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Proudly Supporting the MSU BOBCATS

Proudly Supportingthe MSU BOBCATS

n The Edge I 2n Game preview I 3n Carroll preview I 4n ‘Cat-Griz records I 11

Saturday, nov. 20at montanaGame

Day Saturday, nov. 20

Full PaPerInsIDe

InsIDe

no. 8 monTana sTaTe aT no. 11 monTana, washInGTon-GrIzzly sTaDIum, 12:05 P.m.

THe greaT divide11OTH ANNUAL ’CAT-GRIZ SHOWDOWN

MSU makes major strides in ever-important in-state battle

By WILL C. HOLDENChronicle Sports Writer

The University of Montana landed three recruits from the state of Montana in its 2010 recruiting class. Considering it was five less than Montana State and down

six from a year ago, Robin Pflugrad fielded plenty of questions about it.

Welcome to in-state recuiting in Montana, coach.

“We just felt like we had some better

options of out the state this year,” the new UM front man said.

Whatever the reason, history seems to suggest that woe awaits Montana college football programs that turn their back on in-state recruits.

The quintessential example is Mon-tana State.

From 1989 to 2001, Bobcats ros-ters held an average of just under 33 Treasure State players per year. Earle Solomonson and Cliff Hysell were the primary two head coaching contribu-tors in that era, and the duo finished a

combined 56-91 over their careers.Those statistics — both in-state re-

cruits and winning percentages — were down drastically when compared to the Bobcat teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Over a nine-year stretch that spanned from their national title in 1976 to their national title in 1984, only once (1979) did the Bobcats ever have less than 40 Montana players on their roster as they compiled a record of 58-41.

More DIvIDE I 8

Hawks win sTaTe!bOZemAN CLINCHeS CHAmpIONSHIp TO COmpLeTe peRfeCT SeASON

fans celebrate historic victoryPAGE ONE

full game coverage, stats and more SPOrTS

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12 | Saturday, November 20, 2010 bozeman daily chronicle

On behalf of our valued employees,

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and our Customers for a great year.

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BOBCAT GAME DAYMontana State at Montana12:05 p.m. Washington-Grizzly Stadium

Longest scoring play94 yards Greg Anderson UM KO return93 yards Dale Hinman UM int. return91 yards John Edwards to Jimmy Farris UM 90 yards Russ Dodge MSU KO return90 yards Corey Smith MSU KO return

Longest rushing touchdown79 yards Roy Malcolm UM 194975 yards Emil Adams UM 190474 yards Mike Doerfler MSU 197970 yards Charles Fransham MSU 190870 yards Harry Adams UM 1919

Longest passing touchdown91 yards John Edwards to Jimmy Farris UM200086 yards Shaun Shahan to Pet Bergman MSU 198676 yards Mike Dunbar to Don Bagley MSU 197375 yards Rock Svennengsen to Del Spear UM 197472 yards Brock Spencer to Eric Hopkins MSU 1994

Longest fumble return for touchdown61 yards Jim Peterson MSU 194145 yards Ed Corbin UM 190323 yards Dwayne Hans UM 198816 yards Jules Benton MSU 1923

Longest punt return for touchdown80 yards Jim Tuss MSU 196575 yards Marc Mariani UM 200874 yards Gary Popiel MSU 196672 yards Greg Anderson UM 197460 yards Milt Popovich UM 1936

Longest kickoff return for touchdown94 yards Greg Anderson UM 197490 yards Russ Dodge MSU 196690 yards Corey Smith MSU 200388 yards Sean Hill MSU 199380 yards Robie Holmes UM 1904

RUSHINGAttempts, game

58 Paul Schafer MSU 1968

42 Don Hass MSU 196739 Ryan Johnson MSU 200235 Evin Groves MSU 200532 Bill Kelly UM 192532 Clyde Carpenter UM 193032 Lex Hilliard UM 2007

Attempts, career96 Ron Hass MSU 1965-6789 Lex Hilliard UM 2003-0779 Yohance Humphery 1999-0165 Milt Popovich UM 1935-3763 Ryan Johnson MSU 2001-02

Yards, career609 Don Hass MSU 1965-67471 Lex Hilliard UM 2003-07333 Yohance Humphery UM 1999-2001328 Steve Kracher MSU 1974-75288 Milt Popovich UM 1935-37

PASSINGTouchdowns, game

4 Marty Mornhinweg UM 19824 Scott Werbelow UM 19874 Dave Dickenson UM 19954 Brian Ah Yat UM 19984 Drew Miller UM 1999

Yards, game410 Brad Lebo UM 1992398 Grady Bennett UM 1990395 Dave Dickenson UM 1993386 Travis Lulay MSU 2004386 Bert Wilberger UM 1994

Yards, career999 Brian Ah Yat UM 1996-98779 Dave Dickenson UM 1992-95739 Rob Compson MSU 1995-98721 Travis Lulay MSU 2003-05661 Kelly Bradley MSU 1984-86

Attempts, game56 Brad Lebo UM 199256 Travis Lulay MSU 2004

50 Brad Lebo UM 199150 Brian Ah Yat UM 199649 Brian Ah Yat UM 1998

Completions, game36 Brian Ah Yat UM 199635 Brad Lebo UM 3532 Dave Dickenson UM 199529 Kelly Bradley MSU 198429 Brian Ah Yat UM 1997

Completions, career91 Brian Ah Yat UM 1996-9863 Rob Compson MSU 1995-9863 Travis Lulay MSU 2002-0560 Brad Lebo UM 1991-9258 Marty Mornhinweg UM 1980-84

Touchdowns, career9 Brian Ah Yat UM 1996-988 Dave Dickenson UM 1992-956 Marty Mornhinweg UM 1980-84

