'Cats rebound from a disastrous first half

By ANDREW HINKELMAN

The Daily Inter Lake

The first half of Montana State's come-from-behind win over Weber State on Saturday was the primary reason the Bobcats had to come from behind.

"Penalties, fumbles, interceptions, miscommunication - everything," MSU coach Mike Kramer said Tuesday.

Three times in the first half the Bobcats were able to get inside Weber's 25-yard line, and three times they turned it over - once on downs, once on a fumble and once on an interception.

MSU went to the locker room trailing 17-0.

"At halftime we did a nice job of not panicking," Kramer said. "The coaches did a nice job of leading and teaching and not yelling and screaming.

"Well, there was some yelling. We told them: 'Fellas, we are underplaying our ability."

The Bobcats responded and had the game tied by the end of the third quarter.

"The beginning part of that is your defense," Kramer said. "When you're behind you've got to make stops.

"We really settled down in the second half and the last two minutes of the game we did an excellent job of managing the clock.

"Then EJ went in and stroked the ball."

That would be EJ Cochrane, who booted a 44-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. Cochrane started the year third on the depth chart at kicker.

But injuries and inconsistencies quickly elevated the senior from Philadelphia and transfer from West Virginia.

- RANK PERFORMANCE: With Saturday's win, the Bobcats cracked the USA Today/ESPN Division I-AA Top 25 poll

at No. 25.

MSU started the year ranked in both the USA Today/ESPN and Sports Network polls, but fell out after losses to Cal Poly-SLO and Colorado State.

- MOVIN' ON UP: Kramer picked up his 59th win as a head coach in the Big Sky Conference, moving him into a third-place tie with Boise State's Jim Criner on the all-time list.

Former Montana coach Don Read (85) is second and former Nevada coach Chris Ault (111) is first.

- INJURY UPDATE: For the first time in four games, MSU did not lose a player to a season-ending injury.

But cornerback Kory Austin did suffer a hip pointer in the first half and did not return. He will miss this Saturday's game versus Portland State, moving Ryan Force from free safety to corner.

"(Force) will take all the reps at corner this week in practice," Kramer said. "That means Toph Grenfell is in at starting free safety.

"We're a little wounded at corner, and that's the way its going to be the rest of the season."