Friday, December 8, 2006
Memo on the Project
Friday, December 8, 2006
Semifinal Game Day
Grizmas lights: Second-ranked Griz primed to battle No. 3 Minutemen (Missoulian).
Seniors make last stand at Washington-Griz (Missoulian).
Big crowd to send off Griz seniors (Missoulian).
Griz host UMass tonight in semifinals (Billings Gazette).
Diehard UM fans make the trip (Billings Gazette, Montana Standard).
Another big-time runner tests determined Griz defense (Great Falls Tribune).
Are these teams twins, or what? (Great Falls Tribune).
ASUM favors smaller stadium (Billings Gazette).
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GAME DAY MISSOULIAN
They might be the best — Griz D ranks 6th in I-AA and possibly best in school history.
How We See The Playoffs.
The Edge.
Grizzly Game Day / Stat pack.
Grizzly Q & A: Dan Carpenter on the hero end of the spectrum.
In I-AA, the real national champion will stand up.
From the desk of the AD: Griz faithful rise to the occasion.
Where is Garrett Venters now? 'Doctor Doom' finds his true calling as fireman.
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Drum line keeps the beat in Washington-Grizzly Stadium (Missoulian).
Note to ‘Muzzoola': UMass is in ‘Ammerst' (Missoulian).
Skybox beneficiary / Jim Caras gives former caretaker live view of semifinal (Missoulian).
Grizzly-UMass game hottest ticket in town (Missoulian).
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UMass meets Montana (The Republican).
Going in blind: UMass, Montana know very little about each other (Daily Hampshire Gazette).
He's more than worth it (Daily Hampshire Gazette).
To UMass, gridiron success worth the price (Boston Globe).
UMass's Baylark is a brush with greatness (Boston Globe).
Air up there could be a problem for UMass (Boston Herald).
They’re catching on: Tight end duo emerges (Boston Herald).
Massachusetts draws on artful Baylark (USA Today).
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Brown denies interest in BC head coaching job (The Daily Hampshire Gazette).
Facing the elements: UMass plays in a tough Montana atmosphere for shot at NT (DH Gazette).
C'mon huh? (The Daily Hampshire Gazette).
The bottom line (The Boston Globe).
A leg to stand on: Hatchells put heart in UMass defense (The Boston Globe).
Grizmas lights: Second-ranked Griz primed to battle No. 3 Minutemen
By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the Missoulian
It isn't No. 1 vs. No. 2, but in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, No. 2 vs. No. 3 ain't bad.
The stage is set for the second-ranked Montana Grizzlies to battle the No. 3 Massachusetts Minutemen Friday at 5:35 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The temporary lights are up and aimed. The ESPN2 crew, presumably, has brushed up on the pronunciations of “Ihedigbo (ee-HEAD-dee-BOO)” and “Beaudin (BOW-den).”
The teams are primed. The stadium will be packed.
The winner of the first semifinal, in what can be called the Division I-AA playoffs for a few more days, earns a trip to the Division I Football Championship next Friday in Chattanooga, Tenn.
“I think it'll be a great game,” fourth-year Grizzlies' coach Bobby Hauck said. “Probably, like most of them, down to the wire.”
The teams match excellent defenses and balanced offenses. Both teams have had one less day to game-plan, Montana for Massachusetts' gambling, pressure D and the Minutemen for the Grizzlies' gap-sound, run-conscious 4-3.
“They'll be all over the place,” Hauck said of the Minutemen defenders, who line up 4-3, then 3-4, and keep changing things up from there. “They'll be even, they'll be odd (up front), lots of line games. There will be guys running all over the place, is what they'll be.”
“Their two defensive ends, I really love their foot speed,” UMass coach Don Brown said of the Grizzlies, who haven't allowed a playoff touchdown. “They are very solid inside. Their three linebackers all can run and cover. I really like both the safeties. I think they have good coverage skills and are great tacklers.
“And their corners, again, complement their safeties extremely well.”
But Brown's biggest concern seems to be the play of Montana quarterback Josh Swogger, who has gotten healthy and been on target down the stretch.
“They're playing very, very good defense right now,” Brown said. “But we're easily as concerned about the matchup of their offense against our defense. It looks like they're kind of functioning on all cylinders.
“I don't know if there's a throw that Josh can't make.”
Swogger, the Washington State transfer, has six touchdown passes in two playoff games after throwing for eight TDs in the Grizzlies' previous eight outings. The Griz lost junior receiver Mike Ferriter to a broken arm early in the McNeese State game; Craig Chambers, Ryan Bagley and Eric Allen have kept it dangerous for opponents to blitz.
Balancing them is a run game that is currently led by redshirt freshman Thomas Brooks-Fletcher, averaging 5.6 yards a carry. One telling statistic may be who has the most yards by the final gun Friday - Brooks-Fletcher or UMass tailback Steve Baylark, a 220-pound senior.
“It's December, you've got to stop the run,” Hauck said. “And you've got to run it. That's the way of the world.”
Baylark has 5,030 career rushing yards, 1,658 of those coming this season. He's a load, though he is impressed by the Griz, who held down Payton Award finalist Arkee Whitlock of Southern Illinois last week.
“There's some big boys out there,” Baylark said. “I didn't know they had such big boys out there in Montana.”
Baylark figures to be the key, since UMass likes the play-action pass. Yet when he's been slowed, the Minutemen have won. Mostly, he hasn't been; he ran for 198 yards against New Hampshire last week.
Maine did the best job, holding him to 50 yards on 17 carries.
“Maine knows what they're doing,” Hauck said Thursday. “They're solid. But they didn't beat 'em (UMass won 10-9). It's one of those deals where they couldn't get it done.”
Add in super sophomore Liam Coen at quarterback, a trio of receivers that UM defensive coordinator Kraig Paulson really likes and another all-world tight end (Brad Listorti), and the Minutemen are a handful. Much more so than SIU, which found little room to operate in a 20-3 loss to Griz last week.
The Minutemen won't have a fullback out there all the time.
“They do a little more,” said Paulson. “They're not so dead-set on staying two-back until they have to go one-back. They can switch gears.
“They're the best team we've seen. They just are.”
Baylark is confident.
“If the run game doesn't work out, I know the receivers will step up,” he said. “Once they start making plays, I just know I have to be patient, and the run game will open up.”
A sellout crowd figures to have more of an impact than the usual December weather in western Montana.
“I've been hearing a lot about Montana's crowd out there, and the stadium and how loud it gets,” Baylark said. “You've got to try to drown out all that stuff and stay focused. It's win or go home. Right now we just want to get that win.”
Of course, so do the Grizzlies.
“Regardless of what happens this will be our last game here,” said defensive end Dustin Dlouhy, one of eight seniors winding up their Griz careers. “This is something you think about, and you do want to take everything in this week and next week, and make the most of it. And pray that everything is positive.”
Seniors make last stand at Washington-Griz
By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the Missoulian
Twelve straight wins have led the Montana Grizzlies' seniors to the brink of another championship game appearance.
Not to mention the twilight of their collegiate careers.
“It's crazy to think time has gone so fast,” said senior defensive end Mike Murphy, who'll lead the second-ranked Griz up against visiting Massachusetts on Friday, in the I-AA semifinals at 5:35 p.m.. “I remember being a freshman playing out here and thinking, ‘Oh, I've got a couple more years.' It just goes so fast.
“Hopefully we can end it right. We've got it rolling right now and it's just really fun to get these wins and extend our season. Hopefully, we can do that Friday night.”
Of the eight Montana seniors playing - running back Lex Hilliard, quarterback Jason Washington and punter Tyson Johnson were lost to injury and are taking medical redshirts - seven have been in the program five years. The eighth is transfer quarterback Josh Swogger.
For the record, Swogger doesn't want to see it end either.
“There are a lot of positive things,” said the former Washington State starter. “Being a 12-1 team and playing the way we have the last couple weeks in the playoffs - you know, it'd be exciting no matter what. Then just adding the playoff atmosphere to that and it's been unbelievable and amazing.”
More of that atmosphere is on its way. A sellout crowd will fill Washington-Grizzly Stadium to watch UM play another 12-1 team, UMass, under the lights. One more win and the Griz are off to their sixth title game in 12 seasons, next Friday in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Most of these seniors remember the last trip, in 2004. It ended with a 31-21 loss to James Madison. Murphy and fellow defensive end Dustin Dlouhy haven't forgotten.
“We both started in that national championship game,” Dlouhy said. “Both of us made a point afterwards, when James Madison was out there yelling and screaming, to not just turn around and walk into the locker room with our heads down.
“I turned around and watched it, and I looked at Mike, and we were, ‘Let's get back here. Let's get back here, be leaders, and have a different outcome next time.'
“We have a shot at that becoming reality.”
Massachusetts came out of its 24-17 quarterfinal win over Atlantic-10 foe New Hampshire at less than 100 percent.
“We looked like a MASH unit on Sunday,” UMass coach Don Brown said. “But I told the kids, ‘By Tuesday, make sure you're unMASHed.' I'm sure we'll be ready to compete and play on Friday night.”
The Minutemen lost top defensive tackle Jason Leonard, a senior that Brown tried to recruit to Northeastern when he was the Huskies' coach, in the UNH game. Montana, meanwhile, sat defensive tackle Craig Mettler for the second straight playoff game last week.
Both players' status is up in the air.
Montana coach Bobby Hauck described Southern Illinois tight end Braden Jones as the best one the Griz had seen since the Iowa game.
Now there is UMass tight end Brad Listorti, a Rutgers transfer who is third on the Minutemen with 31 catches, for 514 yards.
“I was shocked when our defensive coaches were yelling down the hallway Sunday, about this guy being better than the last guy (Jones). He's good. He's as fast as most of their receivers, I think.
“They don't take their tight end off the field much.”
Listorti, 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, averages 16.6 yards per reception and has a pair of touchdowns. Montana's trio of tight ends - Dan Beaudin, Kevin Klaboe and Steven Pfahler - has combined for 29 catches for 283 yards and two scores.
Jones, meanwhile, didn't have a catch last week in Montana's 20-3 quarterfinal win over SIU.
Hauck is OK with the confidence of the Minutemen.
“I think if you win 12 and you're rolling like they are, you ought to be confident,” he said. “You should be very confident. Their only loss was to a bowl team (Navy). By one.”
That said, Hauck has found it hard to gauge the speed of UMass. He watched James Madison lose to Youngstown State in the playoffs, and thought the Dukes were, “really fast.”
“But these guys didn't play (JMU),” he added.
He does know that the Minutemen haven't had an overly long time to prepare.
“It's more fun for us to have a team that hasn't had a week off,” said Hauck, who saw three Big Sky opponents come into their Griz game with a bye. “It's fun to a play a team that hasn't spent their whole spring (preparing) for you. They've had the same time to prepare for us that we've had for them, which is good.”
QUICK KICKS: Once again, special teams are key to both programs. UMass punter Chris Koegel is averaging 40.9 yards for his career. Montana's Dan Carpenter is averaging 41.9 yards in his lone season as the punter. Š Cornerback Courtney Robinson, a Connecticut transfer, is the most dangerous return man for UMass. Š UM's Reggie Bradshaw (ribs) didn't play last week, but still leads the Griz in rushing. Š Each team's loss came to a I-A opponent, UMass to Navy (21-20) and UM to Iowa (41-7). Iowa, 6-6, is facing Texas in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio on Dec. 30. Navy, 9-3, faces Boston College in the Meineke Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. on the same day. ... UMass RB Steve Baylark is just the third I-AA player to gain 1,000 yards in four straight seasons.
Big crowd to send off Griz seniors
By BILL SCHWANKE of
Time is winding down rapidly for the seniors on this year’s Montana football team. In fact Friday night will be their last appearance as players in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The Grizzlies take on the Massachusetts Minutemen at 5:35 p.m. in one semifinal of the I-AA playoffs. The winner will face top-ranked Appalachian State or No. 4 Youngstown State a week later in the national championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Three of the Griz seniors - Dustin Dlouhy, Josh Swogger and Mike Murphy - took part in Tuesday’s weekly football press conference and talked about their waning careers.
“That is something in the back of your mind you think about and it’s there,” Dlouhy said. “You do kind of want to take everything in stride this week and hopefully next week and get the most out of it and really build some memories.
“(You) just pray that everything’s positive because it is something in your life that’s about to come to a close,” he continued, “and you want to instill some memories that will last for a long time.”
For Swogger, his senior year has been his only year at Montana after he transferred from Washington State, but it’s certainly been what he called a “magical season.”
“I’m just thankful for everything that’s happened to us as a team this year,” Swogger said Tuesday. “It’s been a great group of guys to play with. It’s just been unbelievable and amazing and I just can’t say enough about … what we’ve been able to accomplish together.”
Murphy also expressed thankfulness for being part of the program.
“It’s crazy to think that time has gone so fast,” Murphy said. “I remember just being a freshman out here and thinking ‘I’ve got a couple more years,’ but it’s just gone so fast. Hopefully we can end it right.”
All that aside, coach Bobby Hauck said there are no gimmes in football, especially when you’re this deep into the playoffs. He called UMass’s balance on offense “troubling” due in no small part to Atlantic 10 player of the year Steve Baylark at running back and top-rated passer in the nation Liam Coen at quarterback.
Throw in the fact that the Minutemen also have statistically the top scoring defense in I-AA and there’s plenty to worry about Friday night.
Hauck, when asked what he thinks the atmosphere will be like for a rare night game in Missoula, said it probably won’t matter much in terms of player emotion.
“If we played them in the parking lot this afternoon both teams would be fired up,” he said. But he did go on to say, “It’ll be fun in our stadium on Friday night. I’m sure the atmosphere will be electric. I anticipate a real wild scene.”
Hauck said his team has improved as the season has gone on, something that was a mantra for the Grizzlies and has been in past seasons as well. But there no longer is room for error.
“When you get into a game like this you have to play well,” Hauck said. “And you can’t mess it up. The team that messes it up this time of year, … you go home and put the equipment away.”
Dlouhy pointed out one interesting twist for what it’s worth.
“Aside from Cal Poly it’ll be the smallest offensive tackles that Mike and Kroy (Biermann) and I will face all season,” he said. “So that’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.”
Another interesting sidelight to the Grizzly season has been the connection between members of the UM coaching staff and counterparts with virtually every team Montana has played this season.
In the case of UMass Grizzly strength coach Mike Gerber used to work with Minutemen head coach Don Brown when both were at Yale in the early 90s. But sometimes those connections don’t lead to good news.
“I’m not sure how much applies other than that we can get an idea of what the mind set is,” Hauck said. “I should quit calling the guys back there because all my buddies back in Boston talk about how good they are and how fast they are.
“It’s gonna make me more nervous rather than less.”
Griz host UMass tonight in semifinals
By GREG RACHAC, Billings Gazette
MISSOULA - The Montana Grizzlies are staring Chattanooga square in the face.
There's just one obstacle to overcome: The Massachusetts Minutemen.
No. 2 Montana (12-1) and No. 3 Massachusetts (12-1) square off tonight in the Division I-AA semifinal round at Washington-Grizzly Stadium for the right to go to the national championship game next Friday in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Tonight's game will be played under the lights beginning at 5:30 p.m. and will be televised nationwide on ESPN2. The contest is a matchup of two teams that mix balanced offenses with tough, stingy defenses.
"Once you get to this point it's a privilege to be here, and you know your opponent is going to be very talented and well coached," said Montana coach Bobby Hauck. "It's a pretty daunting task to get ready for these guys."
UMass comes into the game fresh off a 24-17 home win over New Hampshire in last week's quarterfinals.
The Minutemen boast a productive offense that features a 1,600-yard running back in senior Steve Baylark and a quarterback that leads the nation in pass efficiency in sophomore Liam Coen (172.2).
UMass averages around 380 yards of offense per game. The Minutemen will try to remain effective on offense in front of what will be a sold-out crowd in an undoubtedly frenzied atmosphere.