RECEIVINGYards, game

235 Rick Gatewood MSU 2004205 Joe Douglass UM 1996200 Joe Douglass UM 1995194 Scott Gurnsey UM 1994179 Joe Bignell MSU 1984

Yards, career426 Scott Gurnsey UM 1991-94405 Joe Douglass UM 1995-96359 Brian Salonen UM 1980-83277 Joe Bignell MSU 1981-84

Receptions, game14 Joe Douglass UM 199613 Joe Bignell MSU 198413 Rick Gatewood MSU 200413 Joe Douglass UM 199512 Ron Bain MSU 1968

Receptions, career27 Joe Douglass UM 1995-9626 Brian Salonen UM 1980-8324 Joe Bignell MSU 1981-8420 Travis Walker UM 1996-99

Touchdowns, career4 Scott Gurnsey UM 1991-943 Joe Douglass UM 1995-963 Jimmy Farris UM 1998-003 Eric Allen UM 2006-07

Touchdowns, game2 Bill Reynolds UM 19462 Ray Bauer UM 19492 Joe Barnett MSU 19522 Ron Bain MSU 19682 Sam McCullum MSU 19722 Scott Gurnsey UM 19722 Mike Erhardt UM 19952 Joe Douglass UM 19962 Jimmy Farris UM 19992 Jefferson Heidelberger UM 20042 Eric Allen UM 20072 Marc Mariani UM 2009

TOTAL YARDAGETotal yards, game

476 Grady Bennett UM 1990453 Dave Dickenson UM 1993419 Bert Wilberger UM 1994412 Brad Lebo UM 1992396 Dave Dickenson UM 1995

Total yards, career925 Brian Ah Yat UM 1996-98853 Dave Dickenson UM 1992-95826 Travis Lulay MSU 2002-05763 Rob Compson MSU 1995-98758 Marty Mornhinweg UM 1980-84

SCORINGTouchdowns, game

5 Will Flaherty MSU 19025 Merritt Owsley UM 1912

4 Emil Adams UM 19044 Bill Kelly UM 19254 Lowell Dailey UM 1931

Touchdowns, career7 Merritt Owsley UM 1912-136 Bill Kelly UM 1925-265 Will Flaherty MSU 19025 Lex Hilliard UM 2003-07

KICKINGLongest field goal

59 yards Jan Stenerud MSU 196551 yards Dan Carpenter UM 200749 yards Ted McElhenney UM 196345 yards Pat Bolton MSU 197344 yards Bob Turnquist UM 197244 yards Eby Dobson UM 1984

Field goals, game4 Mark Carter MSU 19833 Pat Bolton MSU 19743 Jeff Hastings MSU 2005

Field goals, career5 Pat Bolton MSU 1973-755 Kirk Duce UM 1989-91

DEFENSEInterceptions, game

2 Bill Kelly UM 19252 Bill Kelly UM 19262 Gilbert Madden UM 19302 Paul Szakash UM 19372 Jim Murray UM19522 Bob Given MSU 19652 Brent Chapman MSU 19802 Tony Fudge UM 19822 Ted Ray UM 19842 Carl Franks UM 1993

Interceptions, career4 Bill Kelly UM 1925-264 Bob Given MSU 1963-65

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Times certainly have changed. Especially when you consider Wind penned about how MSU’s students “voted against building a new football stadium to replace Gatton Field.”

As for The Game, Montana was 7-0 heading in. The Bob-cats were 1-6.

Didn’t matter to Parac. He told Wind, among other things, “Going by comparative scores, they should beat us by three or four touchdowns. However, in a traditional game like the Bobcats versus the Grizzlies anything is possible.”

Indeed, UM had won games by scores of 52-7 over North-ern Arizona and later 49-14 Portland State in the week prior to its visit to Bozeman.

The Grizzlies won The Game 7-6 to earn the first conference title in their 73-year existence, though the reader doesn’t learn that until the final paragraphs of the well-written article.

Sometimes I wonder how big the ’Cat-Griz rivalry is outside of the Treasure State. When such games as The Civil War, The Apple Cup, The Iron Bowl, The Red River Shoot-out and Ohio State-Michigan (known to Midwesterners as The Game) exist, Montana State-Montana can get buried under the pile.

But thanks to Tom, and a forgiving copy machine, I now know that our own Game isn’t limited to the Mountain Time Zone.

Tim Dumas can be reached at [email protected] and 582-2651.

Dumas/from 3 Watch parties set up in States, GermanyBy TIM DUMASChronicle Sports Editor

Where will you be watching?For those not lucky enough

to be at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday — or in the state of Montana, for that matter — the best alternatives are satel-lite television and the Internet.

For Montana State graduates, there are “Satellite Parties” being held in 36 states, from Alaska to Florida, and of course, Montana.

There is even one planned in Germany.

That one is being hosted by 1999 MSU grad Maggie Bigelow, who is originally from Columbia Falls.

“I came over to Europe backpacking after I graduated

and never left!” Bigelow said via e-mail.

Bigelow, who works for the Air Force as a civilian at Ramstein Air Base, has hosted parties for the past four years and says this year’s will include more than 20 fans, the largest crowd for the event.

“I put in an ad in the on-base newspaper and on-line and have had an overwhelming response, unfortunately 98% were Griz,” she said. “I even put ‘Bobcats Wel-come, Griz Ok’ yet that’s all the response I’ve been getting.”

Bigelow says the trick is to watch the game on-line at some-one’s house, hook up a laptop to the TV … and hope for the best.

“A few years ago nothing but sound came in so that was a little frustrating,” she said, “but we could still hear it at least.”

The game starts in Germany at 8 p.m. Kerry Hanson from the MSU Alumni sent over a party box, meaning there will be plenty of Blue and Gold decorations.

GAME LACKING VALLEY FLAVOR: It’s a rarity for sure. There will be no Gallatin Valley players on the field in Missoula Saturday.

