The Griz, ranked No. 4 in I-AA football, began the year by rushing for a net of 10 yards in a 41-7 loss at Iowa.
Montana coach Bobby Hauck was plainly displeased about that total, and the Griz have not surprisingly improved. Heading into their game against Eastern Washington - at 3 p.m. Saturday at Eastern's Woodward Field - they are averaging 141.5 yards per game on the ground.
“It says a lot about the front and the tight ends as well,” Hauck said Thursday. “We're leading the league in rushing yards per game without Lex Hilliard. That's an accomplishment for that group. They should be proud of it. I know I'm excited for them.”
Bradshaw, the junior transfer from Louisville, has 209 yards. His per-game average of 52.2 yards ranks sixth in the league, but he does have a Big Sky-best five rushing touchdowns.
Meanwhile, senior Brady Green continues to bounce out of tackles and produce big plays. His 34-yard run against Portland State last week, in and out of the tackle of safety Charles Manigo, was nearly the stuff of legend.
“It was kind of funny,” Green said. “We just kind of caught them in a blitz - their linebackers ran themselves out of the play, their D-line stunted, and we ran a little draw. There was nobody there for about 15 yards.
“I broke that first tackle and thought there was a chance I was going to score. Then I ran into that wall of three guys.”
Green is averaging 5.5 yards a carry, and Bradshaw is at 4.4. Together, they've scored as many TDs as Eastern has as a team this season (seven).
“Brady and Reggie did a nice job last weekend, and hopefully will continue to make yards for us, which opens up everything else,” Hauck said. “Any time you can run the ball, you control the game.”
On the “that's-not-us” side of things is Eastern Washington, which has allowed 202 rushing yards a game, worst in the Big Sky.
But in league games, the Eagles have surrendered just 115 yards an outing.
“They've played good defense in conference, as well as the Central Washington game,” Hauck said. “We've done some figuring: Throw out the Oregon State and West Virginia games, and they'd be third in the conference in total defense. Those games skewed the stats for sure.”
Eastern lost 56-17 to OSU and 52-3 to West Virginia. The Eagles surrendered 209 and 394 rushing yards to the two I-A programs.
Since then they have allowed 17 points a game.
The bad news about the Rolling Stones concert is the Grizzlies didn't get to use Washington-Grizzly Stadium all week for practice.
The good news is they practiced all week on the same surface as EWU's Woodward Field: natural grass. A break in routine isn't necessarily a bad thing.
“We'll see on Saturday,” Hauck said. “But I think our guys have been focused and tuned in. I don't think our players will allow that to be a distraction, or detract from their preparation.”
Hauck, by the way, attended the concert, and joined the chorus of rave reviews.
“That was a great event,” said the Grizzly coach. “I haven't heard anybody say anything but good things about it.”
QUICK KICKS: The Griz have been without quarterbacks coach Steve Axman this week. “He's got a personal issue he's working on. He had to take off on Tuesday, which was too bad,” Hauck said of the former Northern Arizona coach. Hauck added that Axman would return, but did not say when. Š Digital coordinates for the Eastern game are: AMC-2/K07; SlotC-9Mhz; Freq 11844.500; SR 6.148936; FEC 3/4. Bob Bonner in Las Vegas (702-648-7775) can troubleshoot if needed. Š Saturday's Big Sky Conference game between Idaho State and Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., (1:30 p.m. Mountain) will be shown live on Altitude Sports and Entertainment. It's the first of four straight Big Sky Saturdays for the channel. Altitude will show Eastern and Northern Colorado on Oct. 14, Montana State at ISU on Oct. 21 and Weber State at MSU on Oct. 28, all live. ... Altitude is also airing MSU's weekly TV show with coach Mike Kramer on Fridays and ISU's weekly show on Wednesdays. Both air at 4:30 p.m. Š Griz fans heading west are invited to the Grizzly Scholarship Association's “Pre-Game Brawl” for the Eastern game, at 6 p.m. Friday at the Quality Inn Valley Suites in Spokane. The hotel is just off I-90, by way of exit 287. Discount rates are available for Griz fans as well. ... The forecast in Cheney calls for temperatures in the high 50s and a 10 percent chance of rain.
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