Baylark and Coen, along with star receiver Brandon London, are the keys.
"Steve Baylark is playing the best football of his career at this point in time," UMass coach Don Brown said earlier this week via teleconference. "The difference is he is finishing plays.
"Liam Coen is just a cool customer. I think he is the complete package. He has made all the right decisions for us so we just keep our fingers crossed that he has another solid effort this week."
Massachusetts' defense, led by safety James Ihedigbo, cornerback Tracy Beltonis and linebacker Jason Hatchell, ranks No. 1 in the country in scoring, giving up just over 10 points per outing.
"Defensively, they throw a bunch of different looks at you, and that's difficult to prepare for," said Montana senior quarterback Josh Swogger. "They bring pressure from a lot of different places. We just have to focus and lock in (on Friday)."
On the flipside, Montana is playing what is believes is its best defensive football of the season, and has surrendered just seven, six and three points, respectively, in its last three outings.
Behind the increasingly tough play of linemen Mike Murphy and Kroy Biermann, linebacker Tyler Joyce and safety Colt Anderson, the Grizzlies knocked off Southern Illinois last week 20-3 and held running back Arkee Whitlock, a Walter Payton Award finalist, to a mere 80 yards.
Offensively, Montana has been impressive if not spectacular in the last few weeks, averaging about 21 points in its last three games while putting up just under an average of 375 yards in that span.
While they haven't put up a ton of points, the Grizzlies are taking care of the ball and have been consistently winning the time-of-possession battle.
Swogger, freshman running back Thomas Brooks-Fletcher and a stable of qualified receivers have led the way.
The Grizzlies are peaking at the right time, which Hauck inferred is very important when you get to this point of the season.
"If you aren't playing good football at this time of year, you're going home," said Montana's fourth-year head coach. "The key for us, as it is every year, is to improve as the season's gone on. That's what has happened. When you get into a game like this, you have to play well and you can't mess it up. If you do, you put the equipment away."
NOTES: Tickets were sold out as of 11:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. ... The game will be available in High Definition format, the first-ever High Definition telecast from Washington-Grizzly Stadium. ... ESPN will provide the portable lights for tonight's game. ... Dave Pasch, Rod Gilmore and Trevor Matich will call the game with Heather Cox reporting from the sidelines. ... The winner of the UMass/Montana game will take on the winner of the No. 1 Appalachian State/No. 4 Youngstown State contest in the national championship game.
Diehard UM fans make the trip
By Linda Halstead Acharya, of The Billings Gazette (posted in the Montana Standard, Butte)
SIDNEY — It’s 560 miles from Sidney to Missoula, and Chris Hillesland of Sidney is beginning to know each and every one of those miles by heart.
“We go straight across (Highway) 200,” he said, explaining that it’d be another hour by interstate. “From here to Grass Range, you don’t see anybody.” The Hillesland family represents but a few of the nearly 24,000 Griz fans who will rock Washington Grizzly Stadium Friday night. But to join the Griz Nation, they must cross the entire Big Sky State, a distance that would no doubt boggle the minds of even the most loyal University of Massachusetts fans.
For Hillesland, however, it’s “no big deal” to make yet another 1,120-mile round trip. This fall, he’s attended all but two of the Griz home games. He hates to miss one because son Terran Hillesland, a red-shirt freshman and offensive right guard, has started in nearly every game.
Now, the weekly trip across Montana has become standard procedure for the Hillesland family and a few other Sidney diehards. Younger son Jade frequently joins Chris. Terran’s mother, Therese, makes most of the games, too. Their oldest son Chad has easy duty — he only has to drive up from his home in Butte.
At this time of year, the sun hasn’t even risen when the Hilleslands point their car west. By the time they reach Missoula nearly nine hours later, there’s little daylight to spare.
To pass the time, they listen to books on tape and break the trip into mental milestones: four hours to Lewistown, another hour and a half to Great Falls and only 2 1/2 hours for the final home stretch.
Chris grimaces when he remembers the one weekend they got tied up in Sidney until 7:30 p.m. By the time they arrived in Missoula, it was going on 5 a.m.
“But we made it to the tailgate by 9 (a.m.),” he said, smiling.
After the game, and before pointing the car east Sunday mornings, the Hilleslands frequently take Terran — all 6 feet, 7 inches and 320 pounds of him — and some of his buddies out for dinner.
“They order two entrees — two whole meals — when they sit down,” Chris said, obviously amazed.
This past Wednesday, as the Hilleslands prepared for their final cross-state drive of the season, Chris hoped that this season’s great travel conditions would hold out for one more weekend. Then he paused as he calculated the miles they’ve traveled. If they’d made every home game, he said, the total would come to just less than 10,000 miles. And, since Terran has three years of eligibility left, Chris figures they have tens of thousands of miles to go.
“He (Terran) appreciates it, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” he said. “It’s been a ball.”
***
Another big-time runner tests determined Griz defense
By GEORGE GEISE, Great Falls Tribune
MISSOULA — What if Lex Hilliard were playing tonight in the semifinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs?
That's a prospect that undoubtedly would thrill Montana fans, since the 6-0, 225-pounder from Kalispell may be the most talented running back in the history of the Grizzly program.
That won't happen, of course, because Hilliard has been sidelined all season with an Achilles tendon injury. But a Hilliardesque combination of power and finesse will be playing, and Steve Baylark will be wearing the UMass colors.
"He's more like Lex Hilliard than anybody else we've faced," UM coach Bobby Hauck said of Baylark, a 220-pounder with good speed and great durability.
"He runs well, and he's their guy when they run the football."
Indeed, Baylark has carried the ball 285 times this season — more than five times as often as the next-busiest back, freshman Tony Nelson. He's scored 13 touchdowns rushing and three more on pass receptions, and he's expected to touch the pigskin about 30 times tonight when coach Don Brown's third-ranked Minutemen (12-1) face the second-ranked Grizzlies (12-1) in a 5:35 matchup at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The game will be watched by a sellout crowd of 24,000, plus a nationwide TV audience on ESPN2.
Baylark, who hails from Apopka, Fla., has rushed for 5,030 yards in his fine career and is one of a handful of running backs in I-AA history who have gained 1,000 or more yards in four straight seasons.
Even Hilliard — a preseason All-American before getting injured in August — wouldn't be likely to reach 5,000 yards.
Baylark averages 5.8 per carry, though he lacks the breakaway speed of a runner like Southern Illinois' Arkee Whitlock of Cal Poly's James Noble — the best two rushers Montana has faced this season. Neither of those players got close to their season averages against the Grizzlies, who yield only 98 yards per game on the ground.
Brown said Baylark has continued to improve during his five years at UMass, and he was pretty good to start with.
"Steve is playing the best football of his career," said the third-year coach. "He was 15 pounds lighter coming into camp this year, and he's playing at a high level. The difference is he's finishing plays. He's had a lot more long runs, and he's a tenth to two-tenths faster (40-yard dash) than a year ago.
"We were able to rest him early in the year and it's paid off. He looks fresh."
Stopping Whitlock last week (80 yards in 21 carries) was UM's main defensive focus. But stopping Baylark tonight isn't the Grizzlies' only goal. The Minutemen have the most efficient quarterback in I-AA football in sophomore Liam Coen, who has completed an astonishing 66 percent of his passes, and has thrown 25 touchdown passes with only six interceptions.
Those are Dave Dickenson-type numbers.
"This guy (Coen) is good. He's leading the nation in pass efficiency, he's accurate," said Hauck after watching all 13 UMass games on tape. "The wide receivers are very good. Part of it is their players can really go up and get it, and their tight end (6-4, 245-pound Brad Listori) is a great player. Tim (defensive backs coach Tim Hauck) said this guy's better than Southern Illinois' tight end."
SIU tight end Braden Jones came into last Saturday's game as the Salukis' leading receiver with 32 catches, but was skunked by the Griz defense.
Listori has hauled in 31 balls for 514 yards and two TDs. The top UMass threat is 6-4, 210-pound senior Brandon London, who has 42 catches for 705 yards and nine TDs.
"They (Minutemen) talk about speed a lot, and No. 81 (Lundon) is a really good player," said Hauck.
The Minutemen also go often to 6-0, 201-pound junior J.J. Moore, who has 36 catches for 482 yards and four scores.
Coen rarely runs with the ball — he has 28 carries all season for negative yardage — but he's been sacked only 14 times. The UMass offensive line is headed by all-Atlantic 10 players Matt Austin (6-5, 288) at left tackle and Alex Miller (6-2, 290) at center.
UMass has perhaps the most balanced offense Montana has faced this season. The Minutemen throw for 202 yards and rush for 177 on their way to scoring 29 points per game against a tough schedule.
Montana's offensive numbers are nearly identical, although the Griz do it in different ways. UM uses three running backs and rarely throws to the backs or tight ends. But if senior quarterback Josh Swogger and his big receiving corps is on its game, freshman running back Thomas Brooks-Fletcher usually gets wider rushing lanes. The 200-pounder from Washington has gained more than 100 yards in three of his last four outings.
The Grizzlies have rolled up almost 900 yards in playoff victories over McNeese State (31-6) and Southern Illinois (20-3).
Brown seems impressed with UM's talent.
"Well, obviously they have a very, very fine football team with team balance on offense and an outstanding quarterback in Josh Swogger," said Brown.
"He's a strong-armed guy, with a good handle on what the coach wants to get done. They have a myriad of running backs, and three very good receivers. I'm really impressed with Eric Allen, Ryan Bagley and Craig Chambers," he added.
Those three wideouts — all in the 6-3, 210-pound range — have combined for 141 catches and more than 2,000 yards, with 17 touchdowns. Washington State transfer Swogger has found Washington transfer Chambers four times for TDs the past two weeks.
The ability of the huge but young UM offensive line to keep defenders like noseguard Jason Leonard and end John Hatchell off Swogger's back probably will determine Montana's offensive play-calling. When Swogger has had time to throw, the rifle-armed quarterback from Ohio has excelled. But he's also been sacked more than 40 times, five of those last week against SIU.
Montana's defense also is good at putting serious pressure on opposing quarterbacks, especially in likely throwing situations.
"I love the foot speed of the defensive ends," said Brown, "and the three linebackers all can run and cover. They're very stingy on defense."
UM defensive coordinator Kraig Paulson likes to rotate ends Mike Murphy, Dustin Dlouhy and Kroy Biermann, and all are quick off the ball. Linebackers Tyler Joyce, Kyle Ryan and Loren Utterback are perhaps the fastest group Montana has ever had at that position.
Fans shouldn't be surprised if both teams show some wrinkles in the kicking game. Hauck, who coaches special teams, is noted for his deep bag of trick plays, and the Grizzlies tried both a fake punt and fake field goal last week against Southern Illinois.
One worked, one didn't, but teams must be aware of the gadget plays.
UMass also has those weapons, said Hauck.
"They've used a few fake punts and field goals, and reverses on kickoff returns," he said. "They do things that make you work."
Playing under the lights will be an oddity for both teams. UM played one night game this season at Portland State, while UMass played the second half of its playoff game last week against New Hampshire under the lights in Amherst, Mass.
The Minutemen have played in front of big crowds — they drew 17,000 at home last week, and they played before 30,117 at Navy in September. But they haven't seen a throng quite like the 24,000 they'll see tonight, said Hauck.
"It's going to be a wild scene Friday night, it will be full," he said. "Our crowd will be into it, you know that."
Montana is 24-2 in playoff games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, and is 5-0 in semifinal games at home.
Brown got his team early to Missoula so the Minutemen could work out twice (Thursday afternoon, Friday morning) at the stadium. But there's no way the visitors will understand the pressure of the crowd until the kickoff.
"We're just have to prepare our guys the best we can, use hand signals, silent cadence," said Brown.
"The flip side is, we had a great crowd at our place last week, and to be honest with you, our guys feed off high-energy crowds. Our guys will like to play in a hostile environment."
Tonight's winner will advance to the national championship game on Friday, Dec. 15 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The other finalist will be No. 1 Appalachian State (12-1) against No. 4 Youngstown State (13-2). That semifinal will be played Saturday night in Boone, N.C., and will be televised by ESPN.
Are these teams twins, or what?
Geise, Great Falls Tribune
Have two football opponents ever looked more alike — or sounded more alike — than UM and ...UM?
When the University of Montana plays host to the University of Massachusetts tonight in the unfriendly confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium, fans may need a microscope to notice the differences.
On paper, this Football Championship Subdivision semifinal looks like a heads-or-tails, call-it-in-the-air type of contest.
Best-two-out-of three?
That's out of the question with the NCAA, which mandates an overtime in case this one's tied after 60 minutes.
Too close to call?
This one might be too close for comfort, especially if you're one of the 23,500 Grizzly partisans in the audience. Montana fans are notorious for their aversion to close games, mostly because they aren't used to them.
In one corner, we've got the UMass Minutemen, who give up less than five yards a minute. They also give up just under two touchdowns a game, best in all of I-AA football.
In the other corner, we've got the UM Grizzlies, who yield a little over four yards a minute, and less than 16 points per game, 14th-best in I-AA football.
On the west sidelines, we've got a UMass offense that passes much less than it runs, but does both well, churning out 379 yards and 29 points per game.
On the east sidelines, we've got a UM offense that passes a little less than it runs, but does both well, amassing 376 yards and 28.3 points per game.
In the visiting white uniforms, you've got a punter who averages 40.4 yards per boot, plus a placekicker who makes 70 percent of his field goals.
In the home maroon uniforms, you've got a punter who averages 41.9 yards per boot and a placekicker who converts 78 percent of his field goals. In Montana's case, it's the same guy handling all the crucial footwork.
On both sidelines, you've got 300-pound offensive linemen, give or take a biscuit. The UMass guys might be 6-2 or 6-3, and the Montana guys tend to be 6-6 or 6-7, but they're all sturdy fellows who work well in groups.
On both sidelines, you've got athletic, tall receivers who know how to snag the football away from smaller defenders. The Minutemen are 6-4, 6-5 and 6-4 with their primary pass catchers. The Griz go 6-3, 6-4 and 6-3 with their top three receivers. The crisp night air could be filled with high-arching spirals.
On both sidelines, you've got agile defensive ends and linebackers who know how to get to the quarterback. UMass has 36 sacks this season, UM has 34.
There are other similarities between the two squads, most obviously their records.
UMass is 12-1 and went 8-0 in its own tough conference. The Minutemen lost only to an NCAA Division I-A program on the road. They've won 11 straight games.
UM is 12-1 and went 8-0 in its own highly competitive conference. The Grizzlies lost only to an NCAA Division I-A program on the road. They've won 12 straight games.
But these aren't mirror-image teams. Not quite.
UMass likes to hand the football to a 6-0, 220-pound senior running back. Then they like to hand it off to him again, and again. Steve Baylark has packed the mail 285 times this season on his way to 1,658 yards and 13 touchdowns. Nobody else has carried more than 47 times.
UM likes to run the ball with 200-pound freshman Thomas Brooks-Fletcher, who will be spelled by 190-pound senior Brady Green, and quite likely by 212-pound junior Reggie Bradshaw. Together, they've carried the mail 341 times for 1,491 yards and 18 touchdowns.
UMass has a medium-sized sophomore quarterback running the offense, and Liam Coen (6-2, 205) is an agile kid who completes 67 percent of his passes. He's thrown 25 TD passes and just six interceptions, making him one of the mosty efficient passers in I-AA football.
UM has a jumbo-sized senior quarterback running the offense, and Josh Swogger (6-5, 235) is a not-so-agile guy who completes 55 percent of his throws. He's tossed 17 TD passes and has been intercepted 10 times, but his rocket arm makes him one of the most dangerous passers in I-AA football.
The one obvious statistical difference between these teams is in their ability to protect the passer.
Coen is not prone to sacks. Period. He's been tipped over only 14 times in 13 games.
