Montana hoping to play better against UNC

Bears outplayed Grizzlies in 2004

The Daily Inter Lake

The last time the University of Montana football team played Northern Colorado, it barely played good enough to win.

It was just two years ago, on Sept. 25, 2004, in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The Bears were two years into their transition from NCAA Division II to I-AA and they gave the Griz a run for their money.

Ahead just 20-16 with eight minutes left in the game, backup quarterback Jeff Disney - who replaced injured starter Craig Ochs - found Jefferson Heidelberger for a 25-yard touchdown to lift the Griz to a 27-16 victory.

But Northern Colorado outgained the Griz on offense that day, 506-343. The Griz failed on every third-down opportunity on offense, going 0-for-11. UNC wasn't much better on third downs, converting only one of 12. But the Grizzlies' defense hunkered down to limit the Bears to 13 points off six trips inside the 20-yard line.

Heidelberger had two touchdowns that game and could have had three had the Griz not committed a pair of penalties on a 52-yard TD catch from Disney earlier in the fourth quarter. Ochs had nine completions for 137 yards in the first three quarters, but Disney played the fourth quarter and went 6-for-8 for 110 yards to spark the Griz.

That game was junior cornerback Jimmy Wilson's first career start at Montana. The true freshman from San Diego led the way on defense with eight tackles and forced a fumble.

Northern Colorado running back Andre Wilson was a sophomore and had 135 yards on 27 carries. Now he's a senior and 230 yards from becoming the school's all-time leading rusher. He is fourth in the Big Sky Conference in rushing this season with 752 yards. He is also the team's second-leading receiver with 17 catches for 176 yards.

"Wilson is a talented back," UM coach Bobby Hauck said. "They have several different talented running backs. They play them out in the slot some. They move them all over the place and they are going to find ways to get their two running backs the football."

With 3,290 career rushing yards, Wilson needs just 36 yards to become the school's No. 2 career rusher. He would pass Adam Matthews, who died last Thursday at the age of 25 after having a seizure.

"They're gonna run the ball with Andre Wilson first, second and maybe third," Hauck said. "He has a chance in the next two weeks to become their career rushing leader. I don't expect them to come out and throw a lot."

But while Wilson had success against the Griz last time, this year's defense is ranked eighth in the nation in rushing and 11th in the nation in total defense.

In fact, this matchup is a study of contrasts.

The Grizzlies are 8-1 overall; the Bears are 1-8. The Griz are 6-0 in conference; the Bears are 0-6. Montana leads the league in turnover margin (plus-9); UNC is second-to-last (minus-7). UM is second in scoring offense (27.9 ppg) and the best in scoring defense (18.8 ppg); UNC is last in scoring (11.7 ppg) and second-to-last in scoring defense (29.6 ppg). The Griz are last in penalty yards per game (79); the Bears are first (46.4).

Besides penalties, the Bears' strength lies in their defense, where the team has a lot of good athletes.

"Their defense has a pretty inclusive package. They use zone blitz, and cover two. They're a little similar in scheme to Idaho State," Hauck said. "They have impressive cornerbacks, and I like Matt Thomas (43 tackles). (Asa) Matthews (Adam's brother) does a nice job at linebacker."

The Bears throw often enough (almost 28 times per game), but not very effectively. And it doesn't seem to matter whether Dominic Breazeale (nine interceptions, two TD passes) or T.J. Swanson (one INT, one TD) is throwing. The quarterbacks have 16 picks this season and only four touchdown passes.

"We don't know who the quarterback will be officially," Hauck said. "They've got three of them and all run pretty well."

Saturday

No. 2 Montana (6-0, 8-1)

at N. Colorado (0-6, 1-8)

Kickoff: 12:05 p.m.

Series: UM leads 5-1

Series Streak: UM has won five

Last Meeting: Montana won 27-16 in 2004

TV: KAJ, cable channel 8, air 18

Video Stream: www.bigskytv.org