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Griz RB Moore impressive than ever
SEPTEMBER 14, 2012
Trent McKinney scanned the field hastily while pedaling backward, noticing that to his right the field was mostly barren of the enemy. Montana running back Dan Moore snatched the football out of the air and cradled it to his right arm, preparing for takeoff. He turned his bulky 5-foot-11 frame up-field and thrust his powerful legs step after step into the turf at Kidd Brewer Stadium. He cut left, he cut right, he leaped over one Mountaineer defender and then followed a convoy of blockers 87 yards — all the way to the end zone.
“I thought Dan was going to run out of steam,” Grizzly head coach Mick Delaney said. “The piano got heavier and heavier the closer to the goal line he got.”
Although Appalachian State fought off the turnover-prone Grizzlies 35-27, Montana’s redshirt senior running back compiled 239 all-purpose yards, bringing his two-game total to 391.
“(That play) shows a lot of love, and shows those guys care,” Moore said. “We all care about each other. They’re gonna go down there and block hard for me, and when it’s my turn, I’m gonnablock hard for them. It’s just the give and take of the game.”
Delaney said Moore’s monumental early success this season can be credited to his altered workout approach. Last spring, Moore, with the help of Griz head strength coach Rob Oviatt, devised a new plan to help improve his flexibility, downfield speed and quickness. The 235-pounder did yoga and focused on more repetitions with lower weight during lifting. He said the approach of improving his muscle endurance more than his power has helped him already this season.
“In the offseason, I tried to stretch my hips out and lengthen my stride out so I could be a little faster, and maybe be able to make certain cuts that I wouldn’t be able to make last year,” Moore said.
In 2011, the Tucson, Ariz., native tallied seven rushing touchdowns, while averaging 31 rush yards per game. One year later and 10 pounds lighter, Moore is averaging just under 121 yards.
“Dan has really improved his focus and priority on working on his total athletic ability,” said Oviatt, who’s in his third season at UM. “As important as it is to be big and strong, those two qualities alone aren’t enough.”
As strength coach devising workout plans, Oviatt plays cartographer — drawing the map. Moore’s job is to drive the vehicle, which he has never needed outside motivation to do. He admits he previously would lift too much, or too often.
“Dan’s work habits have never ever been a question,” Delaney said. “He’s always been a tremendous worker, but sometimes you can overwork, or work in the wrong direction, too, a little bit, and I think that was part of Dan’s problem.
“Obviously he has to do his three, four lifts a week, but he doesn’t have to lift the building off the foundation,” Delaney said.
Moore’s love affair with the weight room began at a very young age. When he was six, he saw Muscle and Fitness magazines laying around his house. He would flip through them and think, “This is what a man should look like — big guys like this.” He asked his father, “What can I do?” David Moore, who himself is 6-foot-3 and 285 pounds, told his son he could do pushups and situps, but for now was too young to lift heavy weights.
But as soon as No. 35 was of age to be in the gym, it became his second home. Moore’s passion has paid its dividends, as his personal bests include a 580-pound squat and 440-pound bench press. As Oviatt, Delaney or most anyone in the program will tell you, he is pound-for-pound the strongest Montana Grizzly.
“I just love the gym atmosphere,” he said. “It’s a way for me to release my stresses of the day, and I just feel good when I leave there.”
Moore’s strength has helped form him into the powerful, downhill running back he is today. He runs over and through defenders as often as possible, exhausting a team’s defense by the third and fourth quarters.
“I try to run with anger. I feel like I wanna punish those guys,” he said of his running style. “I feel like if I can run through you, I will.”
Montana’s own defense knows Moore’s ferocious mentality better than anyone, as they have to be on the other side of the football in practice everyday.
“Fall camp is definitely probably the worst time, because you have to go against him,” Griz linebacker John Kanongata’a said of Moore. “But it’s definitely an asset to have him on our side.”
Moore is slow to take credit for his success but quick at finding ways to improve.
“I just want to be ready, at all times, when my number’s called, to go out on the field and know inside that I’ll be able to make a cut when I need to, and won’t be tired on a certain play,” Moore said. “So, yeah, that’s my motivation. I don’t want to let my brothers down. They’re dependent on me and I’m dependent on them.”
