They're 0-3 away from the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz., this season. They're 11-26 all-time against the Montana Grizzlies, who they visit Saturday at 12:05 p.m. in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Lead running back Roger Robinson has been held under 50 yards in their last two games. Montana has suffered just two home Big Sky Conference losses since early in the 1992 season, and hasn't lost to NAU since former Griz defensive coordinator Jerome Souers took over the 'Jacks seven seasons ago.
The MSU rout brought back memories of 2003, when Montana went into the Walkup Skydome and cruised 59-21. That was NAU's worst home loss until last weekend. After that loss to the Griz, however, the Lumberjacks rallied to win their final two Big Sky games and make the I-AA playoffs. There, they stunned top-seeded McNeese State in the first round.
"We kind of look at that as an example of how resilient this team can be," said Robinson, who has rushed for 649 yards in eight games for NAU (3-2 in the Big Sky). "But the reality is that we're a whole different team than that team. We're a lot younger, and you don't know how guys are going to react. But we can hopefully bounce back from this. We have no choice - it needs to happen."
For once Montana will be playing an opponent that hasn't been at or near the top of its game. Instead, the 10th-ranked Grizzlies get one stinging from a big loss.
"The only thing it makes me think is that they're going to be a really, really motivated group," Montana defensive end Lance Spencer said. "They're going to be hugely motivated to not let that happen again, and nobody wants to lose two in a row."
Including the Grizzlies, who are coming off a 35-32 loss at Portland State. At 3-1 in league play, they're suddenly looking up at Montana State (4-0) in the Big Sky standings.
"Portland State's a very good team," Montana quarterback Craig Ochs said. "If they win those two games they're supposed to win, they're actually on top of the conference right now. You hate to say there's such a thing as a loss that doesn't hurt us bad, but that one's OK, because hopefully we can refocus ourselves. We've got three games at home, against three very quality opponents, but all our goals are in front of us."
Sacramento State follows NAU into Washington-Grizzly on Nov. 13, and the MSU Bobcats come in on Sept. 20. It was MSU that handed Portland State its first of back-to-back final-minute losses. Northern Arizona did it the next week, before the Vikings played 60 minutes of ball to beat the Griz.
"We were fortunate the last two teams had miraculous comebacks against Portland State, and got them," Griz coach Bobby Hauck said. "Or else we could be sitting here not in control of our destiny. They were a veteran, good football team that got us on their field."
Now comes NAU, which is 4-16 with eight straight losses at Montana. And Souers is 0-6 against UM in his tenure at NAU.
"Coach Souers isn't going to make it a personal vendetta," Robinson said. "But I know personally, I'd like nothing more to get a win over Montana for him."
Hauck summed up last week's loss succinctly.
"It goes back to field position," said the Grizzlies' second-year coach. "We didn't cover punts well. We didn't cover kicks well. We had penalties in our return game that put us back inside our 10-yard line, or our 20, darned near every time.
"We killed ourselves with our kicking game, and our turnovers back in our end. And that's the story of the game. You can digest it or dissect it any way you want, but that was the issue."
Ochs took responsibility for the turnovers, including a fumbled exchange with running back Justin Green that set up PSU's first touchdown.
"It was something where the play started off goofy," Ochs said. "It's a read for me - it's a pull-read. And sometimes I don't always look the ball into Justin's pocket if I'm giving it to him. I just lost focus, and I just didn't give him a good ball in his pocket. It was my error.
"I'm not going to make any excuses. I just need to play better, I need to protect the ball better. So those three turnovers in the game (Ochs threw a fourth-quarter interception) were all my fault."
Quick kicks: Since a 27-21 loss to Eastern Washington in 1992, the Grizzlies' two home Big Sky losses came to Eastern Washington again in 1997, and Montana State in 2002. Northern Arizona's last win at Missoula was 34-28 in 1986, Don Read's first year as coach. Š In 1992, the Lumberjacks lost just 28-27 in Missoula, and 33-26 in double-overtime in 1988. The last five Griz home wins over NAU have been in the 10-14 point range. Š Through eight games Montana's opponents are now a combined 29-37. The Grizzlies, 6-2, have beaten two .500 teams in Maine and Hofstra, lost to another in Portland State, and have beaten one team over .500 in Eastern Washington, which is 6-3. Their next opponent, NAU, is like Maine, Hofstra and PSU at 4-4. Š Maine and Hofstra, by the way, are ranked ahead of Montana in the latest Sagarin NCAA football ratings. The ratings, which include all 239 Division I-A and I-AA schools, factor in strength of schedule and won-loss against teams in the top 10 and top 30 in the respective divisions, among other things. Š Sagarin ranks Georgia Southern first among I-AA teams, at 41st overall. James Madison is ranked 47th, followed by Southern Illinois, ranked first in the Sports Network I-AA Top 25, at No. 58. Hofstra is ranked 93rd, while Maine is 95th and Montana 96th. They are Nos. 12-13-14 among I-AA teams. Š There are other glitches, like Idaho State being ranked higher (No. 169) than Weber State (181) despite the Bengals' home loss to the Wildcats last week.
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