Bobby Hauck was reluctant, yet aggressive, to engage when asked about the uncertainty around Montana Grizzlies’ kicking situation in fall camp. After all, Montana had lost consistent kicker Kevin Macias and stud rookie punter Brian Buschini took his talents to the Big Ten.
“You could go back to that question from last year’s camp, you asked me the same dang question,” Hauck admonished Skyline Sports’ Colter Nuanez. “So, we’ll be fine, we’ll be good there, like we always are. That’s what I would say. … I think we’re going to be good. Last year you didn’t know any of those guys’ names, besides Matthew (O’Donoghue’s).”
In some ways, it was righteous indignation from the Griz head coach. In his first tenure in Missoula, Hauck coached three of the greatest kickers in Big Sky Conference history in Chris Snyder, Dan Carpenter and Brody McKnight. A year ago, the Griz went into the season with the same questions, but Hauck brought in Macias before fall camp and ended up getting a 23-of-27 season from the former Arizona State Sun Devil that set a new program record for field goal accuracy. And Buschini, a Helena Capital product, was a first-team All-Big Sky selection.
Macias also didn’t miss an extra point, finished the season by making a school-record 19 straight field goals, and went 5-for-5 in the Brawl of the Wild, including a 50-yarder that was his season-long up to that point.
So questioning Hauck’s process in evaluating and deploying kickers is generally a fool’s errand. But this year, that remarkable run of success appears to have stagnated.
Once again, the Griz brought in a former Power 5 kicker shortly before the season – Nico Ramos, ex of Princeton and Cal-Berkeley.
Ramos had a hip issue that held him out of the opener, then won the job more or less by default when Billings Central’s record-setting kicker Camden Capser missed his first two tries of the season, but the transfer has also struggled. In 10 field goal attempts, he’s missed one and had two others blocked, plus had another kick at Weber State that was partially blocked but still wobbled through the uprights. He’s also missed three extra points, and hasn’t made a kick longer than 46 yards.
When asked about the operation issues, Montana head coach Bobby Hauck deemed the field goal unit “an offensive function.”
Capser and third-string kicker Adam Botkin have also missed an extra point apiece, meaning the Griz have missed five point-after attempts on the year – and also meaning that, despite having four kickers on the roster (Ramos, Capser, Botkin and punter Patrick Rohrbach), the Griz don’t have one they can rely on.
That’s a small but potentially meaningful advantage for Montana State in this year’s Brawl of the Wild. Bobcats kicker Blake Glessner set a freshman school record for field goals with 20 a year ago. He’s 14 of 19 so far this year on field goals, a marginally better percentage than Ramos, and 54 for 56 on extra points. He’s also hit a 51-yard 3-pointer.
“Without a doubt, it’s a huge factor and as with every week, special teams can swing a game, so it’s definitely of utmost importance for sure,” Montana State safety Ty Okada said.
Here’s a look at the rest of the matchups on special teams in this year’s rivalry game.
PUNTING
The Griz lost a talented freshman punter from Montana in the offseason when Buschini transferred to Nebraska, and replaced him with…a talented freshman punter from Montana.
In his first year in the program, Patrick Rohrbach is averaging 46.2 yards per punt, best in the Big Sky by three full yards. Rohrbach’s also hit just four touchbacks in 38 tries.
Montana’s coverage isn’t quite as dominant as it was a year ago – the Griz have given up 80 punt return yards so far compared to 83 in 13 games in 2021 – but between Rohrbach’s big leg and the coverage, Montana has the best net average in the Big Sky at 42 yards per punt.
Montana State is on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. High school All-American Bryce Leighton is averaging 42.5 yards per punt, third in the conference, but the Bobcats are giving up 6.9 yards per return. That’s worst in the conference, as is their net average of 32.3.
What’s hurt MSU is two punts taken back for touchdowns, one for 80 yards against Oregon State and then Hudson Schenck’s 91-yarder for Weber State. Those two plays comprise the vast majority of their 207 punt return yards surrendered, so Montana is unlikely to have as large of an advantage in the punting game as the 10-yard difference in net average implies. But there could be opportunities for the Griz to take one back to the house.
KICKOFFS
This matchup offers a pick-your-own-adventure flair.
