Like Ochs in 2004, Swogger quarterbacked the Griz to a perfect record in Big Sky Conference play and deep into the playoffs - UM made the 2006 semifinals for the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, losing to Massachusetts 19-17.
Like Ochs, Swogger earned a berth in the NFL Combine, the yearly scout-fest in Indianapolis, as the drills quarterback.
What, no fight? That was possibly the high point of the now-defunct Las Vegas Classic, a senior all-star game that featured Ochs and fellow UM player Justin Green after the '04 season. It ended with little offense, no stats, and a dust-up between opposing assistant coaches.
The Texas vs. The Nation game may have lacked set boundaries - Swogger, who was an Ohioan before he became a Washingtonian and a Montanan, played for Texas - or the extracurriculars. But it turns out El Paso was the place to be.
“It was really good,” Swogger said of the game. “They did a really good job. The guy that runs it used to run the Hula Bowl, and he put together I thought a really good game. There were a lot of good players.”
That includes Swogger, who rated highly in online scouting reports during practice leading up to the game, and Michael Jefferson, a Montana State receiver. In the actual contest, played Feb. 2, Swogger completed five of nine passes for 66 yards, with no picks and no safeties. All three of Jefferson's catches (for 31 yards) came from Swogger.
Swogger had a fumble that led to a Nation touchdown, and Texas lost 24-20. But there was a good crowd (21,528) and good feelings all around.
“I just got a lot of positive feedback, and I'm excited about where I'm at and where I'm headed,” said Swogger. “I'm leaving on Wednesday for Indianapolis. I've just got to show up at the Combine, have a good time and good things will happen.”
He is being literal. The last time he ran a 40-yard dash, when he got to UM in 2005 and was still carrying some extra Pac-10 ballast, Swogger clocked 5.1 seconds. So since January he and his wife Angie have been living just outside Minneapolis. She toils for Abercrombie; each day he heads for Velocity Sports Performance.
The occasional throwing session breaks up the morning speed work and weight training in the afternoon. Swogger says he weighs around 230, which the scouts seem to like (he weighed as much as 250 at WSU). They no doubt like this arm strength. Now he just needs them to like his 40 time.
“I think it's going to be way better than that,” he said. “I think the scouts are going to be pleasantly surprised.”
That would be fitting. Swogger came to UM with enough publicity to bury any QB, then struggled at times in offensive coordinator Rob Phenicie's run-and-shoot offense. Some fickle fans felt he underperformed.
“I wish I had one more year,” Swogger said Sunday. “Look what Ochs did his second year in that offense compared to his first year. He had career stats his second year. The more you learn it, the more comfortable you get, and the more comfortable the receivers get with the quarterback. I loved it. I had a good time with it.”
Another year, and maybe Swogger would've been going to the upper-tier all-star games, or have been one of 18 quarterbacks picked to more or less compete at the NFL Combine. Instead, he'll be in Indy all week while Idaho State's Matt Gutierrez, who had lesser statistics in 2006, will be gone in a couple days.
Things have a way of working out. Swogger is the last of an era: No longer can BCS/I-A players drop down for one year. They have to have two years of eligibility left.
So he and Jefferson will have to satisfied with the one Griz-Cat game they were able to play in. It was a topic of conversation in El Paso.
“It was both our first years there, and we didn't know just how intense the rivalry was,” Swogger said. “We were both kind of surprised by it. But that's the reason we went to those schools. They both compete and get after it.”
Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 523-5247, or at fneighbor@missoulian.com.
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