Missoula, Mont. ? Cole Bergquist passed for two touchdowns and ran for another score in leading Montana, the nation's second-ranked team, to a 35-14 victory over UAlbany before 23,097 fans on Saturday, Sept. 22 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Bergquist, who passed for 283 yards and ran for 89 more, broke open a tight game in the third quarter when he scored on a 55-yard option run over left tackle for a 21-7 lead. He then engineered a 76-yard march in the fourth quarter, including a 24-yard middle screen pass into UAlbany territory. Lex Hilliard, who rushed for 136 yards and two TDs, later rumbled 26 yards to paydirt with 9:53 to play.
UAlbany (1-3) closed the gap by answering with a 10-play scoring drive. Vinny Esposito, who completed 20 of 40 passes for 273 yards, the seventh-best total in school history, fired a 23-yard touchdown strike to Jason Smith. The Great Danes, who playing before the largest crowd in the program's history, then recovered an on-side kick. But cornerback Jeremy Pate intercepted Esposito's pass to the sideline at the Grizzlies' 16 to end the threat. Bergquist added a 30-yard touchdown throw with 1:51 remaining to complete the scoring. Montana (3-0) could move to the top of the rankings as Appalachian State was beaten earlier in the day.
"They are an excellent team,” said UAlbany head coach Bob Ford, whose team lost All-America linebacker Colin Disch to a knee sprain on the second play of the game. “They are very hard to defend because they can run inside and outside and spread the ball with that quarterback to a multitude of receivers. We tried to do some (different) things as the underdog, but they gradually wore us down. We played as hard as we could and their fans appreciated the effort with an ovation as we left the field."
UAlbany came to play in the first quarter against the nationally-ranked Grizzlies. Esposito hooked up with Daniel Bocanegra on a 46-yard flea-flicker on the Great Danes' second offensive play, but Jason Fralicker missed a 31-yard field goal to the left of the upright.
Montana took a 7-0 lead on its third series, when Bergquist led a three-play, 58-yard drive. Berguqist, a 6-foot-2 junior, connected with wide receiver Eric Allen on a 38-yard play down the middle of the defense. He fired a 12-yard scoring pass to Ryan Bagley with 4:35 left in the period.
"They have great athletic talent, especially (Kroy) Biermann coming off the edge,” Esposito said. “They really play together, come after you wave after wave, and swarm to the football. It came down to situations where they made the big play."
The Great Danes stopped punter Tyson Johnson on a fourth-down run off a fake at midfield to set up their touchdown midway through the second quarter. The scoring march was kept alive when Montana's Severin Campbell was called for a roughing-the-punter penalty. Esposito then flipped a 22-yard pass to Colin Simmons in the left flat to set up first-and- goal at the Grizzlies 2. Omar Johnson would score from one yard out over left tackle on fourth down.
After Bergquist threw an interception inside the UAlbany five-yard line, the Montana signal-caller led his team on a short six-play drive that put his team ahead 14-7 with 1:49 left before halftime. Hilliard reached the end zone on a one-yard blast over the right side.
"As a senior, I really looked forward to playing in this game,” said Wall, who recovered the on-side kick and also had a 64-yard quick kick on special teams. “The non-league games are just as important, but this first part (of the schedule) has helped us find our identity. We kept playing today no matter what happened. I have confidence in our team."
Montana 35, UAlbany 15 (Sep 22, 2007)
Box Score (Final)
Albany vs Montana (Sep 22, 2007 at Missoula, MT)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Albany.............. 0 7 0 7 - 14 Record: (1-3)
Montana............. 7 7 7 14 - 35 Record: (3-0)
Scoring Summary:
1st 04:35 UM - Ryan Bagley 12 yd pass from Cole Bergquist (Dan Carpenter kick), 3-58 1:05, ALBANY 0 - UM 7
2nd 08:14 ALBANY - Johnson, Omar 1 yd run (Fralicker, Jason kick), 10-56 4:24, ALBANY 7 - UM 7
01:49 UM - Lex Hilliard 1 yd run (Dan Carpenter kick), 6-37 2:11, ALBANY 7 - UM 14
3rd 10:03 UM - Cole Bergquist 55 yd run (Dan Carpenter kick), 6-98 2:11, ALBANY 7 - UM 21
4th 09:56 UM - Lex Hilliard 26 yd run (Dan Carpenter kick), 7-76 2:39, ALBANY 7 - UM 28
06:43 ALBANY - Smith, Jason 23 yd pass from Esposito, Vinny (Lynch, Chris kick), 10-64 3:06, ALBANY 14 - UM 28
01:51 UM - Eric Allen 30 yd pass from Cole Bergquist (Dan Carpenter kick), 6-71 2:56, ALBANY 14 - UM 35
ALBANY UM
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 28
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 42-92 41-281
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 273 283
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 40-20-1 34-21-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 82-365 75-564
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 1-6 6-58
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 4-89 3-46
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-0 1-13
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 8-49.0 4-41.8
Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards............... 8-59 7-55
Possession Time............... 30:31 29:29
Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 22 7 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 5 of 5 0 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-3 2-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 4-18 5-31
RUSHING: Albany-McCarty, David 10-42; Simmons, Colin 12-32; Johnson,
Omar 7-17; Wall, Mike 1-9; Beigel, Dan 1-0; Esposito, Vinny 11-minus 8.
