Griz Game Day 12 05 15

NO. 16 MONTANA AT NO. 2 NORTH DAKOTA STATE • KICKOFF: 1:30 P.M. • ONLINE: ESPN3 • SATURDAY, DEC. 5, 2015

WHITTED, LIKE ‘HIT IT’

Two-year starting safety is the brains of the Grizzlies’ defensive secondary

TOMMY MARTINO, Missoulian

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A2 — Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015

GRIZZLY GAME DAY | CONFERENCE CAPSULES

AROUND THE BIG SKY Montana (8-4) at North Dakota State (9-2)‌ Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

FargoDome (19,000, FieldTurf) Internet: ESPN3 The Records: Montana is 8-4 and finished the Big Sky regular season at 6-2 in league play. North Dakota State finished the regular season at 9-2, and finished the Missouri Valley regular season at 7-1.

The Series: The all-time series between the two programs is tied at 4-4.

Last Meeting: For the Grizzlies, the tried-and-true story of home-field advantage held, as Montana beat North Dakota State, 38-35, in August in front of 26,472 fans — a Washington-Grizzly Stadium record. With two seconds left in the game, Montana tailback Joey Counts had a 1-yard touchdown, capping a sequence that saw the Grizzlies drive 80 yards in 16 plays. The game featured a quarterback battle, with Montana starter Brady Gustafson and Bison starter Carson Wentz combining for 632 yards and five touchdowns. Gustafson owned the battle, throwing for 434 yards and three touchdowns in his first collegiate start.

Gustafson’s first touchdown pass was to Jamaal Jones, a 7-yard score that tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter.

A 62-yard pass from Gustafson to Ellis Henderson tied the game at 28-28 in third quarter. The Grizzlies ran 92 plays for 544 yards.

Up Next: The winner of this game will advance to face the winner of Northern Iowa-Portland State in the quarterfinals.

The Coaches: Montana coach Bob Stitt is 8-4 with the Grizzlies in his first season.

North Dakota State coach Chris Klieman is 24-3 in his second season with the Bison.

Klieman led NDSU to the 2014 national championship, and was an assistant coach on the program’s three other title teams.

TOM BAUER/Missoulian‌

Montana wide receiver Ellis Henderson pulls away from NDSU’s Jordan Champion on a 62-yard catch for a Grizzly touchdown in Missoula back in August.

Notes: Montana defensive end Tyrone Holmes finished the season as an all-Big Sky first team defensive end, and is a finalist for the STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Year... Montana placed three defensive players on the first team: Holmes, defensive tackles Caleb Kidder and outside linebacker Herbert Gamboa... Montana wide receiver Jamaal Jones was an all-Big

Sky wide receiver... Montana tied with 2015 Big Sky champion Southern Utah with the most all-Big Sky mentions, as 12 different players were recognized for their contribution... Holmes continues to lead the nation in sacks, with 17 total (15 solo sacks)...

This will be the third time in two seasons the Bison and Grizzlies will play. The two played a regular-season game in Fargo in

2014, which ended in a 22-10 North Dakota State victory... Montana quarterback Brady Gustafson threw for 434 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opening win over NDSU... Montana has won at least one playoff game for the second consecutive season... The Grizzlies have won at least one game in 13 playoff appearances.

See CAPSULES, Page A7

Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015 — A3

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A4 — Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015

GRIZZLY GAME DAY | JUSTIN WHITTED

From Cali to ‘cow town’ Whitted found niche in Griz secondary AJ MAZZOLINI ajmazzolini@missoulian.com‌

‌Justin Whitted remembers his first view of Missoula, Montana.

A 17-year-old from the heart of Los Angeles, Whitted knew of Montana only what he’d seen in the movies. Jokes mostly — dusty plains, podunk, insignificant.

“I came up here on my recruiting trip not knowing what to expect,” said Whitted, now a fifth-year senior free safety on the Montana football team, “thinking Montana, must be a bunch of cows and flat land.”

Instead, as the mountains gave way on either side, he saw a bowl of lights welcoming his flight from a serene valley below. He hadn’t expected many lights.

“Oh wow, this is actually a little city,” he thought, intrigued from his gazing port thousands of feet up.

The first sight may have grabbed him, but a weekend in Missoula back in late 2009 affirmed his decision. The sheltered mountain town a world away from the streets of LA would be his home for the next half decade.

Los Angeles was a boiling vat of racial tensions in the spring of 1992 when Rick and Audrey Whitted’s baby boy was born.

Just two weeks prior, a black man by the name of Rodney King was severely beaten during a traffic stop and arrest.

When white officers were acquitted of assault and excessive force charges that April, the ruling fueled the “Los Angeles Riots” in South Central LA, an area that included the Whitted family’s home in the Crenshaw District.

Further violence nearly reached the family’s doorstep a few years later when an unrelated shooting occurred just

TOMMY MARTINO, Missoulian‌

Montana strong safety Justin Whitted eyes the South Dakota State offense before a play. Montana beat South Dakota State 24-17 in the first round of the FCS playoff’s in Washington-Grizzly Stadium last Saturday. down the block. With that, the Whitted’s packed and moved beyond the confines of the city to South Bay. There the junior Whitted prospered and grew into a tremendous athlete. A football and track star, he enrolled in Redondo Union High, among the largest high schools in the state at close to 3,000 students.

The family yearned for a better environment for their son, who soon transferred to the much smaller and private St. Bernard High School in West Los Angeles

where he would finish his schooling and football career. The school, with its Roman Catholic affiliation, was close to one-tenth the size of Redondo Union.

Almost a little too small, figured Whitted.

“They kind of conned me into it, told me it was 500 or 600 (students),” he chuckled.

Whitted was a force on the football field, drawing senior captain honors before his final prep season and allleague recognition following it. He played both wide receiver and defensive back.

His athleticism — Whitted earned three letters in football and two in track — and his superior instincts — he had 17 career interceptions — made for quite a few phone calls with college recruiters. Only Montana and Boise State came ringing with NCAA Division I offers though.

“When I got up here, the people were just so nice and welcoming to a young brother from California,” Whitted said. “I thought that was so cool.”

See WHITTED, Page A6

Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015 — A5

GRIZZLY GAME DAY | STRENGTHS

THE EDGE ‌Missoulian reporter AJ MAZZOLINI assess the strengths of both teams

QUARTERBACK: Three months ago the Bison got the nod here over the Griz because of experience. This time around, Montana’s Brady Gustafson is the experienced one while NDSU will start redshirt freshman Easton Stick in place of injured Carson Wentz.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Senior Joe Haeg has continued to be a rock on the edge of the Bison line. The All-American left tackle and soon-to-be NFL draft pick is making his 41st straight start and 47th of his career. Consider the blind side covered.

RUNNING BACK: John Nguyen has three straight 100-yard performances for UM, but the Bison are running the ball down teams’ throats. Since Stick took over as full-time starter Oct. 24, NDSU is averaging 313 yards on the ground per game. About 225 of that is from the backs.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TE: The Griz have developed an inside game to match their outside prominence in recent weeks with Ben Roberts and upstart Josh Horner gashing the middle of the field. Combine that with vertical threats Jamaal Jones and Ellis Henderson and there’s no secondary in the country that can keep them quiet for a full 60 minutes.

DEFENSIVE LINE: FCS Defensive Player of the Year finalist Tyrone Holmes had another three-sack day last week against South Dakota State — his third of the year — and now has 17 on the year. The potent pass rush of the Griz vs. the brick wall O-line of NDSU may be the most interesting matchup Saturday.

LINEBACKERS: For the second time this year the Griz are likely to face the Bison without one of their starting LBs after Kendrick Van Ackeren broke his forearm against SDSU. With UM’s leading tackler out, a team constant is suddenly a question mark. On the other side, first-year starting MLB Nick DeLuca has shined bright in a 96-tackle campaign.

CB/SAFETY: It depends: how healthy is All-Missouri Valley corner CJ Smith? He missed the teams’ first meeting and is coming off a clean-up surgery on the same knee. If he’s healthy, the combination of he and Jordan Champion is strong. If not, it goes to the Griz who have seven picks in the past four games.

