2004 Outlook - Griz Style

[JahGriz]

Just a little something to get some discussions going. Not sure if it needs to be in the Smack Forum or not. I know it isn't cat material, but it may be of interest, so I'm posting it.
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2004 Grizzly football outlook
By: Dave Guffey of UM Sports Information Department 7/13/2004
Posted: 7/13/2004
at 13:09:08

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The University of Montana Grizzlies return 13 starters and 43 lettermen from a 9-4 team that finished 5-2 in league and in a three-way tie for the Big Sky Conference championship a year ago and was ranked 14th in The Sports Network/CSTV final poll.

Last season Montana set a record by advancing to the Division I-AA playoffs for the 11th season in a row. Another watermark that UM reached was its 18th consecutive winning season (since 1986). The Griz have won or shared six straight Big Sky championships, and nine in the past 11 seasons, dating back to 1993.

However, that impressive list of streaks and accomplishments are old news as the Griz head into the 2004 season, as they have numerous big shoes to fill with the departure of several key players.

Last season the Griz had one of the top-scoring teams in I-AA football, as they were 17th in I-AA in scoring (33.1 ppg).

Offensively, lost are all-conference selections Dylan McFarland and Jon Skinner at tackle, along with center Derek Decker. Other losses on offense are 13-game starting wide receiver Dane Oliver and all-league fullback Brad Weston.

McFarland, a two-time All-American at UM, was a seventh-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills, while Skinner signed a free agent contract with the San Diego Chargers.

On defense, the Griz must replace one of their all-time sack leaders in All-American end Tim Bush as well as safety Dave DeCoite, and starting linebackers Brent Meyers, Joel Robinson, and Andy Thompson, and cornerback Vern Smith. DeCoite and Meyers were first team all-league picks last season, and they tied for the team lead with 85 tackles each.

Last season Montana was also ranked among the division’s top defenses -- 21st in total defense (310.7 yards a game), and fifth in rushing defense, giving up just 93.6 yards per contest.

The Griz also need to replace All-American kicker Chris Snyder, who signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions. Snyder, the Big Sky’s all-time scorer with 394 career points, was a three-time first team all-conference selection.

Despite the loss of so many key players, second-year Montana head coach Bobby Hauck is enthused about this year’s team.

“Right now I am very excited about where this team is at, and the potential it has,” Hauck said. “I like where we are going into the 2004 season.

“Offensively, we led the league in scoring last season, and we’re going to strive for more balance this year,” Hauck continued. “The bottom line is to put points on the board, control the clock, and not put your defense in jeopardy. This season we will be more balanced on offense; we’ll take care of the football better; and we’re going to have some new looks on offense, so that teams can’t game-plan us too much in the off-season.

“Personnel dictates what you do in every facet of the game, and offensively last year we suffered through a substantial number of injuries, and that dictated our game plan,” Hauck said. “We also played a couple of games in extremely poor weather; we were up big in the second half of a couple of games; and all of those things add up to running the football.

“We’re striving for balance and I like the way our throwing game has shaped up,” Hauck said. “Our offense had a great spring and should be multi-dimensional this season.

“Defensively, we will be young in some positions,” Hauck said. “It is not a very veteran group, but I like where we are. Our defensive tackles are going to anchor the defense, as they are our most veteran players.

“At all of the positions, except the defensive tackle position, we will be less experienced than we were a year ago,” Hauck said. “But, we’ll be faster and more athletic across the board. All things being equal, you like to be fast and athletic on defense, and the physical part of the game is something that our players take to.”

“Overall, I think we will be an athletic, physical, fast defense,” Hauck said. “We have continued to emphasize physical play. I like the way our guys fly around the field. We’ve set a standard on our team that we are going to play with great effort for four quarters, and that will show up this fall when we take the field.

“Looking back at last year, our special teams were very good in several categories, and I think we are right where we need to be in our return and coverage areas,” Hauck said.

“One of the big deals for us heading into fall camp for us is to find a kicker,” Hauck said. “(Sophomore) Paul Cahill and (true freshman) Dan Carpenter are going to compete for that job. They’ve got big shoes to fill. Chris Snyder had, by far, his best season last year. We need our kicker to be at or near that level again this year.”

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OFFENSE

Quarterback - The Grizzlies have a talented pair of senior quarterbacks in Craig Ochs (6-2, 205) and Jeff Disney (6-1, 198), who accounted for 14 of UM’s 15 passing touchdowns last season. After overcoming a preseason injury, Ochs started UM’s final eight games of the year, passing for 1,612 yards and nine touchdowns. Disney started in the Grizzlies’ first three contests and threw for 509 yards and five scores.

