UI Prepares For Fast Break No Word On Whether Coaches Will Use ‘Four Corners’ Vs. Um

It’s a peculiar phrase, one you wouldn’t expect to hear from a football coach, but it’s accurate.

“They play grass basketball,” Idaho defensive coordinator Nick Holt said of Montana’s potent, pass-happy offense. “I heard that (phrase) somewhere. It’s picks and screens, wide-open stuff. They spread you out all over the court.”

If that’s the case, Montana quarterback Dave Dickenson is the point guard. Maybe the best in Division I-AA. Idaho’s defense will probably try a mixture of full-court presses (read: blitzes) and sagging zones in an attempt to slow the sixth-ranked Grizzlies today at 3:05 in the Kibbie Dome.

“He (Dickenson) can pick a team apart,” UI defensive end Barry Mitchell said. “If you don’t contain him, your game plan is blown.”

A crowd of 15,000-16,000 is expected for the Big Sky Conference game, which is vital to any slim hopes Idaho has at making a run for the postseason.

The Grizzlies chalk up 413 passing yards per game. The running game is used little, with the exception of Dickenson’s mad scrambles.

Defending a one-dimensional attack might sound easy, but Montana often floods the field with five receivers. Running backs are usually sure-handed pass catchers. Dickenson, who has thrown for 512 and 510 yards against UI the last two years, rarely misses an open target.

“Playing us is like playing a wishbone team for a lot of people,” Grizzlies offensive coordinator Mick Dennehy said. “We’re so grossly different than anybody else. With a week’s preparation time, it makes it difficult to prepare.

“We see it all (from defenses).”

Said UI coach Chris Tormey: “No. 1, we can’t do too much (defensively). You can’t go and reinvent the wheel this week. We have to do what we do well, but you go into every game with a few twists.”

Idaho would probably be pleased to hold Montana to fewer than 30 points, preferably in the low 20s. That would leave it up to the Vandals offense to produce against UM’s underrated defense. Griz opponents average 371 yards and 21 points per game, but most of that has come in the second halves of lopsided UM wins.

Several factors side with Idaho. The large crowd figures to be one. Another is quarterback Eric Hisaw, who energized a sputtering offense last week in a 37-10 win over Eastern Washington.

Hisaw played against UM last year, three weeks after injuring his knee, which would later require major surgery. But he was reduced to a virtual statue in the pocket by the injury, and Idaho’s offense managed only 21 points.

“I was nowhere near 100 percent, but that’s not an excuse,” Hisaw said. “Maybe I should have played, maybe I shouldn’t have, but that’s water under the bridge.”

Hisaw’s mobility creates an additional threat.

“We’re a little more confident and self assured,” Hisaw said of the meshing of the offense. “It’s pretty much a do-or-die weekend for us.”

Grizzlies coach Don Read said his team has traditionally started slow on artificial turf. “We draw accustomed to it, but it makes a difference in speed,” he said. “A lot of it is mental adjustments, such as where a guy is going to be, he’s out of his cuts faster.”

Said Holt: “It’ll be a fast track and we’re a fast defense.”

Notes

UI tight end Andy Gilroy might play, but he’s not at full strength in his recovery from a partially collapsed lung. Avery Griggs will start. … Idaho has won 11 straight Dome games, a streak that started after Montana’s 54-34 win in 1993. … Read won’t claim this is his best team in 10 years at Montana because it remains to be seen how far the Grizzlies go.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Vandals vs. Montana