Fargo news: Montana faces Bison

[Proud Griz Man]

Not many secrets with Montana By Jeff Kolpack on Sep 16, 2014 at 9:02 p.m.

. . . long drive from Fargo to Missoula, Mont. North Dakota State and the University of Montana play in different conferences in different time zones and both have yet to play against each other as Division I opponents.

But both are also all too familiar with each other. And when the teams hook up Saturday afternoon at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome, there probably won’t be too many secrets.

“They have a lot of film on us, we have a lot of film on them so we should know what each other is doing,” said Bison tight end Kevin Vaadeland. Both run power-based offenses that don’t put much stock into trickery. There have been plenty of connections between the two programs already this year with the University of Wyoming. The Grizzlies opened the season with a 17-12 loss to the Cowboys, a team coached mostly by former Bison coaches, including head coach Craig Bohl and offensive coordinator Brent Vigen.

Montana could probably just as well pull the preparation from that game and use it again this week. Wyoming and NDSU both run a West Coast offense that hasn’t changed much over the years. “Potentially that could be an advantage for them,” said NDSU offensive coordinator Tim Polasek. “But we’re not at all concerned about that. If you paid attention to NDSU for eight or nine years now, the offense is pretty similar. The wrinkles change a little bit and the personnel changes but it is what it is.” On the flipside, NDSU can watch the Montana-Wyoming tape and get a feel for how the Grizzlies defend the West Coast. That doesn’t happen very often because most of NDSU’s opponents run a multiple or spread offense.

The Bison offensive coaches have had to adjust on the fly more than usual the first three games. Iowa State, Polasek said, stayed mostly true to its defensive scheme from past years and NDSU adjusted its blocking scheme. It worked. The Bison ran off 34 straight points from the second quarter on. But Weber State, with a new coaching staff, threw some looks at the Bison that they didn’t prepare for in the 24-7 NDSU win, a game in which the Bison offense played well enough.

“I think the mark of a great program is you do what you do and you try to get your kids schooled up on what your opponent is doing,” Polasek said. “And then you just go out there and play.” Montana defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak has been with the Grizzlies for 11 years, the last three as defensive coordinator. NDSU head coach Chris Klieman said there’s been some conversation between his staff and the current Wyoming staff.

“The guys truly doing the game planning,” Klieman said. “But they’re going to know what we do on defense simply from watching a lot of the Wyoming film. And vice versa. It’s going to come down to execution.” So for two teams that haven’t played since 2003 when NDSU was still a Division II program – they’ve only played six times overall – there probably won’t be much in the line of on-the-fly adjustments. “We practice all week to what they’re going to do and if we see some new stuff, we’re going to have to adjust,” said Bison safety Christian Dudzik. “But it’s really going to come down to execution and who does that better between the two teams.”

 

[Bertram]

Fargo area news on Jordan Johnson http://www.inforum.com/content/montana-qb-lauded-his-winning-ability

 

[BisonMav]

19 straight wins..................on the road

 

[Proud Griz Man]

familiar ?

Jeremy Jorgenson
Director of Sales and Broadcasting

Phone: (701) 231-6594
Email: [email protected]


Television sports veteran Jeremy Jorgenson joined the North Dakota State University athletic department in June 2007 as the director of sales and broadcasting. He manages the Bison Radio Network, sells radio and television advertising, and has on-air responsibilities for NDSU programming. Jorgenson is the sideline reporter for Bison football radio brodcasts and color commentator for NDSU home basketball games. He hosts the weekly Craig Bohl Football Show live on statewide television and the Bison Coaches Corner on GoBison.com for men's and women's basketball.


Jorgenson came to North Dakota State from Missoula, Mont., where he worked as the sports director for CBS affiliate KPAX-TV. In addition to coordinating high school and collegiate sports coverage, he was the television play-by-play voice for University of Montana football and basketball, and he was the statewide host of Montana's television coaches shows. Prior to his work in Missoula, Jorgenson worked for Media Relations, Inc., in Burnsville, Minn., where he organized media coverage and marketing strategy for Fortune 500 companies. He wrote and produced press and video news releases.

Jorgenson spent four years as the sports director at KVRR-TV in Fargo, starting the Fox station's sports department from the ground floor when it launched in 2000. He has worked for all four major television networks, including stops NBC affiliate KCFW in Kalispell, Mont.; CBS affiliate KRTV in Great Falls, Mont.; and ABC affiliates KHGI in Kearney, Neb., and KIFI in Idaho Falls, Idaho. A native of Montana, Jorgenson was an all-state football player and all-conference basketball player for Shepherd High School. He played one season of football and basketball at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., where he earned a bachelor's degree in mass communication in 1993.

NDSU media release

Top-Five Matchup Saturday When Bison Host Griz in Trees Bowl

THIS WEEK: Two of the top-ranked teams in the Football Championship Subdivision meet this week when No. 1-ranked North Dakota State (3-0) hosts No. 3/4-ranked Montana (2-1) in the 24th annual Trees Bowl game. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:37 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700).

TELEVISION: Saturday's game will be televised live on the NBC North Dakota network, ESPN3 and ESPN GamePlan with Brian Shawn calling the play-by-play, Lee Timmerman and Kevin Feeney providing analysis from the booth, and Jamal Spencer and Beth Hoole reporting from the sidelines.

RADIO: KFGO-AM 790 and KRWK-FM 101.9 of Fargo along with the Peterson Farms Seed Bison Radio Network will have live coverage beginning at 2 p.m. KFGO's Scott Miller will describe the play-by-play with NDSU and Buffalo Bills Hall of Famer Phil Hansen as color analyst and NDSU's Jeremy Jorgenson reporting from the sidelines. A live audio stream will be available on GoBison.com/allaccess.

THE SERIES: This is the seventh meeting between North Dakota State and Montana and the first appearance for the Grizzlies in Fargo. NDSU has won the last three straight to even the series record at 3-3. Montana won games in 1914, 1921 and 1941 in Missoula before a pair of NDSU wins in the 1969 and 1970 Camellia Bowl games in Sacramento, Calif. The teams have not met since 2003 when NDSU rallied from a 24-2 halftime deficit to win 25-24 in Missoula. Tight end Mike Wieser caught a 20-yard pass from running back Rod Malone on a fake field goal with 2:13 left to provide the winning score. NDSU is 4-2 against Big Sky Conference opponents including its 24-7 win at Weber State two weeks ago.

TREES BOWL: This is the 24th annual Trees Bowl game sponsored by the North Dakota Forest Service. NDSU is 20-3 in the game and has won five straight including last year's 24-23 win over Northern Iowa. Western Illinois was the last team to beat NDSU in the Trees Bowl with a 27-22 win in 2008. The event began in 1990 and has missed only the 2001 season due to the cancellation of the Maine game after the 9/11 attacks.

LAST WEEK: North Dakota State won its 27th straight game last Saturday with a 58-0 shutout of Incarnate Word before a sellout crowd of 19,020 at Gate City Bank Field, which was the sixth largest crowd in Fargodome history. Carson Wentz was 14 of 18 passing for a career-high 237 yards and three touchdowns, including a career-long 60-yard TD strike to RJ Urzendowski, who led all Bison receivers with three catches for 82 yards. John Crockett rushed 13 times for 82 yards and two scores, Chase Morlock had six carries for 42 yards and a TD, and King Frazier scored twice on a 9-yard run and 29-yard pass. Tre Dempsey led the Bison defense with six tackles including four solo stops, Esley Thorton had a career-high 2.0 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss, Pierre Gee-Tucker had an interception, and Shea DeJong returned an interception 69 yards for a touchdown.