MSU’s Brad Smith (Belgrade High) and UM’s Brock Coyle (Bozeman) are sidelined with shoulder injuries, but should return at full health next season. MSU’s roster once included Ryan D’Agostino (Bozeman), Derek DeJong (Manhattan) and Matt Thibeault (Belgrade), but because of injuries, transfers and/or redshirts, none are on today’s roster.

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BillingsThe 10-year battle: ’Cats 32, Griz 252000 ’Cat-Griz count: ’Cats 7, Griz 6, Current ’Cat-Griz count: ’Cats 6, Griz 5Modern-day legends: SS Kane Ioane

(MSU), John Edwards (UM)Present-day heroes: SS Mike Rider

(MSU), QB Andrew Selle (UM)The skinny: The biggest city in the state

still leans toward the Grizzlies and Mike Rider will be the first to tell you that. The Bobcats have also been hit with some bad luck with Jase Muri and Mark Desin, two big Billings names who never really made their mark with MSU. The Grizzlies caught an equally bad break when Andrew Selle went down this year. He could have gained legendary status with a good se-nior year. Rider has stayed healthy and has become a personality the city can gravi-tate toward, which could pay dividends for MSU down the road. The Grizzlies have the early lead for 2011, having received a commitment out of offensive lineman Jon Shmang, but the numbers show that the Bobcats still have a strong recruiting pres-ence in The Magic City. It might just be a matter of time before they steal a gem out of one of their big Billings classes.

Great FallsThe 10-year battle: ’Cats 20, Griz 162000 ’Cat-Griz count: Griz 5, ’Cats 3Current ’Cat-Griz count: ’Cats 3,

Griz 1Modern-day legends: OL Jeff Han-

sen (MSU), QB Dave Dickenson (UM), Present-day heroes: WR Tanner

Bleskin (MSU), Ty Timmer (UM)The skinny: While Super Dave

may be a little older than the rest of the modern-day legends, his allure is still impossible to deny in The Electric City. Montana State also suffered a blow when it couldn’t land Ty Timmer, the son of Bobcat legend Kirk Tim-mer, last year. But that might be the only trace of Grizzly left in the state’s second-largest neutral market. With its spring game fully entrenched at Memorial Stadium and Jake Bleskin, who may be the city’s best quarter-back since Dickenson, signed on for the next four to five years, Montana State has all but commandeered Great Falls.

HelenaThe 10-year battle: Griz 16, ’Cats 14, 2000 ’Cat-Griz count: Griz 5, ’Cats 1Current ’Cat-Griz count: ’Cats 9, Griz 2Modern-day legends: LB Bobby Daly

(MSU), K Dan Carpenter (UM)Present-day heroes: MLB Clay Bignell

(MSU), DT Ryan Fetherston (UM)The skinny: What a difference one

player can make. Going from walk-on to All-American at Montana State, Bobby Daly hasn’t stopped aiding the Bobcats — even in graduation. Since Daly, a Helena Capital graduate, became a starter for the Bobcats in 2005, just one Helena Capital Bruin, Andrew Glueckert, has gone Grizzly, and he has since left the team. Meanwhile, MSU has signed six players off the decade’s most suc-cessful high school program, and they’ll run that total to seven in 2011 with line-backer Trey Spirlin’s commitment. What’s more, Spirlin was a lifelong Grizzly fan before signing with MSU. UM has one of its own, former Grizzly Tony Arnston, building a nice program at Helena High, but the Grizzlies have lost their hold on this city and are a ways from getting it back.

ButteThe 10-year battle: Griz 8, ’Cats 6, 2000 ’Cat-Griz count: Griz 3, ’Cats 3Current ’Cat-Griz count: ’Cats 1, Griz 0Modern-day legends: None

(MSU), SS Colt Anderson (UM)Present-day heroes: OG Casey

Dennehy (MSU), None (UM)The skinny: For the first time in

ages, there is no trace of Butte on the Grizzly roster, and the Bobcats are starting to creep in on the turf the Grizzlies have seemingly owned since the Sonny Holland and Sunny Lubick days. What’s not to love about Casey Dennehy, a running back turned offensive lineman, getting eight starts for Montana State this year, former Bobcat Arie Grey turning around the Butte High program or the Bobcats planning a walk-through in The Mining City on the way to Missoula this week? Montana will be bring the battle back to 1-1 next year as promising Butte High linebacker Jonathon Richards has committed for 2011, but in the meantime, Montana State might have gained a small niche.

KalispellThe 10-year battle: ’Cats 12, Griz 102000 ’Cat-Griz count: Griz 3, ’Cats 2Current ’Cat-Griz count: ’Cats 3, Griz 3Modern-day legends: LB Mac Mol-

lohan (MSU), QB Grady Bennett (UM)Present-day heroes: DT Dan

Ogden (MSU), DE Josh Harris (UM)The skinny: The battle for The

Glacier Gateway’s biggest prize last year — quarterback Shay Smithwick-Hann — went the Grizzlies’ way. But the Bobcats have gotten a commit-ment for 2011 from Joel Horn, who is expected to be the gem of this year’s Kalispell class. As far as sheer num-bers, the battle is even and has been for the majority of the decade. That won’t change next year with Dan Ogden graduating and Horn coming on. In terms of notoriety, Kalispell clings to no current ’Cat-Griz partici-pant like the emotional Ogden. But as long as Grizzly legend Grady Ben-nett is coaching at Glacier High and calling UM games, the most MSU can hope to do is continue to compete in Kalispell.

baTTleGround Towns

Small-town Montana

The 10-year battle: ’Cats 73, Griz 70

2000 ’Cat-Griz count: Griz 18, ’Cats 8

Current ’Cat-Griz count: ’Cats 24, Griz 15

Modern-day legends: C Jim Verlanic (MSU), WR Marc Mariani (UM)

Present-day heroes: OT Mike Person (MSU), RB Chase Reynolds (UM)

The skinny: Every small-town Montana boy who isn’t 300 pounds wants to be the next Marc Mariani or Chase Reynolds. What the Havre speedster and Drummond model of consis-tency did to the Big Sky is the stuff legends are made of. But the numbers don’t lie. Currently winning the battle by an impres-sive 24-15 margin, the Bobcats have accomplished the difficult task of infiltrating small-town Montana. With promising young players that reach as far west as Libby, as far north as Saco, as far west as Glendive and as far south as Laurel, the Bobcats have tapped into some remote pipelines that could just release another small-town legend for the Treasure State to proudly call its own.