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Griz RB Moore impressive than ever
SEPTEMBER 14, 2012
Trent McKinney scanned the field hastily while pedaling backward, noticing that to his right the field was mostly barren of the enemy. Montana running back Dan Moore snatched the football out of the air and cradled it to his right arm, preparing for takeoff. He turned his bulky 5-foot-11 frame up-field and thrust his powerful legs step after step into the turf at Kidd Brewer Stadium. He cut left, he cut right, he leaped over one Mountaineer defender and then followed a convoy of blockers 87 yards — all the way to the end zone.
“I thought Dan was going to run out of steam,” Grizzly head coach Mick Delaney said. “The piano got heavier and heavier the closer to the goal line he got.”
Although Appalachian State fought off the turnover-prone Grizzlies 35-27, Montana’s redshirt senior running back compiled 239 all-purpose yards, bringing his two-game total to 391.
“(That play) shows a lot of love, and shows those guys care,” Moore said. “We all care about each other. They’re gonna go down there and block hard for me, and when it’s my turn, I’m gonnablock hard for them. It’s just the give and take of the game.”
Delaney said Moore’s monumental early success this season can be credited to his altered workout approach. Last spring, Moore, with the help of Griz head strength coach Rob Oviatt, devised a new plan to help improve his flexibility, downfield speed and quickness. The 235-pounder did yoga and focused on more repetitions with lower weight during lifting. He said the approach of improving his muscle endurance more than his power has helped him already this season.
“In the offseason, I tried to stretch my hips out and lengthen my stride out so I could be a little faster, and maybe be able to make certain cuts that I wouldn’t be able to make last year,” Moore said.
In 2011, the Tucson, Ariz., native tallied seven rushing touchdowns, while averaging 31 rush yards per game. One year later and 10 pounds lighter, Moore is averaging just under 121 yards.
“Dan has really improved his focus and priority on working on his total athletic ability,” said Oviatt, who’s in his third season at UM. “As important as it is to be big and strong, those two qualities alone aren’t enough.”
As strength coach devising workout plans, Oviatt plays cartographer — drawing the map. Moore’s job is to drive the vehicle, which he has never needed outside motivation to do. He admits he previously would lift too much, or too often.
“Dan’s work habits have never ever been a question,” Delaney said. “He’s always been a tremendous worker, but sometimes you can overwork, or work in the wrong direction, too, a little bit, and I think that was part of Dan’s problem.
“Obviously he has to do his three, four lifts a week, but he doesn’t have to lift the building off the foundation,” Delaney said.
Moore’s love affair with the weight room began at a very young age. When he was six, he saw Muscle and Fitness magazines laying around his house. He would flip through them and think, “This is what a man should look like — big guys like this.” He asked his father, “What can I do?” David Moore, who himself is 6-foot-3 and 285 pounds, told his son he could do pushups and situps, but for now was too young to lift heavy weights.
But as soon as No. 35 was of age to be in the gym, it became his second home. Moore’s passion has paid its dividends, as his personal bests include a 580-pound squat and 440-pound bench press. As Oviatt, Delaney or most anyone in the program will tell you, he is pound-for-pound the strongest Montana Grizzly.
“I just love the gym atmosphere,” he said. “It’s a way for me to release my stresses of the day, and I just feel good when I leave there.”
Moore’s strength has helped form him into the powerful, downhill running back he is today. He runs over and through defenders as often as possible, exhausting a team’s defense by the third and fourth quarters.
“I try to run with anger. I feel like I wanna punish those guys,” he said of his running style. “I feel like if I can run through you, I will.”
Montana’s own defense knows Moore’s ferocious mentality better than anyone, as they have to be on the other side of the football in practice everyday.
“Fall camp is definitely probably the worst time, because you have to go against him,” Griz linebacker John Kanongata’a said of Moore. “But it’s definitely an asset to have him on our side.”
Moore is slow to take credit for his success but quick at finding ways to improve.
“I just want to be ready, at all times, when my number’s called, to go out on the field and know inside that I’ll be able to make a cut when I need to, and won’t be tired on a certain play,” Moore said. “So, yeah, that’s my motivation. I don’t want to let my brothers down. They’re dependent on me and I’m dependent on them.”
[email protected]