Montana-Lex Hilliard 21-136; Cole Bergquist 9-89; Jeff Larson 7-34; Greg
Coleman 3-14; Tyson Johnson 1-8.
PASSING: Albany-Esposito, Vinny 20-40-1-273. Montana-Cole Bergquist
21-32-1-283; TEAM 0-1-0-0; Jeff Larson 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Albany-Smith, Jason 3-55; DeAraujo, Irani 3-24; Wall, Mike
3-20; Bocanegra, Daniel 2-61; Bush, Tim 2-40; Simmons, Colin 2-25; Poore,
Jason 2-11; Beigel, Dan 1-16; Miles, Marcus 1-13; Archer, Dan 1-8.
Montana-Mike Ferriter 7-84; Eric Allen 4-85; Ryan Bagley 4-38; Lex Hilliard
2-35; Rob Overton 1-13; Rob Schulte 1-11; Tyler Palmer 1-10; Dan Beaudin
1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS: Albany-Casale, Dave 1-0. Montana-Jeremy Pate 1-13.
FUMBLES: Albany-Simmons, Colin 1-0; Esposito, Vinny 1-0. Montana-TEAM
1-1; Jeremy Pate 1-0.
Stadium: Washington-Grizzly Attendance: 23097
Kickoff time: 1:05 pm End of Game: 4:18 Total elapsed time: 3:13
Officials: Referee: Jim Farmer; Umpire: Lou Tosti; Linesman: Glenn Hepner;
Line judge: Greg Wilson; Back judge: Scott Marchand; Field judge: David Clark;
Side judge: Jeff Farrington; Scorer: David Feeley;
Temperature: 56 Wind: Weather: Cloudy
Albany vs Montana (Sep 22, 2007 at Missoula, MT)
SACKS (UA-A): Albany-West, Dave 1-0; Peretore, Mark 0-1; Sheehan,
Mark 1-0; Dungey, Michael 1-0; Kinsey, Emerson 0-1. Montana-Kroy Biermann
2-0; Jace Palmer 2-0; Mike Stadnyk 0-1; L. Utterback 0-1.
TACKLES (UA-A): Albany-Peretore, Mark 5-6; Brancaccio, Justin 3-7;
Nicomini, Dave 2-4; West, Dave 3-2; Juste, Jean 2-3; Dungey, Michael 2-3;
Casale, Dave 2-2; Sheehan, Mark 1-3; Kinsey, Emerson 1-3; Bayer, Ben 0-4;
McCloskey, L.B. 2-1; Simpson, Chris 1-2; DuPont, Trevor 1-2; Genovesi, Tommy
0-3; Joseph, Dieuseul 1-1; Bertrand, Ross 1-1; Volpe, Jon 1-1; Scott, Aaron
0-2; Kelly, Mike 0-2; Anderson, Trevor 0-2; Archer, Dan 0-2; Disch, Colin
1-0; Fralicker, Jason 1-0; Wall, Mike 0-1; Pandolf, Tom 0-1; Duff, Rich 0-1;
Bright, Chris 0-1. Montana-Tyler Joyce 3-7; Kroy Biermann 5-2; Colt Anderson
3-4; Jace Palmer 3-3; Kyle Ryan 2-3; S. Schillinger 1-4; Mike Stadnyk 1-4;
Van Cooper Jr. 2-2; S. Campbell 1-3; L. Utterback 1-3; Torrey Thomas 1-3;
Quinton Jackson 0-4; Chris Clark 2-1; Tyler Corwin 2-1; Craig Mettler 0-3;
Chase Reynolds 0-2; Alex Hawthorne 0-2; Marc Mariani 1-0; Jamaine Olson 1-0;
Muckie Foreman 1-0; Jesse Carlson 0-1; Paul LaMantia 0-1; Carson Bender 0-1;
Kelly Kain 0-1; Brooks-Fletcher 0-1; Andrew Schmidt 0-1; Tyler Palmer 0-1.