Toss up for now.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Daniel Sullivan has hit his last 10 straight field goals, including a season best from 44 yards against Montana State in a four-field goal day. Bison punter Ben LeCompte averages 46.1 yards per boot, second best in the country. Call it a draw.

INTANGIBLES: The Bison own the postseason experience, having played into the quarterfinals in the past five years and won it all the past four. What’s more, this game is in Fargo and here’s betting NDSU is still a bit peeved about that game in August. The Griz climbed the mountain once; doing so again is an even more daunting task.

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A6 — Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015

GRIZZLY GAME DAY | CONTINUED FROM PAGE A4 JUSTIN WHITTED No. 31 Year: R-Sr. Position: FS Height: 6-1 Weight: 195 Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.

Whitted Continued

Montana’s scholarship offer was contingent on timing. The Griz didn’t have a place for him on the 2010 team.

He would need to delay his enrollment until the following January and join the team in the spring for drills after a “grey shirt” year.

Whitted ended up spending even more time away from the field when he tore the labrum in his shoulder before the next season opened. He added a redshirt year right away.

“Yeah, it was weird,” said Whitted, who went nearly three years between football games. “You had to find something else to do.”

He appeared in five games in 2012 in spot duty, making just three tackles with a fumble recovery. In 2013 he saw action in all 11 games and made 18 tackles with another recovery.

His junior season, 2014, is where the 6-foot-1, 195-pounder began to shine.

Whitted started 12 games and was the team’s seventh-leading tackler with 63 stops. He added a pair of interceptions while leading the defensive secondary along with senior Matt Hermanson.

But injuries started to wear on Whitted once more. He dislocated his other shoulder in a game against Northern Colorado that September and missed the following week’s game. He put off surgery on the joint to fix another labrum issue until after the season.

The surgery cost Whitted all of spring practices earlier this year.

“J-Wit has played a lot of ball for us,” said defensive secondary coach Jason Semore. “He’s getting to that point in his career where he’s struggling with a lot of injuries. Week to week we’re kinda piecing him together.

“We want J-Wit on the field as much as we can obviously, but we’ve also got to be smart about it.”

More injuries wiped out one full game

KURT WILSON/Missoulian‌

Montana safety Justin Whitted breaks up a pass to Sacramento State’s Nnamdi Agude while Jeremiah Kose closes in on the play last season. this season with chunks of a few others, but the Griz have lots of reserve talent at safety this year. Fellow senior Eric Johnson has been close to a timeshare with Whitted in the second half of the season.

Johnson has 37 tackles to Whitted’s 36.

Semore said Montana was able to build its depth with Whitted forced to sit out spring ball during his recovery. The positives of such a move have shown with each successive game.

“The more game reps these other guys have taken throughout the season, the more comfortable you are giving them more,” the coach said.

It doesn’t mean they don’t miss Whitted on the field. The team’s regular starter has a leadership quality that can’t be ignored, Semore said, especially in the

clutch as the year has drawn nearer to its conclusion.

Among the oldest players on the team, now a few months shy of his 24th birthday, Whitted brings an intangible factor to Montana’s defense.

“Yamen (Sanders) is really savvy as far as what we’re doing in our defense, but J-Wit is really smart about what the opponent is trying to do,” Semore explained, comparing Whitted to his teammate and starting strong safety.

“He’s maybe not as athletic as Eric and Yamen, but he compensates for it with knowledge of what the offense is trying to do.

“J-Wit is special in that way. He’s intellectually the best guy back there.”

Though his body may be trying to opt out of such a violent sport,

Whitted’s brain has never stopped working. It extends beyond the sidelines at Washington-Grizzly Stadium too.

He won’t be trekking home to California quite yet when the season ends this winter. There’s one more year to go in his Master’s of Business Administration study, the followup to a communications undergraduate degree Whitted finished last year.

It’s bittersweet to think that football may be coming to an end, Whitted said, but that just means the sun and the sand of southern California are calling his name.

“Miss it pretty bad,” Whitted said during a football practice this week, Missoula’s temperatures dipping into the teens. “Can’t trade the beach for anything — and the sun. It’s too cold out here for me.”

Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015 — A7

GRIZZLY GAME DAY | CONTINUED FROM PAGE A2

Capsules Continued

North Dakota State against the Big Sky Conference: North Dakota State opened the season with a loss to the Big Sky Conference, but made up for it later in the season with two wins over Big Sky teams that finished the season with records above .500. The Bison defeated Weber State, 41-14, in the second game of the season. Weber State defeated Montana in the regular season. Also, NDSU beat in-state rival North Dakota 34-9 in the Fargodome.

Northern Iowa (8-4) at Portland State (9-2)‌ Saturday, 8:05 p.m.

Providence Park (21,144 FieldTurf) Internet: ESPN3 The Records: Portland State finished the regular season with a record of 9-2, and a record of 6-2 in Big Sky play.

Northern Iowa has a record of 8-4, with a record of 5-3 in Missouri Valley play.

The Series: It is the first meeting between the schools.

Up Next: The winner of this game will advance to face the winner of the North Dakota State-Montana game.

The Coaches: Portland State coach Bruce Barnum is 9-2 in his first season with the Vikings, and went 6-2 in Big Sky play.

Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley is 12860, and is 76-33 in Missouri Valley play.

Northern Iowa versus the Big Sky: While Northern Iowa and Portland State have never faced each other, Northern Iowa has a long history of playing Big Sky teams in both the postseason and the regular season. Starting with the postseason, Northern Iowa is 5-2 against Big Sky teams in the playoffs, with losses coming to Montana in 1994 and 2001. This season, Northern Iowa is 2-0 against Big Sky teams, as the Panthers earned a 38-35 home win over Eastern Washington, and a 34-20 road win at Cal Poly.

Notes: Like Northern Iowa, Portland State also earned wins over Cal Poly and Eastern Washington this season... Portland State coach Bruce Barnum is the Big Sky Football Coach of the Year, earning the

Portland State’s Mitchell Thompson attempts to tackle Montana’s Ben Roberts earlier this season in the Vikings’ 35-16 win at Providence Park in Portland. award in a season he started as an interim coach... Portland State quarterback Alex Kuresa earned the Big Sky Conference’s Newcomer of the Year award, after transferring from Snow College... Portland State finished with 11 all-Big Sky players, as voted on by the Big Sky coaches... Barnum played for Eastern Washington in a 17-14 loss to Northern Iowa in the 1985 playoffs...

Portland State safety Patrick Onwuasor is a finalist for the STATS National Defensive Player of the Year award... Onwuasor leads the nation in interceptions... Portland State is undefeated at Providence Park this season, with wins over Big Sky champion Southern Utah, and traditional league powers Montana and Montana State...

Portland State is 5-0 against ranked teams this season... The Panthers are on a six-game winning streak... Former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner is an alumnus of Northern Iowa, and led the Panthers to a playoff appearance in 1993... Portland State is 2-0 against FBS teams, including

a season-opening over the Pac-12’s Washington State, which is bowl-eligible after beating opponents like Oregon, Arizona State and UCLA... Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley is an alumnus of UNI, and played for the school from 1983-85...

Portland State is one of the Big Sky’s top scoring defenses, allowing just 21.7 points to opponents... The Vikings lead the Big Sky in pass defense efficiency... Northern Iowa is a primarily run-based offense, with 228.8 rushing yards per game.

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‌MONTANA ROSTER No. 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 15 16 17 18 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 91 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Year Hometown Treshawn Favors RB 5-9 190 R-So. Glendale, Ariz.

Markell Sanders CB 6-2 185 R-Fr. Renton, Wash.

Ryan McKinley CB 6-1 188 R-So. Anthem, Ariz.

Brady Gustafson QB 6-7 235 R-Jr. Billings, Mont.

Eric Johnson S 6-2 180 Sr. San Francisco, Calif.

Chris Parker CB 6-0 185 R-So. Sioux Falls, S.D. Holden Ryan WR 6-3 225 Fr. Billings, Mont.

Chase Naccarato WR 5-7 166 R-Jr. Spokane, Wash.

Daniel Sullivan K 5-10 165 Sr. Mill Creek, Wash.

Jamaal Jones WR 6-1 191 R-Sr. Spanaway, Wash.

