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A grizzly affair: UCD football routed by Montana
By Bob Dunning
Aggie wide receiver Carson Crawford snags a 3-yard pass from Jake Maier (15) and takes the ball and a Montana defender into the end zone in the second quarter for UC Davis’ first score of the day. Crawford was one of 10 Aggies to record a reception in Saturday’s loss. Wayne Tilcock/Courtesy photo
Aggie defensive back Jehiel Budgett, center, and linebacker Connor Airey bring down Montana quarterback Dalton Sneed on Saturday. Sneed completed 22 of 33 passes for 268 yards and five TDs. He also rushed for 81 yards on 10 carries. Wayne Tilcock/Courtesy photo
In what might signal a return to glory for the University of Montana’s proud football tradition, the Griz led from start to finish to rout UC Davis, 45-20, in the Big Sky Conference opener for both schools before 10,011 stunned fans Saturday afternoon at UC Davis Health Stadium.
The win moves No. 17 Montana to 4-1 overall, while the fifth-ranked Aggies slumped to 2-3.
“They outplayed us, out-executed us, out-coached us and out-energied us,” said Aggie head coach Dan Hawkins, creating new words as he tried to describe what had just transpired. “Today was tough on a lot of counts, but that’s sports. Those guys are good and they came in here with a force of will, with a good plan and they made plays. You can’t deny what they did. You’ve got to tip your hat to them and admire what they did.”
Montana, which won seven straight league championships from 2003-2009, raced away to a 14-0 lead and never let the Aggies up for air.
Griz head coach Bobby Hauck was clearly thrilled with a victory that was much easier than anyone could have expected.
“When you go on the road and beat the No. 5-ranked team in the country at their place — and get ’em pretty good — it’s a good win,” Hauck said.
Indeed, the Griz could claim without contradiction that they “got ’em pretty good” on this day.
“We controlled the field position and special teams really well. We didn’t take chances. We played solid football,” Hauck added.
Montana’s dual-threat quarterback Dalton Sneed performed flawlessly, burning the Aggie defense with quick-scoring aerial strikes as well as producing critical first downs with his feet.
“Some of those runs were designed plays and some I just took advantage of what they presented,” Sneed explained. “When I was getting out of the pocket and they were playing man coverage they didn’t have their eyes on the quarterback, so I used that opportunity and took off.”
After the Aggies took No. 1 North Dakota State down to the wire last week, Sneed was surprised with how easily the Griz were able to move the ball.
Sneed hit 22-of-33 passes for five touchdowns without an interception. He also added 81 yards on the ground on just 10 carries. The elusive Sneed was not sacked even once in what turned into a long afternoon for the Aggie defense.
Added Sneed: “Seeing them on film, they played great against North Dakota State, but they fell apart in some areas today and we were able to take advantage of that.”
Montana owned the day and now has an 8-1 advantage in its relatively short series with the Aggies. The only UCD win came last year in Missoula when the Aggies roared back from a 21-3 halftime deficit to blast the Griz, 49-21.
“Round 1 went to Hawk and Round 2 went to Hauck,” Hawkins added in his post-game press conference. “This is my first time in 2 1/2 years here where we got out-desired and out-executed. It’s sort of a blip on the radar screen, but now we have to get back at it and look forward to going back to North Dakota.”
The Aggies resume conference play Saturday against the Fighting Hawks in Grand Forks.
While Sneed was running the offense to perfection, the Montana defense effectively shut down the Aggie running game, holding UCD to just 60 rushing yards and a dismal 1.9-yard-per-carry average.
For the game, the Griz had 528 yards of total offense to just 351 for the Aggies.
“It all came down to tackling,” Aggie safety Erron Duncan said afterwards. “They were pounding us and we were in position to stop them for a short gain, but we just couldn’t make the plays.”
Montana pressured Aggie quarterback Jake Maier all afternoon long, sacking him twice and forcing a costly fumble at the Aggie 14 that allowed the Griz to move comfortably ahead early in the third quarter.
Maier said much of what happened falls on his shoulders.
“When we score 50 points, everyone tells us how great we are, so when stuff like this happens, you have to own it,” the La Habra native noted. “We need to be more disciplined. We keep turning the ball over and getting penalties in critical situations. But we have seven games left and they are all winnable.”
This one got ugly early…
After the teams exchanged several punts in the opening quarter, Sneed engineered a 12-play, 83-yard drive that paid off when Samori Toure hauled in a 15-yard scoring pass for a 7-0 Montana lead.
Three minutes later, Sneed led a quick 62-yard drive to push the lead to 14-0 with an 8-yard pass to Bryson Deming.
The Aggies rallied to cut the deficit to 14-7 when Maier found Carson Crawford in the end zone from 3 yards out, but the Griz responded with a 21-yard field goal on the final play before the half to take a 17-7 advantage into the intermission.
Disaster struck quickly for the Aggies in the opening 6 minutes of the second half when Sneed threw scoring passes of 62 yards to Samuel Akem, 14 yards to Jerry Louie-McGee and another of 23 yards to Louie-McGee and suddenly the Aggies were down, 38-7.
UCD rallied briefly to cut the deficit to 38-20, but Montana put the game away for good on a 1-yard TD run by Marcus Knight midway through the final quarter.
“It’s frustrating, but this will be a good lesson for us,” Hawkins added, being sure to give credit to Sneed for a game well-played. “They came in here and out-everythinged us. You could really sense (Sneed’s) competitive fire. He had sort of a tough time against us last year, but the way he played today, you really have to admire him for that.”
After their trip to North Dakota next Saturday, the Aggies return home Oct. 12 for a 4 p.m. Big Sky game with Cal Poly.