“I really like our quarterbacks,” Hauck said. “I’d put our quarterbacking core up against darn near any. Craig had a great off-season. He’s ready to go and he’s healthy. Jeff Disney is as good a back-up as anybody has. Jeff has started games, he’s won games, and he’s going to play a lot of football for us this year. I am looking for big things out of Craig Ochs this year. He is an outstanding leader and person.”

Waiting in the wings will be redshirt freshmen Casey Cordial (6-0, 185) and Drew Hedrick (6-1, 185).

“Our two young kids, Casey and Drew have done a good job,” Hauck said. “(True freshman) Cole Bergquist (6-2, 192) is a young player who we have high hopes for and will most likely be the future of our program.”


Running back - The Grizzlies will have the most talented trio of running backs than they have had at one time in school history this season in Justin Green, Lex Hilliard and JR Waller.

Green (6-0, 235), a senior, was voted the Big Sky’s “Newcomer of the Year,” in 2003, when he started in the last nine games and rushed for 1,146 yards. Green’s yardage total was the fourth most in single-season history.

Hilliard (6-0, 225) rushed for 590 yards and five scores, played in 12 games, and started in the Sam Houston State game as a “true” freshman.

Waller (5-9, 210), a junior, played in 12 contests and started in three of UM’s first four games last year, gaining 344 yards and rushing for two TDs. Waller rushed for 826 yards in 2002, which ranks him10th in single-season yards.

“It’s hard to say that any one of those guys is the best running back in the league, or in the nation, or in school history; but as a group they have got to be one of the best in the country,” Hauck said. “They are all effort players. They are team guys who just want to help us win. They are all physical running backs and have somewhat different strengths. We are looking forward to another year with that group.”


Offensive line - Due to the graduation of three-year starters and all-conference players McFarland, Skinner, and Decker, Hauck said, “I think that the offensive line is probably the biggest question mark on our team, outside of the kicker’s position. When you lose players like that, especially Dylan McFarland, who was not only our lone draft choice and maybe our best player, but he was also one of our team captains.

“We’ve got lot of work to do on the offensive line, but I like the progress they have made,” Hauck said. “We’ve got some good, young players in there, and an influx of freshman who are extremely talented. It’s going to take some hard work by our offensive line group, but we are counting on them to come through for us.”

Senior All-American candidate Corey Procter (6-5, 295) started all 13 games a year ago, and was moved from right to left tackle, with the departure of McFarland. Procter has been an honorable mention all-league selection the past two seasons.

The other returning starter on the O-Line is junior honors candidate Brad Rhoades (6-5, 285). Rhoades started all 13 games at left guard last season and has since assumed the starting role at right tackle.

Senior Jay Green (6-3, 295) was thrust into a starting role last season when Decker was injured and he started in seven games, and Green will start at center this year.

At the guard slots, newcomer Chris Orwig (6-5, 288) emerged as the starter at left guard, while promising sophomore and honors candidate Jeff Marshall (6-5, 275) lost last season with an injury, but is an honors candidate in 2004 and will start at right guard.

Senior Garth Enger (6-4, 287), a senior, was starting at one guard spot early in spring drills, but was sidelined with an injury. Enger, who is expected to be 100 percent in time for fall drills, started several games at center as a sophomore.

Also looking to contribute on the offensive line are senior Dylan Brown (6-4, 290), junior Jason Frink (6-4, 280), and sophomore Ryan Wells (6-4, 282).

“We think with our depth issues on the offensive line, maybe a freshman or two will have to contribute for us this year,” Hauck noted.


Tight end / Fullback - Senior Willie Walden (6-7, 275) is not only a formidable target, but his improved play the past couple of seasons had led to him being a 2004 All-American candidate. Last season Walden started 12 games and was the Grizzlies’ fifth-ranked receiver with 19 catches for 284 yards and three scores. Junior Ja ‘Ton Simpson (6-5, 244) had an outstanding spring. Simpson, who is looking for his first career reception, has hopefully overcome the injury bug which has plagued him the past couple of seasons.
Adding quality depth are senior Colt Palmer (6-1, 230) and junior Ben Winn (6-4, 236).