Swogger is more than prone to sacks; he's often been prone because of them. UM has given up more QB sacks (48) than any other I-AA team in the nation. Even though the Griz offensive line is healthy, and playing better than it was a month ago, protection remains a major concern for the Grizzly brain trust.
But there's one even more obvious difference between these teams.
UMass is playing 2,000 miles from home. Tonight's semifinal game will be the second time in school history the Minutemen have played west of the Central time zone. They've never even flown over Washington-Grizzly Stadium. They're not used to playing at elevations above 3,000 feet.
UM is playing in its own stadium, in a noisy den that's friendly to Grizzlies, but not to visiting football teams. Only four of the previous 26 playoff opponents who have visited Washington-Grizzly Stadium have escaped with victories. Most teams have left with three-touchdown defeats.
In a close battle — and this one looks as close on paper as any matchup in years — the fans usually make a difference. Many coaches figure the homefield advantage in Missoula is worth 14 points, at least.
The edge probably won't be worth that much tonight against a well-coached team with no apparent weaknesses.
But even if the crowd is worth only seven points, that should be enough to determine a winner in a matchup this close.
ASUM favors smaller stadium
Billings Gazette News Services
MISSOULA - The University of Montana's student government has endorsed a scaled-down plan for expansion at Washington-Grizzly Stadium that includes 2,000 new seats and an increase in athletic fees of $10 per semester.
The original plan called for a $7 million, 4,000-seat expansion and a fee increase of $17.50 per semester.
UM's top executives pitched the revised plan to the Associated Students of the University of Montana on Wednesday night. They plan to take it to the state Board of Regents in January.
The new plan will cost about $5 million and is expected to be paid off in five years from various sources, including ticket revenue, UM President George Dennison said.
At that time, the athletic fee increase will be repealed, he said.
Seniors do not have to pay the $10-per-semester fee increase, because they won't be around to enjoy the benefits, he added.
The athletic fee currently is $36 per semester.
For their funding boost, students will get 750 additional seats. The original $7 million proposal promised students an additional 1,600 seats.
ASUM senators voted 19-2 in favor of the new proposal after over 90 minutes of discussion.
The decision was welcome news to UM administrators.
The expansion will provide more seating to a venue that usually is sold out, Dennison said. It also will create more revenue for campus and raise the football program's profile. The added exposure will lead people to learn more about UM and the rest of its campus, he said.
What is more important, the expansion will allow more students to cheer on their classmates, said Jim O'Day, UM athletic director.
"It's the students that create the excitement in the stadium," he said. "It's the students who make it a special place to be."
GAME DAY MISSOULIAN
They might be the best — Griz D ranks 6th in I-AA and possibly best in school history
By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the Missoulian
The play of the day in Montana's 20-3 Division I-AA quarterfinal win over Southern Illinois could've been any one of the long, third-down catches by Ryan Bagley, Rob Schulte or Eric Allen.
Instead, it was a sack by Mike Murphy, one of Montana's two senior defensive ends, that paved the second-ranked Grizzlies' way into Friday's semifinal home game against No. 3 Massachusetts. One play before, the 240-pounder out of Great Falls plowed through the gap between SIU left tackle Darren Maruqez and guard Matt Ruth, upending running back Arkee Whitlock for a 4-yard loss.
Then, on third-and-10, Murphy zipped outside of Marquez, who was determined to shore off that B gap, and sacked Salukis' quarterback Nick Hill for a 9-yard loss.
The crowd of 18,832 packed into Washington-Grizzly went crazy. The game had turned.
And there were 58 minutes left.
Against a crowd that never let up and a defense that never gave in, Southern Illinois ended up with just 129 yards. The Salukis ran for 92, or 153 under their average. It was, to use UM coach Bobby Hauck's word, "spectacular."
"If there's ever been a better defense in the Big Sky Conference, that is an arguable point," Hauck said this week. "Because I don't think any defense has ever played better than our guys are playing right now."
To try to compare defenses in the long history of the Big Sky Conference is an apple-and-orange puzzle. Going back through Montana's history alone makes it only slightly less so.
Example: In 1989 the Grizzlies gave up just 70.2 rushing yards a game. What mitigates that number is the fact that in 1989, seven out of the nine Big Sky teams threw for at least 246 yards per game.
Only one Big Sky team, Northern Arizona, did that this season.
Statistics can be skewed. Witness 1993, when Montana breezed through its Big Sky Conference slate, beating Idaho by 20 on the road and earning a first-round playoff game. Heading into the playoffs the Grizzlies were allowing just 91.6 rushing yards per game.
By the time Delaware left Washington-Grizzly Stadium - with 476 rushing yards and a 49-48 victory - they were allowing an average of 135.
That said, this Grizzly defense is different. It's deep, and talented, and fast. The secondary is filled with good tacklers and cover men, but no real star, a la Tim Hauck of the 1987-89 teams - and some feel the 1988 squad had the best defense in Griz history.
The linebacker crew runs six deep and makes a ton of tackles, but none of the starters - Tyler Joyce, Kyle Ryan or Loren Utterback - made first-team all-Big Sky.
The front is built around three anonymous men in the middle in Kerry Mullan, Kelly Kain and Craig Mettler, though the banged-up Mettler had given away to Dan Carter and Jesse Carlson of late, and ends Kroy Biermann, Mike Murphy and Dustin Dlouhy.
It says volumes that Murphy could fall off the Buck Buchanan Award list (Biermann jumped on) and the defense continued to excel. It is, in a word, a collective effort.
And it's a far cry from the old Griz games, when Montana used to pile up the points on offense, get the ball back and pile up some more.
Ah, 2004. The good old days.
That was the year of Craig Ochs, Jefferson Heidelberger, Levander Segars, Justin Green and Lex Hilliard. The offense exploded in the final six games of the season, and carried the Griz to their fifth I-AA championship game.
The defense was an opportunistic bunch that gave up big yards at times, but generally toughened in the red zone and created plenty of turnovers. It was also young, and ended up giving up chunks of yards (literally) to James Madison's ground game in a 31-21 title-game loss.
Many of those players are back. Murphy and Dlouhy started the '04 final at the ends. Ryan backed up Nick Vella at middle linebacker. Mullan started, as did Van Cooper and Matt Lebsock at safety, and Tuff Harris at corner.
These Griz just aren't giving up yards. Montana has won 12 straight games, and has done it by leaning heavily on its D. The believers are lining up. Cal Poly. Portland State. Montana State. Southern Illinois and McNeese State combined for nine points in two playoff games at Washington-Grizzly.
"Like the coaches say, defense wins championships," receiver Eric Allen said after the Griz topped the Cats 13-7. "They've proven they're a good enough defense to stop everybody in the league. I'm just glad to be around them and I'm glad they're on my team."
"They had their turns early and are really a good group of kids," said Kraig Paulson, who was UM's linebackers coach in 2004. "This is important to them. They practice hard and they play hard. It's just outstanding, how much this means to them and how hard they work at it."
Paulson took over as defensive coordinator in 2005, after Jeff Hammerschmidt left for a job at Cal Poly. The Plentywood native had been in this position before: He was the Griz DC from 1998-99 under head coach Mick Dennehy, and returned to the school after Dennehy let him go at Utah State in 2002.
If fans had misgivings about Paulson's return, they abated in 2005 when the Griz picked up three shutouts and earned their 13th straight I-AA playoff berth. It was a sign of things to come - and yet it was much the same approach Paulson has always used.
The Griz line up 4-3, add a few wrinkles here and there, go light on pressure and heavy on being in the right place at all times.
"You can't call us simple, because we don't do a lot of the same things every week," said Paulson, a former Griz running back who earned the nickname 'Barbwire' while wearing No. 37 from 1983-86. "But no, we're not trying to win the scheme war.
"We feel like half our practice time has to be put into fundamentals and execution of the scheme. That's how we try to balance it."
"We like to play out of our base stuff," says Ryan, the team's leading tackler with 103. "Two years ago we used to switch things up. Now we have our base defenses, and it doesn't matter who we play. We're playing the same stuff we learned in August."
The result has been some tidy games that statistically border on the absurd.
Aforementioned Northern Arizona threw for all of 93 yards against UM in October. Idaho State's high-powered offense threw its first rod in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, gaining just 92 yards, 46 coming through the air.
To be sure, the Grizzlies pressure: Witness the "Hurricane" blitzes of Jimmy Wilson against the Cats and last week against SIU. They just don't do it as much as most teams.
"I'm just not a big fan of just running guys through that way," said Paulson. "That can get you in a real minus situation. But we run enough of it that you have to be aware of it."
And at the right times.
"A lot of the sacks and things, the turnovers and stuff, are by a good call on his part," says Dlouhy. "We're just the ones who get all the credit for it.
"Coach Paulson coming from Utah State, people might have had mixed emotions," Dlouhy added. "But you can tell he personally has a lot of pride in Montana, being a Montana guy and all that. Whatever it is, there's a little something extra in him. It's about time 'Barbwire' gets a little love."
Paulson gives as well as he receives. He credits a defensive staff that includes Tim Hauck (safeties), Tom Hauck (tackles), Ty Gregorak (linebackers) and Mike Hudson (corners).
He talks of the work in the weight room, with strength coach Mike Gerber.
"You have to mention that," he says. "I have before and I truly believe that the players are bigger and stronger and they're more durable."
Then there are the players themselves.
"Absolutely," he said. "You have to have the players. But it's not just their talent, it's their willingness to work and get better. It's been awesome, no doubt. And getting that out of people is the other side of the story."
Publicly at least, Paulson says he feels no goal to right past wrongs, or to prove himself. He's just doing the job, a couple blitzes at a time.
"I think it's good for all of us," said Paulson, whose 1998 defense allowed the least yards in the Big Sky Conference. "I wouldn't say for me more than anybody else. It's a real team effort. I've been through these battles for many years, and I love coaching. I just think we ask our kids to be unselfish, so we have to be the same way. Team first."
The team blitzes maybe 15 times a game. Wilson has been sent in, by Paulson's estimation, maybe 25 times this season.
"Our playbook is huge," Dlouhy says. "But Thursday night Coach Paulson draws from that and picks a few plays from each area, and that's all we have to worry about. That's about all we need. That's probably a lot different than how other places do it."
Different works - going back to the Larry Donovan era, only the 1988 team allowed less than 300 yards per game, at 279.9. Heading into Friday's game with UMass, with a victory meaning their sixth I-AA title game appearance in 12 years, these Griz are allowing 251.5.
Even Paulson has to admit it has been spectacular.
"I'd be a fool to sit here and say I don't enjoy it," he said. "I mean, I'm loving it."
HOW WE SEE THE PLAYOFFS: Season record: John 10-2, Fritz 10-2
By JOHN SMITHERS of the Missoulian
Perhaps he is generous or perhaps slow on the draw - perhaps he is both - but Fritz Neighbor kindly let me back into the running last week by picking Montana State to upset No. 1 Appalachian State.
Heading into the semifinals of the I-AA/FCS playoffs, we are now deadlocked at 10-2.
You can cut the tension around here with a knife.
It's kind of like when you ask Bobby Hauck a probing question about the offense in a post-game press conference.
Speaking of Bobby Hauck, how 'bout them Grizzlies!
If there is a more dominant defense in I-AA, we haven't seen it. It's downright fun to watch this team go after people. Arkee Whitlock never knew what hit him.
Speaking of fun, we somehow have to fill an entire half page in Gameday with only two games to pick. This is going to require some long-winded blather, but we're good at that.
Blather, blather, blather.
Speaking of blather, what in the Sam-Bobcat was Mike Kramer doing last Saturday calling a reverse option pass with Montana State down 24-17 early in the fourth quarter and driving? Generally, we think Kramer - and we're going to assume he either called the play or OK'd it - is one of the more gifted thinkers in the Big Sky Conference. But the ill-advised pass never had a chance, and the resulting interception sealed MSU's fate.
And we were really rooting for the Bobcats. Who wouldn't have loved to see the Griz play the Cats for the national championship? Even if it did mean we had to endure Neighbor strutting around the office like a penguin.
Speaking of Penguins, let's get to the picks. Unlike the usual flow of things, we're going to save Montana-Massachusetts for the end.
Also unlike the usual flow of things, this is only the second time since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1986 that the top four seeds have advanced to the semifinals. The other year? 1996. Montana reached the title game as the No. 1 seed only to fall to No. 2 Marshall.
The picks:
• No. 4 Youngstown State (11-2) at No. 1 Appalachian State (12-1): It's the first meeting ever between the two schools. Youngstown State is basically Southern Illinois with a slightly better defense. The Penguins have survived two tough playoff games against James Madison and Illinois State. Appalachian State has had an easier go of it, beating Coastal Carolina and MSU, although the Bobcats clearly made the Mountaineers nervous. This is a fascinating matchup between a balanced Youngstown State team and Appy State, which has the best offense in the playoffs. ASU freshman quarterback Armanti Edwards has thrown for nearly 2,000 yards and run for more than a 1,000. Kevin Richardson leads the Mountaineer rushing attack with 1,406 yards and 24 touchdowns. The key for Youngstown will be keeping Edwards and Richardson off the field with running back Marcus Mason, who averages nearly 160 yards rushing a game for the Penguins. If it turns into a defensive battle, Youngstown State has a chance. But it probably won't. John: Appalachian State 31, Youngstown State 28. Fritz: Youngstown State 31, Appy State 27.
• No. 3 Massachusetts (12-1) at No. 2 Montana (12-1): Last week I had a little fun and predicted three overtimes, mostly because we didn't have a clue what was going to happen. What Grizzly offense would show up? Would Whitlock really run rampant? Would there be enough light to play three overtimes? Probably not, but that won't matter this week. ESPN and a national television audience promises to provide plenty of Friday night lights. And things should roll along fairly quickly with a matchup of two of the top defenses in the country. Montana ranks No. 6 overall while UMass has the top scoring defense. The Minutemen bring a far more balanced approach on offense than Southern Illinois did, but no one seems to find much success against the Grizzlies these days. This will probably come down to turnovers and special teams. Home-field edge won't hurt either. In a Bobby Hauck dream game ... John: Griz 2, Massachusetts 0. Fritz: Griz 23, UMass 7.
THE EDGE: Missoulian reporter Nick Lockridge assesses the strength of both teams
OFFENSE:
QB — Swogger had one of his most efficient games of the season last week with a 17-of-24 passing performance with two touchdowns. UMass QB Liam Coen only leads the nation in passer efficiency. He has completed 66 percent of his passes for a rating of 172.3. The Swogg has a 130.3 rating.
OL — Let's see who's been packing on the holiday weight. The Grizzlies' starting O-line weighs a combined 1,493 pounds. The Minutemen starting line weighs in at 1,445 pounds. It's UM by a couple drumsticks.
RB — TBF has cracked the 100-yard plateau two weeks running, making Griz fans say, ‘No. 38, who's that?' Better start stocking up on No. 24 jerseys. Speaking of numbers, UMass running back Steve Baylark (No. 5) was the No. 1 rusher in the Atlantic 10 this fall and earned himself the co-offensive MVP award.
WR/TE — All bases are covered. Chris Chambers has four TDs this postseason and leads the team with eight. Eric Allen stretches the field with deep, acrobatic catches. He leads the team in average yards per catch and game. Ryan Bagley is the go-to guy, especially on third down. He tops the team in receptions.
DEFENSE:
DL — The Grizzlies' D-line stuffed a Walter Payton Award candidate last week, held McNeese to just 99 yards on the ground and completely dominated the Big Sky all fall. Think that's going to change now?
'Fraid not.
LB — The warrior-style eye black on Tyler Joyce's face should've been enough to earn the nod, but Joyce and UM's crew of crash test dummies forced five straight three-and-outs in the first half of last week's win. You can't fudge those statistics.
