Swogger, offensive line getting 'er done for Griz

UM quarterback throws for 221 yards, 3 touchdowns

MISSOULA - How good is University of Montana quarterback Josh Swogger?

Completing 78 percent of 18 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday's 59-14 shellacking of Sacramento State speaks for itself. But Grizzlies' quarterback coach Steve Axeman says more.

"Coach Axeman said last week after watching a couple balls thrown in practice, he said the last time he saw somebody throw the way Josh throws was in 1987-88," UM coach Bobby Hauck said after Saturday's game. "And if you recall, he was coaching Troy Aikman in those days."

Yes, all of Griz Nation is up in arms in regards to how their hired gun who transferred from Washington State University is performing. And why not?

"He's got a great arm and he's very accurate," Sacramento State coach Steve Mooshagain said. "He made a couple of throws (Saturday) into coverage that not many people can make. And when you can do that, you're going to win a lot of football games and you're going to have a chance to play on Sundays."

Swogger, who missed the Grizzlies' home opener two weeks ago against South Dakota State with a broken pinkie finger on his non-throwing hand, announced his presence Saturday with authority in the Grizzlies' first drive.

On the sixth play from scrimmage, a third-and-19 from the 50-yard line, Swogger scrambled out of a collapsing pocket, rolled out to his right and threw the ball to Eric Allen 19 yards down the field. The pass was just inches from hitting Sac State cornerback Craig King in the helmet.

"I saw 42 (Sac State middle linebacker Cyrus Mulitalo) come around and I knew he was going to come inside hard," Swogger said. "I just escaped to the right and figured Eric (Allen) had a better chance than I did to get 19 yards. I just put it up there for him and he went and got it. He made a great catch - first down."

The play went for 26 yards. It was the second of three third-down conversions Swogger connected on in the first drive.

Nope, no rust from that 6-foot-5, 235-pounder from Ohio.

"Josh did a good job, that was just how it played out," Hauck said. "We really didn't know how he was going to play. One of the big things we were concerned about was getting him some plays this week. We felt it wasn't prudent two weeks ago against South Dakota State and he hasn't played a lot of football in recent memory, so we wanted to make sure he had the rust off of it. It looked like that was the case at Iowa when he played well in the second half but we wanted to be sure that he got enough snaps today to be sharp and be ready for the conference season."

Mooshagain said Swogger "was everything he was advertised to be. … That was NFL accuracy."

When asked to compare the fifth-ranked Grizzlies to third-ranked Cal Poly, which eliminated UM last year from the postseason and beat Sac State last weekend, 17-10, Mooshagian said, "with Swogger at quarterback, Montana has definitely got the advantage offensively - without question. I'd give (UM) the edge right now in the kicking game, without question. Defensively, they're two different styles. Cal Poly gives you a lot of problems. I might give them (the Mustangs) a little bit of an edge there. But Montana, if they play like they played (Saturday) in all aspects, I don't think anybody's going to beat them. Honestly, I really don't. If they play like they did (Saturday), they're not going to lose."

Swogger played in seven of the Grizzlies' 13 drives Saturday, including one in the fourth quarter of the blowout. Hauck said he had a prescribed number of plays he wanted him to play, which amounted to about two quarters.

"Josh was efficient," Hauck said. "He was 14 of 18 for 221 yards - that's a pretty good half of football. I like where Josh is. The ball is getting spread around. Josh does a nice job of seeing things and getting back to where he ought to be throwing the ball and moving it around. He is a big physical guy. He's got big-time arm strength.

"The plan was for him to play another series. In fact, we almost took him out after he got a few plays in and then he hit the touchdown. But the plan was for him to get another series. Then there was 11 plays in the third quarter so we wanted to give him another one."

But it wasn't just Swogger who opened eyes in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The offensive line was just as impressive as Swogger, the defense and the special teams.

All told, the Griz rushed for 159 yards on 4.4 yards per carry.

"When we watch the tape, I think we are going to find that our offensive line played very well - much better than the first week and certainly better than the second week," Hauck said. "You're probably getting tired of hearing me say it, but we will go as far as that group takes us."

Senior running back Brady Green rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns and was ecstatic about the O-line's performance.

"That was easy football (Saturday)," Green said. "Our line were monsters. They were just gashing and it was just about running and going. It was all offensive line. They were dominant. They are really starting to come into their own."

The Grizzlies play at Portland State Saturday and at Eastern Washington after that before returning home to play Northern Arizona on Oct. 14.