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The correlation is there. But it raises a chicken-or-the-egg question: Were the Bobcat teams from 1989 to 2001 less successful because they had fewer in-state players or did those teams have fewer in-state players because they were less successful?

Jack Johnson thinks he may have a clue. The C.M. Russell High legend has been a coach in the state of Montana since 1973. He remembers the Sonny Hol-land- and Sonny Lubick-coached teams of the ‘70s and early ‘80s that were littered with Montana-born players.

And he remembers a point where the Bobcat phone calls to his office in Great Falls started to become less frequent.

The period began immediately following Dave Arnold’s tenure, which ended in 1987. After the team’s national title in 1984, Ar-nold assembled some of the most Montana-rich Bobcat classes the school has ever seen. At its peak, MSU had 55 Treasure State-born players in 1986.

There was just one problem. The Bobcats finished 3-8 that year and Arnold was fired after his second straight losing season.

When Solomonson took over, Johnson saw MSU start to move in a different direction.

“They went away from recruit-ing a lot of in-state players,” John-son said. “I guess they thought they had to go out of the state to get the talent they wanted.”

As the number of Montana-born players dipped, MSU suf-fered nine losing seasons out of 13. Was it a result of the lacking in-state presence on the team? That is tough to say. But it’s easy to say things didn’t look much worse than in the year 2000.

The 0-11 season, the first for head coach Mike Kramer, was capped by a 28-3 loss to the Grizzlies — the 14th straight for MSU. At the time, UM had 39 in-state players to the Bobcats’ 27.

Little did the state know, things were about to change.

Return of the Montanan

Why should the Bobcats and Grizzlies want their rosters burst-ing with Montanans? The reason-ing seems simple to Billings West High head coach Paul Klaboe.

“I just think it means a little more to in-state kids,” said Kla-boe, who was a Bobcat line-backer and has a son, Kevin, who recently finished his career with the Grizzlies. “An out-of-state kid can have a rough career and go home to wherever he’s from and no one will probably know any different.

“A Montana kid doesn’t want to go home to his fam-ily, his friends, his former coaches, his city without having had success at one of those schools. It just matters a little more.”

According to current MSU assistant coach Kane Ioane, Kramer shared Klaboe’s views.

“It was always coach Krame’s goal to return us to prominence within the state,” Ioane said. “And that meant adding in-state guys like me.”

Ioane was part of Kramer’s 2001 team, which, after the disastrous 0-11 season, was very low on in-state players. In the years 2001 and 2002, the Bobcats had 28 and 27 Montanans on their roster, respectively.

Two winning seasons later, though, and MSU was back up to 38 Treasure-Staters, the highest total for the team since 1990.

And after a win over the Griz-zlies in 2005, Kramer finally pushed the number of in-state players on the Bobcat roster to above 40 again heading into the 2006 season.

“That was the point where we really felt like we were getting back to our roots,” Ioane said.

Taking over small towns

If there was one niche the Grizzlies ruled, it was small-town Montana. In the recruit-

ing battle away from the state’s seven most-populated cities, UM owned a 18-8 advantage in terms of small-towners on its roster in 2000.

Havre legend Marc Mariani stopped by the Grizzlies on his way to the NFL. Drummond’s Chase Reynolds just set the rush-ing touchdown record at UM.

But beneath those big UM waves, the numbers show that MSU has quietly been making progress.

Currently the Bobcats have 24 players on their roster who call

one of the state’s smaller towns home. The Grizzlies have 15.

Plfugrad has said the dip in numbers for UM this year has to do with the state lacking tal-ent. That wasn’t the tune Bobby Hauck was whistling one year earlier.

The Chronicle obtained a scholarship offer signed by Hauck to Libby native Joel Fuller from 2009. Fuller ended up sign-ing with Montana State.

Why? Now a sophomore preparing to start in his first ’Cat-Griz game, Fuller said it was all about the effort. That letter, he said, littered with the many accolades the Grizzlies have amassed over their recent his-tory, represented one of the few times a coach at UM had person-ally reached out to him.

“It was almost like they thought that letter would be enough,” Fuller said. “I got a letter like that every week from Montana State. I’ve talked to a bunch of guys from the past few classes who just felt like the coaches here (at MSU) have been putting in more effort in Montana.

“I can certainly attest to that.”

Small victories, big cities

The Grizzlies aren’t exactly going down in the state without a fight, though.

And pardon them for saying, but while the Bobcats may be stealing a few recruits here and there from Billings and Drum-mond, Andrew Selle and Alex Verlanic believe their home-towns are still overrun with Grizzlies.

They’ll get no argument from Mike Rider.

“I’d have to say Billings is a Grizzly town,” the senior Bobcat safety said. “I don’t think there’s any question.”

And while the Bobcats might have them beat 3-2 in terms of

Drummond players currently on their roster, the Grizzlies still have Reynolds.

“He just set the rushing touch-down record at UM,” Verlanic said. “He’s Chase Reynolds. Every-one in the state knows who he is.”

But once again, amongst the bigger Grizzly stories, the Bob-cats are quietly making progress. For one, they’ve turned Great Falls, the state’s third-largest city, into a home away from home.

