Where was everyone in ‘01

Delaware’s last visit to Washington-Grizzly before Saturday was 30 years ago.

The Montana Grizzlies’ last title? That came in 2001, 13-6 over a little school in Greenville, South Carolina called Furman. Little, as in 3,000 students were enrolled there at the time.

These days there’s a nice round number enrolled as well: 2,700.

No matter, the Paladins — the name for Charlamagne’s 12 knights, and first used for Furman’s mascot by a Greenville sportswriter in the 1930s — have won a ton of football games through the years, including an FCS title in 1988.

Furman plays in the Southern Conference, and before the Colonial Athletic Association and then the Missouri Valley Conference got big and mean, the SoCon was where it was at.

The league won 12 titles, including six by Georgia Southern. Appalachian State won three straight from 2005-7. But both the Eagles and Mountaineers have since left for the FBS, and the SoCon hasn’t had an FCS semifinalist since 2012. That was Georgia Southern, and the Eagles lost to the MVC’s North Dakota State. 

Back to Furman, which is 10-2, boasts a stingy defense (13.8 points allowed over its last eight games) and a dynamic dual-threat quarterback (graduate Tyler Huff).

“The quarterback,  Huff, is the one that makes them go,” Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. “I just love that dude. He’s a great player. He’s a tough runner, he’s a good thrower, he’s military. … in the Army Reserve I believe. I’m a big fan of his — I won’t be until after the game Friday, but that kids a winner and makes them go.”

Thirty years ago Furman head coach Clay Hendrix was the Paladins’ offensive line coach. He spent 2007-16 coaching O-line at Air Force before returning to Furman as head coach in 2017.

In 2001 Hauck was special teams/defensive backs coach at the University of Washington. He watched that FCS title game.

“I was at a recruiting lunch on Lake Union (Washington),” Hauck said Monday, during UM’s weekly press conference. “I made them turn the NFL off and turn on the game. Yeah, I remember. Thirteen-6.”

Better be Special

If you want an indicator of how important special teams can be, look no further than last Saturday’s game in Bozeman.

The Montana State Bobcats missed two early field goals and then — after scoring on their first play of overtime — had their extra point blocked, giving North Dakota State a 35-34 win at Bobcat Stadium.

Backup left tackle Hunter Poncius, all 6-foot-8 of him, got a forearm on the kick — as proof, he showed up on Twitter/X later that day with the football’s laces imprinted on the limb.

“We just had some different personnel in there,” said NDSU coach Matt Entz, who noted it was the first time they’d put Poncius in that situation. “We tried to get longer, had seen some things on film, some tendencies. … you try to dissect the film and try to find some advantages, especially on the road.”

The block dropped MSU to 57 of 63 on PAT kicks this season, which might make you think that first, that’s a lot of touchdowns and second, that’s not a bad percentage (by comparison, Montana is 41 of 44). 

MSU coach Brent Vigen was just as ready to bemoan missed opportunities to go up two scores in the second half as anything else; NDSU drove 89 yards to tie the game 28-all with 2:33 left in regulation.

A midseason change in placekickers, from Brendan Hall to Casey Kautzman, seemed to right the kicking game. Then this happened.

“Oh boy. I’m frustrated,” Vigen said. “Ultimately that’s the piece of the game you have to excel at if you want to do the things you want to do. And far too often, that didn’t happen for us. 

“We need to be able to count on being able to knock those kicks through.”

Wild Ending in Moscow

Having fewer issues were Idaho and all-Big Sky kicker Ricardo Chavez, whose 29-yard field goal — his 15th in 17 tries this season — lifted the Vandals over Southern Illinois 20-17 in overtime late Saturday.

The Vandals had a tough time with the Salukis’ defense, gaining a season-low 287 yards, but got themselves another game at their Kibbie Dome (against Albany Saturday night).

Helping was superb senior Hayden Hatten, who had 61 of his 111 receiving yards on Idaho’s 83-yard drive to tie the game at 17-all with 4:17 left. 

Also giving a boost was fellow wideout Jermaine Jackson, whose 86-yard punt return for a TD sparked Idaho in the third quarter. 

And let’s not forget freshman linebacker Xe’ree Alexander. After Anthony Woods’s TD run — seven snaps after Hatten’s 24-yard gain set the Vandals first-and-goal at the 1-yard line — SIU marched down to set up a game-ending, 41-yard field goal by Jake Baumgarter.

Alexander got a hand on it, and it fell short. 

“We've got to do a better job of coaching, but that's a good football team with an excellent defense,” Idaho coach Jason Eck told the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. “They held us to 2-of-16 on third down and were able to create turnovers."

Idaho forced two, including an interception by Tre Thomas on SIU’s first overtime possession. Chavez ended it a short time later.