Looking back on the 2006 football regular season, it's been a great three months. Our experiences have been memorable, and will forever be etched in our minds for many reasons.The year started in Iowa before a capacity Big 10 Conference crowd in excess of 70,000, and will end in Missoula today with the 106th edition of the Griz-Cat rivalry - the D.A. Davidson Big Sky Classic, presented by the Montana New Stations. In between, Washington-Grizzly Stadium has hosted five more home games with an average attendance of 23,394 fans per game (tops in Division I-AA), and the Montana football team has visited places such as Iowa City, Iowa, and Greeley, Colo., for the first time in many years.
It's been a season of ups and downs, yet one that has already produced a remarkable 9-1 record. UM lost star running back Lex Hilliard to an injury before the year began, and watched a defensive unit grow into one of the best of its kind in I-AA (soon to be Football Championship Subdivision). When the offense struggled, the defense and special teams combined to pull out tough wins. When the defense had difficulties, the offense and special teams have taken up the slack. All-in-all the nine wins have been a true team effort. As the saying goes, "The whole is only as good as its parts."
Men's and women's basketball have been selected as the teams to beat by either the media or the coaches, and will provide entertainment and excitement as we head into the cold winter months.
In the classroom, it's been equally impressive as our student-athletes have a cumulative grade point average above 3.0, and our graduation rate based on student-athletes who started at Montana six years ago is at 51 percent (higher than the average of the overall UM student body). Soon, the complicated Academic Progress Rate (APR) will officially be released for this year- and unlike many schools across the country, we will not face the penalty of reduced scholarships. That is a truly remarkable statistic - and is a credit to our coaches, administrators and support staff.
There are many other reasons to be proud of the Griz, well beyond the playing field.
For example, of this year's traveling team roster of 58 players, 31 are from the state of Montana - and the list doesn't include injury losses to Hilliard (Kalispell), Ryan Wells (Hamilton) and Tyler Johnson (Stevensville). All told, there are more than 50 Montana players on the UM squad that dresses out each week for a Grizzly home game. On the two-deep depth chart, 17 of the 32 players listed on defense are from Montana - including eight of the 11 projected starters -- Kroy Biermann (Hardin), Kerry Mullan (Stevensville), Mike Murphy (Great Falls), Kyle Ryan (Billings), Loren Utterback (Fort Benton), Tuff Harris (Colstrip), Torrey Thomas (Dillon) and Colt Anderson (Butte).
On offense, 12 of 27 on the depth chart hail from Big Sky Country, of which five of 11 are starters: Mike Ferriter (Helena), Ryan Bagley (Great Falls), Colin Dow (Billings), Terran Hillesland (Sidney) and either Dan Beaudin (Noxon), Steven Pfahler (Frenchtown) or Kevin Klaboe (Billings) at tight end. Other players listed on the depth chart from Montana include Kelly Kain (Great Falls), Austin Mullins (Great Falls), Jesse Carlson (Billings), Karl Pitcher (Anaconda), Matt and Shawn Lebsock (Billings), Jace and Tyler Palmer (Missoula), Shann Schillinger (Baker), Tim Anderson (Missoula), Rob Schulte (Great Falls), Marc Mariani (Havre), Eric Michel (Billings), Andrew Schmidt (Bozeman) and Ryan Schmidt (Missoula).
It should also be noted that the Griz kicker-punter, Dan Carpenter, is from Helena, while Harris and Schulte handle many of the kick/punt return duties. Let's also not forget that head coach Bobby Hauck and safeties coach Tim Hauck are from Big Timber, and assistants Kraig Paulson (Plentywood) and Tom Hauck (Butte) are also from the state.
Off the field, players such as Jason Washington and Ryan Wells have received significant media attention for their community service efforts around town. Washington started the "Griz Make A Wish Foundation" to allow children with life-long disabilities and illness an opportunity to witness first-hand what takes place around Grizzly home football games.
Wells, meanwhile, took over a project started last year by teammate Chris Orwig called "Griz For Kids," which resulted in a semi-load of toys being collected at the UM-Cal Poly game for Christmas presents for needy youngsters in the community. Some of our former football lettermen have also kicked in with the highly-successful "Griz Kids" program whereby tickets not being used are donated back, and distributed to underprivileged youngsters. All are very worthy and commendable causes, and give us another reason to make us feel proud to be a Griz.
Our team also represents The University of Montana well on road trips. After the Iowa game, I was asked to meet an officer outside the bus as the team was getting ready to depart for the airport. Nervous of what might be ahead, I reluctantly left my seat to venture outside. Once with the officer, he proceeded to tell me that he'd been assigned to many visiting teams over the years, from Ohio State to Michigan to Notre Dame, and none were as respectful of others or as courteous as the Griz.
"I've never told anyone else that," he said as I returned to the bus. "You have great kids. You should be proud."
That same message has been reported to me and other members of the UM Athletics staff on each of our charter flights this fall - to the point where flight attendants with one of the charter companies actually ask to work the flights carrying the Grizzlies. Oftentimes, they ask for Griz caps to be a "part of the team."
Yes, it is a special time to be a Griz. Today, which is Senior Day, is a time to show those true colors and display the pride you have in your school. Dress in your maroon and silver (Remember, it's "Maroon Out" day in WGS), and get out and support your team. Regardless of today's outcome or any that follow in the playoffs, you have a lot to be proud of.
For questions, please contact Jim O'Day at The University of Montana, 406.243.5348, or via e-mail at o'dayjm@mso.umt.edu.
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