If you prefer to not have the other team returning kickoffs at all, you’ll want Montana State and Glessner, who’s put 53 of his 76 kickoffs in the end zone for touchbacks. That’s the second-best ratio in the conference behind Northern Colorado.
The Bobcats have given up one kick return touchdown, a 100-yarder to Weber State’s Abraham Williams.
On the other hand, if you want the other team to return the ball but not get anywhere, go with Ramos and the Montana coverage teams. He’s put just 19 of his 70 kicks in the end zone. However, thanks to most teams electing to fair catch his in-bounds kicks (which yields the same result as a touchback), opponents are averaging just over 10 yards per return against the Griz and Montana, once again, has the best net average on kickoffs in the conference.
Whether it’s Glessner booting the ball through the end zone or the Montana coverage teams swarming returners, there are unlikely to be many opportunities for a big kick return in this game.
RETURNS
Both coverage teams will need to be on the top of their games, because these are two of the most dangerous return teams in the conference, on both kicks and punts.
Montana senior Malik Flowers, a two-time All-American kick returner, added his sixth career return touchdown with a 100-yarder at Weber State in mid-October. That’s the second-most in the history of the Big Sky Conference or the FCS.
With Flowers back there, the Griz don’t get the chance to return many kicks, but they’re averaging 31.5 yards per return, second in the conference. Garrett Graves nearly broke one last week against Eastern Washington on his first return of the season, taking the second-half kickoff 77 yards back to the Eagles’ 15-yard line.
“You look back at some of the old highlights and Malik Flowers has been there forever, it would appear,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “I think that’s the one thing in my two years here, when he’s come up with kick returns, it’s been at huge moments. So we have to be on our game in the kick cover game, whether that’s Blake’s ability to kick the ball or collectively with our ability to cover and tackle it.”
Weber State, at 33.8, and the Griz, at 31.5, are the top two teams in the conference in kick return average, but Montana State, at 26.6, is the only other team that could be said to be in the same stratosphere as those two (next highest is Sacramento State, helped by two touchdown returns on onside kicks, at 21.1).
Marqui Johnson’s 98-yard touchdown return was the bright spot for the Bobcats in their blowout loss at Oregon State. The sophomore also ripped off a 67-yarder two weeks after that against UC Davis.
The news isn’t any better for the punt coverage teams. Montana State freshman Taco Dowler has returned just nine punts this year, but he’s averaging an even 15 yards per, including a 67-yard touchdown against Morehead State. That punt return TD was MSU’s first since 2013.
Montana, meanwhile, returns a lot of punts because the Griz defense is so good, they have their own gamebreaker from Billings in Junior Bergen, who’s averaging just over 13 yards per return and has matched Dowler with one punt-return touchdown, a 72-yarder against Portland State. Sophomore receiver Keelan White had a 61-yard return end just short of the goal line against Portland State.
“They have two dynamic returners in Malik and Junior,” Bobcats fullback R.J. Fitzgerald said. “Last year, they had some good returns against us, so it will be a battle to stop those guys, contain those guys and I think the special teams will play a huge role in Cat-Griz. There’s always one or two special teams plays that swing the game every year in this game.”
MISCELLANEOUS
Montana is great at returning kicks…but getting their hands on the ball in the first place has been a challenge for the Griz. Montana had a stretch of four straight games with a turnover on a kickoff earlier in the season. First, Portland State pooched and recovered the opening kickoff after a tricky bounce fooled Bergen. The next week, Idaho State pooched a kickoff to defensive end Kale Edwards, who fumbled on the return. Neither of those two mishaps cost the Griz a game, but they failed to recover costly onside kicks each of the next two games in close losses to Idaho and Sacramento State.
“It’s really about handling the ball, punting it, kicking it,” Hauck said. “We are talking a lot about the hype around this game but for our guys, it’s about execution and technique and playing hard, which they will and so will the other team. So it comes down to execution.”
Montana State has recovered the only onside kick it has tried this year.
The other thing to mention for the Grizzlies is that they continue to bring pressure on opposing punts, and have scored on a blocked punt this year in the season opener against Northwestern State. Robby Hauck also returned a missed field goal for a 100-yard touchdown against Portland State.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez, Jason Bacaj, and Blake Hempstead. All Rights Reserved.
