Ochs grabbed the ball, dodged one tackler, then fired a nearly blind pass downfield while getting hit. Segars broke off his route, came back to the ball and a 17-yard loss turned in a 25-yard gain on third-and-18. It was one of the more memorable plays in Montana's wild 31-28 win Saturday.
"Craig made a good play to get the ball, and then threw it in the open area," Montana coach Bobby Hauck said Tuesday. "It looked a lot like the touchdown Dane Oliver had at Sac State last year (in a 26-0 Griz win), where he came back for the ball and the defenders couldn't get back. There were really two Eastern defenders who had a chance to make the play, and Levander is the guy who made the play."
"We got on him for dropping the shotgun snap," Hauck said. "But throwing the ball for a big gain, where only our guy could get to it, that's a good play."
It was a deflating play for Eastern Washington, although the Eagles, who trailed 21-13 after Lex Hilliard capped the drive with the second of his three touchdowns, soon tied the score.
The Grizzly staff is looking forward to a solid week of practice and some recruiting this weekend while the team is idle. The Grizzlies' next game is Oct. 30 at Portland State. Getting players over their injuries is another concern, but not a major one, Hauck said.
"You know, we're pretty healthy now," he said. "We're getting healthier every week, so that's not a major issue. Right now it'll be a chance to get back and work on some fundamentals, which when you get into October sort of get left behind, to a degree."
Hauck has several Grizzly Scholarship Association commitments this week, but said the staff will be watching football games around the state on the weekend.
While Montana is off this weekend, a pair of former Grizzly defensive backs will battle Saturday at 1 p.m. on Rocky Mountain College's Klindt Field. Vernon Smith, who transferred out of Montana after getting his degree this summer, is making big plays for Eastern Oregon University, an NAIA school in LeGrande. The Mountaineers are visiting Rocky this week, and the host Bears boast Chris Colvin, who just celebrated his 26th birthday on Oct. 12, in their defensive backfield.
Colvin, a junior out of Inglewood, Calif., was named the NAIA national special teams player of the week by Don Hanson's Football Gazette for his work in Rocky's 24-12 win over Montana State-Northern on Oct. 2. He had three punt returns for 127 yards - including a 64-yarder - and one kickoff return for 37 yards in the win. Colvin, who also plays some receiver, caught a 43-yard touchdown pass on Rocky's first play from scrimmage. He also had two of his three interceptions on the year in that game. It was the lone win for the 1-5 Bears, in their first season under former Griz player and assistant coach Dave Reeves.
Smith, a senior out of San Diego, had three interceptions for Eastern Oregon, and returned two of them for touchdowns. He has 22 tackles, two for losses, and has seen time on special teams and on offense. He's averaged 38 yards on three kickoff returns and has two receptions, taking one 39 yards for a TD.
Smith was first-team All-Big Sky and an honorable mention All-America at safety for Montana in 2002, but sat out the latter part of '03 with a neck injury that required surgery. After that he was suspended for six months after a January off-field incident involving a gun.
Colvin was an honorable-mention all-Big Sky pick at corner in 1998, then left after his sophomore season after becoming academically ineligible.
Quick kicks: According to the latest NCAA statistics, Sam Houston State, the lone team to beat Montana this season, is first in Division I-AA in passing efficiency. The BearKats are followed by, among others, run-first Georgia Southern in second and Eastern Washington in sixth. Hofstra is rated 12th, and Montana is 14th nationally. ... In net punting, Montana's average of 38.85 yards in ninth nationally, just ahead of Montana State's 38.40. First is Northern Arizona at 44.39. ... Sam Houston State, Idaho State and Hofstra rank 2-3-4 in passing yards per game and Eastern Washington is eighth. The good news is that the Grizzlies' next opponent, Portland State, is ranked 86th. ... Portland State and Montana are 1-2 in the Big Sky in rushing defense, at 117.2 and 118.4 yards. That ranks the Vikings and Griz 23rd and 24th nationally. ... Montana's turnover margin of plus-11 is fifth in I-AA.
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