September 2006
Bulldogs Look To End Three Game Losing Streak
Thursday, September 28 2006
The University of Montana Western football team looks to break its three game losing streak as they travel to Billings for a Frontier Conference game against Rocky Mountain College, Saturday, Sept. 30. Kickoff is 1 p.m. from Klindt Field.
The game will be broadcast locally on KDBM radio, 1490 on the dial.
Western is 0-3 after last weekend’s 34-7 loss to Montana Tech in Butte.
“We have had good first halves in our first three games,” said Bulldog coach Tommy Lee. “We need to come out a little more ready to play in the second half. Against Tech, we couldn’t stop the run in the second half and gave up some big plays. On offense, we have been plagued by penalties and haven’t been able to control the blitz. We have a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball. I feel good about our team. They continue to work hard with a great attitude. We are slowly putting it all together.
Rocky lost their third in a row when they lost 27-20 to Eastern Oregon. The Bears had a 20-6 half-time lead. Eastern scored the winning touchdown with just 11 seconds to play in the game.
“Rocky has had one tough game after another,” said Lee. “They had a tough opening win against a very good Minot State team. Then, the next week, they lost a closer one against Tech. Against Northern, they had too many turnovers, and then last week, lost another close one in the game’s final seconds. Rocky is a very good football team.”
Offensively Rocky is fourth in league in both total offense and scoring with 277 yards and 15 points per game. Defensively, Rocky is 5th in both total defense and scoring, giving up 365 yards and 32.5 per game. Jimmy Beal leads Rocky in rushing with 211 yards. Vance Vincent is second in the league in passing with 183.8 yards with five touchdowns and nine interceptions. Roger Larson leads the league in tackles with 12 per game.
“It is not going to be any secret to what they will do on offense,” added Lee. “After watching our three games, they have seen how well teams rushed the ball against us. They are going to pound the ball at us on the ground. Defensively, there are no secrets here either. They know we haven’t been able to handle any defensive pressure so I know we are going to see a lot of blitzes.”
Western senior quarterback Travis Blome leads the Frontier in both passing and individual total offense with 245.3 per game passing and 209 yards in total yards. Blome’s favorite receiver is sophomore Michael Gluelff with 17 catches for 238 yards and one touchdown. Redshirt freshman Andrew Ridgeway leads the team in tackles with 11 per game.
The Bulldogs are last in the league in scoring offense with seven points per game and last in total defense as they give up 33 points a game. Western is last in total offense and first in passing offense.
Go To Top
Bulldogs Drop Third In a Row
Tuesday, September 26 2006
The Bulldogs fell to 0-3 after a 34-7 loss at Montana Tech.
The Bulldogs got off to a quick start, both on offense and defense. Western scored first on a 62 yard scoring pass from Travis Blome to Travis Hartman. But, that would be the only score for the Bulldogs.
After a couple of first quarter stops, the Bulldog defense had no answer in stopping the Tech offense. The Orediggers rolled up 348 yards rushing and another 126 yards passing.
Once again, the Bulldogs were their own worse enemy with two intereceptions and 65 yards in penalties.
Western looks too break their three game losing streak as they travel to Rocky on Saturday, Sept. 30
Go To Top
Bulldogs Play Orediggers in Butte
Friday, September 22 2006
University of Montana Western Bulldog football team travels to Butte for a Frontier Conference football game against the Montana Tech Orediggers.
Montana Western is 0-2 overall and 0-2 in league play after last weekend’s 31-0 loss to defending conference and national champion Carroll College.
“We’ve played two tough football teams the past two weeks,” said head coach Tommy Lee. “We may be 0-2, but there have been some bright spots in regards in how our kids have performed. We have to do a better job of eliminating mistakes, that’s been our nemesis the first two weeks. I am anxious to see our kids play against a good Tech team.
The Orediggers are 2-1 overall and 2-0 in league play after last weekend’s 17-0 victory over Eastern Oregon. Montana Tech is ranked 9th
in the latest NAIA rankings.
Against Carroll, the Bulldogs proved they could move the ball against a good defense. What they couldn’t do was overcome the mistakes that kept them out of the end zone.
“I was pleased how our offense moved the ball,” added Lee. “We actually had more first downs then Carroll had in the game. This is probably Carroll’s best defense since I have been here. And for us to move the ball on that defense gives us encouragement for the future. Defensively, I thought our defense played outstanding in the first half when we limited them to only 14 points. We gave them outstanding field position in the second half, and that is something you can’t do against a team the caliber of Carroll. Hopefully this week, we can get a win and give our young team some confidence.”
The game matches the leagues best passing offense against the league’s worst pass defense. Montana Western leads the Frontier in passing with 243 yards a game while the Orediggers are last in pass defense giving up 281 yards a game. Bulldog senior quarterback Travis Blome leads the league in passing and individual total offense.
Offensively, the Bulldogs are third in the league with 238 yards a game while Tech is last with 214 per game. The Orediggers average 13.7 points per game while Western averages eight per game.
Go To Top
Bulldogs Host Top-Ranked Carroll College
Friday, September 15 2006
The University of Montana Western Bulldogs host the Carroll College Saints in a Frontier Conference football game from Dillon, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2006. Kickoff is 1 p.m. from Dillon’s Vigilante Field.
The game will be heard in Southwest Montana on KDBM radio, 1490 on the AM dial.
