The 225-pound junior quarterback from Houston went 18-for-38 passing for 228 yards and ran for another 63 on 17 carries in a game the Lumberjacks lost to UM, 21-16, at the Walkup Skydome.
“It's definitely a difficult thing to do, to keep him in the box, and keep him from running around,” said Montana linebacker Tyler Joyce, who made a team-high 10 stops. “The main thing we did was try to keep our linebackers in the box, so he couldn't run it up inside the tackles. And keep the defensive ends outside so he couldn't run outside.
That set up NAU with a first-and-goal at the Grizzly 4, but the Lumberjacks settled for the first of three Robbie Dehaze field goals. It was a 19-yard run in which NAU center Jon Toailoa got a block on linebacker Tyler Corwin. More than one man had to spy on Kriesien.
“We didn't have necessarily a spy but we definitely had guys in the box who were just pass dropping and keeping their eyes on him at all times,” said Joyce.
Across the field, UM's Cole Bergquist also had a stellar game, completing 14 of 24 passes for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also ran 10 times for 42 yards.
It is notable that he had no turnovers against a ball-hawking NAU squad that led the country with 16 interceptions. He took a big hit in the third quarter while throwing out of the end zone, and left for a play, but returned to rush twice for 14 yards, and complete two passes for another 39.
“He was a warrior out there today,” said Hilliard. “To get hit like that and then come back and lead the team, it's amazing. He did a tremendous job today.”
Kriesien is one reason Montana coach Bobby Hauck rates this Lumberjack team as their best, despite their 6-4 record.
“My personal opinion is that this team is better than their '03 team,” said the Grizzlies' fifth-year head coach, who was an NAU assistant in 1993-94. “The quarterback's special. The schedule may keep them out of the playoffs but they are without a doubt in my mind a playoff-caliber football team.
“They're the best NAU team I've seen. Much better than when I coached here.”
That didn't keep Jerome Souers, Northern Arizona's 10th-year head coach, from dropping to 0-10 against the Grizzlies, his former team.
“They have a lot of tradition,” began Souers, who was at UM from 1986-97. “I've seen three different head coaches there and they recruit good players. They're very well-supported and the kids understand the tradition. We're attempting to build the same thing.
“I suppose my epitaph may be, ‘He died trying.' But I ain't going to give up. I'm going to keep trying.”
The Lumberjacks will rue Montana's two smart, 80-yard drives in the third quarter, but also their own mistakes.
In the fourth quarter they committed penalties on four straight plays - three false starts and a personal foul.
Kriesien quick-kicked for 57 yards on third-and-29 from the NAU 17.
“It's just some gamesmanship,” Souers said of the false starts. “They were stemming (shifting) their front using our line of scrimmage calls. It happens in a game. When you're veteran in that situation you handle it better.”
The Lumberjacks have replaced three injured offensive linemen, though three seniors start up front.
Souers was also hoping to use the deep ball to Alex Watson, whose longest gain came on a screen pass covering 40 yards.
“The ones we needed to hit today were some of the deep throws,” said Souers. “I think we had them three times and missed every one of them. Credit our opponent, and we have go back and get better at it.”
Montana dodged a few bullets. The Grizzlies roughed Dehaze on a field goal he missed, giving NAU the ball at the UM 14. But on the next play Kriesien tossed an errant pitch past Alex Henderson and Karl Pitcher recovered for the Griz.
There were also a pair of personal foul penalties, one coming on NAU's lone scoring drive. Of course that drive began when Hilliard was either stuffed on fourth-and-short or given a bad spot, depending on how you look at it.
“There were a lot of things that were frustrating me at that point,” said Hauck. “We went for it on fourth down because we thought we could make it, and we didn't. They made a good play.
“But you know, when you think you've got the game in hand, you convert that fourth down and you get a real chance to make it hard, hard, hard for them to win. That is frustrating.”
The Grizzlies ended the day with a two-game lead in the Big Sky standings, with both NAU and Montana State losing Saturday.
“Every win's big,” said defensive end Kroy Biermann, who had another stellar day with a fumble forced, fumble recovery and four tackles, including a sack. “It's big for us to be 8-0 right now. It's good but we understand it and we're ready to go back to work next week.”
QUICK KICKS: Take away Henderson's 72-yard burst and he ran 15 times for 54 yards. Š Hilliard needs one more TD to match UM's career record for total touchdowns of 48, set by Yohance Humphery from 1998-2001. Hilliard has 45 rushing and two receiving. Š Montana's Loren Utterback and Colt Anderson each broke up two passes. Š The Griz have won 20 of their last 21 games. Š Four of Griz receiver Eric Allen's 17 catches have gone for touchdowns. Bagley's TD catch was his sixth.
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