Ellis Henderson WR 6-0 195 R-Jr. Vancouver, Wash.

Jeremy Calhoun RB 6-0 190 Fr. Long Beach, Calif.

Manu Rasmussen S 6-0 180 R-Fr. Tigard, Ore. Justin Calhoun WR 5-10 175 Fr. Long Beach, Calif.

Yamen Sanders S 6-4 210 R-Jr. Inglewood, Calif.

Eric Prater QB 6-2 205 R-Fr. Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Connor Strahm LB 6-0 235 R-So. Eugene, Ore. Chad Chalich QB 6-0 205 Jr. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Nate Harris CB 5-10 180 R-Sr. Chino, Calif.

Danny Peoples K 6-0 185 Fr. Butte, Mont.

Willy Pflug QB 6-0 185 Fr. Portland, Ore. Josh Janssen WR 6-0 195 R-So. Missoula, Mont.

Josh Sandry S 6-1 190 Fr. Bigfork, Mont.

Will Weyer QB 6-5 208 R-Fr. Bozeman, Mont.

RETIRED IN HONOR OF DAVE DICKENSON Dalton Daum WR 6-2 180 Fr. Butte, Mont.

Makena Simis QB 6-2 205 R-So. Boise, Idaho Tyler Lucas WR 6-4 220 R-Sr. Bellefonte, Pa. JR Nelson CB 6-2 177 R-Jr. Hacienda Heights, Calif.

Kobey Eaton WR 6-3 190 Fr. Hacienda Heights, Calif.

John Nguyen RB 5-7 180 Jr. Seattle, Wash.

Joey Counts RB 5-9 215 R-Jr. Mesa, Ariz.

RETIRED IN HONOR OF TERRY DILLON Caleb Lyons WR 5-9 175 R-Fr. Lakewood, Wash.

Lorenzo Logwood RB 5-8 190 So. Oakland, Calif.

Shane Moody CB 5-8 160 R-So. Parker, Colo.

Carl Johnson RB 6-0 180 R-Fr. Hardin, Mont.

Jerrin Williams S 6-2 220 Fr. Vancouver, Wash.

Brody Martinez RB 5-10 196 Fr. Federal Way, Wash.

Evan Epperly S 5-10 180 R-Fr. Kalispell, Mont.

Justin Whitted S 6-1 195 R-Sr. Los Angeles, Calif.

Connor Lebsock LB 6-2 205 R-Sr. Billings, Mont.

Jamal Wilson DT 5-11 270 R-Sr. Fontana, Calif.

Kendrick Van Ackeren LB 6-1 220 Sr. Bellevue, Wash.

Herbert Gamboa LB 6-1 215 Sr. San Clemente, Calif.

Caleb Kidder DT 6-5 275 R-Jr. Helena, Mont.

Tyrel Garner CB 6-2 190 Jr. Henderson, Nev. Jeffrey Salamon WR 5-11 180 Fr. Riverside, Calif.

Jake Dallaserra S 5-11 180 R-Sr. Butte, Mont.

David Fa’atuiese LB 6-3 240 Fr. Vista, Calif.

Mick Delaney S 6-0 193 R-So. Bozeman, Mont.

Josh Buss LB 6-2 203 R-Fr. Boise, Idaho Nate Bradley DT 5-10 260 R-So. Billings, Mont.

Nolan Timmons S 6-1 250 Fr. Billings, Mont.

Jeremiah Kose MLB 6-2 230 Sr. Oceanside, Calif.

Austin Chadderdon DE 6-2 200 R-Fr. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Derek Crittenden DE 6-3 240 R-Sr. Whitefish, Mont.

Donald Bedell DE 6-4 245 R-Sr. Fair Haven, N.J. Jesse Sims DE 6-4 235 Fr. Stevensville, Mont.

Aaron Held Snaps 6-1 193 R-Jr. Sacramento, Calif.

Tucker Schye DE 6-4 225 R-So. Malta, Mont.

Nick Mertes DE 6-3 235 R-Fr. Edina, Minn.

Dante Olson LB 6-3 220 Fr. Medford, Ore. Gage Smith LB 6-3 215 R-Fr. Whitefish, Mont.

Kyle Davis DT 6-1 245 R-Fr. San Diego, Calif.

Alex Thomas LB 6-0 215 R-Fr. Great Falls, Mont.

Shayne Cochran LB 6-1 210 R-Fr. Culbertson, Mont.

Tyler Richtmyer DE 6-2 215 R-Fr. Missoula, Mont.

Cy Sirmon LB 6-3 225 Fr. Wenatchee, Wash.

Jackson Thiebes OL 6-5 280 R-Jr. Kalispell, Mont.

Colin McGillivray OL 6-7 278 Fr. Portland, Ore. Cody Meyer OL 6-3 270 Fr. San Marcos, Calif.

Dallas Hart OL 6-5 295 Fr. Cypress, Calif.

Joe Paolina OL 6-7 290 Fr. Poway, Calif.

McCauley Todd OL 6-7 295 R-Jr. Cedar Rapids, Iowa Jared Clark OL 6-6 270 Jr. San Diego, Calif.

Ben Weyer OL 6-4 270 R-Jr. Bozeman, Mont.

Devon Dietrich OL 6-4 270 R-Jr. Woodinville, Wash.

Cooper Sprunk C 6-4 250 R-So. Tigard Ore. Angel Villanueva OL 6-5 310 Fr. Duarte, Calif.

John Schmaing OL 6-7 290 R-Sr. Billings, Mont.

Robert Luke C 6-4 315 So. Tacoma, Wash.

David Reese OL 6-7 270 So. Happy Valley, Ore. Cameron Rokich OL 6-5 245 R-So. West Jordan, Utah Clint LaRowe OL 6-5 290 R-Jr. Miles City, Mont.

Max Kelly OL 6-7 290 R-Jr. Spokane, Wash.

Josh Horner WR 6-5 220 So. Great Falls, Mont.

Zach Hollenback WR 5-11 185 R-Fr. Missoula, Mont.

Keenan Curran WR 6-2 200 Fr. Federal Way, Wash.

Jerry Louie-McGee WR 5-9 170 Fr. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Ryan Burke WR 6-4 190 R-Jr. Billings, Mont.

Donovan Rooks WR 6-4 185 Fr. Yuma, Ariz.

Reese Carlson WR 6-4 215 R-Fr. Gig Harbor, Wash.

Ben Roberts WR 6-4 205 R-Sr. Missoula, Mont.

Chris Lider K/P 6-1 199 R-Sr. Bellevue, Wash.

Colin Bingham WR 6-3 220 Fr. Missoula, Mont.

Tim Semenza K 5-7 155 Fr. San Diego, Calif.

Tyrone Holmes DE 6-4 245 Sr. Eagle Point, Ore. Zach Peevey DT 6-3 255 R-Jr. Missoula, Mont.

Harrison Greenberg K 5-8 170 R-Jr. Lake Oswego, Ore. Andrew Harris DE 6-4 215 Fr. Kalispell, Mont.

Patrick LeCorre K 6-0 190 Fr. Edina, Minn.

Ryan Johnson DE 6-3 255 R-Jr. Vancouver, Wash.

Mike Ralston DE 6-5 245 R-So. Eugene, Ore. Reggie Tilleman DE 6-4 195 R-Fr. Genesee, Idaho

GRIZZLY GAME D MONTANA STARTING OFFENSE WR 6 Jamaal Jones R-Sr.

H-Back 80 Josh Horner, So.

QB 3 Brady Gustafson, R-Jr.

LT 74 John Schmaing, Sr.

RB 20 John Nguyen, Jr.

LG 68 McCauley Todd, R-Jr. C 75 Robert Luke, So.

RG 71 Devon Dietr R-Jr. RT 76 David Reese, So.

WR 7 Ellis Henderson, R-Jr.

Slot WR 86 Ben Roberts, R-Sr.

K5 Daniel Sullivan, Sr.

MONTANA BACKUPS ON OFFENSE QB 17 RB 8 H-B 85 WR 18 WR 82 WR 5

Makena Simis, R-So. Jeremy Calhoun, Fr. Reese Carlson, R-Fr. Tyler Lucas, R-Sr. Keenan Curran, Fr. Chase Naccarato, R-Jr.

