Montana Grizzly Football Gets Chopped to Pieces by Lumberjacks

A frustrating theme of inconsistency carried over from last week's game.

This time, there were no last-minute heroics. Not even close.

Against a team that had given up a staggering number of points in their first three games this season, the University of Montana Grizzly offense again could not sustain drives. Meanwhile, the Northern Arizona offense, led by a true freshman quarterback, gashed the Griz defense on two long touchdown drives and a trick play 50-yard touchdown pass in the first half, and Montana never was able to fully recover, as the Lumberjacks stunned the Grizzlies 28-14 Saturday afternoon in Flagstaff, Arizona.

After spotting the 'Jacks a 14-0 lead, the Griz defense got things going with an interception on the NAU 5. Two plays later the Griz were on the board and it was 14-6 after a missed extra point.

Trailing 21-6, Montana found some rhythm and closed it to 21-14 at halftime.

The Griz showed signs of life during their first possession of the third quarter, but a Sam Vidlak interception at the 50 led to another methodical Lumberjack TD drive to make it 28-14. Vidlak also fumbled once and was sacked 6 times by an aggressive NAU defense.

It was all NAU from there, as a dejected, out of sync Montana team went completely flat. What few opportunities there were to get back in the game were squandered, as Northern Arizona had an answer every time.

So, the Griz go to 3-1 on the season and 0-1 to start Big Sky Conference play. There are a lot of questions that will have to be answered, as the Montana prepares for Homecoming next Saturday, September 30, when the Idaho State Bengals invade Washington-Grizzly stadium for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff.