Following are game notes provided by the University of Montana Sports Information Department for the Grizzlies football game at Northern Colorado Saturday. Click below for a PDF of the game notes.
Griz-Northern Colo. Game Notes
THE GAME: The University of Montana Grizzlies (2-3/0-2 BSC) are on the road again this Saturday, Oct. 6, playing the Northern Colorado Bears (1-3/0-1 BSC) in a Big Sky Conference game. It is NC’s Homecoming contest at Nottingham Field (8,500), with kickoff at 1:38 p.m. (Mtn.).
GRIZ RADIO: Veteran Mick Holien calls the play-by-play for Griz football for his 20th season in a row. Former Griz (1991-94) wide receiver Scott Gurnsey and Greg Sundberg provide color commentary. UM’s flagship station is KGVO Radio, 1290 AM/KVWE 101.5 FM. (The 2012 Grizzly Football Radio Network is listed on add 6-6-6 of this release).
TV: The Griz-Bears game will be televised by ROOT SPORTS. For DIRECTV customers, this weekend’s games will be available on ROOT SPORTS Channel 687 in the Northwest region and Channel 683 in the Rocky Mountain Region. The game will be available in the outer market on Audience Network Channel 239-1. For Dish Network Customers, the game will air on Channel 426 in the Northwest Region and Channel 414 in the Rocky Mountain Region. ROOT SPORTS is widely available on cable throughout Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and New Mexico, as well as parts of Nevada, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.
ROOT SPORTS ANNOUNCERS — UM at NC: Tom Glasgow (play-by-play), Sherdric Bonner (analyst), and Jenny Cavnar (sideline reporter).
STREAMING: There’s NO video streaming of any of the games televised by ROOT SPORTS.
SERIES HISTORY: Montana leads the series 11-1 and has won the last 11. (NC quick facts and Griz-Bears series game-by game scores on add 3-3-3).
GRIZ LAST WEEK: At Eastern Washington 32, Montana 26: It was a heartbreaking loss for the Griz, as the Eagles had two scores in the last two-and-a-half minutes to overcome a nine-point (26-17) Griz lead. Once again, Montana battled turnovers, though, as they fumbled the ball away three times. The Griz lost one fumble on the EWU 12-yard line, lost another one on the Eagles’ 5-yard line, and then lost the ball on an on-side kick at the UM 49, which led to EWU’s winning TD.
Montana rushed 61 times for 407 yards, and was led by sophomore halfback Jordan Canada who gained a career-high 168 rushing yards, while senior halfback Peter Nguyen rushed for 123 yards. Redshirt freshman quarterback Trent McKinney rushed for 25 yards, and was 14-of-17-0 passing for 117 yards. UM’s defense was led by linebackers Brock Coyle and Jordan Tripp with 12 tackles apiece, and Tripp also had three tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
EWU quarterback Vernon Adams was 25-for-41-1 for 353 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 60 yards to tally 407 yards of total offense. Junior wide-out Brandon Kaufman had eight receptions for 138 yards and two TDs. (Griz-Eagle game stats & story on add 16-16-16).
26 YEARS IN A ROW IN THE “W” COLUMN: Montana has had 26 winning seasons in a row, from 1986 through the 2011 season.
BIG SKY CHAMPS: Last year the Grizzlies won (or shared) their 16th Big Sky Conference championship in the past 19 years, and their 13th in the last 14 seasons.
PLAYOFF REGULARS: The 2011 season was the 18th time in the last 19 years that Montana has participated in the national playoffs. The Griz played in the playoff a record 17 straight seasons from 1993-2010. UM has now participated in the Division I-AA and FCS playoffs a record 21 times.
TRAVEL PLANS: The team will depart Missoula via charter airplane on Friday, Oct. 5 and arrive in Loveland, Colo. at 3:35 p.m., and then bus to Fort Collins. There is NO team walk-through on site on Friday. Lodging is at the Fort Collins Marriott (800-342-4398). The team will return to Missoula via charter airplane after the game on Saturday, arriving in Missoula around 9:30 p.m.
