Whitlock, not Griz, up for big test

The Daily Inter Lake

Southern Illinois University running back Arkee Whitlock could be in for a long day Saturday.

Sure, he's talented. He is one of three finalists for the Walter Payton Award. The 5-foot-10, 210-pounder is second in the nation in all-purpose yardage with 185.4 yards per game. Just rushing-wise, he ranks fourth in the nation at 145.7 yards per game. The Hula Bowl invitee has 1,748 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns on the season.

The University of Montana football team faces Whitlock and the Salukis Saturday in the quarterfinals of the I-AA playoffs at 12:35 p.m. in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

The good news for Griz Nation and bad news for all opponents: The Grizzlies have never lost a home playoff game after the first round.

But SUI coach Jerry Kill thinks his team has the answer to all of the Grizzlies' opponents' problems in Whitlock. He announced Monday that he's bringing the best player, not just running back, in I-AA football to Missoula.

"He (Whitlock) is a really good player," UM coach Bobby Hauck said. "He's a lot like (James) Noble from Cal Poly. He's a little bit taller than Noble is, but they are very similar. They are powerful. They break tackles. They make people miss. They run by people. He's a complete back and that (Noble) is the closest thing we've seen to him this year."

The Salukis make no attempt at illusion on offense. They line up in the I-formation with a fullback, tight end and two receivers the majority of the time and run the ball. Senior tight end Braden Jones (No. 47) - a 6-4, 260-pounder - is the team's leading receiver with 32 catches for 521 yards and seven touchdowns.

"Nobody has stopped their running game all year and that is a reason why they've won nine games," Hauck said. "You have to make an attempt at stopping their run game, which nobody has done."

But here is why Whitlock could have a long day against the Griz: 299 solo tackles.

Wondering what the significance is of that stat?

That's how many solo tackles the Grizzlies have as a team, 299 - and that isn't a lot for a team.

Still wondering what the point is?

Well, that stat proves the Grizzlies know how to gang tackle. Kyle Ryan, Tyler Joyce, Loren Utterback and the boys are fundamentally sound. In the split second it takes for one defender to break down in making a correct form tackle, two or three more defenders are there to contain and wrap up.

"We are going to have to keep our eyes right and play our reads," Ryan said. "Hopefully we can force them to the pass. We'd rather have them do that than have Whitlock touch the ball 40 times a game."

Comparing the Grizzlies to the rest of the Big Sky Conference, they had the least amount of solo tackles. Northern Arizona was next with 318. Idaho State had 362 and Eastern Washington at 365. Of the eight teams still fighting for the national championship, Massachusetts has the second-least with 364. Appalachian State is next with 392.

Except for NAU, those are all huge margins.