The junior from San Clemente, Calif., had one of the more impressive outings by a Grizzly quarterback in some time. Bergquist's 13-for-13 day passing the ball was all the buzz in Montana's 49-0 victory over Fort Lewis College on Saturday.
But afterwards, he was Mr. Cool.
His coaches were a little more complimentary.
“When you go 100 percent, that's a pretty good day,” said Montana head coach Bobby Hauck. “I don't know if I've been around too many of those.”
Craig Ochs was “Capt. Consistency” when he played quarterback for the Grizzlies from 2003-04. Now he's the quarterbacks coach at UM.
Ochs, who completed 68.7 percent of his passes during his senior season, was one of those most impressed by Bergquist.
“Something we preach about in the quarterback room is efficiency,” Ochs said. “And obviously you can't be any more efficient than perfect.”
The closest Ochs ever came to being perfect was an 8-for-9 effort in the final game of the 2003 season. He only played half the game, a playoff loss to Western Illinois. After that his next best outing was a 26-of-31 peformance in a win over Sac State in 2004.
Backup running back Greg Coleman scored his first career touchdown as a Grizzly on Saturday. But if you missed it, that's OK.
Four Montana running backs scored as the ground game looked, arguably, the healthiest it's ever been.
UM's hefty totals (257 yards, six rushing TDs by four backs and the use of 10 ball carriers) are hard to top.
The last time the Griz rushed for more yards came last Nov. 11 in a 53-21 victory over Northern Colorado. They had 289 that day - minus Coleman and Lex Hilliard.
On Sept. 27, 2003, the Griz had five players rush for TDs in a 41-28 win over Idaho: Jefferson Heidelberger, JR Waller, Justin Hartman, Hilliard and Justin Green.
“It didn't matter who we put in the game, they played their tail off,” Hauck said. “I'm excited for our team, to know that we can go into our depth and guys are eager to play.”
“We're stacked at running back,” said Coleman, whose 9-yard burst gave UM a 28-0 lead in the second quarter. “We have great running backs. Everyone offers something different. It's just awesome.”
Hilliard scored three touchdowns, but Coleman's probably felt sweeter.
A transfer from Iowa State, he played in one game last year before a foot injury sidelined him for the season. Coleman's 35 yards on nine totes was his best in a maroon and silver jersey.
“It was a long time coming, man,” Coleman said. “I just had to keep on working and keep on working.”
“It's not the last,” he added. “We're just getting started.”
Fort Lewis' Nick Becker offered a little insight for what it's like to play for a Division II team like the Skyhawks.
Becker, the team's starting end on defense and its punter, says you get used to the double duty, even odd combos like his.
“You've got to suck it up,” he said. “We're conditioned for it, we're ready to go, you've got to do what you've got to do. If it's playing two positions, if coach asks, we'll do it.”
Fort Lewis head coach Ed Rifilato agreed, pointing out his team receives just eight in-state scholarships compared to 63 for the Grizzlies.
“We don't have a lot of depth,” Rifilato said. “We brought 47 guys on one bus. It's like a baseball team, almost.”
In Rifilato's words, Becker “worked overtime today.”
Becker punted 11 times for 423 yards - an average of 38.5 yards per punt. His long was a 46-yarder. Not bad for a guy who's almost undersized for a punter.
Becker (6-foot, 215 pounds) did have a couple of low liners from the shadow of his own goal posts.
“He's not really a punter. Did you watch him kick?” Rifilato joked. “Naw, he did a great job. We really do a lot of rugby kicking. We only did it once or twice. But he does have a good foot, when he can get a hold of it. Especially with that big 30-mile per hour wind behind him.”
Notes: Because of windy conditions only two Silvertip Skydivers were able to land inside the stadium before the game. ... Chicago's Benny the Bull made a guest appearance at the game. ... Freshman TE Rob Overton, of San Leandro, Calif., caught his first career pass as a Grizzly. ... Senior LB Tyler Joyce moved past former safety Trey Young (250, 1999-2002) for 15th place in career tackles, at 252. ... Hilliard has 3,078 career rushing yards. ... Receiver Ryan Bagley moved into 21st place for career receiving yards at UM. He has 1,332, moving him past Shannon Cabunoc (1,317, 1988-92). ... Fort Lewis is now 0-6 against FCS competition, with three shutouts. The Skyhawks play at Weber State on Nov. 10. ... Griz tackle Cody Balogh started his 31st straight game.
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