The Missoulian from Missoula, Montana • 21

aBobcats dump Gardner Webb. Page G5 Missoulian Section Wild card race Boston crushes the New York Yankees, while Baltimore edges Seattle. Sports Page C3 Sunday, September 7, 2003 north Dakota Gtatc 20, Montana 24 Great view, but game sickening i mmm The assignment was simple: Go spend the first half of Saturday's gridiron gambol in the highest seat at newly expanded Washington-Grizzly Stadium. "Put yourself up there above the north end zone crazies," the Boss suggested. "Have fun.

Be a fan. Write something from their perspective." From their perspective? Okey, dokey. How about: If I'm gonna shell out $20 for a ticket, and another $9.50 for a hot dog and two Cokes, and spend an otherwise beautiful afternoon frying in the nosebleed seats, it certainly would be nice to watch a Griz offense that could run its way out of a paper bag, adjust when the other team tweaked its zone, and gain more than one first down in the opening 28 minutes of the RIAL CUMMINGS second half. It certainly would be nice to cheer a defense that could wrap "V- a Of 3 lJ I hiiwM sunt KURT WILSONMlssoulian North Dakota State University halfback Kyle Steffes, followed by a herd of teammates, pushes off Montana cornerback Vernon Smith Saturday during the second half of the Bison upset win over the Griz. Steffes ran for 1 03 yards in the game.

Bison use fake field goal to storm back from 24-2 deficit to upset Grizzlies up a tackle in the clutch and stop the draw play the fifth time around. And it certainly would be nice not to cringe at a 22-point meltdown, especially against a Division II opponent operating under the handicap of roughly 25 fewer full scholarships. But you can only utilize 11 men at a time, and on this Saturday the North Dakota State Bison were poised and determined enough to rally past the bumbling Griz 25-24. After boosting the Griz offense with some strange penalties, NDSU withdrew its helping hand in the second half, deciding to see if UM's attack could wobble on its own without training wheels. The result was a crash of epic, depressing proportions: 57 total yards, 19 yards rushing, two interceptions, three first downs.

And with the hapless Griz offense spending most of those 30 minutes on the sideline, NDSU wore down a deep but drained UM defense with a splendid mix of runs between the tackles, complemented by short passes. But the Bison didn't just outmuscle the Griz after intermission. In the end, they outsmarted and outgeneraled the Griz too, capped by the winning touchdown off a fake field goal in a situation that UM coach Bobby Hauck said shouldn't have caught his team off guard. Then the Bison celebrated a hard-earned upset when Chris Snyder's 40-yard field goal attempt missed wide right. In its own way, this victory was just as meaningful as NDSU's throttlings of UM in back-to-back Camellia Bowls in 1969-70.

(Only this time, UM couldn't complain about not being allowed to use junior college transfers.) Did the crazies on the northern rim of the record crowd of 23,102 have a good view of the proceedings? You bet they did, at least the ones who weren't averting their eyes. I spent the first half in Section 229C, Row 25, Seat 18 the highest and farthest corner of the new northeast addition. And I'm here to tell you, except for the vertigo it wasn't bad at all. When the Silvertip Skydivers came gliding down before the game, it felt like you could reach out and touch them. The players looked small from up there, yes, but not miniscule.

The sight lines were excellent; the only part of the field that was obscured was a small corner of the end zone. You felt on top of the action rather than isolated from it. Plus, there was an added bonus: I finally found a spot in Washington-Grizzly where the ROTC cannon was muffled. My seatmates, Glenn Wood and his brother-in-law, Clay Schroeder, had no complaints. "This is a terrific place," said Schroeder, a visitor from Philadelphia.

"Back east, this would be a high-priced seat." "One good thing is, up here, you can stand any time you want," Wood added. "You're not going to block anyone's view." Exactly how they felt at the final gun, I can't say. I do know that Hauck probably spoke for all Griz fans when he said in the postgame press conference: "To let that one slip, it makes you nauseous." I just pray that no one leaned over the railing from Row 25 and did their business. Because believe me, it's a long way down. Rial Cummings can be reached at 523-5255 or rcummingsfQ missoulian.com.

