Big Sky Notes: Griz face interesting foe in DII power Ferris State

Sep. 13—The Montana Grizzlies had the far less strenuous football game last Saturday compared to Montana State, which lost a 20-16 heartbreaker at top-ranked South Dakota State.

The roles could be reversed this Saturday. The Griz, who swamped Utah Tech 43-13 last week, brings two-time Division II champion Ferris State to Missoula while the Cats play host to Stetson of the Pioneer League.

"In regards to Ferris State, all these guys do is win," Montana coach Bobby Hauck said of the Bulldogs. "I think they're on a streak of 28 consecutive road wins. They've just been excellent. I think they've lost only three regular season games the last eight years. They're really something."

The Bulldogs, though, were down two scores late in their 38-28 win at DII's 16th-ranked team, Ashland (Ohio). Backup quarterback Carson Gulker sparked a comeback. He had a hand in all five FSU touchdowns: Three passing and two running.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound sophomore ran for 138 yards and threw for 121 and was named Great Lakes Conference offensive player of the week.

"They do play two (quarterbacks)," Hauck said at the Grizzlies' weekly press conference. "One of them (Gulker) is a little bit bigger than the other one, and gets downhill a little bit more."

The other, 6-4 senior southpaw Mylik Mitchell, is still listed as starter this week. But Gulker leads the Bulldogs in rushing through two games.

The defense no doubt misses Caleb Murphy, who had 25.5 sacks last season and made the Tennessee Titans' 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent this season (three FSU alums are on current NFL rosters).

But senior defensive end Olalere Oladipo had two sacks last Saturday.

"We don't have a lot of crossover with them but you can see it on film, they have good players, good coaching," Hauck said. "It's going to be a tall order to try and find a way to get a win this weekend."

Close Call

Ferris State's win at Ashland was in doubt, and a pair of former Bulldogs were big reasons: Chase Ford jumped on a punt that bounced off an FSU protector for one touchdown; receiver Dezmin Lyburtus, who caught three passes in last year's DII championship win over Colorado Mines, caught seven passes for 122 on Saturday. Ashland led 24-10 at halftime and 28-17 with 4:41 left in the third quarter.

"There was a time on the sidelines tonight where I thought, 'Boy, this could be a tough bus ride home,'" Bulldogs coach Tony Annese said. "I think what we saw out of Dezmin is probably why he transferred. He wanted to be the featured guy. He had a great game and I'm proud of him.

"Hopefully we'll go on to have a great season and they'll be mad that they left, who knows."

Another Close Call

The critical play in MSU's loss at South Dakota State was a desperation pass by Sean Chambers that Clevan Thomas, Jr. caught in the back of the end zone.

At least that's what the back judge thought, but upon review it didn't hold up and the defending FCS champion Jacks held on.

It was the perfect 50-50 call, in that one side was guaranteed to be aggrieved.

"My take is they called it a touchdown," MSU coach Brent Vigen said Monday. "I was hopeful that there wouldn't be. ... (enough) evidence to overturn it. You bring replay into play, whether it's at the NFL or college level, it's meant to get the call right.

"Whether they did or not, I haven't been given anything clearly as to what that was."

Vigen said he reached out to the Big Sky head of officials for some clarification, but it wasn't a Big Sky crew in Brookings.

Vigen later fielded a question about Chambers, who took over for an injured Tommy Mellott and had, for a few moments, scored a huge victory. Then it was an emotional loss.

"It's just one of those games where you're so emotionally invested, beyond the physical component," he said. "The minutes that went off while it was being reviewed where you thought you'd pulled off a miracle. ... It would have been fairly miraculous had we won in that fashion."

The Hatters

Stetson hails from DeLand, Florida, which puts it one end of the far-flung Pioneer Football League (San Diego is at the other end). The Hatters are 2-0 but both wins came over NAIA foes: 34-33 in overtime against the visiting St. Thomas (Fla.) Bobcats and 38-28 at Webber International.

They're picked to finish ninth in the 11-team Pioneer (Butler, which lost at Montana two weeks ago, was picked fifth). Picked first were the St. Thomas (Minn.) Tommies, who they play Oct. 21.

Stetson led Webber 38-7 with a score to close the third quarter, and promptly gave up a 92-yard kickoff return to start the fourth. Diego Davis had two sacks among his seven tackles and was named the PFL's defensive player of the week.

Nazeviah Burris high-pointed a 41-yard bomb from Matt O'Connor to open the scoring and finished with seven catches for 138 yards.

"You watch theri two games they're aggressive on defense," said Vigen, who noted the Hatters employ a 3-3-5 look. "Offensively they have the ability to be explosive."

QUICK KICKS: Montana State remained No. 3 in the latest FCS Top 25, one of six Big Sky teams ranked. Montana moved up a spot to No. 12. ... Ferris State is No. 1 in the latest DII poll. ... No. 9 Weber State had the Big Sky's offensive and defensive players of the week, in running back Damon Bankston (144 yards) and linebacker Jack Kelly (two forced fumbles and four tackles. Weber beat Northern Iowa 34-17. ... Ricardo Chavez of No. 5 Idaho drew special teams honors after hitting four field goals and punts of 60 and 70 yards in a 33-6 win at Nevada. ... The Griz nominated Nick Ostmo on offense and Travis Gradney on defense, and MSU nominated only kicker Brendan Hall on special teams. ... Though Vigen had no news on his availability Monday, Mellott is still listed as starting QB against Stetson. ... DII football programs offer the equivalent of 36 full-ride scholarships, FCS schools 63. ... The St. Francis Bobcats, Stetson's victim in their season opener, is ranked No. 23 in the latest NAIA poll.