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Montana travels to unorthodox Cal Poly riding streak of confidence

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The Montana Grizzlies running game got on track last week to the tune of 351 yards.

That, and a defense that owned the second half of a 41-34 shootout win over Sacramento State, has Bobby Hauck feeling good about his Grizzlies going into this week’s game against Cal Poly.

Montana quarterback Dalton Sneed (11)/by Jason Bacaj

“You have to put people in adverse situations and encourage them to fight their way out of those,” Hauck said. “We do that all year long around here, and just from a reward standpoint as a coach, we’re starting to see some of that on the field.”

The clash in San Luis Obisbo Saturday will feature two Big Sky teams going in opposite directions.

While Montana was coming back against Sac State last week to raise its record to 3-1, the Cal Poly Mustangs were seeing things snowball in an eventual 70-17 loss to conference favorite Eastern Washington, which dropped them to 1-3.

Cal Poly lost two fumbles, both of which EWU returned for touchdowns, and also gave up 657 yards (441 rushing) to the Eagles.

“Eastern Washington is good on offense, I’ll give it to them, but we were bad on defense, we were bad with the football on offense,” Cal Poly head coach Tim Walsh said. “Those two combinations against a team of their quality is not going to add up to a win. It got away from us, and it was obviously no fun for our players, for our coaches, for anybody related to the program.”

Despite the result last week, the Mustangs will very likely not be a pushover for the Griz.

Two of Cal Poly’s three losses were blowouts against two of the top-five teams in the FCS, North Dakota State and Eastern.

Montana linebacker Josh Buss (42)/by Jason Bacaj

The third was a close 24-17 defeat to defending Big Sky champion Weber State.

Even in the blowout loss to Eastern, the Mustangs still ran for 378 yards with their triple-option attack, which can give even the most well-prepared teams fits.

“I think the most challenging thing about this trip is their scheme,” Hauck said. “They do a lot of great things that are difficult, on both sides of the ball.”

Expect that to center around All-American fullback Joe Protheroe, who’s run for a combined 404 yards on 77 carries in the last two games for Cal Poly after missing most of last year due to injury.

“Joe Protheroe loves the game of football, and he loves the physicality of the game of football,” Walsh said. “He was committed to being bigger, stronger, faster than everybody once the knee injury happened last year, and I think he’s succeeded. He is as physical a player, with the ball in his hands, as I have ever coached.”

Hauck also pointed out the difficulty of preparing for Poly’s odd-front defense, which can bring pressure from multiple angles.

It’s a trait the Mustangs’ defense shares with Montana this year, as Hauck and defensive coordinator Kent Baer have dialed up a lot of zone and delayed blitzes to get free rushers at the opposing quarterback.

Montana head coach Bobby Hauck/by Brooks Nuanez

Expect that to be less effective this week against the triple-option.

The other worry for Montana is the setting. After starting the season 2-0 at home, the Griz blew a lead and lost to Western Illinois in their first road game before returning to Washington-Grizzly Stadium to beat Sac State.

Hauck and the players have said all the right things about the field being the same size away from home, but the fact is that Washington-Grizzly is an advantage, and the Griz have yet to show they can win without it.

That might be important as, after opening with three of four games at home, Montana will now play four of six on the road before the season-ending Brawl of the Wild.

For the Griz, the focus will be building on what they did against Sac State.

Barring injuries, the starting lineup for Montana looks to be set, with only one change on the depth chart from last week — Jeremy Calhoun taking Alijah Lee’s spot as the backup running back.

Redshirt freshmen Bryson Deming and Matt Rensvold are still listed at tight end over Colin Bingham, who was hurt in the Western Illinois game.

Montana fully unlocked Dalton Sneed’s running ability last week with a succession of designed running plays for the dual-threat quarterback.

Montana running back Jeremy Calhoun (8)/by Jason Bacaj

However, the Griz running backs still didn’t break the 100-yard mark. It’s likely Hauck will want to see some growth in that area against a Cal Poly team that gave up five touchdown runs of over 20 yards — four of over 40 — last week.

On defense, the Grizzlies match up well against Cal Poly’s run-heavy offense, with two star linebackers in Josh Buss and Dante Olson.

The defensive line has also held up well against the run.

“Montana has always been physical. We just have to do our jobs,” Protheroe said. ““They have a new coaching staff over there and we are expecting them to run a certain scheme. They switch around, switch fit a lot with their linebackers, their d-ends and the middle linebacker. It’s going to be something new that we haven’t seen before.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez or Jason Bacaj. All Rights Reserved. 

About Brooks Nuanez

Brooks Nuanez, Director of Operations — Brooks is the co-founder, senior photographer and Director of Operations for Skyline Sports. He is a life-long athlete who enjoys the fierce nature of sports as much as he enjoys the sweet harmony of music. Brooks first gained an interest for photography at a young age, and grew that passion into a craft. Brooks has spent most of his life in Montana, instilling a love for the mountains and the wildlife. The University of Montana alum spent three seasons as a safety for the Grizzly football team while earning a degree in business management, honing his passion for fine wine & craft beer, and his entrepreneurial spirit. In July of 2015, Brooks married his lifelong love, Kaila. Brooks currently works as a regional sales manager for George's Distributing. He and Kaila live happily in Missoula with their sons Ellis (6) and Leo (3). Brooks can be reached at Brooks.nuanez@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @Brooksnuanez and @SkylineSportsMT.

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