CB/Safety — The Grizzly secondary has not picked off a pass in two weeks, while the Minutemen defensive backs have one in each round of the playoffs, including last week against New Hampshire QB Ricky Santos, another Payton candidate.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
K/P/Returns — In a tight game, Griz fans gotta like their chances if it comes down to a field goal. Dan Carpenter has made eight of his last nine attempts. The only miss in that span was a 53-yarder. UMass' Chris Koepplin is six for his last nine. In a not-so-tight game, Koepplin has just one PAT miss all year, Carp has four. D'oh!
INTANGIBLES:
Predictions (in song) for Friday: At least THREE fat guys wearing Santa Claus suits in the student section,... TWO dozen homemade signs with ESPN2 encrypted somewhere in the message and... ONE big Montana win, which would make it a perfect 6-0 in home semifinal games. It's seven days 'til Grizmas, not 12.
Grizzly Game Day / Stat pack
MONTANA (11-1)
Scoring UM 29.0 Opp 16.9
Rushing yards UM 144.2 Opp 98.1
Avg./rush UM 3.8 Opp 3.0
Passing UM 202-370-11 Opp 182-350-17
Passing yards UM 231.1 Opp 163.6
Avg./pass UM 7.5 Opp 5.6
Total offense UM 375.3 Opp 261.7
Avg./play UM 5.5 Opp 4.2
3rd down conv. UM 61-173 Opp 46-170
Time of poss. UM 30:23 Opp 29:36
Fumbles-lost UM 12-9 Opp 25-11
Kick returns UM 38-20.7 Opp 56-18.8
Punt returns UM 50-13.5 Opp 28-5.1
Punting UM 58-42.3 Opp 82-41.7
Sacks by-yards lost UM 30-171 Opp 43-252
Score by quarters
UM 95 82 132 39 - 348
Opponents 45 70 13 75 - 203
Grizzly Q & A: Dan Carpenter on the hero end of the spectrum
Dan Carpenter No. 29
Year: Junior
Position: Kicker/punter
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 211
Hometown: Helena
It's either the best or the worst position in football.
Most of the time you fly pretty much below the radar. Don't practice too hard. Show up at game time, hit a few balls, and go home.
Then, at least a couple of times a year, the the whole game comes down to you: The last-second kick. The 50-yarder. The on-side. That all-important go-ahead PAT. Perform perfectly and you're next to invisible, screw up once and you'll dream about it forever.
When you're the kicker, there isn't a lot of middle ground between hero and goat.
Junior Dan Carpenter lives with that pressure every week. He also lives with a .696 career success rate on field goals and a No. 1 ranking in 3-pointers made this season (23, out of 29).
After an injury ended the season of Montana punter Tyson Johnson in the first game of the year, Carpenter also took over punting duties for the second straight season.
Carpenter doesn't just kick, though. When riverboat gambler Bobby Hauck is running the special teams unit, there are always going to a few tricks in store for opposing defenders.
This year, the Grizzlies ran so many fake kicks that for much of the season, Carpenter was listed as Montana's second-leading rusher. He has only recently been supplanted on the list by freshman Thomas Brooks-Fletcher, an actual running back.
Carpenter says it's all in a day's work and, besides, kicking field goals doesn't make him nervous. He saves the nerves for kickoffs.
Q: Does it pose any problems for you, trying to kick in cold weather?
A: It doesn't cause a whole lot of problems. It's been a little chilly so it's harder to stay loose. You have to spend more time warming up on sideline, hanging out by the heaters.
Q: Do you get nervous before you kick?
A: I've always said that I get more nervous on kickoffs than I do on field goals, because on field goals I just go when the ball is snapped. I don't have control of when I start. Whereas on kick-offs, it all centers around me, the whole team is waiting for me to go. I don't know, that probably sounds odd.
Q: What is the most nervous you've ever been during a football game?
A: The most nervous that I ever was, was on my first kickoff at UM, during our home opening game when I was a freshman. The opening kickoff of the season. I ended up kicking it out of bounds.
Q: Do you believe a kicker can be "iced?" Does it effect you if the other team calls timeout before you try a kick?
A: It doesn't have a big effect. It's basically just to make the person think about what they're actually doing and it just gives them a little more time to think, 'This might a game-winner or to tie the game.' You can't let it get to you, you just have to think about it as just another kick, just like practice.
Q: What goes through your mind just before you attempt a big kick?
A: I'm trying not think about anything actually. I'm just trying to think about the things I think about before every field goal. I have the most trouble with watching the ball and making sure that I keep my head down and just kick through the ball. I have a tendency to pull my head up sometimes.
Q: After Tyson Johnson was injured, you've had to take over as the Griz's punter. Do you enjoy that role?
A: I can't say I enjoy it, it's just something that I've always done, something that I did in high school. I do it because I have to do it. I'm just trying to do everything I can to help team out. I'm just not really, really good at it.
Q: You never shy away from going down the field to make a tackle on special teams. Do you pride yourself on being pretty athletic for a kicker?
A: I wouldn't say that I pride myself in it. Like I said, I just do everything that I can to help the team win and if that involves me making a tackle so the other team doesn't go score a touchdown on us, then that's something that I'm going to do, and hopefully do well.
Q: The Griz always have a few tricks up their sleeve on special teams. Do you like running the fake field goal or fake punts?
A: The reason that I like fake field goals is that it really helps out my blocking. It makes it easier on those linemen if the defense has to be guessing every time whether or not we're running a fake. It's nice for our guys. They're not rushing the kick every time and it gives me a little more time.
Q: Do you have a close working relationship with head coach Bobby Hauck, since he also runs special teams?
A: Yeah, I'd say that our relationship is closer. If something goes wrong, we go talk to him instead of talking to a different coach. Still, even if he wasn't the special teams coach, and something went wrong, you'd still hear from him.
Q: Are you the only chemistry major on the football team? What do you hope to do with that after you graduate?
A: I might be the only chemistry major, but Loren Utterback and Kelly Kain are pharmacy majors and Brandon Utterback in pre-pharmacy right now. So they are in related fields, at least. I'm actually thinking about becoming a teacher, probably at the high school level.
Q: If you weren't a kicker, what position would you want to play?
A: I'd probably want to play receiver, because that's what I did that in high school and I really enjoyed that.
Q: Be honest, how upset were you when Thomas Brooks-Fletcher passed you up as the Grizzlies' No. 4 overall rusher this season?
A: That's funny. He's been doing a really good job for the team right now and so I'm just happy for him. He's been getting a lot of playing time because he's the hot back right now. He's been doing a great job.
In I-AA, the real national champion will stand up
By JOHN SMITHERS of the Missoulian
When Montana and Massachusetts kick off their battle Friday night for the right to play in the I-AA national championship, Missoula will become - at least for three hours - the center of the college football universe.
Perhaps not too many sports fans around the country will take the time to watch the game, but they should.
What they would see is one of the last dynasties in all of college football in one of the great college football atmospheres in the nation.
They would see a game without the logo of a massive corporation splashed on the center of the field. They would see a game matching two teams that fought an entire season to reach this point - a win-or-go-home contest.
They would see a game that matters.
A week from now, Montana or UMass will be playing for a national title in Chattanooga, Tenn. No computer will have selected them; no group of sportswriters or coaches will have cast the deciding vote.
Meanwhile, their bigger brethren toil away in the brighter spotlight ... for what?
When Ohio State plays Florida on Jan. 8 in the BCS championship game - a grossly inaccurate name - what will be decided? Even if the Buckeyes beat the one-loss Gators and remain undefeated, who's to say Michigan, given a chance to play Ohio State on a neutral field, wouldn't have been a better choice.
And what if Florida wins, while Michigan pounds the Hollywood out of USC in the Rose Bowl? Is Florida really better than Michigan? No one will ever know.
Then there's former Big Sky Conference member Boise State. The Broncos have a chance at a perfect season, and they get Oklahoma and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Whoopee. Maybe they'll throw in a lifetime supply of potato chips.
How cool would it be for the Western Athletic Conference champion to at least be given at least a chance at playing for a national title? Under the current format, we will never see, as we have in basketball, a Villanova take down Georgetown. We will never see an obscure mid-major like Gonzaga rise to national prominence.
We will never see one thing that makes sports so fascinating: David sending one of his five smooth stones whistling into the forehead of Goliath. No, we get giants bashing giants. It's the same few teams from the same few conferences switching places in the same bowl games year after year.
That's not to say that the champion of a mid-level league like the WAC should be given a shot at a national title every season. But an undefeated one certainly should.
One of the primary reasons offered for continuing the BCS the way it is, is that it has given more meaning to games during the regular season. It's true that Ohio State-Texas earlier this year had special significance. But how stupid is a system where a game three weeks into the season actually has as much or even more impact on who the national champion is than the actual "national championship" game?
This system can also eliminate a team that might have one or two bad games early and then suddenly gets things rolling and becomes the strongest team by December. Super Bowls have been filled with such candidates in recent years.
There is the possibility in the future of a plus-one format that would feature a championship game after the BCS bowl games are over. It's not clear how this would solve much, though, or how soon the powers that be might consider such a change.
For instance, if Boise State, LSU, USC and Florida win their games this postseason, who would play for the title? More than likely, Boise State would still get shut out.
A seven-team playoff would be better than the plus-one option. No. 1 would get a first-round bye, while No. 2 would play No. 7 and so on. The semifinal games - with No. 1 playing the lowest-remaining seed - and the championship would then be played on neutral fields in a big-time bowl atmosphere resembling basketball's Final Four.
This type of playoff would retain meaning for games early in the season - having to win just two games instead of three means a lot - but places the emphasis where it matters most.
At the end of the season.
Teams that don't make the top seven, of course, would still play the usual bowl schedule (How does Christmas in Detroit sound?).
And don't even start with, "Who gets to choose between No. 1 and No. 2 for the bye or No. 7 and No. 8 for the last playoff spot?" Those would still be selected using the current BCS system, but in the end there would be far less controversy than there is now.
This brilliant idea is so far from happening, however, it's not even funny. Why? Money. The big bowl games are such massive cash cows that the NCAA, the high-powered conferences and the cities that host the games (and accompanying hoopla) don't want anything to do with a playoff system.
In other words, Boise State, you had a great season. Here's a wad of cash. Go back to your blue turf and be happy, but you will never, ever win a national championship.
College football is the greatest game on the planet. Unfortunately, right now it has stubborn, greedy people running the show and, without a true playoff system, a really lame finale.
Fortunately, there is still a bastion of Division I football that decides things on the field.
Some might wonder why 12-1 Montana has more right to host 12-1 Massachusetts than the other way around. Well, sorry to say, but there is no escaping the computer. Based on wins and strength of schedule, Montana has the highest ranking in the Jeff Sagarin poll of all the teams in the semifinals. The Grizzlies currently sit at 59, followed by Youngstown State at 62, Massachusetts at 63 and Appalachian State at 67.
By these calculations, Youngstown should be hosting ASU, which isn't happening. But at least the two have a chance to settle things face to face.
And when the lights go on Friday night at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, that's exactly what will happen for UM and UMass. No gripes, no what-ifs, no campaigning by the coaches.
One team left standing, one ticket to Chattanooga. It doesn't get any better than that.
From the desk of the AD: Griz faithful rise to the occasion
By JIM O'DAY for the Missoulian
Once again, the Griz faithful have risen to the occasion.
Faced with a challenge to fill Washington-Grizzly Stadium for Friday's semifinal game between The University of Montana Grizzlies and the Minutemen of the University of Massachusetts, UM fans have responded in resounding fashion.
To push for a sellout, numerous businesses around town purchased blocks of tickets for their employees - and issued challenges to others to follow their lead. Many canceled Christmas parties and plans, and rescheduled for a later date. Some even purchased tickets as a Christmas gift for their employees. Travelers received permission to leave work early in order to get to Missoula in time to back their beloved Grizzly football team. Some even went so far as to request a special state holiday. While the request was denied, the thought was very much appreciated by those associated with UM Athletics. This is what's so unique and special about being a part of the "Griz Nation."
At first, many fans were concerned about the prospects of a smaller crowd when the NCAA announced that the Griz-UMass game would be played on Friday night. The decision wasn't met favorably at first - and resulted in additional challenges for many on the U of M campus. Students, faculty and staff would still be occupying parking lots; traffic would most likely come to a stand-still late in the afternoon and many had scheduling conflicts that would prevent them from attending the game.
However, the prospects of being part of something very special - attending an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision semifinal game, a night under the lights and a national television audience courtesy of ESPN2 - changed everything. Students purchased their 3,360 ticket allotment by Monday afternoon and were requesting more seating (which was met with a big "thumbs up"). By Monday, more than 12,000 tickets had been sold. At closing time Tuesday, the total was nearing 17,000. Wednesday at 11 a.m. all tickets were gone - a sellout, and a real testament to all those people who are so instrumental and dedicated to the success of the Grizzly football program.
UM Athletics really had no say in the decision to play the Griz-UMass game on Friday night. Instead, that determination came from the NCAA. With ESPN2 holding two time slots open for the two FCS semifinal games (one Friday night at 7:30 p.m. EST and the other on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EST), the network had to bring in lights to Missoula either way. Being the No. 1 seed in the FCS playoffs, Appalachian State had the first option on game day, and selected Saturday due to their students coming off finals week. UM has its finals week starting Monday.
Instead of dwelling on the negatives of a Friday night game, many fans took the opposite approach and looked at the positives.
For one, the game will present live national television exposure to Missoula, the University of Montana, the state and the Grizzly football program. Think of all the television sets across the country that will be showing the only football game on TV that night ... and in prime time. This will be a real showcase event for the Griz.
Second, this is a chance to attend a game entirely "under the lights." The last time, two years ago against New Hampshire, the quarterfinal contest was played in part under normal conditions, with the second half under the lights. That game was played on a Saturday.
Also, the winner of Friday's game will have a one-day advantage to make travel plans to the national championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn. Planning personnel at both UM and UMass would definitely appreciate that assistance given that the championship game participants must be in Tennessee by noon eastern time on Wednesday.
Another positive: Students attending Friday night's semifinal game will have one more full day to study for final exams.
Finally, Friday's game means that fans can concentrate on men's basketball games in Dahlberg Arena both Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The Griz host UC-Riverside on Saturday at 3:05 p.m., and South Dakota State Sunday in a matinee game at 12:35 p.m. Your presence at both would be greatly appreciated.
Note the game time changes for both: the first to accommodate the unexpected football game day plans, and the second to help South Dakota State get to the airport early enough to catch a flight that will leave Missoula one hour earlier than originally scheduled. SDSU students start finals on Monday, and the next flight out of Missoula would have been Monday morning if they couldn't make the 3:57 p.m. departure.
The number of football and basketball games being played the past two weeks can take a toll on the many campus/UM Athletics staff, administrators and others directly associated with the program late in the fall semester. Often forgotten, though, are the efforts by students and fans who continue to attend all these sporting events. Let's also not forget the band students and the "Spirit Squad" (cheerleaders/dance team) members. It's amazing how these groups bounce back on what seemed like a daily occurrence to cheer our young men and women on to victory. All are a big reason for the success of the Grizzly programs.
Montana Grizzlies: Where is Garrett Venters now? 'Doctor Doom' finds his true calling as fireman
By DARYL GADBOW for the Missoulian
They called him "Doctor Doom" when he was terrorizing Montana opponents from his middle linebacker position in the early 1990s.
Now Garrett Venters is in the business of saving lives with the Missoula Fire Department.
Venters played for the Montana Grizzlies and Coach Don Read from 1991-94, after being recruited by most of the other Big Sky Conference's northern tier schools out of Richland, Wash.
In his first two seasons at UM, Venters shined on special teams while backing up Chad Lemke of Butte at middle linebacker. Venters was a starter in his junior and senior seasons, when he also was the Grizzlies' defensive captain.
The Doctor Doom nickname was given to Venters by his Griz teammates for the skull-and-crossbones towel he wore on his uniform belt, given to him by his older brother when he played for the Richland Bombers.
Venters laments the fact that he just missed the Grizzlies' first Division I-AA national championship in 1995, the year after he completed his playing career.
