For Cole Bergquist and the fifth-ranked Montana Grizzlies, the high of beating top-ranked James Madison in the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals was over by Monday.
?I feel like honestly, we're on to bigger and better things,? said Bergquist, the senior quarterback for the Griz (14-1). ?It was huge, but I was in watching film Saturday night. I didn't get a lot of celebrating because the goal wasn't to win the semis, it's to win the national championship.?
The Griz get another shot at that Friday, when they take on seventh-ranked Richmond inside Finley Stadium. It's the program's sixth trip to the title game, which Montana won in 1995 and 2001, and lost in 1996, 2000 and 2004. It's the first final for the Spiders (12-3), who come in with their highly touted ?Stonewall? defense, excellent special teams and a balanced offense led partly by 230-pound running back Josh Vaughan.
Richmond hasn't lost since a 38-31 home defeat at the hands of JMU, a span of eight games. Montana's winning streak is 10 after the Griz beat the Dukes 35-27 last week behind Chase Reynolds' hard running, Bergquist's timely big plays and a bevy of turnovers.
Everyone's girding for a physical battle, and nobody minds. Richmond isn't unlike Montana in that it plays a standard, physical 4-3 defense and straightforward pro-style, run-first offense.
?We're wearing pads for a reason,? said All-American Griz safety Colt Anderson, who leads UM with 121 tackles. ?When you see that pretty throw-it-around stuff, they don't really use the pads. This is a game we're looking forward to.?
Anderson and Bergquist are among 14 seniors involved in the Griz program - a couple as support staff after injuries curtailed their careers - who came to Chattanooga in 2004. The return has been long-awaited and rewarding.
The rub is that the Spiders are really, really good.
Sophomores Patrick Weldon and Eric McBride and junior Collin McConaghy make a bunch of tackles at linebacker because the defensive line - tackles Parker Miles and Martin Parker, for example - hasn't been pushed around. Beyond the front seven is a secondary that includes Michael Ireland at safety and Justin Rogers, a talented sophomore corner.
?They might be the best team we've seen, and when I say that I'm talking about their defense,? said Bergquist. ?They've got two stud D-ends (Lawrence Sidbury, Sherman Logan), a lock-down corner and like JMU, the rest of their team is real athletic.?
Richmond got here by rallying past Northern Iowa 21-20 on the road in the Saturday semifinal. The victory was somewhat an anomaly in that the Spiders, who are plus-22 in turnover margin, didn't have a single takeaway against the Panthers.
Richmond trailed 20-7 in the fourth quarter and took over for its final drive knowing it couldn't rely on Vaughan, who has 1,722 rushing yards. With no timeouts, quarterback Eric Ward maneuvered the Spiders 62 yards in 90 seconds for the winning score.
Yet Vaughan should be a key Friday, on the 3-year-old field turf at Finley.
?Personally, and I tend to think the rest of the defense will agree, we like a physical game,? said Griz linebacker Tyler Corwin. ?The fullback-running back, grind-it-out kind of game. They've got a good fullback (either John Crone or Shawn White), a good running back, and a capable runner at quarterback. It's definitely a challenge, but I think this is the kind of game we look forward to.?
Special teams could well play a role. Montana receiver Marc Mariani had a kick return to jump-start a key drive at JMU; Richmond free safety Derek Hatcher set up the Spiders' game-winning drive with a 26-yard punt return. Rogers figures in on kick returns - he took two for touchdowns as a freshman.
It shapes up as a defensive battle. Turnovers have played a huge role for both teams.
?You saw it last weekend at James Madison,? said Griz coach Bobby Hauck, whose club ran its turnover margin to plus-18 in Harrisonburg, Va. ?We controlled the turnover battle; we won the game.?
Richmond coach Mike London said top receiver Kevin Grayson, who scored one TD on a flea-flicker pass before injuring a hamstring at UNI, will likely play Friday.
?Kevin will be there,? he said. ?Everybody's nicked and bruised, but this is THE game.?
The Griz are banged up as well, with Anderson and Mariani nursing ankle injuries, but can sooth all that with a landmark win.
?Tomorrow night's going to be the last game I'll ever play as a Montana Grizzly,? said senior receiver Mike Ferriter, who has 10 touchdowns this season and 15 for his career. ?It's exciting to think about - everything we've done here, all that we've accomplished here.
