MISSOULA — The Montana Grizzlies begin what they hope is a redemptive season at home against a presumably overmatched opponent Saturday.
UM surged to a 5-1 start in Bob Stitt’s second season at the helm, a streak that included an impressive win at No. 3 Northern Iowa and a pair of 60-point blowouts during a three-game home winning streak filled with offensive fireworks.
The torrid start gave way to a frigid finish as Montana lost four of its final games to limp to a 6-5 finish. UM missed the FCS playoffs for just the third time since 1993 as the season ended with a three-win Montana State team posting a 24-17 win over the Griz in Missoula.
Montana wide receiver Keenan Curran/ by Jason Bacaj
“We are ready to go,” Stitt said during his weekly news conference on Monday afternoon. “Every coach is excited about going into their first game, a lot of optimism. We have put a lot of work in since the last game of last year and we have come so far as a football team both physically and mentally, but probably more mentally. It’s time to get them on the field and watch them do their thing.”
All off-season, Stitt and many of his best players have talked openly about the motivation the disappointing ending provided entering what is a contract year for the head coach. Senior All-Big Sky left tackle David Reese summed it up succinctly when asked about the losing streak.
“It won’t happen again, I promise you that,” the second-team all-conference pick said during fall camp.
The Grizzlies return a collection of talent on both sides of the ball. The offensive line features four seniors, including Reese, an honors candidate, in front of senior quarterback Reese Phillips. UM has most of its top pass catchers back, including junior Keenan Curran and sophomores Jerry Louie-McGee and Justin Calhoun, plus the wide receivers add talented redshirt freshmen Sammy Akem and Samori Toure to the mix.
Defensively, a unit that led the Big Sky Conference in total defense loses Caleb Kidder and J.R. Nelson, among others, but returns a slew of talent in all three levels of its defense, including senior defensive end Tucker Schye, senior nose tackle Brandt Davidson, junior linebacker Josh Buss, senior safety Justin Strong and the talented cornerback duo of senior Ryan McKinley and junior Markell Sanders.
UM’s first test comes Saturday against Valparaiso, a school from the non-scholarship Pioneer League. While Montana is heavily favored to dismantle the visiting Crusaders, Saturday will be a good gauge or several reasons, Stitt said.
Montana head coach Bob Stitt/ by Jason Bacaj
“When you watch film for the first opponent, you have to take it a little bit with a grain of salt,” Stitt said. “We want to be a little more vanilla and work our base stuff.
“How we train our quarterbacks is it doesn’t matter who we are playing, they are trained to see things in the defense and attack accordingly. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first game or the last game, I told our quarterbacks that I think we should be able to go into every game, line up and without ever watching film and have a good handle on where we want to go with the ball.”
Kickoff at Washington-Grizzly Stadium is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
QUICK HITS
Location: Valparaiso, Indiana
Nickname: Crusaders
Founded: 1859. Commonly known as Valpo, the private university is the largest independent Lutheran university in the country. It is also home to the second-largest collegiate chapel in the world, the Chapel of the Resurrection.
Valpo closed its doors 12 years after opening because of the Civil War. In 1873, Henry Baker Brown re-opened the school as the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute. At the turn of the 20th century, Brown changed the college’s name to Valparaiso College, and shortly after it was re-chartered as Valparaiso University. Initially founded by Methodists, in 1925 the school was purchased by the Lutheran University Association, which continues to operate it today.
Enrollment: The university has 4,500 undergraduate students and an endowment of $204.7 million.
Stadium: Brown Field – opened in 1919, the stadium has nine conference championship teams over the last century. The Crusaders averaged 2,034 fans in five home games last season.
THE TEAM (3-5 in the Pioneer League, 4-7 overall in 2016)
Dave Cecchini
The Coach: Dave Cecchini spent stints at Harvard, The Citadel and Lehigh as an assistant before taking over as Valpo’s head coach in 2014. In three seasons, he is 9-24 including 6-18 in the non-scholarship Pioneer League.
THE OFFENSE
Jimmy Seewald, quarterback, 6-5, 220 pounds, sophomore — Seewald broke into the starting lineup as a true freshman against Trinity International and threw for 345 yards, tying a school record with five touchdowns.
He finished his rookie season by completing 57.4 percent of his passes for 1,443 yards and 13 touchdowns against seven interceptions.
Jarrett Morgan, running back, 5-11, 195 pounds, senior — The preseason All-Pioneer League pick led Valparaiso with 576 rushing yards last season. He also caught 30 passes for 385 yards and caught three touchdowns three touchdowns, one more than he scored on the ground.
Morgan has also served as one of the most dangerous kick returners in the country for three seasons. He led the nation by averaging 34.9 yards per return as a true freshman in 2014. He is a two-time All-PFL selection.
Frank Catrine, wide receiver, 6-0, 210 pounds, wide receiver — The team captain has been one of Valpo’s go-to receivers for the last two seasons.
As a sophomore, he caught 41 passes for 435 yards and caught three touchdowns. Last season, he had almost identical numbers, catching 42 passes for 496 yards and three touchdowns to earn honorable mention all-conference honors.
THE DEFENSE
Drew Snouffer
Drew Snouffer, linebacker, 6-0, 230 pounds, junior — The Columbus, Ohio native led the Crusader defense in his first year as a starter last fall.
He notched 102 tackles, 39 solo stops, seven tackles for loss and four sacks. His 9.3 tackles per game ranked fourth in the league as he earned honorable mention all-conference honors.
J.J. Nunes, defensive back, 5-10, 195 pounds, senior — Nunes suffered a season-ending knee injury in Valpo’s season-opening loss at No. 8 Illinois State last season. He was granted a medical redshirt and is back for his final year.
Two years ago, he led the Crusaders with 76 tackles, including 48 solo stops. He added 4.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. In 2014, he also led the team in tackles with 85. He also had a forced fumble and five pass breakups. He’s earned honorable mention All-PFL honors.
Josmar Diaz-Martinez, defensive back, 5-11, 180 pounds, junior — With Nunes on the bench, Diaz-Martinez anchored Valparaiso’s secondary in 2016.
Diaz-Martinez had 70 tackles, 36 solo tackles and a team-high five interceptions. He also broke up six passes but was not recognized on the all-conference team.
Photos by Jason Bacaj and courtesy of Valparaiso athletics.
