In preparing for the controlled chaos that has come to define the Montana Grizzlies defensive line under defensive coordinator Jason Semore, Southern Utah head coach Demario Warren wasn’t certain the math was going to work in his team’s favor.
“You only have five O-linemen and a running back back there so there’s not too much you can do,” Warren said after the Grizzlies’ scheme wreaked havoc on the Thunderbirds during a 43-20 Montana victory Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
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Though Montana registered just one sack, the Grizzlies’ defensive linemen and their cohorts in the linebacking and secondary units harassed Thunderbirds’ quarterback Patrick Tyler throughout the day. Tyler dropped back 41 times Saturday and was hit or hurried enough that it kept SUU’s passing game from registering the big hitters that powered Montana’s offense.
“We only ended up with one sack but we hit him at least 15 times and that definitely factored into his mindset,” said defensive end Ryan Johnson, attributed with one sack, two tackles for loss and interception. “He was getting hit a lot. Our cornerbacks were doing well, our safeties were covering and we needed to keep getting there.”
Since Semore was introduced as the Grizzlies defensive coordinator in the offseason, he has spoken openly about the confusion he wanted to create with a flip-book like amount of pre-snap and post-snap looks. Often times on Saturday — and really throughout the season for that matter — players along the defensive line stood in two point stances while linebackers plugged the gaps.
Once the ball was snapped, those backers either bailed into coverage or charged into the backfield while the defensive line disrupted Southern Utah’s gap assignments with a series of different pass rushing techniques.
“They’re all over the place,” Warren said. “That No. 37 (Caleb Kidder) is a great pass rusher. But they give you so many different looks.”
Montana also sent pass rushers at Southern Utah in waves. The final participation record show the Grizzlies played 10 different defensive linemen. Both Kidder and Johnson finished with two quarterback hits and Tucker Schye was a force off the end when he got his chances.
“We’re very deep especially on the D-line,” Johnson said. “We got guys running around the secondary and our linebackers are good and we’re staying fresh. That definitely takes a toll on the offensive line and on an offense as a whole.”
Montana lost one of those guys running around the secondary on Southern Utah’s third offensive play of the second half. Justin Strong was ejected from the game after it was determined that his hit on Tyler was targeting. He was given a 15-yard personal foul penalty and ejected from the game.
The play happened when Tyler ran upfield and slid to avoid a hit. As he was dropping to the ground, Strong readjusted and went low, making contact up around Tyler’s shoulder or head. The hit was forceful enough to elicit a reaction from the press box, pop off Tyler’s helmet and draw three flags from various officials.
Before the game was over, Strong tweeted: “Refs straight cheated me!!”
“It was very close,” Montana head coach Bob Stitt said. “Justin is a hitter, but he came in with his shoulder and unfortunately when the kid slid he kind of slid down and the helmet ended up flying off.
“We’ll have to look at the tape to see if it actually started with his chest or started with his helmet. Justin is not trying to hurt anybody, he’s just a hitter.”
As a result of the targeting determination, Strong was subject to what amounts to a full-game suspension. Because the ejection took place in the third quarter, Strong will also have to sit out the first half of Montana’s game this Saturday against Mississippi Valley State.
The Big Sky Conference allows reviews of targeting calls following a penalty, but there is no further appeals process.
For the first time this season Montana used two different field goal kickers.
The day started on a positive note for Tim Semenza, but quickly turned sour. Following a 25-yard field goal that put the Grizzlies up 3-0, Semenza missed his first two point after attempts and was temporarily pulled in favor of Brandon Purdy.
“(Semenza) was perfect on the year until we threw him out there at the end on a 49-yarder at Cal Poly,” Stitt said. “ … Today he was just not striking the ball on the extra points.”
Purdy came on late in the second quarter for a 44-yard attempt that blocked.
“I tell those guys you can’t have a bad day here and you’ve got to come to play because the team needs you,” Stitt said. “We put Brandon in and he kicked it low so we put Semenza back in. They’ve got to know they have to execute.
The lackluster performance continued Semenza’s very recent struggles. The redshirt freshman won the kicking duties early in fall camp and rode that wave of success into the season, hitting his first six attempts. But he pushed a potentially game-winning field goal well right in the waning moments of Montana’s 42-41 loss at Cal Poly.
Semenza returned to the game following Purdy’s attempt and knocked down his final four PATs.
“We’ll see how things go in practice,” Stitt said. “I think Tim’s got his head on straight and he’s mad at himself. He’ll be fine.”
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Photos by Jason Bacaj for Skyline Sports. All Rights Reserved.