“We really like Willie and Ja Ton’s play at this point of time,” Hauck said. “I think they will both make big jumps this fall and they both have the potential to have great seasons. Colt and Ben give us what Brad Weston gave us a year ago at the ‘H’ spot, and we are hoping that Brian Carlson (a 6-2, 230-pound sophomore) can provide us some depth there too.”


Wide receiver - The Griz return five of their top six receivers from a year ago.

Senior Junior Jefferson Heidelberger led (most receptions) the team with 41 catches for 433 yards and a score. He was followed by seniors Tate Hancock (32-382-3), Oliver (27-267-3), Jon Talmage (24-507-5), Walden (19-284-3), and Levander Segars (18-192-0).

“Hopefully the most improved aspect of our team will be at wide receiver,” Hauck said. “We need to get more production out of that group. Jefferson Heidelberger had the best spring practice of anybody on our football team. Talmage and Segars continue to progress. Tate Hancock has played some good football for us. We’ve got some outstanding young players joining us this fall too. It’s a group that should be deep, and we’re counting on them to make more plays than they did a year ago.”

Senior Mike Costanzo and redshirt freshman Brandon Dwyer may also see action at receiver, while incoming freshmen Ryan Bagley and Matt Troxel excelled at the prep level, and a couple of possible four-year transfers could be impact players.

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DEFENSE

Defensive end - Bush left UM as its all-time sacks leader with 29.5, while Ciche Pitcher had 17 sacks in two-plus seasons in his injury-shortened career.

Lance Spencer (6-4, 255) was headed toward a banner season a year ago, but was injured in the Weber State game and lost for the season. A junior All-American candidate, Spencer has added almost 20 pounds in the off-season and is expected to be 100 percent by fall camp.

Sophomore honors candidate Mike Murphy (6-3, 240), who had 31 tackles last season, will start at one end spot. Murphy, who has also added about 20 pounds since last season, was thrown into the line-up last year as a true freshman because of injuries, and played in all 13 games and started in two.

Up-and-coming sophomores Mike Potts (6-4, 235) and Dustin Dlouhy (6-2, 238) are expected to see plenty of playing time.

“Our ends looked good this past spring,” Hauck said. “The biggest question mark is how quickly Lance Spencer’s knee will respond, although I am expecting him to have a banner year. Mike Murphy, Mike Potts, and Dustin Dlouhy all continue to get better, and they are being coached by a veteran pass- rushing coach in Fred von Appen, so I would expect that to continue. Dan Carr and Jason Carriger provide us with depth, and are two hard-charging guys.”


Defensive tackle - This veteran group had five different players who started at least on one game last season.

Jonny Varona (6-3, 280) was a second team all-league pick a year ago and started 12 games, while fellow senior Blake Horgan (6-3, 275) was an honorable mention all-league pick, as was junior Alan Saenz (6-2, 285).

Horgan started nine games last season and is UM’s leading returning tackler with 41 stops in 2003. Varona had 12 starts last year and is the team’s second-leading (tie) returning tackler (39).

Senior John Cahill (6-2, 280) missed the later part of last season with an injury but had three starts. Saenz played in all 13 contests and had one start, as did talented sophomore Kerry Mullan (6-3, 290).

“The deepest and most experienced spot on our defense is at defensive tackle,” Hauck said. “We’re going to count on those guys to carry the day, especially early in the season, as our inexperienced players figure it out. Those guys need to be the anchor for our defense.”


Linebacker - Meyers, Robinson, and Thompson had 37 starts between them in 2003, and were UM’s first (tie), third, and fourth leading (tie) tacklers last year with 85, 62, and 41 stops, respectively.

The Griz return two players with starts under their belts at linebacker in seniors Nick Vella (6-2, 230) and Adam Hoge (5-11, 225). Vella had 26 tackles and two starts last year, while Hoge played in all 13 games a year ago and started in 14 contests as a sophomore.

Veteran Shane MacIntyre, a 6-2, 222-pound junior, earned the starting job at the “Sam” linebacker position, and had 23 tackles last year. Junior Kyler Noel (6-1, 235) provides quality depth.

The Griz have three extremely talented redshirt freshmen who will see action this year in Alex Hawthorne (6-1, 225), Kyle Ryan (6-3, 22), and Loren Utterback (6-2, 218).

“Our linebacking position is indicative of our entire defense, because we have competition going on for starting roles in all 11 spots,” Hauck said; “and the most heated competition is at linebacker. We’ve got some upperclassmen competing with freshmen. We’re athletic and fast at linebacker this year which is exactly what we want. They are all physical players who can run and hit. We will see a lot of growth at that position as the season goes on.”


