“It was quiet,” said Hauck, whose club saw a 16-game win streak in Big Sky Conference games end on a muddy track in Ogden, Utah. “We didn't have to emphasize the point: We lost the game.”
There were plenty of things that went wrong at Stewart Stadium, including the weather. A sparse crowd, generously announced at 3,753, saw the Wildcats come up with four turnovers and four touchdown passes in what should be a landmark win for the program. Not that many people saw it.
“Then there had to be - I don't know what the announced attendance was - I would estimate 1,500 people at the game, maybe.”
Now the Grizzlies, who'd won 25 straight regular-season games dating back to a 2006 loss at Bowl Subdivision program Iowa, have to regroup Saturday at Eastern Washington, in front of a sellout crowd.
The Eagles are also coming off a loss, which dropped them to No. 23 in the Sports Network poll (Montana fell from No. 3 to No. 12). It's hard to tell what to make of the Eagles, who gave up 623 passing yards in a 47-36 loss at Portland State. The game is certainly no less important.
“I think it's about the same as if we'd both won last week,” said Griz quarterback Cole Bergquist. “It changes the scenario around a little bit, but we know it's a big game either way.”
Hauck said before the season that this two-game road swing would tell a lot about his Grizzlies, who lost 24 seniors off last year's 11-1 team.
“Two really good teams, on the road,” said Hauck. “We certainly don't want to come out of those 0-2 in the league, which would put our backs to the wall.”
Hauck is one of many who subscribes to the axiom that games are won in the trenches, and specifically that running the ball and stopping the run are keys.
But the Grizzlies' trend of surrendering 10 sacks and registering none in the last two games is a disturbing one.
“We haven't got there (to the QB). I'm not so sure that we've become poor pass rushers all of a sudden. ... Weber did some unbalanced things (on the offensive line) that got us out of some of our pressure.”
“We had pressure sometimes, but it wasn't as much as we needed to be there,” noted defensive end Mike Stadnyk. “We need to work on that this week, to be in his face a lot more.”
Stadnyk refers to Eastern Washington quarterback Matt Nichols, a junior in his third year of starting for the Eagles. Nichols threw for 418 yards in the loss at Portland State and for 451 last year against the Griz.
By comparison, Weber State quarterback Cam Higgins' 237 yards were pedestrian. But he made accurate throws the few times he was hit, and Nichols made a ton of such throws a year ago.
“He's the offensive player of the year in the conference for a reason,” said Hauck of Nichols. “We got after him pretty good with the pass rush and hit him a bunch, but he delivers the ball accurately and generally when he's under duress.”
Bergquist, meanwhile, was sacked seven times in Ogden.
“Basically there were seven different things,” Hauck said. “Seven different mistakes, which again, I get back to negative plays. You can't go backwards.”
Nichols' 451-yard performance against UM was in a game Eastern dominated statistically but lost 24-23 on a last-minute field goal by Dan Carpenter. The Eagles had many big plays - Aaron Boyce caught a school-record 17 passes - but the Griz had the last ones.
“The first one that pops out is us converting on that fourth down, throwing to my buddy Bags on the outside,” said Bergquist, whose 27-yard pass to Ryan Bagley kept the game-winning drive alive. “And him kind of saving me a little bit, making a great (diving) catch.
“I remember it was a close game, but we've played a lot of close games since then. I'm just excited to play them again this week.”
Bergquist was wearing a Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp shirt while he answered questions at Tuesday's press conference. He got it from Bagley, who's off to a tryout with the Arena Football Chicago Rush this week.
After the Weber loss Hauck spoke briefly to the media present before heading upstairs at Stewart Stadium for a radio interview. When he came back from that, a young man was outside the elevator.
“He said, ‘You're the head coach? You're awesome,' ” Hauck said. “And I go, ‘Well, who the hell are you?' ”
It was Trevyn Smith, who'd just scored two touchdowns and run for 158 yards for Weber.
“I said, ‘Well, you're awesome too,' ” Hauck said. “ ‘I told everybody who would listen you were the best player in the game today.'
“And I told him, ‘I thought you were taller.' What a great kid. Unbelievable. He was real complimentary about us. He told me we're the toughest team he's played, we're where we're supposed to be Š he's a great kid.”
QUICK KICKS: The first Gridiron Power Index (GPI) came out Tuesday, and has Montana ranked eighth, Weber tied for 13th and Eastern unranked. The GPI is used to help select the Football Championship Subdivision's postseason tournament field. Š Weber State moved into No. 24 in the AnyGivenSaturday.com poll but has yet to move into the FCS Coaches Poll. Eastern is No. 19 in the AGS and No. 22 in the FCS Coaches Poll. Š Weber moved up to No. 6 among FCS schools in the Sagarin Ratings, while Montana dropped from No. 1 to No. 10. Š Eastern is No. 30 among FCS schools in the Sagarin, which has James Madison No. 1 (and No. 70 among all Division I programs). Š Satellite coordinates remain the same for the Eastern Washington game, which like all the conference games will be shown live on KPAX and its MTN sister stations: AMC 15, 105 degrees W; transponder K02, slot A9; downlink frequency 11726.5Mhz; SR 6.148936; and FEC þ. Š The last two Grizzly games at Cheney have attracted by far the biggest crowds in Woodward Stadium history: 11,583 in 2006 and 10,754 in 2004. Š The forecast calls for 52 degrees and sunny skies Saturday in Cheney. Š There are seats available on the Grizzly Scholarship Association's two booster buses to Cheney. They leave at 7 a.m. Saturday and return following the game. Cost is $105 per person. For more info call Brynn Molloy at (406) 243-5405.
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