Aside from holding their an-nual spring game in the Electric City, the Bobcats are currently enjoying a rare contribution at receiver from an in-state fresh-man. Tanner Bleskin is third on the team with 30 receptions for 457 yards a pair of touchdowns.

But a few years down the line, it may be Bleskin’s little brother Jake, who has pledged his commit-ment to MSU for 2011, that really makes Great Falls Bobcat country. CMR’s Johnson thinks Jake Ble-skin could be the best quarterback to come out of the city and suit up for the Bobcats or Grizzlies since Dave Dickenson.

“He’s a special kid,” Johnson said of Jake. “And he’ll learn a lot from sitting behind Denarius

McGhee for a few years.”Another special kid in turning

the in-state tide in MSU’s favor has been Bobby Daly. Since the Helena Capital star went from walk-on to All-American at MSU, only one Capital player has become a Grizzly.

Six Bruins have become Bobcats and Trey Spirlin will run that number to seven having committed for 2011.

“After Bobby, we’ve just all kind of become Bobcats at Capi-tal,” said senior Bobcat defensive end Dustin O’Connell, also a Capital graduate. “He converted a lot of people.”

Ash, the architect

MSU currently has 49 in-state players on its roster to the Griz-zlies’ 33, which would suggest MSU has come a long way in the state over the last decade.

It may have more to do with Rob Ash and his coaching staff than anything else.

Since he took over as head coach, Ash has assured that the Bobcats have had more in-state players than the Grizzlies for each of the past three years.

And he couldn’t be happier about it.

“Since day one here, we’ve said it’s our goal to recruit the state of Montana,” Ash said. “I think we’ve done a great job of going out and doing just that.”

Couple that with a pending stadium expansion an upcom-ing playoff appearance, and it certainly means something in Johnson’s eyes. Having seen the rise and demise of in-state programs with his own eyes, his opinion might just mean a little something more.

“I really think it shows that Montana State is coming around,” Johnson said. “I trust Rob Ash and so do the kids in the state. I really think they have a good thing going on.”

For a breakdown of recruits for each Montana city, see next page.

Will Holden can be reached at [email protected] and 582-2690.

Divide/from 1

“I just think it means a little more to in-state kids. A Montana kid doesn’t want to go home to his family, his friends, his city without having success at one of those schools.”

— Paul Klaboe, former MSU player and UM parent


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Texas Tech needs win vs. Weber to become bowl eligibleBy BETSY BLANEYThe Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas — Tommy Tuberville is aim-ing to finish his first year at Texas Tech at a bowl game.

The Red Raiders have two contests left, both at home and neither against a conference opponent, to get a sixth win and become bowl eligible for an 11th-straight season.

On Saturday, Texas Tech takes on Weber State. A win over the Wildcats could be counted toward bowl eligibility as a team can include a win over a FCS opponent once every four years.

Tuberville isn’t sure which quarterback will start following Taylor Potts’ worst performance in 19 career starts. The senior quarter-back threw for only 136 yards and had two intercep-tions at Oklahoma before backups Steven Sheffield, a senior, and Seth Doege, a redshirt sophomore, came in briefly to run the offense.

“It’s not his best perfor-mance, but we will practice this week and see who the best one is,” Tuberville said. “We still have two senior quarterbacks. I want both to have a chance to play.”

The Red Raiders (5-5, 3-5 Big 12) are still recov-ering from the lopsided

45-7 loss to the Sooners in which they got more rush-ing yards (182) than pass-ing yards (144), something that hasn’t happened since before Mike Leach took over in 2000.

Texas Tech’s lone score was a 3-yard pass from receiver Detron Lewis to Darrin Moore. The last time the Red Raiders were held to a touchdown or less came in 2006 in a 30-6 loss at Colorado.

Weber State (6-4, 5-3 big Sky) is coming off a come-from-behind 27-26 win at Northern Arizona. Going into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were behind by two touchdowns.

Backup quarterback

Mike Hoke, who came in early in the third quarter after starter Cameron Higgins got injured, threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Joe Collins and Vaingamalie Tafuna ran for a 2-yard score with 38 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats the win.

In the game’s first play from scrimmage, Higgins set a Big Sky record with his 97th career touchdown pass. Wildcats coach Ron McBride said he was proud his team kept working.

“We made big plays on both sides of the ball and never gave up,” he said. “We will need that kind of fanatic effort this week.”

Potts said he’ll try to

help his teammates get focused on Weber State. He pointed out how Appa-lachian State went on the road and upset Michigan to open the 2007 season.

“I’m sure they want to come in and dominate this game and beat us at our place,” Potts said. “We know we will need to come out and play really hard and really well and try to limit the mistakes we have been making in key situations.”

Texas Tech hosts Hous-ton in its season finale next week. A win over the Cougars would keep the Red Raiders from having to use a win over a FCS team this season to go to a bowl game.

Big SkY CONFERENCE

Standings

Team Conf. AllMSU 6-1 8-2E. Wash. 6-1 8-2 Montana 5-2 7-3 Sac St. 5-3 6-4Weber St. 5-3 6-4N. Ariz. 3-4 5-5 N. Colo. 2-6 3-8 Portland St. 1-6 2-8Idaho St. 0-7 1-9

Saturday’s GamesMSU at Montana, 12:05 p.m.Weber at Texas Tech, 1 p.m.Idaho St. at E. Wash., 2 p.m.Portland St. at NAU, 3 p.m.Sac St. at UC Davis, 5 p.m.


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Saints begin NAIA playoffs vs. Azusa Pacific

By TIM DUMASChronicle Sports Editor

Mike Van Diest has one worry. It’s John van den Raadt.

The Azusa Pacific quarterback has the ability to take off and run. And mobile QBs are one of the few things Carroll College has struggled with this season.