"We primed those guys" for the title run, Venters jokes.
In 1994, the Grizzlies lost to Youngstown State in the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs.
Dave Dickenson, the quarterback who guided Montana to the title as a senior in 1995, was injured before that 1994 semifinal and was replaced by backup Bert Wilberger.
Boise State, a Big Sky rival the Grizzlies beat in the regular season that year, ended up losing to Youngstown for the championship.
At the top of Venters' list of memories playing for the Griz, he says, were the battles with Montana State.
"When I first came here from out of state, I didn't realize how big a game that was," he says. "But it only took me one year. After my freshman year, I always hated the Cats. Even now, I just want to crush them."
The Grizzlies defeated the Bobcats for the ninth consecutive year in Venters' senior year.
"We wore T-shirts under our pads that said 'Nine in a Row,' " he says.
Another game that sticks out in his memory, Venters says, was the 1991 matchup with Idaho at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow that decided the Big Sky championship.
"Chuck Mason, a big guy, a defensive tackle from Bigfork, blocked an extra point in overtime, and we won by one point," Venters recalls. "That was probably my funnest game."
Then there was the 35-30 loss at Oregon, his senior year.
"Dave Dickenson almost brought us back to win that game," he says. "Their fans were cheering for us in the fourth quarter."
Before losing on the road to Youngstown State in the I-AA semis in 1994, the Grizzlies dispatched Northern Iowa and McNeese State in playoff games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Just as this year, Venters says, the Missoula crowd was a big factor in those Montana victories.
"It's 80 percent crowd," he says. "I can't emphasize it enough. I want to give the fans the recognition. It's just a fantastic place to play - the best place I've ever seen. We went to Kansas, Washington State, Oregon to play. And I've watched a game in the Kingdome in Seattle. Even with more fans there, it's even louder here."
After graduating from UM in 1995 with a business communications degree, Venters took a job as manager of a commercial laundry in Portland, Ore. He stayed there four years.
But while he was there, he also served as a volunteer fireman in nearby Battle Ground, Wash.
And in that capacity, he says, he discovered his true calling.
"I decided that the fire department was right up my alley," he says. "It was an exciting job, a hands-on job. And it was like being part of a team. And I'd learned to love teamwork under Don Read."
He also knew that Missoula was the place he wanted to live and raise a family. He and his wife Caroline have three sons, ages 9, 7 and 4.
He was hired by the Missoula Fire Department in 1999.
As a fireman, Venters soon found an outlet for his competitive nature. He began competing in the "Firefighter Challenge," an event testing the skills of firefighters from around the world.
The competition is a race involving five simulated firefighting activities.
The Firefighter Challenge, Venters says, "was the most demanding thing I've ever done, physically. And that's saying a lot having played Grizzly football. You have to train for six months for a minute and a half of competition. And you get one shot at it. You need speed, strength and conditioning. You really do have to be an athlete for it."
Venters competed in the Firefighter Challenge world championships with a Missoula Fire Department team in 2000 and 2001. In 2000, the team finished third. In 2001, the Missoula team of Venters, Brad Roe, Derrick Mullins, Randy Thorpe and Robert Hanneman brought home the championship. That crew also established a world record for the event - combining the three fastest individual times - that still stands.
In 2001, Venters' fastest time for the course - one minute, 26 seconds - ranked ninth or 10th in the world, he says. The world record at the time was 1:19.
Despite his round-the-clock duties as a fireman, Venters is still an avid Grizzly football fan.
"As a former player, it's hard not to be an armchair quarterback," he says.
As the defensive captain, Venters called the Grizzlies' defensive formations on the field.
"I still read the keys," when he watches a game, he says. "I watch the O-line all the time. I'll say, 'This is going to be a run. This is going to be a pass.'
"The Griz are doing so good," he adds. "I just love to watch 'em. But it's hard not to jump up and pace around. My wife Caroline was my high school sweetheart. She was a cheerleader at Richland. And she came here to go to school too. I have to calm her down when we're watching the games."
Although he's proud of winning the world championship in the Firefighter Challenge, Venters says there's one accomplishment that could top it:
"I still wish I'd have won a national championship with the Griz."
Drum line keeps the beat in Washington-Grizzly Stadium
By JAMIE KELLY of the Missoulian
With every Grizzly score comes a ferocious “boom!” from the north end zone, but everybody knows the real percussion comes from the south.
Snapping their wrists in strict solidarity through almost every break in the action, the University of Montana marching band's drum line is a tight and blistering group of 19 student musicians who have honed their ensemble to the edge of a crash cymbal.
“Discipline is the key,” says Sam McKenzie, 19, who's in his second year with the marching band.
It shows. Every cadence, every double-stroke roll, bass thump, crash and para-diddle pierces the Washington-Grizzly Stadium air with unified punctuation that says “hard work.”
And it's a discipline that every single member demands not only of themselves, but of each other.
“It's just incredible the amount of commitment you need to have to play together that well,” says Eric Rokohl, who plays the tenor drums in his second year with the drum line. “To really be one unit is a whole different experience.”
One unit, 19 members. That's six snare drums, three tenor drums (the high- to low-pitched drums), five bass drums and five sets of cymbals.
So raucous and well-rehearsed a group is the drum line, that they've even developed their own crowds and cheering section when they storm Campus Drive during pre-game festivities.
They've opened for hip-hop acts at the Elk's Club.
They've been invited to play off-campus parties.
They've toured with the elite percussion group on campus, the UM Percussion Ensemble and Islanders Steel Drum Band (of which some are members).
Never before in the recent history of the school has such a dedicated group of musicians formed. These 19 (12 men, seven women) rehearse constantly, putting in at least a dozen hours a week in combined group and individual rehearsal time. That's a work day-and-a-half to you and me, all for a group that is entirely voluntary and outside the other studies the students must complete, music major or not.
Dedication? You bet, says junior Alex Petrusaitis.
“I don't see drum line as something I do Monday, Wednesday, Friday,” he says. “It's a part of my life.”
It wasn't always that way. Set your clocks back to 1986-87, for example. A Missoulian reporter named Jamie Kelly was a member of the UM drum line, playing both the xylophone and the cymbals.
He was one of seven. He didn't practice a whole lot. There were only 45 people in the entire band - compared with the 140 in today's group. And traveling with the team for away games? Fuhgeddaboudit.
The rise of the UM marching band follows the general curve of the success of the football program, says Kevin Griggs, director of athletic bands and assistant director of bands at UM.
“Absolutely,” he says. “Students are more interested in being in the marching band if they get to see good football.”
With the rise of Grizzly football came the desire for a killer marching-band program. Over the years, the group secured state and private money for scholarships, new uniforms and new gear, all of which has provided a lot of incentive for students to join. In 1990, the entire marching band had a budget of $19,000, says Robert Ledbetter, who leads the drum line and is a professor of percussion in the UM Music School.
Today, the scholarship budget alone is well over $100,000.
Ledbetter calls this year's drum line the best he's ever led.
“It's the biggest and best all around,” he says. “Sometimes you have a weak link that might hold back the whole line. That's not the case this year.”
What makes a good drum line? Ask Ledbetter, and it's all about group dedication, not individual egos.
“I tell them, ‘You can have a big ego when the drum line is good,' ” he says. “There are no stars. It's the whole concept that you're only as strong as the weakest link, and that's absolutely clear in a drum line.”
That's a philosophy that works just fine with Evan Goldhahn, a fourth-year member who has watched the program grow.
“I was really excited when I came here as a freshman,” says Goldhahn. “I think now it's to the point that everyone wants to do the best we can. I thought we were good as a freshman, but it just keeps picking up.
“When we can play something perfectly together, we get a lot of pride from that.”
***
Note to ‘Muzzoola': UMass is in ‘Ammerst'
By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian
Their library's bigger than our library, but we're 3,000 feet higher.
For purely New England reasons, don't call the city from which the University of Massachusetts Minutemen hail “Amherst.”
“I'm not sure how Lord Jeffery (Amherst) said it, but the people who live here pronounce it ‘Ammerst,' ” said Nick Grabbe of the Amherst Bulletin newspaper.
UMass has sent its football team to Missoula - say “Muzzoola,” for inscrutably Western frontier reasons - to play the Montana Grizzlies in a Division I-AA semifinal football game Friday night.
For their five-day fling to Montana, the Minutemen will forsake W.E.B. DuBois Library on the UMass campus. At 26 stories, or 297 feet, it's the tallest library in America.
On the top floor, you're some 500 feet above sea level. Elevation on the roof of, say, the Millennium Building in Missoula is roughly 3,500.
DuBois, the African-American activist, died in 1963 at age 95. He was from Great Barrington, Mass., 70 miles away. His memoirs and papers are among the collections at the Amherst library.
To get from Missoula to Amherst, just jump on Interstate 90, head east and turn left several days later in Springfield, Mass. If you wind up in Boston, you missed your exit 90 miles back.
When you reach Amherst, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, you'll find yourself in one of those small New England towns you've always heard about.
“The trees, the ponds, the streams, and of course the snow - there's all that feel to it,” said Dina Polizzi of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce. “Yet there's a lot of intelligent conversation that happens here. There are lots of coffee shops and music and original art. So it's a very cool little town. We think anyway.”
This is the land of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Noah Webster and Sam the Minuteman.
Dickinson wrote, presumably at the onset of a long-ago football season, “We are by September and yet my flowers are bold as June. Amherst has gone to Eden.”
The Dickinson homestead, the poet's birthplace and lifelong residence, is now the Emily Dickinson Museum.
Frost lived for years in Amherst.
“He wrote the poem ‘Fire and Ice' when he lived here. In fact, the building he wrote it in used to be our office building,” Grabbe said.
Webster spent 10 years in the city and helped establish Amherst College in 1821. He worked on the first edition of “An American Dictionary of the English Language” during his time there, though it took another six years to get it done after he returned to his stomping grounds in Connecticut.
Sam the Minuteman is the UMass mascot, who catapulted into the national spotlight when he finished second to Nebraska's Herbie Husker as 2005 Mascot of the Year. That's an award Montana's Monte won twice.
“Let's keep this in perspective,” Sam is purported to have said. “We Minutemen helped defeat the entire British empire.”
On finishing second to a brawny farmhand from the Midwest, he added, “Like they used to say about the Red Sox, ‘Wait till next year.' ”
UMass is the largest of five colleges in the area, four of them right in Amherst, a town of fewer than 35,000.
Polizzi called it a “very P.C., very multicultural” environment.
One culture that's not included, however, is Republicanism.
“Amherst is an extremely liberal community,” Grabbe said. “Every now and then in presidential elections, we try to find other places around the country that gave a higher percentage of the vote to a Democratic candidate. We usually can't find one.”
In 2004, Amherst County contributed $109,000 to John Kerry's campaign. George W. Bush got $10,000.
“We struggle with development issues here a lot,” Grabbe said. “The average price of houses is very high, around $350,000. One of the reasons it's so high is any time there's a proposal for a housing development, the neighbors turn out in force to oppose it.”
Ninety cents of every tax dollar come from residential properties.
“We have a very meager business community. Many people in Amherst are openly hostile to business,” Grabbe said.
At least 10 businesses with Amherst in their names aren't actually in Amherst, he added. They've moved out of town to greener meadows.
A lot of students in Amherst live off their various campuses.
“We've had various strategies brainstormed for how longtime residents can cope with loud, often drunk students late at night in residential neighborhoods, or they go to bars downtown and make noise walking back to campus,” Grabbe said. “Sound familiar?”
If Montanans bristle against East Coast bias, so do Amherstonians - especially when it comes from down the road in Boston.
“Amherst is two hours away from Boston, so even though a lot of political people in Boston went to UMass, they don't have that much connection to it. It's two hours away, it's out here in the sticks,” Grabbe said. “A lot of people in Boston sort of feel like Boston is the only thing that matters.”
If Montana-UMass football doesn't mean beans in Boston, it's hot stuff in Amherst and Missoula.
Someone going by “UMass Philosopher” blogged onto , the University of Montana's message board, this week to put things in perspective.
“It isn't life or death. It's football,” the Philosopher philosophized. “Life or death is driving in Boston.”
***
Skybox beneficiary / Jim Caras gives former caretaker live view of semifinal
By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian
Early Friday evening, 99-year-old Emma Kuhl will make her way to a skybox at Washington-Grizzly Stadium and watch a University of Montana football game in person.
Maybe she'll be the oldest fan at the game, but maybe not. She'll certainly be one of the happiest.
“It's going to be quite a luxury for me to be up there,” Kuhl said Thursday. “I'm going to enjoy myself and root for the home team.”
Kuhl remembers attending a long-ago UM football game, but she can't say exactly when.
“Oh, maybe 40 years ago, I guess,” she said. “It was out there at a little stadium on the end of Higgins Avenue.”
That would be Dornblaser Field, which has been around since the late 1960s.
Emma Kuhl, who grew up in the Orchard Homes area, doesn't get out much these days, particularly at night, but she's making an exception on Friday. It's an exception for the man she calls “Jimmy.”
Jimmy is Jim Caras of the Missoula Caras family, and he has a skybox at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Emma has known Jim Caras since he was born and, in fact, took care of him for years when he and his brother and sister were kids.
“Emma was a member of our family,” Jim Caras recalled. “She cleaned our house, took care of us kids and did just about whatever needed to be done.”
Jim has stayed in touch with Emma over the years, and recently took her and her son Al out to lunch. The topic of Grizzly football came up and Jim asked Emma if she'd like to watch the Griz play the University of Massachusetts Minutemen for a berth in the national championship game.
“It just seemed like a nice thing to do for somebody who's done so much for my family,” Caras said Thursday while on a trip to Atlanta.
Emma was thrilled. She's been a football fan for a long, long time; in fact, she's a fan of most sports, particularly baseball. But she's a lifelong Missoulian, too, and that means she's a Griz fan.
“We watch a lot of football around here,” Al Kuhl said.
On Friday, Emma will don some Griz wear and make her way to the stadium with Al. They won't hazard a walk into the stadium, opting instead for a cart or wheelchair.
“She's pretty spry, but I don't want to risk her getting hurt with the cold weather,” Al Kuhl said.
Then they'll settle in with others to watch the Griz and the Minutemen in the warm, enclosed comfort of Box 122C. Interestingly, Jim Caras won't be there; his trip lasts until Saturday, so he'll miss the game.
“Bad planning,” he opined. “But I'm happy that Emma and Al will be there.”
They're pleased, as well.
“I'm sorry Jimmy won't be there, but we're going to have a good time anyway,” Emma said. “I'm excited to get to see that stadium finally.”
Grizzly-UMass game hottest ticket in town
By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian
Well, it's going, going, gone for tickets to the University of Montana's semifinal playoff game against the University of Massachusetts on Friday night.
Wednesday morning saw a mad crush for tickets to the second-ranked Grizzlies' second-ever night playoff game and UM Athletic Director Jim O'Day said the tickets - some 23,400 - were all gone by 11 a.m.
“I don't know so much that it's surprising, but it sure is heartening to see what a following we have,” O'Day said. “I really thought we'd probably have some tickets on Friday, but they went out of here so fast you couldn't believe it. It's amazing.”
By 8:45 a.m., cars were lined up on the Madison Street Bridge and down South Sixth Street East as buyers tried to make their way to Adams Center. O'Day said the facility's lobby was swarmed throughout the morning as between 5,000 to 6,000 tickets sold off.
“There were just people lined up everywhere,” O'Day said.
The game against the third-ranked Minutemen will be shown live on ESPN2, but that hardly dampened Griz fans' enthusiasm for seeing the game in person.
“We had so many businesses that stepped up to buy tickets for their employees, and other businesses that canceled their Christmas parties so that people could come to the game,” O'Day said.
UM came close to a sellout for the semifinal game two years ago, O'Day said, but this sellout marks the first.
“I think people know it's going to be a great game, it's going to be an event under the lights and it's just something that people want to be at,” he said.
