Another Atlantic 10 foe for the Grizzlies

The Daily Inter Lake

Second-ranked Montana plays host to its second Atlantic 10 foe in as many weeks when the Pride of Hofstra invade Washington Grizzly Stadium today.

The Grizzlies, who defeated Maine 27-20 last week, hope to avoid a repeat of the last time Hofstra visited Missoula. The Pride stunned Montana 10-9 to start the 2000 season.

"Hofstra has a great team," UM coach Bobby Hauck said Tuesday. "They have a lot of offense, defense and a good kicking game."

The Pride waxed Albany 45-0 on Sept. 2 to start their season, their first shutout in six seasons.

Junior quarterback Bobby Seck threw for 424 yards and four touchdowns. He added a fifth TD on the ground as Hofstra piled up 504 yards of total offense.

"They've got a good quarterback who's a big time player," Hauck said.

Seck, who is second in the nation in total offense, is making a comeback from an injury that limited him to just four games last year, part of the reason why Hofstra fell to 2-10, only the third time in coach Joe Gardi's 14 seasons the Pride finished below .500.

Hofstra held Albany, a rushing-oriented team, to 176 yards on 49 carries, which could spell trouble for a Griz ground game that picked up only 117 yards against Maine.

"I didn't think we ran the ball poorly," Hauck said. "That's a product of Maine's defensive front seven.

"We'll take what they give us."

Senior quarterback Craig Ochs, who also battled injuries last year, sparkled against the Black Bears and was named offensive player of the week in the Big Sky conference.

Should the running game fail to click right away, look for Ochs and receivers Levander Segars, Jefferson Heidelberger and Jon Talmage to have another big day.

Montana should get a boost in its ground attack when Kalispell's Lex Hilliard returns from a one-game suspension.

On a more dour note, today's game - played on the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - will have even greater significance for the Pride.

Hofstra, located in Hempstead, N.Y., lost 26 alumni in the attacks, including three former football players. All Hofstra athletic teams wear a memorial patch on their uniforms to honor the nearly 3,000 victims.

Big Sky Standings

Conference All Games

W L PF PA W L PF PA

Montana 0 0 0 0 1 0 27 20

Portland St. 0 0 0 0 1 0 38 0

Montana St. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Sac St. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

E. Wash. 0 0 0 0 0 1 14 37

Idaho St. 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 38

N. Ariz. 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 21

Weber St. 0 0 0 0 0 1 31 34

Sept. 2

Nicholls St. 37, E. Washington 14

Portland St. 38, Western St.,Colo. 0

Sept. 4

Montana 27, Maine 20

S. Utah 34, Weber St. 31

San Diego St. 38, Idaho St. 21

Arizona 21, N. Arizona 3

Today

E. Washington at Air Force, Noon

Hofstra at Montana, 1 p.m.

Adams St. at Montana St., 1 p.m.

Cal Poly-SLO at Idaho St., 6 p.m.

N. Arizona at Stephen F.Austin, 6 p.m.

Weber St. at UTEP, 7 p.m.

Sacramento St. at Nevada, 7 p.m.

n Portland St. is idle