Rocky Mountain’s Kasey Peters ran for 127 yards against the Saints last month and Montana Tech’s Matt Komac averaged nearly 10 yards per attempt just two weeks ago.

So when No. 2-ranked and undefeated Carroll hosts Azusa on Saturday at noon in Helena to begin the NAIA playoffs, Van Diest says bottling up van den Raadt is Job 1.

“We have to try to con-tain the quarterback,” Van Diest, Carroll’s head coach, said. “That’s been a prob-lem this year — running quarterbacks, whether by design or by scramble.”

Van den Raadt is the NAIA’s top rushing quarterback and currently ranks among the 10 best signal-callers in all of col-lege football this season when it comes to rushing the ball. He has rushed for 937 yards and 13 touch-downs in nine games, and currently ranks eighth in the nation in total rushing yards for a QB.

The Cougars (6-3) are ranked 18th in the coun-

try. APU is making its first playoff appearance since 2005. The teams met in the 2004 national semifinals (Carroll won 14-10) and have played three times

since during the regular season. The Saints won in 2005 (27-7) in Helena, in 2008 (41-22) in Azusa, Calif., and again in 2009 (35-13) in Helena.

This year’s team is ranked fifth in the NAIA in rushing at 266 yards per game. Johnell Murphy has 726 yards on the ground. Carroll will be without

starting defensive tackle Travis Schmidt, due to a knee injury. He is sixth on the team with 42 tackles and leads with nine sacks. Van Diest said Schmidt will be out 1-2 weeks.

The coach’s more press-ing concern is Azusa’s large offensive line.

“We’re outsized a ton,” Van Diest said. “We’re prob-ably out-weighed 30 or 40 pounds per man across the defensive front. We have to hold our ground.”

APU junior defensive lineman Jake Jones is second in the NAIA in quarterback sacks, averag-ing 1.2 a game. Jones has recorded five sacks in the past three games, includ-ing a career-high three in a victory at Southern Oregon.

Carroll’s John Camino leads the team in rush-ing with 990 yards and 14 touchdowns. Quarterback Gary Wagner, who is third in the NAIA in passing efficiency (180.6), is com-pleting nearly 75 percent of his passes, throwing for 1,323 yards and 16 touch-downs.

Saturday’s forecast calls for temperatures in the low teens and possible snow.

“I’m hoping that we can still run the football,” Van Diest said. “The weather conditions are going to be such that we still want to throw it but, we’d still like to be able to control the football.”

At 10-0, the Saints re-corded their sixth unde-

feated regular season in the past eight years. They have won 83 of their past 87 games and their 135-14 (.906) record since 2000 is the second-best record in all of college football, exceeded only by NCAA Division III Mt. Union College (Ohio), which has won 149 games during that span. Carroll is making its 19th total and 11th consec-utive trip to the playoffs, the most appearances of any current team. But Van Diest says the team doesn’t expect to be in this posi-tion every year.

“They want to be. They work hard for it. But there’s no entitlement with this team,” he said. “They know what the tradition is, but they know how they’ve gotten there. There’s no advantage other than the opportunity. That’s the way they approached it this year.”

Bozeman’s Andrew Lopez has played well on special teams in his junior season and has served as a backup cornerback behind seniors Mike Waldenberg and Pat Regan. Lopez has 27 tackles.

“The best thing he’s improved on this year is his confidence; his tackling ability in the open field has been tremendous,” Van Diest said. “He’s been a stalwart on special teams. His day is coming.”

Tim Dumas can be reached at [email protected] and 582-2651.

COURTESY CARROLL SPORTS INFORMATION

Carroll senior running back John Camino is 10 yards short of his first 1,000-yard season.

APU’s mobile quarterback a concern for Carroll

“There’s no entitlement with this team. They know what the tradition is.”

— Mike Van Diest, Carroll head coach

By WILL C. HOLDENChronicle Sports Writer

Chase Reynolds will you look you straight in the eye and say it.

“Hell yeah, I miss run-ning the ball 30 times a game.”

But times are a-changin’ in Grizzly camp. And Reynolds, a senior and All-American he may be, figures he might as well change with them.

Gone are the power-I formations that made him a Walter Payton candidate. In are the quick screens that new Montana head coach Robin Pflugrad calls “as good as running plays.”

Gone are the 10-min-ute drives that used to end games – like the 2008 ’Cat-Griz game. In are the 3-play, 67-yard drives that take less than 65 seconds off the clock – like the one UM used to close out a 27-17 win over North Dakota last week.

Gone are the power and elementary tactics. In are the finesse and the trickery.

When this season of change all shakes out, gone might be a UM staple: the playoffs.

Without a win over the Bobcats today, The Griz-zlies, who currently are one win shy of the magic number of seven needed to be strongly considered by the selection commit-tee, could miss postseason play for the first time in 17 years.

Reynolds is equally can-did about how he feels about that possible alteration.

“We don’t want to be the class that has that hanging over us,” he said.

Pflugrad doesn’t want it to become the most glaring footnote from his year-one Grizzly resume, either. But the truth of the matter is that he might have walked into a tougher situation at UM than some realize.

Aside from losing 18 seniors from a team that played in the national championship a season ago, the Grizzlies have been riddled with injuries this year.

Perhaps the biggest loss

was defensive end Severin Campbell, who suffered a broken kneecap as a result of a controversial double-team block against Portland State four games ago.

“I think we’re still a work in progress on all three fronts of our football program,” Pflugrad said. “We’re running a bit scarce in the depth and experience department. And that’s a bad combina-tion.”

Without Campbell, a defensive end who could put pressure on the quar-terback without having to send the blitz, UM’s

defensive schemes have changed a bit. But surpris-ingly, Bobcat head coach Rob Ash said, over the last few weeks he’s seen the Grizzly defense blitz less.

