Special teams make a difference for Griz

MISSOULA - Saturday was a record-setting day for the University of Montana football team in more ways than one way.

Not only was there a home-opening record crowd of 23,438 watching the Griz beat up South Dakota State 36-7, but Grizzlies kicker Dan Carpenter of Helena set the single-game school record for field goals with five, and punt returner Tuff Harris of Colstrip set the single-game school record for punt return yards.

Harris returned five punts for a total of 142 yards to break Levander Segars' 2003 mark by four yards.

Needing 8 yards to tie and 9 to break the mark with 14 minutes, 57 seconds left in the lopsided game, UM coach Bobby Hauck got the information from his coaches' booth and sent Harris in to break it.

"Our punt-return team was dynamic," Hauck said. "He deserved a shot at the record."

Harris responded with an 11-yard return that started from the UM 6-yard line.

His returns were just what the doctor ordered after last season's nail-bitingly close 7-0 victory in which SDSU punter Neil Bainbridge averaged 44.8 yards per punt on eight kicks. Those punts put the Griz inside their own 5-yard line three times, inside the 10 once and inside the 20 another time.

"They had a day on special teams last year," Harris said. "But we ended up getting better field position this year. Special teams definitely opened this game up."

Harris nearly returned two of the punts for touchdowns. The first one, which was right before the half, went for 43 yards before he was caught by the punter. The second one, near the end of the third quarter, went for 51 yards to the SDSU 6.

"I'm going to get a lot of flack for being caught by the punter," Harris said.

Carpenter went 5-for-5 in making field goals. He hit from 36, 34, 32, 29 and 26 yards to set the record. But those field goals do nothing in describing the day he had.

Carpenter also punted because Tyson Johnson of Stevensville is out with a serious knee injury and launched his only punt of the game 41 yards. He also kicked two of his nine kickoffs for touchbacks.

But there's more.

Ahead just 17-7 with about four minutes left before halftime, the Grizzlies faked a punt on fourth-and-1 from the SDSU 48-yard line and Carpenter hit Jimmy Wilson on a 14-yard pass. The drive resulted in Carpenter's second field goal and a 20-7 lead the Griz would not look back on.

But there's more.

With less than a minute remaining in game, the Griz faked another punt and Carpenter ran for 45 yards to the SDSU 15. It put an exclamation point on Carpenter's day.

"We always have things dialed up on special teams just in case we see a situation," Carpenter said. "I was pretty nervous on that pass. I was rubbing my hands so hard on my pants before the snap to make sure they were dry. Wilson did a great job of getting open and I was in a 15-yard shotgun so I had plenty of time."

The final fake caused a little stir in the post-game interviews.

"We would never do that," SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier said.

But Hauck said that since SDSU had just called a timeout instead of letting the Griz run the clock out, he figured the Jackrabbits wanted to keep playing.

"I don't think that was unsportsmanlike," Hauck said. "We wanted to show something else that other teams will have to prepare for against us."

All in all, Hauck was ho-hum about his special teams play. It was surprising, considering he got his coaching feet wet as a special teams coach and coaches the Griz special teams.

"It goes back to doing what it takes to win," he said. "If it takes a school record in some facet for us to win, then great, but it's really about us winning the game. If in the kicking game we can contribute to the point total to winning the field position and to the ultimate result, then certainly we take pride in that."