The visiting Lumberjacks boast Division I-AA's top punter in Paul Ernster, who averages 48.4 yards a kick. NAU also leads I-AA in net punting, with a mark of 44.8. While opponents have returned 19 punts, nobody's broken one, and the average return is 7.7 yards. NAU is among the Big Sky Conference leaders in kickoff coverage as well, at 17.6 yards per opponent's return.
Montana, meanwhile, is coming off a poor special teams game that figured heavily in last week's 35-32 loss to Portland State. Punter Tyson Johnson averaged 25.8 yards per attempt, and the return game was stymied time and again by penalties.
Jefferson Heidelberger, who ranks second in the Big Sky with an average of 23.9 yards per kick return, took one kickoff some 40 yards only to have an illegal block bring the ball back to Montana's 19-yard line. An illegal block on a fourth-quarter punt return by Levander Segars pushed Montana back to its 16.
Then there was the opening kickoff, which Montana's Pete Sloan booted into the end zone for a touch back. One problem: The Grizzlies were offside. Portland State's Ryan Fuqua fielded the re-kick at the goal line and took it 43 yards. The offside was in fact a 23-yard penalty, and although the Griz forced a punt, they stayed stuck in their own territory for most of the game.
"They had between 25 and 50 yards to go all day," Hauck said of the Vikings. "And we had 80 and 90 yards to go all day. If you're going to win that game, you're going to have to out-gain them double. It was not good by our kicking game, and that's a strength for us generally."
It could be again Saturday. It was a year ago at Northern Arizona that Segars took two punts for touchdowns in Montana's 59-21 win - and NAU's punter last year, Mark Gould, also led I-AA statistically.
This year the Lumberjacks have allowed just nine kickoff returns, and it's safe to say none came at home, where the elevation is 7,200 feet and games are inside the Walkup Skydome. Ernster, the erstwhile place kicker for NAU, has averaged 50.7 yards a punt in five home games; he's a more mortal 44.0 away from home, including a 38.9 average at Stephen F. Austin.
"He's kicking outside, in the cold, now," said Hauck (the temperature should be in the 40s Saturday). "He's not kicking inside at 7,200 feet. We'll see what happens."
Montana is in the middle of the Big Sky in net punting and Johnson, a sophomore, is still averaging 41.2 yards a punt after his rough outing.
"He hasn't (had a bad game), and he really only hit the ball once out of five times," Hauck said. "But he'll punt well this weekend."
One trend that may be disconcerting to Griz fans is Montana's offensive performance in the first quarter. Through the first eight games Montana has been outscored 39-31 in the opening frame. That's a reversal from the previous four years, starting with an 85-45 advantage in 2000. The Griz ruled the first quarter 139-54 in 2001, 128-29 in 2002 and 101-41 last season, their first under Hauck and offensive coordinator Rob Phenicie.
The first quarter was the Grizzlies' best in 2001, when they won the school's second I-AA football championship and coach Joe Glenn and staff were scripting the first several plays. Phenicie scripts plays as well - he estimated around 75 were on his list Thursday - but not in particular order.
"A lot of what Rob's script does is it tells us how they're going to play us against certain groups," Hauck said. "And then we figure out what we like best. That's why we spend a lot of time in the first quarter, when you're multiple on offense, figuring out how they're going to play us.
"That's why I think we adjust well at halftime, come out and do a lot of good things, because we know what they're going to do."
Montana, 6-2 on the year, has outscored its opposition 75-49 in the third quarter, and 86-61 in the fourth. But three offensive touchdowns in the first quarter isn't the status quo. A fourth touchdown came on Kevin Edwards' interception return against Hofstra. The Grizzlies drove for two first-quarter TDs against Idaho State, only to follow that up with a rough second quarter, in which their best offensive play was Johnson's season-high 67-yard punt from deep in Griz territory.
So things have been a little uneven, including last week. The two fumbles against PSU didn't do the offense any favors.
"We can't turn it over," Hauck said. "That's the number one thing. That allows us to continue our game plan. When you get down by 14 it changes. You've got to be patient, and make sure you execute as best as you can, which starts with no turnovers."
As it was, the Griz met their season average of 31.6 points.
"Giving up 35, obviously we didn't play great defense," Hauck said. "But again, considering the positions we put ourselves in, it wasn't horrible.
"It goes back to the kicking game. We're going to play better. We're going to play better Š It's been a strength for us in 20-plus games. We've been beat in the kicking game twice. Last weekend was one of those."
Northern Arizona running back Roger Robinson has more receptions (29) than Montana running backs Lex Hilliard, JR Waller and Justin Green and tight end Willie Walden put together (25). He also is the Lumberjacks' primary kick returner.
"He's definitely the most explosive guy in the league," Hauck said.
So it's a given he'll get extra attention from the Grizzly defense, just as he did from the Lumberjacks' last four opponents - Eastern Washington, Western New Mexico, Portland State and Montana State.
"Eastern had two (players on Robinson)," Hauck said. "Their scheme's a little different from ours, but they got after him on every play, and Š we need to take some things from what Eastern did. They're different than us, but I like the way they attacked him."
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