By Bob Dunning
Aggie wide receiver Carson Crawford snags a 3-yard pass from Jake Maier (15) and takes the ball and a Montana defender into the end zone in the second quarter for UC Davis’ first score of the day. Crawford was one of 10 Aggies to record a reception in Saturday’s loss. Wayne Tilcock/Courtesy photo
Aggie defensive back Jehiel Budgett, center, and linebacker Connor Airey bring down Montana quarterback Dalton Sneed on Saturday. Sneed completed 22 of 33 passes for 268 yards and five TDs. He also rushed for 81 yards on 10 carries. Wayne Tilcock/Courtesy photo
In what might signal a return to glory for the University of Montana’s proud football tradition, the Griz led from start to finish to rout UC Davis, 45-20, in the Big Sky Conference opener for both schools before 10,011 stunned fans Saturday afternoon at UC Davis Health Stadium.
The win moves No. 17 Montana to 4-1 overall, while the fifth-ranked Aggies slumped to 2-3.
“They outplayed us, out-executed us, out-coached us and out-energied us,” said Aggie head coach Dan Hawkins, creating new words as he tried to describe what had just transpired. “Today was tough on a lot of counts, but that’s sports. Those guys are good and they came in here with a force of will, with a good plan and they made plays. You can’t deny what they did. You’ve got to tip your hat to them and admire what they did.”
Montana, which won seven straight league championships from 2003-2009, raced away to a 14-0 lead and never let the Aggies up for air.
Griz head coach Bobby Hauck was clearly thrilled with a victory that was much easier than anyone could have expected.
“When you go on the road and beat the No. 5-ranked team in the country at their place — and get ’em pretty good — it’s a good win,” Hauck said.
Indeed, the Griz could claim without contradiction that they “got ’em pretty good” on this day.
“We controlled the field position and special teams really well. We didn’t take chances. We played solid football,” Hauck added.
Montana’s dual-threat quarterback Dalton Sneed performed flawlessly, burning the Aggie defense with quick-scoring aerial strikes as well as producing critical first downs with his feet.
“Some of those runs were designed plays and some I just took advantage of what they presented,” Sneed explained. “When I was getting out of the pocket and they were playing man coverage they didn’t have their eyes on the quarterback, so I used that opportunity and took off.”
After the Aggies took No. 1 North Dakota State down to the wire last week, Sneed was surprised with how easily the Griz were able to move the ball.
Sneed hit 22-of-33 passes for five touchdowns without an interception. He also added 81 yards on the ground on just 10 carries. The elusive Sneed was not sacked even once in what turned into a long afternoon for the Aggie defense.
Added Sneed: “Seeing them on film, they played great against North Dakota State, but they fell apart in some areas today and we were able to take advantage of that.”
Montana owned the day and now has an 8-1 advantage in its relatively short series with the Aggies. The only UCD win came last year in Missoula when the Aggies roared back from a 21-3 halftime deficit to blast the Griz, 49-21.
“Round 1 went to Hawk and Round 2 went to Hauck,” Hawkins added in his post-game press conference. “This is my first time in 2 1/2 years here where we got out-desired and out-executed. It’s sort of a blip on the radar screen, but now we have to get back at it and look forward to going back to North Dakota.”
The Aggies resume conference play Saturday against the Fighting Hawks in Grand Forks.
While Sneed was running the offense to perfection, the Montana defense effectively shut down the Aggie running game, holding UCD to just 60 rushing yards and a dismal 1.9-yard-per-carry average.
For the game, the Griz had 528 yards of total offense to just 351 for the Aggies.
“It all came down to tackling,” Aggie safety Erron Duncan said afterwards. “They were pounding us and we were in position to stop them for a short gain, but we just couldn’t make the plays.”
Montana pressured Aggie quarterback Jake Maier all afternoon long, sacking him twice and forcing a costly fumble at the Aggie 14 that allowed the Griz to move comfortably ahead early in the third quarter.
Maier said much of what happened falls on his shoulders.
“When we score 50 points, everyone tells us how great we are, so when stuff like this happens, you have to own it,” the La Habra native noted. “We need to be more disciplined. We keep turning the ball over and getting penalties in critical situations. But we have seven games left and they are all winnable.”
This one got ugly early…
After the teams exchanged several punts in the opening quarter, Sneed engineered a 12-play, 83-yard drive that paid off when Samori Toure hauled in a 15-yard scoring pass for a 7-0 Montana lead.
Three minutes later, Sneed led a quick 62-yard drive to push the lead to 14-0 with an 8-yard pass to Bryson Deming.
The Aggies rallied to cut the deficit to 14-7 when Maier found Carson Crawford in the end zone from 3 yards out, but the Griz responded with a 21-yard field goal on the final play before the half to take a 17-7 advantage into the intermission.
Disaster struck quickly for the Aggies in the opening 6 minutes of the second half when Sneed threw scoring passes of 62 yards to Samuel Akem, 14 yards to Jerry Louie-McGee and another of 23 yards to Louie-McGee and suddenly the Aggies were down, 38-7.
UCD rallied briefly to cut the deficit to 38-20, but Montana put the game away for good on a 1-yard TD run by Marcus Knight midway through the final quarter.
“It’s frustrating, but this will be a good lesson for us,” Hawkins added, being sure to give credit to Sneed for a game well-played. “They came in here and out-everythinged us. You could really sense (Sneed’s) competitive fire. He had sort of a tough time against us last year, but the way he played today, you really have to admire him for that.”
After their trip to North Dakota next Saturday, the Aggies return home Oct. 12 for a 4 p.m. Big Sky game with Cal Poly.