LT LG C RG RT

60 79 72 69 78

Jackson Thiebes, R-Jr. Max Kelly, R-Jr. Cooper Sprunk, R-So. Jared Clark, Jr. Clint LaRowe, R-Jr.

MONTANA STARTING DEFENSE FS 31 Justin Whitted, R-Sr.

CB 11 Nate Harris, R-Sr.

OLB 33 Connor Lebsock, R-Sr.

DE 91 Tyrone Holmes, Sr.

MLB 45 Jeremiah Kose, R-Sr.

DT 34 Jamal Wilson, R-Sr.

SS 9 Yamen Sanders, R-Jr.

OLB 36 Herbert Gamboa, Sr.

DT 37 Caleb Kidder, R-Jr. DE 47 Derek Crittenden, R-Sr.

CB 18 JR Nelson, R-Jr.

P 87 Chris Lider, Sr.

MONTANA BACKUPS ON DEFENSE DE 51 DT 43 DT 93 DE 97 MLB 10

Tucker Schye, R-So. Nate Bradley, R-So. Zach Peevey, Jr. Ryan Johnson, R-Jr. Connor Strahm, R-So.

RJ

OLB 42 CB 2 FS 3 SS 8 CB 1

Josh Buss, R-Fr. Ryan McKinley, R-So. Eric Johnson, Sr. Manu Rasmussen, R-Fr. Markell Sanders, R-Fr.

K

Zac

Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015 — A9

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NORTH DAKOTA STATE STARTING DEFENSE CB 5 Jordan Champion, Sr.

OLB 41 MJ Stumpf, Jr.

DE 97 Brad Ambrosius, Jr.

MLB 49 Nick DeLuca, Jr.

NG 99 Nate Tanguay, So. DT 61 Brian Schaetz, Sr.

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FS 3 Tre Dempsey, So.

SS 35 Robbie Grimsley, Fr.

OLB 47 Pierre GeeTucker, Jr.

DE 96 Greg Menard, So.

P 19 Ben LeCompte, Sr.

CB 6 CJ Smith, Sr.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE BACKUPS ON DEFENSE DE 94 DT 60 NG 63 DE 56 OLB 1 MLB 44

Stanley Jones, R-Fr. Grant Morgan, So. Aaron Steidl, R-Fr. Caleb Butler, R-Fr. Chris Board, So. Matt Plank, So.

OLB 48 CB 32 SS 23 FS 28 CB 21

Dan Marlette, R-Fr. Dakota Reid, R-Fr. Jaylaan Wimbush, R-Fr. Andrew Smith, Jr. Jalen Allison, R-Fr.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE STARTING OFFENSE

WR 16 J Urzendowski, So.

FB 30 Jedre Cyr, Sr.

RT 78 Landon Lechler, Jr. RG 54 Jeremy Kelly, Sr. C 75 Austin Kuhrnert, So.

QB 12 Easton Stick, R-Fr.

RB 22 King Frazier, Jr.

LG 66 ck Johnson, R-Jr. LT 59 Joe Haeg, Sr.

WR 82 Zach Vraa, Sr.

TE 46 Andrew Bonnet, Sr.

K 36 Cam Pedersen, Fr.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE BACKUPS ON OFFENSE QB 7 RB 25 TE 88 WR 18 WR 20

Cole Davis, So. Chase Morlock, Jr. Luke Albers, Sr. Khayvon Hawkins, R-Fr. Darrius Shepherd, R-Fr.

LT LG C RG RT

78 70 73 74 71

Landon Lechler, Jr. Jack Plankers, Jr. Zack Ziemer, So. Tanner Volson, R-Fr. Luke Bacon, R-Fr.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE ROSTER No. 1 2 3 4 4 5 5 6 7 8 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 19 20 21 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 31 32 33 34 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 49 50 50 51 52 53 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 75 76 77 78 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 95

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Chris Board SS 6-1 218 Quinten McCoy CB 6-1 198 Tre Dempsey FS 5-10 175 Bryce Bennot CB 5-8 173 Dimitri Williams WR 5-11 174 Jordan Champion CB 5-9 189 Michael Veldman CB 6-3 190 CJ Smith CB 5-11 188 Cole Davis QB 6-3 212 Darius Anderson RB/WR 5-7 182 Braden Sikes SS 5-11 192 Colter Pritchard WR 5-6 167 Lance Dunn RB 5-9 206 Carson Wentz QB 6-6 235 Easton Stick QB 6-2 215 Eric Perkins WR 5-8 180 Bo Liekhus LB 6-0 217 Daniel Polansky WR 6-0 189 RJ Urzendowski WR 5-11 195 James Hendricks QB 6-1 189 Khayvon Hawkins WR 6-0 199 Dom Davis CB 5-11 177 Ben LeCompte P/K 5-10 196 Darrius Shepherd WR 5-11 180 Jalen Allison CB 6-0 170 Ian Gallagher P 6-3 176 King Frazier RB 5-11 213 Jaylaan Wimbush FS 6-0 185 Demaris Purifoy RB 6-1 188 Chase Morlock RB 6-0 221 Keenan Hodenfield FS 5-11 181 Isaac Cenescar SS 5-10 187 Andrew Smith FS 6-0 193 Eric Bachmeier CB 6-2 195 Jedre Cyr FB 6-0 234 Tom Barneson K 6-4 220 Ty Brooks CB 5-9 161 Dakota Reid CB 5-9 185 Marquise Bridges WR 5-11 170 Brock Robbins FB 6-1 230 Ross Effertz CB 5-11 196 Robbie Grimsley FS 6-0 181 Cam Pedersen K 6-1 170 Tre Fort CB 5-8 171 Jaxon Brown SS 6-2 189 Ben Ellefson TE 6-3 243 Dan Sargeant FB 6-1 242 MJ Stumpf LB 6-2 218 Bruce Anderson RB 5-11 202 Kurt Mattox LB 6-1 222 Matt Plank LB 6-0 224 Levi Jordheim LB 6-1 224 Andrew Bonnet FB/TE 6-3 250 Pierre Gee-Tucker LB 6-1 217 Dan Marlette LB 6-1 218 Matt Anderson TE 6-4 228 Nick DeLuca LB 6-3 244 Gray Gochenour LB 5-10 242 Logan Nelson LB 6-1 185 James Fisher LS 6-2 213 Jake Brinkman LB 6-0 210 Cole Karcz DE 6-4 233 Max Haskins OL 6-5 275 Jeremy Kelly OG 6-6 300 Aaron Mercadel LB 5-11 196 Caleb Butler DE 6-3 240 Bryan Carlton DT 6-3 248 Andrew Trzebiatowski OT 6-5 310 Joe Haeg OT 6-6 310 Max Polson C 6-1 305 Brian Schaetz DT 6-1 287 Bryce Messner DT 6-3 284 Aaron Steidl DT 6-2 279 Colin Conner OT 6-5 303 Jack Albrecht OG 6-5 274 Zack Johnson OG 6-4 326 Brock Russell OG 6-2 264 Zack J. Johnson OT 6-6 276 Blake Williams DT 6-3 274 Jack Plankers OT 6-7 321 Luke Bacon OT 6-5 297 Erik Olson OT 6-5 269 Zack Ziermer OG 6-4 291 Tanner Volson OG 6-4 304 Austin Kuhnert C 6-4 301 Tucker Wojahn DE 6-3 210 Trent Mooney OG 6-5 269 Christian Triplett C 6-3 301 Landon Lechler OT 6-7 301 Nate Moody WR 6-1 196 Isaiah Frandsen WR 6-2 198 Zach Vraa WR 6-2 202 Dallas Freeman WR 6-0 187 Shadeed Crockett WR 6-2 186 Nate Jenson TE 6-6 243 Jeff Illies TE 6-3 221 Connor Wentz TE 6-3 248 Luke Albers TE 6-5 250 Isaac Lashua TE 6-4 239 Grant Morgan DT 6-4 283 Derrek Tuszka DE 6-5 226 Jack Darnell DT 6-2 277 Jarrod Tuszka DE 6-3 243 Stanley Jones DE 6-3 240 Peder Olson LS/LB 6-0 216 Connor Hubbs DT 6-1 283

Year So. Jr. So. R-Fr. Fr. Sr. Fr. Sr. So. Sr. Fr. So. R-Fr. Sr. R-Fr. Jr. Jr. So. So. Fr. R-Fr. Fr. Sr. R-Fr. R-Fr. R-Fr. Jr. R-Fr. Fr. Jr. So. R-Fr. Jr. R-Fr. Sr. Jr. Fr. R-Fr. Fr. Fr. Fr. Fr. Fr. Fr. Fr. Fr. So. Jr. Fr. So. So. R-Fr. Sr. Jr. R-Fr. Fr. Jr. Fr. Fr. So. Fr. Fr. Fr. Sr. Fr. R-Fr. Fr. Fr. Sr. So. Sr. So. R-Fr. R-Fr. Fr. R-Jr. Sr. Fr. R-Fr. Jr. R-Fr. So. So. R-Fr. So. R-Fr. Fr. R-Fr. Jr. Sr. So. Sr. R-Fr. Jr. R-Fr. So. So. Sr. R-Fr. So. Fr. Fr. So. R-Fr. R-Fr. Fr.

