Big Sky Notes: Griz LB O’Connell is Hula Bowl-bound

To the long list of accolades he’s built already, add the Hula Bowl for Montana linebacker Patrick O’Connell, who was invited to the college football all-star showcase this week.

The Hula Bowl will bring 100 of the top senior football players to Orlanda, Fla., for a week ahead of a Jan. 14 game at FBC Mortgage Stadium.

The @Hula_Bowl Twitter account announced the Glacier High product’s invitation on Wednesday: “Patrick O’Connell has been a dominant linebacker for Montana and we are pumped he is headed to Orlando!”

O’Connell finished his senior season with 73 tackles, including 14 tackles for loss and eight sacks. The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and had two interceptions for the 8-5 Grizzlies.

His junior year, when he was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, he had 105 tackles with 14 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss, along with four fumbles forced and two recovered.

His 28.5 sacks in three full seasons — the Grizzlies played no games in 2020 and two in the spring of 2021 because of the pandemic — rank sixth in Griz history. His 45 career tackles for loss tie him for fourth alongside Josh Buss and Kroy Biermann.

The Hula Bowl All-Star game began in Honolulu in 1960 and stayed in Hawaii — hence the name — through 2021, when Alaho Stadium was closed for repairs. The game moved to Florida this past January. There was also an 11-year gap in the bowl game from 2009-2019.

Tackling the Tribe

Montana State’s reward for taking down Weber State 33-25 Saturday is a short week and a formidable quarterfinal opponent in William & Mary out of Williamsburg, Va.

The game kicks off at 8:15 p.m. Friday at Bobcat Stadium, and will air on ESPN2.

The Tribe is coached by Mike London, who in 2008 led the Richmond Spiders past Montana 24-7 in the FCS title game. He has both a formidable, run-heavy offense and a stingy defense.

Quarterback Darius Wilson has thrown for 2,190 yards and 16 touchdowns, and run for 522 yards and another four scores. With Bronson Yoder (1,133 yards) leading the way, the top three running backs have piled up 29 touchdowns on 7.1 yards a carry.

“Offensively they have the potential to be really dynamic and deceptive,” MSU coach Brent Vigen said. “(Wilson) is certainly the catalyst. He runs well, has good rushing stats, and can throw it too. They snap to a bunch of different guys. He is certainly a key. He is a talented quarterback.”

Vigen is also mindful that Wilson and Tyler Hughes combined for 302 passing yards and four TDs in a 54-14 win over Gardner-Webb Saturday.

The most glaring issue in the Bobcats’ last game was Weber State’s passing.

“We let a couple plays get behind us,” Vigen said. “I thought the other guy (Weber’s backup QB Kylan Weisser, who entered the transfer portal Wednesday) played really well and gave them a little bit of a spark.”

Weisser had a solid showing in relief of the banged up Bronson Barron, with 111 passing yards and two fourth-quarter TDs. It weighed a little bit on Vigen after.

“In that third quarter we opened it up and ultimately finished, but maybe that wasn’t as pretty of a fourth quarter,” he said Saturday. “The end result is the end result.”

Griz wrap up

Montana coach Bobby Hauck gave a season-ending press conference Monday, in which he offered that his Griz aren’t far off the pace set by the nine-time national champion Bison.

“They’re really good up front,” he said of the Bison, who prevailed 49-26 over the Griz Saturday. “I watched the film, and we gave up four big runs in that game; you can’t do that. But beyond that it’s not that far apart. Watching the film I’m encouraged, frankly.

“I’m optimistic generally speaking; I think we have a good team coming back.”

The team loses among others, quarterback Lucas Johnson, O’Connell and linebacker Marcus Welnel and possibly cornerback Justin Ford, who on Tuesday declared for the NFL draft.

It was noted that both Montana State (in a 55-21 win) and NDSU piled up huge rushing totals against the Griz.

“Well, they weren’t all that similar,” Hauck said. “The quarterback run game in the rivalry game is where we fell down. The big play on the A-gap power and the cut back on the zone against North Dakota State — we made some bad plays and some bad calls. We’re OK on that one.

“It’s the earlier one that was the problem. We’ve got to fix that.”

Hauck did lament the schedule his team faced.

“I thought playing four of the top five teams in the country, on the road, over a seven-week span was a little extreme, and I think that took its toll on us a little bit,” he said. “Beyond that, it was a good year and I enjoyed it.”

Hauck, who has been in college coaching since 1988, said this season’s run of Sac State, Weber State, Montana State and NDSU was a first.

“That was unique,” he said. “I don't remember a stretch like that, ever. I mean that’s the way it goes. There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s what you’re faced with and you have to go win them, or some of them. We didn’t.”

Ifanse returns

Vigen rated Isaiah Ifanse’s first game of 2022 highly, after the running back picked up 91 yards on 10 carries in the Bobcats’ win over Weber.

He saw some rust, and he also saw the 205-pounder tear off a 24-yard run.

“He blocked well when he had a chance to as well,” Vigen noted. “I think his presence out there was felt. I expect with a game under his belt he’ll take a step forward this week.”

William & Mary comes to Bozeman with the No. 4 rushing offense in the FCS at 276.7 yards a game. Montana State is No. 2 at 330.9, and a lot of that is a credit to O-line coach Brian Armstrong and his charges.

“The good thing is we’re paying really well up front, but we’re young,” Vigen said. “And I think we have the capacity to grow with that group and some of the guys that we’re not seeing out there.”

QUICK KICKS: Idaho quarterback Gevani McCoy was named the winner of the Jerry Rice Award for outstanding freshman in the FCS Wednesday. McCoy received a congratulatory tweet from Rice himself. … Montana freshman punter and Glacier grad Patrick Rohrbach tied for ninth in the voting. … Weber State didn’t just lose a QB but also its coach, with Jay HIll heading to BYU to be the Cougars’ defensive coordinator. … Sacramento State’s first FCS playoff win, 38-31 over Richmond last week, featured the fifth-best passing game in program history and first 400-yard game since 2014. Jake Dunniway had 317 of the Hornets’ 420 yards.