Ogden paper: Weber goes to MT

[Proud Griz Man]

http://www.standard.net/Sports/2015/10/08/WSU-looks-to-bounce-back-against-12-Montana.html

. . . difficult task as Weber State heads to Missoula to take on the No. 12 nationally ranked Montana Grizzlies.
It’s been nearly 30 years since Weber State has stolen a game from Montana on the road, with the last win dating back to 1987. The Grizzlies hold an all-time record of 21-6 in Missoula against the ’Cats.

“I thought (Tuesday) was as good of a practice as we’ve had all year, so I think they bounced back,” said Weber State head coach Jay Hill. “We’ll see how resilient they are come Saturday. This game is about having the emotion and passion you need each Saturday. All that matters is that you have it Saturday.” Throughout practice this past week, the offense played through deafening music blaring at full blast to replicate the roaring fan base they can expect in Missoula. “Our offense has got to do a good job of handling the crowd noise,” said Hill. “If they can go out and execute early and we can jump out to a lead, that’s the best way to calm a crowd down. If you can find a way to quiet them a little bit, then you take a little bit of that advantage out of it.”

The Wildcat offensive line will have their hands full on Saturday as they try to contain the likes of defensive end Tyrone Holmes, an Oregon native that leads the FCS in sacks with nine on the season, and has been placed on the STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, on top of being named the STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Week, as well as the Big Sky Conference ROOT SPORTS Defensive Player of the Week after his performance against Northern Arizona. “He is as good as I’ve seen at this level,” said WSU offensive coordinator Steve Clark of Holmes. “That’s a big concern. We’ve got to get the ball out. We can’t hold onto it. With us right now, it’s always going to come down to how well you can run the ball and protect the pass.”

. . . Hill says that his defense needs to be at their best to be able to stop the bold Montana offense. “We all know that Montana will go for it on fourth down, so there might be some drives where they’ve got to win four downs,” said Hill. “Then there’s going to be other times where we’ve got to force them into some third and longs and we’ve got to get out of those.” The game kicks off Saturday at 2 p.m. MDT, and can be watched online at WatchBigSky.com.

. . . With those results, is a lineup change on the horizon for the Wildcat quarterbacks? “Nope,” Weber offensive coordinator Steve Clark said. “We’ll still stick with the plan. That’s the plan coach Hill has put in place, I agree with it, and we’re going forward with it.”

 

[kemajic]

Agree; Weber will have their hands full....

 

[Proud Griz Man]

later addition - newer articles


http://www.standard.net/Sports/2015/10/08/weber-state-montana-football-preview-q-a.html

A.J. Mazzolini, Montana beat reporter for The Missoulian, spoke with the Standard-Examiner to preview Weber State’s football matchup Saturday, when the Wildcats take on the Grizzlies in Missoula.
•GAME PREVIEW: WSU looks to bounce back against No. 12 Montana

Q: Is Montana looking past Weber State?
A: Coach Stitt has addressed that both last week against UC Davis and for this upcoming game. He’s really being adamant that his teams aren’t going to look past anybody. At yesterday’s press conference he said that a game that gets away from a team like 44-0 (Weber’s loss to Southern Utah) gets thrown out the window. You can’t really rely on that as a real result. He knows everybody in the Big Sky is better than that, and Weber State is better than that. He looks at their offense as a unit that’s kind of been struggling, but the defense is still pretty decent. The way that Montana’s offense has been struggling to really get their things together early in a game, there’s not way to say that Weber State couldn’t give them a run.

Q: Who are defensive players that Weber State needs to watch out for?
A: That defensive line has been monstrous the last couple of weeks. The pass rush will obviously be a big part of what they do. The linebacking core is about as veteran as you’ll find in the whole league. They have all three starters back, they have four seniors overall in that core. Look for Kendrick Van Ackeren, one of the outside linebackers, is the team’s leader in tackles, and he’ll be all over the place. Back in the secondary, there’s an Arizona transfer, Yamen Sanders, who’s been playing really well. He didn’t start at the very first week because he was sort of learning the system and getting in the groove of things, but since week one, he’s been in there all the time and has made some really big tackles and good plays on the ball as well.

 

[Proud Griz Man]

http://www.standard.net/Sports/2015/10/09/VIDEO-Griz-fans-talk-Weber-State-Montana-Grizzlies-Big-Sky-Wildcats.html

 

[Proud Griz Man]

MISSOULA, Mont. — Things are about to become even more difficult for the Weber State football team.

One week removed from their embarrassing five-interception 44-0 home beatdown against in-state rival Southern Utah, the Wildcats are presented with a daunting task as they head back out on the road and look to bounce back against No. 12 Montana (3-2, 2-0) Saturday night.

And, if there is one team the 'Cats have really struggled against over the years, it is Montana.

Weber State (2-3, 1-1) has lost 13 straight games in Missoula — with its last road win coming in 1987 — and is just 6-21 all time at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Montana, which owns a 39-13 all-time series edge, has won 13 of the two team's last 15 matchups, including four of the last five and four straight, as it looks to hand the Wildcats back-to-back losses.

“It certainly doesn’t get any easier this week. We go into a hostile environment that we know in Montana. They’ve got very, very good wide receivers, they’ve got a good O-line, and their defense is the strength of their team. So it doesn’t get easier this week — we’re going to have to rebound from a hard loss,” Weber State coach Jay Hill said.

Weber State, ranked dead-last in the Big Sky at No. 13 in scoring offense (18.2 PPG) and No. 12 in total offense (305.2 YPG), really needs to pick up the production against the conference's fourth-ranked defense and leader in sacks (22).

Starting quarterback Jadrian Clark and freshman QB Justin Shaw, who combined for just 12 completions for 134 yards, five interceptions and one fumble lost last week, will be heavily pressured and tested all game long and will need to establish an offensive rhythm early on and take care of the ball.

“We are going to continue to bring those two guys along. I think Justin can be a phenomenal player, just like he showed in the Northern Colorado game, and I think Jadrian Clark can be that guy to lead us to victory as he’s shown in several games as well,” said Hill.