Montana passed for three times as many yards as it ran and the Grizzlies received a pair of big second-half plays to lift the second-ranked team in Division I-AA football to a 41-23 victory over unranked Hofstra in front of 23,100 fans Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Montana quarterback Craig Ochs threw for a career-high 364 yards and a touchdown in leading the Grizzlies' evolving air attack back to its glory days.
"Our plan was to throw it around," said Montana coach Bobby Hauck, whose club rushed for 104 yards Saturday. "There are weeks when that could be reversed."
Ochs, who had 217 yards in a season-opening win over Maine last week, threw for 300 yards for the first time since Oct. 18, 2003, when he had 329 yards in a win at Idaho State.
His main target was fellow senior Jefferson Heidelberger, who caught a career-high 12 passes for 146 yards. The 12 grabs tied for the fifth-best total in a single game in school history.
However, the biggest pass play went to another senior speedster.
Levander Segars turned a 15-yard crossing pattern into a 75-yard arm tackle-breaking sprint to the end zone.
"That looked like a return almost, once he got going," Hauck said.
At the time, Segars' play broke a 20-20 third-quarter tie. He finished with six catches for 108 yards.
"Coming into this year I felt like we were going to be a special group," Ochs said. "We've played two very good defenses and we've been effective in the passing game in both games. That's just going to help us in our confidence in the coming weeks."
The Grizzlies (2-0) will try to keep the air attack going when they travel to Sam Houston State next weekend. SHSU lost 33-31 to Southwest Missouri State on Saturday.
Heidelberger provided the day's other game-breaking play in the fourth.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pounder returned a kickoff 96 yards to give the Griz a 34-23 lead with 10:25 left in the game. It was the fourth longest kickoff return in UM history and the second time Heidelberger has returned one 96 yards. He also had one as a sophomore.
"We were deciding during the week whether or not we should kick to their return men," said Hofstra coach Joe Gardi. "I guess we made a mistake."
Hofstra (0-2) had just pulled within 27-23 on a 35-yard field goal by Chris Onorato.
"That play hurt Hofstra," Hauck said. "They had climbed back into it a couple times. They made the field goal to cut it to four points and then that play. That's a back-breaker."
Prior to that, Pride linebacker Gian Villante returned a deflected Ochs' pass 42 yards for a touchdown and the game's only tie.
Hofstra also struck just before halftime when quarterback Bobby Seck hit Devale Ellis on a 69-yard TD strike. Montana's young secondary gave up the score, which cut the Griz lead to 20-13, with 56 seconds to go.
"I wasn't real fired up about us giving up a long touchdown ball at the end of the first half, in coverage where we should've had it defended," Hauck said.
Like its offense, Montana's defense got two big plays and for the second straight week they came from junior cornerback Kevin Edwards.
Edwards had a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown that gave UM a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. He also stripped Hofstra receiver Charles Sullivan on a screen play inside the Grizzlies' 20-yard line. Mike Murphy recovered the ball to end the third quarter.
Montana's run game wasn't totally absent. The Griz got 2-yard TD bursts from both Justin Green and Lex Hilliard.
Hilliard's run came on Montana's second-to-last drive. With all its starters still in, UM went back to the air. Ochs hit Heidelberger on two key third-down plays. One went for 39 yards and the other set up Hilliard's score.
Green, who finished with 48 yards, gave the Griz a 20-6 lead late in the second quarter.
Kicker Dan Carpenter, the reigning Big Sky special teams player of the week, got the Griz on the board first with a 40-yard field. His kick capped a 12-play 71-yard drive on UM's opening possession.
Carpenter later added a 22-yarder for a 13-6 lead. That field goal was set up by a 9-yard punt that Hofstra punter Joe Nolan shanked out of bounds at his own 47-yard line.
Reporter Nick Lockridge can be reached at 523-5265 or by e-mail at sportsdesk@missoulian.com.
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