Player participation:
Albany: 1-Wall, M., 2-Joseph, D., 3-McCarty, D., 4-Lynch, C., 5-McCloskey, L., 6-Van Zelfden, C., 7-Esposito, V., 10-DuPont, T.,
11-Bocanegra, D., 13-Fralicker, J., 17-Smith, J., 18-DeAraujo, I., 20-Simmons, C., 21-Nicomini, D., 22-West, D., 23-Scott, A.,
24-Peretore, M., 25-Juste, J., 28-Kinsey, E., 31-Casale, D., 33-Bertrand, R., 34-Johnson, O., 39-Bright, C., 43-Genovesi, T.,
45-Bayer, B., 47-Beigel, D., 50-Duff, R., 51-Simpson, C., 52-Disch, C., 54-Brancaccio, J., 65-Pagano, S., 68-Wentzell, J.,
72-Schultz, N., 74-Nguti, R., 75-Richards, K., 76-Leible, J., 79-Tougas, J., 82-Miles, M., 83-Bush, T., 85-Poore, J.,
89-Archer, D., 90-Kelly, M., 91-Anderson, T., 94-Pandolf, T., 95-Dungey, M., 96-Sheehan, M., 98-Volpe, J..
Montana: 3-Ryan Bagley, 4-Muckie Foreman, 5-Eric Allen, 6-Tyler Joyce, 7-Jeff Larson, 8-Rob Schulte, 10-Jamaine Olson,
14-Cole Bergquist, 16-Clint Stapp, 17-Van Cooper Jr., 18-Ciarre Campbell, 19-Colt Anderson, 20-Reggie Bradshaw, 21-Chris Clark,
23-Chase Reynolds, 24-Brooks-Fletcher, 25-Brandon Fisher, 26-Tyson Johnson, 27-Jeremy Pate, 28-Andrew Schmidt, 29-Dan Carpenter,
30-Brandon Dwyer, 32-Torrey Thomas, 34-Quinton Jackson, 35-Tom Martin, 37-L. Utterback, 38-Lex Hilliard, 39-S. Schillinger,
40-Greg Coleman, 42-Jace Palmer, 43-Alex Hawthorne, 46-Kyle Ryan, 47-S. Campbell, 49-Kevin Klaboe, 50-Craig Mettler,
53-Kroy Biermann, 55-Dan Carter, 56-Tyler Corwin, 57-Karl Pitcher, 58-Paul LaMantia, 59-Kelly Kain, 66-Brent Russum,
69-J.D. Quinn, 71-Cody Balogh, 72-Levi Horn, 75-Chris Dyk, 77-T. Hillesland, 78-Eric Michel, 79-Colin Dow, 80-Marc Mariani,
81-Tyler Palmer, 82-Mike Ferriter, 87-Dan Beaudin, 88-Steve Pfahler, 89-Rob Overton, 91-Mike Stadnyk, 95-Carson Bender,
97-Jesse Carlson.