The Grizzlies drew more than 20,000 for the first playoff game against McNeese State, then drew about 18,500 for the quarterfinal game against Southern Illinois. The second figure was about par for a playoff game in Missoula in December, but athletic officials are still marveling over the McNeese State crowd, which came over the Thanksgiving weekend.
“I saw a lot of people there on the Thanksgiving weekend who maybe don't usually get an opportunity to go to games,” O'Day said. “I just saw a lot of people who normally don't go to games.”
Now UM has a full house on its hands, and O'Day couldn't be happier.
“ESPN has asked for 85 credentials and we have media from all across the state, so we're looking for a big night,” he said. “It's gonna be so much fun, I can hardly wait.”
UMass meets Montana
By JEFF THOMAS, The Republican
The University of Massachusetts football team playing Montana in a national semifinal is definitely one of those something's-got-to-give scenarios.
The Minutemen are 2-0 in Division I Football Championship semifinals, while the Grizzlies are 5-0 in semifinals played at sold out Washington-Grizzly Stadium (23,117) in Missoula, Mont., which is where the teams will battle tonight at 7:30 for the right to play for a national championship.
Montana has the more storied past, having won two national titles (1995, 2001) while reaching the championship five times. UMass has one title, winning it all in 1998, a Cinderella story if there ever was one. A new coaching staff added a few players to a 2-9 team and beat defending champion, top-ranked and undefeated Georgia Southern.
"We used to look at the film on Georgia Southern and throw up," UMass coach Don Brown said.
Brown was the defensive coordinator for Mark Whipple in 1998 and 1999, the best two years in the history of the program. Now in his third year as the head coach, Brown has the Minutemen breaking all kinds of team records and poised for another national championship contest.
Of course, there's one little obstacle that still needs clearing - the Montana Grizzlies.
"(Montana) is just a very balanced football team with no weaknesses so we are going to have to be at our best to have a chance," Brown said.
The opponents aren't quite mirror images, but they are very similar. Both enter the contest 12-1, both won their respective leagues by going undefeated, both have excellent defenses and very efficient offenses.
The two defenses are two of the best in the country. Montana ranks sixth in total defense (251.46 yards) while UMass is 16th (270.69). The Minutemen are ranked No. 1 in scoring defense (11.9 points) while the Grizzlies are No. 14 (15.8).
Both defenses strive to make their opponent one-dimensional, usually by taking away the run game. Montana did that last week, shutting down Walter Payton Award finalist Arkee Whitlock.
UMass went after the New Hampshire passing attack and stifled quarterback Ricky Santos, another Payton Award finalist.
"It's definitely going to be a challenge where the O-line has to deal with some big boys and the running backs have to take on some big linebackers," UMass tailback Steve Baylark said. "I think we're going to get it done. I think Liam Coen is going to step up and get it done and so will our receivers."
The UMass offense will strive for balance, something it has been very good at all season. Baylark makes that happen, forcing teams to try to slow him down, which opens up the passing game.
The Minutemen will have to take better care of the ball than they have in their first two playoff games. UMass has fumbled twice and Coen has thrown a pair of picks. All four turnovers either allowed the opponent to score or kept UMass out of the end zone.
UMass will have to avoid turnovers and penalties if it is to overcome the disadvantage of playing on the road.
Southern Illinois' 20-3 loss in the quarterfinals last week at Montana was punctuated with penalties forced by the crowd noise at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, a fact that hasn't eluded Brown.
"Well, we are just going to have to prepare our guys the best we can for it, hand signals, silent cadence, but it will certainly be tough to assimilate during practice week," Brown said. "But on the flip side of that coin, on the positive side, we had a great crowd at our place last week, it was extremely loud.
"To be honest with you, our guys feed off that high energy type stuff," he added. "Even though it will be somewhat hostile, I know our guys will be excited to play in a great environment."
More than 23,800 tickets were sold for the game.
One good note is the weather is expected to be better tonight in Missoula than it will be at home in Amherst, with a low temperature of 26 forecast for the game, at least six degrees higher than the forecast for Amherst.
The winner advances to the championship game Dec. 15 at Chattanooga, Tenn., against the winner of tomorrow's semifinal between defending national champion Appalachian State and Youngstown State.
Going in blind: UMass, Montana know very little about each other
BY MATT VAUTOUR, The Daily Hampshire Gazette
MISSOULA, Mont. - There's almost no reference point in assessing Friday's matchup.
University of Massachusetts coach Don Brown and Montana coach Bobby Hauck both go into Friday's NCAA Division I Football Championship semifinal game taking for granted that their opponent is very good.
Both coaches have seen the other team look good on videotape, but there's still a bit of mystery about the quality of the opposition on those tapes.
Both teams swept their respective conferences, and the Atlantic 10 and Big Sky are annually two of the best leagues in I-AA. Each suffered their only loss to a I-A team as UMass fell to Navy and Montana to Iowa. They had no common opponents this year and their opponents had no common opponents.
UMass has never played Montana, has never faced a Big Sky opponent and has never played in the Mountain Time Zone.
The only other time the Minutemen played west of the Central Time Zone was a 44-21 win at Nevada-Reno in the 1978 Division I-AA semifinals.
UMass coach Don Brown said he was impressed by what he saw of Montana on tape.
"Obviously a very fine football team," Brown said. "They're playing their best football late in the season. Looks like they're functioning on all cylinders. We've exchanged every game so there's going to be no tricks. You take what's gotten you to this point, tweak it a little bit and try to emphasize your strengths."
Montana is more familiar with the Atlantic 10. The Grizzlies played four A-10 teams in 2004, beating Hofstra and Maine in the regular season. They beat New Hampshire in the playoffs, before falling to James Madison 31-21 in the national championship game.
"You don't win 12 games without being pretty dang good," Hauck said. "They're well coached. They look like they have a lot of team speed. It's hard to get a gauge on anybody. I know UMass losing at Navy by one with a chance to win is really impressive to me.
"Two years ago we played Hofstra, Maine, New Hampshire and James Madison all in the same year so we have great respect for the A-10."
Time & location: 7:30 p.m. EST, Friday, Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Missoula
Records: Both teams are 12-1
Road to the semifinals: UMass 35, Lafayette 14 & UMass 24, New Hampshire 17; Montana 31, McNeese State 6 & Montana 20, Southern Illinois 3
All-time series: First meeting
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WRNX-FM (100.9), WMUA-FM (91.1)
Internet broadcast: Links can be found at
When UMass runs: The Grizzlies boast the nation's No. 6-ranked rushing defense which has allowed just 97.6 yards per game on the ground and nine touchdowns. Last week the Grizzlies held Southern Illinois' Walter Payton Finalist Arkee Whitlock to 80 yards after the Saluki back averaged 140.62 yards all season.
UMass tailback Steve Baylark averaged 127.5 yards per game this season, which is most of the Minutemen's 176.8 yards per game.
When UMass passes: Sophomore quarterback Liam Coen's strong game against New Hampshire returned him to the top of the nation's quarterback efficiency list with a rating of 172.2.
Coen has averaged 197 yards per game and has thrown 25 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
The Grizzlies are tied for fifth in the nation in interceptions with 17. All four of their defensive backs were named to the Big Sky's first or second all-conference teams.
When Montana runs: Injuries have pushed redshirt freshman Thomas Brooks-Fletcher into the starting role down the stretch for Montana. He has thrived, rushing for more than 100 yards in three of the last four games including 106 against the Salukis.
"Thomas is coming off an ACL injury (last year) so it took him awhile to get in the groove," Hauck said. "But he's done a nice job in the past couple weeks."
UMass has been strong stopping the run, allowing just 102.9 yards per game led by linebackers Jason Hatchell (119 tackles), Charles Walker (111) and Brad Anderson (100).
When Montana passes: Senior quarterback Josh Swogger transferred from Washington State to the Grizzlies in January and was voted team captain by his teammates in August.
Swogger is averaging 207.7 yards per game and has thrown 17 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. In the postseason, he has thrown just one interception to go with six TDs.
"They have a very fine quarterback in Josh Swogger," Brown said. "He's a strong-armed guy and has a really good handle on what coach is trying to get done."
Hauck said, "He's a good player. He's made an impact on the field and in the locker room. He's played pretty well in the playoffs."
Three differed Grizzly receivers have caught at least 40 passes.
Montana has allowed 48 sacks, more than any other team in the country. The Minutemen, who like to blitz, will be after Swogger the whole game.
David Burris leads the Minutemen with 8.5 sacks this season, while John Hatchell and James Ihedigbo each have five.
Notable: The game will take place under temporary lights. ... If the Minutemen win, their 13 victories would be the most in school history. ... Both coaches earned the American Football Coaches Association I-AA coach of the year awards, Brown in Region 1 and Hauck in Region 5.
He's more than worth it
BY MATT VAUTOUR, The Daily Hampshire Gazette
AMHERST - As the final seconds of Saturday's 24-17 win over New Hampshire continued to tick off the clock, the University of Massachusetts players jumped into aerial chest bumps with each other.
With the game finally secure, Minuteman coach Don Brown shed his normally intense sideline demeanor and joined his players in the celebration, bouncing off of offensive lineman David Thompson.
In a few hours he'd be focused again, turning his attention to Montana. But he allowed himself a few minutes of joy as the Minutemen finished off their final game this year at McGuirk Stadium while a capacity crowd swirled around him.
There weren't many happy moments for Brown when he first returned to Amherst in 2004 to succeed Mark Whipple as the UMass head coach.
Facing a breach-of-contract lawsuit by Northeastern University, his former employer, Brown was a lightning rod for controversy.
Fans knew Brown was a good coach. They remembered that the Minutemen's playoff success in 1998 and 1999 both came with Brown leading the UMass defense. But many of them wondered, as they watched Northeastern unfairly drag his name through the mud: Is he worth it?
Three years later the question sounds silly. The Minutemen have gone 25-10 under Brown and have gotten better every year. Friday they will take on Montana in an NCAA Division I Football Championship semifinal game and a chance to play for the school's second national championship.
UMass couldn't have asked for much more from its football coach.
As he reflected on Saturday's win, Brown went out of his way to thank the people who stood by him.
"When I first came here and it was kind of ugly, people were sticking by me. That's what I reflected back on today," he said. "I just felt really good about the accomplishment. I felt good for all the people that trusted me and gave me this opportunity."
While the administration has been happy with him, no one has enjoyed him more than his players. While many new coaches don't connect as well with players they didn't recruit, Brown embraced the entire roster as his own.
In fact some of the players he's closest too are holdovers from Whipple. Two of them, saluted his effort.
"Coach has gone through a lot to get to this point," senior safety James Ihedigbo said. "He's amazing. Words can't describe what we feel about him. This is a testament to him and the rest of our coaching staff and everything he stands for as a coach."
Steve Baylark agreed. "He deserves this. We love him," he said.
Hiring Brown was John McCutcheon's first act as athletic director. He said the move got him off to a good start.
"He's been a pleasure to work with. He's a great person," McCutcheon said. "Not only have we had success on the field, but the academics have improved. The player conduct has improved. I couldn't have asked for any more than he's done since he's been there."
***
To UMass, gridiron success worth the price
By Bob Hohler, Boston Globe
AMHERST -- Two victories shy of a national championship, the University of Massachusetts football team enters its biggest game in years tonight having already cinched a singular distinction. No public college or university in the country has reported losing more money on a Division 1-AA football program in recent years than UMass, according to financial records the school files with the US Department of Education.
UMass officials said the annual shortfall of at least $2.6 million has been budgeted as the price of sustaining a competitive football program that promotes the school's image, provides a unifying, entertaining resource for students and alumni, and extends opportunities to student-athletes, among other perceived benefits. The UMass operating budget is covered by state funds and student fees.
But some members of the university's newly realigned board of trustees think there may be a better way to run a football program. In an initiative certain to stoke debate over the school's priorities from the Amherst campus to Beacon Hill, the board members want UMass to move up to Division 1-A and challenge Boston College and the University of Connecticut in New England's intercollegiate football market, a move that could ease the financial burden.
Boston College reported turning more than a $1.4 million profit last year on its football program, while UConn reported earning $2.2 million.
"Nobody is saying we could pay for other programs with the profits we make from Division 1-A football," said Matthew Carlin, chairman of the board's committee on athletics. "But we're determined to enhance the UMass brand and we think football and excellence in athletics can continue to do that."
Carlin said the board could vote as early as its next meeting in March on authorizing a feasibility study on UMass adopting Division 1-A football.
"There is definitely interest in trying to take the next step," said Dr. Ken MacAfee, an oral surgeon and former National Football League player who is one of six new members Governor Mitt Romney appointed in September to the 19-member board of voting trustees. "It would be nice to see another Division 1-A team in the area besides Boston College."
Nationally, there are 116 Division 1-AA programs, 70 of which are at public schools. There are 119 Division 1-A teams. Moving up to Division 1-A would require UMass to build at least a 30,000-seat stadium, upgrade other facilities and services to appeal to the nation's top recruits, and increase the number of scholarship players to 85 from 63. The school also would need to secure a potentially lucrative invitation to join a Division 1-A conference, such as the Big East. By competing in the higher conference, the football program could boost its bottom line by sharing in television revenues and bowl money, while also increasing its marketing opportunities.
MacAfee said board members who share his view consider the prospect more than a pipe dream, though he acknowledged "many roadblocks" -- none greater than the exorbitant start-up costs. He said the transition to Division 1-A "may be years or decades away, but hopefully we could get the ball rolling in the near future."
Many students and alumni would welcome the jump to Division 1-A. But a key member of the faculty senate, biology professor Brian O'Connor, said the plan would trigger an "outcry" on campus, and UMass athletic director John McCutcheon said the shift would require the governor and Legislature to unleash a massive investment of state funds, a dubious prospect considering the commonwealth's needs.
"I'm OK with where we are, but I'm not OK if they want to move up," said O'Connor, the faculty's delegate to the board of trustees. "It would be absolutely foolish to think the university could move up to Division 1-A in football. The money is just not there and, if the money appeared, I would argue that we should use it to grow the faculty and reduce class size."
McCutcheon estimated it would cost $250 million to build a new stadium and other football-related facilities that would allow UMass to compete at the highest collegiate level (UConn has undergone nearly $150 million in football-related capital improvements, including a state-financed $90 million stadium, since it began the transition in 1999 from Division 1-AA to Division 1-A).
In addition, McCutcheon said, annual football expenses at UMass likely would more than double from about $2.9 million and the overall athletic budget of nearly $19 million would increase sharply to cover a commensurate investment in women's sports to meet Title IX requirements.
"There is a group of our fans that would love to see it happen," McCutcheon said. "They're passionate folks, competitive folks. But we have to think not with that passion but with reality, practicality, and feasibility."
The university's most recent feasibility study, conducted in 2003, recommended the school revisit the issue of moving to Division 1-A in three to five years. It cited concerns about the economy and questions about which Division 1-A conference UMass could join.
"UMass was in a different place at that time," Carlin said. "Now there is some interest among the president's office and the board to take another close look at it. We have decided it makes sense to at least update the data that was collected."
No playoff windfall
The renewed interest comes amid the football team's best season since the Minutemen won the Division 1-AA national title in 1998. At 12-1, with its only loss coming by 1 point to Division 1-A Navy, UMass faces the University of Montana tonight in a national semifinal in Missoula, Mont. The winner will play for the national title Dec. 15 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The financial payoff of the Minutemen's current success, however, may be minimal. Unlike Division 1-A schools, which stand to reap large sums by qualifying for postseason bowl games or sharing in bowl revenues as conference members, Division 1-AA teams participating in playoffs receive little more than reimbursement for their travel costs, revenues from games they host, and potential marketing opportunities.
Indeed, two Division 1-AA schools -- Southern and Grambling State -- shun the playoffs for a bigger payday. They choose to face each other in the annual Bayou Classic, which has paid each school $1 million to appear.
