Game Day in the Southland: Semifinals
Do You Have Tickets for the 2012 NCAA Division I Football Championship Jan. 7 at Pizza Hut Park?
No. 5/5 Montana at
No. 1/1 Sam Houston State
Friday,
Dec. 16, 2011 • 7 p.m., CST
• ESPN
Elliot
T. Bowers Stadium • Huntsville, Texas
Live Stats | ESPN3
Series: Montana leads 3-1
Last Meeting: 2004, Montana won
34-13
Montana Notes: Montana is the No. 4 seed in the NCAA
Division I playoffs after finishing the regular season on a seven-game win
streak, including a 36-10 win at Montana State that sealed a 7-1 conference
record and clinched the Big Sky's automatic bid into the playoffs ... the
rivals tied for the conference championship ... Montana is 11-2 overall this
season with losses to Tennessee (42-16) and Sacramento State (42-28) ... the
Grizzlies are making a record 21st appearance in the Division I playoffs ...
Montana, which had a first-round bye, beat Central Arkansas and No. 5 seed
Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals ... the school's 32 playoff victories ranks
second all-time behind Georgia Southern's 43 ... Montana won national titles in
1995 and 2001, and was the runnerup in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2009 ... the
Grizzlies are 29-6 all-time in playoff games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium ...
they are just 2-8 in road playoff games and 1-4 on neutral fields ... Montana
is in the semifinals for the 11th time and is 7-3 ... the Griz average 34.3
points and 423.5 yards of offense per game, while allowing 19.1 and 314.2 ...
LB Caleb McSurdy was named the Big Sky Defensive MVP.
Sam Houston State Notes: The Bearkats are
the overall No. 1 seed in the playoffs ... at 13-0, Sam Houston is the only
undefeated team in the FCS this season, and joins LSU as the only undefeated
teams in Division I ... after a first-round bye, the Bearkats claimed a
second-round win over Stony Brook and got past Montana State last week in the
quarterfinals ... Sam Houston is riding the best win streak in Division I at 15
games ... the Southland title was the school's fourth, but its first outright
title ... RB Tim Flanders, the Southland player of the year, has set league
records for most TDs (23) and most points (138) in a season ... he also set the
conference mark with 21 rushing TDs ... Bearkat WR Richard Sincere was named
the league offensive player of the year ... S Darnell Taylor was named the
defensive player of the year and head coach Willie Fritz was named the coach of
the year ... Sam Houston leads all FCS teams in rush defense (67.4) and scoring
offense (39.8) and ranks second in scoring defense (13.8), pass efficiency
defense (96.29), total defense (275.7) and turnover margin (2.0). It ranks
fifth in pass efficiency (158.74) and sixth in rushing offense (258.5).
|
Montana
|
Team
Statistics
|
Sam
Houston State
|
|
34.3
|
Scoring
|
39.8
|
|
219.2
|
Rushing
Offense
|
258.5
|
|
204.3
|
Passing
Offense
|
157.4
|
|
423.5
|
Total
Offense
|
415.9
|
|
19.1
|
Opponent
Scoring
|
13.8
|
|
117.6
|
Rushing
Defense
|
67.4
|
|
196.5
|
Passing
Defense
|
208.3
|
|
314.2
|
Total
Defense
|
275.7
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Individual
Leaders
|
|
|
Peter
Nguyen (143-825; 3 TD)
|
Rushing
|
Tim
Flanders (251-1,273; 21 TD)
|
|
Jordan
Johnson (184-310-8; 2,123; 20 TD)
|
Passing
|
Brian
Bell (121-198-4; 1,841; 18 TD)
|
|
Sam
Gratton (34-452; 3 TD)
|
Receiving
|
Tim
Flanders (28-404; 2 TD)
|
|
Caleb
McSurdy (127T; 9.0 TFL; 4 Sacks)
|
Tackles
|
Darnell
Taylor (105T; 7.0 TFL; 3 Sacks)
|
Other Semifinal Game
Saturday, Dec. 17
Georgia Southern at North Dakota State, Fargo, N.D., 1:30 p.m., CT (ESPNU and ESPN3)
2012 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game
Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012
Montana/Sam Houston State winner vs. Georgia Southern/North Dakota State winner
Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas, Noon, CT (ESPN2 and ESPN3)