Team Statistics
Team Statistics (Final)
2007 UAlbany Football
Albany vs Montana (Sep 22, 2007 at Missoula, MT)
ALBANY UM
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 28
Rushing..................... 6 11
Passing..................... 12 15
Penalty..................... 1 2
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 92 281
Rushing Attempts............ 42 41
Average Per Rush............ 2.2 6.9
Yards Gained Rushing........ 140 304
Yards Lost Rushing.......... 48 23
NET YARDS PASSING............. 273 283
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 20-40-1 21-34-1
Average Per Attempt......... 6.8 8.3
Average Per Completion...... 13.6 13.5
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 365 564
Total offense plays......... 82 75
Average Gain Per Play....... 4.5 7.5
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 2-0 2-1
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 8-59 7-55
PUNTS-YARDS................... 8-392 4-167
Average Yards Per Punt...... 49.0 41.8
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 41.8 40.2
Inside 20................... 2 2
50+ Yards................... 4 0
Touchbacks.................. 0 1
Fair catch.................. 0 0
KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 2-133 6-408
Average Yards Per Kickoff... 66.5 68.0
Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 43.5 53.2
Touchbacks.................. 0 2
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 1-6-0 6-58-0
Average Per Return.......... 6.0 9.7
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 4-89-0 3-46-0
Average Per Return.......... 22.2 15.3
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 1-0-0 1-13-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 30:31 29:29
1st Quarter................. 8:27 6:33
2nd Quarter................. 6:00 9:00
3rd Quarter................. 6:39 8:21
4th Quarter................. 9:25 5:35
Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 22 7 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 5 of 5 0 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-3 2-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 4-18 5-31
PAT Kicks..................... 2-2 5-5
Field Goals................... 0-1 0-0
Individual Statistics
Individual Statistics (Final)
2007 UAlbany Football
Albany vs Montana (Sep 22, 2007 at Missoula, MT)
Albany
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
-------------------------------------------------
McCarty, David 10 43 1 42 0 16 4.2
Simmons, Colin 12 44 12 32 0 7 2.7
Johnson, Omar 7 17 0 17 1 6 2.4
Wall, Mike 1 9 0 9 0 9 9.0
Beigel, Dan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
Esposito, Vinny 11 27 35 -8 0 11 -0.7
Totals... 42 140 48 92 1 16 2.2
Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack
-------------------------------------------------
Esposito, Vinny 40-20-1 273 1 46 5
Totals... 40-20-1 273 1 46 5
Receiving No. Yds TD Long
----------------------------------------
Smith, Jason 3 55 1 23
DeAraujo, Irani 3 24 0 10
Wall, Mike 3 20 0 11
Bocanegra, Daniel 2 61 0 46
Bush, Tim 2 40 0 41
Simmons, Colin 2 25 0 22
Poore, Jason 2 11 0 8
Beigel, Dan 1 16 0 16
Miles, Marcus 1 13 0 13
Archer, Dan 1 8 0 8
Totals... 20 273 1 46
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20
----------------------------------------------
Wall, Mike 1 64 64.0 64 1
Lynch, Chris 7 328 46.9 53 1
Totals... 8 392 49.0 64 2
Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
--------------------------------------------------
Bocanegra, Daniel 1 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0
Casale, Dave 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Joseph, Dieuseul 0 0 0 4 89 31 0 0 0
Totals... 1 6 6 4 89 31 1 0 0
Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
Fralicker, Jason 1st 10:05 31 yds - Missed
FUMBLES: Albany-Simmons, Colin 1-0; Esposito, Vinny 1-0.
Montana-Jeremy Pate 1-0; TEAM 1-1.
Montana
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
-------------------------------------------------
Lex Hilliard 21 136 0 136 2 26 6.5
Cole Bergquist 9 107 18 89 1 55 9.9
Jeff Larson 7 38 4 34 0 9 4.9
Greg Coleman 3 15 1 14 0 13 4.7
Tyson Johnson 1 8 0 8 0 8 8.0
Totals... 41 304 23 281 3 55 6.9
Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack
-------------------------------------------------
Cole Bergquist 32-21-1 283 2 38 4
TEAM 1-0-0 0 0 0 0
Jeff Larson 1-0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals... 34-21-1 283 2 38 4
Receiving No. Yds TD Long
----------------------------------------
Mike Ferriter 7 84 0 21
Eric Allen 4 85 1 38
Ryan Bagley 4 38 1 12
Lex Hilliard 2 35 0 24
Rob Overton 1 13 0 13
Rob Schulte 1 11 0 11
Tyler Palmer 1 10 0 10
Dan Beaudin 1 7 0 7
Totals... 21 283 2 38
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20
----------------------------------------------
Tyson Johnson 4 167 41.8 43 2
Totals... 4 167 41.8 43 2
Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
--------------------------------------------------
Rob Schulte 3 22 10 0 0 0 0 0 0
Marc Mariani 3 36 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jeremy Pate 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 13 9
Reggie Bradshaw 0 0 0 2 46 24 0 0 0
TEAM 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Totals... 6 58 17 3 46 24 1 13 9
Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
FUMBLES: Albany-Simmons, Colin 1-0; Esposito, Vinny 1-0.
Montana-Jeremy Pate 1-0; TEAM 1-1.
