivision. UNA shocked Southern Utah with a win in Cedar City in its first FCS game ever last year, and will come to Montana bolstered by confidence after defeating the Missouri Valley's Western Illinois Leathernecks 26-17 in Alabama last week.
The Griz and Lions will kick-off under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday with start time set for 7 p.m. Montana is riding a 15-game home-opener win streak heading into the contest.
The Grizzlies racked up 510 yards of total offense and the defense posted a pair of goal-line stands while holding one of the most potent passing attacks in the Missouri Valley Conference to just 246 yards in the air.
Yes, it's just week one, the win over the 'Yotes (who entered the game as four-point favorites) gives Montana a considerable leg up come playoff time with a quality road victory over a strong FCS opponent. It also puts the Big Sky Conference up 2-0 in the annual Big Sky/MVFC Challenge Series after Northern Arizona opened with a win on week zero.
The win put the Grizzlies toward the top of several national statistical categories with big numbers from Dalton Sneed (more on him later), and career-high receiving days for Samuel Akem (158 yards) and Samori Toure (142 yards).
Here's a breakdown of the numbers and keys to the win.
Saturday's Stars: Montana Player of the Week Nominations
Offense: Dalton Sneed: Sneed posted one of the best offensive games in UM history and one of best in FCS football this season to lead the No. 25 Grizzlies to a 31-17 win over the Missouri Valley Conference's South Dakota Coyotes in Vermillion to earn Montana's nomination for STATS FCS and Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
The senior orchestrated the Montana offense masterfully, throwing for a career-high 427 yards and adding 11 more on the ground for 438 yards of total offense in a game with potential playoff implications. As prolific as he was, his accuracy was maybe more impressive, completing an eye-catching 37 of his 52 passes.
Those number stack up amongst the best in FCS football on week one, and made the most significant impact of nearly any player in meaningful games across the subdivision and the Big Sky Conference.
Sneed's 427 yards in the air are the most from any winning quarterback in the nation this week, and enter the UM record books as the 18th-best passing game in school history. Similarly, his 37 completions are the fourth-most in Montana single-game history, and the third most by any FCS QB so far this season. His 438 yards of total offense also ranks third-most in the nation so far this season.
The Scottsdale, Ariz., native now has 3,150 career passing yards at UM to move to 14th-all-time amongst Grizzly coaches. He needs just 506 more yards to surpass current Grizzly wide receiver coach Brent Pease on the Montana career passing list.
Defense: Robby Hauck: Hauck continued his emergence as one of the top defensive backs in FCS football at South Dakota on Saturday, racking up 10 tackles (7 solo) and one huge pass breakup to earn Montana's nomination for Defensive Player of the Week.
With the Coyotes driving early in the fourth quarter, Hauck put a stop to the home team's momentum with a diving pass breakup and led all players with 10 tackles. On fourth and two, USD QB Austin Simmons went for the end zone from the UM 26 and a score that would have made it a seven-point game with nine minutes to play. But Hauck stretched out to knock the ball out of the air to keep the 'Yotes scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Special Teams: Sophomore Malik Flowers picked up where he left off in the kick return game his freshman season, running four kickoffs back for a total of 116 yards against the Coyotes.
With a long return of 34 yards, Flowers averaged 29-per-return and posted the third-most all-purpose yards of any Grizzly in a game where several new UM career-highs were set. One hundred sixteen yards is the second-best single-game performance of Flowers' career behind his breakout performance at Western Illinois as a freshman where he ran a kick back 95 yards for a TD and totaled 136 return yards.
NOTEABLE:
- Third down is a do-or-die situation for a football team, and the Griz came through when it mattered most on both sides of the ball better than nearly any team in the country this week. On offense, the Griz converted 11 of 17 third down attempts, tied for the fifth-best percentage in FCS football at .647 percent – the best percentage in the Big Sky against a Division-I opponent.
- In 2018, Montana the Griz let off the gas and gave away four different fourth quarter leads, and have been focusing on finishing games strong ever since. Well, mission accomplished.
Overall, the Griz won the possession battle by more than 10 minutes, keeping control for 35:27. That's :27 longer than any game total in 2018.
UP NEXT: North Alabama: Montana returns home to the friendly confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium seeking win No. 201 in stadium history when the North Alabama Lions make their first trip to Missoula.
Just two years after moving up to the FCS after decades as a D-II powerhouse, the Lions have already made a statement in the subdivision. UNA shocked Southern Utah with a win in Cedar City in its first FCS game ever last year, and will come to Montana bolstered by confidence after defeating the Missouri Valley's Western Illinois Leathernecks 26-17 in Alabama last week.
The Griz and Lions will kick-off under the lights at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday with start time set for 7 p.m. Montana is riding a 15-game home-opener win streak heading into the contest.
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