The Montana Grizzlies felt their backs against the wall on Saturday so Tyrone Holmes and his defensive teammates decided to come out swinging.
Montana entered its homecoming Saturday against Northern Arizona, an afternoon that doubled as UM’s Big Sky Conference opener, having lost two straight games. The Griz jolted out to a roaring start thanks to a 38-35 win over four-time defending national champion North Dakota State on national television only to lose to Cal Poly (20-19) at home and at Liberty (31-21) to wrap up the non-conference.
UM’s Tyrone Holmes blast NDSU quarterback Carson Wentz
“We were backed into a corner, we knew it and we did it to ourselves,” Holmes said. “We were at home and we knew we couldn’t drop a third one in a row. We knew it was a must-win game.”
Against NAU, Montana put up 10 points before the Lumberjacks’ offense even took the field. The early lead allowed for Montana’s pass rushers, namely Holmes to tee off. The defense totaled eight sacks of NAU freshman quarterback Case Cookus, including four by Holmes as the Montana senior earned Big Sky and FCS National Defensive Player of the Week honors.
“Maybe the most dominant performance I have witnessed in my time here,” said Montana defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak, who has been an assistant at Montana every season but one since 2002.
“He is an outstanding young man with a work ethic that is second to none. Which is evident by what he has accomplished in his first four games.”
Holmes’ sack total tied a career high — he put up four sacks as a freshman against Idaho State — and was half a sack shy of the all-time Montana record set by Tim Bush in 2002 against NAU. The Big Sky single-game record is five sacks, accomplished twice by Sacramento State’s Zach Nash, in 2010 and 2011.
“We really focused on starting fast,” Holmes said. “The first two games, we hadn’t really done well at the beginning of games and I think that was because of lack of focus at the beginning. Our focus was good. What killed us all year was the big plays and we didn’t give up too many of those in the first half. We gave up a few after halftime but we were really solid on that front. It was nice being able to go out there when we had a lead. The offense got off early. We didn’t even take the field until we had 10 points on the board.”
Tyrone Holmes vs. Cal Poly
Holmes finished the afternoon with 11 total tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss, totaling 16 yards as Montana held NAU under 300 yards for the first time this season. The Griz allowed just 13 first downs and, save a pair of long touchdown passes to Emmanuel Butler in the third quarter, dominated the action throughout.
“Our coaches did a good job game planning,” Holmes said. “I thought they did a good job of helping me be successful. A lot of it was game plan and a little bit of it is just luck. You have to just keep working and hopefully he’ll hold the ball and you can get home.”
“Especially with their type of offense, they were getting to the play-action and we knew they weren’t really a passing team. Our secondary is playing really well so we had more time to tee off.”
Holmes now has eight sacks through four games. If he can continue his torrid 2.0 sacks per game pace, Zack Wagenmann’s school record of 34.5 career sacks is in reach. Holmes now has 24.5 sacks in his Montana career, the sixth-most in school history.
Holmes leads the Big Sky in sacks as well as tackles for loss with 9.5. His TFL total is second in the nation. Holmes hopes that this week’s awards are just the first of a senior season filled with them, mainly banners and rings for his Grizzlies.
“I mean, it’s cool but I’m looking for a win,” Holmes said. “At the end of the year, we want the big award (national championship) so anything I can do to help us get there. That’s what I’m looking at. Weekly stuff is cool but you have to be consistent. That’s the goal.”
Body photos by Brooks Nuanez. Main courtesy of University of Montana athletics. All Rights Reserved.
