Bowers Stadium could be jumping, if the pregame buzz means anything. The locals haven't been this excited about a game in 11 seasons (Alcorn State, which SHSU beat in 1994), and Bearkats' coach Ron Randleman expects a large crowd.
"I'd be disappointed if we didn't have 12,000 fans," he said.
The 6-foot-3 Long has thrown for 560 yards in two games, and showed how explosive he can be when he threw for 197 yards in the fourth quarter of last week's 33-31 Bearkat loss to Southwest Missouri State. That should be a concern for a Griz team that allowed 300 passing yards to Hofstra's Bobby Seck. Long has five interceptions, however, four coming against SMS.
"He's a veteran quarterback, and he's thrown for a lot of yards in his career," Montana coach Bobby Hauck said of the Texas A&M transfer. "He's got experience. He's hard to fool. You basically need to make plays.
"Given their location and where they recruit, they've got a stable of skilled athletes on their team. We're thin and young in the secondary, and I hope we can match up."
Vincent Cartwright, a 6-foot-4 senior flanker, 5-8 speedster Jarrod Fuller, and 6-0 Jason Mathenia lead a receiving crew that averages 20 yards per reception. Tight ends Josh Brown and Blake Martin have combined for four catches for 64 yards. The Bearkats also have 225-pound Jason Godfrey, whose leg injury has cast doubt on his playing time, and 185-pound Stevie Smith in the backfield. Smith has 60 yards on 13 carries; Godfrey 105 on 17. Sam Houston averages 4.0 yards a carry while giving up just 2.1.
The Bearkats mainly throw - and run - out of the spread formation.
"Our '91 team (that won the Southland Conference) was pretty conservative, with a strong defense and a don't-turn-the-ball-over approach on offense," Randleman said. "By '98 we were spread out a lot, and throwing it. We've kind of evolved.
"With the pressure defenses you see in today's world, unless you have overpowering offensive linemen, which is difficult to do in today's I-AA, I think the only way to fight that pressure is to spread the field a little bit."
That will test a young Griz secondary that includes two juniors - big-play corner Kevin Edwards and strong safety Van Cooper, Jr. - with the rest being sophomores and freshmen.
Montana has its own four-receiver offense, triggered by Ochs, who conceivably could've been matching up with Long on Saturday an hour away from Huntsville, in College Station. Ochs started as a true freshman for one of A&M's Big 12 foes, Colorado. The senior has worked through a banged-up right thumb for 581 yards and four TDs in two games this season. He's completed 68.4 percent of his passes, with two interceptions.
That's offset the efforts of defenses to limit running back Justin Green, who has 95 rushing yards in two games. Jefferson Heidelberger, like SHSU's Fuller, is in the top 15 in I-AA in receiving yards (131 per game). Levander Segars is another threat. Both displayed their big-play ability in last week's 41-23 win over a capable Hofstra team. Segars' 75-yard catch-and-run TD reception gave Montana the lead for good; Heidelberger's 96-yard kickoff return broke the game open.
Ochs will be playing against a defense that includes five defensive backs, but will bring pressure. Jeff Mayhew and John Griffin lead the way for SHSU at tackle. Paul Donelson, a 210-pound senior strong safety, returned an interception for a TD against Montana last year.
"They have good inside play up front, and their linebackers (led by Marcus Mikulec) are active," Hauck said. "I like their secondary, too.
"It'll be interesting to see what they do. They changed up a little bit in the fourth quarter (against Southwest Missouri), and it'll be interesting to see how long they stick with their pressure game and their 8-man front. That presents problems just from the fact that they can bring a lot of people from a lot of different places.
"But they changed their structure a little bit (in the fourth quarter against SMS), and they didn't get as much pressure on the quarterback."
The result was two SMS touchdowns in the final 1:33.
"They're athletic. Young, but very athletic," said Ochs. "We've played against some solid defenses to this point, so nothing changes with that. We've just got to go down there and try to improve this week. We felt like we made some improvement from week one to week two, and if we can just continue to do that this week, we'll be all right."
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