“I think our team is at a distinct disadvantage,” fifth-year Griz football coach Bobby Hauck said Tuesday. “Because Bob Ford's forgotten more football than I know.
“It'll be interesting to see how they choose to play us, on both sides of the ball. The last three weeks they've had a different game plan, both offensively and defensively.”
“He has 217 victories,” said Hauck, whose team hosts Albany Saturday at 1:05 p.m. “That's just a tremendous challenge for our coaching staff to be up against a veteran like that.”
Montana quarterback Cole Bergquist said film study during the bye week showed certain defensive tendencies on the part of the Great Danes. Then the Griz watched film of Albany's 28-13 Saturday home loss to No. 15 Hofstra, and things had changed.
“They ran some totally different stuff,” Bergquist said. “Now it's just like any game - we have to be ready for everything.”
In 1999 the Great Danes jumped into Division I-AA (now the Football Championship Subdivision). They were 8-4 in 2002, when they first played at Montana - and lost 45-7. At that point Albany didn't offer athletic scholarships.
Now members of the Northeast Conference can offer the equivalent of 30 full-rides, and Albany has 23.
Whether that's enough to compete with the second-ranked team in FCS is debatable. They're 1-2 after the Hofstra loss.
“We played UMass a couple years ago (losing 40-0 in 2005), and they had a suffocating defense,” Ford said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “But they weren't nearly as talented on offense as Montana's gang is.”
Then again, the Great Danes went to then-No. 11 Delaware last season and won 17-10.
Bergquist said he has taken some ribbing about the fact that that it's been over two weeks since his last incomplete pass.
“Only about the ‘Mr. Perfect' title,” said Bergquist, who drew the headline after going 13-for-13 passing against Fort Lewis on Sept. 8. “Besides that, it's been fun. I've taken my ribbing.
“But frankly I was throwing to open guys every time. I didn't have too many passes where they were in between coverages. I was throwing to open guys, and my guys did a good job catching it.”
Bergquist ranks fourth in the FCS in passing efficiency with a rating of 183.4.
Grizzly kicker Dan Carpenter is ranked 18th in the FCS in both field goals (1.5 per game) and scoring (10 points per game). His counterpart for Albany, Jason Fralicker, is 8-for-11 and is tied for first in the FCS at 2.67 field goals per game.
The Grizzlies went for it a couple times on fourth down in their 49-0 win over Fort Lewis on Sept. 8, rather than bring Carpenter on.
“I didn't think we needed anymore points,” said Hauck after the game.
“As long as our team's doing well, I could care less,” the senior out of Helena said Tuesday.
“PATs are good,” added Hauck, to laughter. “We'll take as many of those as we can get.”
Carpenter had seven of those against Fort Lewis, giving him 332 career points. That ranks him second in Montana's scoring annals, and seventh in FCS career scoring for kickers. His 59 career field goals rank him ninth.
Former Griz kicker Chris Snyder is both UM's and the FCS career scoring leader with 394 points, and his 70 field goals rank him second all-time.
QUICK KICKS: Saturday's game is going to be a “Maroon-Out,” with UM asking all Griz fans to wear school colors to the game. Montana did the same for last season's Griz-Cat game, though the November weather may have left some wishing for a maroon down jacket. The forecast is for 67 degrees and showers possible Saturday. Š Carpenter is one of four Griz who have played 43 career games, and counting. The others are safety Van Cooper, Jr., linebacker Kyle Ryan and safety Torrey Thomas. Š The Grizzlies rank eighth as a team in kickoff returns, averaging 27.5 yards per return. Š UM is eighth in scoring offense (43 ppg), fourth in scoring defense (8.5 ppg), and fifth in total defense (220 yards per game) and net punting (39.83 yards per punt). Š Senior running back Lex Hilliard ranks eighth in the FCS in scoring at 12 points per game.
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