?But like everyone else said, we don't want to go out with a loss. We want to leave our stamp on this program the best possible way we can.?
?I feel like honestly, we're on to bigger and better things,? said Bergquist, the senior quarterback for the Griz (14-1). ?It was huge, but I was in watching film Saturday night. I didn't get a lot of celebrating because the goal wasn't to win the semis, it's to win the national championship.?
The Griz get another shot at that Friday, when they take on seventh-ranked Richmond inside Finley Stadium. It's the program's sixth trip to the title game, which Montana won in 1995 and 2001, and lost in 1996, 2000 and 2004. It's the first final for the Spiders (12-3), who come in with their highly touted ?Stonewall? defense, excellent special teams and a balanced offense led partly by 230-pound running back Josh Vaughan.
Richmond hasn't lost since a 38-31 home defeat at the hands of JMU, a span of eight games. Montana's winning streak is 10 after the Griz beat the Dukes 35-27 last week behind Chase Reynolds' hard running, Bergquist's timely big plays and a bevy of turnovers.
Everyone's girding for a physical battle, and nobody minds. Richmond isn't unlike Montana in that it plays a standard, physical 4-3 defense and straightforward pro-style, run-first offense.
?We're wearing pads for a reason,? said All-American Griz safety Colt Anderson, who leads UM with 121 tackles. ?When you see that pretty throw-it-around stuff, they don't really use the pads. This is a game we're looking forward to.?
Anderson and Bergquist are among 14 seniors involved in the Griz program - a couple as support staff after injuries curtailed their careers - who came to Chattanooga in 2004. The return has been long-awaited and rewarding.
The rub is that the Spiders are really, really good.
Sophomores Patrick Weldon and Eric McBride and junior Collin McConaghy make a bunch of tackles at linebacker because the defensive line - tackles Parker Miles and Martin Parker, for example - hasn't been pushed around. Beyond the front seven is a secondary that includes Michael Ireland at safety and Justin Rogers, a talented sophomore corner.
?They might be the best team we've seen, and when I say that I'm talking about their defense,? said Bergquist. ?They've got two stud D-ends (Lawrence Sidbury, Sherman Logan), a lock-down corner and like JMU, the rest of their team is real athletic.?
Richmond got here by rallying past Northern Iowa 21-20 on the road in the Saturday semifinal. The victory was somewhat an anomaly in that the Spiders, who are plus-22 in turnover margin, didn't have a single takeaway against the Panthers.
Richmond trailed 20-7 in the fourth quarter and took over for its final drive knowing it couldn't rely on Vaughan, who has 1,722 rushing yards. With no timeouts, quarterback Eric Ward maneuvered the Spiders 62 yards in 90 seconds for the winning score.
Yet Vaughan should be a key Friday, on the 3-year-old field turf at Finley.
?Personally, and I tend to think the rest of the defense will agree, we like a physical game,? said Griz linebacker Tyler Corwin. ?The fullback-running back, grind-it-out kind of game. They've got a good fullback (either John Crone or Shawn White), a good running back, and a capable runner at quarterback. It's definitely a challenge, but I think this is the kind of game we look forward to.?
Special teams could well play a role. Montana receiver Marc Mariani had a kick return to jump-start a key drive at JMU; Richmond free safety Derek Hatcher set up the Spiders' game-winning drive with a 26-yard punt return. Rogers figures in on kick returns - he took two for touchdowns as a freshman.
It shapes up as a defensive battle. Turnovers have played a huge role for both teams.
?You saw it last weekend at James Madison,? said Griz coach Bobby Hauck, whose club ran its turnover margin to plus-18 in Harrisonburg, Va. ?We controlled the turnover battle; we won the game.?
Richmond coach Mike London said top receiver Kevin Grayson, who scored one TD on a flea-flicker pass before injuring a hamstring at UNI, will likely play Friday.
?Kevin will be there,? he said. ?Everybody's nicked and bruised, but this is THE game.?
The Griz are banged up as well, with Anderson and Mariani nursing ankle injuries, but can sooth all that with a landmark win.
?Tomorrow night's going to be the last game I'll ever play as a Montana Grizzly,? said senior receiver Mike Ferriter, who has 10 touchdowns this season and 15 for his career. ?It's exciting to think about - everything we've done here, all that we've accomplished here.
?But like everyone else said, we don't want to go out with a loss. We want to leave our stamp on this program the best possible way we can.?
