Southeastern Louisiana at Montana
It’s amazing how a week can make a bit of difference. The final week of the regular season, Southeastern Louisiana lost to Nicholls by virtue of a missed extra point point near the end of the fourth quarter. In the First Round, Villanova misses an extra point with about four and one-half minutes remaining, opening the door for a final score and successful try to clinch the win. Quarterback Chason Virgil has a crazy day, going 36-49 for 474 yards and three touchdowns, with a pick. C.J. Turner, Javon Conner and Bransen Schwebel all went for over 100 yards receiving. However, giving up 44 points and more than 500 yards of offense is not going to get it done in the next round.
Having seen the defense played in the Southeastern Louisiana/Villanvoa game, Montana quarterback Dalton Sneed must have been licking his chops. Wide-outs Samori Toure and Samuel Akem, along with running back Marcus Knight must have gone to bed smiling, dreaming of monster numbers in the Second Round. Of course, it won’t be that easy. But the Grizzlies have a very good offense and they’re multi-faceted, which makes shutting them down even harder. But the one player you may really want to watch here - Dante Olson. Olson is a tackling machine, 151 in twelve games. THAT is a nose for the ball.
Montana is much more battle tested, having played in the Big Sky, than Southeastern Louisiana. Though, the Lions showed they have the offense to compete with anyone. Who knows what the weather will be like. The relatively warm surroundings in Louisiana will not compare favorably to the sometimes frigid December games in Montana. And the Griz haven’t lost at home all year.
Prediction: Montana 42, Southeastern Louisiana 27