Cornerback - Junior Kevin Edwards (6-2, 195) and sophomore Chris Clark (5-11, 175) both started the last several games of the 2003 season. Edwards was moved from safety to cornerback and became the starter there when Smith was injured in the Portland State game. Clark was activated as a true freshman and started the last seven games of the year.

Edwards had a team-high four interceptions last season and is UM’s fourth leading returning tackler (37 total stops).

Junior Chris Polhemus (6-2, 195) and sophomore Tuff Harris (6-0, 185) had one and three starts respectively a year ago.

“Chris Clark got pulled out of redshirt status in game six and had to start for us, and he did a nice job,” Hauck said. “Chris is bigger and stronger by a large margin this year. Kevin played extremely well for us, and Tuff Harris seems to get better every time he takes the field. Those three guys will provide the nucleus for us, and Chris Polhemus is a good technician in whom we have a lot of confidence.”


Safety - Sophomore Matt Lebsock (5-11, 190) became a starter as a true freshman at free safety when junior Tyler Thomas (6-0, 190) was injured in the Cal Poly game. Lebsock will start at free safety, while Thomas was moved to strong safety and will start there.

Lebsock (eight starts) and Thomas (five starts) are the Grizzlies’ third and seventh leading returning tacklers with 39 and 28 stops, respectively.

Sophomore Van Cooper Jr. (6-2, 190) provides quality size and speed and will definitely be a factor at safety. Freshman Muckie Foreman (6-1, 185) could also add quality to the safety spot, depending on his recovery from an injury.

“Tyler and Matt played a lot of football for us last year and played well at times and looked inexperienced at times,” Hauck said. “They both had great off-seasons. They are where they are supposed to be at all times, which is crucial at the safety position. Van Cooper is pushing both of them to see who will be the starter. Van’s a name that everyone will know soon around here.

“At the safety position we are going to look for a newcomer to provide depth, and that may be Tyler’s younger brother Torrey (Thomas), or (transfer) Luke Lovell, or it could be various other guys, but we need to find a fourth safety,” Hauck said.


Kicker / Punter / Returners - The graduation of Snyder, who connected on 70-of-105 career field goals and 182 of 187 PATs leaves an enormous void. Last season Snyder led the nation with 1.92 field goals (he made 25-of-30) a game.

The good news is that punter Tyson Johnson (6-2, 180) is just a sophomore and was a honorable mention all-conference pick last season when he averaged 41.4 yards which ranked him 15th in I-AA.

“I expect great competition between Dan Carpenter and Paul Cahill in fall camp,” Hauck said. “I am fully confident that one or both of those guys help us to fill the big shoes that Chris Snyder left.”

Heidelberger was ranked sixth in the nation in kickoff returns averaging 28.6 yards on 22 attempts. Segars was 20th in the country in punt returns, averaging 12.2 yards on 42 returns, and brought two in for scores.

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THE 2004 SCHEDULE: “A Daunting Task”

Montana opens against Maine, a team which the Griz beat 30-20 on the road last season, but the Black Bears limited the Grizzlies to 218 total yards. UM’s next three foes, Hofstra, at Sam Houston State, and Northern Colorado, have all been teams ranked in Division I-AA in recent years.

“It’s a daunting task when you look at our first four games and our non-conference schedule, because all four of those teams could be ranked, although I am not sure where they will be at that point in time,” Hauck said. “They are all definitely capable of being top 20 teams.

“What we need to make sure that we do in the non-conference season is guard against injury,” Hauck said. “We need to play a lot of players, improve every week, and hit our conference season in stride getting ready to play our best football.

“Every one of those non-conference games could very well go down to the wire,” Hauck continued. “I am sure our opponents look at our game as a game that they can win. Our young kids will have to grow up quick, because we don’t have any tune-up type of game on our schedule.”

The Griz open their Big Sky season on the road against Weber State on October 2. Other road conference games are at Eastern Washington and Portland State. Montana has an open date on October 23, sandwiched between its trips to EWU and PSU.

UM is at home for four league showdowns, beginning with its annual Homecoming game on October 9 against Idaho State. The Grizzlies wrap up their regular season with three straight conference home contests against, Northern Arizona and Sacramento State, with the finale the 104th meeting against Montana State.

