CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? It?s almost certainly going to be wet and it could be wild Friday, when Montana takes on Villanova in the NCAA Division I Football Championship at Finley Stadium.
To the matchups of a frenzied Villanova defense against the Grizzlies? balanced and dangerous offense, of Montana?s pliable D against the Wildcats? run-first attack, you don?t need to add water.
?You couldn?t seed it any better,? Villanova coach Andy Talley said. ?No. 1 vs. No. 2.?
It?s the second straight trip down here for the top-seeded Griz, who have combined a big offensive line, Chase Reynolds, timely passing and stingy defense with excellent special teams to win 14 straight games.
Montana is trying to become the subdivision?s fifth unbeaten national champion: Western Kentucky (1982), Georgia Southern (?89), Youngstown State (?94) and Marshall (?96) did it before.
?We?re 14-0 and we?re undefeated and No. 1 in the nation,? said Montana coach Bobby Hauck. ?And we?d certainly love to cap that with our 15th win tomorrow night.?
The Eagles, Penguins and Herd all defeated the Griz on the way to national titles; now the Griz want to carve their own spot in history. The Griz won titles over Marshall in 1995 and Furman in 2001 ? the latter in Chattanooga ? and only Youngstown, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State have won as many as three crowns.
Meanwhile, Villanova is making its first title-game appearance, but feels the pedigree of the Colonial Athletic Association offsets any inexperience. The Wildcats play a blitz-heavy defense and run the ball extremely well, with receiver Matt Szczur playing a major role.
The Griz made the championship twice before under Hauck, losing to CAA teams in 2004 (James Madison) and last December (Richmond).
?I think when you play in a really good league like the CAA, you come to a game of this magnitude really well prepared,? said Talley. ?We?ve played some really terrific teams.?
Possibly none of them were as big as Montana.
?We do have a lot of speed coming off the edges,? said Villanova linebacker Osayi Osunde, the Wildcats? second-leading tackler. ?But Montana?s offensive line is pretty much an NFL offensive line. They average 6-foot-6, 6-7, which is pretty ridiculous.?
?West Virginia and Maryland come to mind, and Temple?s offensive line was large,? said Talley, whose club beat the bowl-bound Owls 27-24 to begin this season. ?But we?ve never played against an offensive line as big as this one.?
Villanova counters with its 3-3-5 look, bringing safeties close to the line of scrimmage and blitzes from every angle.
?I?ve been watching film of them and I really haven?t seen them play one that blitzes as much as this team does,? Osunde said of the Griz. ?It?s something they?re going to have to adjust to.?
The Grizzlies know this.
?They have a good scheme,? said Hauck. ?Certainly it?s problematic. One of the other problems is they have pretty good players doing it. That defensive front is as good as or better than we?ve seen all year.?
Osunde calls nose tackle Phil Matusz a key; next to Matusz is defensive end Tim Kukucka and his 9.5 sacks. Linebacker Terence Thomas has 108 tackles, nine of them for losses.
Montana quarterback Andrew Selle is the target of all the blitzes.
?From both prior experience and watching it intently over the years, I really feel like the team whose quarterback plays the best wins the game,? said Hauck. ?Our defense has to make it tough on their guy and their structure will certainly make it tough on ours.?
?Our front ? our line and our tight ends ? are going to have a major challenge protecting Andrew,? said Marc Mariani, the Grizzlies? All-American receiver. ?But at the same time, we?re going to do our best to find some holes in it. They?re very athletic; the backers fly around. We?ve got to make sure we don?t change what we do and make sure we get better prepared up until 7:59 (EST), when that ball is kicked off.?
Villanova?s running attack is multi-faceted, with quarterback Chris Whitney the leading ground-gainer and running back Aaron Ball right behind. Then there is Szczur, an All-American receiver who spends just as much time in the backfield, running out of a ?Wildcat? formation.
Whitney said Montana?s defense reminds him of that played by Richmond.
?The D-backs look good, all pretty fast and quick to the ball,? said the QB. ?That?s the main thing I noticed. And everybody can hit. I noticed that.?
?They?re probably the best team we?ve faced all year,? added Szczur, who has 654 yards rushing and another 542 receiving. ?They knife against the run in cover-2, so that might be a problem for our (play) book.?
Running the ball and stopping the run remain critical components. Whether the elements ? rain is expected ? change the game remains to be seen.
?We are probably pretty weather-proof,? said Talley. ?But ? I would want to play on a day like today. We all prefer a clean, hard, fast track.?
For some tough, hard-hitting, fast players.
?They?re dangerous on offense, they?re powerful, they average 232 yards a game rushing,? Griz safety Shann Schillinger said of the Wildcats. ?We?re going to have our hands full.
