FRANK GOGOLA
406 MT Sports
GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The Montana football team will play not only its first road game of the season this week but also its first ranked opponent.
The Grizzlies, ranked fourth in the FCS Top 25 poll, will take on the No. 23 North Dakota Fighting Hawks at 5 p.m. MT on Saturday at the Alerus Center. It’s one of only two games between ranked FCS teams this weekend.
The matchup marks UM’s second consecutive game against a team from the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Griz, who opened as a 4.5-point favorite, enter with a 1-0 record after a 29-24 home win over Missouri State, which was picked ninth in the MVFC preseason poll. UND was tabbed fifth.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to be able to go and face another quality opponent, another Missouri Valley team and see where we match up with the rest of the country,” Griz senior safety Ryder Meyer said.
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North Dakota is 0-1 after a 21-3 loss at Iowa State, an FBS team that plays in the Big 12. The Fighting Hawks go from one challenging opponent to another, which they hope will prepare them for playing in the tough MVFC.
UND has made the game against Montana a rare Saturday night home showcase. It’s the first such game for the Fighting Hawks since 2014. They have won 25 of their past 28 games inside their 12,283-seat dome.
“It definitely does have that big-game feel,” UND sophomore defensive lineman Jack Teiken said. “When we get in the Alerus on Saturday night I think that Grand Forks is going to show that.
Here are five things to watch in the game.
Third downs
The Griz converted 2 of 9 third downs in the opener, having to go an average distance of 11.4 yards. That’s their fewest conversions and lowest conversion percentage since they went 2 of 12 in last year’s loss at Northern Arizona.
Converting those third downs would help the Griz possess the ball for more than the 61 plays and 23:23 they had in the opener compared to MSU’s 73 plays and 36:37. UND let Iowa State convert 5 of its 10 third down attempts.
On the other side, UM allowed Missouri State to convert 6 of 14 third downs while playing without All-American linebacker Riley Wilson. However, the Bears picked up 5 of 7 when they had to go 11 or more yards. The Griz did have a third-down pick and a fourth-down pass breakup.
“You got to get the ball on the ground on defense and you’ve got to catch the ball when thrown to you on offense,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said. “That would be a good start to solve some of that. That really is where it starts and ends as far as those plays in that game.
“They made some good plays too, but we got to make plays on the ball on the back end on defense. We can’t just be there and let them catch it. We can’t get outfought for the ball. Then you saw that towards the end of the game where we were making plays on the ball and it shut off.”
North Dakota showed it ball-control offense in its season opener by holding the ball for 72 plays and 37:51 compared to ISU’s 48 plays and 22:09. The Fighting Hawks picked up 11 of 20 third downs and its only fourth down try while working in four new starting offensive linemen.
They ranked seventh in the FCS and third in the MVFC last year with a third-down conversion percentage of 47.7%. They were 13th in the country and fourth in the league on fourth downs, converting 65% of the time.
As for why UND was efficient on third downs last week, UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said: “Good decisions by the quarterback. Toughness up front. Toughness on the perimeter. We broke some tackles on a couple of those third downs. Really played physical up front. And our running backs I thought ran downhill hard and knew where the sticks were.”
Tackling
Montana’s pursuit to the football and ability to tackle in space have been staples of the Griz defense under Hauck. Improved tackling and not overpursuing will be important against a UND team that’ll look to run the ball.
The Griz held MSU to 99 rush yards on 34 attempts but lost contain on a 32-yard TD run in the second half. The Bears also utilized their running backs effectively in the passing game. Will North Dakota try to follow suit?
“We’re a team that prides ourselves on tackling,” Meyer said. “Our coaches emphasize tackling, practice it every day. There were definitely times where we lacked in our tackling. That’s going to be improved and something that we continue working on moving forward.”
UND has a three-headed running back room with Isaiah Smith, Gaven Ziebarth and Sawyer Seidl. The Fighting Hawks pounded out 174 yards on 42 carries for an average of 4.1 yards per rush against an FBS program.
Smith ran for 50 yards last week, Ziebarth 39 and Siedl 36. Quarterback Simon Romfo added 44 yards. Ziebarth ranked second in the MVFC in yards per carry (6.5) and fourth in rush yards per game (70) last year.