While it seems un-usual for a new defense that was supposed to be blitz-happy, UM defensive coordinator Mike Breske confirmed Ash’s suspi-cions. He said the dialed down blitz packages have everything to do with a defensive line, which has averaged three sacks a game over the past three contests, that’s playing well.

“If we’re getting pres-sure with our front four, we’re going to sit back in coverage,” Breske said.

Blitzing or no blitzing, Breske said the UM of-fense can help slow down MSU’s high-powered of-fense today as much as his defensive schemes.

“When you keep Montana State’s offense on the sideline, that’s a good place for them in my eyes,” Breske said.

One way to do that is running the football. And with Reynolds coming off a 173-yard, 3-touchdown performance in which he was three carries shy of his preferred amount, that’s music to Reynold’s ears.

It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.

“I still think we can run the ball,” Reynolds said. “And I’m excited about giving it another shot this weekend.”

Will Holden can be reached at [email protected] and 582-2690.



Griz going back to rootsFormer Montana State

football coach and athletic director Tom Parac was nice enough to drop off a copy of his coveted 1969 edition of The New Yorker on Thursday afternoon. And I was nice enough to nearly shred it in our copy machine.

The maga-zine was printed on pa-per back then, and Tom care-fully removed the staples in order to allow me to feed an entire 13-page article into the machine. Halfway through, however, the machine stopped.

Paper jam.Fudge.After opening up several

compartments and pulling out a number of draws, the sound of crunching paper could be heard.

Tom had earlier told me it was his only copy. I wanted to crawl into the machine myself — and never come out.

All I could think was that I just destroyed one of the well-preserved pages.

Fortunately, after an almost painful tug to get at the diced document, we pulled out a copy page, not an original.

Whew!The reason for Tom’s

visit was that the Dec. 13, 1969 New Yorker included a story under the heading The Sporting Scene titled “The Bobcats and the Grizzlies.”

It was written by

Herbert Warren Wind, though you don’t realize that until you reach the end of the article. Wind, who died in 2005 at age 88, wrote for the magazine

on and off from 1941-1990. He also worked for Sports Illustrat-ed and mostly covered golf.

But in 1969, he spent a week in Southwest Montana — a couple days in Bozeman, a couple in Missoula — to write about The Game. There

was no mention of ’Cat-Griz or the Brawl of the Wild.

The 1968 game had caught Wind’s attention. All he knew was the score: Montana State 29, Mon-tana 24.

What he missed was Paul Schafer’s 58 carries (still a school record) as MSU scored 20 points over the final nine minutes of a 29-24 victory in Mis-soula. It was Parac’s first year as Bobcat head coach.

When Wind arrived in Bozeman a year later, he remarked how Montana State University “was the oldest in the state, having been established in 1893, four years after Montana entered the Union.”

And: “Bozeman still has the look of an old cowtown.”

Wind also wrote about how the students in Mis-soula sported banners that read, “Beat Moo U,” and “Blast the Udder Team.”

COURTESY OF MONTANA SPORTS INFORMATION

Chase Reynolds, who was used less at the beginning of this season, is excited about the prospect of more carries.

Parac’s New Yorker nearly went to pieces

Sports Editor

TIM DUMAS

More DUMAS I 10

Welcome to the coldest game of the year for both teams. With game time temperatures of 20 degrees expected along with snow, it’s time to find out how well both teams handle the cold. At first blush, cold weather would appear to favor the Grizzlies. Roper has

a year of experience in it and McGhee does not. Davis’ quickness could

be neutralized by a slick surface.

MSU speed-predicated defense could be on ice skates trying to chase down the sure-

footed Reynolds. With the crowd on their side as well, UM gets a big edge here

Kicking & punting: Having hit on 14 of 18 field goal attempts, Brody McKnight is a good kicker. But a good punter, he is not. Unfortu-nately for the Grizzlies, he’s been handling both duties for them this year. His 34.18 net yards a punt could mean the Bobcat end up with some nice field position today. It’s certainly troubling to see Jason Cunningham go 2-for-5 on field goal tries over the last three games, but he’s still 19 of 23 on the year, which is nothing to shake a stick at.

Returns & coverage: For the first time in a very long time, the Bob-

cats could see a game where they log more return yards than the Grizzlies. With Cunning-ham booting kickoffs

deep in the end zone and Rory Perez booting punts that do nothing but beg to be fair caught, MSU’s coverage teams have hardly

had to break a sweat this year. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies return teams have often been coming to the sideline quite winded, having allowed three kickoff returns of longer than 90 yards and one punt return of 82 yards this season. This could finally be the week that MSU’s tantalizing return combination of Everett Gilbert, Elvis Akpla and Davis comes up big.


SidelineBriefingRecords Montana State 8-2, 6-1 Big Sky Montana 7-3, 5-2

Series 110th meeting, UM leads 69-35-5

Weather forecast Snow, wind, high 19

Crowd About 25,000 expected

TV CBS (Derek Buerkle, Mike Callaghan, Grady Bennett )

Radio KXLB-FM (100.7), Jeff Lasky, Dan Davies, Tyler Wiltgen

Coaches

SchedulesMontana

73 Western St. 2 33 @ Cal Poly 3527 @ Eastern Washington 3628 Sacramento St. 2530 @ No. Colorado 747 Idaho St. 2823 @ Portland St. 21 24 No. Arizona 2121 @ Weber St. 3027 No. Dakota 17Today Montana St. 12:05 p.m.

Montana State59 Fort Lewis 10 22 @ Wash. St. 2348 Drake 2130 Eastern Washington 764 @ Sacramento St. 6144 Portland St. 317 @ Northern Arizona 3437 Northern Colo. 3523 @ Idaho St. 2024 Weber St. 10Today @ Montana 12:05 p.m.

Players to watch MONTANA: QB Denarius McGhee’s ball control is crucial in his first ‘Cat-Griz game. MONTANA STATE: RB Chase Reynolds could open up UM’s passing game.