Thanks to UMass's playoff run, the school could exceed its football revenue projections of $345,000 for the 2006-07 academic year by about $20,000, McCutcheon estimated. So, with a total expense budget of $2,962,749 and revenues of $365,000, UMass football this year would cost nearly $2.6 million.
That would beat last year, when UMass spent $3,318,205 on football and generated $388,812 in revenues for a cost of more than $2.9 million. The final cost in 2004-05 exceeded $2.8 million, and the figure topped $3 million in 2003-04, according to the school's annual reports to the US Department of Education. Expenses include the maximum 63 scholarships allowed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, salaries and benefits for 10 coaches and additional staff, equipment for 95 players, travel, game-day operations, and recruiting costs, among other items.
"We've made a conscious decision to play at a competitive level," McCutcheon said. "We can afford to do it this way and we can be successful [at the Division 1-AA level]."
The UMass football program's distinction of losing more than any of the other 69 1-AA teams at public schools stems in part from different accounting practices at different schools. The greatest difference is that some schools, such as the flagship universities in Maine and Rhode Island that compete with UMass in the Atlantic-10 Conference, count state funds they allocate for football as revenues, which UMass does not.
The practice, while acceptable by federal guidelines, effectively means a small number of schools may not have disclosed football losses greater than UMass's.
In any case, only one of the nation's Division 1-AA programs reported losing more money on football last year than UMass. That was Villanova, a private Catholic institution, which reported a $3.1 million deficit.
Breaking down figures
McCutcheon said it would be wrong, however, to describe the difference between UMass football's expenses and revenues as a deficit. He said the team meets its budget projections each year in both categories, as do the school's 22 other intercollegiate sports programs, none of which makes money.
In fact, UMass expects to spend $27,555 per participant this year on the 95-member football team, less than the rates per person in five other sports: women's basketball ($80,605), men's basketball ($73,077), men's ice hockey ($36,550), softball ($30,329), and women's tennis ($28,072).
"Football becomes an easy target," McCutcheon said, "but just because it has the biggest bottom line doesn't mean it's a problem."
Not everyone on campus is tickled about it, however. Some believe there is a better to spend the athletic department funds.
"My opinion is that we ought to go big on basketball and not worry about football," said Richard Bogartz, a psychology professor who serves on the faculty senate's rules committee. "I'd rather we were like Kentucky or UConn. No one has heard of their football teams, but everyone knows about their basketball teams."
Bogartz appears outnumbered, though, by football fans eager for UMass to reach Division 1-A. Bob DeFlavio, president of the Friends of UMass Football, said the move could reverse the team's financial fortunes and benefit the entire institution.
"You need to look at the big picture of how it could help the whole university," said DeFlavio, a former All-America defensive tackle at UMass.
He said the football team would fit perfectly in the Division 1-A Big East, playing the likes of Syracuse, Rutgers, and West Virginia. But McCutcheon questioned whether the Big East would admit the Minutemen because the conference appears content with eight current members, including UConn, which might not appreciate UMass competing in its backyard.
"I would never say never about anything in this business," McCutcheon said, "but we would face some daunting challenges."
Still, the status quo worries DeFlavio.
"What scares me the most is, how many 1-AA teams are going to be around in 10 years?" he said. "How many can afford to keep playing when they cost so much and don't bring in revenue? UMass has had football for more than 100 years. It would be a shame if we lost it."
***
UMass's Baylark is a brush with greatness
By Bob Duffy, Boston Globe
AMHERST -- The canvas is perched in front of him; only he can see it. A film of charcoal covers it; you have to imagine that as well. In the deserted University of Massachusetts football locker room, he's wielding an invisible eraser, sweeping away the veneer in precise arcs and circles and lines.
"In art, I go into a world of my own," says Steve Baylark, UMass senior art major. "You've got to let go the rest of the world. You have to get your mind and hand to relax."
The gridiron is his canvas, too. There may be 10,000 people screeching in the stands, but there are things only he can see. Running lanes aren't yet open, blocking hasn't fully materialized; only he knows where they'll be and when they're coming.
"When I play football, I go into a zone," says Steve Baylark, UMass senior running back extraordinaire. "It's just football, nothing but football. I can express myself on certain runs. On some runs, I can make a statement."
An exclamation, actually. Baylark will extend his prodigious career tonight in Missoula, where UMass (12-1) will face host Montana (12-1) in the semifinals of the NCAA Division 1 Championship Subdivision, also known as the Division 1-AA playoffs. He'll be seeking to boost his season total of 1,658 rushing yards and career count of 5,030, to continue his prolific playoff performance (350 yards in victories over Lafayette and New Hampshire), to reinforce his stature as one of only four men in 1-AA history to record four 1,000-yard seasons, to burnish his credentials as a candidate for the Walter Payton Award as the best player in Division 1-AA.
Art will help.
The contemplative and the concussive make an odd mix, but they are Baylark's palette.
"Football translates to art," he says. "In football, you have to be patient, to give things time to develop. In art, you have to give things time, too. You can see a trash can and it's just a trash can. You have to give it time to paint it as something beautiful."
But there's more to this mesh of endeavors.
"I think the art really helps him be creative on the field," says coach Don Brown.
His work against UNH was a masterpiece. The 6-foot, 225-pound Baylark drilled the Wildcats for 198 yards, including a 60-yard beauty on the Minutemen's first possession, as good an illustration as could be of the dichotomy that makes up an aspiring graphic designer and pro running back.
The compositions he does in charcoal, pencil, and oils are mostly delicate works. But he's a punishing runner who intends to increase his speed, maintain his trimmed physique, and give the NFL a stab before he pursues a career as a designer of video sports games.
"All 32 teams have come through asking about him," says Brown. "He's definitely on the NFL radar screen. He's become a legitimate pro prospect. I think this year has really helped. He got his speed down this spring. He came in lighter, stronger. He committed himself to being the best back he can be, and we're reaping the fruits of that."
The pros are a primary goal, but a recent one, too.
"It wasn't a childhood dream of mine," says Baylark.
Art was. In school, the other kids were drawing stick figures. Baylark was sketching cars, or at least approximations of them. He had talent.
"My teachers were surprised," he says.
They wouldn't have been if they'd known his background. While growing up, he and his family would take vacations from their home in the Orlando suburb of Apopka, Fla., to his maternal grandmother's place in Aberdeen, Miss.
Minnie Baylark was an artist, and when he stepped into her house, little Stevie would be drawn inexorably to her studio.
"Just being around her was such an influence," says Baylark, 23. "I'd look at her paintings. And when there was nothing to do, she'd look outside the window and paint what she saw. She'd catch amazing things. And sometimes she'd do paintings just from her imagination."
The end zone stretched before him like a horizon in a landscape painting, a captivating vista that beckoned seductively. His art training told 14-year-old Steve Baylark that much. The rest was up to his football instincts, if he'd had any.
"I didn't even know what a three-point stance was," he says. "I'd never played organized football before. Just sandlot ball with my friends. My friends pushed me to play. I was fast and I had size. They all played organized ball, and when you're that age, you want to be with your friends."
So there he was, kickoff in hand, his first high school game in progress, and he wasn't quite sure what to do.
So he ran. Right into an epiphany.
"Ninety-something yards," says Baylark. "Right up the middle. Untouched. It was the biggest football thrill of my entire freshman year. I haven't forgotten it to this day. I fell more and more in love with football after that."
It became even more attractive when Baylark discovered something else. He wanted to be the first in his family to get a college degree, but money was tight. Then he found out there were these things called football scholarships.
"I realized football could be a way to get an education," says Baylark.
Not easily, though. After leading Apopka to a Florida state championship, he found his test scores were too low for admission to Georgia Southern, which asked him to get his grades up and reapply in the spring.
"But I wanted to go to college right away," he says.
UMass obliged. He spent a year as a Prop 48 student, bolstered his academics sufficiently to get a scholarship, and took off on the field.
Art helped him relax. Relaxation helped him play football. Football helped pay for his art.
It's a delicious symmetry, Steve Baylark acknowledges, wearing a Mona Lisa smile as he says, "I'm able to pursue my two passions, two things I love to do. I have the best of both worlds."
***
Air up there could be a problem for UMass
By John Connolly, Boston Herald
MISSOULA, Mont. - Some players and coaches gasp for air whenever the spotlight of a big game arrives, but UMass coach Don Brown and his team could use a little more oxygen for a different reason: Altitude.
Missoula’s elevation of 3,200 feet above sea level isn’t as dramatic as the Mile High City of Denver, but the Minutemen have taken the thin air into consideration during preparation for tonight’s Division 1-AA semifinal against Montana.
“We’re concerned,” Brown said after sending his team through a light practice at Sentinel High School. “I don’t think we did enough to get winded, but yeah, it’s a concern.”
UMass offensive lineman and captain Alex Miller isn’t worried about the altitude.
“We were pretty good,” said Miller, who, along with fellow lineman David Thompson, will start his school-record 49th straight game tonight. “Honestly, we didn’t do a lot of conditioning late in the season this year. I’m sure the first couple of series we’ll get our breath adjusted, but I think we’re going to be all right.”
Sophomore quarterback Liam Coen likes the new environment.
“The air is definitely clearer,” he said. “I didn’t notice much of a difference with us. Of course, it was a nice day out. I’m hoping for some nice, warm weather.
“There was no wind so I got some good spirals. I had no trouble throwing the ball at all.”
The third-seeded Minutemen (12-1) arrived for their game against the second-seeded Grizzlies (12-1) late Wednesday night on a charter flight from Westover Air Field in Chicopee. Brown is pleased with the trip so far.
“I told the guys we’re not playing until (tonight), so don’t put your game face on and go to a place emotionally that by (today) at noontime you’re going to be exhausted,” he said. “(Yesterday) is the day where we’re going to get mentally ready to play the game in terms of cleaning up our game plan and so forth, but don’t start putting your game face on until we go to pregame meal (today).”
Montana has won 12 straight after opening its season with a 41-7 loss against Div. 1-A opponent Iowa. The Grizzlies have 12 wins for the sixth time in school history, and Brown has studied every game they’ve played on film.
“I really like what Cal-Poly did because they’re very similar to us,” Brown said. “I thought (coach) Rich Ellison had his team really prepared. They lost 10-9 (in Missoula), but it was an excellent game plan, and we were able to give our guys a pretty good look.”
Montana’s biggest weapon on offense is senior quarterback Josh Swogger, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound transfer from Washington State. He has thrown for 2,492 yards and 17 touchdowns this season, and likes to spread the ball to receivers Ryan Bagley (53 catches), Eric Allen and Craig Chambers. The Grizzlies also have three running backs - Reggie Bradshaw, Brady Green and Thomas Brooks-Fletcher - with at least 400 rushing yards.
“I think they’re a little bit more balanced,” Brown said. “I think the (passing) game has come along. Usually, you would think (it would be tough) with a transfer quarterback just getting his feet wet and figuring out and trying to develop a relationship with his receivers, but he’s certainly in full swing now.”
They’re catching on: Tight end duo emerges
By John Connolly/ UMass Notebook, Boston Herald
MISSOULA, Mont. - The UMass Minutemen’s run to the national semifinals has featured great production from the tight end position, where junior starter Brad Listorti and sophomore Ian Jorgensen are opening eyes.
What makes their success more intriguing is the diverse paths that brought them here.
A year ago, Listorti was settling for a limited role on special teams as Rutgers geared up for its Insight Bowl date with Arizona State. With NFL prospect Clark Harris ahead of him on the depth chart, Listorti sought greener pastures.
Since arriving at UMass, the West Haven, Conn., product has been a major force, making 31 catches for 514 yards. He has at least one catch in 12 straight games.
“I never expected to be out here playing in a game on national TV,” said the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Listorti. “It’s something new. It’s going to be a big challenge on the road in a hostile environment. I know I’m looking forward to it.”
The 6-5, 235-pound Jorgensen figured his playing days were over after his Quincy High team beat his younger brother Alex’s North Quincy High squad in the 2003 Thanksgiving Day matchup. Ian was headed to Mass. Maritime Academy, unaware that his coach, Bob Noble, had sent game film on Jorgensen to UMass.
“Coming out here, I’ve never come this far,” Jorgensen said with a laugh. “The farthest I’ve been is Amherst. Taking a 4-hour plane ride out to Missoula is great. I was looking out the plane window and I saw the mountains and it’s beautiful. Everyone says it’s a different kind of cold out here, and I’m starting to believe it. I like it out here. It always looks like Christmas. There’s always snow on the ground.”
Jorgensen has emerged as a secret weapon for UMass. Both of his career touchdown catches have come in this year’s playoffs, one against both Lafayette and New Hampshire.
“It’s great,” Jorgensen said of his partnership with Listorti. “Listorti is athletic, fast, strong. He runs great routes and he blocks great. It’s easy to find a spot for him on the field, and then when you can go to two tight end sets, it just opens everything up in the offense. So it’s a great combination with the way we’ve been working. He’s a great kid.”
Jorgensen is happy with his own role.
“I consider myself anything the team needs right now, to tell you the truth,” Jorgensen said. “If they want me to go in there and block, that’s fine. But (if we) take it down to the goal line and they want to throw it to me, I’m not saying no.”
Tight ends coach Mike Wood agreed.
“Ian’s done a great job for us being a guy feeling very comfortable either blocking or in the pass game,” Wood said. “Brad transferring in and picking up the system fairly quickly in his first full season and what he’s brought to the table athletically is huge. Those two guys have been great.”
Calicchio in fine form
Sean Calicchio will start at right tackle tonight against Montana. The 6-5, 310-pound sophomore broke his arm in the season opener against Colgate and missed 11 weeks before seeing some action in last week’s playoff win over New Hampshire.
“He told me he fell on the arm a couple of times in the game and that he feels fine, and that his arm is getting stronger,” said UMass head coach Don Brown. . . .
Brown said his team looks “chipper,” but worries persist about hydration and acclimation to the thin mountain air.
“It’s (altitude) here,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do about it.”
Massachusetts draws on artful Baylark
By Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY
Finding his direction on the football field has never been a problem for Steve Baylark. Finding his academic footing at the University of Massachusetts proved more of a challenge until he discovered his niche in the art department.
Baylark, a senior on course to graduate with a bachelor's degree in fine arts next spring, is showing some of his finest artistry on the field this season. He is preparing to lead the Minutemen into Friday night's NCAA Division I-AA semifinal at Montana.
Baylark rushed for 198 yards and a touchdown in last week's 24-17 quarterfinal victory against Atlantic 10 Conference rival New Hampshire. A 60-yard burst set up his score in the first quarter. He has 1,658 yards and 13 rushing TDs this year and has surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in all four of his seasons in Amherst. Entering this season, only two I-AA backs, Adrian Peterson of Georgia Southern and Jerry Azumah of New Hampshire, had accomplished that feat. Harvard's Clifton Dawson and Alonzo Coleman of Hampton also joined that club this year.
"Steve Baylark is playing the best football of his career," UMass coach Don Brown says. "He was 15 pounds lighter coming into camp and just playing at a high level. He's had a lot more long runs this year because he's a tenth or two-tenths faster than he was two years ago."
Confirms the 225-pound Baylark: "I definitely lost some baby fat. This summer I just worked real hard to get a little bit faster."
Baylark, a team captain this year, says he wasn't alone among team members trying to get better, a big reason the Minutemen are in the semifinals for the first time since the national championship campaign of 1998.
"In the offseason, we just thought a lot about what we wanted to establish," he says. "We've been living up to it. We just promised each other we wanted to be dominating on both sides of the ball and as individuals everyone would do whatever they needed to do to get stronger and faster."
Baylark, who was born in Aberdeen, Miss., and played his high school ball in Apopka, Fla., seemed well on his way to a standout athletic career at UMass following a 2004 season that put two 1,000-yard campaigns under his belt.