Hometown Orlando, Fla. Dallas, Texas Lakeland, Fla. Coloma, Wis. Lakeville, Minn.

Avondale, Ariz.

Becker, Minn.

Savage, Minn.

Kearney, Mo. Kapolei, Hawaii Excelsior, Minn.

Langdon, N.D. Waterloo, Iowa Bismarck, N.D. Omaha, Neb. Kewaskum, Wis. Plattsmouth, Neb. Gatzke, Minn.

Omaha, Neb. Laporte, Minn.

Crystal, Min..

Belleville, Ill. Barrington, Ill. Blue Springs, Mo. Papillion, Neb. Walworth, Wis. Greenwood, Mo. St. Petersburg, Fla. Wauwatosa, Wis. Moorhead, Minn.

Ray, N.D. Orlando, Fla. Sioux Falls, S.D. Kindred, N.D. Glyndon, Minn.

Eau Claire, Wis. Fargo, N.D. Chicago, Ill. Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Cavalier, N.D. Mandan, N.D. Hutchinson, Minn.

Eau Claire, Wis. Moorhead, Minn.

Eau Claire, Wis. Hawley, Minn.

Chisago City, Miss.

Harvey, N.D. Ruskin, Fla. Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Gardner, Kan. Dickinson, N.D. Council Bluffs, Iowa Belleville, Ill. Sioux Falls, S.D. Lakeland, Minn.

Omaha, Neb. Urbandale, Iowa Andover, Minn.

Bloomington, Minn.

North Liberty, Iowa Germantown, Wis. River Falls, Wis. Somerset, Wis. Oakland, Calif.

Coon Rapids, Minn.

Chanhassen, Minn.

Amherst Junction, Wis. Lake Shore, Minn.

Coon Rapids, Minn.

Denmark, Wis. McVille, N.D. Carlos, Minn.

Mineral Point, Wis. Rolling Meadows, Ill. Apple Valley, Minn.

Mandan, N.D. Blaine, Minn.

Washington, Mich.

Leonard, N.D. Granville, N.D. Maple Grove, Minn.

Lakeville, Minn.

Balfour, N.D. Sioiux Falls, S.D. Velva, N.D. Lamar, Mo. Maple Plaine, Minn.

Beach, N.D. Dickinson, N.D. Barron, Wis. Rosemount, Minn.

St. Michael, Minn.

Champlin, Minn.

Waupaca, Wis. Lidgerwood, N.D. Dunnellon, Fla. Iola, Wis. Iola, Wis. Oshkosh, Wis. Warner, S.D. Champlin, Minn.

Warner, S.D. Bismarck, N.D. Maple Grove, Minn.

White Bear Lake, Minn.

Banking that actually gives back.

www.missoulafcu.org

McQuiRk tEaM

Bill McQuirk

532-9234

Buying or Selling Real Estate?

www.montanabuysell.com

GO GRiZ!

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A10 — Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015

Grizzly game day | STAT PACK

big sky conference statistics ‌TEAM STATISTICS

SCORING OFFENSE G TD XP 2XP DXP FG Saf Pts Avg

Montana St. 11 63 53 N. Arizona 11 57 57 Portland St. 11 51 48 S. Utah 12 57 45 E. Washington 11 53 45 Cal Poly 11 52 45 Montana 12 45 39 N. Colorado 11 45 42 N. Dakota 11 39 36 Weber St. 11 30 25 UC Davis 11 29 29 Idaho St. 11 34 23 Sac State 11 27 27

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

8 11 12 12 4 5 20 6 13 14 14 3 9

0 461 41.9 0 432 39.3 0 394 35.8 0 425 35.4 0 381 34.6 0 372 33.8 2 375 31.2 0 330 30.0 0 309 28.1 0 247 22.5 0 245 22.3 0 242 22.0 0 216 19.6

0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 2 3 2 0 0

2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

12 8 9 13 9 10 10 8 14 6 9 12 13

1 250 20.8 0 239 21.7 0 283 23.6 0 270 24.5 1 283 25.7 0 368 33.5 0 376 34.2 0 377 34.3 0 378 34.4 1 383 34.8 1 390 35.5 0 435 39.5 0 450 40.9

SCORING DEFENSE G TD XP 2XP DXP FG Saf Pts Avg

S. Utah 12 Portland St. 11 Montana 12 Weber St. 11 N. Dakota 11 Sac State 11 UC Davis 11 Montana St. 11 N. Colorado 11 N. Arizona 11 Cal Poly 11 E. Washington 11 Idaho St. 11

3 0 2 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0

30 28 31 29 37 30 33 33 37 30 49 44 50 46 51 45 48 44 52 45 52 45 58 51 59 57

RUSHING OFFENSE G Att Yds Avg TD Yds/G

Cal Poly 11 779 4260 Portland St. 11 550 2827 N. Dakota 11 510 2625 Montana St. 11 458 2376 Weber St. 11 465 2001 N. Arizona 11 465 1850 S. Utah 12 415 1990 N. Colorado 11 375 1781 Montana 12 499 1847 E. Washington 11 358 1377 Idaho St. 11 363 1367 UC Davis 11 387 1340 Sac State 11 359 1183

N. Dakota Weber St. Sac State Cal Poly Portland St. N. Arizona Montana S. Utah N. Colorado UC Davis Montana St. E. Washington Idaho St.

38 32 23 31 15 16 24 23 17 14 7 11 6

387.3 257.0 238.6 216.0 181.9 168.2 165.8 161.9 153.9 125.2 124.3 121.8 107.5

RUSHING DEFENSE G Rushes Yards Avg. TD Yds/G

11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 11 11 11 11 11

369 410 415 404 431 421 571 577 502 444 490 562 559

1101 1592 1841 1873 1903 1980 2216 2409 2501 2615 2722 2838 2957

3.0 9 3.9 9 4.4 20 4.6 25 4.4 17 4.7 26 3.9 15 4.2 17 5.0 21 5.9 27 5.6 25 5.0 30 5.3 28

100.1 144.7 167.4 170.3 173.0 180.0 184.7 200.8 227.4 237.7 247.5 258.0 268.8

PASSING OFFENSE G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds Avg TD Yds/G

E. Washington 11 462 Montana St. 11 380 N. Arizona 11 353 Montana 12 505 S. Utah 12 495 Idaho St. 11 498 Sac State 11 428 UC Davis 11 380 N. Colorado 11 326 Weber St. 11 337 Portland St. 11 216 N. Dakota 11 217 Cal Poly 11 134

5.5 5.1 5.1 5.2 4.3 4.0 4.8 4.7 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.5 3.3

298 12 64.5 3886 238 11 62.6 3342 242 7 68.6 3329 294 11 58.2 3408 292 8 59.0 3350 270 19 54.2 3008 249 8 58.2 2779 246 8 64.7 2606 192 12 58.9 2449 172 14 51.0 2065 120 5 55.6 1916 123 5 56.7 1550 68 3 50.7 1003

