Grizzlies look to avenge early-season loss, advance to final

A dozen weeks ago, when Sam Houston State knocked off then top-ranked Montana 41-29 on a hot night in Huntsville, Texas, the Grizzlies looked to be about as far away from a national title run as they could be.

Sam Houston was much faster than Montana and ran out to a 41-10 lead before the Grizzlies rallied for three touchdowns in the final 8 minutes, 47 seconds.

“We showed signs of real immaturity tonight in all phases of what we do,” UM coach Bobby Hauck said after that Sept. 18 loss. “We need to get back and get that corrected.”

Montana (11-2) has gone 9-1 since then and is looking forward to avenging its first loss of the season in an NCAA Division I-AA semifinal game Saturday, with a shot at the team’s fifth national championship appearance on the line.

Seventh-ranked Montana and ninth-ranked Sam Houston (11-2) kick off at 11 a.m. (PST) at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula in a game to be televised by ESPN2.

The semifinal matchup features two quarterbacks who have transferred from Big 12 schools.

Craig Ochs, who transferred to Montana from Colorado, has passed for 3,232 yards and 27 touchdowns this season.

Jefferson Heidelberger has 72 catches for 1,131 yards and nine touchdowns while Jon Talmage has 45 catches for 693 yards and eight scores.

Lex Hilliard averages nearly 76 yards rushing, but has improved late in the season and has rushed for 276 yards and six touchdowns in UM’s two playoff games.

Dustin Long, a Texas A&M transfer and Walter Payton Award finalist, has passed for 4,213 yards and 39 touchdowns for Sam Houston’s pass-first, run-second offense.

Jarrod Fuller has 91 catches for 1,301 yards and eight touchdowns, while Jason Mathenia has 70 catches for 1,297 yards and 13 touchdowns for Sam Houston.

Jason Godfrey has rushed for 634 yards and two touchdowns form the Bearkats, while Stevie Smith has run for six scores and Robert Garmon for seven.

The teams have three common opponents — Northern Colorado, Northwestern State and Eastern Washington. Sam Houston beat UNC 20-7 and Eastern Washington 35-34 in last weekend’s quarterfinal, but lost 45-27 at Northwestern State.

Montana beat UNC 27-16, EWU 31-28 and Northwestern State 56-7.

History may favor the Grizzlies.

Southern schools are 0-14 in playoff games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Montana is 4-0 in home semifinal games and Sam Houston hasn’t won in two tries in Missoula, including a 38-14 loss early in the 2003 season. But that was before Long transferred to Sam Houston, which finished with a 2-9 record a year ago.