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New Year, New Team, Same ‘tenacious’ Defense, Special Teams For Montana

MISSOULA — Montana’s defense looked like a carbon copy of last year’s unit when it blanked Northwestern State 47-0 in its season opener Saturday. 토토사이트

It makes some sense that the Griz would dominate on defense given that they return three All-Americans in linebacker Patrick O’Connell, cornerback Justin Ford and safety Robby Hauck. Add in All-Big Sky nose tackle Alex Gubner, and it gives them at least one proven stud player at all three levels of the defense.

Still, the Griz needed to replace All-American linebacker Jace Lewis, All-Big Sky defensive end Joe Babros, three-year starting safety Gavin Robertson and two other FBS dropdowns in cornerback Omar Hicks Onu and defensive end Justin Belknap.

The Grizzlies’ new-look defense never allowed Northwestern State to snap the ball inside their 45-yard line. That’s impressive given how the Griz rotated in defensive players throughout the game and went to third-stringers when the outcome was clear in the fourth quarter.

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The result was the Grizzlies shutting out their opponent for the second time in the past six games dating back to last year. Before their shutout of Northern Colorado Nov. 6, 2021, their most-recent shutout had been Oct. 8, 2011, against Idaho State.

“Any time you get a shutout in college football in this day and age, it’s virtually impossible to do, so good by our guys,” Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. “I think (Demons) coach (Brad) Laird does a really good job. I like their team. He has a good-looking team. I think they’re tough. I don’t think they have any backdown in them. You have to go take it from them, they aren’t going to give it to you. So, I’m more than pleased that we were able to get the win.”

Montana’s defense didn’t let Northwestern State settle in. The Demons’ drives ended with nine punts, three lost fumbles, two interceptions and one turnover on downs.

Quarterback Miles Fallin, a Power Five transfer from Kansas, completed 29 of 42 passes for just 183 yards while being picked off twice. Fallin was sacked four times while the Griz piled up 12 tackles for loss. That helped them limit the Demons to 36 rushing yards.

“They came out and played two tight ends most of the first quarter, and we didn’t practice that much this week,” Hauck said. “They surprised us with that. I thought our guys did a good job handling it and adjusted it out and after that settled in and it was pretty solid.”

Among those taking on bigger roles, Anaconda grad Braxton Hill earned Big Sky defensive player of the week honors after he made 10 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack in his first career start at linebacker. Eureka grad Garrett Graves, who’s looking to be a full-time starting safety, intercepted a pass and forced a fumble.

Safety Nash Fouch made five tackles and delivered a punishing pass breakup in reclaiming a starting spot he lost midway through last year. Cornerback Jayden Dawson had a pass breakup on third down and a nice read to blow up a screen in his Griz debut after being an All-Big Sky player at Idaho State.

In his first start, defensive end DeAri Todd combined with Hill on a 9-yard sack and had the initial hit on a fourth-down stop. Jacob McGourin, vying to be a full-time starter at D-end, had a sack on third-and-4. Kalispell Glacier grad Henry Nuce, also looking for a bigger role on the D-line, he had a TFL and forced a fumble, which was recovered by backup safety Jaxon Lee.

That’s all without even mentioning O’Connell’s two tackles for loss and first career interception, linebacker Marcus Welnel’s 10 tackles and safety Robby Hauck’s nine tackles. Gubner and cornerback Corbin Walker each had a tackle for loss. Walker and Ford each recovered a fumble. Linebacker Levi Janacaro, a Missoula Big Sky grad, forced a fumble.

“To hit somebody else felt great,” Janacaro said. “We’ve been putting in a lot of work since January with winter conditioning, spring ball and then through the summer and fall camp just practicing against each other. So, to finally put on the pads and go against a different team, it felt amazing, it was a lot of fun.

“Our defense, we just have a really tenacious group of guys that love to get after it, love to give everything that they have. Playing on that side of the ball is just a blast.”

Junior Bergen, a Billings Senior grad, was back to returning punts with flair after taking over the job late last season. He had a long of 32 yards Saturday while running back four for 55 yards total. The Demons kicked off just once and didn't give record-holder Malik Flowers a chance to return that kick.

Janacaro blocked a punt on special teams, just like he did last year when he blocked and recovered one for a touchdown against Cal Poly. That was the first time the Griz scored on a blocked punt since 2002, and they did it again Saturday when fellow Missoula Big Sky grad Tyler Flink returned the ball 32 yards for a touchdown following a sideline adjustment.

“We didn’t practice that at all this week or last,” Bobby Hauck said. “We just kind of dialed that up on the sideline. We have smart guys. They can handle some adjustment. Obviously, it was a great job.”

True freshman Patrick Rohrbach hit his first punt with a hefty thwack, which drew an “ooh” from the crowd. The Kalispell Glacier grad averaged 44.7 yards over three punts as he picked up where All-American Brian Buschini left off. Buschini transferred to Nebraska in the offseason.

Long snapper Grayson Pibal looked to be error-free in his first college game while replacing All-American Matthew O’Donoghue. In punt coverage, Kale Edwards forced a fumble.

Kicker Camden Capser missed two field goals and one extra point. Montana was without senior transfer Nico Ramos, who Bobby Hauck said “wasn’t available.” Even record-setter Kevin Macias was 4 of 8 to start last year before he made 19 in a row to end the season.

“I think we’ve always been pretty salty in the kicking game,” Bobby Hauck said. “It’s something we want to be good at. I think our players embrace that. Again, it comes back to them. They embrace it, it’s cool, everybody on the team watches when our coverage teams are out there, our return teams are out there. Everybody on the team’s watching because they know something might happen. And usually it’s good, not always though.”