8.4 8.8 9.4 6.7 6.8 6.0 6.5 6.9 7.5 6.1 8.9 7.1 7.5

36 30 39 24 26 26 18 17 15 12 18 15 14

353.3 303.8 302.6 284.0 279.2 273.5 252.6 236.9 222.6 187.7 174.2 140.9 91.2

181 8 60.3 2065 199 20 52.2 2278 177 12 50.0 2408 194 8 56.1 2224 193 18 52.4 2273 183 3 57.2 2319 209 7 61.8 2402 174 3 56.5 2476 218 6 62.5 2858 269 7 66.3 2928

6.9 6.0 6.8 6.4 6.2 7.2 7.1 8.0 8.2 7.2

24 12 21 20 11 21 22 26 28 24

187.7 189.8 200.7 202.2 206.6 210.8 218.4 225.1 259.8 266.2

PASSING DEFENSE G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds Avg TD Yds/G

Idaho St. 11 300 S. Utah 12 381 Montana 12 354 Weber St. 11 346 Portland St. 11 368 UC Davis 11 320 E. Washington 11 338 Montana St. 11 308 N. Dakota 11 349 N. Colorado 11 406

Sac State Cal Poly N. Arizona

11 358 220 8 61.5 3147 8.8 25 286.1 11 382 258 7 67.5 3161 8.3 24 287.4 11 458 267 10 58.3 3238 7.1 26 294.4

TOTAL OFFENSE G Rush Pass Plays Yards Avg/P TD Yds/G

Montana St. 11 2376 3342 Cal Poly 11 4260 1003 E. Washington 11 1377 3886 N. Arizona 11 1850 3329 S. Utah 12 1990 3350 Montana 12 1847 3408 Portland St. 11 2827 1916 Idaho St. 11 1367 3008 N. Colorado 11 1781 2449 N. Dakota 11 2625 1550 Weber St. 11 2001 2065 Sac State 11 1183 2779 UC Davis 11 1340 2606

838 913 820 818 910 1004 766 861 701 727 802 787 767

5718 5263 5263 5179 5340 5255 4743 4375 4230 4175 4066 3962 3946

S. Utah Portland St. Montana Sac State N. Colorado N. Arizona N. Dakota Montana St. Weber St. UC Davis Cal Poly E. Washington Idaho St.

Cal Poly Montana St. S. Utah Montana E. Washington N. Arizona Idaho St. Sac State Portland St. UC Davis Weber St. N. Colorado N. Dakota N. Dakota Weber St. Portland St. Montana Montana St. UC Davis Sac State S. Utah Idaho St. Cal Poly N. Arizona N. Colorado E. Washington

519.8 478.5 478.5 470.8 445.0 437.9 431.2 397.7 384.5 379.5 369.6 360.2 358.7

3816 5.0 29 3959 5.5 37 4176 5.2 28 4624 5.0 36 4687 4.9 29 4934 6.5 48 4988 6.5 45 5022 5.8 52 5034 6.4 49 5198 6.5 51 5218 5.9 52 5240 5.8 52 5429 6.0 45

346.9 359.9 379.6 385.3 390.6 448.5 453.5 456.5 457.6 472.5 474.4 476.4 493.5

TOTAL DEFENSE G Rush Pass Plys Yards Avg TD Yds/G

Weber St. 11 1592 2224 756 N. Dakota 11 1101 2858 718 Portland St. 11 1903 2273 799 Montana 12 2216 2408 925 S. Utah 12 2409 2278 958 UC Davis 11 2615 2319 764 Sac State 11 1841 3147 773 Idaho St. 11 2957 2065 859 Cal Poly 11 1873 3161 786 Montana St. 11 2722 2476 798 N. Arizona 11 1980 3238 879 E. Washington 11 2838 2402 900 N. Colorado 11 2501 2928 908

6.8 61 5.8 52 6.4 50 6.3 55 5.9 50 5.2 41 6.2 50 5.1 33 6.0 38 5.7 38 5.1 27 5.0 24 5.1 28

TURNOVER MARGIN Gained Lost G Fum Int Tot Fum Int Tot Mar Per/G 12 11 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

11 20 31 10 18 28 14 12 26 5 8 13 9 7 16 4 10 14 10 6 16 10 3 13 6 8 14 8 3 11 5 7 12 10 7 17 7 8 15

3 8 11 +20 1.67 7 5 12 +16 1.45 11 11 22 +4 0.33 5 8 13 +0 0.00 5 12 17 -1 -0.09 8 7 15 -1 -0.09 12 5 17 -1 -0.09 4 11 15 -2 -0.18 5 14 19 -5 -0.45 8 8 16 -5 -0.45 15 3 18 -6 -0.55 12 12 24 -7 -0.64 11 19 30 -15 -1.36

FIRST DOWNS G Rush Pass Pen Total

11 237 40 7 284 11 131 125 21 277 12 97 147 24 268 12 107 136 21 264 11 75 168 18 261 11 102 135 18 255 11 82 142 20 244 11 67 144 21 232 11 133 81 15 229 11 75 129 17 221 11 120 84 16 220 11 99 101 17 217 11 116 72 11 199

OPPONENT 1ST DOWNS G Rush Pass Pen Total

11 71 116 13 200 11 91 98 19 208 11 104 89 21 214 12 124 103 9 236 11 120 107 19 246 11 129 101 16 246 11 102 131 17 250 12 131 96 24 251 11 144 102 11 257 11 92 149 22 263 11 104 152 24 280 11 127 143 15 285 11 164 113 20 297

3RD-DN CONVERSIONS G Conv Att Pct

Portland St. 11 Cal Poly 11 Montana St. 11 E. Washington 11 N. Arizona 11 N. Dakota 11 N. Colorado 11

73 160 45.6 83 183 45.4 73 163 44.8 69 155 44.5 66 160 41.2 61 154 39.6 57 144 39.6

UC Davis Montana Sac State Weber St. Idaho St. S. Utah

11 12 11 11 11 12

63 165 38.2 80 219 36.5 57 163 35.0 58 168 34.5 56 175 32.0 60 188 31.9

Portland St. 11 Montana 12 S. Utah 12 N. Dakota 11 Weber St. 11 Sac State 11 UC Davis 11 N. Arizona 11 Montana St. 11 Idaho St. 11 Cal Poly 11 N. Colorado 11 E. Washington 11

53 170 31.2 65 202 32.2 74 221 33.5 57 157 36.3 63 168 37.5 58 152 38.2 53 134 39.6 73 178 41.0 68 163 41.7 74 176 42.0 67 147 45.6 85 183 46.4 84 169 49.7

OPP 3RD-DN CONVERT G Conv Att Pct

4TH-DN CONVERSIONS G Conv Att Pct

Cal Poly Montana St. N. Arizona Portland St. E. Washington UC Davis Montana N. Colorado Sac State S. Utah Weber St. Idaho St. N. Dakota

Cal Poly Weber St. Montana N. Arizona UC Davis Sac State Idaho St. Montana St. Portland St. S. Utah N. Colorado N. Dakota E. Washington

11 11 11 11 11 11 12 11 11 12 11 11 11

37 24 10 7 16 11 18 8 8 13 10 15 4

51 72.5 38 63.2 17 58.8 12 58.3 28 57.1 20 55.0 36 50.0 16 50.0 17 47.1 28 46.4 23 43.5 36 41.7 11 36.4

11 11 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 11 11 11

8 8 18 16 11 12 14 15 22 15 17 12 20

20 40.0 19 42.1 39 46.2 34 47.1 23 47.8 25 48.0 27 51.9 26 57.7 38 57.9 24 62.5 27 63.0 19 63.2 28 71.4

OPP 4TH-DN CONVERT G Conv Att Pct

Montana N. Dakota N. Arizona S. Utah Portland St. Weber St. E. Washington Montana St. Sac State N. Colorado Idaho St. Cal Poly UC Davis

41 236 29 195 27 178 26 151 26 124 24 156 24 148 22 149 21 121 20 120 18 123 16 111 14 84

11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 11

11 48 12 77 17 88 18 114 20 116 21 141 22 162 23 153 23 111 26 190 28 177 29 176 30 162

SACKS AGAINST G Sacks Yards

Cal Poly Montana St. Weber St. Portland St. Idaho St. N. Dakota UC Davis N. Colorado E. Washington Sac State S. Utah Montana N. Arizona UC Davis Idaho St. Portland St. Cal Poly N. Dakota

SACKS BY G Sacks Yards

12 11 11 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

PENALTIES G No Yds Avg/G

11 11 11 11 11

45 54 58 57 63

382 439 518 523 550

34.7 39.9 47.1 47.5 50.0

Sac State Montana N. Colorado S. Utah E. Washington N. Arizona Weber St. Montana St.

