Above is the last regular season game for now NFL-players Lex Hilliard, Kroy Biermann and Dan Carpenter. Hilliard gets three touchdowns, Biermann chases down a wide receiver way down field and Carpenter knocks a couple big ones through, including a 50-yarder.
After the jump are highlights from Biermann's award-winning season.
On Sunday, Montana Grizzlies and Montana-natives Kroy Biermann and Lex Hilliard officially became professional football players. Bierman went in the 5th round (#154 overall) to the Atlanta Falcons. Hilliard went in the 6th round (#204 overall) to the Miami Dolphins. The interesting thing is that both were drafted two spots away from players who were, at one point, legitimate Heisman Trophy candidates.
Biermann was drafted two spots ahead of Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon, who went 156th overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This one makes some sense. Dixon lost his Heisman hopes to a blown out knee late in the season. I was still somewhat surprised his stock was so low. I mean, Willis McGahee went in the first round, 23rd overall, after he blew out his knee at Miami.
The situation with the player near Lex is different. Lex was drafted only two spots behind Michigan running-back Mike Hart, who went 202nd overall. Going into the season, Hart wasn't viewed as highly as, say, McFadden, but he was a legit pro prospect and Heisman contender. If you would've told me at the beginning of the season that Hilliard would go only two spots behind Hilliard I would've said that's about as likely as the Griz losing in the first round of the playoffs to a school with less than 1500 students App State beating Michigan Montana moving up to the FBS. Crazy stuff.
This year's Sports Network FCS All-American team stars three Montana Grizzlies: running back Lex Hilliard and tackle Cody Balogh were named to the second team offense while defensive end Kroy Biermann was named to the first-team defense.
The Missoulian notes this trio's longevity:
Lex Hilliard, Kroy Biermann and Cody Balogh are all members of the Sports Network Division I FCS Preseason All-American team that was released Wednesday.And they have something else in common.
All three seniors played as true freshman for the Grizzlies, who will enter the season on Sept. 1 as the second-ranked team in the nation.
Hilliard, of course, was set to finish out his eligibility last year, but the 230-pound running back out of Kalispell tore his Achilles tendon in fall camp. His medical redshirt is one reason there are 24 seniors on this year's Grizzlies.
Another reason is eight current players suited up as true freshmen in 2004. That was out of a large recruiting class of 23. Nine of them played in the Grizzlies' run to the '04 FCS (then I-AA) championship game.
That includes Biermann, who had 22 tackles and three sacks that season, and Balogh, who started at right tackle in the Grizzlies' final three playoff games.
“We were forced to play a bunch of guys as true freshmen because we weren't talented enough to win without them,” said Bobby Hauck, then in his second year as the Grizzlies' head coach. “Now we've got essentially two classes together.”
Also interesting to note that the Big Sky Conference leads all conferences with 11 All-Americans.
More than 30 percent of this year's preseason All-Big Sky Conference football team will come from the University of Montana. Here's the complete team, with the Montana kids in bold:
Offense
With almost half their starters on the all-conference team, it's not much surprise they were unanimously voted as the favorite to win the conference.
