GRIZ CB NELSON NAMED DEFENSIVE BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK
By AJ Mazzolini
The Montana Grizzlies earned their third Defensive Player of the Week honor from the Big Sky Conference on Monday, a new UM defender winning the weekly award for a third time.
Montana junior cornerback JR Nelson pulled in the honor for his efforts against Idaho State this past weekend, a performance that included the Grizzlies' first defensive touchdown of the season in the 33-27 overtime win.
Nelson, who was honored along with Northern Colorado running back Trae Riek and Northern Arizona kicker Ryan Hawkins, intercepted a pass from Idaho State's Tanner Gueller in the second quarter and ran the ball back 20 yards for a touchdown.
The score put Montana ahead 21-7 at the time.
The Grizzly also tallied four solo tackles in the secondary and was part of the bizarre final play of the game, the game-winning fumble return TD by teammate Eric Johnson. After a botched snap on an ISU field goal attempt in the extra period, Nelson won the footrace to the loose football on the other end of the field. He pounced on the bounding ball, batting it up in the air for Johnson, who carried it the rest of the way to the end zone.
Johnson made a solid case for a defender of the week nod as well, intercepting a pass and making four tackles to go along with his defensive score. Nate Harris, the corner on the opposite side, also intercepted a pass and added eight tackles and a pass breakup.
The defensive secondary as a whole played extremely well against the Bengals, said Griz head coach Bob Stitt after the game
"They give us a chance to do what we do in the box," Stitt said of his defensive backs. "We've got to be able to play man(-to-man coverage). The whole crew on the back end did an unbelievable job.
"There's a lot of balls in the air that could have been caught and could have been big plays and we broke them up."
The conference award was Nelson's first. He joined the list of Griz defensive weekly winners this year that already included defensive end Tyrone Holmes (Sept. 28) and tackle Caleb Kidder (Oct. 5).
Montana quarterback Makena Simis (Oct. 26) also has a player of the week award for Stitt's offense.
Riek had a big day in Northern Colorado's 35-32 upset over ninth-ranked Portland State to earn Offensive Player of the Week. The redshirt freshman running back netted 202 all-purpose yards, including 145 on the ground. He added 57 yards receiving on five catches.
Riek scored the game-winning touchdown against Portland State on Saturday, a 2-yard run with 33 seconds remaining that knocked off the Vikings in Greeley, Colorado.
Riek's 25 attempts ties a career high. He has 100 yards on the ground in back-to-back games.
Hawkins, the Special Teams Player of the Week, was a perfect 8 for 8 on kicks against Eastern Washington on Saturday, including seven makes on PATs. He also had a 21-yard field goal in the 52-30 victory in Cheney, Washington.
But the senior did more than just kick. After booting one of his nine kickoffs deep to the Eagles, he recovered a fumble on special teams when EWU's Simba Webster coughed up the ball on his return.
By AJ Mazzolini
The Montana Grizzlies earned their third Defensive Player of the Week honor from the Big Sky Conference on Monday, a new UM defender winning the weekly award for a third time.
Montana junior cornerback JR Nelson pulled in the honor for his efforts against Idaho State this past weekend, a performance that included the Grizzlies' first defensive touchdown of the season in the 33-27 overtime win.
Nelson, who was honored along with Northern Colorado running back Trae Riek and Northern Arizona kicker Ryan Hawkins, intercepted a pass from Idaho State's Tanner Gueller in the second quarter and ran the ball back 20 yards for a touchdown.
The score put Montana ahead 21-7 at the time.
The Grizzly also tallied four solo tackles in the secondary and was part of the bizarre final play of the game, the game-winning fumble return TD by teammate Eric Johnson. After a botched snap on an ISU field goal attempt in the extra period, Nelson won the footrace to the loose football on the other end of the field. He pounced on the bounding ball, batting it up in the air for Johnson, who carried it the rest of the way to the end zone.
Johnson made a solid case for a defender of the week nod as well, intercepting a pass and making four tackles to go along with his defensive score. Nate Harris, the corner on the opposite side, also intercepted a pass and added eight tackles and a pass breakup.
The defensive secondary as a whole played extremely well against the Bengals, said Griz head coach Bob Stitt after the game
"They give us a chance to do what we do in the box," Stitt said of his defensive backs. "We've got to be able to play man(-to-man coverage). The whole crew on the back end did an unbelievable job.
"There's a lot of balls in the air that could have been caught and could have been big plays and we broke them up."
The conference award was Nelson's first. He joined the list of Griz defensive weekly winners this year that already included defensive end Tyrone Holmes (Sept. 28) and tackle Caleb Kidder (Oct. 5).
Montana quarterback Makena Simis (Oct. 26) also has a player of the week award for Stitt's offense.
Riek had a big day in Northern Colorado's 35-32 upset over ninth-ranked Portland State to earn Offensive Player of the Week. The redshirt freshman running back netted 202 all-purpose yards, including 145 on the ground. He added 57 yards receiving on five catches.
Riek scored the game-winning touchdown against Portland State on Saturday, a 2-yard run with 33 seconds remaining that knocked off the Vikings in Greeley, Colorado.
Riek's 25 attempts ties a career high. He has 100 yards on the ground in back-to-back games.
Hawkins, the Special Teams Player of the Week, was a perfect 8 for 8 on kicks against Eastern Washington on Saturday, including seven makes on PATs. He also had a 21-yard field goal in the 52-30 victory in Cheney, Washington.
But the senior did more than just kick. After booting one of his nine kickoffs deep to the Eagles, he recovered a fumble on special teams when EWU's Simba Webster coughed up the ball on his return.