11 58 553 12 68 618 11 68 575 12 78 732 11 81 692 11 68 702 11 69 709 11 82 722

50.3 51.5 52.3 61.0 62.9 63.8 64.5 65.6

TIME OF POSSESSION G Total Time Avg/G

UC Davis Cal Poly Portland St. N. Dakota Weber St. Montana St. Sac State N. Arizona E. Washington Idaho St. Montana S. Utah N. Colorado

11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 11

380:49 34:37 358:46 32:36 351:52 31:59 350:55 31:54 350:13 31:50 343:28 31:13 343:24 31:13 323:11 29:22 308:19 28:01 297:02 27:00 319:33 26:37 313:34 26:07 271:16 24:39

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING Team Cl G Att Yds Avg TD Long Yds/G

PASSING AVG/GAME Team Cl G Att Cmp Int Pct. Yds TD Avg/G

RECEIVE YDS/GAME Team Cl G Rec Yds TD Long Avg/C Yds/G

TOTAL OFFENSE Team Cl G Rush Pass Plays Total Yds/G

INTERCEPTIONS Team Cl G Int Yds TD Long Int/G

Santiago UND FR 11 223 1459 6.5 16 Brown CP SR 10 203 1084 5.3 13 Jahn NAU SR 10 187 1035 5.5 7 Jones PSU SR 11 169 1080 6.4 8 Riek UNC 9 137 796 5.8 7 West EWU JR 10 356 Cookus NAU FR 11 322 Olsen SUU SR 12 489 Prukop MSU JR 11 344 Sanders ISU JR 9 319

Kupp EWU JR 11 Butler NAU SO 11 Jones UM SR 12 Bourne EWU JR 11 Harrison SAC SR 11

230 8 64.6 3002 222 5 68.9 3111 291 8 59.5 3344 216 10 62.8 3025 175 10 54.9 2131

114 1642 64 1208 68 1117 73 998 71 903

Prukop MSU JR 11 West EWU JR 10 Cookus NAU FR 11 Olsen SUU SR 12 Kuresa PSU JR 11

81 132.6 60 108.4 56 103.5 79 98.2 64 88.4

797 25 209 -70 707

19 15 10 8 8

78 62 74 98 61

3025 3002 3111 3344 1863

P. Onwuasor PSU SR 11 Xavier Coleman PSU JR 11 Kyle Hannemann SUU SO 10 Eddie Horn NAU SR 11 Marcus Alford NAU SR 11

9 5 4 4 3

30 37 26 28 21

14.4 149.3 18.9 109.8 16.4 93.1 13.7 90.7 12.7 82.1

502 3822 394 3027 412 3320 548 3274 348 2570

157 33 68 76 80

0 0 0 1 1

300.2 282.8 278.7 275.0 236.8

347.5 302.7 301.8 272.8 233.6

61 33 52 32 70

0.82 0.45 0.40 0.36 0.27

13.9 11.8 11.1 10.3 10.0 9.9 9.7 9.6 9.2 9.2 8.7

3.5 1.5 0.0 2.0 4.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 2.5 3.0

TACKLES (All positions) Player Team Cl G Pos Solo Ast Total Avg/G Sack Sankey SAC SR 11 LB V. Ackeren UM SR 11 LB Killebrew SUU SR 12 DB Stout ISU JR 11 LB Ratelle UND JR 11 LB Risner UNC 11 SS Inoke CP SR 10 LB Holley SUU SR 12 LB Bignell MSU SO 11 LB Zamora EWU JR 11 LB Kose UM SR 12 LB

57 96 153 63 67 130 75 58 133 52 61 113 63 47 110 38 71 109 54 43 97 62 53 115 70 31 101 43 58 101 33 71 104

SACKS Team Cl G Pos Solo Ast Yds Total Avg/G

TACKLES FOR LOSS Team Cl G Pos Solo Ast Yds Total Avg/G

Holmes Cowser Dade Clark Obinna

UM SR 12 DE SUU JR 12 DE PSU SO 11 MSU JR 11 DL SAC FR 11 DL

Bignell Holmes Cowser Ratelle Sulleyman

MSU SO 11 LB UM SR 12 DE SUU JR 12 DE UND JR 11 LB PSU SR 11

15 12 6 5 5

20 18 16 11 11

4 0 0 1 1

1 5 6 3 3

86 17.0 50 12.0 30 6.0 48 5.5 36 5.5

1.42 1.00 0.55 0.50 0.50

69 93 85 64 30

1.86 1.71 1.58 1.14 1.14

20.5 20.5 19.0 12.5 12.5

Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015 — A11

GRIZZLY GAME DAY | STAT PACK

BY THE NUMBERS ‌MONTANA (8-4) STATISTICS

Griz Opp Scoring average 31.2 23.6 First downs 264 236 Rushing yards 1847 2216 Avg./Rush 3.7 3.9 Passing 294-505-11 177-354-12 Passing yards 3408 2408 Average per pass 6.7 6.8 Total offense 5255 4624 Plays per game 83.7 77.1 Average per play 5.2 5.0 3rd-down conv.

80-219 65-202 4th-down conv.

18-36 18-39 Time of possession 26:38 33:23 Fumbles-lost 20-11 31-14 Kick returns 36-19.5 52-20.4 Punt returns 24-6.7 21-3.6 Punting 66-40.0 78-40.2 Sacks-yards 41-236 29-176 Penalties 68-51.5 90-60.7 Montana 107 127 65 70 6 – 375 Opponents 72 88 56 64 3 – 283

‌OFFENSIVE LEADERS Rushing John Nguyen 172-836 (4.9 ypc), long 48, 3 TDs Jeremy Calhoun 96-307 (3.0), long 27, 9 TDs Makena Simis 65-226 (3.5), long 31, 1 TD Passing Brady Gustafson 144-244-5, 1755 yards, long 62, 11 TDs Chad Chalich 86-141-2, 908 yards, long 70, 6 TDs Makena Simis 63-115-4, 740 yards, long 74, 7 TDs Receiving Jamaal Jones 68-1117 (16.4 ypc), long 74, 10 TD Ben Roberts 59-606 (10.3), long 62, 5 TD Ellis Henderson 44-736 (16.7), long 63, 7 TD Chase Naccarato 41-245 (6.0), long 25, 1 TDs Nguyen 28-157 (5.6), long 19, 0 TDs

‌DEFENSIVE LEADERS Tackles K. Van Ackeren 130, 63 solo Caleb Kidder 77, 21 solo Jeremiah Kose 104, 33 solo Herbert Gamboa 66, 27 solo Tyrone Holmes 82, 31 solo Yamen Sanders 61, 27 solo Tackles for loss Holmes 23-93 Ryan Johnson 8-26 Kidder 9-50 Gamboa 7-24 Sacks Holmes 17.0-86 Kidder 3.5-33 R. Johnson 5.0-24 Kose 3.0-16 Interceptions JR Nelson 2-56 Y. Sanders 1-0 Van Ackeren 2-37 Kidder 1-0 Eric Johnson 2-0 R. Johnson 1-0 Markell Sanders 1-4 Kose 1-0 Nate Harris 1-0 Fumbles forced-recovered Joey Counts 1-0 Holmes 2-0 Harris 2-0 M. Sanders 0-2 R. Johnson 1-2 Kidder 0-1 Van Ackeren 1-2 Kose 0-1 Henderson 1-1 Gamboa 0-1 E. Johnson 1-1 Derek Crittenden 0-1 Y. Sanders 1-0 Tucker Schye 0-1 JR Nelson 1-0 Tyrel Garner 0-1 Jamal Wilson 1-0 Pass breakups Harris 10 Nelson 10 Blocked kicks Van Ackeren 1 Kidder Schye 1 Connor Strahm 1 Safeties Derek Crittenden 1 Team 1

‌SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS PATs/Field goals Daniel Sullivan 39-32/20-25, long 44, 1 blocked, 99 points Punting Chris Lider 66-40.0, long 61, 17 inside 20, 3 touchback, 0 blocked Punt returns Nguyen 16-6.7, long 16, 0 TDs Kickoff returns Henderson 24-21.6, long 42, 0 TDs

‌NORTH DAKOTA STATE (9-2)

Bison Opp Scoring average 35.8 17.6 First downs 249 150 Rushing yards 2684 1256 Avg./Rush 5.2 3.7 Passing 171-277-4 159-325-8 Passing yards 2280 1947 Average per pass 8.2 6.0 Total offense 4964 3203 Plays per game 71.3 60.0 Average per play 6.3 4.9 3rd-down conv.