FUMBLES: Albany-Esposito, Vinny 1-0; Simmons, Colin 1-0. Montana-TEAM 1-1; Jeremy Pate 1-0.
Defensive Statistics
Defensive Statistics (Final)
2007 UAlbany Football
Albany vs Montana (Sep 22, 2007 at Missoula, MT)
Albany
## Player Solo Ast Tot TFL/Yds FF FR-Yd Intc BrUp Blkd Sack/Yds QH
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 Peretore, Mark 5 6 11 0.5/1 . . . . . 0.5/1 .
54 Brancaccio, Justin 3 7 10 . . . . . . / .
21 Nicomini, Dave 2 4 6 . . . . . . / .
22 West, Dave 3 2 5 1.0/6 . . . 1 . 1.0/6 .
25 Juste, Jean 2 3 5 . . . . . . / .
95 Dungey, Michael 2 3 5 2.0/4 . . . . . 1.0/3 .
31 Casale, Dave 2 2 4 . . . 1-0 . . / .
96 Sheehan, Mark 1 3 4 1.0/7 . . . . . 1.0/7 .
28 Kinsey, Emerson 1 3 4 0.5/1 . . . . . 0.5/1 .
45 Bayer, Ben . 4 4 . . . . . . / .
5 McCloskey, L.B. 2 1 3 . . . . . . / .
10 DuPont, Trevor 1 2 3 . . . . . . / .
51 Simpson, Chris 1 2 3 . . . . . . / .
43 Genovesi, Tommy . 3 3 . . . . . . / .
98 Volpe, Jon 1 1 2 1.0/4 . . . . . / .
33 Bertrand, Ross 1 1 2 . . . . . . / .
2 Joseph, Dieuseul 1 1 2 . . . . . . / .
90 Kelly, Mike . 2 2 . . . . . . / .
23 Scott, Aaron . 2 2 . . . . . . / .
89 Archer, Dan . 2 2 . . . . . . / .
91 Anderson, Trevor . 2 2 . . . . . . / .
13 Fralicker, Jason 1 . 1 . . . . . . / .
52 Disch, Colin 1 . 1 . . . . . . / .
94 Pandolf, Tom . 1 1 . . . . . . / .
1 Wall, Mike . 1 1 . . . . . . / .
39 Bright, Chris . 1 1 . . . . . . / .
50 Duff, Rich . 1 1 . . . . . . / .
Montana
## Player Solo Ast Tot TFL/Yds FF FR-Yd Intc BrUp Blkd Sack/Yds QH
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Tyler Joyce 3 7 10 1.5/2 1 . . . . / .
53 Kroy Biermann 5 2 7 2.5/14 1 . . . . 2.0/14 .
19 Colt Anderson 3 4 7 . . . . . . / .
42 Jace Palmer 3 3 6 2.0/12 . . . . . 2.0/12 .
46 Kyle Ryan 2 3 5 1.0/1 . . . . . / .
91 Mike Stadnyk 1 4 5 1.5/3 . . . 1 . 0.5/2 .
39 S. Schillinger 1 4 5 . . . . . . / .
17 Van Cooper Jr. 2 2 4 . . . . . . / .
37 L. Utterback 1 3 4 0.5/3 . . . . . 0.5/3 .
47 S. Campbell 1 3 4 . . . . . . / .
32 Torrey Thomas 1 3 4 . . . . . . / .
34 Quinton Jackson . 4 4 . . . . . . / .
56 Tyler Corwin 2 1 3 . . . . 1 . / .
21 Chris Clark 2 1 3 . . . . . . / .
50 Craig Mettler . 3 3 . . . . . . / .
43 Alex Hawthorne . 2 2 . . . . . . / .
23 Chase Reynolds . 2 2 . . . . . . / .
10 Jamaine Olson 1 . 1 . . . . 1 . / .
80 Marc Mariani 1 . 1 . . . . . . / .
4 Muckie Foreman 1 . 1 . . . . . . / .
58 Paul LaMantia . 1 1 . . . . 2 . / .
28 Andrew Schmidt . 1 1 . . . . . . / .
81 Tyler Palmer . 1 1 . . . . . . / .
97 Jesse Carlson . 1 1 . . . . . . / .
59 Kelly Kain . 1 1 . . . . . . / .
95 Carson Bender . 1 1 . . . . . . / .
24 Brooks-Fletcher . 1 1 . . . . . . / .
27 Jeremy Pate . . . . . . 1-13 . . / .
