"I told myself I'd cut when we lost," said the suddenly clean-cut junior wide receiver. "We lost. So it's gone."
Talmage had three catches for 15 yards in Montana's 41-29 defeat at Sam Houston State Saturday, and said that the offense got off its game plan early, making a tough situation worse.
"Like for receivers, we're not supposed to run underneath the linebackers, and we were doing that. We were cut-blocking people Š it's that type of stuff, little basic stuff, that adds up to a big-game loss."
In Northern Colorado the Grizzlies play an opponent that, while it doesn't have the speed of Sam Houston, likes to play zone on defense and come up hard on the ball. "It's just like last week," Talmage said. "If we stick to the rules and sit down when we need to sit down in the seams, we'll be OK. If we got off on our own, we'll find ourselves in trouble again."
Quarterback Craig Ochs' right calf is the most troublesome injury coming out of the Sam Houston game. Head coach Bobby Hauck continues to list the senior as "day-to-day," although Ochs participated in drills Wednesday. "I think we'll have everybody else," Hauck said. "Craig's the biggest question, probably."
Backup defensive end Dan Carr, a Northern Colorado transfer who missed last week's game, won't play Saturday. Hauck said center Jay Green, whose ankle injury made him a late scratch for Sam Houston - Jeff Marshall moved into center, and sophomore Jason Frink went to right guard - would probably start against UNC.
Starting cornerback Kevin Edwards hurt his left foot on the turf at SHSU's Bowers Stadium, but feels he'll be ready to go against Saturday.
Edwards, who has eight career interceptions, said he got to bed at 6 a.m. Sunday, after the team flew out of Houston the night before. "(A loss) definitely makes the plane ride suck," the junior said. "Other than that - it's a learning experience.
"They had great receivers, but we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times. We missed probably 30 tackles."
For the junior, it was a culmination of heat, different turf and a hostile environment, along with other things. "Lack of enthusiasm," he added. "All of those things that great Griz defenses have. Hopefully we'll get it back Saturday."
Extra points: Plenty of tickets are available for the Northern Colorado game, and may be purchased at the Adams Center along with all the usual Griz ticket outlets Š The Football Gazette named Idaho State quarterback Mark Hetherington its I-AA offensive player of the week for his performance against Northern Colorado (360 yards, 4 TDs) Š The Football Gazette honored Montana State's Travis Lulay as its special teams player of the week the week before, for his efforts in the Bobcats' 19-0 win over Adams State Š Speaking of the Bobcats, the San Francisco 49ers added former left tackle Brent Swaggert to their practice squad. The Niners, who are coached by former MSU quarterback Dennis Erickson, cut Swaggert three weeks ago. He was a first-team all-Big Sky pick last season.
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