Injury reportMONTANA STATE OUT: DE Brad Smith (shoulder), Ben Tauanuu (leg). PROBABLE: DE Dustin O’Connell (collar bone), LB Clay Bignell (ankle).MONTANA OUT: QB Andrew Selle (arm); LB

Brock Coyle (shoulder).

ROB ASHMSU, 4th year31st year overall28-16 at MSU 204-115-5 overall

ROBiN PfLUgRAd UM, 1st year 1st year overall 7-3 at UM 7-3 overall


THE EdgE Passing: Playing in Washington-Grizzly Stadium for the first time is eye-opening no matter who you are. Yes that applies to Wonder Boy. Expect, at the very least, that Denarius McGhee stumbles out of the gate. But that’s just it: Stumbling out of the gate hasn’t been out of the ordinary for the youngster. Each of the Bobcats last five wins has required a comeback. Against Portland State, MSU fell behind 18-3 in the first quarter. Against Northern Colorado, MSU fell behind 14-3 in the second quarter. Against Weber State, MSU fell behind 7-3 in the third quarter. Against Idaho State, MSU slipped behind 17-14 in the fourth quarter. The Bobcats overcame ever deficit. That said, MSU faces a different beast today: the Grizzlies, who own the best pass defense in the Big Sky – by far. And the fact remains that playing against Northern Arizona, the conference’s best overall defense, in a hostile environment four weeks ago, MSU’s passing game was nonexistent. But the key, again, was McGhee. Hobbling around on an injured foot, he finished 14 of 30 for 107 yards with one touchdown. Like that NAU game, McGhee is back in a hostile environment today. Like NAU, the Grizzlies will be sending pressure from a ton of different angles. But

McGhee is healthy and he’s had an extra week to dissect Montana. He’s proven himself too perceptive this season to not use that to his advantage.

Rushing: For a fourth straight week, fumbles almost crippled the Bobcats, as they committed three against Weber State. The silver lining was that MSU’s running backs committed

none. Another positive sign was that Orenzo Davis put up his second solid game in three weeks. When the shifty back is on, the MSU offense is almost unstoppable. Just ask Northern Colorado and Weber State — two teams that Davis has beaten almost single-handedly down the stretch. There’s also the fact that the Grizzlies have not been stopping the run well. Over the past four games, their opponents have run for an average of just under 200 yards a game, which suggests Davis will be able to get into the second level. The key will be what happens when he gets there. If Grizzly safeties Jimmie Wilson and Erik Stoll start tackling like they’re capable, they can limit big plays. If those safeties turn in another showing like they did against Eastern Washington or Weber State, Davis could run wild. Bet on something in between.

WHEN MONTANA STATE HAS THE BALL

EdgE

Passing: When it isn’t necessary for Justin Roper to win the game by himself, he can be very effective. But recently, when he’s been forced to throw, he’s been shaky at best. Each time Roper has passed 30 times or more the last four games, the Grizzlies have struggled, winning one game by three, one by two and dropping another. In other words, it would behoove the Bobcats to do their best to stop Chase Reynolds and dare Roper to beat them.

The one thing that will play into Roper’s advantage is the Bobcats’ inability to force turnovers. Hearing that the Bobcats have picked off just five passes all year has to be music to the ears of a quarterback that has thrown an interception in all but one of his six starts this season. And while the Bobcat defense has improved over the past two weeks — limiting Idaho State, the worst pass offense in the conference, and Weber State, which has all but abandoned the pass over the last four weeks — that isn’t saying much. The fact remains that the Bobcats have been torched by some pretty mediocre air attacks this year. And as the owners of a receiving corps which rivals MSU’s as one of the best in the conference, the Grizzlies passing attack is anything but bland.

Expect UM to dink and dunk a lot today, though. That strategy might

not be well-suited to the Grizzly pass catcher, who excel more in the deep passing game than they do in short yardage scenarios, but it proved

effective for NAU, it could serve the task of keeping the dangerous MSU offense off the field and it could

neutralize an MSU pass rush that has come on strong over the past two games.

Rushing: Time and time again this season, MSU’s calling card has been its ability to stop the run. Over the last four games, the Bobcats are allowing their opponents just 2.5 yards a carry. Recently, UM ap-pears more intent on getting Chase Reynolds a lot of touches. After the All-American began the season av-eraging a measly 13 carries a game in the Grizzlies’ first six contests, he’s had 23 carries or more in three of his last four games. Which side asserts its will better just might win this game.

With Reynolds running out of a more spread-based offense and be-hind a more inexperienced offensive line, it would seem like the expe-rienced Bobcat defense, one that excels at stopping runners in space and is very familiar with the less-than-shifty Reynolds, would have a good shot at slowing the UM back. With Dustin O’Connell and Clay Bignell finally looking healthier, that possibil-ity seems more like a probability.

WHEN MONTANA HAS THE BALL

21 24

special teams

EdgE

EdgE

iNTANgiBLES

EdgE

Feelings about what direction this game might go have fluctuated back and forth over the past two weeks. With the Grizzlies currently undefeated at Washington-Grizzly, the chances the Bobcats could go in and steal one seemed improbable — until UM put forth an uninspired performance in a 27-17 win over a mediocre North Dakota team at home last week. With the Bobcat offense firing on all cylinders, it seemed like the one system that could really

test the stout UM defense — until it snowed five inches on Friday. As is normally the case with ’Cat-Griz, expect something wacky and know that the slightest of mistakes could cost either team dearly. But former Grizzly Tad Sheridan said it best earlier in the week: These aren’t Bobby Hauck’s Grizzlies. They’ve played with fire one too many times at home this year and they’ll get burned on a cold day in a close one against a better Bobcat team.

OvERALL ?

game day cat-griz

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