“We feel like we have a target on us to some degree,” Hauck said. “We seem to get everybody’s best effort. It’s a game that most of our opponents point to on their schedules. You can see that top to bottom our league has been very close, last year in particular, and I expect that to continue this year.

“The players on our team know that we’re six-time defending Big Sky champions; we’ve got 11 straight I-AA playoff appearances which is a NCAA record; and that we won a national championship three years ago,” Hauck said, “but, our players know that gets us zero wins this year. It’s all earned every year, and we need to go out and earn every win. By the looks of our schedule we’re going to have to work awfully hard to win any game that we play this year.

“The conference race will be wide open, but in looking at the recruiting by a lot of the teams in our league, their success might be dictated by how junior college players pan out,” Hauck said. “Quite a number of junior college players were recruited across the league, and although we are kind of the exception to that, it could prove to be a bigger factor than in past years.

“Eastern was a great team last year and they bring everyone back,” Hauck said. “You see a bunch of teams in the league re-loaded with junior college players. You see NAU with the league MVP on offense at quarterback and a great tailback. You see Sac State with maybe the best quarterback in the league, who was hurt last year when we played them, along with one of the the best receivers and best running backs.

“It will be a dogfight to see who comes out in the top half of the league, and it will be very interesting to see where the league champion comes from,” Hauck said.

[raincat]

Lots of talent there, but I can honestly say, with perhaps the exception of that big running back, I wouldn't trade one Bobcat position for position.

[iaafan]

I see Hauck skipped MSU when commenting on other league teams. But he may have given the Cats the best compliment he's ever given them when he said that some teams that picked up JC transfers 'may' have improved themselves...in a yet to be seen way.

[BozoneCat]

I don't know if anyone actually bothered to wade through that pile of sugar-coated crap, I stopped reading after the first paragraph. Besides that, I have one question regarding the friggin' friz: WHO CARES? According to jagur, you have to earn respect, and until the friz beat us and Baby Hack manages to not insult Montana State University in every single thing he says regarding Bobcat Football, I have zero respect for the frizzlies and their program.

[catatac]

I see Hauck skipped MSU when commenting on other league teams. But he may have given the Cats the best compliment he's ever given them when he said that some teams that picked up JC transfers 'may' have improved themselves...in a yet to be seen way.

Exactly what I was thinking... and the fact that he DIDN'T mention the team that has won the Big Sky for the past 2 years running, during his little "teams to watch out for" synopsis, tells me he's probably a bit nervous about playing the cats (I would be too if my job, in large part, depended on beating us...). Either that or he's just really bitter and really hates the cats. Either way, I'm happy!!!

[iaafan]

I can't recall a coach behaving in this way. It is strange to say the least. If he was having fun with it that would be one thing. It may just be a maturity thing. Usually it's the coach telling the players not to say anything to piss the other team off and supply them with bulletin board fodder. I wonder how long it will take for someone like Varona to line him out. Maybe Read will have a talk with him.

[hokeyfine]

to me it looked like a typical analysis of a team by a coach. i would bet that every big sky coach has a template on Word that tells them exactly what to fill in. no coach is going to say,"we're really concerned about this position" instead, they say "we have good potential". Hauck has the right coach speak, now he needs to mature. Read was classic at this. He gave the proper respect, publicly, to opponents, but i'm sure in the locker room he told his teams differently. I think kramer is great pr.

[velochat]

I would never read an article that long on the friz.

[CARDIAC_CATS]

Nice article .. I read one sentence before I had to spit the sugar out of my mouth All that matters is our players/coaches/team. We play 4 quarters as a team and I like our chances against ANY team in the league this year. I agree, that besides Green/Hilliard I wouldn't swap any position on our team player for player with the Griz (and I'm saying that w/o even seeing our running backs play yet this year ... surprise me boys! .

4 weeks until camp starts ... time is ticking down, FINALLY!

[Cat-theotherwhitemeat]

How about mascots? I'll bet you would all trade mascots

In all honesty, I'm not sure I would trade any if I were a Cat fan either. However, I think Ochs is a little better qb than Lulay...if he stays healthy.

... time is ticking down, FINALLY!

hasn't this been happening before now? Or, did you find a way to stop time?

[hokeyfine]

on paper, ochs is all world, but on the field he hasn't played to that hype. lulay, on paper, is not all world, but on the field he has more than proven that he is leader and a good qb. at this point, i would prefer a proven lulay over a potentially good ochs. i like lulay in pressure situations, i think ochs didn't handle it very well in the cat/griz game, i.e. throwing the ball out of bounds.