81-161 40-149 4th-down conv.

11-17 11-19 Time of possession 36:21 23:39 Fumbles-lost 18-11 13-7 Kick returns 27-24.8 41-19.0 Punt returns 23-7.4 14-9.4 Punting 48-46.1 76-42.3 Sacks-yards 23-156 11-64 Penalties 57-47.2 58-44.3 NDSU 86 156 69 83 – 394 Opponents 37 53 53 51 – 194

‌OFFENSIVE LEADERS Rushing King Frazier 147-790 (5.4 ypc), long 51, 7 TDs Easton Stick 62-423 (6.8), long 60, 4 TDs Bruce Anderson 66-409 (6.2), long 57, 1 TD Lance Dunn 64-348 (5.4), long 60, 3 TDs Passing Carson Wentz 114-179-2, 1454 yards, long 55, 16 TDs Stick 57-95-2, 826 yards, long 77, 11 TDs Receiving RJ Urzendowski 40-586 (14.6 ypc), long 77, 6 TDs Darrius Shepherd 31-361 (14.9), long 43, 5 TDs Zach Vraa 31-407 (13.1), long 66, 4 TDs Chase Morlock 14-217 (15.5), long 55, 4 TDs Frazier 10-137 (13.7), long 44, 0 TDs

‌DEFENSIVE LEADERS Tackles Nick DeLuca 96, 39 solo 44, 23 solo MJ Stumpf 59, 34 solo Greg Menard 34, 17 solo Robbie Grimsley 45, 21 solo Pierre Gee-Tucker Jordan Champion 41, 20 solo Tackles for loss Menard 12.5-73 DeLuca 5.5-30 Brian Schaetz 7.5-35 Stanley Jones 3.5-15 Brad Ambrosius 6.0-10 Nate Tanguay 3.5-10 Sacks Menard 8.0-59 Jones 1.5-9 Schaetz 3.5-23 DeLuca 3.0-24 Tanguay 1.5-6 Interceptions CJ Smith 2-7 DeLuca 1-5 Gee-Tucker 1-36 Grimsley 1-2 Ambrosius 1-11 Andrew Smith 1-0 Fumbles forced-recovered Menard 2-1 CJ Smith 1-0 Stumpf 1-3 Matt Plank 1-0 Caleb Butler 1-1 Ambrosius 0-1 DeLuca 1-0 Grimsley 1-0

Champion 8 CJ Smith 8 none none

Jalen Allison 0-1 Pass breakups Jalen Allison 6 Tre Dempsey 6 Blocked kicks Safeties

‌SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS PATs/Field goals Cam Pedersen 44-45/8-11, long 49, 0 blocked, 68 points Ben LeCompte 8-8/0-2, 0 blocked 8 points Punting Ben LeCompte 71-46.1, long 73, 20 inside 20, 10 touchback, 0 blocked Punt returns Eric Perkins 18-5.8, long 20, 0 TDs Shepherd 5-13.0, long 34, 0 TDs Kickoff returns Perkins 11-26.6, long 43, 0 TDs Bruce Anderson 10-28.9, long 53, 0 TDs

A12 — Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015

Grizzly game DAY / PICKS

How we see the big sky

AJ Mazzolini

Bob Meseroll

2-0

1-1

BILL SPELTZ bill.speltz@missoulian.com‌

‌There’s nothing quite like the mindnumbing noise inside North Dakota State’s Fargodome.

It’s something you have to hear to comprehend. I’ve been to games at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium when the Chiefs were real good, the old Metrodome in Minneapolis when the Twins were top notch, Lambeau Field, Busch Stadium, Kinnick Stadium, Camp Randall Stadium ... I could go on and on.

But if you’re asking this well-traveled sportswriter — 30 years in the business, including eight covering Griz football — the only sporting events that compare noise-wise to the NDSU football experience are Seahawks football at CenturyLink Field and Iowa State basketball at Hilton Coliseum.

Hilton has this seating design that makes it feel like the fans are above and on top of you when you’re on press row.

You can feel the floor shake when the crowd goes bonkers.

Likewise, the Fargodome is acoustically unique. Because it’s relatively small and the roof feels close, capacity crowds of 19,000 make it so loud you start to worry about your hearing. It starts when the Bison take the field for the opening

start. The first quarter is going to be critical and Montana has been brilliant in the early going against good teams lately, racing to a 24-0 lead on South Dakota State and a 27-4 lead on Eastern Washington. The Missoulian’s pickers are split in their picks this week. Speltz is on board with an exceptionally talented Montana receiver corps and he’s predicting an upset. AJ: North Dakota State 22, Montana 10. Bob: NDSU 38, Griz 35. Kyle: Montana 31, NDSU 27. home in FCS playoff games. And the kyle Bill Bill: Grizzlies 28, Bison 27.

Bison had last week off while the Grizsample Speltz Northern Iowa (8-4) at Portland zlies won a physical test against South State (9-2): It’s going to be interestDakota State. ing to see whether the Vikings draw The way I see it, Saturday’s showmuch of a crowd at Providence Park. down comes down to Montana’s effecHometown support was pathetic when tiveness throwing the football. North Montana visited Portland on Halloween. kickoff and the decibel level spikes each Dakota State’s secondary did not play It may have been raining, but it also well when it met the Griz on a smoky time the opposing team has the ball. field in August. Since then the group has happened to be 61 degrees. It’s supposed If you’re a Griz fan, this is cause for to be 47 degrees and rainy on Saturday, worked out some things. concern. Quarterback Brady Gustafson but the Vikings are playing a dome team Expect another good one Saturhas never guided his team in a dome. He so I’m going with them. AJ: PSU 35, was on the shelf when Montana slipped day afternoon.

Northern Iowa 27. Bob: PSU 27, UNI 24.

Montana (8-4) at North Dakota past Idaho State in cozy little Holt Arena Kyle: UNI 30, PSU 26. Bill: Vikings 38, State (9-2): The Grizzlies can take four weeks ago.

Panthers 31.

That doesn’t mean the Griz are going the crowd out of this one with a fast to lose. They’ll develop a good system to deal with the noise and the coaching staff will do its best to spell key players because the indoor heat will also be something different for Montana’s players.

The only reason I bring up the conditions of the Fargodome is I believe Saturday is going to be close. Every little thing is going to matter and Montana cannot afford a lot of false start penalties.

The Grizzlies can win this game.

Heck, they gave the Bison a scare in

 �

Fargo last season with Mick Delaney as

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head coach. Â?

Â? Â UM has momentum on its side and it

has already beaten the Bison once this

season, which means everything in the

confidence department. Plus NDSU has

been uncharacteristically vulnerable at

Â?

home this season, losing 24-21 to Joe

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Â?

Glenn’s South Dakota team on Oct. 17. Â

On the other hand, NDSU is 13-0 at

2-0

2-0

missoulian.com

Every minute. Every day.

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Seasons Greetings!

Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015 — A13

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A14 — Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015

Grizzly game day

TOMMY MARTINO, Missoulian‌

Montana’s Ben Roberts lands with the ball as South Dakota State’s Dallas Brown looks to make a tackle. Montana beat South Dakota State 24-17 in the first round of the FCS playoff’s in Washington-Grizzly Stadium last Saturday.

Missoulian, Saturday, December 5, 2015 — A15

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