With good reason. A special teams play was key to Montana State's 27-20 win over Montana in 2003: Corey Smith took the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. The next year the Bobcats threw for a touchdown out of punt formation, though they lost the game 38-22 to the Griz.
Last November Grizzly return man Rob Schulte nearly broke a kickoff for a TD, though Montana didn't capitalize.
This year UM's special teams, with Schulte, punt returner Tuff Harris and kicker/punter Dan Carpenter, have been exceptional. Heading into Saturday's 106th Griz-Cat game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium - kickoff is at 12:37 p.m. Mountain - UM leads the Big Sky Conference in punt returns, is fourth in kickoff returns and is second in net punting.
Montana State's rank in each category: fourth, eighth and ninth.
“And on punt team, we roll punt,” Kramer said Monday. “We've had three of them blocked - we hold our breath every time. We've had four guys punt this season, and we'll probably have four guys punt Saturday.
“It's a fun sidebar to this game.”
Montana coach Bobby Hauck was told at UM's weekly press conference that Kramer didn't plan on kicking it to either of UM's leading return men.
“They can go for it on fourth down,” Hauck answered. “But they have to kick off, if they score or to start the game. Whatever.”
Not that Hauck doesn't appreciate Kramer's way around a microphone.
“I find him as hilarious as the rest of you,” he said. “He's a funny guy. He's a good guy - he's a fun guy to go drink beer with.”
In the meantime Harris still leads the Big Sky (and ranks sixth in I-AA) at 16.8 yards per punt return. He got his second touchdown of the season in Montana's 53-21 win at Northern Colorado Saturday, scooting 56 yards for the score.
When Harris was asked when he knew he had a touchdown, Hauck cut in and said, “Wednesday.”
“We looked at it on film, and coach made some adjustments,” added Harris. “And he made a good call during the game. The players executed well. Coach mentioned that if I didn't beat the punter and the three guys they had protecting, I might be looking for a different job.
“We did well. It was a good scheme. It set up like we game-planned.”
After the game Hauck said there was more for the taking.
“We thought we had a chance to make the punt return a little bit of a track meet,” he said. “They had a couple kids make plays (usually, speedy Jeff Vaden) where they were really, probably the last man. Our punt return was pretty good.”
The passing game was also pretty good, though it was overshadowed some by a very potent running game. It was with some surprise that senior quarterback Josh Swogger looked at the stat sheet and saw he'd thrown just 16 times (It was actually 18; two completions were credited to receiver Eric Allen).
“We weren't throwing a whole lot, but it seemed like we were connecting on a lot of stuff,” said Swogger, who - with former Griz quarterback Craig Ochs watching from the sidelines - was 11-for-18 for 180 yards against the Bears. “They were running with it very well after the catch. And the line did a great job. I think we took one sack all day - I should've checked off on that one, too.”
The turning point came in the final five minutes of the first half, when UM twice struck for TDs to build a 30-14 lead. The hurry-up offense got things going in a hurry.
“When we get into two-minute, we get into our base stuff and it seems like we operate the best when we're doing that,” Swogger said. “We were just kind of hungry after last week. The receivers came to me and just told me it was going to be a big week.”
QUICK KICKS: The guys over at Web site egriz.com are organizing a “Maroon Out” for Saturday's game. Along the lines of Louisville's “Black Out,” all fans are asked to where maroon to the Griz-Cat battle. Š Montana fell to No. 4 in this week's Gridiron Power Index (GPI). First is Massachusetts, and defending I-AA champion Appalachian State is No. 2. North Dakota State, still ineligible for the postseason because it is a transitional I-AA member - the Bison will be playoff-ready in 2009 - is No. 3. Š The main reason former walk-on Bobby Daly (Helena Capital) has 98 tackles and the next-highest tackler (Marcoses LeBlanc) for MSU has 50: Daly is the “Mike” linebacker for the Bobcats when they play their Flex defense, and they're playing Flex a lot. Š Bobcat QB Jack Rolovich is 4-0 as the starter. Š Don't plan on seeing the unbeaten San Diego Toreros (No. 14 in the Sports Network's Top 25) on the ESPNews I-AA playoff selection show Sunday at 11 a.m. They have a Nov. 25 game with UC-Davis, and are headed to the Gridiron Classic on Dec. 2.
Griz-Cat kickoff moved to 12:37 p.m.
You can sleep in a little bit, Grizzly fans - Saturday's 106th Griz-Cat game has been moved back 30 minutes to accomodate those who plan to tune in by ESPN GamePlan.
Second-ranked Montana and 15th-ranked MSU will kick off their annual “Brawl of the Wild” at 12:37 p.m. Mountain, inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The Brawl will decide the Big Sky Conference's automatic berth in the I-AA playoffs.
The game will be shown live across the state on Montana's News Stations, including KPAX in Missoula. It is also offered by ESPN through its pay-per-view GamePlan programming. It's slated to be on the same channel as the West Carolina-Florida game, which airs at 10 a.m. Mountain.
“We realize there are thousands of alumni and fans of Montana and Montana State outside of Montana who plan on watching this game on ESPN GamePlan,” Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton said. “By moving the start time back 30 minutes, it will allow those fans to hopefully see the entire game.”
Fans can order ESPN GamePlan by contacting their cable or satellite provider. The game is also available on the internet at www.bigskytv.org, and CSTV is showing the game on tape dalay at 9:30 p.m. Mountain.
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