?But we?re kind of used to that. The last few offenses we played were pretty good.?
To the matchups of a frenzied Villanova defense against the Grizzlies? balanced and dangerous offense, of Montana?s pliable D against the Wildcats? run-first attack, you don?t need to add water.
?You couldn?t seed it any better,? Villanova coach Andy Talley said. ?No. 1 vs. No. 2.?
It?s the second straight trip down here for the top-seeded Griz, who have combined a big offensive line, Chase Reynolds, timely passing and stingy defense with excellent special teams to win 14 straight games.
Montana is trying to become the subdivision?s fifth unbeaten national champion: Western Kentucky (1982), Georgia Southern (?89), Youngstown State (?94) and Marshall (?96) did it before.
?We?re 14-0 and we?re undefeated and No. 1 in the nation,? said Montana coach Bobby Hauck. ?And we?d certainly love to cap that with our 15th win tomorrow night.?
The Eagles, Penguins and Herd all defeated the Griz on the way to national titles; now the Griz want to carve their own spot in history. The Griz won titles over Marshall in 1995 and Furman in 2001 ? the latter in Chattanooga ? and only Youngstown, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State have won as many as three crowns.
Meanwhile, Villanova is making its first title-game appearance, but feels the pedigree of the Colonial Athletic Association offsets any inexperience. The Wildcats play a blitz-heavy defense and run the ball extremely well, with receiver Matt Szczur playing a major role.
The Griz made the championship twice before under Hauck, losing to CAA teams in 2004 (James Madison) and last December (Richmond).
?I think when you play in a really good league like the CAA, you come to a game of this magnitude really well prepared,? said Talley. ?We?ve played some really terrific teams.?
Possibly none of them were as big as Montana.
?We do have a lot of speed coming off the edges,? said Villanova linebacker Osayi Osunde, the Wildcats? second-leading tackler. ?But Montana?s offensive line is pretty much an NFL offensive line. They average 6-foot-6, 6-7, which is pretty ridiculous.?
?West Virginia and Maryland come to mind, and Temple?s offensive line was large,? said Talley, whose club beat the bowl-bound Owls 27-24 to begin this season. ?But we?ve never played against an offensive line as big as this one.?
Villanova counters with its 3-3-5 look, bringing safeties close to the line of scrimmage and blitzes from every angle.
?I?ve been watching film of them and I really haven?t seen them play one that blitzes as much as this team does,? Osunde said of the Griz. ?It?s something they?re going to have to adjust to.?
The Grizzlies know this.
?They have a good scheme,? said Hauck. ?Certainly it?s problematic. One of the other problems is they have pretty good players doing it. That defensive front is as good as or better than we?ve seen all year.?
Osunde calls nose tackle Phil Matusz a key; next to Matusz is defensive end Tim Kukucka and his 9.5 sacks. Linebacker Terence Thomas has 108 tackles, nine of them for losses.
Montana quarterback Andrew Selle is the target of all the blitzes.
?From both prior experience and watching it intently over the years, I really feel like the team whose quarterback plays the best wins the game,? said Hauck. ?Our defense has to make it tough on their guy and their structure will certainly make it tough on ours.?
?Our front ? our line and our tight ends ? are going to have a major challenge protecting Andrew,? said Marc Mariani, the Grizzlies? All-American receiver. ?But at the same time, we?re going to do our best to find some holes in it. They?re very athletic; the backers fly around. We?ve got to make sure we don?t change what we do and make sure we get better prepared up until 7:59 (EST), when that ball is kicked off.?
Villanova?s running attack is multi-faceted, with quarterback Chris Whitney the leading ground-gainer and running back Aaron Ball right behind. Then there is Szczur, an All-American receiver who spends just as much time in the backfield, running out of a ?Wildcat? formation.
Whitney said Montana?s defense reminds him of that played by Richmond.
?The D-backs look good, all pretty fast and quick to the ball,? said the QB. ?That?s the main thing I noticed. And everybody can hit. I noticed that.?
?They?re probably the best team we?ve faced all year,? added Szczur, who has 654 yards rushing and another 542 receiving. ?They knife against the run in cover-2, so that might be a problem for our (play) book.?
Running the ball and stopping the run remain critical components. Whether the elements ? rain is expected ? change the game remains to be seen.
?We are probably pretty weather-proof,? said Talley. ?But ? I would want to play on a day like today. We all prefer a clean, hard, fast track.?
For some tough, hard-hitting, fast players.
?They?re dangerous on offense, they?re powerful, they average 232 yards a game rushing,? Griz safety Shann Schillinger said of the Wildcats. ?We?re going to have our hands full.
?But we?re kind of used to that. The last few offenses we played were pretty good.?