Romfo completed 17 of 30 pass attempts for 121 yards and was intercepted once. He has a shifty playmaker in Bo Belquist, who had six catches for 43 yards last week, both team highs. Belquist (212) is five receptions away from becoming the school’s all-time leader during its NCAA Division I era.
“They are persistent with the run game,” Hauck said. “They’ve got a pretty expansive scheme in terms of different run plays they can get to. Their offensive line is good. I think that it was kind of fun watching them play against Iowa State because they held up really well physically.”
O-line play
Montana totaled 347 yards on 61 plays, an average of 5.7 yards per play, while rotating several linemen. They were fairly balanced with 167 rush yards (4.8 per carry) and 180 pass yards (6.9 per attempt, 12.9 per completion).
The Griz couldn’t get a good enough push at the 2-yard line on a direct snap to running back Nick Ostmo in the final seconds of the first half, settling for a field goal. UM’s lone sack allowed came as a backup lineman got pushed back.
Hauck is looking for more aggressive play from the line.
“Just individual techniques, getting after people a little bit,” he said. “Guys know their assignments and we want to be more vertical.”
Ostmo ran for 36 yards and Eli Gillman went for 89 yards and two scores. UND held Iowa State to 86 rush yards on 22 attempts (3.9 yards per). Five players had four or five tackles, including All-MVFC linebacker Wyatt Pedigo.
The Griz may be able to create time in the pocket. The Fighting Hawks let Iowa State complete 20 of 26 passes for 267 yards and two TDs. They didn’t tally a sack, had just one quarterback hurry and had only two tackles for loss.
Ostmo has seen the O-line take steps from Week 1 to Week 2 in the past and is looking forward to that again.
“Just kind of building with each other, kind of building that connection with each other and knowing how for me like the O-line’s going to block people and how they’re going to get up to double teams and how fast and the timing, how that’s going to work out,” he said. “I think that throughout the season that kind of builds and you kind of get that understanding.”
QB rotation
Montana played redshirt freshman Keali’i Ah Yat the entire first half and the opening drive of the second half. Transfer Logan Fife got the rest of the game. That was similar to how UM handled its two-QB situation in last year’s opener.
If things follow suit again, it’s possible Fife could play the first half and Ah Yat the second half this week. How the coaching staff handles a potential rotation again remains to be seen after both guys showed flashes last week.
Ah Yat completed 9 of 19 passes for 90 yards and ran six times for 19 yards, fumbling once. Fife ended 5-of-7 passing for 90 yards, one touchdown pass and rushed three times for 15 yards. Each rallied the Griz from a deficit.
No matter who is in at quarterback, the Griz will have a plethora of playmakers around them. Those players need to catch the ball after three drops last week.
“We know we’re just going to have to be really sound defensively and make them drive the football because they’re explosive,” Schweigert said. “Gillman is explosive at tailback. You really got to fit the gaps right. Then their receivers are highly skilled too.”
UND named Romfo its quarterback at the start of the year and he played the whole opener in the hurry-up offense. He’s slight at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds but posted a 37-0 record as a high school QB. He’s now coming off his first loss in college, so how does he respond to that?
Special teams
UM’s special teams play got off to an inauspicious start last week as Drew Deck muffed his first punt return and Ty Morrison missed his first PAT attempt. They both responded in a major way in their first game handling those roles.
Morrison went 3 of 3 on field goals and was honored as the Big Sky special teams player of the week. He averaged 45.2 yards on four punts and Missouri State returned one punt for 21 yards. UND didn’t return a punt last week.
Deck finished with three punt returns for 34 yards while filling in for All-American Junior Bergen. North Dakota averaged 39.2 yards on its four punts last week and gave up just one punt return for 14 yards.
The Griz also had new kick returners as Xavier Harris returned two kickoffs for 36 yards and Isiah Childs had one for 26 yards. UND kicked off only twice last week, sending one for a touchback and one out of bounds.
UND did not return a kickoff last week as all four attempts were touchbacks. UM kicker Grant Glasgow managed five touchbacks on six kickoffs.
Fighting Hawks kicker C.J. Elrichs went 1 of 2 on field goals with a make from 26 yards and a miss from 33 yards in the opener. He was 4 of 6 last year with a long of 42 yards.
Frank Gogola is the Senior Sports Reporter at the Missoulian and 406 MT Sports. Follow him on X @FrankGogola or email him at frank.gogola@406mtsports.com.
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Publish date : 2024-09-05 13:01:00
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