Western is 0-1 after last weekend’s 34-16 loss to MSU-Northern in the Bulldogs’ season opener. Carroll is 2-0 and ranked #1 in the nation and have won 23 straight games.
“We were anxious to get that first game under our belt,” said Bulldog coach Tommy Lee. “We have such a young team. We wanted to see how they stacked up against a good football team. You can never be pleased about a loss, but there were positives out of the Northern game. What is impressed me is how our young kids battled, particularly in the second quarter. The players saw that they could play with anybody. Offensively, we sputtered a bit in the second half. We need to be better in taking advantage of our opportunities to make plays. In order to be a good football team, you have to play with consistency and make plays when they count. We did need to continue to improve and play hard and continue to compete.”
Carroll downed Black Hills State 28-3 and Eastern Oregon 49-3. In their two games, the Saints have given up only 139 yards per game, 95.5 yards through the air and 43.5 yards on the ground. Western’s offense rolled up 299 yards of total offense. All through the air except one yard on the ground.
Against Northern, senior quarterback Travis Blome threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns. He threw to 10 different receivers with sophomore Michael Guelff his favorite target. Guelff caught 10 passes for 126 yards and one touchdown.
“Their defense continues to be very good,” said Lee. “When you look at the past four years, they have not allowed, on the average, more than 12 points per game. Some years, it was in the single digits. When I look their defense this year, I see the best yet. They have a tremendous amount of speed.
We always have challenges when we face Carroll, but maybe more so this year because the speed and caliber of their players.
Against Northern last week, the Bulldog defense gave up 491 yards in total offense, 295 on the ground and 195 yards through the air.
“Offensively, they have a little different look,” added Lee. “They are a fairly new group up front, but still talented and will come prepared. Carroll runs the ball more this year because of their two great running backs Thomas and Grosulak. Their quarterback Barnett is quite an athlete and makes a lot of plays with his feet. They still have a good passing game, but because of the success of their running attack, they haven’t had to pass as much. We have to stop the run.”
Go To Top
Bulldogs Fall To Lights In Season Opener
Wednesday, September 13 2006
MSU-Northern scored 20 unanswered points in the first quarter on the way to a 34-16 Frontier Conference football win over the University of Montana Western, Saturday afternoon in Dillon.
Western is now 0-1 on the season while MSU-Northern is 2-0.
All three of Northern’s first quarter touchdowns were touchdown passes from Kyle Samson to Nick Bodeman. Samson threw scoring strikes of 13, 31 and 43 yards.
Both the Western offense and defense got untracked in the second lead when the Bulldogs scored 16 unanswered points to go into halftime trailing 20-16. Montana Western scored on a 24-yard touchdown passed from Travis Blome to Michael Guelff, a five-yard TD pass to Jake Larson and a 40-yard Brad Hollen field goal.
Western’s come-back ended on the first play of the second half. Northern recovered a Bulldog fumble on the kickoff on Western’s 17 yard line. The Lights used just two plays to score a touchdown and stretch their lead to 11, 27-16.
The Bulldogs tried to answer with their own scoring drive, but it ended with a Blome pass intercepted in the end zone.
Blome was 26 of 47 for 298 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Michael Guelff led the Bulldogs in receiving with 10 catches for 126 yards and one touchdown..
Kyle Samson threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns. Bodeman led Northern with six catches for 121 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bulldogs host defending conference and national champion Carroll College on Saturday, Sept. 16.
Go To Top
Bulldogs Host Lights In Season Opener
Friday, September 8 2006
The University of Montana Western hosts MSU-Northern in a Frontier Conference football game from Dillon on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2006. Kickoff is 1 p.m. from Vigilante Field.
Last season, Montana Western finished 2-9 with one of their wins, a 34-33 win over Northern. The Lights finished last year with a 5-5 record.
In the Frontier Coach’s preseason poll, the Bulldogs were picked to finish fourth while Northern was picked to finish third.
This will be the Bulldogs first game of the 2006 season. Northern opened last weekend with a 22-14 road win over seventh ranked Dickinson State.
“There are definite advantages to having one game under your belt,” said Bulldog coach Tommy Lee. “Generally, you make opening game mistakes, and learn from those mistakes for the rest of the season. It is a given, that the greatest improvement made by a football team is between week one and week two of the season. There is also an advantage for the team that didn’t play that first week. That is giving us two weeks to prepare for our opening game.”
In the Bulldogs win last year over Northern, Lights quarterback Kyle Samson passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 54 yards and one touchdown. In the Northern win at Havre last year, Samson passed for 177 yards and rushed for 71 with one touchdown.
“Offensively, they have multiple weapons led by Kyle Samson,” noted Lee. “They run the option attack he has run from high school through college. He has a tremendous amount of poise and sees the field very well. Schematically on offense, they do things that fit him. For us, we are never going to completely stop him but we have to contain him. He will make a lot of plays with his feet, either scrambling or throwing the football. Our defense needs to keep him in the pocket.”
Last weekend, the experience Northern defense held the high powered Dickinson State offense to just 14 points.
“Our offense will be facing a very experienced Northern defense,” said Lee. “They return 10 of 11 starters. The key is how well our offensive line performs against their very experienced defensive line. The match-up is their experience up front against our inexperienced, but talented offensive line. We need to do a good job upfront and give Blome time in the passing game. And, to keep the defense honest, we have to be able to run the ball.”
Go To Top