What to do? Put a couple more seniors front and center - or slant and curl - and let them get things done. That's what has to happen for the Griz as they reload after their 11-1 football season of 2007.
That has been the pattern. Jefferson Heidelberger and Levander Segars gave way in 2005 to Jon Talmage, who saw Bagley, Allen and Craig Chambers step into the forefront in 2006. Now it's time for Mike Ferriter and Rob Schulte to shine.
“As far as our passing game, the quarterbacks and receivers have been throwing together for years,” said Schulte, a 5-foot-9, 180-pounder from Great Falls. “We're just used to each other. I guess we're just going with the flow.”
Schulte and Bergquist, if you've forgotten, shared their first collegiate touchdown. They hooked up on a 5-yard TD pass against Oregon in the second game of the 2005 season. Since then Schulte has caught one other touchdown, at Idaho State last fall.
It came shortly after Bagley suffered a broken arm in that game. Bergquist again made the pass. Now Schulte has to step in for Bagley again.
“That's college football,” sixth-year Griz coach Bobby Hauck said. “You get your four years of eligibility and move on. You get, at every position, attrition of one sort or another. Hopefully it's seniors graduating.
“So you bring guys in that have a couple seasons under their belt to replace them. That's the situation we're in with Mike and Rob, and Marc Mariani, Ty Palmer and Tony Kazmierczack. The expectation is that when it's your turn that you make plays.”
Ferriter, 6-1 and 210 out of Helena, is sitting on 97 receptions and 1,269 career yards heading into his senior year. That's despite missing parts of two seasons with injury.
Schulte has 37 career catches for 402 yards.
“They're both having good springs,” said Hauck, who has another senior in Matt Troxel, who's out with a leg injury. “Mike's having some class conflicts (read: organic chemistry, a pre-med requisite), and being a senior he's got certain things to take care of.
“Rob, he's had a great spring. He probably had his best practice as a Grizzly on Tuesday.”
“It was one of those days where you get some balls thrown to you,” said Schulte. “And you have the opportunity to make plays.”
“In spring ball we've kind of worked some kinks out,” said Ferriter. “We've still got a lot of things to work out but we're getting there. As a corps we've got to mesh together a little bit, and get on the same page with our quarterbacks here and there. But I think we'll be all right.”
Montana, working toward a 16th straight Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth and 11th Big Sky Conference title won or shared, needs its receivers to be all right to get a jump on a difficult 2008 schedule. The Griz open at powerful Cal Poly on Sept. 6.
Schulte likes the crew that is in place.
“There are a lot of guys who know what it means to be a Griz,” he said. “Just hard workers. It's a blue-collar crew, I think. We lost a lot of guys, but we definitely have a lot of guys capable of stepping up.”
QUICK KICKS: After Ferriter and Schulte, Troxel has the most career receptions with 19. Junior tight ends Dan Beaudin and Steven Pfahler follow with 18 each. Mariani, a junior, had all of his 15 career receptions last season. Š The Griz went without pads Thursday ahead of an off day on Friday and their spring scrimmage at 1 p.m. Saturday in Polson. Š Pfahler, out of Frenchtown, is nursing bruised ribs and a bruised kidney. Troxel has a leg injury and won't play Saturday. Š There is a “Greet the Griz” function at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Point Spread sports bar, below Ricciardi's restaurant located at mile marker 6 on Highway 35 on the east shore of Flathead Lake. Fans can meet many of the Grizzly Football coaches and UM athletic administration, and there will be food and live music. Š General admission for Saturday's scrimmage is $5 for adults and $3 for children, and the postscrimmage barbeque at Boettcher Park in Polson is $10 for adults and $5 for children 10 and under.
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