But his classwork suffered as he struggled to choose a major. He says he thought a lot about his grandmother, Minnie Baylark, who had recently died. She earned her living as a housecleaner but enjoyed art as a hobby. Baylark says he and his family still have several of her oil paintings.
"In the spring of my sophomore year, I just thought about her a lot," Baylark says. "I used to watch her paint. I'd done some drawing in high school, but I'd never really pursued it until I came to college. She really had a passion for it."
Baylark is the only athlete in the art school at UMass. He still does a lot of drawing and sketching in his spare time, but much of his work nowadays is more high tech.
He has worked on a number of projects for the athletic media relations office. This summer, he designed the cover art for a highlight DVD for the men's lacrosse team, which reached the final four. Baylark also helped edit the footage. He's also done work behind the camera on other projects, including a men's basketball video.
Some of his work is displayed at , where he lays out his career goal of becoming a graphic designer for sports video games.
But for now, there's still work to be done on the field. "It's going to be a big challenge," he says of traveling to perennial power Montana. "I've been hearing a lot about the crowd and the stadium out there and how loud it gets. … We've got to be perfect with everything. Every play is crucial, so we have to be able to execute."
Facing the elements: UMass plays in a tough Montana atmosphere for shot at national title
Matt Vautour, The Daily Hampshire Gazette
MISSOULA, Mont. - It's loud, it's cold and the air is thin.
All that and the Montana Grizzlies are really good. That's what the third-seeded University of Massachusetts football team has to overcome over 2,000 miles away from Amherst when it faces No. 2 Montana at 7:30 tonight in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs.
Missoula is about 2,000 feet closer to sea level than Denver, but the altitude can be a factor for teams that aren't used to it at Washington-Grizzly Stadium which is nestled in the northern Rockies. The Minutemen couldn't simulate the conditions in Amherst, so they chose not to worry about it.
"From what I've heard, the ball travels a little further on deep balls, so maybe we'll get a few more yards," UMass quarterback Liam Coen said.
The noise is a bigger deal. The Minutemen have practiced hand signals and silent cadences all week to prepare for the noise that Montana home games are famous for producing.
"Communication is going to be the biggest key for us. You can't just say, 'Hey it's going to be loud and it's no big deal.' It's a huge deal," Coen said. "You have to be able to conquer that. Miscommunication with a wideout or a running back - you go one way, he goes the other - could be critical. You can't have those things happen."
Senior center Alex Miller said he believes the Minutemen are capable of handling the noise.
"We've played in some loud places before," he said. "If you don't get distracted by it before the game you should be good during the game."
UMass coach Don Brown expects his players to feed off the stadium's energy.
"We're just going to have to prepare our guys the best we can with hand signals, silent cadence. It's going to be tough to assimilate during the practice week," he said. "Our guys feed off the high-energy stuff. Even though it will be somewhat hostile, our guys will be excited to play in a great environment."
Montana coach Bobby Hauck downplayed the home-field advantage that has seen his team win eight straight home games as part of their 12-1 season.
"The other team likes playing here too. A lot of teams that play here don't get this type of atmosphere on a week-to-week basis," Hauck said. "It's a good game day. I think both teams will really like it Friday night for sure."
Whether they'll like the weather is another story. The predicted high temperature for today has dropped from 38 earlier in the week to 36, and that will certainly go down with the sun.
The Minutemen will have four gas heaters for the sideline.
"It'll probably be in the 20s at game time," said Coen, a Rhode Island native. "I've grown up in New England - in the playoffs in high school we played in like 17 degrees one time. It's not fun, but hey you learn to deal with it and block it out."
With a day in Montana before the game, Brown was trying to keep his players from getting too hyped up too early.
"Don't put your game face on and go to that place emotionally. Don't do that until we go to pregame meal" Friday, Brown said.
Brown denies interest in BC head coaching job
Matt Vautour, The Daily Hampshire Gazette
MISSOULA, Mont. - Former University of Massachusetts coach Mark Whipple and current Minuteman coach Don Brown have both been mentioned as possible candidates to fill the vacant head coaching position at Boston College.
Eagle coach Tom O'Brien is leaving Chestnut Hill to replace the fired Chuck Amato at North Carolina State.
Radio reports in Boston list Whipple, who is currently the quarterbacks coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, as a leading candidate. Whipple did not return phone calls Thursday.
Brown denied any interest in the position.
"Some guys are comfortable in their shoes and I am," Brown said. "I'm happy with what we've got going here."
RETURN OF CALICCHIO - As he sat in the doctor's office after the season's first game against Colgate, UMass offensive lineman Sean Calicchio already was thinking about the postseason. His arm was broken, an injury that requires months of rehabilitation.
"The first thing I asked the docs was 'What about playoffs?'" Calicchio said. "I knew this team had potential." Calicchio dressed for the Lafayette game Nov. 25, but didn't play. He returned to action Saturday in the 24-17 win over New Hampshire.
"It's a privilege to be able to play with these guys, especially now in the playoffs," Calicchio said. "It's a real big deal for me. If I can come back and help the team, that's the greatest thing for me."
During the New Hampshire game, Calicchio fell on his arm on several occasions and it withstood the impact.
"He's getting stronger. He's not 100 percent, but he said 'Coach, I fell down a couple times.' After that he felt confident," coach Don Brown said. "It's great. It's not every day you get back a 6-foot-5, 310 pound offensive tackle that we felt going into the season was one of our best players."
Senior center Alex Miller said he is glad to have him back. "We've been kind of missing him," Miller said. "That comeback is pretty special."
MR. POSTSEASON - Ian Jorgensen's contributions as a receiver during the regular season barely registered. The sophomore tight end caught two passes for 17 yards. But he has caught three passes in the playoffs, including two touchdowns.
"It's been exciting just to have the opportunity to help the team out," Jorgensen said. "Fortunately I caught them both."
Brown praised his progress.
"I was after him pretty good earlier in the year. I thought he was playing inconsistent," Brown said. "In the second half of the season he's been a very steady player at tight end."
TICKETS - Montana released between 5,000 and 6,000 tickets for the game Wednesday morning after season tickets were picked up for the 23,183-seat Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The local newspaper, the Missoulian, reported that vehicles were backed up for several blocks and across a bridge as people tried to get to the ticket office. The game was sold out by 11 a.m. Wednesday.
SPRINTURF - Tonight's game will be played on SprinTurf, which is comparable to the FieldTurf at McGuirk Stadium. It's the second time the Minutemen have been on the surface. The first was their 31-21 win at Villanova Sept. 16. It is one of four surfaces the Minutemen have played on this year along with grass (New Hampshire), AstroTurf (Towson) and FieldTurf (Navy, Northeastern, McGuirk).
MISCELLANEOUS - Minuteman defensive lineman Jason Leonard, who Brown called day-to-day with a leg injury, was healthy enough to make the trip. His status will be determined at game time.
UMass set up a video feed to have the ESPN2 broadcast of the football game shown during intermissions and after the Minutemen's home hockey game against Boston College at the Mullins Center at 7 tonight.
C'mon huh?
Matt Vautour, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, blog
Dummy up there huh. Carol O'Conner is today's featured Montana grad.
Missoula has been good to us so far. A group of media folk decended on downtown last night looking for food and a little beer. We eventually landed at the Missoula Club a place that bills itself as the home of "Cold burgers and warm beer since 1890." That proved to be false advertising. The beer was cold and the the burgers were hot and the locals were friendly. Picture Antonio's Pizza as a burger joint with a bar and you get a little idea of thise place.
The impression I'm getting from Missoulians is that they love their football team and their town. They want your football team to lose, but they want you to have a fun time while you're here. The bartender, who was a former Grizzly football player, who was working and another one who was off duty and drinking (quite a bit) were both very knowledgable about Grizzly football and the history of the town and the bar.
They knew a lot about UMass and predicted a good game. We're planning on going back and Bob Behler was exploring the possibility of holding the Don Brown show there tonight.
Sounds like I missed a pretty tight ending for Travis Ford and Co. All I know is what I've read in Mike Moran's fine piece in today's Gazette and a quick phone call with Dave Guthro, so I can't speak too inteligently on it. That said, it sounded like the type of game UMass would have lost in recent years, so they'll certainly take the win.
Mmmmm cookies for breakfast... More later.
The bottom line
The Boston Globe
A leg to stand on
Hatchells put heart in UMass defense
By Marty Dobrow, Boston Globe Correspondent, December 7, 2006
AMHERST -- In the grand scheme, John Hatchell knew right away the news he got on Nov. 14 was not that big a deal. This wasn't life or death. It wasn't a tragedy. He would get over it.
Still, when the University of Massachusetts defensive end learned that he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, it was hard to ward off the feelings of devastation. This was the last chance he would ever have to play a game he loved. There was just one game left in the regular season for the 9-1 Minutemen, and then the one-and-done intensity of the playoffs.
This was it. He was a senior, and while he was a standout on the best defensive team in Division 1-AA, he harbored no illusions about the NFL. Come next fall, he would head to law school and leave the most impassioned part of his life behind.
He just wasn't ready to do it yet.
There was one glimmer of hope, however faint. Once in a great while, a player is able to play with an ACL tear. UMass coach Don Brown, for instance, had seen one player in his 25 years as a head or assistant coach play through such an injury. That had happened two years ago, with a redshirt freshman linebacker. The player happened to be Hatchell's kid brother, Jason.
"The fact that he had done it," said John Hatchell, "was inspiring."
Growing up in the small town of Mullica Hill, N.J., the two brothers seemed to share everything. They weren't twins, but separated by just 14 months and a day, their lives were intertwined. At the core of their connection was a love of toughness.
"We didn't idolize the flashy people like Deion Sanders," said John, a chiseled 6-foot-2-inch, 270-pounder with dark hair and thick eyebrows. "My dad [John Sr.] had us idolizing people like Chuck Bednarik and Jack Lambert."
They were big kids from the beginning, well above the weight-limit restrictions for their age in Pop Warner. ("We were fat boys when we were younger," said Jason, a 6-0, 224-pound linebacker with blond hair and the hint of a goatee.)
As a result, the competitive juices were only allowed to flow in backyard football. With their dad playing quarterback, the boys would take turns being the receiver and the cornerback in an endless game where the stakes seemed ultimate.
When John was in seventh grade he graduated to junior high football, and Jason, stuck in sixth, was consumed with envy. One night Jason attended an auction with his grandfather and put in a bid on an antique helmet and shoulder pads. The winning bids weren't announced until midnight, but Jason insisted on staying -- and picking up the prize.
"The next day, of course, there was a football game in the backyard," recalled John Hatchell Sr., a manager at a car dealership in Cherry Hill, N.J. "They were beating the daylights out of each other."
Not afraid to work
John initially went to Lehigh, before coming to UMass in 2004, joining forces with his brother, a redshirt freshman. The Hatchells instantly established themselves as fitness freaks. Both could bench press more than 400 pounds. John, in fact, has reached 520 -- a record for a UMass player. Head trainer Jeff Smith, who has seen some workout mavens in his time, says that from the start the Hatchells were a different breed.
"No doubt about it," he said. "It is above and beyond."
John was forced to sit out that season as a transfer, and it looked as if Jason would sit it out as well when, just a few days before the opener, he picked up a fumble in practice, started returning it, planted his right foot, and felt his knee give way. "The moment I made my first cut, I knew there was something seriously wrong," he recalled.
The MRI confirmed his worst fears with the three most dreaded letters in sports -- ACL. The stabilizing ligament connecting the femur and tibia in the front of the knee had snapped. Almost as a matter of course, that means the end of the year, Smith said. With Jason's well-developed quadriceps and hamstring, however, he was able to withstand the strain, and within a few weeks he was able to cut and shift. To the astonishment of many, he wound up playing eight games that season.
In the offseason he had surgery in Philadelphia, getting an Achilles' from a cadaver to replace the ACL. By the beginning of the 2005 season, he was better than ever.
Last year, the Hatchells helped lead UMass to the No. 1 scoring defense in Division 1-AA. Jason led the team with 107 tackles. John, playing nose guard, had 36.
The season ended in disappointment, though, as UMass lost its final two games to wind up 7-4, just missing the playoffs. The returning seniors met and mapped out their strategy for a better outcome in 2006. There was too much looking ahead, they all agreed.
"The first thing we said is we have to focus on the task at hand," recalled John. "That was the biggest issue . . . We need to keep our minds set on this game right now. We can't look ahead. In '05, I can't tell you how many times we broke on 'Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Chattanooga [the site of the national championship game].' "
Dream season
For the team, and for the brothers, 2006 has played out like a dream. UMass is 12-1, riding a school-record 11-game winning streak. The Minutemen play tomorrow night at the University of Montana in the national semifinals, with the winner getting a trip to, well, Chattanooga.
"It's been kind of a Cinderella season," said Jason with a tone of wonder. "Everything's clicking. Everyone's on the same page. It's a different kind of attitude this year."
The brothers, who live together in an off-campus house with three other teammates, were at their best in what was the regular season's pivotal game, at New Hampshire Nov. 4. Jason registered 18 tackles and earned the Bill Knight Trophy as the MVP of the annual clash between archrivals, a rare feat for a defensive player. And in the game's decisive play, with UMass leading, 28-20, and 15 seconds remaining with UNH facing fourth and 1 from the 3-yard line, John knocked down a pitch from quarterback Ricky Santos to clinch the game.
It was a dream scenario for a defensive player: to come up with the decisive stop to end a huge game against a star player.
But the next week, life turned completely for John when he tried to throw a block on a University of Maine lineman during an interception return. His left knee gave way, and suddenly he couldn't put weight on it. As John hobbled off the field, his father said a prayer: "Please don't let it be the ACL."
Three days later came the news. "I was crushed for him," said John Sr.
John did not play the following Saturday, the regular-season finale against Hofstra. Before the game, he was introduced along with the rest of the seniors, and limped out to join his parents at midfield.
"It was kind of heartbreaking, seeing all his classmates in their uniforms jumping up and down," John Sr. said. "He's in his jersey, pretty much hobbling across the field."
By that time, though, John's rehab was well under way. He was working relentlessly with Smith with an eye toward getting back on the field, as his brother had two years before. And sure enough, come the playoff opener against Lafayette, John was in the lineup, leading Brown to shake his head in disbelief.
"The inspiration and the message that he sends kind of overwhelms you," Brown said. "I watch him bounce around practice now, and I'm still in awe of the whole thing."
Wildcat killers
Facing surgery, John has poured himself into the end of his career. He limped through the Lafayette game but contributed with a couple of big tackles. Then last week, in the rematch against UNH, he came up with 1 1/2 sacks of the redoubtable Santos.
Of course, he needed some help. With UMass leading, 24-17, Santos led a brilliant drive in the closing moments. After a completion to David Ball, the Wildcats had fourth and 1 from the UMass 6 with 33 seconds remaining.
The UMass defense huddled with Brown as both Hatchell brothers listened intently. There was John, bouncing on both legs. There was Jason, who had been carried off the field earlier after suffering a major contusion when he took a helmet to his lower leg. They were ready.
Santos took the snap and rolled left, looking for an open Keith Levan in the corner of the end zone. Jason Hatchell was being blocked by 6-6, 270-pound tackle Josh Droesch. He fought off the block, reached up, and batted down the pass.
John Hatchell didn't see the play, but when he heard how it was broken up, he was immediately aware of the delicious déjà vu. The brothers embraced as John said, "Man, we're some Wildcat killers."
According to John, no one on the defense was nervous at the game's crucial juncture. "Everyone's got a lot of confidence that someone will step up and make a play when the time is needed," he said. "The fact that it was Jay was great. It's almost like a storybook ending. I don't think you could really write this up in a movie script, to tell you the truth."
Not many people would believe it. Especially when they found out that John Sr. is also facing knee surgery after the year, because he got clipped by a car at his dealership, and damaged his medial collateral ligament. He was advised to have surgery right away, but, well, it was not advice he was willing to take.
"I didn't want to miss any games," he said.
He flies to Missoula today.
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