[CARDIAC_CATS]

on paper, ochs is all world, but on the field he hasn't played to that hype. lulay, on paper, is not all world, but on the field he has more than proven that he is leader and a good qb. at this point, i would prefer a proven lulay over a potentially good ochs. i like lulay in pressure situations, i think ochs didn't handle it very well in the cat/griz game, i.e. throwing the ball out of bounds.

I think Oches handled it perfect, from CATS point of view. Its hard to knock Aches when he was getting blasted after each throw by Gluhm and boys though. They definately knocked him around and had him riled up I expect even more of the same this year from the D. This time I hope he doesn't throw it out of bounds, but instead lays a few more nice ducks over the middle for our safeties to take to the house.

[Tully]

reading that crap makes me appreciate Kramers colorful commentary and style that much more.

[JahGriz]

You guys have got to be kidding me. What specifically did Hauck say that isn't basic coach speak? He obviously isn't a dynamic personality, but not every coach is. Kramer is special in the personality dept, and I have grown not to dislike him over the last couple of years. He used to say some things that were completely outlandish. Hauck is new to the HC game and will hopefully learn it well.
I think a few of you need to wipe the blue and gold debris from your reverse beer goggles, like hokey and raincat, instead of just attacking Hauck.

[Cat-theotherwhitemeat]

Last year Ochs showed signs of what he can do (i.e. NAU game). With one year under his belt and being 100%, I think he'll be impressing even the Cat fans. As far as Lulay is concerned, I don't think he's improved that much since his freshman year. Don't get me wrong, he's a good quarterback, but after his first year, I was expecting a little more since then. However, I've only watched him in the Griz/Cat games and it doesn't sound like he played his best. One thing he didn't do, was make any big mistakes....damn him.

[jagur1]

WOW, 2 good threads going at once. Is the world spinning slower or something My fav Kramer moment was when he questioned Johnson's guts, or ability to play hurt, live on TV.

[raincat]

I agree, the Ryno comments were regretable; critics would say "classless". However with Johnson on the sideline the Cats had just gotten their arses kicked by Central Washington at homecoming. Coach Kramer probably understood what that meant on even a deeper level than meets the eye. If he were still coaching at Eastern Washington and the boys from Ellensburg had come to town and done that to the Eagles on homecoming day he may well have lost his job! Besides he is since on record with calling Johnson probably the best student athlete in MSU history. I prefer to go with that.

[JahGriz]

This is not ment as smack, but an observation. Kramer has been a bit of a QB killer in the past. It seemed he would get complete studs who just couldn't get it together under Kramer. Lulay seems to be at least staying relatively the same, instead going backwards.

jag, good point on Kramer. He has toned it down a bit, but then again, he is riding high on a mediocre record instead of a poor one. And 2 years of beating the Griz surely have him beaming.

[wbtfg]

This is not ment as smack, but an observation. Kramer has been a bit of a QB killer in the past. It seemed he would get complete studs who just couldn't get it together under Kramer. Lulay seems to be at least staying relatively the same, instead going backwards.

jag, good point on Kramer. He has toned it down a bit, but then again, he is riding high on a mediocre record instead of a poor one. And 2 years of beating the Griz surely have him beaming.

I would argue that Lulay is the first good quarterback that Kramer has had here in Bozeman. Both Thomas and Azimi were terrible quarterbacks who couldn't the the ball into any kind of a head wind.

As for Lulay, I would say that he has gotten much better. His freshman year, he had a great supporting cast and his job was "don't do anything to lose the game." Last year, his job was to be more of a playmaker which caused him to take a few more risks. His numbers weren't much better than his frosh year, but I think that was due to a lack of a supporting cast. Assuming that our O-Line can step up, I have a feeling that with all of the playmakers that we have this year (Dominick, Gatewood, Guinn...etc), Travis will have an exceptional year and will be in the running for 1st team all Big Sky.

BTW...I haven't been following Big Sky Conference football for as long as many of you have, but this year has to have one of the most talented groups of quarterbacks in the history of the Big Sky. There are probably 4 or 5 guys that could be first team all big sky, and any of those could probably be placed on one of the all-america teams. I have a Feeling this is going to be a crazy year for football in the Big Sky.......I can't wait

[jagur1]

I agree I've never seen such a good group of QB's.


Edit alert, "terrible quarterbacks who couldn't the the ball into any kind of a head wind." ?