His column appears Sundays. Game recap Crowd: 23,102 (Stadium record: Old record 19,879 vs. Montana State 2002). Conditions: Hazy. Temperature of 75 at game time, warming to the 80s.

Elapsed time of game: 3 hours, 15 minutes. Records: Montana is 1-1. North Dakota State is 2-0. Next Saturday: Montana returns home to take on Division I-AA Sam Houston State at 1 :05 p.m. KECI will televise the game.

North Dakota State plays host to UC Davis. Key stat: Montana's offense amassed three first downs, 57 yards and zero points in the second half, while NDSU rolled up 23 points and 263 yards. Key moment: Facing a fourth-and-7 from the Montana 20-yard line and trailing 24-19 with 2:13 to play, NDSU faked a field goal. Holder John Bonicelli flipped the ball to Ron Malone, who rolled right and fired a pass to Mike Wieser. Wieser made a diving catch in the end zone to put NDSU ahead 25-24.

Quotable: "I visualized our team coming out and hugging me, instead of their team going out and rubbing it in my face." Griz kicker Chris Snyder after missing a 40-yard field goal try as time expired. By JON KASPER of the Missoulian Chris Snyder never thought it would come down to a field goal Saturday. Few of 23,109 fans at Washington-Grizzly Stadium did. Not with the third-ranked Division I-AA Montana Grizzlies up 22 points at halftime. Not against Division II North Dakota State, a 2-8 team in 2002.

Not in head coach Bobby Hauck's home debut. Not in front of a stadium-record crowd. As time expired, Snyder missed wide right from 40 yards out and North Dakota State stunned the I-AA and D- II football worlds with a 25-24 come-from-behind victory over the Grizzlies. The Bison called two time outs to ice Snyder. Snapper Cory Drive chart, Procter and holder Game notes.

Dane Oliver practiced Page C7 during the lull. Hauck and Snyder shared a few words. "Everything going into the kick was fine," said Snyder, who connected from the same distance in the first half. "It was set up perfectly. It was a kick that should have gone.

When I hit it, I knew it was going to start out right, but I thought it would come back." NDSU was the only thing making a See GRIZ, Page C6 UCLA cruises past Griz Belgium's best on top Henin-Hardenne beats Clysters for U.S. Open title By NICK LOCKRIDGE of the Missoulian The bigger they are the harder they spike. The University of Montana volleyball team found that out Saturday night against one of the nation's top By HOWARD FENDPICH Associated Press NEW YORK In the wee hours of Saturday morning, a dehydrated Justine Henin- Agassi upset as Roddick reaches final. Hardenne was sitting on a table in the trainer's room at the U.S. day tournament.

"They're a fantastic volleyball program," said Grizzly coach Nikki Best. "We're thrilled to have them as part of our tournament. It was a good learning experience for our girls to play against that caliber of team." The Pac-10 squad swept all three of its matches, including a 30-12, 30-18, 30-18 win against Boise State earlier in the day. Montana, which went 1-2 at its own tournament, fell 30-21, 30-26, 29-31, 30-14 to Idaho to start the day. The Vandals also dropped Boise State 30-23, 30-11, 30-21 Saturday.

UCLA had three players named to the all-tournament team, including MVP Heather Cullen. The 6-foot-l junior had seven kills, See VOLLEYBALL, Page Cll collegiate programs. The 11th ranked UCLA Bruins slapped the Grizzlies 30-21 in the final match of the Ruby's Montana Page C9 open, getting intravenous fluids before heading to her hotel to sleep. Late Saturday afternoon, she was on a practice court, trying to gauge whether she was fit enough to play in her first U.S. Open final a few hours later.

Oh, was she ever. Taking full advantage of an error-prone opponent, a resilient RICHARD DREW Associated Press Justine Henin-Hardenne kisses her trophy after winning 7-5, 6-1 over Kim Clijsters in the finals at the U.S. Open on Saturday in New York. Henin-Hardenne hit all the right shots and beat No. 1 -ranked Kim Clijsters 7-5, 6-1 to win her second See OPEN, Page Cll Invitational at the West Auxiliary Gym.

The Bruins claimed the championship with a 3-0 record during the two-.